this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2026
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A reminder that as the US continues to threaten countries around the world, fedposting is to be very much avoided (even with qualifiers like "in Minecraft") and comments containing it will be removed.

Image is of a harbor in Tasiilak, Greenland.


NATO infighting? You love to see it, folks.

The latest incident of America's satrapies becoming increasingly unhappy about their mandated kowtowing involves, of all places, Greenland. As I'm sure most people here are aware, Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark with a degree of geopolitical and economic importance - the former due to its proximity to Russia, and the latter due to the proven and potential reserves of minerals that could be mined there. It's also been an odd fascination of Trump during his reign, now culminating in outright demands.

Trump has called for negotiations with Denmark to purchase Greenland, justifying this by stating that it would be safer from Russia and China under America's protection. Apparently, Norway's decision to not give him the Nobel Peace Prize further inflamed him (not that the Norweigan government decides who receives the prizes). He has also said that countries that do not allow him to make the decision - which not only includes Denmark, but also other European countries - will suffer increased tariffs by June, and that he has not ruled out a military solution.

This threat has led to much internal bickering inside the West, with European leaders stating they will not give in to Trump's demands, and even sending small numbers of troops to Greenland. The most bizarre part of this whole affair is that the US already basically has total military access and control over Greenland anyway, and has since the 1950s, when they signed an agreement with Denmark. There are already several US military facilities on Greenland, and B-52 bombers have famously flown in the vicinity of the island (and crashed into it with nuclear bombs in tow, in fact). Therefore, this whole event - in line with his all-performance, little-results presidency so far - seems to be largely about the theatrics of forcing the Europeans to continue to submit to his whims. I would not be surprised if they ultimately do sign a very imbalanced deal, though - the current European leadership is bound too tightly to the US to put up even half-hearted resistance.

This is all simultaneously occurring alongside the Canadian Prime Minister's visit to China in which longstanding sore spots in their bilateral relationship are being addressed, with China reducing tariffs on Canadian canola oilseeds, and Canada reducing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, as well as currency swaps between their central banks, among many other things. It seems no accident that Canada's reconsideration of their relationship with China is occurring as Trump has made remarks about turning Canada into the next US state, as well as the demand for the renegotiation of the USMCA.


Last week's thread is here.
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The Zionist Entity's Genocide of Palestine

If you have evidence of Zionist crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.

Sources on the fighting in Palestine against the temporary Zionist entity. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:

UNRWA reports on Israel's destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.

English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.

Mirrors of Telegram channels that have been erased by Zionist censorship.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Sources:

Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.

Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.

Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:

Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.

https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.

Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:

Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.


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[–] THEPH0NECOMPANY@hexbear.net 59 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (8 children)

https://files.catbox.moe/sp296e.mp4

Another angle of the murder by ICE today recorded by lady in pink CW this is a blatant execution

Edit: drop site x cancel version of the video

Thanks to Kieselguhr for the link

[–] qcop@hexbear.net 50 points 3 months ago (17 children)

I'm here watching another person getting executed by the Gestapo while having to hear a friend lecture me how I should not say the US is fascist but actually bonapartist/authoritarian because unions are still legal and he had some union guys 1 or 2 times behind him during his campaign.

Like what do you mean??

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[–] manuallybreathing@lemmy.ml 59 points 3 months ago (11 children)

Beijing confirms Japan's pandas will leave before February, invites panda lovers to China

ShanghaiEye魔都眼 - 20sec clip from YT

🐼

FAFO 😤

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[–] SickSemper@hexbear.net 59 points 3 months ago (2 children)

IOF ground units are pushing toward UNRWA schools and the market in eastern Jabalia under heavy tank fire. Explosives dropped by "israeli" drones targeted eastern Deir al-Balah while surveillance intensifies over western Khan Younis.

https://t.me/Palresistmirror/83918

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[–] FuckyWucky@hexbear.net 59 points 3 months ago (6 children)
[–] Ram_The_Manparts@hexbear.net 50 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Holy SHIT Rutte is such a disgusting little worm lmao

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[–] Self_Sealing_Stem_Bolt@hexbear.net 57 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (11 children)
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[–] anaesidemus@hexbear.net 57 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Big national news from Iceland.

The president of the United States of America, Donald John Trump, mentioned Iceland in a press conference.

Full quote here:

interviewer

The EU and the Mercosur just signed a trade agreement this weekend which is going to be the biggest free trade-zone in the world. At the moment you were talking a lot about tariffs. What is your reaction to that?

trump-anguish

I just think this: I think we have trade like we have never had before. We're doing better in trade than we ever have before. We're not being ripped off by every country in the world like we were before. We're doing numbers that nobody's ever thought possible. We're the richest we ever were – it's because of tariffs and the proper use of tariffs and we're also the most secure. As an example Iceland, without tariffs, they wouldn't even be talking to us about it. So we will see what happens. I think it's gonna work out quite well.

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[–] SickSemper@hexbear.net 57 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (8 children)

The US has solved the SDF’s ISIS prisons problem. Rather than yanking the leash to attempt to prevent Jolani’s goons from freeing the prisoners, the US is moving thousands of ISIS members to Iraq (presumably ahead of the Jolani government asserting control over the region)


•••••

Following the Iraqi government's monitoring of the security developments in the Syrian Arab Republic and the evolving security situation on the ground regarding the control of detained ISIS terrorists, the National Security Council, in its recent emergency meeting and in cooperation with the international coalition to combat ISIS, agreed to Iraq's reception of terrorists of Iraqi and other nationalities detained in prisons that were under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces and to transfer them to government correctional institutions. The first batch of 150 Iraqi and foreign terrorist elements, who have shed the blood of innocent Iraqis, has already been received.

The number of subsequent batches will be determined based on the assessment of the security and field situation to contain the risk of the spread of those who are considered top-level leaders of terrorist gangs.

•••••
Sabah Al-Nuaman

Spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces

January 21, 2026”

“US Central Command: We expect the number of ISIS detainees to be transferred from Syria to Iraq to reach 7,000.”

https://t.me/nayaforiraq/47380

“‌The advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Hussein Alawi: Iraq has prepared centers to receive ISIS detainees in batches ‌‏and the judiciary will review the files of ISIS detainees coming from Syria.”

https://t.me/nayaforiraq/47386

“A source for Nayya

The American military will transport ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq today via a plane. The plane will carry around 77 foreign fighters. It's worth noting that the ISIS organization is more like a private security company that the US administration uses when needed..”

https://t.me/nayaforiraq/47387

Presumably the eventual stick to the “carrot” of legal disarmament and dissolution of the militias

Hmm

“ A source for Nayya

The Turks informed Jolani that America wants to end the QSD file as quickly as possible, and Jolani's gangs will announce that the truce has failed in order to liberate the remaining QSD territories for the benefit of the Nusra gangs.”

https://t.me/nayaforiraq/47398

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[–] anaesidemus@hexbear.net 56 points 3 months ago (7 children)

trump-drenched

He did it again! He mentioned Iceland again! No idea why this time either.

full quotestromp

I’m dealing with President Putin and he wants to make a deal. I believe I’m dealing with President Zelensky and I think he wants to make a deal. I’m meeting him today. He might be in the audience right now. But they got to get that war stopped. Because too many people are dying, needlessly dying. Too many souls are being lost. It’s the only reason I’m interested in doing it. But in doing it, I’m helping Europe. I’m helping NATO.

And I’ve until the last few days when I told them about Iceland, they loved me. They called me “Daddy.” The last time, a very smart man said, “He’s our daddy. He’s running it.” I was like running it. I went from running it to being a terrible human being. But now what I’m asking for is a piece of ice, cold and poorly located, that can play a vital role in world peace and world protection. It’s a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades.

But the problem with NATO is that we’ll be there for them 100 percent. But I’m not sure that they’d be there for us if we gave them the call, “Gentlemen, we are being attacked, we’re under attack by such and such a nation.” I know them all very well. I’m not sure that they’d be there. I know we’d be there for them. I don’t know that they’d be there for us. So with all of the money we expend, with all of the blood, sweat and tears, I don’t know that they’d be there for us. They’re not there for us on Iceland, I can tell you.

I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland’s already cost us a lot of money. But that dip is peanuts compared to what it’s gone up. And we have an unbelievable future in that stock. That stock market is going to be doubled. We’re going to hit 50,000, and that stock market’s going to double in a relatively short period of time because of everything that’s happening.

maybe he means Greenland???

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[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 55 points 3 months ago (4 children)

The US is the biggest winner of the 2022 energy crisis. The largest share of the fossil fuel profit spike went to US beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, Germany has become dependent on US LNG

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629625003020#f0005

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[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 54 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

I've seen a bunch of similar posts over the recent days, always the same pattern;

Empty car sitting at the intersection of 35th and Pillsbury with its flashers on.

There are these ghost cars all over Minneapolis right now from ICE snatching people out of their vehicle in the middle of the street.

https://x.com/NortonMpls/status/2014878293556662740

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[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 54 points 3 months ago (5 children)

A lot of stuff like in my quote below is floating around in social media. It might be true (we all saw large quantities of confiscated Starlink terminals), but does anyone have any real information?

Iranian Military Media: In a carefully executed scenario, we cut off the internet in Iran, left Starlink temporarily operational to use it as a tracking tool, monitored the users, identified and arrested them, and then permanently shut down Starlink.

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[–] mayakovsky@hexbear.net 54 points 3 months ago (9 children)
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[–] Outdoor_Catgirl@hexbear.net 54 points 3 months ago (9 children)
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[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 54 points 3 months ago (1 children)

"Every night I'm outraged by what happened in Venezuela," said Brazilian President Lula da Silva during a national meeting of the MST (Landless Workers' Movement) last night. "It's an affront to the nation's integrity."

"These guys enter Venezuela at night, invade Nicolás Maduro's military base and take him away," he continued. "It's unheard of. It's a lack of respect for the territorial integrity of the country."

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[–] grandepequeno@hexbear.net 54 points 3 months ago (3 children)

agony-mescaline LOLOLOLOLOLOL

EU lawmakers vote to hold up Mercosur trade agreement over legal concerns

In a vote in Strasbourg, France, lawmakers narrowly approved sending the EU-Mercosur agreement to Europe’s top court to rule on whether it is in line with the bloc’s treaties. The result was 334 votes in favor to 324 against, with 11 abstentions.

The assembly cannot vote to approve the pact until the European Court of Justice has ruled, and this could take months.

After 20 years what's a few months I guess

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[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 54 points 3 months ago (7 children)

For the end of the week, here is one of the best anti-US-Greenland-occupation posts of the week;

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[–] mayakovsky@hexbear.net 53 points 3 months ago (11 children)

Star Tribune:

Sources identify man shot as Alex Jeffrey Pretti of south Minneapolis

The man fatally shot by federal officers in Minneapolis this morning has been identified as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

Pretti, 37, has an address listed in south Minneapolis.

At a news conference, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot was a 37-year-old white man with no serious criminal history and a record that showed only some parking tickets. Law enforcement sources said Saturday their records show Pretti had no serious criminal history.

O'Hara said the man was a “lawful gun owner” with a permit. Records show that Pretti attended the University of Minnesota. State records show Pretti was issued a nursing license in 2021, and it remains active through March 2026.

https://www.startribune.com/ice-raids-minnesota/601546426

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[–] TheSovietOnion@hexbear.net 53 points 3 months ago (5 children)

We're approaching the closure of trading for the weekend. Following Capital's circadian rhythm, that means something big we've been building up to is about to happen

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[–] SexUnderSocialism@hexbear.net 53 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Surrounded by billionaires in Davos, Trump plans to lay out how he’ll make housing more affordable

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to use a key address Wednesday to try to convince Americans he can make housing more affordable, but he’s picked a strange backdrop for the speech: a Swiss mountain town where ski chalets for vacations cost a cool $4.4 million.

porky-happy

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[–] Dort_Owl@hexbear.net 53 points 3 months ago (8 children)

I'm seeing news that Michael Parenti has passed away, is this true?

sadness

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[–] SexUnderSocialism@hexbear.net 53 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, called Zelensky a "confused clown" after Z-boy's speech in Davos.

https://xcancel.com/araghchi/status/2014554267323887785

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[–] catonkatonk@hexbear.net 53 points 3 months ago (2 children)

[imperial lapdog Von Der Leyen] advanced a positive vision of how the EU could and should change to make the most of its potential and assert itself as a global power in its own right, reducing dependencies where they carry unacceptable risks, and leveraging new emerging relationship with others. In this vein, she repeatedly took aim at Trump for his threats, stressing the EU’s commitment to “free trade over tariffs” – including with new partners globally, be it Mercosur or India – and wilingness to push for more (11:20).

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jan/20/europe-greenland-donald-trump-davos-europe-live-latest-updates?page=with%3Ablock-696f5b548f08a58ba710e89d#block-696f5b548f08a58ba710e89d

lmao "free trade over tariffs" from the woman who advocated for tariffs against the wishes of Europe's own capitalists, and who decided being an obedient vassal to American power was more important than accelerating the green transition.

As bad as things are, there is a kind of grim satisfaction in seeing the transatlanticists eat a long-deserved shit breakfast.

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[–] coolusername@hexbear.net 52 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (8 children)

Financial imperialism is happening. Here's the strategy: the US gov buys stakes in critical mineral companies (injects $$$), gives them cheap loans, provides generous offtake agreements, etc. The company is now seen as "derisked" and their stock goes WAY up. The company can now raise capital by issuing shares at high valuations. They use this capital to buy up critical mineral assets abroad.

U.S. to inject $1.6 billion into rare earths miner for 10% stake, FT reports
https://archive.ph/HPNGy

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[–] Tervell@hexbear.net 52 points 3 months ago (4 children)

https://archive.ph/80CIv

China is building ‘full-stack’ defense-innovation cities

While the U.S. struggles to add rare-earth factories and drone-test ranges, Beijing is creating them in clusters.

more

The city of Baotou—long the heart of the rare-earths mining sector that has given China a stranglehold over the modern economy—is now working to establish entire next-generation production chains. In Inner Mongolia’s second-largest city, processed ores flow quickly to factories that make magnets and motors, and onward to production lines that crank out drones, eVTOL aircraft, and even humanoid robots. The result is an industrial powerhouse that other Chinese cities are working to emulate—and that U.S. firms are unable to match. Beijing views rare earths as not just merely a tool of global influence, but an ignition point for integrated industrial innovation. Their unique qualities enable the creation of magnets and motors that deliver more lift per watt and more torque per kilogram. Across China, local governments now co-locate rare-earth processing zones with component makers and drone and robotics parks, turning mineral hubs into full-stack ecosystems. In Sichuan Province, for example, the city of Mianyang is building on its reputation as a regional base of defense research and development with a major investment in permanent magnet construction. Such clusters reflect the government’s push for “new quality productive forces”: advanced industrial capacity built on secure inputs, dense supply chains, and fast scaling.

Baotou shows the model in its most complete form. City plans lay out a network of bases to support UAV testing, training, and logistics. This effort is anchored by the Rare Earth High-Tech Zone, where the proximity of component makers and downstream integrators speeds iteration and reduces supply-chain friction. Local government messaging describes a full chain that runs from mining and magnet production to motor fabrication and UAV assembly. Several rare-earth cities are taking aim at a particular market sector: the “low-altitude economy”: products, services, and infrastructure to support activities in airspace below 1,000 meters (3,280 feet). Such activities include delivery, surveillance, tourism, and urban air transport. The Civil Aviation Administration of China expects the sector to be worth up to 2.5 trillion RMB (about $500 billion) within a decade. Already, logistics drones are flying routes that link the mountainous inland province of Jiangxi to major delivery networks serving the Pearl River Delta. In Jiangxi, the city of Ganzhou has built a permanent-magnet-motor park and connected it to a low-altitude-economy park that provides R&D, manufacturing, operations support, and regulatory frameworks. The aim is to create a municipal-scale ecosystem with local sources of magnets, motors, airframes, and operational support, reducing lead times and accelerating scaling. Another low-altitude ecosystem is rising in Fujian Province, Jiangxi’s neighbor to the east. Chinese officials often sell the low-altitude economy as a boon to commerce and public services such as delivery, inspection, agriculture, and tourism. Defense-affiliated commentary and local armed forces activity, however, show how localities increasingly treat it as a dual-use resource for national defense.

Some low-altitude-economy parks are now building defense capacity into their tenant mix, using their talent, platforms, and industrial capacity to aid in defense mobilization. One Sichuan park has created a pair of specialized militia units: a reconnaissance platoon built around long-range UAVs and a company that specializes in the rapid repair of airfields. In Jiangsu, a local People’s Armed Forces Department has organized UAV-based reconnaissance units that have deployed for civilian missions such as disaster survey and water rescue—but are organized for use in wartime. Such militia teams provide structures for training, tasking, and integration during crises. This arrangement narrows the gap between commercial capacity and organized wartime support by keeping platforms, operators, and maintenance ecosystems close to the mobilization system. And China’s military gains as much as commercial firms do from the rise of full-stack, aviation-focused development-and-production centers. As a RUSI report noted, the production of many battlefield drones is constrained less by the ability to turn out airframes than by the availability of propulsion and actuation components. China is increasingly able to manage those constraints inside a single municipal industrial footprint. The wide distribution of such clusters, across coastal as well as inland regions, further strengthens the model. It cushions the system against localized shocks such as environmental enforcement, energy constraints, or regional bottlenecks. And it would complicate wartime efforts to disrupt production through targeted strikes or interdiction.

Like Chinese analysis, U.S. discourse increasingly treats permanent magnet motors as a chokepoint in the global supply chain. This has prompted the Pentagon to become the largest partner in MP Materials, which owns the only operational rare earth mine in the United States. But Baotou’s Rare Earth High-Tech Zone and its imitators show how U.S. policymakers must deepen their understanding and goals beyond current production counts or who owns what mine. While Beijing’s competitors struggle to build rare-earth processing plants, magnet factories, and high-performance motor supply chains, China is doing all of those at once, creating full-stack clusters that will widen its advantage in next-generation technologies.

free market enthusiasts when it turns out they have to actually plan industrial development shocked-pikachu

looking forward to when a single Chinese municipality starts outproducing the entire US

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[–] tocopherol@hexbear.net 51 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Another murder by ICE in Minneapolis this morning. It's incredibly upsetting, if you are sensitive to disturbing scenes avoid watching. The video I saw wasn't the most visible of the shooting, but the response I feel and I think the response most people would is even worse than Good's. It was very recent so I don't have a better link with more info, video can be found on r/minnesota here:

CW Disturbing, violence, state murder https://www.reddit.com/r/minnesota/comments/1qlqcrm/from_the_minneapolis_community_on_reddit_another/

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[–] grandepequeno@hexbear.net 51 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (4 children)

antelope-popcorn In other news there were Presidential elections in portugal last sunday, the most cursed result was avoided but they're still indicative of how the country has and is shifting right after the legislative elections last year. In the end the socialist party candidate won and is the frontrunner to win the 2nd round, which is the first time Portugal has had a second round of a presidential election in 40 years and could also leave us with a center-left president for the first time in 20 years.

I wrote a few months ago how for months the frontrunner was a former "neither left nor right" navy admiral" who was responsible for the covid vaccine rollout, well he crashed and burned, in part because once he started opening his mouth nobody knew what he actually believed, he tried to gather votes from center-left voters who were unsatisfied with the socialist party candidate by talking left and from the right by being a military guy, didn't work, he got 12% and 4th place.

The second biggest loser was a tv pundit of the governing center-right "social democratic party" (PSD), the current president is also a PSD guy and had also been a tv pundit for many years so it was thought that this man had a clear path to the presidency, and he had the backing of the ruling government which won the elections in 2025. Well some scandals around lobbying and attacks from the before mentioned military guy dimished his standing considerably, he went from leading the polls to gaining only 11%, 5th place and more than a million less votes than the party got in the 2025 legislative elections. Proving a theory that in Portugal voters usually pick a president against the rulling party, so when the PSD and the right already have a majority in parliament, the 2 autonomous regions and the most mayorships having the president also would be putting all the eggs in the same basket

(CONTENT WARNING: SA, skip this section if you want) In a despairing outcome, the right-wing liberal (think Millei-esque)** candidate got 16% and 3rd place, winning 600k more votes compared to 2025 and racking up a lot of celebrity endorsements, he ran a social media savvy campaign that relied on being a "relatable cool uncle with good vibes", masking politics that are primarily bout austerity and privatization, he messed up by in one interview saying that if the far-right candidate made it to the second round he wouldn't exclude voting for him, which he later walked back, and also by (CONTENT WARNING: SA) probably sexually harassing a former assistant of the liberal party's parliamentary group (currently assistant in the ruling government minister). She accused him of asking her stuff like "Excelent work the only thing left is opening your legs for me" and "do you like them thicker or longer". A not surprising reappearance of the MeToo movement which never made much headway in Portugal, I say unsurprising because this is a very right-wing liberal party and although culturaly liberal on paper everyone knows a ton of its members are conservative (despite garnering much of the youth vote). It's since been revealed that more women inside the party have complained about sexual harassement. To which the candidate responded by denying, victimizing himself and attacking the media, all this didn't seem to affect his standing with liberal voters, unsurprisingly, for a while people even thought he would make it to the 2nd round.

The far-right hyperleader got 2nd place with 23% and only 100k less votes compared to 2025, revealing now how loyal his voters are. Not much to say, he bangs on about migration, immigrants living only on subsidies (incredibly false) and roma people. Really there weren't any major scandals for him this time around, he just loomed over the election as the one everyone knew would make it to the second round. His party hasn't lost any standing since despite the governing center-right depending on the far-right party for plenty of things they aren't oficially in a coalition (and the government relies on the socialist party sometimes too) so they're permanently in the opposition for people who don't like the government and in support for people who do like the government.

The surprise comeback was the socialist party backed candidate Antonio José Seguro getting first place with 31% and 300k more votes than the center-left socialist party got in the 2025 election, where they got the worst ever result. He is a man of the right of the socialist party who is emblematic of the party's colaboration with the right wing government in 2011-2015 during the Troika period by, according to him, "violently abstaining" from the governments many damaging policies. His campaign started poorly with him refusing to call himself of the left, stating "why do you want to label me?", realizing this meant there was no mainstream left candidate and that the navy admiral was attempting to court socialist party voters who felt orphaned he started talking more left. Started low in the polls but made it up and started campaigning on the "useful vote" against the far-right, "Vota Seguro" (Seguro means "safe", and also "insurance"), which seems to have worked as the left candidates had very poor results in yet another demonstration that the presence of the far-right, fear of it and unwillingness to ever let it formally govern (even when it already informally does) only strengthens the center and empties the left. He is the frontrunner to win in the second round agaisnt the far-right, although all the right-wing candidates (and the admiral) and the center-left PM have refused to endorse him against the far-right (but people from their parties have), the left wing candidates already have. If he wins he'll be the first socialist party candidate to win the presidency in 20 years.

possum-party The communist party candidate, whom I voted for, and objectively speaking the most adequate candidate to defend the constitution (which is what the non-executive portuguese president is supposed to do) got only 1.6% and less 90k votes compared to 2025, the worst of any communist party candidate ever got in a presidential election. Not surprising with everything I just said, and on the campaign trail the "useful vote" for Seguro was the biggest challenge, y'know after the whole COMMUNIST thing and also having a taken a much denounced anti-NATO position on the ukraine war and more recently a pro-Maduro position on Venezuela, there's already a ton of factors that discard the communist party in people's eyes for now (anti-EU might be the most significant one), so fear of a second round with 2 right-wing candidates instead of the socialist party candidate didn't do us any favors.

The post-trotskyist demsoc party candidate got 2%, which is around what they got in the 2025 elections where they got reduced to 1 MP, still the worst result for a presidential candidate backed by the party (which got 3rd place in 2016) but it shows that maybe (I have my doubts because their candidate is decently popular on the center-left) they're holding on.

The best result of the night was tha the eurocuck pro-war green party's candidate got LESS THAN 1% and 220k less votes compared to 2025, showing that this party which has made a goal of emptying the portuguese left of anti-imperialism, eu-skepticism and anti-capitalism (politics that voters to the left of the socialist party had to stomach when they voted for the communist party or the demsocs) and promissing to be a loyal junior party to the socialist party, seems like their candidate, who on the final days said he accepted if people voted for Seguro (why even run then bro?), was the biggest victim of the useful vote.

In conclusion nobody, especially on the left, was very excited for these elections, we all knew the right was going to win, even with Seguro being the fronrunner he is emblematic of the socialist party right. Unlike in the last elections it seems like right-wing and centrist voters dispersed their votes and the left aggregated on Seguro "to play it safe". I'm going to be hugging all my comrades, though no one in the party ever gets depressed for too long

But the silver lining in Seguro becoming president is that, besides having a president on the nominal left to push back a bit on this government (he has called on the government to remove the planned labour law "reform" which is encouraging, hope he sticks to it), is that the current center-right president Marcelo, perverted the position by taking a much more active stake in national politics than traditionally presidents ever did, one thing was being on constant travel hugging and kissing people, that's fine. But constantly commentanting on matters, pressuring governments, DISSOLVING 3 GOVERNMENTS (2 of them socialist party governments) and constantly calling "council of state meetings" for stuff that he has no power over like the ukraine war and venezuela became majorly annoying by his 2nd term. And all candidates on the right, though not Seguro, constantly talked about "leadership" and all the powers they would take advantage of, when really the president's job is to for the most part veto shit that goes against the constitution, which they already have mangled from its original content after the revolution, but hopefuly he can stick to doing that and shutting up about it.

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[–] Socialism_Is_The_Alternative@hexbear.net 51 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

Today's "HTS" vs "SDF" related news...

The "HTS" regime captured the al-Hawl camp in al-Hasakah governorate, releasing another big batch of "ISIS" terrorists. Many more are likely to soon escape from al-Aqttan Prison in Raqqa governorate. In addition, the "SDF" and "HTS" are fighting each other near Ayn al-Arab (AKA "Kobani"):

https://southfront.press/syrian-government-takes-over-camp-with-isis-relatives-in-al-haska-amid-kurdish-drone-strikes-videos/

US imperialist "envoy" Tom Barrack just totally threw the "SDF" under the bus:

"Today, the situation has fundamentally changed. Syria now has an acknowledged central government that has joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (as its 90th member in late 2025), signaling a westward pivot and cooperation with the US on counterterrorism. This shifts the rationale for the US-SDF partnership: the original purpose of the SDF as the primary anti-ISIS force on the ground has largely expired, as Damascus is now both willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities, including control of ISIS detention facilities and camps."

https://southfront.press/syria-announces-new-understanding-with-kurds-but-clashes-continue/

And the spillover, Iraq is reinforcing its borders with Syria to prevent "ISIS" terrorists from infiltrating:

https://southfront.press/with-isis-remnants-set-loose-in-syria-iraq-vows-to-open-fire-at-any-threat-near-it-border-videos/

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[–] Socialism_Is_The_Alternative@hexbear.net 50 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Fighting continues between the "HTS" and the "SDF", despite yesterday's ceasefire talks. Washington did nothing to stop the "HTS" regime from releasing thousands of "ISIS" terrorists from the previously "SDF" controlled Al-Shaddadi Prison:

“Since the early hours of this morning, Al-Shaddadi Prison, which holds thousands of detainees from the terrorist organization ISIS, has been subjected to repeated attacks carried out by factions affiliated with Damascus. Fighters of the SDF confronted these attacks and succeeded in repelling them several times, resulting in the martyrdom of dozens of our fighters and the injury of others, in an effort to prevent a serious security catastrophe,” it said.

“Al-Shaddadi Prison is located approximately two kilometers from the US International Coalition base in the area. The US base did not intervene, despite repeated calls for intervention … Al-Shaddadi Prison has currently fallen outside the control of our forces,” it added.

https://thecradle.co/articles/syrian-forces-overrun-isis-prison-as-sdf-condemns-us-inaction

[–] InexplicableLunchFiend@hexbear.net 54 points 3 months ago (9 children)

Funny how Israel and US have no problem doing airstrikes against civilian apartment complexes to kill 1 guy, but they somehow can't do an airstrike on an ISIS prison right before it bursts open.

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[–] grandepequeno@hexbear.net 50 points 3 months ago

Update on the defections in the european parliament that caused the mercosur deal to be held up

By political group:

• EPP saw 43 defections — mainly Polish, French and Hungarian

• Socialists lost 35 votes, driven by French and Romanian delegations

• Liberals split: 24 in favor, 46 against.

• ECR divided too: 35 for (incl. Poles), 39 against (incl. Meloni’s meps).

[–] mayakovsky@hexbear.net 50 points 3 months ago (3 children)

CW NSFL, but no gore

This is the second angle of the shooting. It is very clear that even if the guy had a gun, he did not brandish it. They pepper sprayed him, and then wrestled him to the ground. He was simply filming them and standing in the way of them trying to fuck with someone else

https://xcancel.com/DropSiteNews/status/2015131503622021472

[–] Rey_McSriff@hexbear.net 51 points 3 months ago (1 children)

even if the guy had a gun, he did not brandish it

It's genuinely incredible to see how effective US state media's' stenography is, because the focus of this shooting now seems to be on some hall monitor notion of whether or not it's legal for 8 pigs to shoot you depending on what's in your pocket. The cops' first reaction to any shooting is to claim the victim was violent or had a weapon. They lie all the time about this shit. My first reaction to a pig claiming that they had a gun is to believe the opposite

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