This person jaq James has written several in depth papers criticizing the various major China bad uyghur genocide reports. I've mentioned the ohchr Xinjiang report on hexbear a few times as the maximal credible set of accusations. Working paper 4 in the link below is about that and is worth reading. These are very legal arguments but are quite readable.
this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2024
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Bulletins and News Discussion from December 16th to December 22nd, 2024 - Assad's Apology
(hexbear.net)
Image is of Assad's presidential palace in 2013. There's more images of it in this article, though the words in it aren't worth reading.
Here is Assad's version of events. I like to imagine he's making one of those Youtuber apology videos where they sigh at the start and talk in a chastised yet somewhat defensive tone of voice.
As terrorism spread across Syria and ultimately reached Damascus on the evening of Saturday 7th December 2024, questions arose about the president's fate and whereabouts. This occurred amidst a flood of misinformation and narratives far removed from the truth, aimed at recasting international terrorism as a liberation revolution for Syria.
At such a critical juncture in the nation’s history, where truth must take precedence, it is essential to address these distortions. Unfortunately, the prevailing circumstances at the time, including a total communication blackout for security reasons, delayed the release of this statement. This does not replace a detailed account of the events that unfolded, which will be provided when the opportunity allows.
First, my departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles, as some have claimed. On the contrary, I remained in Damascus, carrying out my duties until the early hours of Sunday 8th December 2024. As terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus, I moved to Latakia in co-ordination with our Russian allies to oversee combat operations. Upon arrival at the Hmeimim airbase that morning, it became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from all battle lines and that the last army positions had fallen. As the field situation in the area continued to deteriorate, the Russian military base itself came under intensified attack by drone strikes.
With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday 8th December. This took place a day after the fall of Damascus following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all remaining state institutions.
At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or party. The only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught.
I reaffirm that the person who, from the very first day of the war, refused to barter the salvation of his nation for personal gain, or to compromise his people in exchange for numerous offers and enticements is the same person who stood alongside the officers and soldiers of the army on the front lines, just metres from terrorists in the most dangerous and intense battlefields. He is the same person who, during the darkest years of the war, did not leave but remained with his family alongside his people, confronting terrorism under bombardment and the recurring threats of terrorist incursions into the capital over 14 years of war. Furthermore, the person who has never abandoned the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon, nor betrayed his allies who stood by him, cannot possibly be the same person who would forsake his own people or betray the army and nation to which he belongs.
I have never sought positions for personal gain but have always considered myself as a custodian of a national project, supported by the faith of the Syrian people, who believed in its vision. I have carried an unwavering conviction in their will and ability to protect the state, defend its institutions, and uphold their choices to the very last moment.
When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose, rendering its occupation meaningless. This does not, in any way, diminish my profound sense of belonging to Syria and her people – a bond that remains unshaken by any position or circumstance. It is a belonging filled with hope that Syria will once again be free and independent.
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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.
After relentlessly bending the knee to "mama bear" Nancy Pelosi and the Dem establishment, all while providing cover for American participation in the Gaza Genocide with progressive voters, AOC lost the vote for top Dem spot on the House Oversight committee to Gerry Connolly, a 74-year old Democrat from Virginia with throat cancer, after Pelosi threw all her weight behind Connolly.
Serves that worm right lol.
She debased herself to the Dem establishment, endorsed Biden & Harris without asking for any policy in return (policy that might help Dems win in 2024 as well!!), she lied for them and she was still "TOO RADICAL" for them anyway.
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Belousov said that the Russian Defense Ministry must be prepared for any development of the situation, including a possible military conflict with NATO in Europe in the next decade
According to him, the decisions at the alliance summit and doctrinal documents indicate that such a conflict is possible.
Other statements:
— The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 560,000 people in 2024
— In total, during the Second Military Operation, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost about 1 million people, and during the “Kursk adventure” — 40 thousand
— The speed of advancement of Russian troops is currently on average about 30 square kilometers per day
— In 2024, Russian troops liberated almost 4.5 thousand square kilometers of territory occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces
— Over 427 thousand people have entered the military under contract since the beginning of 2024
— Compared to 2022, the Russian military will receive 7 times more tanks, 3 times more infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, and 23 times more drones
— In the special operation zone, over 58 thousand units of weapons and equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were destroyed in 2024, including 18 thousand of foreign manufacture
— Russian air defense shot down 86 Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles, 215 ATACMS, 1,629 HIMARS projectiles, and more than 27,000 drones in 2024
— The US will modernize all components of the nuclear triad by 2030 and create new nuclear warheads
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apparently they shut down airspace over Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio on Friday night because there were a bunch of drones.
article includes audio of air traffic chatter mentioning them.
(sorry if this has already been posted, I searched the name of the base with and without the hyphen and didn't find any results on this comm)
Only thing that makes sense is military drones or mass hysteria. The military would shoot down anything else.
Some sheriff's department sent their own drone after the mystery drones and found that they "easily evaded" the police drone. Like no shit, it's because your toy was chasing a commercial airliner 30k feet up moving 500mph lol.
People claim that government officials and people who work in aviation taking this seriously makes it more real, but they're all still human beings who take dumps like the rest of us and most of them are just as susceptible to bullshit as everyone else.
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Another school shooting
I’m sure that’s great news for the bourgeois who are glad the ruling class is no longer being targeted and we’re back to our regularly scheduled hell world programming
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Wtf
Democrats eye Harris 2028 presidential run as they devise political comeback Party aides are confident in US vice-president’s ability to bounce back, including a bid for California governor emocratic party aides have begun to float ideas for a Kamala Harris political comeback, reportedly eyeing another run at the US’s highest office even as the party continues to grapple with the electoral messages contained in the vice-president’s decisive defeat in November’s White House race against Donald Trump.
Harris, who has reportedly not ruled out a second run for the presidency, is now reported to be considering a run for the California governorship, currently held until 2027 by Gavin Newsom. Newsom was a rumoured presidential contender during the chaotic summer that saw Joe Biden step down from a rematch with Trump – whom he defeated in the 2020 election – and then endorse Harris as his replacement.
According to the Washington Post on Monday, some Democratic party aides believe Trump – who, among other things, overcame a criminal conviction and other such charges to win – has sufficiently overturned the norms of losing White House candidates’ not attempting a second bite at the proverbial apple to give Harris the opportunity of a repeat bid in 2028, this time for the full cycle.
“Since Donald Trump has rewritten the rules – the norms – I don’t believe Kamala Harris or anyone should try to go with precedent, ever,” said Donna Brazile, a Harris ally, Al Gore 2000 presidential campaign manager and political commentator. “There are no rule books.”
Molly Murphy, a pollster who worked on the both the Biden and Harris campaigns, told the outlet: “The rules potentially don’t apply this time, and she still absolutely could have a mulligan because of the unique circumstances of this race and the candidate switch.
“But I don’t think it will be a given.”
The sentiment that Harris could make another bid for the White House comes as the Democratic party is sculpting an argument that her loss to Trump was not as comprehensive as has been popularly portrayed. She emerged from her three-month, $1.5bn campaign with higher approval ratings than she entered it, according to the political website 538, though she lost the electoral college 312-226 and became the first of three candidates to lose the popular vote to Trump.
“She is ending this race in a very different place than other nominees that have lost,” one Harris adviser told the outlet. “Her approval is higher. People were very happy with the race that she ran.”
Supporters further point to unequal political consequences for male and female candidates following a ballot box loss. Hillary Clinton did not attempt another run after losing to Trump in 2016, handing the Democratic torch to one-term president Biden.
Debbie Walsh, director of the center for American women and politics at Rutgers University, told the Post, “landing in general has kind of been harder for women”, noting that women who served at state level positions “don’t get the soft landing of a position in a law firm that allows them to regroup and earn some money and maybe run for something else. They struggle a bit.”
But as Harris considers her future – husband Doug Emhoff is returning to entertainment law – donors and supporters in California, where she served as a US senator and state attorney general, are pushing for a run for governor in 2026 to replace who would then be the outgoing, term-limited Newsom.
“The people that drove that conversation – within 18 minutes of the election being called – was the finance team,” one Harris confidante told the outlet.
If Harris, who beat Trump by 20 points in California, runs for and wins the governorship, she would become the nation’s first Black female governor, a considerable consolation prize.
But other Democrats are also considering both races. For president, Newsom as well as fellow governors JB Pritzker of Illinois and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan are said to be getting into position.
Harris campaign aides acknowledge the competition but say her name recognition, coupled with donors and experience as well as a conviction that she was dragged by Biden’s unpopularity, opens the starting gate for a comeback.
It’s almost Shakespearean that Joe Biden didn’t just kill his own campaign – he killed hers, too,” a Harris campaign adviser told the Post.
Meanwhile, California congresswoman Katie Porter, a potential state governor candidate, diplomatically told the outlet: “I am certain that everyone will want to support Kamala Harris in continuing to serve this country.”
Harris herself has not revealed her thinking but is said to be “processing” her loss and plans to “stay in the fight”.
“The fight that fueled our campaign – a fight for freedom and opportunity – that did not end on November 5,” Harris said on a call with donors and supporters in November.
Harris ultimately used the word “fight” 19 times during that call.
That last sentence killed me inside. My day is ruined.
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Is Freeland’s exit a sign of a turn away from Washington? -Yves Engler
spoiler
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Madame Freeland.
Chrystia Freeland’s resignation from cabinet is a small win for all those who wish Canada would take a more independent foreign policy and not simply toady to the Americans.
A year after becoming prime minister, Justin Trudeau replaced foreign affairs minister Stéphane Dion, who represented a less pro-military and Washington faction of the Canadian elite, with Freeland. When she became foreign minister, the US embassy in Ottawa sent a memo to the State Department in Washington entitled “Canada Adopts ‘America First’ Foreign Policy.” Uncovered through a freedom of information request by Jay Watts, the largely redacted cable concluded that Trudeau promoted Freeland “in large part because of her strong U.S. contacts” and that her “number one priority” was working closely with Washington.
Coordinating the bid to overthrow Venezuela’s government was the highest profile example of Freeland’s “America First” policy. In 2020 Venezuelan foreign affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza pointed out that the Trudeau government’s Venezuela policy took a sharply belligerent turn after Freeland replaced Dion in January 2017. Freeland helped establish the Lima Group and participated in a half dozen meetings of the anti-Venezuelan government coalition. As the Globe and Mail reported, “Freeland spoke with Juan Guaidó to congratulate him on unifying opposition forces in Venezuela, two weeks before he declared himself interim president” in January 2019.
As part of her pro-Washington policy in the Hemisphere, Freeland also supported the ouster of Bolivia’s first indigenous president. Hours after the military command forced Evo Morales to resign on November 10, 2019, Freeland released a celebratory statement declaring, “Canada stands with Bolivia and the democratic will of its people.”
Ottawa provided significant support for the Organization of American States’ effort to discredit Bolivia’s 2019 vote, which fueled opposition protests and justified the coup. “Canada commends the invaluable work of the OAS audit mission in ensuring a fair and transparent process, which we supported financially and through our expertise”, noted Freeland at the time. But the OAS audit mission was designed to precipitate Morales ouster. A slew of studies demonstrated the partisan nature of the OAS audit mission and a year later Morales’ former finance minister, Luis Acre, won 55% of the vote for president and his MAS party took a large majority in the Congress.
Freeland is deeply anti-Palestinian. She’s attended multiple genocide rallies over the past fourteen months and declared that “Canada stands with Israel”. When I asked Freeland in April if she condemned Israel’s killing of 14,000 Palestinian children she declined to respond. During a visit to Israel in 2018 Freeland announced that should Canada win a seat on the United Nations Security Council, it would act as an “asset for Israel” on the Council.
Israel-first Liberal MP Anthony Housefather and his former colleague, turned Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center head, Michael Levitt, bemoaned her resignation. Levitt labeled Freeland’s resignation letter “a devastating blow to the Prime Minister”.
Freeland is particularly hawkish on Ukraine and the NATO proxy war. As finance minister she’s led the international charge to freeze $300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets and give them to Ukraine. Canada has pledged $5 billion to Ukraine that was taken from seized Russian assets. Freeland’s also repeatedly called for escalating the NATO proxy war and sending more arms to Ukraine.
Long before Russia’s February 2022 invasion, Freeland framed the smoldering fighting in eastern Ukraine as a global battle between good and evil. In November 2019 she declared that Ukraine was at the “forefront of the struggle between democracy and authoritarianism” and that “modern Ukraine is the country where the struggle is ongoing and the future of the rules-based international order and genuine democracy in the world will be determined.” But democracy has never been a genuine concern for the hardline nationalists in Freeland’s family. Her grandfather, Michael Chomiak, was a Ukrainian Nazi collaborator and propagandist during World War II.
When it comes to Freeland’s international policy the dominant media act like fawning sycophants, rather than serious journalists. Their portrayal of Freeland is often downright embarrassing. Expect that type of commentary in coming days.
Chrystia Freeland’s letter announcing her resignation suggests she’s seeking to push the Liberals further to the right. She’s likely hoping to force Justin Trudeau to resign so she can take the reins of the Liberal Party. A reminder that the Liberals can get even worse.