news

I was gonna do an April Fool's bit where I was gonna state my undying love and respect for the media bias chart but I realized that it's not actually very funny when that would just make me indistinguishable from the average Redditor. and the prospect of reading the Washington Post nowadays fills me with both hatred and dread

Some news regarding an anti-colonial struggle going on against France ( ), from theredstream on Telegram:

A crisis brewing in New Caledonia

Earlier this week, the French senate endorsed a constitutional review project bearing significant modifications to the Pacific overseas territory’s election system, but not without making its own amendments.

The reform aims to expand the roll of eligible voters for New Caledonia’s provincial elections, currently reserved for locally-born New Caledonian citizens, migrants who have been living on the islands since before 1988, and their descendants.

With the reform implemented, the next elections would be open to French nationals with at least 10 years of uninterrupted residence in New Caledonia, allowing an extra 11,000 people to vote, most of whom are non-indigenous.

The next elections, due by mid-December, are seen as crucial for the French overseas territory, where voices favoring independence have grown stronger among the indigenous Kanak people.

Fearing to lose the archipelago, French president Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party, backed by the right wing, aims to shift the balance of forces in the local institutions currently held by pro-independence politicians.

New Caledonia’s pro-independence umbrella, the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), views the move as an attempt to roll back the achievements gained by the now-defunct Nouméa Accord of 1998. They call for a new statute to enshrine a clear pathway toward an independent and sovereign state.

The fact that the archipelago is embroiled in a deep economic crisis doesn’t help. The government led by pro-independence President Louis Mapou is under pressure, as ordinary people feel the burden of increased cost of living.

Tensions in New Caledonia are set to continue to escalate as the French government seeks to hinder the overseas territory’s self-determination and retain the strategically important archipelago within the French Republic.

It remains to be seen whether the revision marks an end to a peaceful process and a possible return to tumult, which heralds new hostilities.

hmmmmm

doing political april fools as a Communist is hard because I'm too busy thinking about how libs actually believe this shit

Pre-Teen Boy Shoots Classmates in Finnish School

This tragedy reignited the debate about bullying in the supposedly happiest country in the world.

On Tuesday, a twelve-year-old boy shot and killed a classmate and wounded two others in Viertola, a school with around 800 students and 90 staff members in Vantaa city.

Using a gun belonging to a close relative, he fired at his three classmates before being apprehended by the police without resistance nearly three kilometers from the crime scene.

"“This incident is deeply upsetting. On my own behalf and on behalf of the Government, I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of the deceased child. In addition, two children were seriously injured. My thoughts are with the victims, their families and the pupils and staff of Viertola school," Finnish President Alexander Stubb said.

Although the motives are still unknown, this tragedy has reignited the debate on bullying and the mental health of young people in a country that is supposedly the happiest in the world and has an exemplary school system.

"We collectively thought that as a society, we had learned from previous school shootings, but a day like this should never have happened," Finnish Police Chief Seppo Kolehmainen stated.

With 5.6 million inhabitants and 1.5 million registered firearms, Finland ranks among the countries with the highest number of guns per capita due to its population's enthusiasm for hunting and sports shooting.

The first school shooting in Finland occurred in Tuusula in November 2007, when an 18-year-old student killed eight people with a pistol before committing suicide with a shot to the head.

One year later, another 22-year-old student shot and killed nine classmates and a teacher at a vocational school in Kauhajoki before also committing suicide. In 2012, a 23-year-old man carried out another shooting at a high school in Orivesi, though without any fatalities.

Additionally, there have been other attacks in educational institutions involving edged weapons in 2012 and 2013, resulting in one student's death and injuries to four others.

Just saw someone on Twitter call Obama the “48th president”.

Which would be hilarious if Republicans repealed the 22nd to let Trump have a third term, but he gets beat by Obama. The chuds will seethe like never before. You can just hear the piggies squealing.

Of course, it’s still Obama…

The Ecuadorean police, following orders from President Daniel Noboa, INVADED the Mexican embassy in Ecuador to remove the former vice-president, Jorge Glass, who had been granted political asylum and was taking refuge there. Following the blatant assault on international law, with Ecuador invading the Mexican embassy in Ecuador, Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with the country, on the orders of the country's president, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The three candidates for the Mexican presidency in this June's elections have condemned the invasion of the Mexican embassy in Ecuador. Jorge Alvarez, from the Citizen's Movement, and Claudia Sheinbaum, from MORENA, called for the government to act firmly.

There are politicians who don't think about the side-effects of their actions, and what they can cause for citizens. Ecuador is isolating itself more and more from the world with these actions, and anyone who thinks otherwise, just watch what happens.

Pity for the Ecuadorians on the Mexico-US border. Following the invasion of the Mexican embassy by the Ecuadorian police, at the behest of the Ecuadorian government, several countries condemned it.

Many drew parallels with other countries where the conflict over asylum seekers has already taken place, such as Ecuador itself with Julian Assange. And the concern remains:

Analysts consider if this fact is not condemned by the West, what will stop authoritarians like Nicolas Maduro from doing the same, with Venezuelan opponents who are refugees in the Argentine embassy in the country?

Mexico has broken off relations with Ecuador and announced that it will withdraw from the country in the next few hours, expecting the same from the Ecuadorian delegation in Mexico. Brazil expressed its solidarity with the Mexican government following the raid on the Mexican embassy by Ecuadorian police.

"The measure carried out by the Ecuadorian government constitutes a serious precedent and should be strongly repudiated, whatever the justification for it."

The President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, expressed his solidarity with the Mexican President, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, AMLO, after the invasion of the Mexican embassy in Ecuador. The Organization of American States, the OAS, condemned the raid by Ecuadorian police on the Mexican embassy in the country. It said it expected a meeting of the body's permanent council to discuss the situation.

Richard Medhurst is a cooler version of Hasan with a better understanding of geopolitics. He gives no fucks about optics for liberals and NATO leftists.

I do wish Hasan went more in depth with MENA coverage because him being Turkish and familiar with their politics adds a unique perspective that you don’t get often in the west. I guess he’s sort of doing that now with the Israel-Palestine war coverage.

I don't understand why everyone is so obsessed with "China manufacturing overcapacity."

This isn't new. We saw the same thing with Japan, and the solution was simply to deflate the value of the USD/EUR relative to the Yen. Do the same thing relative to the RMB and you would solve all of these overcapacity issues.

Of course, the West likes the benefits of having a strong currency without appreciating the costs.

2 hours ago

IDF Calls Up Air Defense Reservists Amid Concerns Of Iranian Retaliation For Syria Strike - I24NEWS

There are fears that any retaliatory strike originating directly from Iranian territory, rather than through its proxies, would necessitate a more substantial and direct response from the IDF

Palestine Action fuck up the roof of a factory:
https://twitter.com/Pal_action/status/1775070451057709440

SZ is reporting about Ukrainian efforts to build fortified lines (in German)

The gist is: It's not going so well, Ukraine failed to construct defensive lines in the past two years, and now, they do not have the equipment and manpower to this quickly. Quote (machine translation):

Instead of a continuous line, Synjehubov's men are building "resistance positions" on strategic heights from which advancing Russians can best be taken under fire.

So far, the military governor admits, there has only been "actual construction work" on "30 percent" of the positions selected by the Ministry of Defense for the second line of defence. The work on the inspected position will also take several more weeks, and there is still no sign of dragon's teeth against advancing tanks, let alone guns or other weapons.

SouthCom to Have Presence at Argentina's Integrated Naval Base

"Milei, dressed as a colonial soldier... is determined to hand over Argentine natural assets," former Ambassador Castro said.

In the early hours of Friday, Argentine President Javier Milei and Gen. Laura Richardson, the commander of the United States Southern Command (Southcom), held a meeting in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the South American country.

During a speech to military personnel from both countries, the far-right politician reiterated his willingness to forge a "strategic alliance" with the United States and its allies and announced that SouthCom will participate in the "Integrated Naval Base."

Initially proposed by the administration of Alberto Fernandez (2019-2023), this naval base will include a port for ship repair and replenishment, which will be the closest facility to Antarctica and "the gateway to the white continent," Milei said.

However, the visit of the SouthCom Commander to the Argentine Patagonia sparked criticism from Argentine personalities, who highlighted the far-right president's subordination to US geopolitical interests.

"Milei, dressed as a colonial soldier to meet with the commander of the SouthCom -the partner of the British invader- is determined to hand over geopolitical, strategic, and exploitation control of our country’s resources and natural assets," said Alicia Castro, former ambassador of Argentina to the United Kingdom.

"We have already seen what the U.S. did when it cooperated in Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan... We saw how SouthCom, the CIA, and the School of the Americas participated and participate in all coups d'état in our region," she commented critically.

Nevertheless, Milei said that he will defend Argentine sovereignty "by building strategic alliances with those with whom we share a worldview."

On Tuesday night, Gen. Richardson landed in Buenos Aires to begin her third official visit to Argentina. During the past few days, she held meetings with senior officials from the Milei administration and with high-ranking military personnel.

According to U.S. official versions, these meetings aimed to deepen bilateral relations in terms of "cooperation in regional defense." As part of this cooperation, Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni announced that the USS George Washington aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy will visit their country in May.

Good day!

ssh is compromised

Majority of ASEAN people favor China over U.S., survey finds

According to the State of Southeast Asia 2024 survey, compiled by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, 50.5% of respondents opted for China and 49.5% preferred the U.S. if ASEAN had to pick sides -- the first time Beijing edged past Washington since the annual survey started asking the question in 2020. Last year's survey showed 38.9% preferred China and 61.1% chose the U.S.

Other findings of the survey include that 59.5% of the respondents see China as the most influential economic power in Southeast Asia, far ahead of the U.S. at 14.3%. Meanwhile, 43.9% said China is the most influential political power in the region, versus America's 25.8%.

Philippines and Vietnam are being a bit cringe, but all others look good