I still can't believe that the shooting happened right as I started a playthrough of Luigi's Mansion. This is so surreal.

Watch me start a playthrough of New Vegas and another CEO gets dunked on by someone called The Courier

: Oi you, tell us the number of nukes you have, yeah.

: No

https://archive.is/20241208110113/https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/china-secret-nuclear-stockpile-what-uk-must-do-new-3418651

Red media

This morning, the Israeli army reached Qatana, about 20 kilometers from Damascus. Israel is advancing into Syrian territory to fulfill Netanyahu's vision of a “Greater Israel.” Last night, Israel claimed to have conducted its biggest air operation in history against Syria.

seized from here

edit: these are Khamenei's words and from a speech today btw, I feel like my screenshot was bad and confused people

Ain't no way a Mcdonalds employee snitched on the Adjuster 💀

Turkey cement/construction stocks surge after fall of Syria's Assad government: Cimbeton, Nuh Cimento, Oyak Cimento, Afyon Cimento, Cimsa, Konya Cimento, Akcansa

Did anyone here invest in turkish cement and get the bag? Really we should've seen this coming.

Ali Larijani reportedly offered him pre-set conditions 2 weeks ago in Damascus. Bashar didn’t agree with them and even refused to meet with Larijani—Iran’s special envoy—when he returned to Damascus Friday Dec 6. Bashar Assad refused to open the Golan front, despite being asked to by the resistance groups. The Assad government, after becoming too close with the Gulf Arabs, had put a lot of restrictions on IRGCQF, this sparkled dissatisfaction.

Ex-IRGCQF officer claimed Iran intel knew since 2 months ago that rebel groups in Idlib were up to something. He claims Iranians shared their worries with Turkey, but “Turks deceived them and assured Iranians there’s nothing to be afraid of—Should not have trusted the Turks. The situation in Syria has not ended and it’s going spark unrest. Especially between Kurdish SDF vs Turkish-backed rebel groups (e.g. HTS) AND inner fights among rebel groups.

It's now widely known that Iran, Hezbollah and other Shia factions asked Assad for permission to open a front in the Golan Heights after October 7th to support the resistance in Gaza & Lebanon. However, Assad refused, reportedly saying he did not want to drag Syria into a possible open confrontation with Israel & he did not want to risk jeopardizing his normalization progress with the Gulf States. Yemen's Ansarullah reveals more about Assad: 'He closed our embassy in Damascus, in exchange for Saudi Arabia letting him open a Saudi embassy there'

From Telegram

Girl what the heck are you doing over there you are literally OLDER than the battle of the bulge

Some pretty credible reports in Iraqi media about Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al Sistani's health rapidly deteriorating. He's considered the Grand Marja of the Shia Muslim faith, which makes him pretty much the Shia Pope. Shia Marja politics are incredibly interesting, and his death might actually trigger a pretty massive upheaval in the upper echelons of the political side of Shia Islam. This might be the topic of my next effortpost, something about the evolution of the Shia Marja since colonialism and then Sistani's interpretation of the role which made him the modern Marja (but actually not, more on that later). The fight about succession will be interesting with many clashing dynamics (Persian vs Arab, Qom vs Najaf, Sistani family vs Islamic Republic of Iran, Political vs Apolitical, Old vs Young), and the looming Sadrist cult threat is even more interesting.

Brief summary of today's Syria news.

Turkish-backed “SNA” fighters captured the northern city of Manbij and the surrounding countryside from Washington’s Kurdish-dominated “SDF” proxies.

The fascist Tel Aviv regime continues attacking Syria all over the country (even brazenly striking army bases in and near Latakia, an arms depot near Izra (in Daraa province), Damascus’ Barza neighborhood, Homs, an airbase in Qamishli, and many other locations). The Zionist invaders now illegally occupy the southern Syrian settlements of Quneitra, Madinat al-Baath, and Hader; and an army base on Mount Hermon. So far, the Salafist armed groups have not offered any serious resistance to the Zionist invasion. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, and Iran condemned the invasion.

Israeli bombings are still ongoing in Syria. They're apparently targeting the facilities of what were radar battalions in Damascus, scientific research facilities in Hama, and missile bases built into the Qalamoun mountain range. Remember that video taken by rebels a few days moaning about how Assad and Hezbollah built those underground missile bases into the mountains? Well I guess they can stop moaning now, Israel is currently attempting to destroy those facilities, either with bunker busters dropped from planes, or Israeli special forces units planting explosives within them.

⚠️ Warning – Graphic

Videos have emerged from across Syria showing extremist opposition elements, some of them wearing ISIS patches, carrying out sectarian field executions and revenge killings of supporters of Assad's government, former Syrian Arab Army officers, and Alawite civilians.

https://x.com/TheCradleMedia/status/1866594679963152513

IT BEGINS

First Year of Javier Milei’s Economic “Miracle”: Plunging Inflation, Surging Poverty, Rising Inequality and Slumping Industry

A nice summary of all the horrors Milei has inflicted on the Argentinian people.

Oh shit, has The Adjuster got got?

https://wjactv.com/news/local/reports-altoona-man-held-questioning-killing-unitedhealthcare-ceo-nypd-pennsylvania-new-york-brian-thompson

Funniest thing that could happen:

1. Trump becomes President, decides to stick it to Mexico. Breaks off all diplomatic relations.

2. Mexico stops doing trade or anything else with the United States.

3. The next day, the Adjuster livestreams himself from a beach in Mexico, proves that he's the Adjuster, and says his real name. Mexico won't extradite him.

stuff in his reading list about dealing with back pain from surgery (including stuff about depression), maybe has been out of contact with his friends and family for months (if twitter screenshots are to be believed), was in NY sometimes around the shooting, had a manifesto and a gun with a suppressor on it when he was arrested (although could always be bs fed by the cops ig?), i think they got him, i think anyone saying otherwise is coping tbh. as for why he was so sloppy like this after seemingly planning this (relatively) cleanly at first? well, i think he saw how ecstatic the internet has been over it and wanted the recognition for it (and also, maybe he thinks he can get off scot free because of it?)

The guy who sang God Syria Bashar switched sides it’s so fucking over

A bunch of towers in my city have festive red, green, and white lights up in high windows. In my head canon it’s all Italian solidarity for Luigi

Photos of thousands of Syrian refugees returning from Turkey.

The guy on the latest radio war nerd said that in Turkey, much like everywhere else these days, there's been a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, which syrians have been a primary victim of and having them return on their own without even having to deport them is a huge politican win for erdogan (though elections aren't until 2028 so I don't know if he'll remain popular by then)

HE QUOTED DUNKEY IN HIS YEARBOOK LMFAO

life is so full of wonders :,D

there's no way this Luigi guy is the shooter. the eyebrows just do not match with the CCTV of the shooting. I feel like some kinda tinfoil hat mfer just saying that lmao, but yeah I do not buy this

At least three Israeli soldiers were killed in the minefield explosion in 'Ras al-Naqoura' in Lebanon earlier today.

Lol

Erdogan: 'Besides Putin, I am the only real leader left in the entire world'

????

Ford is threatening to end energy exports to the US if Trump goes ahead with the tariffs. Electricity from Ontario powers about 1.5 million houses in the US.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/doug-ford-tariff-threat-energy-exports-1.7408644

""That's okay if he does that. That's fine," Trump told a CNBC reporter."

Tiktok is telling me that the adjuster's family wealth was from a network of nursing homes. They were generally of very poor quality to say the least (I'm fucking disgusted, but that's US healthcare/elder care for you, nothing too new), and his LinkedIn shows that he volunteered at these homes.

It's likely that his experiences witnessing industrialized elder abuse had a strong effect on his views.

@tiffanycianci is the creator who pulled the research into a video if you want to look it up. Someone should grab it and post to tankietube or something.

Ex-defense chief suspected of plotting war with North Korea to justify martial law

Kim Yong-hyun is said to have called for strikes on sites from which North Korea was launching trash balloons and sending drones over Pyongyang

Earlier this morning, Russia conducted a 6 and a half hour long missile attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and military targets, one of the longest attacks of the war so far, consisting of between 90-100 missiles. Before the missile phase of this attack, Russia also launched a large Geran-2 drone attack to soften up Ukraine's defenses of between 190-200 drones. Ukrainian sources state that the combined two phase attack consisted of between 280-300 missiles and drones combined. They claimed to have shot down 81 missiles and 80 drones, and 105 drones "lost their targets" (this shoot down claim doesn't even deserve any serious consideration, I'm only including it to give an idea of the amount of missiles and drones fired).

Note: each icon consists of a group of drones and cruise missiles, and not a single missile.

Drones were all of type Geran-2, a Russian variant of the Shahed 136 (yellow on the graphic, 190-200 launched). The missile attack consisted of Kh-101 air launched, subsonic, low flying cruise missiles launched from Tu-95M strategic bombers (purple, 50-60 launched), Kh-22/32 high flying, supersonic air launched cruise missiles likely launched from Tupolev Tu-22M strategic bombers (green, 1 launched), Kh-59 air launched, subsonic, low flying cruise missiles that can be launched from a variety of Russian fighter-bomber aircraft (in this case Su-30s were the suspected carriers)(pink, 1-2 launched), Kalibir subsonic low flying cruise missiles launched from the Black sea fleet (blue, 20-30 launched), Iskander ballistic missiles launched from the ground (olive green, 5-10 launched), and Kinzhal air launched ballistic missiles launched from MiG-31K aircraft (white, 4-8 launched).

As a result over 50% of Ukraine is said to be without electricity today. Remember, there are hard limits to any de-electrification of Ukraine, Russia cannot strike the sources supplying secondary power to Ukraine's nuclear power plants significantly, such a move could endanger the stability of the reactors. This is a continuation of Russia's de-electrification campaign in Ukraine, and the attack has been planned for some days/weeks, with movements of strategic bombers. Just before this attack by Russia was launched, Ukraine fired US made and targeted ATACMS ballistic missiles at Russia, striking targets within it's internationally recognised borders.

I'm guessing this was done to frame this Russian attack as a panicked response, rather than a predetermined and planned attack. Russia has in fact been on the front foot the entire time, the first large missile attack of this winter took place before Ukraine got permission to use long range US, UK and French weapons to strike Russian territory. Ukraine is likely trying to reframe that. Initially this was done by stating that the permission to launch attacks into Russia using ATACMS and Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles was because of North Korean soldiers, now it's being done by launching ATACMS attacks just before Russian attacks.

In response, I'll guess that Ukraine is planning to launch a Strom Shadow/SCALP attack on Russia. Ukrainian MiG-29 escort aircraft, which carry anti radiation US made HARM missiles to suppress air defences, escorting the Su-24 bombers carrying the Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles to their launch sites, have been spotted making strategic movements. Ukraine could also be bluffing though, too much is unknown. But do not be surprised if there's another Storm Shadow/SCALP attack in the coming days.

A live overview of the attack

Ukrainian claimed shoot down numbers, again just for an idea of what was fired

Daniel Penny has been acquitted of all charges in the ~~murder~~ ~~manslaughter~~ ~~criminally negligent homicide~~ apparently totally fine death of Jordan Neely.

https://archive.is/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/nyregion/daniel-penny-not-guilty-jordan-neely.html

🟡🟢 Hezbollah statement on the situation in Syria — In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

The ongoing crimes committed by the zionist enemy on Syrian territory—whether through the occupation of additional lands in the Golan Heights or by striking and destroying the defensive capabilities of the Syrian state—constitute blatant aggression and a brazen violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian state and people. These actions exacerbate the destabilization of this brotherly nation.

This aggressive occupation of Syrian lands coincides with the ongoing zionist military aggression against Lebanon, its daily violations, and its assaults on Gaza. These interconnected threats place the region’s peoples in imminent danger, underscoring the unity of their struggle and the necessity of rejecting and confronting this aggression.

We, while condemning these attacks, warn of the consequences of their continuation. We also call on the international community, particularly the Arab and Islamic worlds, to adopt firm stances against these crimes and to exert pressure in all political and legal arenas to halt this series of aggressions. All the justifications presented by the enemy are baseless fabrications.

The enemy’s repeated attempts to seize new Syrian lands cannot establish any legitimate rights. These actions are nothing more than ongoing occupation, entrenched in the Golan Heights since 1967.

We affirm our steadfast support for Syria and its people, emphasizing the importance of preserving the unity of Syria—its land and its people.

Monday, 09-12-2024

7 Jumada al-Akhirah 1446 AH

HTS officials order Palestinian resistance factions to disarm, close bases in Syria

FACTOR (arts organization in Canada that dispenses grants to musicians) had almost $10 million stolen from its account at Scotiabank, which was then converted to crypto and used to buy crypto-mining equipment.

Only 1 person in the country was meant to have access to the bank account, but Scotiabank just let a random outlook email address take all the money without flagging that or like...following up in any way. FACTOR is taking them to court to get them to pay the money back, obviously.

In a similar vein: in NB, a charity for homeless people had $3000 stolen from its Scotiabank account because Scotiabank didn't do anything when the account's info got changed to some other email.

President Maduro: US-backed opposition is intent on replicating circumstances of Syria in Venezuela

"We're observing the development of painful circumstances for the people of Syria. Now, the fascist extremists are coming out to ask for a civil war to be waged in Venezuela.."

"We've gone through psychological warfare, political warfare, economic warfare, conspiracies.. the Empire and the fascist right-wing have run out of conspiracy manuals."

"When the gringo army criminally entered Iraq in 2003, they asked the gringos to do the same in Venezuela."

"When the gringos entered Libya and bombed and killed thousands, they asked him to come and bomb and kill Chavez.. He said that Venezuela is not Libya. Venezuela is the homeland of the liberators.. We regret that barbaric attack that dismembered and tore Libya to pieces.."

"When in 2014 Nazi groups staged the coup in Kiev, Ukraine and killed dozens of innocent people and seized power.. they also said 'the time has come, now it is Venezuela's turn..' In 2014, our people, with the Constitution in hand, defeated the guarimba and the attempt to lead our beloved Venezuela to a civil war.

After Syria, world must realise that Russia can be defeated – Polish PM

https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1ha712h/after_syria_world_must_realise_that_russia_can_be/

END OF HISTORY 2 LETS GOOOOOOOOOO

Arctic tundra is now emitting more carbon than it absorbs, US agency says

The Washington Post reports that U.S. officials are considering removing Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the list of foreign terrorist organizations The UK government is also open to the idea, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer states that a change in policy now is 'far too early.'

On 9 December 2024, following the fall of the Assad regime, al-Bashir was tasked with forming a transitional government after meeting with HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani and outgoing Syrian prime minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali to coordinate a transfer of power. The next day he was officially tasked to head the transitional government until 1 March 2025

I've heard that most non-Western countries are still not sure whether to recognize this Syrian government, since HTS is still considered a terrorist group (even by the US). There's also the fact that the whole country is unstable and the leadership could change in the near future.

pure speculation on my part, but ive been thinking a lot about syria and the axis of resistance as a whole, i really wonder if so much of what we saw as potential cowardice from hezbollah and especially iran was because they knew something was irreparably wrong in the Syrian government and didnt want to be over extended when the collapse came.

what if assad levels up and becomes a trump cabinet pick

Russian Channel One, quoting sources in the Kremlin: 'Former President Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived safely in Moscow'. Leaders of the armed Syrian opposition have guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic institutions on Syrian territory, Russian media reported, citing the Kremlin.

'Iran warned Assad two months ago that HTS was preparing to make a move, but he dismissed the threat. So the Turkish Foreign Minister gave us assurances that nothing will take place, which turned out to be a lie. After HTS entered Western Aleppo, Iran expected Assad to ask for military assistance, and we were fully prepared to oblige with troops and whatever else was needed – but no such request came. After Aleppo fell, it became clear that Assad had no real intentions of staying in power, so we started to engage in diplomatic talks with the opposition, and arranged the safe exit of our troops from Syria. If the SAA does not fight, neither will we risk our soldiers' lives. Russia and the UAE had managed to convince him to step down, so there was nothing we could do.' – Iranian Officials

Idk if this is true, could be Iranian cope or Assad really was this dumb