Image is of Trump's initial set of reciprocal tariffs. Source is CNN and Reuters.
It's difficult to keep up with the news around the tariffs; they get instated, then dropped, then reinstated... for example, on Friday, Trump said that certain electronics like smartphones would be exempt, causing markets to rally a great deal, but now the Commerce Secretary has said that they might not be exempt? The state of play right now, if you haven't been keeping up this week, is that the US recently announced a 90-day global pause on implementing the tariffs he had planned (that is, 25% on certain Canadian and Mexican goods, and at least 10% on every other nation) but nonetheless increased tariffs on China to 145%.
Meanwhile, China has been - quite remarkably - standing their ground, increasing tariffs on the US to 125%, and putting restrictions on rare earths. Xi Jinping has been in Vietnam and has made statements against a tariff war there, saying that it would have no winners. Meanwhile, a Chinese spokesperson has essentially said that China can endure the tariff war due to the increasing demand from its domestic market in combination with its growing economic ties with other countries.
Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
Please check out the RedAtlas!
The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.
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.
In what world would those chuds fulfilling those conditions not just choose Trump's America over Russia? Much better standard of living, also much higher chance of not being struck by a drone.
Yeah, this would've seemed much more enticing to them during Biden's presidency. But maybe non-Western chuds would be more interested in moving to Russia for its "traditional values", because US chuds aren't exactly known for treating foreigners well.
They probably would, given the choice, but Fortress America isn't letting them in, even if they're chuds
IDK, if you ask me, anyone who has the means ($ and/or skillset) could easily live affordably and with a higher standard of living in Russia (including in regards to safety) compared to much of the US. When you measure by actual purchasing power parity (PPP) Russia is 4th largest in the world, in terms of actual wealth (infrastructure, production, resources) rather than capital and in particular rather than hyperfinancialized speculation like is rampant across the west, the fact is that Russia is actually pretty decent as far as things go, and hilariously they've started further re-industrializing and investing in their country (and not just for the "war economy") thanks to the sanctions and blatant theft of their assets. I suppose if someone wants specifically "McDonalds" brand McDonalds and all the other western treats™, it might be unavailable, cost a little more, and/or require jumping through a few hoops (though domestic Russian industry, Chinese, and other BRICS brands are happily taking their place).
Honestly, it's pretty interesting, and the western dismissal of Russia and assumptions that things are dismal like as if it's back in the days of shock therapy is pretty similar to the dismissal of China and some other global south countries IMO (particularly in regards to the actual wealth/quality of life clearly experienced).
Yeah, I agree, although I would say those chuds he is marketing his country to in fact worship brand names and hyperfinancialization. Like for example, much of their trading apps like robinhood literally aren't available outside of the US. Besides, in Russia, they would be just another white person. In Amerikkka, they are the privileged class.
I don't think you understand how being an "expat" works in the rest of the world. People worship the ground Americans walk on in third world countries for some stupid reason.
Depends on the country, I feel like. In fact, my own nation is one of those nations that treats expats exceptionally well, but my nation is small and an unusual place to emigrate to (for now at least, I feel like more people are picking up on how cheap this nation really is, along with the nightlife and women etc.). On the other hand, Russia I'm sure has to be somewhat used to foreigners, at least in Moscow where these people would be emigrating to.
How many civilians in Russia die due to drone strikes? How many Yankees are killed in shootings or by pigs?
I mean assuming they're chuds that can come to Russia, that means they're adult white afluent males, who I doubt get affected by those things.