Please send more metalheads to Ukraine

Feliz año nuevo my online comrades

The President of Argentina, Javier Milei, has announced that he will create new Argentine Peso banknotes of 20,000 and 50,000 pesos.

The Central Bank would be in charge of issuing them.

Milei said that the measure was intended to make people's lives easier, because if they need to make cash payments, they have to carry around a "bundle of money".

The largest banknote in the country is currently 2,000 pesos.

Link (Spanish only)

Milei confirmed that 20,000 and 50,000 peso bills will be issued

The President indicated that higher value bills will be issued since "the issue of bills is a torture, if you have to make a cash payment you have to walk around with a bundle of papers that puts a label on your forehead that tells you 'steal here, steal here', it makes transactions very difficult and has a lot of costs".

President Javier Milei confirmed this Tuesday that 20,000 peso and 50,000 peso bills will be issued "because it makes transactions difficult", while he anticipated that there will be a new tax called "Tasa Kicillof", to be able to pay the lawsuit for the nationalization of YPF.

In an interview with the cable channel LN+, the Head of State expressed that "the issue of banknotes is a torture, imagine that you have to make a cash payment and you have to walk around with a bundle of papers that puts a label on your forehead telling you to steal here, steal here. This makes transactions very difficult and has a lot of costs. I understand that the Kirchnerists used this trick to reduce the speed of circulation of money, but we, within our program, have closed the money faucet both in the Central Bank and in the Treasury, therefore, the amount of money will only move when we buy dollars, so the amount of money will be fixed. There is the nominal anchor, you closed both taps".

In relation to the payment of the guarantees to be made by Argentina before the US courts for the nationalization of YPF, Milei revealed that "we do not have the money, we do not have 16. This is to pay that debt with a perpetual bond and that the Argentines will have to pay every year a certain amount of dollars thanks to the monstrous mistake made by Kicillof and that every day the Argentines will remember that this debt is due to Kicillof's mistake. That is to say, you are going to have a new tax called Kicillof Tax which is to pay for the mistake of an amateur, someone who does not know very well how finances work and even less how markets work".

Milei is still pissed that Axel Kicillof, former minister of economy, and current governor of Buenos Aires was reelect during the first round.

Milei remarked that two factors are involved in the evolution of inflation. "One is the monetary issue, if you issue one peso today, the monetary lags have an impact between 18 and 24 months. We are going to pay for the mistakes of the previous administration for almost 2 years. But there is another component of inflation and that is that you had controlled prices and we believe that there must be free prices. That is why the DNU puts an end to price controls, repeals the law of Gondolas and the law of Supply because it is a sick control system that only seeks to attack the consequences and not the causes. The cause is always the same, the fiscal deficit and monetary emission".

The president exemplified by using a quote from Milton Friedman when he pointed out that "there is no such thing as a free lunch. What is not adjusted by price is adjusted by quantity. Kirchnerism stepped on the train fares and the Once tragedy cost us more than 50 dead. When you do not let the price be free, you will be adjusted by quantity or quality".

Further on, the President explained that "if we continue on the same path, we are heading for hyperinflation. The BCRA's problem is double that of the Treasury. You can't not adjust because if we don't blow up and if you don't have financing, you will have to adjust".

Milei defended the shock adjustment and emphasized that "the failure of gradualist programs is that they plunge you into a recession. The shock minimizes the recession. If this goes wrong it explodes, but if we do nothing, it also explodes".

Regarding the relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the possibility of obtaining a disbursement of 15,000 million dollars from the organization, the Head of State said that "the agreement is down because the previous government did not comply with it, we are going to zero deficit, that is to say, we have a primary surplus to pay the interests. The IMF sees us as heroes, first they were surprised that we said it in the campaign, then that we said it in the inauguration speech and they are surprised that we are saying it now" and he revealed that "it is possible that this money will arrive".

In relation to the payment of pensions, Milei pointed out that "if we leave the current formula and as a consequence of the inflationary acceleration, pensions would lose 2 points of the GDP. With the change of formula, we propose to recompose pensions and recover 1.6 points of the GDP".

The President said that "economic subsidies to tariffs will be eliminated by one third per year. There are tariff increases that were already agreed and that should have been applied in August and were not applied. What we have to do is to recompose the economic-financial equation of the contracts and that only the residue has an impact on prices. That is to say, you can do financial engineering on the companies' cash flow to minimize the impact on the tariffs, so that the people do not suffer so much with the tariff adjustment".

The Head of State pointed out that "we are channeling the fiscal accounts, we have to clean up the monetary surplus and we have to clean up the Central Bank. When these three things are accomplished, we will be in a position to free trade and the cepo".

Who knows, maybe the notes will have the image of his dead dog and his ~~wife~~ sister printed on it

In succdem workers' paradise Denmark, municipalities are worried about a new "work obligation" for people on certain welfare benefits leading to expensive bureaucracy.

In October the succdem-led right-wing government decided that unemployed people who have not had permanent residency inside Denmark for nine of the preceding ten years and who has not had full-time work for two and a half of the preceding ten years would be required to work 37 hours a week in order to receive the welfare benefits they require to survive. Although being selected by legally objective criteria, politicians are vocal about the work obligation being targeted at "immigrant women".

As part of the new rules, municipal job centres are required to keep meticulous records of the hours each targeted individual spends doing job seeking, transit, unpaid "internships" for employers and so-called "usefulness jobs". The aforementioned "usefulness jobs" consists in unemployed people being required to perform unpaid labour for municipalities to "make themselves useful". Formally these "usefulness jobs" has to be tasks "that would otherwise not be done" but they include tasks like maintenance work on public playgrounds or gardening work in public parks.

If the weekly time registration doesn't add up to 37 hours, municipal job centres will be required to punish targeted individuals by denying them their meagre benefits. Targeted individuals have access to an appeals system which takes up more administrative labour. Job centre IT systems has not been updated to handle the new time registration requirements so they have to be done manually. In an unusual public criticism, several job centre chiefs have voiced concerns that they will have to hire new bureaucrats to argue with targeted individuals over their bus being late.

The new "work obligation" targets 22.000 individuals and is estimated by government bureaucrats to result in a whopping 300 extra people in full-time employment. The estimated cost of the new obligation is DKK 170 million, resulting in a price-tag for each person in full-time employment of DKK 567,000 or USD 84.000. It is the most expensive employment programme relative to expected effects in Danish history.

Israelis hear drilling, feel shaking amid West Bank terror tunnel fears: https://nitter.cz/tamerqdh/status/1740445585797202412

Large earthquake in Japan. 7.5 at shallow depth. Major tsunami warning. 2024 opens with a bang

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/01/japan-issues-major-tsunami-warning-for-coastal-prefecture-after-76-magnitude-earthquake

14m ago

New Israeli strike on al-Maghazi refugee camp | Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera’s correspondent is reporting that there were a number of Palestinians killed and others wounded in the strike on the area in the central Gaza Strip. Al-Maghazi has seen constant bombardment in recent days. At least 90 people were killed late Sunday when Israel struck the small refugee camp in Deir el-Balah, in one of the war’s deadliest attacks. We will bring you more updates as information comes in.

‘Revolutionary’ design: Chinese scientists invent the most powerful detonation engine for hypersonic flight

Ancap Update:

The President of Argentina, Javier Milei, has signed a new Decree of Necessity and Urgency, the famous DNU, in which he dismisses 7,000 civil servants.

According to the government, the layoffs will increase in the coming days.

The mass layoffs of civil servants was something Milei promised in the campaign, but in the second round he said he wouldn't be so "radical" on the issue.

State workers' associations have called for a mobilization against the measure.

Link (Spanish Only)

By decree, the Government made official the termination of the contracts of 7 thousand public employees who joined this year.

The measure was published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette. In addition, an "exhaustive survey" of those state workers who have been working since before 2023 was ordered.

Within the framework of its State adjustment plan, the Government terminated the contracts of the public employees who entered this year.

With the signature of President Javier Milei this Tuesday morning, Decree 84/2023 confirming the measure was published in the Official Gazette. In addition, the Executive Branch will review the situation of State workers who have been in office since before 2023.

Indeed, Article 1° establishes that "the hiring of persons who have started to render services as from January 1, 2023, in the agencies included in paragraphs a) and c) of Article 8° of Law 24,156, will not be renewed".

In this way, it covers transitory employees "and any other type of hiring that ends on December 31, 2023″, of the entire national administration, as well as public entities, including, for example, the ANSeS, the PAMI and the AFIP.

According to what official sources informed to Infobae, the decision reaches about seven thousand employees from different areas of the Government. Only those who work in state-owned companies or corporations are excluded.

In addition to permanent employees, who will not be affected, hiring "derived from quotas regulated by law or other types of special protections" and personnel who "have been working prior to January 1, 2023 and have changed their modality" are also excluded.

However, the renewal of those "that the head of each jurisdiction assesses as indispensable for the operation" of the same will be allowed, although "in a restrictive manner and based on the grounds that their continuity is necessary for unpostponable reasons of operation".

The DNU signed by Milei and all his ministers states that the authorities of each area of the National State must carry out "an exhaustive survey" of the employees "whose date of entry to the administration is prior to January 1, 2023, in order to evaluate" their continuity.

In all cases, according to the text, if it is decided to renew the contract, the decision "must be justified, demonstrating the need" to keep the employee, whose employment relationship may not be extended "for a period of more than ninety (90) consecutive days".

In the recitals, the Executive Branch points out that the regulations in force state that this type of contract lasts 12 months, provided that it does not exceed the current budget period, so that "the contracts made by the National Government are about to expire".

In addition, it is remarked that this decision is taken within the framework of the Decree of Necessity and Urgency No. 8 of December 10, 2023, one of the first ones signed by Milei, which modified the Law of Ministries to have only nine portfolios "in order to rationalize resources, which makes it necessary to review all those contracts made".

On the other hand, Decree 77/2023 was also published today, extending the prohibition to hire new employees in the State established last year by Alberto Fernandez.

This is a decision taken by the previous Government in July 2022 by which "the Jurisdictions and Entities of the National Public Sector included in paragraphs a) and c) of Article 8 of Law No. 24,156 of Financial Administration and Control Systems of the National Public Sector" could not "make appointments or hire personnel of any nature".

Although the decision was in force until December of this year, exceptions had been established to fill vacant positions, appointments or hires for "duly substantiated reasons and accredited by the higher authority of the requesting jurisdiction or entity".

On this occasion, Milei's Government extended the validity of the aforementioned decree until March 31, 2024.

After last week's mega decree that seeks to deregulate the economy and the publication of this DNU that adjusts the National State, it is expected that this week the package of bills with which the Government intends to extend its plan will enter the Congress.

Among the initiatives to be discussed in the extraordinary sessions convened between December 26 and January 31, Milei's Government will seek the sanction of the freezing of the salaries of public employees and, according to reports, the possibility of reducing the salary of some of them in high hierarchy is even being analyzed.

350% increase in gas prices (Spanish Only)

Gas distributors in Argentina have asked Enargas, the government company responsible for regulating the gas sector, to raise tariffs by AT LEAST 350%, starting in February 2024.

According to the distributors, the increase is necessary due to rising production costs, among other factors.

They have also asked for an annual updating mechanism, for adjustments in line with inflation.

The companies submitted to Enargas their proposed increases for the hearing to be held on January 8. They also requested an automatic updating mechanism based on wholesale inflation.

The gas distribution companies, those that deliver the fluid to homes and businesses, stated to the Government that they will need a tariff increase as from February of at least 350% in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) and even higher figures in the interior of the country, depending on which company is involved among those operating throughout the national territory. The figures were submitted to Enargas and will be part of the public hearing that will take place on January 8 to determine how the unfreezing of the bills, whose last increase took place at the beginning of the year, will be applied.

The public hearing process includes a previous step that has to do with documents that the gas distributors send to the area authority (Enargas) with their own estimates of necessary tariff increases according to the accumulated cost criteria, which have not been updated in the last months. In these documents, the companies stated what is the scenario for each one of them.

For Metrogas, for example, which distributes the fluid in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (AMBA), the increase should be higher than 375 percent. "By virtue of this, after the more than four (4) years that its distribution tariff remained frozen (...) taking as a base the index of February 2018 versus the same index as of November 2023 and estimating the cost increase for the month of December 2023 according to the REM of the Central Bank of 19.95%, and obviously discounting those increases already granted between such periods (...) In this way, the calculation of the adjustment mentioned above represents a peak to peak increase of 376.52%", mentioned that company.

In terms of amounts, the fixed charge for Metrogas users requested to Enargas as from February is a minimum of $4,318 in the Federal Capital and $4,335 in Buenos Aires (users with lower consumption) for the three segmentation levels (N1, the highest income, N3 the lowest income and N2, middle income). For the highest consumption bracket the fixed charge is $19,333 (CABA) and $19,357 (PBA). This does not automatically translate to the final price to the user as it will depend on other price components in the bill, such as generation and transportation. Or even the tax payment portion.

On the other hand, Naturgy, which operates in the Province of Buenos Aires, requested Enargas "to consider a tariff adjustment following the calculation criteria previously mentioned, to be applied as from January 2024; It also requested an urgent transitory adjustment of the tariff to be applied as from October 2023, given the significant increases in the costs of providing the service, which generated a significant reduction in the income of the tariffs in force since April 29, given that the sustained price increases intensified in magnitude notably, as from May 2023".

https://streamable.com/92xayw

⚫ Saraya Al-Quds - Jenin Brigade: — As part of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation:

Saraya Al-Quds - Jenin Brigade engaged in fierce clashes with enemy soldiers and delivered direct strikes on several acres in the city of Jenin and its camp during the recent incursion into the city

Al-Aqsa Flood.

I am now using Hexbear on mobile.

Combat footage. There's night combat footage in the middle of the compilation, which is something you don't really see on account of not being able to see shit during the night, but the giant explosion lights up the entire area: https://nitter.cz/BigTimeCommie/status/1740445100235473080

Do antipodeans have the dumbest names in the Anglosphere? A while back I shared the sad news that Dick Face had died. Now - Sir Hardie Boys.

And people think I'm weird and ghoulish for refreshing Wikipedia's Recent Deaths page forty times a day. Ha! When there are gems like this?

Russia Does Not Interfere in Serbia's Internal Affairs: Peskov

"Attempts by the collective West to inflame the situation in the country, using 'Maidan-style coup d’état' techniques, are obvious," Zakharova said.

On Monday, Russia rejected accusations of intervening in Serbia's internal affairs, stating that the West seeks to influence the political situation using methods similar to those employed in Ukraine in 2014.

The situation in Serbia is deemed "exclusively internal," according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, who emphasized that Moscow has never interfered in the "internal affairs of anyone."

"Serbia is our ally and partner," he said, underscoring that Russia is very "careful" with its relations with this country. "Serbia has legitimate authorities, as we believe, capable of taking all necessary measures needed," Peskov said in reference to the recent protests.

Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Maria Zahkarova pointed out that Western countries are using the same tools in Serbia as those employed in the "Maidan," the coup d'état that took place in Ukraine in 2014.

"Attempts by the collective West to inflame the situation in the country, using 'Maidan-style coup d’état' techniques, are obvious," the diplomat said.

"The only possible reaction is to adhere to the letter and spirit of the country’s constitution and to respect the choice of the Serbian people, who voted for their country’s national interests," she added.

After the parliamentary and local elections, in which Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic emerged victorious on Dec. 17, some pro-Western opposition sectors began protesting, demanding the annulment of the elections, as they consider them rigged.

On Sunday evening, people gathered in downtown Belgrade to demand the annulment of the election results, leading to violence and vandalism against public buildings. So far, eight police officers have been injured, and 38 people have been detained.

Milei live on national TV:

Yesterday, December 30, the President of Argentina, Javier Milei, spoke to Argentinians on the national radio and TV network on New Year's Eve.

In his statement, Milei asked the country's Congress to approve his projects.

Otherwise, according to Milei, Argentina would "plunge into an endless abyss".

Milei also said that "difficult" days will come in 2024, due to the serious economic crisis.

Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich once again called on the former Together for Change bloc to support the General Bases Law, which Argentine President Javier Milei sent to Congress this week.

Bullrich, who was also a presidential candidate this year, said that people want the country to move forward, and that "a shock" is needed for the country to react.

"Everyone approved the economic emergency, only Milei they won't approve"?

Maine elections official disqualifies Trump from presidential primary ballot