Image is sourced from this Economist article.
Most of the information in this preamble is from the Cradle; notably here, here, here, and here.
The features of an effective American war (proxy or otherwise) is that it is a) against opponents with much less military power than you; b) with very low American losses; c) with victories you can visibly show off from time to time to justify involvement, and d) with a profit margin beyond merely giving money to military corporations. The war against Yemen was none of those; airplanes tumbled off aircraft carriers, and the navy complained of the hardest fighting conditions in decades. Conquering Yemen for its resources was inconceivable given the terrain, lack of good intelligence, and the strength of Ansarallah, and all that seemed to be visibly harmed were empty patches of desert and civilians.
Apparently, the ceasefire last month merely stipulated that they stop attacking merchant vessels in the Red Sea; it said nothing about attacking Israel. Therefore, Yemen is absolutely free to create a new blockade of Israel by just striking their airports and seaports, and all Israel can seem to do is try and bomb them in retaliation, a futile strategy which has failed to produce a military or political change in Yemen for the last decade when many other countries have tried it. And if America directly attacks them in response to attacks on Israel, the ceasefire is off, and expensive equipment will continue to be lost.
Across the strait from Yemen is an interesting array of countries. Egypt's position in this war is well-known, and Somalia is under a kind of US occupation under the guise of fighting terrorism (Trump withdrew most troops, but they were then sent back under Biden). The other three are Sudan, Djibouti, and Eritrea. All three are increasingly being drawn into the anti-imperialist camp, as they cooperate with Iran, Russia, and/or China. Sudan is undergoing a civil war, but the rebels fighting the government are famously backed by the UAE. Djibouti has refused to allow themselves to be a launchpad for US strikes on Yemen.
Eritrea has a fascinating history of flip-flopping between West and East over the past few decades, but has, since 2020, sided with the East. It was one of the five countries to oppose the 2022 UN resolution condemning Russia's war with Ukraine. Eritrea sends two thirds of its exports to China, and Iran has reportedly supplied them with military equipment. If a stronger link could be reforged, then Iran would have significantly less trouble sending military technology to Ansarallah, and to other friendly groups throughout the region.
Naturally, the lidless eye of the imperial core is shifting its gaze onto Eritrea. Meanwhile, Ethiopia - a country that has experienced frequent conflict with Eritrea - is part of BRICS+ and their economy is increasingly reliant on China (as is most countries' economies nowadays). If a permanent resolution between the two could be created, it would be a victory for themselves and the Resistance, and a defeat for America, which thrives on conflict and destabilization.
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.
The march towards fascism continues in Canada's most populous province where mayors of municipalities can override the whole city council if they can justify their undemocratic decision as "aligning to provincial priorities".
I'd be willing to bet that no progressive legislation will be pushed through with "Strong Mayor powers".
Article
Strong mayor powers used to block majority on fractious eastern Ontario council
The mayor of a small, conflict-wracked eastern Ontario council has exercised strong mayor powers, just a month after the controversial measures were extended to new municipalities.
Last week Arie Hoogenboom, the mayor of Rideau Lakes, vetoed a council decision to seek quotes for a plan to renovate the municipal offices of the township located about 100 kilometres southwest of downtown Ottawa.
Whether to upgrade existing offices or build new ones is the source of a long-running and acrimonious dispute that has divided the council. Opposing factions have levelled more than a dozen integrity commissioner complaints against each other.
The existing offices are located in the hamlet of Chantry and require upgrading. Hoogenboom is in favour of relocating the facilities to a more populated area, and believes this measure could facilitate the development of a subdivision. But a majority of council members oppose the idea as too expensive, preferring to renovate existing offices.
In March, Hoogenboom said the atmosphere had grown so toxic that he was temporarily stepping away from some of his duties.
But that didn't stop him last Monday from vetoing a decision by his opponents to send a retrofit and addition plan for the existing municipal offices out to tender.
'So much bigger than the issues in Rideau Lakes'
To invoke the new powers, mayors are required to give a rationale for how the move aligns with provincial priorities. Hoogenboom justified his veto by referring to provincial priorities to build new homes and maintain infrastructure, and said he retained the backing of the local community.
"In the last election I received a significant mandate from the public to build a municipal office," he said in an interview.
"I'm totally convinced that if there was any public consultation on this, the public would clearly indicate that they were in favour of my option."
But Paula Banks, one of five councillors opposed to Hoogenboom, said using the strong mayor powers was undemocratic.
"It's a five-three vote and he was allowed to stop us," she said. "This story is so much bigger than the issues in Rideau Lakes."
On May 1, mayors in 169 Ontario municipalities were given the power to veto bylaws, pass others with just a third of council in favour and fire and hire municipal department heads. The measures were first introduced in 2022 for the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa, as a way to advance provincial policy priorities.
Powers 'undemocratic'
But the measures have proven controversial. Banks said she is reaching out to the other municipalities recently awarded strong mayor powers and said most she has heard from are against them.
"The majority of municipalities oppose this," she said. "Our mayors are saying it's a bad idea, our councillors are saying it's undemocratic and the Ford government is just ignoring it."
Banks said she hopes to build a coalition to lobby Premier Doug Ford to rescind the provisions.
In Rideau Lakes, Banks and her four allies passed a resolution at council opposing strong mayor powers and asking to opt out. Hoogenboom was absent from the vote.
After Hoogenboom used his new powers, those five councillors sought to defeat their use but lacked the two-thirds majority needed to do so.
That has left the divided council unable to proceed on a course of action, Hoogenboom said.
"We're still a bit hamstrung," he said, acknowledging that his "mandate is severely compromised."
In the meantime, a decision on what to do about the township's municipal offices will likely have to wait until after elections next year, according to Hoogenboom.
"When there's a good chance that there would be more people who would be willing to row in the same direction," he said.
Never. It's always just more policing, more secrecy, less accountability, generally thuggish behavior, with the occasional highly publicized veto battle