Image is allegedly of the note Trump wrote while editing a speech while on the way back from the G20 summit.
The top Russian-Chinese agent, Donald Trump, has decided that the pace of dedollarization and the decline of American financial hegemony is going too slowly. He has therefore decided to put tariffs on everybody; from America’s largest trading partners to uninhabited islands. In the process, he is trying to create an autarkic America. Jokes aside, interpretation and analysis of this has ranged across a wide spectrum. I think we can broadly agree that the most idiotic are the “true believers”; those that actually believe Trump’s every word, and that this will somehow bring back American manufacturing and whatever other inane promises he has made.
However, there is a much more interesting debate. The first camp are those who believe Trump is acting as an inadvertent accelerationist due to his lack of understanding about how the world economy and dollar hegemony functions (and that this will subsequently ensure that countries flock to China instead). The second camp are those who believe that Trump does know what he’s doing, at least to a certain extent, and that the effective result of this period of madness will be countries kowtowing to the United States; renegotiating trade deals to be even more in favor of the US in order to get tariffs reduced. There’s even a yet more cynical camp who believes that in fact, this entire trade war is just theater for further national wealth redistributions from poor to rich; that all these monumental international trade wars are more of a sideshow. To quote the linked article: “[…] out of the mountain of tariffs that threaten to turn into a global trade war will emerge the mouse of further tax cuts.”
I’m not embarrassed to admit that I have absolutely no idea which one of these is the closest model to reality. We’re in new economic and political ground, and even if the tariffs are quickly renegotiated and/or dropped, the impacts will continue to reverberate around the world for years. I’m sure we’ll debate this for months to come here, though!
Last week’s thread is here.
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Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA reports on Israel’s destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia’s youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don’t want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it’s just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists’ side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR’s former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR’s forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster’s telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a ‘propaganda tax’, if you don’t believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Big brain move: notice the market get too volatile and insecure, so you keep changing the economic outlook every 12 hours so that the big players don’t know wtf is happening and decide to just hold out for a while and not sell anything.
//
On another note, it’s hard to appreciate the timescale of the American empire while you’re living through it. I just noticed that the possibly strongest empire in human history started to crumble after what, 70-80 years? I usually think of empires lasting for centuries, with generations and generations of a golden age.
Not sure what to think of this article. The article is originally published in Pakistan, but the author is apparently from Bangladesh:
https://www.pressenza.com/2025/04/india-defending-chinese-threat-from-bangladeshs-soil/Conspiracy theories across the border may sound interesting, but equally disgusting. It is frustrating when scores of Indian so-called defense experts and former military hawks speak and write with confidence that China will establish an airbase (not a military base) in northern Bangladesh to battle the Indians to cut off the so-called ‘Chicken Neck’ or Siliguri Corridor, which physically connects India with North East states.
The consequential theory simmering in the heads of Indian defense analysts claims that the Chinese will severe North East (which is also known as Seven Sisters) from the Chicken Neck. Incidentally, millions of Chinese soldiers (People’s Liberation Army) will invade from the northeastern Chinese borders.
Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dilip Ghosh in a ‘friendly message’ in December 2024, commented that Bangladesh’s armed forces are no match for India and that Bangladesh’s political leaders should “think carefully” about the ongoing turmoil.
The Antifascist International, Ecuador Chapter, denounces fraud in Ecuador’s presidential election. “Faced with this emergency, we call on the Ecuadorian people to active and organized resistance. The struggle continues and must intensify in the streets…"
The International Collective of CELAC Social denounces “the serious attack on the popular will” committed in Ecuador’s presidential election. The Executive Secretariat of ALBA says that irregularities in Ecuador’s runoff election suggests “the execution of a clear premeditated electoral fraud.”
Nicaragua has withdrawn its support for South Africa’s case against the Apartheid entity at the ICJ, confirmed on 3 April - ICJ official post
No immediate reason was given, but it is suspected that Trump had painted a target on Nicaragua’s back and may have threatened to retaliate against the 450,000 Nicaraguans living in the US, in addition to Nicaragua’s cordial relations with South Africa (who is now also being accused of complicity in 7 October, as an escalation of atrocity propaganda by the Orange Führer’s friends).
Death to ameriKKKa
US airstrikes did continue on Yemen for the 30th night in a row, with strikes targeting a factory leading to the killing of civilians. Sana’a and Marib Governorate were targeted by multiple rounds of airstrikes. There were two significant statements from the Yemeni Armed Forces, one to do with firing Medium Range Ballistic Missiles (MRBMs) at Israel, another to do with shooting down the 19th MQ-9 Reaper drone.
The launching of MRBMs at Israel again is a significant development. It’s been 14 days, exactly two weeks, since the last MRBM launch, and 17 days since the last launch of a MaRV capable Palestine-2 MRBM. So Ansarallah is fighting to maintain and rebuild capabilities amongst the intense US Navy air campaign against it. As a commentator pointed out earlier today, THAAD air defence interceptor missiles were likely used to intercept the MaRV of the Palestine-2 missile. There were pictures of the boosters online.
As for how the MQ-9s get shot down even during the ongoing SEAD campaign, these shootdowns don’t happen over Sana’a or Saada Governorates where a pathway has been opened up to allow them to operate without being shot down and even on video, but in other areas. Also, there is a surface to air loitering munition that Ansarallah have called Missile-358. It’s basically a Lancet, but for taking out air targets. It’s not a traditional air defence system with a radar and so forth. Perfect for slow and low flying drones in visual range like the MQ-9.
Warning for potential graphic imagery of casualties during ongoing airstrikes:
Ecuador Election Update BREAKING: “We don’t recognize the results,” says Revolución Ciudadana candidate.
- Kawsachuan News
Wisconsin teen killed parents as part of Trump assassination plot - apnews link as well.
A newly unsealed search warrant also alleges that the suspect’s phone contained material relating to a neo-Nazi group called the Order of Nine Angles and praise for Adolf Hitler.
The alleged double murder “appeared to be an effort to obtain the financial means and autonomy necessary to carrying out his plan”, investigators wrote.
The trump would-be-assassins are getting crazier every time
Vargas Llosa has died.
Peruvian writer and politician Mario Vargas Llosa died this Sunday in Lima, where he lived with his family. Since distancing himself from left-wing politics, he has embraced right-wing politics. In 1989, The Washington Post would write that though Vargas Llosa’s party appeared center-right, “he has ties with far-right politicians in other countries”.
Vargas Llosa has continued to be criticized due to his association with far-right groups and politicians. The Christian Science Monitor would call Vargas Llosa “a right-wing maverick” while Jacobin would plainly describe him as a “far-right novelist”.
Vargas Llosa has described himself as a supporter of liberalism and said that the individuals who have had most impact on his political thought have included Karl Popper, Friedrich Hayek and Isaiah Berlin. According to The Nation, Vargas Llosa would condemn leftist groups entirely due to the controversies of some while minimizing similar actions by neoliberal governments.
He supported right-wing libertarian candidate Javier Milei in the 2023 Argentine general election. Following the arrest of Augusto Pinochet for crimes against humanity in 1999, Vargas Llosa would write an op-ed in The New York Times asking why left wing dictators were also not being arrested.
During the 2022 Brazilian general election, Vargas Llosa expressed his endorsement for conservative leader Jair Bolsonaro. “The case of Bolsonaro it’s a hard question. His jokes are very hard to endorse, for a liberal […] Now, between Bolsonaro and Lula, I prefer Bolsonaro. Even with jokes from Bolsonaro, Lula no.” said Vargas Llosa at a conference
Ecuador Election Update (Sources: Radio Pichincha):
Luiza Gonzalez: denounces electoral fraud after the first official results of the ballot. “There are about 11 polls in which all of them, even those of the government itself, gave us the victory”, she emphasizes. “I denounce before my people, the media and the world that we are living a dictatorship and we are facing the worst and most grotesque electoral fraud in the history of the Republic of Ecuador”, she asserts.
“In the name of the men, women, children and young people we represent, in the name of the people we represent, we do not recognize the results presented by the CNE”, said Luisa Gonzalez from the headquarters of Revolucion Ciudadana. She also indicated that they will request the recount of votes and the opening of the ballot boxes.
Correristas claim they have 52% of the votes, against 48% of Daniel Narcoa
Ex-Marxist turned right-winger Mario Vargas Llosa, candidate for the Peruvian presidency in 1990, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature, has died at the age of 89.
Stranger still, is that the gap isn’t narrowing much as the CNE count progresses through provinces where the RC excels. CNE’s figures suggest that Luisa didn’t gain votes even with all the endorsements she received in round 1. Not even Pachakutik’s votes? Inconceivable.
- Kawsachuan News
Clarification: China has stopped exports of almost all rare earth minerals and magnets, while they implement a new system that will prevent those minerals & magnets from reaching select US corporations, primarily US weapons manufacturers. Then, exports will resume.
CNE results site: Daniel Noboa holds a 12-point lead over Luisa González with 80.53% of votes counted.
- Kawsachuan News
I guess Noboa is going to win. CIA/US wins once again
Article is too long to post here so, tl;dr: Over 100,000 Israelis have stopped appearing for reserve duty. Attendance rates for the reserves have reportedly dropped to 50-60 percent.
https://www.972mag.com/israeli-army-refusal-crisis-gaza-war/
