2024 is the year of the DRAGON in China. Just saying, Taiwan.

Killing my 105 year old bed bound dementia ridden grandfather who fought in Stalingrad In solidarity with the people of The Ukraine

Al Jazeera

Israeli bombing kills two more journalists in northern Gaza

• Two more journalists have been killed in Israeli bombings, raising the total death toll of journalists in the enclave to 105, the Government Media Office has said.

Israeli forces raided six exchange companies: Palestine Monetary Authority

The Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) says Israeli forces at dawn raided the headquarters of six exchange companies under the PMA’s control in a number of governorates in the occupied West Bank.

“The Israelis arrested a number of the owners of these companies and seized sums of money from their safes, after blowing them up,” it said in a statement, adding that it is “following up this sinful attack with all relevant parties”.

It said it considers the attack “an act that violates all international norms, laws, charters and agreements, and aims to undermine confidence in the Palestinian banking and banking sector”.

I will be running for President as a Pro-enclosure candidate. my administration will fight against any and all attempts to disclose what's the federal government knows about UFOs and Non-human intelligence, and make sure all this information stays extremely confidential, prosecuting whistleblowers like David Grusch, while also covertly assassinating various authors and podcast hosts who are too close to the truth.

If anyone else supports covering up the truth, please turn out to my upcoming town hall.

I agree with the sentiment but do liberals not know how to dress their words anymore? “I don’t want to support you financially [due to valid reasons], but I’m willing to prolong the war and get more of you killed.”

Bonus:

“You keep mentioning that you’re broke and can barely keep food for your family. Sounds like a classic tactic from the kremlin playbook.”

Does anyone here regularly interact with democrats IRL? Online discourse gives the impression everyone except Republicans is willing to resign their paycheck to Zelensky on a moment’s notice and willing to sacrifice everything to defeat Russia. But it just seems so delusional and cartoonish. Liberal media published an article about black voters in the south not voting for Biden because they have received nothing from his promises, and all the responses were liberals mocking them for “claiming” they were poor.

2003 cabinet documents unsealed

The vast majority of government discussions about the war were had within a cabinet subgroup, the National Security Committee, which met regularly and had intelligence from spy agencies including ASIO.

The lack of Iraq-related cabinet record keeping is clear from a minute dated April 1, 2003.

The records from that meeting are only one sentence long: "The Cabinet noted an oral report by the Prime Minister on the progress of military operations in Iraq and the contribution made by the Australian Defence Force."

Ah, well, nevertheless,

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-67842992

Argentina pulls out of plans to join Brics bloc

I do not feel that this is going to end anymore.

I feel that we are stuck, and the only way out is being killed by an Israeli warplane.

Or an Israeli tank.

Nitter

A Caribbean guy confused why the world is so angry at the Bahamas

Maine’s top election official removes Trump from 2024 primary ballot

Maine’s top election official has removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 primary ballot, in a shock decision based on the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.”

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows paused her decision pending a potential appeal in state court, which Trump’s team said they intend to file.

The decision makes Maine the second state to disqualify Trump from office, after the Colorado Supreme Court handed down its own stunning ruling that removed him from the ballot earlier this month. The development is a significant victory for Trump’s critics, who say they’re trying to enforce a constitutional provision that was designed to protect the country from anti-democratic insurrectionists.

Bellows, a Democrat, issued the decision Thursday after presiding over an administrative hearing earlier this month about Trump’s eligibility for office. A bipartisan group of former state lawmakers filed the challenge against Trump.

“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” Bellows wrote. “Democracy is sacred … I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”

Most legal experts believe the US Supreme Court will settle the issue for the entire country.

Still, the Maine decision builds on the momentum that Trump’s critics have claimed after the Colorado ruling. Before Colorado, several other states, like Michigan and Minnesota, rejected similar efforts.

Ratified after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment says American officials who “engage in” insurrection can’t hold future office. But the provision is vague and doesn’t say how the ban should be enforced.

In a statement Thursday, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung accused Bellows of being a “virulent leftist” who has now “decided to interfere in the presidential election.”

“Democrats in blue states are recklessly and un-Constitutionally suspending the civil rights of the American voters by attempting to summarily remove President Trump’s name from the ballot,” Cheung said.

In her decision, Bellows concluded that she has a legal obligation to adhere to the 14th Amendment’s insurrectionist ban and remove Trump from the primary ballot.

“The oath I swore to uphold the Constitution comes first above all, and my duty under Maine’s election laws … is to ensure that candidates who appear on the primary ballot are qualified for the office they seek,” she said.

Explaining her reasoning, Bellows wrote that the challengers presented compelling evidence that the January 6 insurrection “occurred at the behest of” Trump – and that the US Constitution “does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government.”

“The record establishes that Mr. Trump, over the course of several months and culminating on January 6, 2021, used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol to prevent certification of the 2020 election and the peaceful transfer of power,” Bellows wrote. “I likewise conclude that Mr. Trump was aware of the likelihood for violence and at least initially supported its use given he both encouraged it with incendiary rhetoric and took no timely action to stop it.”

IOF goon joking about not finding babies to kill: https://nitter.cz/QudsNen/status/1740229918896923052

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he has instructed the armed forces to begin “actions of a defensive nature” in response to the deployment of a British warship off the coast of Guyana.

“I have ordered the activation of joint defensive action by all armed forces in response to the provocation and threat to the peace and sovereignty of our country from the UK,” he said in a statement.

Earlier, the Financial Times newspaper reported, citing a representative of the British Ministry of Defense, that the United Kingdom would deploy a patrol ship off the coast of Guyana as a sign of the state’s support in the territorial dispute over Essequibo.

Watch the UK crash their ship or the crew getting sick.

Luis Eduardo Martínez: Caricom, Celac and Brazil must urge the immediate withdrawal of HMS Trent from the coast of Guyana

Guyana assures that it does not plan to attack Venezuela: "It is not about waging wars, but about better monitoring our economic zone"

United Kingdom assured to work to "avoid an escalation" between Venezuela and Guyana

A spokesperson urged Venezuela to cease its "unjustified actions" against Guyana and reiterated that the border between both nations was defined in the Paris Arbitration Award in 1899, which is why he insists on his support for Guyana, considered "an important regional ally." and partner of the Commonwealth.

Furthermore, he clarified that the presence of the British Navy ship in Guyanese waters will not dock in Georgetown, but that all its activities are expected to take place at sea "as part of a series of routine maneuvers in the region."

The British are trying to instigate a war in which they won't even take part. Doubt the UK could defend Guyana, hell, I doubt they could defend themselfs.

Ancap Update:

According to La Nacion+ newspaper, the first version of the Decree of Necessity and Urgency, which was signed by the President of Argentina, Javier Milei, last Wednesday, included the repeal of the country's Divorce Law.

The measure was withdrawn after much discussion.

Edit (thanks to AssortedBiscuits): Hamas denies sending a delegation to Egypt

~~Hamas Delegation to Visit Egypt for Peace Plan in Gaza~~

The Egyptian initiative includes renewable ceasefires and the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinians kidnapped by Israel.

On Friday, a delegation from the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas will travel to Egypt to discuss new proposals leading to a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier, Egypt presented a peace proposal to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other resistance groups in the Gaza Strip.

The three-stage Egyptian initiative includes renewable ceasefires, the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians kidnapped by Israel, and a permanent ceasefire.

"The plan aims to gather the views of all parties involved, with the goal of ending Palestinian bloodshed," said Diaa Rashwan, the head of the Egyptian State Information Service (SIS)

The Egyptian proposal also involves the formation of a Palestinian technocratic government after talks involving all sectors to govern and rebuild the Gaza Strip after a permanent cessation of hostilities.

Rashwan also emphasized that everything related to the issue of the Palestinian government concerns only Palestinians.

Since Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza, the inhabitants of this Palestinian territory have suffered from a lack of food, water, fuel, and medicine, occasionally relieved by humanitarian convoys entering primarily from Egypt.

This was posted by my Phillipine Maoist friend in Redpixel. He linked a whole 55th anniversary statement from the CPP-NPA on twitter, id link it but the account got suspended since lol.

Anyway, it interests me that the CPP-NPA are apparently distancing themselves from Gonzalism. (Especially since twitter maoists justify their Gonzalism with the apparent support for him from global south Maoist parties, lol).

Man allegedly impersonated soldier, entered Gaza, stole weapons, posed with Netanyahu (Times of Israel)

When your military is such a joke that some guy with no military experience can fake it in your war zone for weeks without being caught. Also, the half million guns stolen from the army and police are amazing.

Feliz año nuevo my online comrades

Hamas: Releasing videos of al-Qassam no-scoping tanks

Hasbara: IDF combat soldier tank top found in Gaza after missing for 13 years

Please send more metalheads to Ukraine

Finland is a bilingual country with roughly five percent of the population having Swedish rather than Finnish as their native language. Following the Swedish conquest of Finland in a series of medieval crusades, Swedish settlers moved to Finland and founded farming and fishing communities in coastal regions. Swedish used to be the language of the nobility and intellectuals and although the overwhelming majority of Finland-Swedes were peasants and fisherman just like the Finns to this day Finland-Swedes are associated with "old money" and the landed gentry.

Russia conquered Finland in 1809 and during the 19th century Russian authorities supported Finnish nationalism to minimise Swedish influence. Industrialization and the growth of cities during the same period of time also meant that cities like Helsinki which had previously had a Swedish majority became fennicized due to the influx of Finnish-speakers from rural areas. Finland-Swedes did not seem to have any significant desire for "reunification" with Swedish and during the 19th century many Finland-Swedish intellectuals made a deliberate decision to fennicize as part of the nationalist movement.

In traditional peasant society people married partners from their own villages and intermarriage between Swedish-speakers and Finnish-speakers was rare but as demographics changed with urbanisation and industrialisation, intermarriage has become common. During the 20th century intermediate often resulted in children becoming Finnish-speakers although this trend has reversed in recent years with parents of bilingual families registering their children as Swedish-spekers due to perceived benefits in professional life of being fluent in both languages.

After Lenin granted Finland independence, the Finland-Swedish movement opted for bilingualism and cultural protection rather than self-government and this policy continues to this day. Finland-Swedes has their own diocese of Finland's Lutheran state church and municipalities with a linguistic minority of more than eight percent are legally required to be able to communicate with citizens in both languages and signage and toponyms will be bilingual. In schools students are instructed in their native language and are taught the "other national language" as well. In higher education students are required to pass at least one exam in the "other national language".