Image is of the Te Pati Maori (Maori Party) cofounders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. They have 6 of the 123 seats in the New Zealand parliament.
Officially confirming that the Republican primaries were a gigantic waste of time for everybody involved, Trump has massively beat everybody else in Iowa, and will very obviously be the Republican candidate for 2024. Given the abysmal state of the US economy (for everybody who isn't in the top 1-10%, which is mainly what national statistics reflect when they aren't telling blatant falsehoods), it's more plausible than ever that Trump may indeed once again become President - though I personally refuse to predict one way or another due to how volatile politics and geopolitics currently are. Project 2025 is coming, folks - either as the official Republican governance program, or as what the Democrats will do in 2026 after the midterms, stating that they have no other choice and have to reach across the aisle as they are the Adults In The Room™.
In other news...
Late last year, New Zealand voted in a new and very right-wing government, composed of the center-right National Party, the libertarian ACT Party (ACT stands for the "Association of Consumers and Taxpayers", good lord), and the fascist New Zealand First party. By what I can tell, this was the well-trodden path of "Vaguely center-left party does neoliberal austerity and causes a recession and workers fucking hated it and voted in a different party out of desperation," though the flooding and cyclones did add challenges to Chris Hipkins' short reign after Jacinda Ardern resigned.
It's worth noting that Hipkins was at least fairly China-friendly, meeting up with Xi Jinping on a five-day visit in the summer. They still do the whole "We have concerns about human rights" thing, but of all the countries of the imperial core, New Zealand is - or, perhaps, was - one of the most amicable. In 2021, China was New Zealand's single largest trading partner, with a third of exports going to China (more than Australia, the US, Japan, and South Korea combined), and they receive 22% of their imports from China too, more than any other single country.
Christopher Luxon, the new Prime Minister and sentient thumb, has said that he is exploring a closer relationship with AUKUS:
Luxon said New Zealand was interested in becoming involved in AUKUS Pillar 2: a commitment between the three partners to develop and share advanced military capabilities, including artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and hypersonics.
“We’ll work our way through that over the course of next year as we understand it more and think about what the opportunities may be for us,” Luxon said. “AUKUS is a very important element in ensuring we’ve got stability and peace in the region.”
This is not to say that Hipkins wanted nothing to do with AUKUS or Western organizations aimed generally against China - in fact, pre election, "he was open to conversations about joining Pillar II of AUKUS". But the current government is pushing down on the accelerator pedal.
The left-wing Maori party, Te Pati Maori, has stated that they want New Zealand to remain non-aligned, as joining AUKUS would erode the sovereignty of the country:
As Maori we cannot allow our sovereignty to be determined by others, whether they are in Canberra or Washington. Aotearoa should not act as Pacific spy base in the wars of imperial powers. Joining AUKUS will severely undermine our country’s sovereignty, constitution, and ability to remain nuclear free. There is too much at stake for our government to make a commitment of this magnitude without a democratic process.
In general, the party leaders of Te Pati Maori want New Zealand to be the "Switzerland of the Pacific", which is perhaps not the greatest analogy given all the problems Switzerland had and has, but we understand the intended meaning of desiring neutrality.
The Country of the Week is New Zealand! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
The bulletins site is here!
The RSS feed is here.
Last week's thread is here.
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 daily-ish 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 (and has automated posting when the person running it goes to sleep).
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.
Various sources that are covering the Ukraine conflict are also covering the one in Palestine, like Rybar.
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.
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.
Energy & Peripheral Development News I Forgot to Post 1/?
17 May 2017 Zimbabwe on course to complete Kariba South Expansion Project [by December 2017] — Xinhua
Followup:
4 Aug 2023 President commissions (completed) US$1,5bn Hwange Power Station Expansion Project — The Chronicle (Zimbabwe)
8 April 2021 First Smart Electric Bus Fleet In Vietnam — VinBus.vn
10 May 2022 Cambodia builds up EV infrastructure to speed electric ambitions — Nikkei Asia
20 July 2022 China-Laos electricity supply achieves two-way transmission for the first time — Global Times
25 January 2023 Flow batteries for grid-scale energy storage — MIT
I had a better article for this before 🤔 oh well. Haven't seen as much discussion of this alternative storage tech for power stations! I've even seen flow battery vehicle concepts but the main thing is getting rid of the giga sized lithium ion bricks (we're using these for datacenters :squidward-nervous:) or uber expensive vanadium ion things. This shit is made out of plentiful materials.
March 26, 2023 Researchers develop electrolyte enabling high efficiency of safe, sustainable zinc batteries — Oregon State
Needless to say there is a LOT of zinc, it is also delicious & vegan 🍽️😋. Tests promise 50% efficiency when storing power & 80% when producing hydrogen, with an estimated life expectancy of ten years.
30 Mar 2023 Could Grinding Up Lithium Batteries Help Recycle Them? — Scientific American
The kind of plan that gets "greener" when it's actually using energy that isn't from fossil fuels.
6 June 2023 How a floating hydrogen farm has moved China closer to clean renewable energy — SCMP
16 June 2023 Nation makes leaps with floating wave energy — China Daily
If this seems at all redundant with other offshore renewables, consider it can be set up easily in areas without a grid connection, random outlying islands (no offense islands in the pacific but damn god damn), regardless of there being very deep water. Nifty form of hydropower IMHO
21 June 2023 Bolivia taps China, Russia's Rosatom in bid to unlock huge lithium riches — Reuters
30 June 2023 Sinopec's first green hydrogen plant starts production in Xinjiang — Reuters
3 Jul 2023 At 453 KM/H, China Tests World’s Fastest, New-Gen High-Speed Train That Is Safer, Energy-Efficient & Intelligent — Eurasian Times
I think they need to start giving these things personalities!
5 July 2023 ‘Global China’ is a big part of Latin America’s renewable energy boom — The Conversation
Despite what all the articles tying the green revolution to lithium (as if we're gonna stop consuming electronics at the current trajectory??) as a conflict mineral would have you believe it's kinda being blown out of proportion. You've got the lithium itself being extended with all kinds of tech being developed rn like lithium-sulfur batteries (6 January 2023 Lithium-sulfur batteries are one step closer to powering the future — ANL), cellulose additives that extend the # of recharges they get (4 Nov, 2022 Chinese scientists' new gel filling could triple lifespan of lithium batteries for EVs, drones — SCMP), & replacement of lithium with sodium (it has already begun 🕴️💼🪛 HAKADI Sodium ion 18650 3V 1500mAh Battery Original Na ion SIB battery Rechargeable Cell For E-bike Power Tools DIY 12V 24V 48V 72V Battery Pack). Looks laptop-sized to me! Green tech investment is not the ecological disaster that people who have no alternatives other than carbon sequestration told me it would be :shrug-outta-hecks:. (This is your cue to post links to devastation!)
8 July 2023 “A peaceful atom” on guard of Russia’s energy security — Eastern Herald
US/EU nuclear industries get ~12/20% of their nuclear fuel from Rosatom. Or maybe I made that up. You should check that.
2 August 2023 Global Race for Lithium Lands in Rural Brazil — NACLA (NYC-based NGO)
What a Sigma move. [dodging tomatoes]
3 Aug 2023 New photocatalytic system converts carbon dioxide to valuable fuel more efficiently than natural photosynthesis — CityU Hong Kong
No idea about the efficacy of this based off their claims, but have a gander
06.08.2023 UK Concerned About China's Possible Spying Using Imported Electric Cars — Sputnik
I think we did this one here
14 Aug 2023 China's ecological civilization a profound contribution to humanity — Global Times
You gotta love Carlos 😎
25 Sept 2023 Fracking Fallout: Is America's Drinking Water Safe? — OilPrice.com
Why not take your chances! What's the worst that can happen? Water catching on fire? Mass wildlife dieoff?
1 Oct 2023 Indonesian president launches Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway, funded by China — Associated Press