The PM of Japan just called Biden a "fake Otaku" at the camp david summit, it's on CNN right now, he's saying that Biden doesn't even know the lore behind Trunks in DBZ and the only video game he's ever played is Black Ops 2

2,000-Room Luxury Resort Appears Overnight From Charred Maui Wreckage

that's probably what's going to happen.

I guess Trump is gonna get a mugshot down in Georgia, gonna be pretty iconic tbh get ready to see it everywhere

Do Bush next

As well as the Netherlands, Denmark has received permission from their overlords in Washington to hand over F-16's to the Kiev government once the training of Ukrainian pilots is done. Surely this Wunderwaffe will turn the tide of the war and guarantee final Ukrainian victory.

When asked whether the permit means that Denmark is actually going to send the planes any time soon, Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen says that the permit "means that a barrier to do that is no longer there. And together with our allies we are now discussing what the next step could be". Danish minister of defence Jakob Ellemann Jensen has commented that "the government has been saying several times that a donation is the next step after training. We discuss is with near allies and I expect that we can get more concrete about it soon"

The Danish government has cancelled promises to aid poor families with children, subjected higher education to an austerity regime and taken away a paid public holiday as the economy of the kingdom on the northern outskirts of Europe presumably is in dire straits.

Lawmakers urge Biden to resolve offloading delay of seized Iran oil tanker

That Iranian oil tanker floating off the coast of Texas is still there and has been since May. US companies are still too afraid to touch it due to fear of Iranian retribution. This is extremely funny.

Senators Joni Ernst, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, and other lawmakers in the Senate and U.S. House said in the letter to Biden and senior administration officials that enforcement of petroleum sanctions will become irrelevant if American citizens and companies involved constantly live in fear of Iranian retaliation.

a specter is haunting America

"I don't do business with communists": Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei says that if elected, Argentina will not trade with its second largest partner, China (after Brazil) - and will only trade with the "civilized" West.

Was looking at the WaPo article posted by @MoreAmphibians@hexbear.net

Joint war games conducted by the U.S., British and Ukrainian militaries anticipated such losses but envisioned Kyiv accepting the casualties as the cost of piercing through Russia’s main defensive line, said U.S. and Western officials.
But Ukraine chose to stem the losses on the battlefield and switch to a tactic of relying on smaller units to push forward across different areas of the front. That resulted in Ukraine making incremental gains in different pockets over the summer.

They aren't even pretending to care about Ukrainian lives anymore

I've been informed that this web server has been knowingly distributing kremlin propaganda.

Edit: I'm gravely disappointed in the responses to this alert. This is no laughing matter.

https://old.reddit.com/r/UkraineRussiaReport/comments/15qvmsm/ru_pov_footage_of_z53izdelie_53_test_launches/

I think Russia has unveiled the "hibernating" drones they were talking about. They can be launched from tubes rather than the current slingshot method. I believe the idea with these is to scatter a zillion camouflaged launchers along the frontline, then when you see something you want to blow up, you can immediately launch as many as you need.

Seems like a pretty big deal if Russia can make enough of them.

The Canada first time homebuyer insentive is peak liberal brain. It's a means tested loan that you add to your downpayment, and the most expensive hone you could afford with it is well below the median home price. The math kind of works out if you're in Toronto or Vancouver and make close to $150k. But if you make that kind of money you'd probably want to not take it and buy a slightly less small condo. Also they cap off your downpayment to a pretty low percent so it might be more expensive long term lol.

I think considering the failure of the couteroffensive, as well as the delays in Western equipment and the severity of Russian rocket attacks it's fair to say that Ukraine is operating at a pretty large materiel disadvantage. Also we've seen the problems faced by the Ukrainians when it comes to conscription, seemingly coming to a head with the firing of the enlistment guys. So without sounding like a bot, what exactly is holding the Ukrainians together? Pure ideology? and an (understandable imo) unwillingness for big arrows from Wide Putin? Or am I overestimating the damage dealt to Ukraine's ability to wage war?

Thinking about it, this war isn't going to end for a very long time unless Putin comes up with some "knockout blow" or Ukraine has a drastic change in management. Or maybe they really will fight to the last Ukranian.

The father of one of my best friends is permanently paraplegic because of a spinal stroke he had during a tantric sex retreat he was attending in Ukraine for some reason months after the war started

Edit: I stole this from a tweet, have no idea if it's true

top Russian commander says "We are pee peeing and poo pooing out of our doodoo asses and our army actually collapsed five months ago and all this battle is a holographic illusion." at press time, Ukraine has launched its 4290th probing attack, killing only 300 of their own troops this time, and recaptured the vital landmark of a broken fridge dumped in the middle of a field

https://archive.ph/qcc7M

This had to be in the run for first place is absolute fucking cope from the pro-nato brainless think tanks.

Opinion ❘ How F-16s for Ukraine could harm Russia without taking a single shot. By Michael Bohnert

TL:DR F-16s aren't going to do shit because the Russian airforce will burn its entire airfleet out from combat usage before the first American plane touches down in Ukraine.

This author should be beaten with a heavy rope soaked in piss for writing this

The problems with Ukraine’s wartime collaboration law

By Open Democracy, which is generally anti-Russia, pro-Ukraine but willing to admit problems. It describes how "collaboration" with Russia can extend even to garbage collectors working in previously Russian territory, like Kherson, while it was occupied.

...the owners of Kherson’s main garbage collection company have been arrested and their trucks seized. Alena and Dmitry Dubrovsky, who ran the company for 20 years, are facing charges of wartime collaboration for continuing to work between March and November 2022, when Kherson was under Russian occupation.

The regional police department and prosecutors claimed that last summer the Dubrovskys supported Russia’s introduction of the ruble, opened company accounts in a Russian bank and paid taxes to the occupying administration. In other words, they “carried out economic activities in close cooperation with the aggressor state” and “transferred material resources to the occupiers”. This is regarded as wartime collaboration and aiding the aggressor state, the penalties for which are up to five and 12 years in prison, respectively.

...

According to the Kherson prosecutor’s office, more than 1,000 investigations into collaboration had been filed by the end of June, though only 50 sentences have been handed down so far. Another 234 investigations involve allegations of aiding Russia.

Left-wing Political Leader Pedro Briones Shot to Death in Ecuador

The attack takes place less than a week before the presidential elections and after last week's shooting death of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

The leader of the leftist and correista political party Citizen Revolution Pedro Briones has been murdered this Monday by a gunshot wound in Ecuador.

Ecuadorian police released preliminary information in statements to local media stating that the attackers were members of a gang operating in Esmeraldas. Briones was reportedly shot twice in the park of San Mateo parish in the city of Esmeraldas.

Presidential candidate Luisa González denounced the attack through her official Twitter account: "Ecuador is living its bloodiest time. This is due to the total abandonment of an inept government and a State taken over by mafias. My solidarity embrace to the family of comrade Pedro Briones, fallen in the hands of violence. Change is urgent," González said.

Members of the political group Citizen Revolution confirmed that Briones was killed by a gunshot, although so far there is no official report from the authorities.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has condemned the political violence in the South American country, noting that such situation is "framed in a context of serious deterioration of citizen security" due to organized crime.

The IACHR called on the government to act "with diligence" in the face of these violent events, which it considered "an attack on democracy."

This comes less than a week before the presidential elections are held and after the shooting death last week of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. The candidate of the Construye lista 25 (MC25) movement was shot several times in an armed attack during a campaign rally in northern Quito last Wednesday.

Check out this Washington Post article.

U.S. intelligence says Ukraine will fail to meet offensive’s key goal

The thing I most want to point out is that map. It shows Ukraine's advances over the past two months of the offensive. Any real mapheads in here won't be surprised by it but I think this is the first time I"m seeing a map like this in a western publication like the WP. The map itself is from the Institute from the Study of War, the one run by the sister-in-law of Victoria Nuland the current acting United States Deputy Secretary of State.

Just the map: https://i.imgur.com/pTOHBxi.png

It really does feel like the US media establishment is slowly laying the groundwork for hanging Ukraine out to dry. I just wish they would do it faster.

We got ourselves an interesting substack, which addresses the crisis in Niger within the terms of local politics rather than just geopolitical jockeying that a lot of people including us tend to limit ourselves to. Some of the highlights are:

• Nigeria is a geopolitical force in it's own right, with control over a number of multilateral organizations and wether intervention happens or not is really down the internal politics of Nigeria.

• Nigeria is going through the motions to build up international legitimacy for an ECOWAS intervention, but it is recalcitrant due to mounting opposition within itself.

• Unlike what some tend to believe, this opposition has nothing to do with pan african or anti imperialist solidarity. Rather the danger of further crisis and displacement right at the border. Not to mention how the president of Nigeria relies on a voting base from the north of the country, which is related to the people of southern Niger.

• Unlike some have reported Algeria has not said that they'll intervene to save the Nigerien junta. They also just think that intervention will worsen the situation. So they are opposed to both the coup and invasion.

• Understandably, the gut reaction of people in the region about military coups comes from the fact that nobody is holding out for a second Thomas Sankara. Everyone sees a military junta as a new kleptocracy in the making.

• When people talk about Nigerien Uranium or Gold, they are oversimplifying the situation. Niger is a resource colony in the era of financial capitalism. Yes, there are french companies that exploit the shit out of Niger's markets. But the larger point is the unravelling of the Francophonie as a whole, on which so much of french finance relies on. France won't be without fuel for it's nuclear plants because they can just buy from Kazakhstan or Canada.

• Incidentally the US doesn't really give a shit about France. It's all about the perceived geopolitical win of Russia's. A perception that is driven by protestors with Russian flags and false videos of Wagner planes touching Niamey. And even so, the Americans can't just tell Nigeria to intervene. If Nigeria was a puppet state it would have already moved in. The Nigerians will ultimately move in according to their own core national interests, and if conditions are ready for it.

• That said, Nigeria's last ECOWAS intervention was in Gambia, and it seemed like it wasn't gonna happen until it suddenly did and the country more or less folded because of how illegitimate the government had become.

So a bunch of Challenger II MBTs were spotted with anti-drone cages in Ukraine, most likely near the frontlines. So I guess it's time to remind everyone of this glorious article:

British-made tanks are about to sweep Putin’s conscripts aside - Telegraph

A statement from a Nigerian socialist group:

As in Nigeria, the mass of the population in Niger suffer horrendous poverty. The military coup will not help these people. It is also likely to see more repression against the much-needed mass movement against poverty and the other anti-people policies. However, an invasion by Nigeria would only make matters so much worse.

Many people will celebrate the coup in Niger against one of the most pro-western governments in West Africa. The removal of French soldiers and their possible replacement with mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group will be interpreted as a victory. But this will not help most Nigeriens. They need a mass movement against poverty and inequality. This is the only way to fundamentally address the problems of inequality, corruption and insecurity.

Half the population of Niger exist below the national poverty line. One and five of the population cannot reliably meet their food needs. Fighting between the corrupt political elite and the military will not fundamentally change the situation.

Niger is Africa’s most important uranium ore exporter (75% of the country’s total exports) and the fourth largest exporter in the world. Other exports include: gold, onions, beans and meat. Niger’s main export partners are France (55% of total exports), the United States, Switzerland, Nigeria and Ghana. Around a third of the uranium for the extensive French nuclear reactors comes from Niger.

So again, like Nigeria, Niger is largely dependent on the exports of a single natural resource. Most of the uranium mines are controlled by Orano (previously named Areva), the French state-owned nuclear power company. The people of Niger suffer environmental devastation comparable to the Niger Delta. “The air, water and land are polluted around the mining towns,” reports a journalist based in the Nigerien capital of Niamey. “And the animals of the pastoralists are constantly falling sick due to their grazing pastures being contaminated with radioactive dust,” he adds.

Studies prove that the concentration of radiation around the uranium mines is almost 500 times higher than normal background levels. Even spending one hour per day over one year at this location can expose a person to 10 times the annual radiation dose.

The Union of Workers’ Trade Unions of Niger (USTN) is the largest of the three main trade union centres with a membership of 60,000. On 25 June 2009, the second largest trade union confederation led a 24-hour general strike across the nation to protest the President’s [constitutional] referendum plans, after a previous strike had been indefinitely postponed on 18 June. All seven trade union confederations took part, in the first general strike since the creation of the Fifth Republic in 1999, and the first joint action by all seven major confederations.

Niger, like all countries, is situated within a global economy and suffers interference from the major imperialist powers, in this case, mainly France. The French government controls the major export from Niger (uranium) and also the currency. This and the French army base in Niger means that there is significant anti-French feeling in Niger. Four days after the coup there was a demonstration involving thousands of people against the French embassy.

The working people of Niger do not need a military coup to further constrain their ability to organise. They do not need the current military “support” provided by Western governments. Equally they do not need interference from the Russian Wagner group or a possible ECOWAS invasion led by Nigeria. As in Nigeria, we need a mass campaign to increase wages of the working people and increase government spending on health and education.

CW: violence, branding

A Palestinian man who was detained by Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem said he has been physically abused after officers brutally beat him and branded the Star of David on his cheek, according to Israeli media reports.

At least 16 officers were involved in the arrest of the Palestinian man, however, none had their body cameras on, according to the Ynet news website.

source

Hexbear helped me realize I was some flavor NB. I present pretty masc, and I'm comfortable with that, but when I think about what I would do with the Magic Gender WandTM, I would probably spend like half my time as a woman and like half my time as a guy