in our next episode of "Western militaries/MIC just saying shit" https://archive.ph/sjHJB

Germany Orders 5,000 Boxers for €40B: ARTEC Targets 1,000/Year Production as 7 Countries Operate 2,100+ Vehicles

ARTEC company has already delivered and has orders totaling over 2,100 GTK Boxer armored vehicles and plans to produce thousand per year altogether

yeah, so this vehicle for which we have a yearly production rate of (maybe) 200, for which we have produced a little over 2K (and I think that number's counting vehicles which still haven't come off the assembly line, it's total orders, some of which haven't been fulfilled yet) over the course of sixteen years? we'll make a bajilion of 'em, don't worry. we'll even do it in a country with rising energy costs and a contracting manufacturing sector!

Very funny how Trump Accounts thing is just a way for the Government to prop up the stock market.

The funds in Trump Accounts must be invested in certain mutual funds or exchange-traded funds that track the S&P 500 or another index of primarily American equities.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-issue-guidance-on-trump-accounts-established-under-the-working-families-tax-cuts-notice-announces-upcoming-regulations

So you can't even set it to buy some Treasury etf as a "fuck you" to the Government for forcefully buying equities on your behalf.

An Iraqi resistance movement released impressive footage from one of their underground missile bases:

https://s1.cdnstatic.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/awala.mp4

U.S. Considers Full Withdrawal of Troops From Syria - Telesur English

Milei Aims to Hand Over Malvinas and Patagonia to Foreign Control - Telesur English

The Communist Party of China and the Chinese Kuomintang will jointly host a think tank forum in Beijing on February 3, the spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council announced on Wednesday.

https://xcancel.com/CGTNOfficial/status/2016647475151483267

Trump Withdraws Invitation to Canada to Join Board of Peace - Telesur English

Hasan Piker got banned (for 7 days) from Twitch for comparing ICE to the IOF (and using the term "rabid ultra-zionist pigs" in the process). So he's been live streaming on YouTube for a couple days.

Luigi Mangione will not face death penalty if convicted, judge rules - BBC

Epstein interview w/Bannon surfaced.

Jumping around and finding it an illuminating portrait of the former -- his interest in (or at least Bannon's framing of) the quantifiable and the unquantifiable, finance and relationships, the intersection of which made him, along with tons of ambition/zero scruples, one of the most powerful men in the world. ~~But there seems to be skepticism RE authenticity with many comments asserting video is an AI/deepfake. What's the bulletins take? I guess there are artifacts or w/e but these don't seem dispositive to me and the script itself is p. compelling.~~ Drop Site reposted.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs issues statement on Epstein files
Appears to be referring to an email where a "Jabor Y" refers to Modi visiting Israel to appease the US.

Very quick update on the transfer of US air defence systems from the continental USA to the Middle East in the US military buildup against Iran.

The very same C-17 Globemaster III transport/airlift aircraft (hex: AE07FE) that left Fort Bliss, Texas yesterday for Portsmouth International Airport in New Hampshire, USA, is currently now at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. So this is additional confirmation that equipment from Fort Bliss is now also being moved to the Middle East, in addition to equipment from Fort Hood. Likely air defence assets. I don't see anyone else posting about this anywhere, so I think it's worth mentioning. Fort Bliss is home to 4x PATRIOT battalions (1x is a headquarters battalion), 3x THAAD batteries and an IBCS command unit.

I haven't seen anything move from Fort Sill, Oklahoma yet, another major air defence artillery base. Worth keeping an eye on that.

Likely air defence assets are still being flown out of Fort Hood at this very minute, so I don't think all defences are in place yet, unless this is some big bluff and the US military is just flying out stuff for no reason (quite unlikely but always possible). A single PATRIOT battery usually takes 9-10x C-17s to move. A battalion (usually 6x PATRIOT batteries), usually takes between 60-70+ C-17 flights, with all the supporting equipment.

Panama voids Hong Kong-based firm's canal port contracts - BBC

Not sure if this counts as news. But I've noticed something really interesting.

When accessing Google Maps over Tor, my default focus is over Tehran - Iran. This is despite the end node being in Europe.

Is Tor leaking something relating to their operations?

I don't know how long this has been going on, but my mind can't help but link it with the military build up we've seen thus far.

Trump Hangs Putin Portrait in White House Palm Room Above Granddaughter’s Photo, Sparking Global Outrage

https://dailyglitch.com/trump-hangs-putin-portrait-in-white-house-palm-room-above-granddaughters-photo-sparking-global-outrage/

Lol

This is the Spectator (cognitohazard warning) so take it with a giant grain of salt, but:

According to unconfirmed reports, General Zhang Youxia, China’s vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), sent a company of troops (over a hundred or more) to the government’s Yingxi Hotel in western Beijing on January 18. Their mission was to arrest Xi Jinping. A few hours before, the Chinese president – alerted by an informant – set in motion countermeasures. Troops under the command of Cao Qi, head of Xi’s Central Guards Bureau, ambushed Zhang’s soldiers. In the ensuing gunfight at Yangxi Hotel, nine guards were reportedly killed along with dozens of Zhang Youxia’s soldiers. Throughout China, military movements have been banned and troops and officers have been confined to barracks. This is the bloodiest of a blizzard of rumors that have swept the internet over the weekend. If true, this is the most dramatic military scandal since the death of Mao Zedong’s army chief Lin Biao in 1972.

This reads as fanfiction to me, but there is clearly something going on with Xi's purging of the PLA's high command. Still way too early to know what (if anything) this means, or why this was done, but the rumour mill is certainly churning. That said, I was in Shanghai for the last two weeks and the vibes were totally normal. All this activity though right on the eve of the supposed 2027 date espoused by US intelligence as the cut off point for a favorable outcome for the United States in a war around Taiwan (analysis with imo is far too optimistic for the Americans, that date should've probably been something like 2020 at best) is rather... interesting. I was always of the opinion that China would never make an overt move for Taiwan, but the world has shifted dramatically in the last few years, and the room for military maneuver is wide. Both of the other two great powers (Russia and the US) have already done large scale military operations. Will China take advantage of that space and have their own Special Military Operation, as a treat? Still so much uncertainty, but I think the portends are signalling that sooner or later they will.

Per https://archive.ph/yJLjx

Despite the "ceasefire" agreement, fighting continues between the "HTS" regime and the "SDF" in northeastern Syria. Most combat is currently occurring near "SDF"-controlled Ayn al-Arab (AKA "Kobani"), which is separated and isolated from the "SDF" controlled areas in and around Qamishli and Hasakah. "SDF" drone strikes reportedly destroyed an entire "HTS" regime military convoy on this front:

https://southfront.press/kurdish-drones-obliterate-syrian-army-convoy-amid-fragile-ceasefire-videos/

Catherine O'Hara Legendary Actress Dead At 71 - TMZ

Pretty big storm hit Portugal on wednesday, especially the Leiria region on the coast (you can see how the storm formed a "sting" that went through the region).

The PM took 30 hours to declare a state of emergency, Leiria has no internet but people are saying there was a lot of destruction there. Floods in other regions on the coast.

In Marinha Grande, a former industrial region where the communist party used to be pretty strong but has since lost to the socialists and to an "independent citizens movement", there was no light or gas for a while in most places so the party opened up its local office for people to use the stoves and such, which is pretty new because there we don't usually have storms like this.

Video of someone's modular house being blown off

I doubt there will be political consequences from this, there weren't really for the other disasters we've had, and if there are it will probably be a huge shift to the far-right in the region out of resentment, because that's just how fucked things are rn

Since the previous comment is getting quite long, I'll continue here. Update on the US military buildup against Iran: The 6x EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft currently forward deployed at Puerto Rico will be heading towards the Middle East. They were the aircraft the 2x KC-46 Pegasus mid air refueling aircraft picked up earlier this morning. Their departure was confirmed by local plane spotters and amateur radio operators. My guess on F-35s was wrong.

Local spotter confirmation, same person that took a lot of the pictures of US fighter aircraft at Puerto Rico

Amateur radio operator confirmation

The EA-18G Growler is a fighter aircraft, a specialised version of the F/A-18F Super Hornet, that specialises in suppressing air defences and executing jamming/electronic attacks using additional receiver and jamming pods, anti radiation missiles (homes on the electromagnetic radiation emitted by ground based radars, nothing to do with nukes) and an electronic warfare officer in the back seat to co-ordinate all these activities.

The particular EA-18Gs deployed in Puerto Rico and used to suppress Venezuelan air defences are equipped with the latest AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer- Mid Band (NGJ-MB) pods, in addition to the older AN/ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System (TJS) pods. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier's air wing is also equipped with a squadron of EA-18Gs with the same newer NGJ-MB pods and older TJS pods, and in addition they can equip the NGJ-MB and TJS on the same aircraft, which the EA-18Gs at Puerto Rico didn't do, having to use seperate aircraft for each system. There's also a squadron of F-35Cs onboard. So there's a substantial amount of electronic attack aircraft headed towards the Middle East, totalling 2x EA-18G squadrons (12 aircraft total I'm guessing), both with the latest technology onboard to suppress air defences, and one operating from land and the other by sea.

United States Central Command (CENTCOM), the US Department of Defence combatant command for the Middle East and West Asia, has announced a "multi-day readiness exercise to demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility." Expect more movements of fighter aircraft to the Middle East.

Source

I think after nearly a month now, the dust has settled enough to try at some material analysis of the consequences of Maduro and Cilia Flores’ abduction. This will not be a very "bloomer" ‘el pueblo unido jamas sera vencido’ post, but I’ll try not to unnecessarily stress any grim pronouncements.

The point (or rather, benefit) of the episode for American objectives isn't necessarily regime change (though this has, of course, been technically accomplished with the abduction of the elected executive), but to personalize geopolitics. There exist contradictions between the interests of a nation (including but not exclusively its collective people), its state apparatus, and its individual leadership. For the most part, these interests are generally aligned, but there will always exist gaps and material differences. This can be (and historically has been) exploited.

The consequences of this range from a complete (though generally temporary) disorientation of an adversary’s leadership dynamic (such as the Romans kidnapping/eliminating Germanic chieftains like the famous Arminius and his family or Armenian/Parthian kings), to engendering shifts in grand strategy and geopolitical policy (such as the Ming becoming insular and defensive after the capture of the emperor Yingzong), to creating interpersonal compromises that would not otherwise be possible (Churchill allegedly working out the European balance of power with Stalin, including the abandonment of the Italian and Greek communists, over "a napkin paper").

This latter point is why Trump insists on person-to-person meetings with top leadership from designated adversaries like Xi or Putin (or Kim during his first term). This is also how the USSR was brought down by the likes of Reagan, Thatcher, and Kohl; the personal rapport they built with Gorbachev manifested an intense anxiety within the latter not to "disappoint" his "friends," which limited his scope of actions (not just feasibly but even cognitively) in response to the secession of the SSRs and the likes of Yeltsin (who himself would fall under a similar snare with Bush and Clinton). Analyses ranging from liberals like Zubok to Marxist-Leninists like Keeran & Kenny have all commented on this relationship dilemma as a reason why Gorbachev (deliberately and consciously) did not follow in Deng’s footsteps (noting that the Chinese response to the Tiananmen counter-revolution, and the subsequent Western propaganda backlash, actually preceded most of the counter-revolutions that would follow in other socialist states, which is a chronological relationship not often fully appreciated).

This does not imply the "Great Man of History" thesis is actually valid, but rather that the influences of the individual and the collective exist in a dialectical relationship instead of a zero-sum state.

With a month’s distance, it can be argued that Maduro’s abduction successfully serves as an example to cow the rest of the world, but this statement requires further nuance. Yes, Venezuela still largely endures and the PSUV hasn’t yet become compradors, but those would have been secondary benefits. The message isn’t to the Venezuelan people but to political leadership in especially (but not limited to) the Global South: the taboo of the personalization of geopolitics not only no longer exists as a deterrence, but that there are also no true consequences to breaches of that taboo against them and their loved ones.

It shows that the country doesn’t necessarily need its particular leadership to endure, but this fact serves to isolate that particular leadership from its people and government, by driving a cognitive and material wedge between the alignment of their interests. This fact has been repeatedly pointed out by leftists since the episode as a way to bolster morale, but without appreciation that the particular leadership being personally captured, humiliated, and treated as a criminal (alongside their partner) won’t share that view. Overall, there has been zero real blowback in general, but also none whatsoever to the benefit of Maduro’s rescue and liberation. It shows that the US could walk in, remove the top leadership, and yet leave the country alone; the country moves on, but the leadership is effectively abandoned to the whims of the United States. This exerts a moderating and coercive influence on any successors.

This abduction takes advantage of the contradictions between the interests of a political leadership and the country’s own interests by honing in on and weaponizing the gap. People are obviously loath to give Trump and his minions any credit, but this doesn’t even need to be the Trump administration’s original intent. The important thing is that these consequences are always retrospectively self-rationalizing, and this is an inevitable perception that will manifest particularly within the leadership of any designated adversaries vulnerable to what was done in Venezuela.

This may provide a material basis to explain any future actions by political leadership not just in Venezuela, but also elsewhere in the Global South that appear to go against the interests of their country, even and especially if that particular leadership has seemingly demonstrated their “bona fides” to certain principled positions in the past.

Good night