Image: the last sight of many a commie.
Please pronounce his name wrong to make the title pun work better.
Anyway - Javier Milei, a caricature of a libertarian invented deep in the Hexbear Bit Factory, has won the Argentinian general election; and with a 12 point lead over Massa, it wasn't even particularly close. There are several analogies for this situation - Trump beating Hillary, Bolsonaro winning in 2018, or the alternate universe where Le Pen beat Macron. Massa is not a great guy. The last couple years have been difficult for Argentina, facing massive inflation and the same general economic downturns that are happening everywhere.
Milei is an... interesting person. To name just a couple things going on in his deeply bizarre life, he has a very special relationship with his sister, and an even more special relationship with his mastiff, Conan. When Conan died in 2017, he was so utterly distraught that he had him cloned into four new dogs, named Murray, Milton, Robert, and Lucas, for his economist idols. And he uses mediums to speak to his dead dog. This is probably the closest we're ever going to get to having a dog be president of a country.
Milei wants to essentially collapse the economy even harder. Playing off the general public sentiment of "dollar = good, peso = bad", he has vowed to make the national currency of Argentina the US dollar, thus eagerly giving a massive amount of control over the Argentinian economy directly to America. He wants to take a chainsaw to the status quo, cut off trade with communist countries like China, and demolish the Central Bank. Will Argentinian capitalists and the Senate let him do this? Probably not. What happens with their membership in BRICS+? Who knows. Where does Peronism go from here? Who can say.
But he still won, and will now be president. I suppose that every dog has its day.
Friendly reminder: when commenting about a news event, especially something that just happened, please provide a source of some kind. While ideally this would be on nitter or archived, any source is preferable to none at all given.
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.
The Country of the Week is Argentina! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Links and Stuff
The bulletins site is down.
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Add to the above list if you can.
Resources For Understanding The War
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.
Telegram Channels
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
Pro-Russian
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
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.
Last week's discussion post.
Part 2
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Africa:
Russia had begun free shipments of grain totaling up to 200,000 tons to Africa by the end of the year^PD^ Connecting Ethiopia and Djibouti: a railway built by the Chinese for the African people^PD^ Chinese scientists plan to boost cassava yields in Africa^CGTN^ Can African soybeans help ease China’s reliance on US to feed insatiable demand?^SCMP^ Corruption and Rights Abuses Are Flourishing in Lithium Mining Across Africa, a New Report Finds^ICN^ 110 Dead and 770,000 Displaced in Horn of Africa, El Niño Rains^TS^
Algeria appoints new ambassador to Spain after nearly 20 months of friction^AN^
Burkina Faso: at least 70 dead, including children, in a massacre in early November^AN^ Russia backing Burkina Faso’s fight against deadly disease^RT^
New Power Station in the DR Congo Showcases Why Democratically-Elected Leaders in Africa Really Like Working With China^CGS^
Ethiopian PM affirms "no plans for invasion over Red Sea ports access"^AN^
AfDB lifts financial sanctions off Gabon after Bongo removed in coup^AN^ Gabon: military authorities announce elections for August 2025^AN^
Ghana: towards the creation of a reparations fund for slavery^AN^
Trial Resumes in Guinea After Dramatic Jailbreak Raises Concerns^AN^
Kenyan and Sudanese Leaders Agree to Speed up Peace Process^TS^
Malawi: President Chakwera bans himself and his cabinet from foreign travel to cut spending^AN^ UK aid cuts leave Malawi vulnerable to droughts and cyclones^CCN^
Niger's military regime congratulates Mali on "liberation of Kidal"^AN^ Mali's military seize control of Kidal rebel stronghold^AN^
Shades of green hydrogen: EU demand set to transform Namibia^CCN^ Namibia Launches First Seed Bank for Biodiversity Protection^TS^
Nigeria unions call for nationwide strike despite court order^AN^
How the United States underdeveloped Somalia^MR^
Turkish power generator Karpowership to start supplying South Africa electricity in 2024^BNE^
Zimbabwe capital city declares state of emergency as cholera cases increase^PD^
North America:
The World Will Have to Pry Oil Production From Alberta's Cold, Dead Hands^Jacobin^ Canada’s steadfast support for Big Agriculture’s assault on Mexican biodiversity^MR^
Domestic:
U.S. dollar plunges to 2-month low after October inflation report^PD^ Working more, making less: Life under “Bidenomics”^MR^ Only 14% of US voters say Joe Biden has made them better off^FT^ US credit card debt hits historic high^RT^ US Health Care Strip-Mined for Profit: Primary Care Physicians Becoming Scarce, Poorly Trained Nurse Practitioners Run Wild^NC^ San Francisco mocked in China for moving homeless away from Apec summit venue^SCMP^
Politics:
Biden tanks in polls, but media downplays impact of Gaza on voters^RNN^ Why Biden Is in Trouble About the Economy^NC^ House Speaker launched draft to avoid US gov't shutdown^MP^ Pentagon fails sixth audit in a row^RS^ Baltimore’s failure to educate Black children is a threat to building Black political power^RNN^
Infrastructure:
US Regions Will Suffer a Stunning Variety of Climate-Caused Disasters, Report Finds^ICN^ Report Charts Climate Change’s Growing Impact in the US, While Stressing Benefits of Action^ICN^ Biden Moves To Reduce U.S. Reliance On Russian Nuclear Supply Chain^NC^ Massive blaze burns at chemical plant north of Houston^WSWS^ Billions in Federal Assistance after New Mexico’s Largest Wildfire. But Little Money to Repair Streams^CoB^
Latin America:
Argentina's monthly inflation back to one-digit figures^MP^ One week Before the Elections in Argentina, Sergio Massa and Far-Right Javier Milei are Neck and Neck^RM^ No favorite between Milei and Massa ahead of runoff^MP^ ‘A normal guy’: Argentina’s radical Milei struggles to rebrand for run-off vote^FT^ “Scholar” Milei praises Thatcher and loses presidential debate^MP^ Argentina and Chile sign key lithium agreement^MP^
Russia delivered a record amount of crude to Brazil in October, becoming the country’s third-largest supplier.^RT^
Chilean president has 59% disapproval; polls show 42% do not support new constitution^MP^ Sentenced Mapuche leaders cry 'neo-fascist counter-offensive'^MP^ Hard times ahead for wine in Chile; climate change hits the industry in northern hemisphere^MP^
Cuba’s Human Rights Achievements are Highlighted in Geneva^RM^ ‘Economic asphyxiation’: U.S. restricts food supplies in bid to strangle Cuban revolution^PW^ US Blows Off The Whole World To Punish Cuba^RM^
Mangroves Can Protect Haiti From Climate Chaos. They’re Disappearing.^HL^ Haiti and Palestine: Small Nations but Symbolically Huge^HL^
President Xi calls for expanding China-Mexico cooperation in finance, emerging industries^CGTN^
Ottawa silent as Panama rises up against Canadian copper mine^CD^ Panama: Police Harshly Repress Anti-Mining Protesters^TS^
Paraguayan corn exports fall sharply^MP^ Paraguay and Venezuela resume diplomatic ties^MP^
Peru: Boluarte is Accused of Genocide of Indigenous Peoples^TS^ Only 10 Percent of Peruvians Approve of President Boluarte^TS^
Fuel shortages expected in Uruguay amid distribution conflict^MP^ Uruguay's Energy Minister Elisa Facio said Monday that there would be no fuel shortages.^MP^
Venezuela and Russia Advance in De-Dollarized Payment System^TS^ Venezuela Rejects Guyanese Oil Projects in Disputed Sea Area^TS^ Maduro Addresses Venezuelan Ambassadors Regarding Essequibo^TS^ Will the Next Geopolitical Flash Point Be a Centuries-Old Border Dispute in an Oil-Rich Corner of South America?^NC^ Kellogg’s takes legal action against Venezuela over brand misuse^Bilaterals^
Part 3
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War:
In our lurch toward war in three places, who exactly will fight?^RS^ A piece essentially stating "Either reinstate the draft or reconsider our imperial strategy. The ‘Axis of Resistance’ pushing US to ramp up Middle East defences^FT^ US running low on air-defense systems – WSJ^RT^
Palestine:
Genocide:
PFLP: Three Updates for November 10, 2023^RC^ Not Getting It^MoA^
US Official Says Gaza Death Toll Likely Higher Than Being Reported^SP^ Israeli Attack on Hospitals in Gaza Continues^TS^ Biden admin justifies Israel’s assault on Gaza hospitals with recycled Israeli ‘intelligence’^GZ^ Macron appears to have backtracked on his comments about Israeli strikes killing scores of civilians in Gaza.^RT^ Aid supplies to Gaza halted again, UN says starvation imminent^Euractiv^ Palestinians believe they can’t coexist with Israel – poll^RT^ I mean, they literally cannot exist alongside Zionists, regardless of whether they believe they can or can't, the same way that the Jews could not co-exist with the Nazis. Palestinians sue Biden for failing to prevent 'unfolding genocide' in Gaza^MEE^ German Health Minister Lauterbach: Supporting the Gaza genocide and trivialising the Holocaust^WSWS^
Politics:
Israel’s war debt soaring^RT^ Thousands rally in Israel demanding Netanyahu’s resignation as government seeks to crush dissent^WSWS^ ‘The fear is everywhere’: Israel’s internal crackdown^RNN^ US stance on Gaza ‘paralyzing’ UN Security Council - Russia^RT^ US will take massive hit in global standing over Israel^RS^ Why does the US support Israel? A geopolitical analysis with economist Michael Hudson^GPE^ Latin America Is Leading the Way in Standing Up to Israel^Jacobin^ Colombia to Collaborate with Algeria to Denounce Israel’s Crimes before the ICC^RM^ Africans see hypocrisy in US policy on Israel in Gaza^RS^ Calls for Gaza cease-fire divide Europe’s Socialists^P^ Indonesia calls for boycott of ‘pro-Israeli’ goods^RT^ Such as Coca-Cola and McDonalds. Iran says it hopes to work with China to de-escalate Israel-Gaza war^SCMP^
Protests:
The largest pro-Palestinian protest in U.S. history was “a turning point.” Now it’s spreading^MR^ Palestinian and Israeli Communists tell U.S. audience: Fight for ceasefire now^PW^ The mass protest in London and the global fight against Israel’s genocide in Gaza^WSWS^ Largest Australian protests against Gaza genocide yet, blacked out by media^WSWS^ Thousands march in Cape Town in solidarity with Palestinians^AN^ People rally to support Palestinians in Jordan^PD^ Saudi Arabia detains worshippers praying for Gaza in holy sites^MEE^
Left Critique:
The issue is not racism but the Pan European White Supremacist colonial/capitalist patriarchy
The demand for a ceasefire is necessary but not sufficient: The demand must be for decolonization and Palestinian self-determination.^MR^
The Pogrom, Indians, and Genealogies of the Israeli Settler-Vigilante^MR^
Team B and the Jerusalem Conference: How Israel Helped Craft Modern-Day “Terrorism”^MPN^
China:
Taiwan rules out invasion from Chinese mainland in near future.^RT^
My brother in christ, they possessed those means years ago.
ASEAN Defense Chiefs Expand Talks to China, U.S., India^CGS^ China, five Southeast Asian countries to hold joint military exercise^CGTN^
Malaysia Leader Pushes ‘Active Neutrality’ Strategy Toward U.S and China^CGS^ China open to expert-level talks on seafood ban, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says after talks with Xi Jinping^SCMP^
US, China need to engage more with developing Apec economies, trade chief of 2024 host nation Peru says^SCMP^ Apec 2023: China, Japan leaders pledge to ‘coexist peacefully’, manage differences in first meeting in a year^SCMP^ Apec summit: clashing protesters cheer for Beijing or call for justice in China as leaders gather in San Francisco^SCMP^ Xi meets Kishida, reaffirming strategic and mutually beneficial relations^GT^ IPEF: New Cold War weapon backfires^MR^
San Francisco Meeting:
Biden and Xi meet in San Francisco^FT^ Xi meets Biden^MR^ Chinese FM Wang Yi says Xi-Biden meeting went well, based on mutual respect^CGTN^ No serious effort to reset US-China relations at San Francisco summit^IP^ Xi-Biden summit: leaders agree to revisit historic science and technology pact^SCMP^ Chinese President Xi Jinping trying to repair damage done by Biden^PW^ US-China relations: Beijing warns companies against selling equipment, precursors for fentanyl^SCMP^ ‘Envoys of friendship’: Xi Jinping hints that new pandas are on the way to the US^SCMP^
Russia:
Russia has five million Ukrainian refugees – diplomat^RT^
Ukraine's Demographics Dictate To End The Fight^MoA^ Russo-Ukrainian War: The Reckoning^MR^ Originally at Big Serge. West sees Ukraine conflict lasting five more years.^RT^ I mean, at this fucking rate... EU has given Ukrainian military €27 billion – Borrell^RT^ Zelenskyy tells Ukrainians to prepare for Russian winter onslaught^Euractiv^ US Abrams tanks made no difference – Zelensky^RT^ France to end free weapons supplies to Ukraine^RT^ Don’t plan yet for Ukraine reconstruction^IP^ Ukraine’s Kyiv comes under attack for first time in months, mayor says^AJ^ EU will miss 1mn artillery shell March supply deadline as Ukraine's ammo crisis deepens^BNE^ Germany Set to Double Its Ukraine Military Aid Under Scholz Plan^BB^ Increasing it to $8 billion. US seeks to thwart Russia’s ambition to become a major LNG exporter^FT^ The shadowy network smuggling European microchips into Russia^FT^ The US-led price cap on Russian oil exports has failed and “almost no Russian oil is being sold for less than $60”^BNE^ Denmark could block Russian oil tankers from reaching markets^FT^ US charges three more tankers with busting oil price cap sanctions, warns 30 more companies^BNE^ The Media’s Nord Stream lies just keep coming^MR^
Part 4
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Labour:
Quelle Surprise! Fast Fashion Exploits Poor Workers; Industry Engages in Empty Virtue-Signalling^NC^
Portland teachers enter second week of strike as Democratic politicians refuse to secure more funding for schools^WSWS^
Temporary workers in Cameroon’s public hospitals continue to fight for permanent contracts with the civil service^ET^
First Avenue workers’ victory: another win for union and worker center collaborations^RNN^
German rail union announces 20-hour train strike^DW^
Half the staff fired after workers at Indie music platform unionize^PW^
Auto Workers Ratify New Contracts at the Big 3^LN^
Left and Right:
Internal opposition pulls out of Greek left in heated meeting^Euractiv^ Germany gets a new antiwar party, this time on the left^RS^
LGBTQIA:
Content Warning - this section is not usually good news.
Trans murders remain at ‘consistently high level’ as Trans Awareness Week begins^EN^ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' Drag Ban Can't Be Enforced, Supreme Court Rules^Advocate^
Russia Announces Chilling Move to Label 'International Public LGBT Movement' as 'Extremist'^Advocate^
Energy:
Has the Energy Transition Hit a Wall?^NC^
World's largest 18-megawatt offshore wind turbine rolls off assembly line^CGTN^
Climate and Biodiversity:
Kenya: Nations negotiate terms of plastics treaty in Nairobi^AN^ In UN talks for a global plastic treaty, delegates to face off over production limits^Euractiv^ This Week in Nairobi, Nations Gather for a Third Round of Talks on an International Plastics Treaty, Focusing on Its Scope and Ambition^ICN^ Early progress hours before Joe Biden-Xi Jinping meeting as rare US-China climate accord is announced^SCMP^
The Last 12 Months Were Hottest the World Has Experienced in Last 125,000 Years^SP^ New study finds overwhelming evidence of harms from fracking^MR^ LNG worse for climate than coal – study^RT^
More than Half of World’s Largest Companies’ Net Zero Pledges Are False Promises, Study Finds^DS^
Microgrids Can Bolster Creaky Electricity Systems, But Most States Do Little to Encourage Their Development^ICN^
Climate change: Water scarcity worst in South Asia, UN says^DW^
Penguin protection paused^Ecologist^
The peasant food web^Ecologist^ A piece on agrarian localism vs industrial-scale food production.
'We want a liveable future'^Ecologist^
Nigel Farage’s Reform Party Took £135,000 from Climate Science Deniers and Fossil Fuel Interests^DS^ UK sued for counting wood burning with carbon capture as ‘negative emissions’^Euractiv^ Californian Factory Captures CO2 Directly From the Air^TS^
"Ambitious" is understating it a little.
Why the Belief That Carbon Capture Technologies Can Work at Gigaton-Scale Is a Gigantic Gamble^DS^
Miscellaneous Analysis:
The Ideal Amount of Work and Leisure^DE^
Western Left and the U.S.-China contradiction^MR^
The intimate embrace between Liberalism and the Far Right: The Forty-Sixth Newsletter (2023).^MR^
Meridel Le Sueur’s ‘Proletarian Literature and the Middle West’^PW^
Dipshittery and Cope:
Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack^WaPo^
Tens of thousands march in Paris against antisemitism^DW^
I Love My Trans Comrades!
Young people don’t want to fight in imperialist wars? Clutches pearls clearly we need a draft.