Michael Hudson posting continues, on why left wing governments in the Global South will inevitably be replaced by right wing governments. The answer is neoliberalism, and dollar hegemony. Left wing movements in the Global South cannot succeed so long as the world remains dollarized.

Among the BRICS+ countries, Argentina is a case in point. Its foreign dollar debt has grown largely by IMF sponsorship. The IMF’s main political function in US foreign policy has been to enable pro-American client oligarchies to move their money out of countries whenever there is a chance of a left-wing or simply democratic reformer being elected. Convert their Argentinean currency into dollars lowers the peso’s exchange rate. Without IMF intervention, that would mean that as the exchange rate falls, the wealthy classes engaging in capital flight receive fewer and fewer dollars. To support the currency – and hence, the hard-currency dollars that capital-flight actors receive – the IMF lends the right-wing government dollars to buy up the excess pesos that the client oligarchy is selling off. That enables Argentineans to move their money out of the country to obtain a much higher amount of US dollars than they would if the IMF were not lending money to the right-wing puppet government.

When the new reform government comes in, it finds itself loaded down with a huge foreign debt owed to the IMF. This debt has not been taken on in a way that helped Argentina develop its economy and earn dollars to pay back the loan. It is simply a result of IMF support of right-wing governments. And the IMF then tells the new government (whether Argentina or any other debtor) to pay off its foreign loans by lowering the wages of labor. That is the only way that the IMF recognizes for countries to “stabilize” their balance of payments. So the reform government is obliged to behave just like a right-wing government, intensifying the class war of capital against labor. The “cure” for their balance-of-payments deficits thus becomes even worse than the original disease, that is, its rentier oligarchy moving their money out of the country.

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/10/michael-hudson-a-brics-bank-how-would-it-really-function.html

Via Al Mayadeen:

El-Sisi expressed Egypt's readiness for a demilitarized Palestinian state with security guarantees from NATO, the United Nations, or Arab and foreign forces. He also affirmed his efforts to extend the temporary ceasefire to release more prisoners.

Article at link:

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/el-sisi-supports-a-demilitarized-palestinian-state

Virgin US State Department vs chad Ansarallah spokesman: https://nitter.cz/meowsandry/status/1727066505441865860

A bomb hit the Indonesian hospital - killing 12 people.

I can't wait for the IDF to say "No, no, no, no, no. It was not our bomb that hit the hospital. And here we have a 3D recreation that shows it was Mr. Hamas! Look carefully please. As you can see - before Mr. Hamas pushes the BOMB HOSPITAL button he is laughing..."

If you’re just joining us, Israeli forces are fighting near Gaza’s Indonesian hospital, where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks.

Health officials have managed to evacuate some of the wounded, but a medical worker inside the facility and the Health Ministry said a shell struck the second floor of the hospital, killing 12 people.

The health official blamed Israel, which denied shelling the hospital, saying its troops returned fire on militants who targeted them from inside the 3.5-acre (1.4 hectare) compound.

Meanwhile 28 premature babies were evacuated from Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital by the World Health Organization and transported to Egypt on Monday. Three others were transferred to an Emirati-run hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza, the Red Crescent said.

More than 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain stranded at the compound that Israeli forces stormed days ago.

- The Guardian

I just listened to the latest Citations Needed news brief about Palestine and now I'm trying to understand what the Israeli plan for Gaza is. It seems like it's

• 1. Order everyone to evacuate from northern Gaza to southern Gaza under the pretext that they have to fight Hamas in northern Gaza
• 2. Destroy everything in northern Gaza (we are currently here)
• 3. Order everyone to evacuate from southern Gaza to Sinai in Egypt (and perhaps other countries who will "accept refugees") under the pretext that they now have to fight Hamas in southern Gaza
• 4. Destroy everything in southern Gaza
• 5. Annex Gaza and the West Bank. The displacement of 2+ million Palestinians out of Gaza will make demographics more favorable for Israeli democracy even if they annex the West Bank and all of its population
• 6. Start the same shit in Sinai?

I don't really know much about the region beyond what I've been reading since Oct 7 so I don't know if these are Israel's geopolitical goals. I understand that Egypt is a US ally but I can't imagine that they can easily absorb possibly millions of refugees into their country, so it feels like SOMETHING will have to give at step 3 above, although I don't know what that looks like.

As an Israeli, I urge the Irish government to show utmost restraint in its response, respect the Algerian militant's human rights, and call for an immediate ceasefire.

Because Ireland was about to bomb the dude’s entire neighborhood, killing his innocent neighbors including children?

The settler mind cannot comprehend anything less. She really thought she had something there.

by Slammer on twitter

i have bluesky codes for any nerd that wants them

https://archive.is/Ltf9R

Iran unveils Mehran Surface-to-Air Missile System Able to Target Israeli F-35s

Wouldn't that mean it could shoot down F-35s in general since the U.S like to give Israel actual primo war materials?

Iran recently unveiled a range of cutting-edge defense technologies at an aerospace exhibition attended by Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei. Among these, the "Fattah-2" hypersonic missile and the somewhat mysterious "Mehran" mobile defense system stood out, marking a pivotal moment in Iran's defense capabilities. This event was highlighted by the Fars News Agency, an Iranian media outlet, on November 19, 2023.

The event, hosted at the Ashura Aerospace University of Science and Technology in Tehran, showcased the latest developments of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force. The exhibition featured the "Mehran" defense system, the "9th of Dey" upgraded system, the "Fattah-2" hypersonic missile, and the "Shahed-147" drone. While details about the "Mehran" are scarce, it is known to be a long-range surface-to-air missile system with the capacity to carry four missiles. Its reported range of 320 km suggests a significant enhancement over the existing Bavar-373 system, which is already a sophisticated platform capable of engaging modern Western aircraft. The Bavar-373 is touted to be more advanced than the Russian S-300 system.

Despite the limited information available on the "Mehran," it is believed to be capable of providing a robust defense against a variety of aerial threats, potentially offering enhanced detection and engagement capabilities. This system could pose substantial challenges to Israeli F-35i aircraft in the region.

In addition to the "Mehran," Iran's plans for modernizing its air defense forces include the introduction of new air surveillance radars, surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, and comprehensive command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems.

Previously, the Iranian air defense arsenal included the SA-20C, an export version of Russia's S-300PMU2, acquired in 2016. This system, designed to counter aircraft, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles, is expected to be complemented by the "Mehran." Iran also maintains a diverse array of other SAMs, including U.S., Russian, and Chinese legacy systems like the long-range SA-5, medium-range I-HAWK, CSA-1 SA-2 Guideline, and short-range SA-15 and Rapier.

UK net migration in 2022 revised up to record 745,000

Maybe I'm reading too much into it but BBC Radio felt the need to repeat this story 6 or so times in the span of like two hours earlier which seems pretty sus to me.

Also can't wait for the probable upcoming election to consist of the Labour and Tory parties doing Nigel Farage impressions.

TIL of Daniel Maté from his dunking on the Holocaust museum's rubber stamping of genocide. Yes he is Aaron's brother.

Fucking around: https://nitter.cz/dancohen3000/status/1727043422106870222

Finding out: TBA

https://albertaadvantagepod.com/2023/11/19/why-does-canada-love-ukrainian-nazis/

This is a good podcast episode about Canada's history with ukrainian nazi immigrants, why they were allowed into Canada, and their role in disrupting the Canadian labour movement and left wing ukrainian diaspora communities. I've read lots of things that allude to these subjects but not much that really goes into the details.

This is a good show in general - their episode about nuking the oil sands was good too. Yes that was an actual plan for bitumen extraction.

Houthi Launch Long-Range Missiles Toward Israel in New Attack

"We will continue to carry out more military operations until the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank stops," the Houthis said.

On Wednesday, Yemen's Houthi rebels said that they have launched long-range missiles toward Israel, in a new operation to revenge the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

"The winged missiles targeted various military targets of the Israeli entity in Eilat," the militia's spokesman Yehya Sarea said in a statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

"We will continue to carry out more military operations until the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank stops," he said, without providing further details.

This is the ninth cross-border missile attack claimed by the Yemeni Houthi fighters since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct. 7.

The United States announced last month that one of its navy ships in northern Red Sea intercepted several missiles fired from Yemen toward Israel.

On Sunday, the Houthis announced that they had hijacked what they said an "Israeli ship" near Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea and took it to the port city of Hodeidah.

On Monday, the Houthis released footage showing that they used a military helicopter and boats when they hijacked the ship.

The Houthis have been in control of much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah since the Yemeni civil war broke out in late 2014.

https://t.me/mmirlb/3170

Footage of the qualitative military operation by the Yemeni naval forces on the Israeli ship, seizing and towing it to the Yemeni coast - November 19, 2023.

http://www.mmy.ye/303995

Dutch hexcubs how’re y’all doing

Via Al Jazeera daily live thread

Hamas says will delay release of second round of captives

Hamas’s armed wing says it will delay the release of the second batch of captives, accusing Israel of not abiding by the terms of the truce deal.

In a statement on the messaging app Telegram, the Qassam Brigades said Israel should allow aid trucks to enter the northern Gaza Strip and to adhere to the “criteria” that was agreed upon – namely seniority – to release the Palestinian prisoners.

Edit -

From video livestream claims Israel fired tear gas canisters at Palestinian prisoner reunion.

i'm dumb. how difficult is it to commandeer more israeli adjacent commercial ships?

Oh so you love terrorism so much, why don't you tankies go live with Hamas then oh that's right they'd kill you so fucking fast your fedora wouldn't even hit the floor. Yeah, I thought so.