Image is of a crowd protesting in Athens.
Last week, on Friday, hundreds of thousands of Greeks poured into the streets to strike and protest on the second anniversary of the deadliest train crash in Greek history, in which 57 people died when a passenger train collided with a freight train. On this February 28th, public transportation was virtually halted, with train drivers, air traffic controllers, and seafarers taking part in a 24 hour strike - alongside other professions like lawyers, teachers, and doctors.
The train crash is emblematic of the decay of state institutions brought about from austerity being forced on Greece in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession, in which the IMF and the EU (particularly Germany) plundered the country and forced privatization. While Greece has somewhat recovered from the dire straits it was in during the early 2010s, the consequences of neoliberalism are very clearly ongoing. Mitsotakis’ right-wing government has still not even successfully implemented the necessary safety procedures two years on, and so far, nobody has been convicted nor punished for their role in the accident. The austerity measures were deeply unpopular inside Greece and yet the government did not respond to, or ignored, democratic outcry.
Last week’s thread is here.
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Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. 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.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
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.
The work report of the government from Third Session of the 14th National People’s Congress is out on March 5th, summarized below:
Looking back at 2024
- 5% GDP growth
- Food production reached 1.4 trillion pound for the first time
- New employment in the urban area: 12.56 million
- Alternative energy vehicle production breached 13 million annually
Target for 2025
- GDP growth at ~5%
- New employment in the urban area: >12 million jobs
- CPI to reach 2%
- Food production at ~1.4 trillion pound
- Energy consumption per unit GDP to fall ~3%
Important work for 2025
- Budget: deficit spending to reach ~4% (from 3%, or +1.6T yuan from previous year)
- Government investment: to arrange new local government bonds at 4.4T yuan (+500B yuan), combined government debt to reach 11.86T yuan (+2.9T yuan)
- Special debt: to issue special extra long term government bonds at 1.3T yuan (+300B yuan), and new special government bond at 500B yuan
- Consumption: to implement targeted policies to raise consumption, to arrange extra long term bond at 300B yuan to support consumption (subsidies to trade in older goods with new goods)
- Nascent industries: to further propel the development of nascent industries e.g. commercial airliners, low attitude airspace economy. To cultivate biotech production, quantum technology, embodied AI, 6G and other nascent industries. To accelerate the digital transformation of manufacturing sector. To develop AI networked EV, AI-powered phones and computers, AI-powered robots etc.
- Education: to increase the number of higher and middle education degrees, to gradually implement free pre-school education
- Market environment: to implement long term mechanisms to resolve problems with outstanding payments by corporations/companies, to increase law enforcement actions against corporate crimes
- Opening up: to push for the orderly opening up of internet and cultural spaces, to further the opening up of telecommunications, healthcare, education and various sectors
- Housing: to continue implement strong policies to slow the plunging real estate prices and stabilize the market. implement the redevelopment of provincial towns and aging residential housing units. to encourage purchase of stock houses (oversupplied units). to continue the good work on settlement/closing for housing purchases.
- Rural development: to revitalize the rural industries, to activate the central government coordinated inter-provincial food production compensatory policy, to increase support for food producing provinces, to expand on channels to improve farmers’ income.
- Urbanization: to push for guaranteed housing system for qualified citizens who are turning from farmers into urban workers. to continue the revitalization of urban and redevelopment of old neighborhoods in cities.
- Ecology: mechanisms to encourage healthy and green consumption, to encourage new green, low carbon production and lifestyles
- Employment: to enlarge the employment opportunities for high school graduates, to strengthen the welfare guarantee for gig workers and new hires. to improve benefits for tech talents.
- Healthcare: to optimize the drug procurement policy and strengthen the regulation and evaluation of drug quality (note: this was a huge scandal in China last year when many hospitals procured fake drugs to lower costs), to increase the per capita subsidies of citizens health insurance and basic public healthcare service by 30 yuan and 5 yuan, respectively
- Social welfare: to raise the minimum amount of urban citizen pension by 20 yuan, to formulate policies to encourage birth, to provide childcare subsidies
Overall, not that different from last year’s budget, with the exception on the new emphasis on AI. The budget deficit is still on the conservative side, breaking from the usual 3% to 4% this year. It may or may not be enough to boost the slumping consumption, but time will tell. Other than that, nothing indicates fundamental change from the usual policies.
A number of schools in Hunan, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces in China have recently started implementing a new policy of 2-day off week for high schoolers, and have sparked quite a debate among parents and netizens in China.
- High schoolers in Grade 10 and 11 will now get 2 days off per week, and Grade 12 students get to have 1 day off every week.
- Currently, there is no weekend for many high schoolers in China (the “higher ranking” a school, the tougher the routine), you get half a day off per week (~2 days off per month).
- A typical high school day looks like this: wakes up at 6am, arrives at class room at 7am, starts morning self-study routine, sits through the classes, stays for the evening self-study session, gets home at around 10pm, and if you’re lucky, gets to bed at around 12am. Rinse and repeat every day.
- As anticipated, many parents are not happy with the new policy: the gaokao (national unified exam) is so competitive that even a 1-point difference in scoring can make or break your chances of getting into university. Some parents in Hangzhou are worried that their kids might be disadvantaged if kids from the other cities don’t have as many days off.
- This has led to an explosive demand for private tuition on the weekends as parents send their kids to tuition classes instead. Previously, tuition was part of the school program and parents pay ~1000 yuan per semester. Now they have to pay an additional 1000-2000 yuan per month.
- Some private tuition companies have seen the business opportunity and have begun advertising “weekend packages” for parents, with such slogans as “you can go to work with a peace of mind. we will take over the duty of the school to take care of your kids instead.”
- One such “weekend package” as reported by the news which includes tuition for 6 subjects + physical education costs 3680 yuan per month, which is 47% of the monthly income for an average household.
- Some parents are now petitioning for the schools to keep their libraries open on the weekend and crowdfunding to pay for the teachers’ “weekend overtime fee”.
- Even more absurdity ensued, as some schools received “letters to volunteer to return to school on the weekends” by “very concerned” students.
China can be a magical place sometimes. The level of extreme competition has intensified in recent years to such an extent that it is taking a toll on everyone’s daily lives, and I don’t blame the people who want to emigrate to Western countries at all. I know many Chinese immigrants overseas who don’t want to put their kids through this.
China announces plans for major renewable projects to tackle climate change
BEIJING, March 5 (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday it would develop a package of major projects to tackle climate change as it moves to bring its carbon dioxide emissions to a peak before 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060.
The world’s largest producer of climate-warming greenhouse gas said it would develop new offshore wind farms and accelerate the construction of “new energy bases” across its vast desert areas, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s economic planner, said in an official report published on Wednesday.
“China will actively and prudently work towards peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality,” the report read.
Among the proposed projects cited in the report by the state planning agency was a controversial hydropower facility on the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet, which has raised concerns in India about its potential impact on downstream water flows.
It also said it would develop a direct power transmission route connecting Tibet with Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong in the southeast.
However, coal will remain a key fuel, with the NDRC report saying the country will continue to increase coal production and supply this year even as it plans for trials of low-carbon technology at its coal-fired power plants and to promote initiatives aimed at substituting fossil fuels with renewables.
China has been struggling to strike a balance between fostering economic growth and meeting its environmental goals.
The NDRC said the 3.4% reduction in the amount of carbon emissions per unit of economic growth last year “fell short of expectations”, blaming rapid growth in energy consumption as well as extreme weather.
China is not expected to meet its five-year goal to bring carbon intensity down by 18% by the end of this year, and it has not yet announced an annual target for 2025.
It will also struggle to meet a separate target to cut the amount of energy consumed per unit of growth by 13.5% by the end of this year, despite exceeding expectations with a 3.8% reduction last year, analysts said.
“Despite the world record expansion of renewables, an inconvenient truth is that China’s economy hasn’t become much more energy efficient in recent years,” said Yao Zhe, global policy advisor with Greenpeace in Beijing.
I thought china was believed to have probably peaked in emissions last year
The return to usage after COVID was prob overestimated just like they overestimated how much COVID cut emissions.
I think that was gasoline use?
Wow, you’re on a posting streak.
Russia has invited Israel to the 2025 Victory Day Parade in Moscow.
(March 3, 2025 / JNS) Russia has invited Israel to attend its Victory Day commemorations in May alongside representatives of China, Brazil, Slovakia and Serbia—but not Germany, the United States or most European Union’s member states, Russian media reported Sunday.
The annual May 9 commemorations on Red Square in Moscow feature a military parade and speeches by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in recognition of the sacrifices made by his country in its war against Germany in World War II. This year is a round anniversary since the German surrender to the Red Army 80 years ago.
A national holiday, May 9 is a major patriotic holiday in Russia and throughout much of the post-Soviet world. The holiday’s main event is the Red Square parade. In contrast to past anniversaries this year, Russia did not invite the United States, most of the European Union, Canada, Australia and other countries it deems “unfriendly,” according to News.ru.
The whole de-Nazifying defense comes off hollow if they’re just going to cozy up to another Nazi-like regime.
I mean come on, that was already pretty hollow.
How was it already hollow? Ukraine has a ton of Nazis in power who were specifically targeting ethnic Russians. It might not have been their core motivator but let’s not pretend that de nazifying Ukraine isn’t an essential goal for Russia’s ability to secure its borders and ensure a neutral Ukraine moving forward.
this is who they sent to fight the Ukrainian Nazis
Ukraine has a ton of Nazis in power who were specifically targeting ethnic Russians.
This is actually a farce of a point, Ukrainian Nazis aren’t stupid. They don’t have enough real support to go blackshirts on Russians. If this was the case the original “de-Nazification” argument would have taken a lot better and a lot quicker in Russia. Ukrainian Nazis went after extremely soft targets like Romani, Jews, and foreigners. “De-russification” has (stupidly IMO) been the most democratic policy post-Maidan. The outsized influence of Nazis in Ukraine has been because they’re effective at hiding behind/within the government and popular sentiment. The reason Ukrainian Nazis are entrenched is because they get bureaucratic positions, they do absolutely terribly in the polls.
None of what you’re saying matters. They killed thousands of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine. They ran child camps teaching kids songs about killing and eating Russians, which journalists went to and got on video. They terrorized ethnic Russians, tortured and killed them and their families. Saying they don’t have real support to do the things they were actively doing without anyone trying to stop them except for Russians is nonsensical. They clearly had support, they did it and got away with it and were elevated to higher and higher positions year after year. Why are you white washing literal Nazis?
They killed thousands of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine. They ran child camps teaching kids songs about killing and eating Russians, which journalists went to and got on video. They terrorized ethnic Russians, tortured and killed them and their families.
War crimes in the DNR/LNR are not the same as what you were implying. You’re completely mixing shit up when it suits your argument.
Songs about killing Russians have been in Ukraine since time immemorial and have been taught to children since time immemorial. A large portion of Kolomyika songs over the last 2 centuries are about hating Russians in some way. You’re entirely culturally out of your depth. For example the famous "Гуде-шумить сосоночка ", or “The Pine Trees Hum and Rustle” has the line:
Ви, москалі, людоїди, You (slur) Russians are cannibals
It was literally recorded in the USSR in 1988 for the first time and is a folk song from time immemorial. You’re literally out of your depth in figuring out what is and isn’t Nazi. You don’t even speak any of the languages involved.
What have I mixed up? You claimed they didn’t go after ethnic Russians and I pointed out when they did. Where is the mix up?
Okay, so you’re providing a historical context behind anti-Russian sentiment, which if anything just explains the material basis for why Nazism took root since Russians were the definitive anti-Nazi force. A bunch of anti-russian people feeling happy to be Nazis because they hate the Russians who are the ones against the Nazis is pretty common in eastern europe. It doesn’t mean they aren’t nazis.
You’re literally saying “the azov nazis teaching children songs about eating russians is actually just ukrainian history, not nazi stuff” ???
Boy Boy just came out with a video where they interviewed an Australian who was tortured repeatedly removed, waterboarded, electric shocked to face and genitals, etc) for six months by the CIA at various US black sites all over the world including Guantanamo Bay. He said the Australian Ambassador to Pakistan was even present at one of the times he was tortured! https://youtu.be/xEqrm9OIqro
what the fuck. He said he saw other captives completely lose their minds and weren’t able to recall their own names. They accused him of training the 9/11 hijackers with kungfu which he was a practitioner of.
Damn. They certainly do have a gift for sensitive humor centered around the darkest shit in human existence.
One creepy place my mind goes is…I mean, obviously this is a form of terrorism…but people just disappearing off the street is one thing, and knowing about the horrors you, too, could experience if you disappear off the street one day is another one entirely. Did the CIA actually let the leaks happen so that people could be made aware of just what U.S. “hospitality” is like? Like, you realize our outrage is part of the plan, right? type stuff. Fuckin’ bleak.
For the same reason, I can’t really figure out why the imprisonment and torture was indefinite. Seems like it would achieve its goals more effectively if people were released after a few years of hell-on-earth. Fascists psyching them selves out of being even more fascist in their petty racism and hate (“Can’t let these TERRORISTS go!”?)?
I think I don’t buy their terrorism hypothesis, at least not fully. If the point of the operation is to publicly appear as violent and terrifying as possible to extert control, i.e. psychological warfare, why does almost no one know about it? And yeah, obviously if you go to Iraq then many more people will be aware of the horrible things that were going on in CIA blacksites but it’s still not widely publicized. If the point was to terrorize them, why not get a picture of a prisoner being abused to every public location they can?
I feel like that’s the kind of tactics you see Israel engage in, and we usually get better media coverage of the horrible things Palestinian POWs were being subjected to. I don’t think it’s a coincidence, because the IDF is a terrorist organization. But I don’t know that the CIA was necessarily conducting these torture operations for that reason.
i.e. psychological warfare, why does almost no one know about it?
Maybe it is more well-known outside the West? Or, maybe it is particularly well-known in nations that are currently occupied?
Yeah I mean I’m sure if you go to the populations around the black sites they probably know that some really bad stuff is going on in that place, but if it takes so long for this information to leak its way to the English press I can’t imagine it’s widely publicized.
Yeah, but I mean - the West historically isn’t the population they’re trying to control through psychological warfare - they control the West through treats and chauvinism. I guess there is the notable exception of minorities; it would actually be pretty interesting to hear from a Western minority group that has attempted to organize (e.g. Black Panthers) weigh in on this.
