Was that the old woman who threw the coffee? I saw the video on Telegram.

Edit: yes it was

I’m sure the ADL is gonna swoop in an try to make her seem like the victim, somehow. And the media will buy it.

DID THEY GET HIS SPERM IN TIME?!

I have actually found the “tankie” moniker to be useful IRL:

Tell someone you’re a Marxist-Leninist and you just get a blank stare.

Tell someone you’re a socialist and they think you mean you’re simpatico with AOC and Bernie.

Tell someone you’re a communist and they will just shut down and not hear anything else you say.

But “tankie” seems to convey enough truth - that you support past and current efforts from AES states to build socialism - to be useful.

Top Gear used to be my favorite show but I can’t even watch their old episodes anymore because Clarkson has become such an insufferable bell end.

Maybe an unpopular opinion but I think Russia should (and probably will) see it more as a red guideline or at the very least not respond in an equivalent way, just enough to express displeasure.

It’s the right move too IMO because Russia is winning and winning at a pace not yet seen before. To use a sports analogy, what NATO is doing now is the thing where you’re down 2-0 and time is running out; so you start chirping at the other team and playing dirty to get them off their game and maybe get them to draw a foul. Of course the right thing for the team in the lead is to swallow your pride and ignore it; stay on your game because if you do, you win. The only way Russia can lose right now is if NATO gets significantly more involved, and they can’t do that without some sort of fig leaf casus belli. That’s what NATO is trying to do with the DPRK troops thing, but rightly no one is buying it. Russia cannot give NATO anything they can use as a reason to get involved.

As much as I would love to see Ansarallah get some really good anti-ship missiles, the US is likely going to see that as a massive escalation. Russia would be an accomplice in potentially sinking an American capital ship. I don’t think just hitting Kursk would be seen as “equivalent”. There’s definitely a time and place up the escalation ladder for giving Ansarallah those missiles, but I don’t think we’re quite there yet.

The Anti-Empire Project Gaza / Lebanon War 406 / 60: Genocide intensifies, war escalates

This is Justin Podur’s channel, and here he’s discussing things with Jon Elmer. Justin and Jon are my two favorite (English-language) sources for finding out about what’s happening militarily on the ground in Gaza, Lebanon, and the West Bank. I’ve only just started watching but I will highly recommend this video in advance, it will be a good use of time to watch it.

Do we have any users here in The Netherlands? I’m curious to know how this Israeli football hooligan story is playing out with more non-political folks or those who at least didn’t stake out a position on Palestine before. From what little bits and pieces I have heard, it appears that no one is buying the story that the government and the media are pushing, and quite a few “normal” people are taking notice.

Justin Podur is great, I follow him and Jon Elmer from The Electronic Intifada as closely as I can. Between the two of them I feel like I get an as-good-as-is-possible understanding of the situation on the ground (and occasionally they each show up on the others’ media).

Not that I rewatch Games of Thrones really but I would always watch that intro, and got unreasonably excited when some new region was “unlocked”.

Come out ye black and tans!

I remember a podcast where Michael Hudson was dunking on Krugman, it was something pretty basic lIRC Krugman was talking about trade deficits as if they’re the only source of currency imbalances between countries i.e. completely ignoring government transactions for example.

We often talk about drip here. Of course, drip is subjective (I love my boy Kim but his style is not for me). But my word do I love the Yemeni drip of a sport coat or blazer over a robe and a scarf. I want to go there, wear that getup, and drink coffee with some Ansar Allah folks while we all talk about death to America. Of all the clothing styles in all the world, this is my favorite rn.

I also think some of it is simple wishcasting. Americans (whether we’re talking about professional economists or Joe Six Pack) cannot wrap their heads around the idea of China not only growing how it has, but even moreso the idea that there is nothing the west can do to stop China’s economy from lapping us. We’ve been checkmated. Saying China’s economy is doing bad is just cope. Any bad news gets latched onto like a bone a dog won’t let go of.

I do wonder how Americans will react when the average person in China undeniably has a better quality of life than the average American (we may already be there afaik, but it’s not readily apparent if so)

If anything they seem too low. Only 44% reading a book in a year is way too low; I suspect a large number of Americans consider “reading the Bible” some to be reading a book. Thinking about my immediate social circle (which skews to have college degrees), I bet at least 80% haven’t read a book in the last year if you exclude the Bible.

With the nomination of Rubio to Secretary of State, I think US imperialism will be refocusing on Latin American shortly.

I think the Musk / DOGE thing is a bit overblown. DOGE is just an advisory committee, he will have no power to actually do anything. The federal budget is already stripped fairly lean, and the spending that is there usually has many patrons in congress who will protect it regardless of party affiliation. And that’s assuming his committee gets funded, which is not a sure thing.

I honestly think Musk is in it only because he thinks it’s cool and funny to head up a committee called “DOGE” and that’s about it.

Of all the times for a stroke to have sidelined Matt Christman…

I more or less agree, but Rubio in the Secretary of State position is bad because he’s gonna want to pivot hard against Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, et al. But it’s not like he’s particularly competent so I don’t know…

Incredible. What does it say that I find this pick very reassuring. Like, it’s such an incompetent pick to head up defense. This is like Milei selecting one of his dogs to lead defense. The American imperial project is so cooked. And just to clarify it’s real.

A couple quotes I liked:

Co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend,”

Dude’s not even on the main stage, he’s been stuck in weekend spot for years (weekend viewership is so much lower, FYI).

Hegseth has served in the military, although he lacks senior military or national security experience.

Lmao.

It mentions he got degrees from Princeton and Harvard which… ok, I mean I know a Princeton grad. Smart enough person but not someone who could manage the geopolitical pitfalls of the role just based on inherent intelligence.