Remote View

SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him] @hexbear.net

2mo ago

Bulletins and International News Discussion from October 20th to October 26th, 2025 - The Fall of Boluarte - COTW: Peru

Those who were around in the early days of the news megathread may remember Pedro Castillo, the left-leaning leader of Peru who was deposed in December 2022. He was replaced by Dina Boluarte, the first woman to be President of Peru, who described herself as a progressive but afterwards routinely sided with Peruvian conservatives and American interests. To say she was unpopular is an understatement of titanic proportions - she descended to such lows that she was, at one point, the single most unpopular leader on the planet. As with most deeply unpopular leaders that side with the West, she kept power for a bafflingly long time.

However, on October 10th, after a period of protests against the government, she was impeached and removed by Peru's Congress in a unanimous vote. José Jerí was sworn in as the new President, who was previously the President of the Congress and is a member of a centrist Peruvian party. The government is trying the classic strategy: keep doing the same thing as before, and sacrifice an unpopular figure - here, Boluarte - in the hopes that this appeases the crowd.

Is this strategy working? It doesn't really seem to be - protests are not only continuing, but strengthening, as it is clear that neoliberalism will not reformed and the brutality by police will not stop (there was very recently a high-profile case in which a musician, Mauricio Ruiz, was murdered). Controversies surrounding Jerí, including allegations of SA, are already being reported. If Jerí is deposed, the next person in line to try their hand at ruling will be the former army general Roberto Chiabra, who would be the ninth President in less than a decade.

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.

::: spoiler 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.

:::

889 comments

: "Argentina is fighting for its life... Argentina is fighting for its life. They have nothing. They have no money. Argentina is dying. They have no money, they have nothing. I may even like the... President there, but don't try to tell me they're doing well. They're dying, alright? They're dying."
- edit - yes he did say it. Trump's brain is so great.
  “Argentina’s fighting for its life, young lady, you don’t know anything about it,” Trump told a reporter on Air Force One in response to a question. “They’re fighting for their life. Nothing’s benefiting Argentina.”
  “They’re fighting for their life. You understand what that means? They have no money, they have no anything. They’re fighting so hard to survive. If I can help them survive in a free world — I happen to like the president of Argentina, I think he’s trying to do the best he can. But don’t make it sound like they’re doing great.”
  I like how he accused the reporter of saying that Argentina is doing great, when the reporter just asked him about bailing out another country when he should be doing MAGA. Obviously, Trump doesn't even conceive of not bailing out a president of a foreign country that he likes, of course that is just assumed, so he interprets even the slight pushback on the bailout as saying that Argentina is doing great. His brain just cannot compute that they are asking him about hypocrisy. And he is correct, "MAGA" is just whatever the Republicans want to do in any specific moment in time.
  
  "MAGA" is just whatever the Republicans want to do in any specific moment in time.
  He just kind of definitionally is doing "MAGA" by existing and holding power, don't'cha know.
- Obviously he is wrong, it's a country with 46 million people, with vast resources, exploited by the U.S, run by its puppet and under crippling foreign currency debt. Instead of making it so they no longer have this debt, he wants to bail out domestic and foreign capitalists. I hate that people frame it as America prioritizing Argentina over Americans, this is wrong, that is something which only applies to Israel and to much lesser extent other Western nations, only Israel (and few others) get completely unconditional transfers.
  
  at least it does fly in the face of 'argentinean economic miracle' propaganda
- Chairman trump caring for the poor

RAND REPORT - Accept China has won. Best case scenario is avoiding a century of humiliation
clarify U.S. objectives in the rivalry with language that explicitly rejects absolute versions of victory and accepts the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party.
each side must accept, in ways that are deeply ingrained and broadly shared among decision-making officials, that some degree of modus vivendi must necessarily be part of the relationship
each side must accept the essential political legitimacy of the other.
state that it does not support Taiwan independence, seek a permanent separation across the Straits, or oppose peaceful unification
creating the maximum incentive for Beijing to pursue gradual approaches to realizing its ultimate goal
Reunification. Taiwan surrendered its stranglehold on chips and became a chip itself to be traded accordingly.
[The US should] balance its commitments to Taiwan with leveraging its influence to ensure Taiwan's actions do not escalate tensions with China… use its potential leverage over Taiwan to limit its activities that upset the status quo.
This would have been a great strategy for the US to adopt 10 years ago.

This has to be one of the coolest fucking things I've read in a very long time: Everything we know about the Louvre jewellery heist
The BBC:
- The theft has caused a political outcry in France, with Macron calling the raid "an attack on our history"
  
  The louvre is a triumphant celebration of an attack on the histories of like a third of the globe...
  
  Political outcry from the right I bet. They just love that protofascist napoleon
- All are from the 19th century, and once belonged to French royalty or imperial rulers.
  
  They implicitly state the jewels were stolen. Load-bearing "belonged to." Who did they "belong to" before the imperialist pigs?
  
  Clearly the jewels came from the local diamond mines that are indigenous to France…
  
  Mined in Brazil & India mostly. Empress Eugenie was a famed collector. Usually jewelry got passed around due to various marriages and it wasn’t that common to craft new pieces.
  
  probably some monarch that stole them from people who stole them from somewhere else. jewels are common spoils of war that trade hands/are stolen/coercively taken as part of exploitative peace treaties multiple times. not to excuse french (or british) imperial theft, more that establishing providence of 'treasure' items like this is often harder than providence of 'cultural' artifacts like stolen totem poles or Indigenous art
- Around 60 investigators are working on the case and prosecutors said their theory is that the robbers were under orders for a criminal organisation.
  
  "We investigated thoughtfully and the conclusion of the investigation was that it was a robbery"
- My issue with such theft is that it ends up in some private collection owned by rich people. At least gold and cash can be laundered more easily.
- I really hope a movie gets made of this one day
  
  Louvre Actually
  Dr. Strangelouvre
  The French and They're Furious
- when you try to hit that 18th brumaire date, but consult with ai
- I bet it's trump. No shit. He's gonna crown himself like napoleon
  
  My head canon is Gorka did it to try and crown Trump
- GTA V ass level robbery

Good news, the Republicans won't even need to rig anything for 2028!
'I am not done' - Kamala Harris tells BBC she may run for president again

White house east wing destroyed to make Trump ballroom awesome
source
- Govt shut down, people not getting paid healthcare prices gonna skyrocket, and a white house section ballroom is being made in tribute to a pedo. Not even veep could make this more ridiculous
  
  It's still shutdown wtf?
- I'm genuinely astonished that this isn't breaking multiple laws. This is a historic building isn't it? Why isn't it protected? Is any building protected by law? Does the US not have a "listed" status for buildings like we have in the UK where the listed buildings have an absurd amount of protection from changes due to historical significance?
  Sidenote: He's not making these changes to the building and then leaving it. He considers this his house now.
  
  America has made it quite clear that the President can do whatever he wants
  an ever expanding Great White House set to take over central Washington D.C. in the near future. everywhere you look; White House
  
  lmao LAWS? what are you talking about, "laws"
  
  I once did some work at Wadham College at Oxford. I was told it’s one of the “newer” colleges there (and I was in awe of how beautiful it was) and it still is older than the oldest university in the US IIRC. American buildings are just on a different time scale than other places.
  (Also I don’t think the east wing is part of the original White House)
  
  Laws? what are those? what the strongman says must be
  
  A lot of American laws on historical sites only limit how public funds are used. The ball room is being privately funded.
- Hit the gas a little harder, Volvo driver. You know you want to!
- I'm gonna tell my grandkids this was a photo of the residence of the last Fuhrer of the American Reich being demolished to make way for the John Brown National Memorial.
- KKKracKKKer house down!
  
  Somebody should do a psyop and convince the demolisher to take down the rest of it while they're at it
- There's a dang cheeto bulldozing the white house

from Former Finnish president's memoir:
On the phone with Putin in early 2022, days before Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine, Niinistö informed him of Finland’s decision to apply for NATO membership. Putin, though calm, said it was a mistake and hinted that the US would dominate Finland’s military.
"I will still be the one appointing the generals here." Niinistö responded. Putin laughed.

Chinese branch of Nexperia revolts against the illegal Dutch nationalisation.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/10/20/chinese-staff-go-rogue-dutch-seize-control-of-chip-firm/
70% of the production capacity of Nexperia is based in China btw.
The Dutch basically ruined their own company and reputation for brownie points from America.

The Australian military is claiming that a Chinese fighter dropped flares "very close" to a plane.
Wow, that sounds dangerous and alarming. Let's see what this is about: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-20/federal-politics-live-blog-october-20/105910558#live-blog-post-233427
There's been another potentially dangerous encounter between the Australian Defence Force and the Chinese military
Our glorious defense force vs their barbarous military
Australian P8 plane was doing a routine maritime surveillance patrol in the South China Sea when it was approached by a People's Liberation Army fighter jet which released flares — two of them "very close" to the Australian surveillance plane.
emphasis mine.
This is about spying on those fucking islands isn't it.
Fucks sake mate, the ADF would absolutely be telling Chinese spy planes to fuck right off if they were flying over terrioral islands.
Just be even handed and fair about it for Christ's sake. You were spying on them, this isn't aggression, you were spying on them.
- the pearl clutching I've seen on social media is about the dastardly chinese pilots being unsafe by firing flares near the poor widdle ozzie pilots just minding their own business in chinese airspace
  
  The paracel islands or whatever are technically disputed but it's
  a) between Vietnam and China
  b) China has occupied them for like 50 years now
  c) The only reason China didn't get them after ww2 was because the usa didn't want the darstardly reds to have a better position to defend their shipping
  d) the only reason their is any contest atm is because the usa wants to be able to blockade China in a war
  e) Australia has no fucking business being halfway across the world spying on some islands disputed between two States neither of which has asked for their aid.
- This is pretty standard stuff. No one violated anyone's territory or airspace, pilots got to have some fun and do a friendly "plane wave". Flares are a new addition. As long as they don't hit anything, it's fine.
  
  Even if they DID hit something, it wouldnt be the first time a Chinese fighter jet has collided with a NATO spyplane over disputed territory.
  It would blow over eventually assuming there wasn't evidence of fhe Chinese pilots intentionally downing a plane or engaging it with weapons.
  It's more akin to those fistfights between the PLA and Indian Army in disputed mountain ranges where both sides agree to stick to melee combat so no one escalates shit too quickly.
  
  The paracel islands are China's in all matters but legal, but yes. My goal was to highlight the nonsense, not cause alarm.
  International law is kinda stupid on matters of territory, privileging colonial claims over factual ones. Perhaps a better example would be Australia's furor over chinese research stations (and probably some "research stations") in the ridiculous segment of Antarctica the government claims by way of a stupid treaty signed by 7? nations.

Russian blogs are saying that if the US sends Tomahawks to Ukraine, Russia should send Kalibr missiles to Venezuela or Colombia.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his family are sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act by the United States.
President Gustavo Petro: “I'm not threatening, but anyone who reads the history of Colombia over two centuries will know that when our people are attacked, we hide in the mountains and take up arms. We will not take a single step backward, and we will never kneel before an enemy."
Telegram

https://xcancel.com/abierkhatib/status/1981455247588675780
Israeli doctors were giving chemotherapy to healthy Palestinian detainees, making them think they had cancer.
Emad Al Saraj is one of the cases. After his release, doctors ran tests and told him he didn’t have cancer.

But at what cost?

CW SA/R*PE

Nikol Pashinyan, the neo-liberal dictator of Armenia, has arrested the Communist Party mayor of Gyumri (the country's second largest city) and other local officials and citizens. People came out into the streets to protest against Pashinyan's latest power grab.
https://www.rt.com/russia/626714-armenia-arrests-opposition-crackdown/

NBC News finds that: -- ICE has shortened its training from 13 weeks to six. -- Nearly half of recruits couldn’t pass an open-book written exam. -- Recruits "are supposed to attest" they can pass the physical-fitness test, which requires them to run ... 6 mph.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna238739

I don't even know why this suddenly got into my feed, but it is quite funny;

This morning I was renewing my visa in the Chinese Consulate in New York and on all the screens, on a loop, were various different documentaries about all the various different times where the Dalai Lama was appointed or otherwise officially sanctioned by the Ming or Qing dynasties. One of them even explicitly said, "proving that the right to appoint the Dalai Lama rests with the authority of the centeal government, a principle upheld in modern times." Rather amusing, the CPC is obviously preparing for the current Dalai Lama's death and is laying the groundwork for when they appoint a new one. I imagine we'll have an Avignon Pope situation, with at least two Dalai Lamas, one in Tibet and one in exile in India.
- That is 100% the plan. As a matter of fact, something similar already happened with the Panchen Lama. According to Wikipedia:
  The Dalai Lama named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th incarnation of the Panchen Lama on 14 May 1995. The Chinese government insisted that the 11th Panchen Lama has to be chosen via the golden urn. In selecting a name, lottery numbers were drawn from the Golden Urn. Chinese authorities named Gyancain Norbu as the search committee's choice on 11 November 1995.Gedhun Choekyi Nyima has not been observed by an independent party since 17 May 1995. The Chinese government claims he is living a "normal private life". Tibetans and human rights groups continue to campaign for his release.
  I'm also going to guess that the Dalai Lama is coincidentally going to get reincarnated in the Tibetan gusano community this time around. There's no way that their going to let China get both of them this time around.
- It's gonna peter out when the Dalai croaks imo, however discredited he is he had a period of official status and substantial support based on the ambition to balkanize the PRC. a newborn emigré one will have over a decade before they can even make public appearances, nevermind the project of tibetan independence is basically dead
- China is the blueprint on how to handle religion. You allow organized religion to exist through a secular government while quietly pushing the scale behind the scenes so all the clergy and "reincarnated" lamas are coincidentally ones who submit to the party line while churches that refuse to toe the line like Falun Gong get the hammer dropped on them.
  When Italian communists seize power, the trick is to not abolish the Catholic church, but to force the cardinals to elect a new pope with papal name Marxus Engelus Leninus Stalinus I.
  
  I’m not disagreeing but Falun Gong is more than just a dissenting church, it’s a death cult funded by the CIA

I don't even care, I will just believe this is true

From The Atlantic:
ICE expects non-LEO recruits to recruits do 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups, and run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes. A third are failing the test, posing a major challenge to the agency's efforts to scale up.
From FORTUNE:
42% of consumers didn’t know their chips were made out of potatoes
From popular info:
ICE increased weapons spending by 700% — including purchases of chemical weapons and guided missile warheads.
https://popular.info/p/ice-boosts-weapons-spending-700
- ICE expects non-LEO recruits to.... A third are failing the test....
  I'm guessing pigs are exempted because their numbers would be even worse. LOL.
- 1.5 miles is 2.4 kilometres for the rest of the world, figured if I converted it I would leave it here for any others curious!
  
  Brisk walk requirement for ICE applicants
- 1.5 miles in 14 minutes isn't easy
  
  c'mon that's only a 9 minute mile pace
  
  right? i have been jogging a couple months now and while i can run 4 miles cant crack the 12 minute mile "beginner's" speed yet i'm so slooooow
- Why…. Does ICE need “guided missiles”?
  
  They cost more and ICE has so much money to throw around rn.
  
  The same reason the "Protection Squadron" needed tanks & machine guns...
- There is an excellent video on the internet where like 20 ice agents get juked and dusted by a guy holding an e-bike who they seemed to have randomly targeted. He hops on at the end and rides off into the horizon, all the agents staring on defeated after the world's shortest sprint lol, very cathartic.
- incredible snapshot of the burger-reich

German Bild is reporting that VW might have to shut down production of popular models VW Golf and Tiguan within two weeks if they don't find a replacement for Nexperia chips.
VW was already facing a $12 billion financing gap, that is why they wanted to keep as few of the chips in stock (we love "just in time inventory methods", don't we) to improve their cashflow.
Maybe they should disassemble washing machines and take the chips from there?
[edit] it looks like the original Bild article says "next week" for halt of production.
- VW is switching its focus to "defense" weaponry manufacturing according to inside sources. Basically the economies of Europe will soon primarily depend on the military-industrial complex, which won't bode well for the future, given how militant the normie state-aligned news channels have become.
  
  1913
  
  Oh wow, sounds like the thing they are accusing Russia of.
- German Bild is reporting that VW might have to shut down production of popular models VW Golf and Tiguan within two weeks if they don't find a replacement for Nexperia chips.
  here's the link for anyone looking
  I really shouldn't try to understand the EU liberal mind (especially fuckin redditors), but they were positively gloating last week "We showed those evil pilfering Chineeese"
  Not a peep now, and it's CNBC, not grayzone reporting

Latest Trump truth social post on Palestine:

Truth Social source
Trump is now openly talking about sending what appears to be the "International Stabilisation Force" (ISF) mentioned in his 20 point peace plan into Gaza to fight Hamas.
- The love and spirit for the Middle East has not been seen like this in a thousand years!
  is trump a fatimid enjoyer or is he referring to the crusades
  
  "Saladin folks, or as I like to call him Yusuf, that's his name actually Yusuf, you see Saladin is a title, but me and him, we go way back, Yusuf as I like to call him, he was so great, he was the best folks, we're gonna be just like Saladin when we go in there you have no idea, he let the carvans go through, trade, Yusuf see Yusuf was a trade guy, oh yes, a fan of tariffs like me, he had tariffs back then too" (I know he actually overthrew the Fatimids I just love the idea)
- international destabilisation force, or IDF for short
- Ah yes, Israel simply doesn’t have the equipment or experience necessary to beat Hamas, we need Egypt and Turkey to send forces?
  
  From a narrative perspective (if it happens) the idea is to isolate Hamas from the wider Arab and Muslim world. Hamas will no longer be fighting Israel, they'll be fighting "their own people" If they go in, expect to hear Egypt and Turkey accusing Hamas of using "human shields and hiding in schools", just like Israel does.
  
  In addition, isn't Hamas reasonably popular in all of the countries that are (supposedly) sending forces? Certainly when compared with Israel, or their own governments? Seems risky to even ask their soldiers to do that.
- Saying shit like this is going to make the situation collapse. The only thing that was making this ceasefire possible was the belief that a peacekeeping force of arab nations could be trusted. If they can't be trusted then they won't be allowed in and we'll be right back to square one.
  
  Most arab nations cannot be trusted, their governments are completely compromised and dependent on the west or are bought off with treats.
  Hell 100+ million Egyptians supposedly famed for their devotion to faith, barely caused a ruckus the last two years. More ritualism than principle.
- I miss when twitter had 256 character limit or whatever. What a goo

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-says-no-inflation-data-release-likely-next-month-2025-10-24/ Lol white house isn't gonna publish inflation data

https://xcancel.com/KFaulders/status/1981790140138696927
President Trump will likely name the new $300 million ballroom after himself, I'm told by senior admin officials. Already, officials are referring to it as "The President Donald J. Trump Ballroom" and that name will likely stick.

Some good news from Ireland today.
Catherine Connolly, a hard-left former lawyer, won Ireland’s presidential election after her rival, Heather Humphreys, backed by the centre-right Fine Gael party, conceded defeat. Ms Connolly ran as an independent for the largely ceremonial position but gained the support of left-wing opposition parties. She is known for her pro-Palestinian views and criticism of Europe’s efforts to boost defence spending.

US military murders two people in strike on boat in Pacific
- imagine Russia striking civilian boats in the Baltic, saying they are smugglers
  even if they are drug traffickers, there was no due process, and drug trafficking is not a capital crime in the US
  That is the level of hypocrisy we are living in right now
  
  Even calling it hypocrisy is too generous, in that it implies that there's any reasonable justification at all. They might as well be claiming that these boats are possessed by demons and the bombs are part of an exorcism ritual. The excuse is irrelevant, there just has to be an excuse because they need to put something in that box while filling out the form.
  It's very analogous to WMDs in Iraq. The reason Colin Powell went to the UN with his little bottle of talcum powder was partly to make the case for intervention, but also, maybe more importantly, to distract from the debate around whether the US intervention plan was justified even if everyone accepted their allegations at face value. They were lying about the WMDs, but they had already won a key messaging victory in implying that the issue was whether or not they had enough evidence of WMDs, and not whether invading Iraq would be an appropriate action in the first place.
  The US is historically really good at controlling the framing of issues so that their agenda is advanced regardless. Talking about the legality or utility of these attacks can end up feeding into the idea that there is some set of circumstances where it makes sense for the US military to bomb unarmed civilian vessels, and that the debate is about whether Trump is being too aggressive, or whether the president has "permission" from congress. They shouldn't be doing it at all! Period! Full stop! That's the only response required here. Any further qualification only helps obfuscate that core issue.
  These attacks are ultimately about showing contempt for anyone or anything that would get in the way of the US doing whatever it wants for whatever reason they choose. The surface-level rationale (in this case drug trafficking) is perfunctory.
  
  Trump has said on numerous occasions since his first term he wanted to make drug dealing punishable with the death penalty, saying things like someone selling fentanyl causes so many deaths. It's consistent with his reasoning and his base approves of it. This is what 'American Exceptionalism' really means I guess.
- The US can't burn and fucking die soon enough.
  Los odio malparidos
- Pacific, while Venezuela only has an Atlantic coast? Which country has Pacific coast in the Region? Columbia, Panama and Chile?

The USS Gerald Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier and warship, has now been redirected from the Mediterranean to the Carribean ocean along with it's strike group and air wing, in the latest buildup of US military assets around Venezuela.
Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell:
In support of the President’s directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland, the Secretary of War has directed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and embarked carrier air wing to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).
The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere. These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs.
Source

Norwegian Peace Council cancels Nobel ceremony awarded to María Corina Machado: ‘Faithful to our principles’. Decision does not interfere with the nomination of the Venezuelan opposition leader as winner of the prize; Council says choice was not in line with the institution's values

TeleSur is working valiantly to demonstrate the growth in Latin American unity against this stark rise in US aggression. Coverage from the last few days below.
President Maduro Warns Washington: “If They Touch Colombia, We Are One Homeland”

ALBA-TCP Condemns Trump’s Threats Against Colombian President Petro

In a special interview, Colombian President Gustavo Petro states that U.S. President Donald Trump is furious that Colombia did not lend its military to invade Venezuela.
U.S. Secret Intelligence Operations in Venezuela Anger Latin America

LATAM Leaders Rally Behind Colombian President After Trump’s Accusations

Brazil Defends Venezuela’s Sovereignty Amid Rising U.S. Military Pressure

It will not be a simple move to carry out this aggression against Colombia and Venezuela.
- I think this goes to show why being covert and using divide and conquer strategies was so important for American imperialists. Trump is not covert and threatens too many countries at the same time where they become conscious of encroachment of imperialism and naturally come together in solidarity. Still the economic system of imperialism is in place, put in by the previous more competent imperialists, and that is the thing that the US still can leverage. I think it will be fading though as time goes on, but I hope the damage it does while that happens can be minimized
  
  Just like Russia, the time to do something bold is when the biggest economic nukes are still lingering as mushroom clouds. Russia caught the West by surprise and thus survived the onslaught and economic shock. Make it through that, and your biggest enemy is time.

USDA announces SNAP benefits will not be issued in November

They are sticking with the 14 words dogwhistle tagline apparently (as Keir Starmer pushes to roll out the red carpet for Israeli nazi football hooligans)

Suing The State: Danish Secret Police Told Politicians That Purged Top Spy Traded Stolen Bicycles For BDSM Sex
A Danish courtroom became the stage for a surreal legal drama Tuesday, where Lars Findsen, the former head of the country’s spy agency FE is suing the state for privacy violations, unearthing a bizarre tale of allegations of trading stolen bicycles for BDSM sex and a secret police briefing that shocked the Nordic hermit kingdom's political elite.
- imagine having your bike stolen and later learning the head of the danish cia took it so his girlfriend would tie him up and spank him
  Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET)
  obligatory PETplay joke
  
  Imagine being in a findom relationship to a spy chief and then you just have him steal bicycles for you. Dream bigger!
  
  I guess you could say he was...Findsen the bikes and looking for love.
  
  This is actually going to be my number 1 thought if I ever get a bike nicked now
- That vulnerability report, most of which were read behind closed doors to protect Findsen's family, was ostensibly compiled to assess his blackmail risk. It contended that by keeping aspects of his sex life secret, posting pictures to dating sites, and conducting intimate conversations on his work phone, Findsen made himself a potential target for foreign intelligence agencies.
  Who gives a fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck what his sex life is? Unless you're a fucking pedo, sex with dogs or having an affair almost nobody will give a fucking damn what your kinks are it's 2025 for fucks sake.
  
  Blackmail is in the eye of the beheld.
  As in all such situations, by stigmatizing sex, the state creates opportunities for blackmail against its own interest.
  By making this public legal action, Findsen demonstrates that he would not have blackmailable by this information because he dngaf. But somebody else might've been.
  The basic premise sounds like doing self oppo resarch.
  Casual mention of "the day's key witness, Morten Messerschmidt, leader of the fascist Danish People’s Party" suggests the entire text is misdirective.
- @7bicycles@hexbear.net
  
  thanks
  "What I remember very clearly was a description... that Lars Findsen had a sex life based on stealing relatively expensive bicycles," Messerschmidt told the court, describing how the alleged scheme involved stealing bikes from train stations and delivering them to a summer house where his girlfriend would reward him with BDSM sex.
  are people really leaving expensive bicycles at train stations or is Messerschmidt the fascist (which also: c'mon man) like all fascist just entirely unable to guess what a bicycle cost? Or was this motherfucker stealing Urban Arrows from train stations?
  In his testimony, Findsen offered a different rationale for using his work phone for sexting with his girlfriend, stating that he also used it as his private phone and stating that he did so specifically to reduce the risk of blackmail by keeping the conversations on a secure, official device rather than other platforms.
  did his girlfriend get issued a spy phone for texting????

Head of Hamas in Gaza, Dr. Khalil Al-Hayya, to Al-Jazeera:
“The occupation failed to achieve its goals over two years of war.
President Trump said the war was over, and every day we hear American statements that the war is over.
We will not give the occupation a pretext to resume the war.
We handed over 20 "israeli" captives 72 hours after the ceasefire.
We handed over 17 out of 28 bodies of the occupation's captives.
New areas will be entered on Sunday to search for some of the bodies of the occupation's captives.
We have no reservations about any national figure residing in Gaza managing the Strip.
We will hand over all reins of administration in the Gaza Strip, including security, to the administration committee.
We agreed with the Fatah Movement on the issue of UN forces for separation and monitoring the ceasefire.
We agreed with all factions that the mission of the UN body is reconstruction in Gaza.
We want to go to elections as a prelude to reunifying the national ranks.
We are one people, and we want one authority and one government.
I informed Greenblatt and Kushner during the meeting with them that we are advocates of stability.
I told Greenblatt and Kushner that President Trump is capable of restraining the "israeli" occupation.
Targeting Doha and the disastrous and unprecedented failure in the history of "israel" constituted a setback for the occupation.
Our weapons are linked to the existence of the occupation and aggression, and if the occupation ends, this weapon will devolve to the state.
The issue of weapons is still under discussion with the factions and mediators, and the agreement is still in its early stages.
We will not take a position without the agreed-upon national position.
We accept UN forces as separation forces, border monitors, and ceasefire observers in Gaza.“
https://t.me/PalestineResist/83129

New: The Pentagon confirms to CNN it will funnel $130M from an anonymous Trump ally toward military pay — a striking departure from government procedure that raises questions about its legality and the donor's identity and interests
The $130 million donation is unlikely to make any meaningful impact toward covering salaries of the roughly 1.3 million active duty military troops, netting out to about $100 per service member.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/24/politics/anonymous-donor-military-pay-shutdown

Revolutionary catapult gives Chinese navy huge edge in carrier operations | Inside China Business
China has successfully tested and deployed a new electromagnetic catapult system. The PLA Navy was the first to launch a stealth aircraft with EM technologies.
EM catapults offer significant advantages over steam-powered launch systems: they are smaller, simpler, and allow for far faster launches of multiple aircraft and types.
They are especially conducive to naval drone operations, where Chinese naval forces already enjoy superiority.
The US Navy's Ford-class carriers also have EM catapults, but have suffered operational problems since inception. Failure rates are so high that they cannot be used at all in high-tempo combat operations.

MDS (Mamdani derangement syndrome) levels are going supercritical
- incoming mod tyranny: this isn't news but it's dank enough that I'll allow it
  
  It sure is dank, people gave him $27 each for that plane and he is just going to crash it?
- me, a comic genius: damn i better label the big ass building "new york city", otherwise people won't understand the metaphor I'm making with the plane I've labelled "mamdani" that's about to crash into it.
- This has emoji potential
  
  :commie-kaze:
  
  Also with the tower included
- ComicallyIncorrect dot com
  yeah
- I wish.
- hell yeah

China, Russia building NatGas pipelines for energy previously headed to Europe, with lower prices | Inside China Business
Massive new natural gas pipelines are in construction in the Russian East, connecting China to vast energy fields in Siberia and on Sakhalin.
When completed, Russia's exports to China will replace their markets in Western Europe, who have turned to more expensive LNG sourced from the United States.
China will also pay far lower prices for Russian natural gas, compared to Western Europeans now, and even for current European customers of Russian gas.
All this trade will naturally be outside the US dollar and Western banking systems, and therefore cannot be sanctioned or restricted by European regulators.

CIA Weighs Shuttering China Center as Trump Shifts Focus to Venezuela
Reflecting the administration’s pivot, the Central Intelligence Agency is now considering dissolving its China Mission Center, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as part of a broader realignment that de-emphasizes confrontation with China.
Sources say that the CIA is thinking about shutting down the China center, in part, for its ineffectiveness, having consumed vast resources with little to show for it. This comes in the wake of one of the CIA’s worst intelligence failures in its history. Between 2010 and 2012, Chinese counterintelligence wiped out the CIA’s network of informants, killing or imprisoning nearly twenty people and destroying years of espionage work, the New York Times reported in 2017. More than a decade later, the agency has yet to fully recover. (The CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

wake up, new gestapo just dropped https://archive.ph/4OSVp
Army counterintelligence agents to get enhanced arrest powers
Civilian special agents of the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command will receive enhanced authorities to conduct searches, execute warrants and make arrests outside of military bases, Army counterintelligence leaders announced to members of the media during an Oct. 15 roundtable at the Association of the United States Army’s annual conference in Washington, D.C.
- Is the goal to make people feel like everyone around them could be a fed & thus that no one trusts each other?
  
  I'm not sure that there's necessarily some galaxy-brain social engineering plan here, they're just ramping up internal repression (
  ) and simply need more and more bodies to carry it out.
  There's already been all the National Guard deployments, but the Guard don't have the same legal restrictions on being deployed domestically that the regular Army does - I assume they're trying to work their way up to actually doing that, starting with just some espionage-related stuff (with the excuse of "no, don't worry, this is only about trying to stop those pesky “foreign adversaries”, we would never use our intelligence agents to persecute our own dissidents!"), and trying to escalate more and more from there, until eventually, I dunno, they send the Seals to shoot Newsom or something?
- With typical American extravagance, they have so many Gestapos that everyone loses track of them all
- Wishing all federal agents a very happy failed to recognize the other guy is an undercover from another agency.

Little Heathens: Danish Baptism Rates Plummet As Regime Push For "Spiritual Rearmament"
Denmark is poised to cross a historic threshold next year, with projections showing that for the first time since the late Viking age, fewer than half of newborn Danes will be baptized.
The decline has prompted calls for intervention from th Nordic hermit kingdom's political elite as the regime scramble to reverse what they describe as a civilizational threat.

Bolivia got suspended from ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, an intergovernmental organization based on the idea of political and economic integration of Latin American and Caribbean countries.)
In 2025, following Rodrigo Paz's victory in the Bolivian general election, the president-elect declared that he was not interested in maintaining relations with countries “that do not have democracy,” in reference to Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. As a result of these statements, the organization suspended Bolivia on October 24, 2025, arguing “pro-imperialist and colonialist behavior” and considering the statements made against the aforementioned countries unacceptable.
Photo

LAND FOR THE MACHINE-GOD https://archive.ph/UE3GF
US Air Force to lease base land for private AI data centers
The Department of the Air Force seeks to lease thousands of acres of land at five bases to private firms to build their own artificial intelligence data centers.

looking forward (again, in a
way) to the US starting WW3 and all its military bases losing power immediately because the AI data-centers they built on their land eat up all the grid capacity

Ukraine launched cruise missile strikes within Russia's internationally recognised borders using British-French made Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG cruise missiles, and posted such on their general staff twitter account.
On 21 October 2025, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in coordination with the Land Forces, the Navy, and other units of the Defence Forces of Ukraine, struck the Bryansk Chemical Plant.
A massive combined missile and air strike was carried out, including the use of air-launched Storm Shadow missiles, which successfully penetrated the Russian air defence system.
Source
Strom Shadow/SCALP-EG is again being used for strikes on internationally recognised Russian territory, with Ukraine bragging about it publicly. Also there were more targets than just the chemical plant in Bryansk (a substation and ammunition depot were also targeted), so the statement is incorrect in it's implication that just the chemical plant was targeted.
- Oh nice we're going to get some cool Oreshnik footage again
  
  Probably not, there were ATACMS and Strom Shadow strikes on Russian territory last year, even after the use of Oreshnik. Oreshnik/RS-26 Rubezh is not a weapon of which there's a huge "magazine capacity". It's an intermediate range ballistic missile that's very expensive and time consuming to produce for the amount of damage done when using conventional warheads. It will be reserved to hit highly important targets in Europe in a possible NATO - Russia war, like large airbases. Ukraine doesn't have targets that are worth firing another Oreshnik on, it's more of a warning to Europe/NATO.
  Oreshnik/RS-26 launch vehicle model on Lukashenko's desk, plus satellite imagery.
- What’s the significance of this and does this change much?
  
  Probably won't change much. It's significant because this type of cruise missile relies on targeting data and mission planning that Ukraine cannot perform itself, done with assistance by the UK and using satellite data from US satellites for terrain contour matching navigation. Russia made a big deal about the use of these weapons on Russian soil about a year ago, which led up to the use of the Russian Oreshnik/RS-26 Rubezh intermediate range ballistic missile against a manufacturing complex in Ukraine, with a cluster munitions warhead.

BadEmpanada with good call-outs as usual.
Hasan Piker Loves This Serial Killer
(This is about loud and proud U.S. stormtrooper Graham Platner, who is a Democratic Party candidate for the U.S. Senate, and boasts about his history of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, 3 with the U.S. military and one with Blackwater, but also superficially tweets leftist memes and shit.)
- hasan is treating him like the next bernie (a politician already below the bar for support) when he is essentially the next fetterman (he will act as another blue dog democrat, maybe with lip service for m4a)
  
  look at my revolutionaries dawg
- it sucks because he's shit and somehow the Democrats found someone worse who's a mummy. to run against him in the primary.
  
  Of course they did. LOL. Never say you've found the bottom of the barrel. You're just begging to be corrected.
- There's a post on this guy in r/socialism right now, and the amount of glazing he's getting in the comments is absurd.
- Isn’t there a post now with a (Pod Save America, lol) screenshot showing Platner has a totenkopf tattoo on his chest?
  
  Dunno. Let me know if there is and you run into it!
  EDIT: Wait. Is this him? LOL. /r/socialism: Possibly the least surprising discovery possible about this dirtbag: he also has nazi tattoos. As if the whole war criminal thing wasn’t enough.
  EDIT 2: Yep. That's him, and there it is. In that thread, or one linked from it, they also link to the Pod Save America episode where he waves it off. And I feel like everyone's also being distracted from the fact that this "communist" was on Pod Save America and they were fucking glazing him like nobody's business. That's like strike 8 (first tour, second tour, third tour, fourth tour with Blackwater, bragging about it, Nazi tattoo, denying the Nazi tattoo, fucking PoD SaVe). What a piece of shit.
- I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
  yewtu.be
  inv.nadeko.net
  yt.artemislena.eu
  piped.video

LOL. Heard in the wild, in the context of an admission that Pissrael will never allow Palestinian autonomy: "Smotrich is just Netanyahu on truth serum".
Anyway, it seems plausible that Trump's main focus right now—and perhaps the entire reason he's yanking the leash a little on Israel—is that he wants "normalization" between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Security forces investigating price gouging in Gaza’s markets

They also captured brand new ATVs and SUVs from Abu Shabab’s crew
- Of course we all know this group is an Israel/US proxy group, but imagine believing these people are just some independent "rebels", but then they always have the latest and fanciest gadgets and weapons, even stuff that they don't really need and is just fun to have. Meanwhile, the people these "rebels" are fighting against struggle to get any new weapons. Hamas gets most of their explosives from unexploded US/Israeli bombs.
- brand new
  Where the fuck did those come from
  Obviously Israel/US but how did they come into Gaza
  
  To be clear, “brand new” was me editorializing, but I haven’t seen an ATV in Gaza, much less one that looks that shiny . During the invasion, Israel was actively arming and supplying their collaborators, it just looks like they never got enough strength to actively attack the resistance using these vehicles

I can’t get archive.is to work right so I can’t link the Bloomberg article, but Ethiopia is currently in negotiations with China on converting $5.38 billion in USD-denominated loans owed to China over to yuan. This is on the heels of a similar deal China negotiated with Kenya last month.
It’s possible this is just all strategic, as China may recognize the pressure having USD-denominated debt places on these countries so they are giving them a break to reduce risk of insolvency. But certainly can’t rule out that at least a part of this is geared towards gradual de-dollarization.
China doesn’t need more USD but they are also trapped by it, not much they can do with other than loan it out.

In Jakarta, Presidente Lula da Silva criticized the US offensive under the pretext of combating drug trafficking and advocated respect for the sovereignty of countries.
Lula arrived in Malaysia this Friday (24) to participate in a meeting with Asian leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). This is the second destination of his weeklong trip through Asia. He first visited Indonesia, where he was welcomed by President Prabowo Subianto, where Prabowo offered Lula a birthday party to commemorate Lula's 80th birthday and the Brazilian-Indonesian peoples' friendship.
According to Lula, he will discuss with President Trump the US attacks on boats off the coast of Venezuela. Lula and Trump are expected to meet in Malaysia this Sunday. The US president also admitted to having authorized secret operations by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Nicolás Maduro's country.
For the Brazilian president, "if the world becomes a lawless land, it will be very difficult." Lula suggested as an alternative that the US be willing to talk to the police and Ministries of Justice of other countries.
"I think there's a lack of understanding of the issue of international politics," Lula said of Trump's statement that he will "only kill the people who are bringing drugs into his country."
“If this trend catches on, everyone will think they can invade each other's territory to do whatever they want. Where will the word ‘respect for the sovereignty of countries’ come from? So I intend to discuss these issues with President Trump.”
The Brazilian president also mentioned that the US president cannot simply say he will invade and "fight drug trafficking in 'other people's land'" without taking into account the countries' Constitutions.
Telegram

Everyone part of this is pure evil from the depths of the abyss. NSFL. https://rdx.overdevs.com/comments.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FABoringDystopia%2Fcomments%2F1ofeh1r%2Fjewishamerican_doctor_recounts_how_israeli%2F

“Palestinian factions begin bilateral meetings in Cairo, leading to a collective session tonight focused on achieving a national consensus program.
Hamas, PIJ, PFLP, DFLP, PFLP-GC, PNI, and Dahlan's current will participate. Fatah will not participate and is meeting separately with Egyptian intelligence to discuss the "israeli" vision for the next phase and the role of the Palestinian Authority in it.
Factions unanimously reject proposals for "international guardianship" in Gaza. Factions requested precise clarifications on the nature of "external forces" in Gaza.
The issue of resistance weapons is confirmed to be non-negotiable at this sensitive stage. Lastly, the factions meetings will discuss the Community Support Committee that will run Gaza; factions are united on the names of the ~30 Palestinians on the committee.
A delegation from the Islamic Jihad Movement (PIJ), led by Secretary-General Ziyad Al-Nakhaleh, met with the head of Egyptian General Intelligence in Cairo. Discussions focused on the situation in Gaza, securing aid entry, and stabilizing the ceasefire. PIJ affirmed its commitment to the ceasefire and demanded the occupation cease all violations and ensure aid delivery to the Strip.“
https://t.me/PalestineResist/83080

"Ukrainska Pravda has learnt that at least 250 Russian troops are in Pokrovsk
I don't get it, why does Ukraine so often leave their soldiers in locations that are clearly about to get encircled? Do the military commanders simply not care?

889 comments

Army counterintelligence agents to get enhanced arrest powers

US Air Force to lease base land for private AI data centers