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 a map of Middle Eastern oil/gas production sites, which Iran has promised to strike in retaliation if their own energy infrastructure comes under attack.


My weekly preamble is in spoiler tags below.

preamble

For the weekend of August 1-2, Trump had once again promised major strikes on Iran, which would have included crossing the critical red line of striking their energy infrastructure. In response, Iran once again essentially promised to end the possibility of modern civilization as we know it throughout much of the Gulf States and, to a certain extent, the Zionist entity, with the economic impacts radiating outwards around the world from there. The frustrating part about these threats from Trump is that while he’s reneged on them before, the consequences of them actually occurring are so dire that it’s difficult to ignore them; rolling a dice with even a 5% chance for complete catastrophe will always be nerve-wracking.

Anyway, as we all know, these strikes did not occur, with the excuse this time being much the same as the previous times: our regional allies begged us not to (potentially true) and Iran called us and said they were willing to negotiate/surrender (untrue). The point of these threat displays is at least twofold: first, to see if Iran is genuinely going to flinch, or, at least, if internal elements that may or may not exist will be spooked into action against the IRGC; and second, to manipulate oil prices downwards by creating constant cycles of “relief” out of an otherwise relatively constant downward trend as Hormuz stays closed and oil reserves continue to ebb. I do say “relatively”, of course, given that Ansarallah now appears to be delivering a boot up the ass of Saudi Arabia by taking offline quite a lot of its refinery infrastructure.

It is into this situation that Ukraine seems to want in. For those out of the loop, the situation over in Ukraine has largely the same overall attritional dynamics as previous years, but with a few added wrinkles. Ukraine started striking Russian infrastructure a while ago, and while their effectiveness is hotly debated and I don’t want to dismiss them as totally ineffectual, it’s clear that the psychological effects - such as they are - are greater than the material effects. Russia’s retaliation strikes have been considerably more impactful, including strikes on Ukrainian Black Sea ports and vessels, and a campaign explicitly against gas stations across Ukraine, as well as some rather impressive and disruptive explosions at Ukrainian military fairs and production sites. Zelensky has admitted publicly that they are now basically out of Patriot missiles and that Russian missiles are now landing entirely unopposed (beforehand, they were just landing largely unopposed, given the lackluster performance of Western air defences in general). He seems to have considered a possible way out: linking together the Ukraine and Iran Wars to a united front against Russia and Iran, which would then grant Ukraine more munitions to keep fighting on.

Now, for all the fear I’ve seen of this occurring (and, don’t get me wrong, the US and Russia being in non-proxy, direct conflict is a genuinely frightening prospect for continued life on Earth) how linking together two wars which the West is quite decisively losing into a single war would help at all is beyond me. At this moment, at least, US military planners appear to agree with me. Ukraine hit a Caspian Sea vessel going to Iran a while ago, but then seems to have quickly apologised after being given a stern talking to by the US. This shows just how willing the US is to grant Ukraine more aid, as their own interceptor stockpile is running very low due to Iranian strikes. One would almost feel sympathy for Zelensky if is wasn’t for… well, everything that’s happened. The path of Ngô Đình Diệm is a tough one to walk.


Last week’s thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.

Please check out the RedAtlas!

The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.

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 the Zionists’ 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:

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.


  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    20
    ·
    48 minutes ago

    For the first time in years, due to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and Yemeni attacks against Aramco facilities, Saudi Arabia’s oil exports to the United States have fallen to zero barrels

    • Middle East Spectator
  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    16 minutes ago

    Iceland Orders Deportation of Anti-Whaling Vessel’s Crew - Telesur English

    Article

    On July 30, the Bandero approached the whaling vessel Hvalur 9 in an attempt to disrupt its voyage. On Wednesday, Iceland’s national public-service RUV reported that Icelandic authorities have ordered the deportation of all 21 crew members of an anti-whaling vessel and the crew members are also subject to re-entry bans.

    The activists have been allowed to leave the vessel but must report regularly to police pending enforcement of the deportation orders. Police have accused them of suspected violations of international maritime law and endangering maritime safety.

    On July 30, the Bandero, operated by the marine conservation group Captain Paul Watson Foundation, approached the Icelandic whaling vessel Hvalur 9 in an attempt to disrupt its voyage. The Hvalur 9 crew requested assistance after reporting that they believed their safety was under threat.

    The Icelandic Coast Guard said the Bandero had failed to comply with orders to leave Icelandic waters. Coast Guard personnel and a police special forces unit subsequently boarded the vessel and took control of it. The Bandero was brought into Reykjavik harbor last Friday.

    The Bandero had spent several weeks monitoring Hvalur 9 as part of “Operation 86,” its campaign against Iceland’s commercial fin whale hunt.

    The Captain Paul Watson Foundation disputed the authorities’ handling of the case, alleging that crew members were initially denied access to lawyers of their choice and prevented from contacting their families.

    Iceland resumed commercial whaling in June after a two-year pause. It is one of three countries, alongside Norway and Japan, that permit commercial whaling. Most of Icelandic whale meat is exported to Japan.

  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    44 minutes ago

    So, theres a big chance that Lula da Silva will get reelected with around 55% or 53% of the votes. How do you think Trump and the US will react to this? Sure, Argentina will probably say they don’t recognize Lula and sacrifice a bunch of income doing that, but I doubt American business people will be happy with the US breaking relations with a country with a huge market.

    Military action against Brazil is impossible for the US right now, most other Latin American nations can’t afford to break relations with Brazil. So, I imagine Trump, or Rubio, will send a very strongly worded letter saying that they don’t recognize the election, and will return to the Status Quo (which is a way to say they recognize that Lula is still the president without recognizing the election results).

  • thethirdgracchi [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    16
    ·
    48 minutes ago

    Surprise surprise, it’s that time of the month again.

    Job losses in July and negative revisions reveal a weakening U.S. labor market: In a troubling sign for the economy, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that it revised down the prior two months’ jobs by a combined 103,000.

    This “US posts record job numbers” to be followed by revisions a month or so later that actually show contracting, negative jobs numbers has been going on for like four years now. Insane times we live in, where the numbers are just made up entirely and then revised down and it doesn’t matter. Never did I guess.

    Per https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/july-2026-jobs-report-rcna591138

  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    12
    ·
    42 minutes ago

    Victory in Argentina: Milei has been forced to scrap plans to allow foreign ownership of land (selling country to United States and Israel). The Malvinas protest at the World Cup is actually cited as having sparked the anti-colonial sentiment that mobilized people on this.

    There’s been weeks of protests, and a major one by all the unions was planned for today, forcing Milei to retreat. The country’s largest progressive outlet specifically cites the Malvinas protest at the World Cup as a turning point in mobilizing people.

    Meanwhile, some Western leftists were supporting the British occupation of a territory in the Americas last month, just because the internet told them to hate Argentinians. Absolutely historic headloss. Don’t let social media emotions cloud real analysis.

  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    37 minutes ago

    Trump Defends U.S. Weapons Stockpile After Report of Shortages - Telesur English

    Article

    CNN disclosed that the U.S. has burned through nearly four-fifths of its THAAD missile inventory. On Thursday, President Donald Trump said that the United States has “massive” amounts of munitions, especially of certain types. His comments came one day after a CNN report on U.S. weapons shortages following intensive military campaign against Iran.

    “The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types. Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed,” he posted on Truth Social. “Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history. The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down. Long term jail sentences will be sought!,” Trump added. On Tuesday, CNN, citing two sources familiar with the latest inventory report, disclosed that the U.S. military has burned through nearly four-fifths of its THAAD missile inventory compared to pre-war numbers and roughly half of its Patriot interceptors since the start of the Iran war.

    The inventory report also noted that the stockpile issue was raised again prior to Trump’s decision last weekend to cancel new strikes on Iran. The U.S. Army has also used “virtually all” of its highly accurate long-range, surface-to-air weapons during the conflict, CNN stated. According to a report by the Washington Post on Wednesday, Trump at the presidential retreat Camp David last week vented anger at U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that he thought the munitions issue “had been fixed.” Trump demanded answers from Hegseth on why he had apparently been misled on extreme munitions shortages that threaten to limit military options with Iran, the newspaper said.

  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    43 minutes ago

    Pakistan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding on collective defense. Armed aggression against one of the countries will be considered aggression against all three.

    • Slava Intel
  • Staines [they/them]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    ·
    edit-2
    44 minutes ago

    I had a little vision of the future. Lathe touching time.

    The distinction of the “second missile age” over the “first missile age” is the use of GPS systems for accurate terminal guidance to the point that conventionally-armed missiles have become a useful tool. All major powers have deployed/are deploying regional high-orbit GPS navigation systems. Some of those regional systems (BeiDou-2) are now global (BeiDou-3). Low-orbit data constellations like Starlink could theoretically also be doubled up as jamming platforms to drown out the higher-orbit navigation networks over certain areas, since all GPS constellations operate on the same narrow band of frequencies. Both of these constellation types (high-orbit GPS / low-orbit data) have dual purpose economic and military use, which assures their continued existence because they are a national boon rather than just a military expenditure.

    Most space powers have anti-satellite missiles which can be used to hit low-orbit spy satellites, but in order to take out large numbers of low orbit satellites in string constellations like Starlink, you’ll need something with a better cost ratio; a mobile(ship/air) laser system which you can sit underneath the orbital string and fry them beyond use one by one.

  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 minutes ago

    normally, it’s silly when ppl say magical realism is daily life in Latin America, etc, but Rio de Janeiro was just coerced into re-signing a deal with an esoteric organisation, Chief Cobra Coral Foundation, that claims to control the weather bc the city faced severe winds after it broke the previous deal. and it’s not even a new thing, the town has had a deal with this Foundation for years, decades even

    what’s more? it’s not just the brazilian state that hires their services, the British Crown has called them multiple times since the 80s

  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    35
    ·
    3 hours ago

    PROTESTERS TEAR DOWN US FLAG IN ARGENTINA!

    During protests against the Law of Inviolability of Private Property, a group of demonstrators removed the United States flag from the Savoy Hotel in the Congreso neighborhood of Buenos Aires. While carrying out the action, the protesters shouted “the homeland is not for sale,” amidst the day of protests taking place in the Argentine capital.

  • AlHouthi4President@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    38
    ·
    4 hours ago

    Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia sign the “Mecca Joint Defense Agreement.”

    Xinhua

    The agreement aims to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, under which an armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against all, the ministry said in a statement.

    Its the Axis of Capitulation

  • quarrk [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    56
    ·
    8 hours ago

    A late comment on the even later Lindsey Graham’s funeral. The Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, who is the pure distillate of liberal civility-wankism and rules-based orderism, has bragged on social media about attending the funeral of his “friend” Lindsey Graham. The photos posted by US media haven’t really captured this due to the camera angles, but check out the seating arrangement. In one row sat Netanyahu, Zelensky, and Stubb. That’s the kind of behavior you can expect from these liberals who wax poetic about “peace through strength”: literal shoulder-rubbing with war criminals.

  • quarrk [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    50
    ·
    9 hours ago

    Weeks old news in Finland, but I didn’t see it mentioned here: (Yle) Thousands applied, but only 123 berry harvesters from Thailand granted permits this year

    Nearly all the Thai labourers are working for a single firm, which pays their travel fees and has not been linked to human trafficking and exploitation, unlike others in the field.

    Been an interesting litmus test of one’s politics. Many people are justly concerned about the laborers, others wonder whether this is done for their benefit at all, and still others use the story to complain about immigrants generally. Oh, and blueberry prices will go up this season, so some people are mad about that (never mind the labor question). For context, throughout most of Finland, at this time of year, you can freely pick the abundant blueberries in any forest.

  • HalidBeslic [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    86
    ·
    17 hours ago

    Hello people of the news mega, I come to you, after quite a long absence, with some Serbia 🇷🇸 News that I haven’t seen reported on here and that I believe is interesting to you all:

    Lets begin with the bad and moronic story. In an attempt to play both sides in the Israel war on Iran, Serbia officially sent Theodor Herzl’s grandparents remains (!?) to Isr**l to be buried. This comes a few weeks after the same country sent the only European delegation, besides Russia and Belarus (and the Caucasus nations if you count them as Europe), to the burial of Ayatollah Khamenei and a few months after the same bunch of psychopaths decided to build a factory with Isr**l’s Elbit Systems. This of course all comes at the same time that Satanyahu has a whopping -50% support among the population of Serbia (Putin is unsurprisingly first, followed by Xi).

    In equally bad (but in an evil way) news: Ethnic cleansing is steadily going along in Kosovo. All the drama with Serbian documents and license plates has ended by now, and the American puppet government has walked away with total control of all the institutions in the Serbian majority north. Now, the government is conducting illegal demolition of Serbian property, similar to one demonic entity also backed by the West.

    Finally, today marks the last day of Operation Storm (wikkkipedia link for those interested), during witch the fascist government of Croatia finalized their grandfathers ambition and managed to complete the ethnic cleansing of the land by completely displacing 200 thousand people from their ancestral homeland. As is tradition, this date is marked with celebrations in the little Reich where last summer half a million people (out of a population of just under 4 million) attended a neo-Ustaše concert.

  • Lovely_sombrero [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    68
    ·
    17 hours ago

    The Saudis are claiming that the resistance is planning a big strike on their country soon. They are saying “missiles being moved right now”. That would be very interesting indeed!