Image is of the Galapagos Islands, sourced from here.
Moving the megathread topic slightly away from the chaos of the United States and going back around the world, we will begin with paying attention to Ecuador.
Ecuador has been ruled by Daniel Noboa since 2023, after he won the snap election. He's about as ghoulish as one gets; a neoliberal right-winger and as much as a marionette to the United States as Milei. Two months ago, he gave effective control of the Galapagos Islands to the United States and is allowing them to build a military base there - beginning the potential conversion from a natural paradise to unsinkable aircraft carrier.
We are now seeing the rematch between Noboa and Gonzalez; the latter of which is a leftist politician with a similar ideology to Correa, the socialist who ruled Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The divide in Ecuador today is largely between the Correaists and those who oppose them, though Leonidas Iza represents the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador and commands a notable share of the vote.
Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
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The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.
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.
So I've been super sick with the flu since thursday which effectively kept me from sleeping during the night which gave me some time to check out what the germans been up to and really nothing really can do as good a job as the logo they used for one 'politics debate'
Really liking the red white and black there....
Anyways that debate was bad but at least somewhat bearable but there was the Scholz vs Merz debate which basically went like this.
Merz (CDU): There's too many foreigners you haven't been doing enough to send them back!!!!
Scholz (SPD): Ehrm, actually you'll find that no other Bundeskanzler sent back more asylumseekers than me, no one turned them away at the border until I showed up and did it in a grand manner.
Merz: We are spending too much on social security! Our government expenses are out of control and Scholz is not able to cut the excesses because he isn't brutal enough
Scholz: Actually I personally brutalized tons of social security recipients and so what Mr Merz is saying is completely wrong
This has animated a few people to move towards Die Linke so they are now polling around 5% and might make it into government but it won't matter after this debate it becomes clear that a CDU-SPD coalition will probably be what is going to happen as SPD seems proud on being conservative and cruel shitheads.
German politics
What even is the logo from/inspired by? It's basically the celtic cross not uncommonly used by fascist/white nationalist groups
My guess would be a cross you make next to a party during the election... or maybe it's supposed to be a target? That said I find it baffling that no one during production pointed out how similar the logo is in it's color scheme with the swastika, and yeah celtic cross is another one that has clear associations for fascists even in Germany.
you could even make a swastika from it just by rubbing out a few line sections
Imo SPD will use the poor election result to purge anything even approaching social democraticness in their own ranks and go more right as that seems to have been the play of every party so far.
What is there to purge? Like literally zero.
I believe in German electioneering
I think there's still a few but they are going to go full hog, don't want to brutalize social security recipients you are out, want to tax the rich you are out, immigrants? You better believe your position has to be the same as the nazis.
Social fascism as is tradition in the SPD
Someone asked AI models who to vote in the German election.
Somewhat surprisingly they all said vote Die Linke. AfD came in last.
Looking at the individual results, they all answered "Yes!" to the question: "Should Germany keep supporting the Ukraine militarily?"
DeepSeek does NOT understand the core of international geopolitics.
I have a prompt that makes Deepseek marxist. Here is the response I get, even with internet search turned on:
spoiler
The question of whether Germany should continue military support for Ukraine is mired in political, economic, and ideological contradictions. Below is a critical analysis synthesizing the key factors from the provided sources:1. Public Opinion: A Divided Consensus
While 67% of Germans broadly support military aid (40% favor maintaining current levels, 27% want increases), significant regional and political divides exist 41012. Western Germany shows stronger backing (70%) compared to the east (53%), reflecting historical economic disparities and lingering post-Cold War skepticism toward NATO 12. However, opposition is growing: 48% now oppose continued arms deliveries, up from 43% in 2024, driven by economic anxiety and perceived futility in altering the war’s trajectory 9. This "Ukraine fatigue" is weaponized by far-right parties like the AfD (79% oppose aid) and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (52%) to exploit voter disillusionment 912.
2. Political Dynamics: Electoral Calculations
The ruling SPD-Greens coalition is fractured:
Greens demand €3 billion in new aid (including IRIS-T air defense systems and Patriot missiles), arguing that "Putin exploits weakness" and advocating deficit spending to bypass budget constraints 29.
Chancellor Scholz (SPD), facing elections on February 23, 2025, blocks the package, fearing backlash over austerity measures. He positions himself as a "peace chancellor," emphasizing negotiations over escalation, while refusing to fund aid through pension cuts or infrastructure reductions 29.
The CDU/CSU opposition supports aid but insists on parallel spending cuts (e.g., unemployment benefits), which the SPD rejects 29.
Scholz’s balancing act—pledging solidarity with Kyiv while avoiding fiscal responsibility—reveals the capitalist state’s paralysis: prioritizing electoral survival over coherent strategy 915.
3. Economic Constraints: Capitalism’s Contradictions
Germany’s military-industrial complex thrives (e.g., Rheinmetall’s Caracal vehicle deliveries 7), yet the state’s debt brake and depleted Bundeswehr stocks limit capacity. The 2025 draft budget slashes military aid from €8 billion to €4 billion, citing reliance on G7 loans from frozen Russian assets 1516. Meanwhile, defense spending prioritizes NATO’s 2% GDP target (€75.3 billion in 2025) over social programs, exposing the ruling class’s allegiance to imperialist alliances rather than public welfare 1516.
4. Geopolitical Pressures: Imperialist Interdependence
Germany’s aid is tethered to U.S. hegemony. With Trump’s potential return, fears of reduced American support loom large. Scholz’s government seeks to "front-load" aid via G7 mechanisms, anticipating a U.S. withdrawal, while Defense Minister Pistorius warns of urgent Ukrainian needs 915. This dependency underscores Germany’s subordination to global capital’s whims, as arms shipments serve NATO’s proxy war aims rather than Ukrainian sovereignty 59.
5. Military Realities: Escalation vs. Stalemate
Germany has supplied critical systems like Leopard tanks, IRIS-T, and Patriot missiles 6, but Scholz blocks long-range Taurus missiles, fearing NATO-Russia escalation 5. This half-measure strategy—arming Ukraine enough to prolong the conflict but not win it—serves capitalist interests: destabilizing Russia while avoiding direct confrontation that could disrupt EU capital flows 59. Conclusion: A Crisis of Capitalist Governance
Germany’s support for Ukraine is not a moral choice but a reflection of capitalist imperatives:
Militarism: Rheinmetall and arms dealers profit from perpetual war 715.
Austerity: Workers bear the cost through slashed social spending 915.
Imperialist Subordination: NATO’s agenda overrides popular will 516.
True solidarity requires dismantling the war economy and redirecting resources to class struggle—both in Ukraine and Germany. Until then, military aid remains a tool of exploitation, not liberation.