Assad Is Out, Woke Al-Qaeda Is In - by Caitlin Johnstone


#geopolitics #imperialism #war #Syria

Many pundits on my end of the commentary spectrum had been calling those proxy wars self-defeating and framing them as the desperate flailings of a dying empire which will only accelerate its demise, but now here we are watching the empire score a victory it’s been chasing for years, with the western/Israeli stranglehold on the middle east growing tighter than ever.


caitlinjohnst.one/p/assad-is-o…

Weird, Royal Mail just delivered ... on a Sunday. Must be a December Special.

Anyway, they delivered an audio CD.
But I realise I only have a disk drive in my old desktop computer that's not currently connected to anything and is under a pile of stuff.

Now what?
Order a USB drive off eBay?
Cycle over to CEX and grab the only one in the county?
Pay way too much for one from argos?
Wait for someone to rip it and share the rip online so I don't have to do it myself?

Mercosur : l’UE sacrifie notre économie sur l’autel du libre-échange - Frédéric Farah - Élucid


#politique #économie #agriculture #environnement #UE

Depuis le traité de Lisbonne en 2007, la politique commerciale est du ressort exclusif de la Commission européenne. Elle pourrait diviser la ratification du traité en deux entités, l’une qui ne passerait pas par le Parlement et qui relèverait de sa mission, et laisser la partie politique pour le Parlement.

La France, dont la position est fragilisée en raison des échecs de politique intérieure du Président de la République, tente de créer une coalition de frondeurs avec, entre autres, l’Italie pour créer une minorité de blocage et enrayer le processus.

Plus que jamais, l’Union européenne parait divisée et le couple franco-allemand atteste largement de sa mort clinique. Le débat ne peut se réduire à fermeture et ouverture, tant les enjeux qui se jouent sur cette question sont nombreux.

La crispation pour ne pas dire la violente polémique autour de cet accord, surtout en France, montre un peu plus l’impasse du projet européen. Tout d’abord, les embrouillaminis juridiques sur la ratification révèlent la crise démocratique actuelle, tant les mécanismes sont nombreux pour éviter de redonner la parole au plus grand nombre. L’obsession dogmatique pour les différentes formes de libre-échange, le mantra de la compétitivité, la recherche des réformes structurelles font de l’Union européenne un jeu à somme de plus en plus négative.

Les vents mauvais de la mondialisation soufflent et l’Union européenne semble vouloir être emportée même fièrement. C’est l’aveuglement au désastre...

elucid.media/economie/mercosur…

#music #goth dark death and similar
Chamber L'orchestre de Chambre Noir- Dead Man's Hill (Subtitulada en español)
youtu.be/azHNthuTC0A

Has the #FBI not learned anything? When you #mandate a #BackDoor into products and services, those products and services will be exploited by bad actors!

It's a fucking joke that the FBI is now insiting that tech companies modify their #E2EE messaging apps to include a back door for law enforcement to get access to users' data in the event of a court order.

This is precisely what #CALEA mandates and does!
The same CALEA systems that are being actively exploited at this very moment by #China and other #NationStates to spy on our #telecommunications #infrastructure!

The same CALEA that is preventing the FBI and NSA from kicking the fucking Chinese out of our #telecom infrastructure because if they did they'd have to shut down CALEA for themselves.

The hubris being exhibited by the FBI is astonishing.

But not surprising.

Anyone remember The #ClipperChip?

forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/20…

La chute et la fuite de Bachar Al-Assad


Les rebelles ont proclamé une « nouvelle ère » en Syrie. À voir ce qu'en feront Al-Joulani et le le groupe islamiste radical HTS.

#moyen-orient #Syrie #totalitarisme

Good morning, Campers! Chilly morning here in the #ABQ. #Breakfast this morning is a double-cup of Quaker #oatmeal and a cup of #HotChocolate. It's still below freezing outisde but the Sun is up so things will warm up quite rapidly and when it get to 32℉ or above I'll be able to turn off the hose heaters.

In other news #TheNewYorker is attempting to #chastise us with their #bourgeoisie article about those of us that are happy that #BrianThompson got murdered.

Well, I say "fuck you!" to The New Yorker. I'm guessing nobody on their staff has had #UnitedHealthcare or has had to deal with the loss of a loved one because their insurance company refused to pay for a life saving treatment, surgery, or medication.

We need more health insurance CEOs to be gunned down. Then maybe we'll start to see some real and effective change in this Country.

newyorker.com/news/the-lede/wh…

Chute du régime Assad : les premières images - L'Orient-Le Jour


#géopolitique #Syrie

lorientlejour.com/multimedia/1…

[Communiqué] Solidarité avec les communistes et tous les progressistes de la Syrie indépendante


PRCF

Depuis le 27 novembre, les hordes islamistes intégristes qui étaient contenues depuis plusieurs années dans la région d’Ibled ont lancé une vaste offensive, visiblement préparée depuis longtemps avec l’aide du parrain turc et d’autres pays de l’OTAN, ainsi que du régime pronazi de Kiev qui s’en est vanté ouvertement par ces organes de propagande. Voilà où finit l’argent envoyé à la tyrannie de Zelensky !

Le peuple syrien, qui commençait tout juste à panser les lourdes plaies d’une sale guerre déclenchée par l’impérialisme étatsunien par le biais de ses « proxys » – tantôt « rebelles démocratiques » puis ouvertement terroristes islamistes, tantôt kurdes soi-disant « progressistes » – depuis 2011 contre une Syrie indépendante dont le principal crime reproché directement à Bachar-el-Assad était d’avoir refusé le plan du FMI qui exigeait la dollarisation de l’économie syrienne et la privatisation de toutes les ressources naturelles, se voit désormais plonger de nouveau dans l’enfer de la guerre et de l’occupation par des forces terroristes islamistes qui ne cachent nullement leurs ambitions obscurantistes.

Etranglée économiquement, bombardée fréquemment par le régime terroriste de Tel-Aviv, occupée illégalement à la fois par les vautours de l’armée des Etats-Unis dont Trump avait mensongèrement promis le retrait – exploitation criminelle de 80% du pétrole syrien oblige – ainsi que par l’armée turque et ses coupeurs de tête d’Ibled, la Syrie indépendante a constitué une base de soutien tant pour la Palestine que pour le Liban. Elle est le pont stratégique entre l’Iran et le Proche-Orient méditerranéen. Les ambitions impérialistes israélo-américaines et turques sont bien connues pour tailler en pièces la pauvre nation arabe qui avait arraché par la lutte son indépendance et sa souveraineté pendant la deuxième guerre mondiale et tout au long de la « guerre froide » contre les puissances impérialistes.

Dés lors, il ne fait aucune surprise de voir tous les prétendus opposants à l’islamisme fantasmé ou réel en France et supposément contraires au régime d’Erdogan, se réjouir presque hystériquement de voir les coupeurs de tête islamistes de ce même Erdogan profiter de l’épuisement et de la désorganisation des forces syriennes pour conquérir la majorité du pays dans le plus pur style de la Blitzkrieg. Il est d’autant plus honteux de voir la supposée « gauche » française, fanatique des Kurdes, crier de joie à la suite de la progression des djihadistes qui, avec le soutien de l’armée turque, attaquent désormais les forces kurdes à Manbij et au nord-est de la Syrie. Il est évident qu’Erdogan ne peut que profiter de l’effondrement de l’armée syrienne pour reprendre son projet de destruction totale des forces kurdes qui seront livrées à elle-même ; et ce n’est pas l’Empire étasunien qui lèvera le plus petit doigt pour les aider, au-delà de l’exploitation des champs pétrolifères, peu leur importe le sort des Kurdes désormais seuls face à la machine à broyer néo-ottomane d’Erdogan.

Alors que les Syriens tentent courageusement de résister à Damas et à Homs au deuxième tsunami djihadiste déclenché contre leur pays par les forces impérialistes de l’OTAN et d’Israël, les militants franchement communistes du PRCF ne peuvent qu’apporter leur solidarité aux camarades communistes syriens qui se sont battus dignement au sein de la coalition gouvernementale depuis 2011 pour préserver leur nation, aujourd’hui menacée de dislocation définitive et qui pourrait bien être, prochainement, plongée irrémédiablement dans les ténèbres.
Les vrais amis des Lumières Communes, du progrès social et humain, ne peuvent se réjouir de voir disparaître la lumière d’une étoile dans le ciel. Mais nous sommes confiants dans le fait qu’aucune force, aussi maligne soit-elle, ne pourra éteindre toutes les étoiles à la fois. L’espoir est toujours permis !

Boris Differ, Commission Internationale du PRCF

Retrouvez le dossier spécial Syrie d’Initiative Communiste, indispensable pour comprendre la situation
»» initiative-communiste.f...

legrandsoir.info/communique-so…

Emmanuel Florac reshared this.

#US elected officials and labor leaders join international call to take #Cuba off US’s State Sponsors of Terrorism list.

peoplesdispatch.org/2024/12/06…

Laurent Testot sur LinkedIn


Une étude qui aurait fait plaisir à feu Paul S. Martin. Il soutenait que l'extinction des grands animaux d'Amérique, il y a 12 à 10 000 ans, résultait de la surchasse. Une étude s’est penchée sur le régime alimentaire des membres de la culture de Clovis, groupe humain alors répandu en Amérique du Nord au moment de l’extinction de la mégafaune. À partir du collagène extrait des ossements d’un enfant de dix-huit mois, donc encore allaité, mort il y a onze mille ans, les chercheurs ont pu reconstituer ce qu’avait mangé sa mère depuis un an. Diagnostic : le régime de Madame n’avait rien à envier à celui d’un hypercarnivore comme l’homotherium, ce félidé évoquant un gros tigre avec lequel cohabitaient les Clovis : plus de 97 % de viande, dont au moins 35 % de mammouth, 35 % de wapiti, 20 % de bison ou de camelops (les signatures isotopiques de ces brouteurs au régime alimentaire voisin étant indiscernables), 5 % de cheval et 5 % de petit gibier. Oui, vous avez bien lu, cette femme de la culture de Clovis se nourrissait quasi exclusivement de la viande de gros animaux ! 🦬 🫎 🦣
Disclaimer : comme je le disais déjà dans 🐾 Cataclysmes (Payot, 2017), les raisons de l'extinction de la mégafaune sont complexes, et multiples. Il devient de plus en plus clair que climat et action humaine (prédation, altération des milieux par le feu, l'écologie de la peur et la sélection du gibier…) ont joué de concert partout, avec des combinaisons régionalement variées.
Plus d'infos dans un prochain livre…

#environnement #biodiversité #mégafaune
science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv…

in reply to Yet another Josh

@crankylinuxuser
It's not quite as bad as described.

"Ultimately, a settlement was reached and the sale of customer information was approved, but in truncated form. RadioShack agreed to limit contact information to email addresses only, and only those that were active in the two years prior to the bankruptcy filing. Additionally, transaction data was reduced from 21 fields to 7. The purchaser agreed to abide by RadioShack’s privacy policies and to require affirmative assent to any material change to them. The settlement also provided that customers would receive a notice of the transfer of their information and an opportunity to opt out."

privacylaw.proskauer.com/2015/…

in reply to Tom Bortels

@crankylinuxuser
FWIW - Radio Shack collected name/address originally because direct mail marketing was super effective. We're talking US Post here, the radio shack catalog with the coupon for a free flashlight, and hey, we sell batteries you might want for it. We'd see store visits go up like crazy the day the catalog hit. It sounds like the scope crept significantly after I bailed.

The wannabe doppelganger noted that he didn’t have to particularly dress up for the event, saying “I wear this everywhere.”
\
His killer looks landed him $50.


nypost.com/2024/12/07/us-news/…

Emmanuel Florac reshared this.

'It was perfectly clear that the chamber had been stacked with Hamas supporters.'

Barrister, Natasha Hausdorff, reacts as counter-terror police have launched an investigation into reports that a speaker at an Oxford Union debate described the October 7 attacks as 'acts of heroism'.

ETER HITCHENS: The Lucy Letby case has begun to stink like a neglected fridge in a student house

Why do government officials hold briefings for the media? In my experience (more than half a century of reporting) they do so in the hope of influencing the way certain issues are reported. Well, who can blame them? They want to stay in power and get their way.

Access to the powerful makes reporters feel important, and they don’t want to lose it by upsetting their contacts. I think it would be better if the public knew this was going on. So I was shocked when I learned recently that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Cheshire Police had given a top-level briefing to journalists before the trial of Lucy Letby.

It was held on Monday October 3, 2022 at Manchester Magistrates’ Court, a week before the main trial.
archive.ph/SettD#selection-875…

Is it True that People Just No Longer Care?


When #Microsoft turned to the Dark Side, I switched to #Linux. When my ISP started giving money to extremists, I switched. When #Google went from "don't be evil" to "let's spy on everyone," dumped all their products, from my #Android phone to their search engine. When #Mozilla and #Firefox went off the rails, I switched to privacy-respecting alternatives. When #Facebook went all kindsa wrong, I came here to #diaspora. Heck, even #Linux has up and gone crazy political, right down to the kernel itself. So again, I switched.

I'm told that I'm "too ideological" about these choices. And probably paranoid or something. Maybe so, but...

I can't possibly be the only one. Friends on the opposite side of me politically, religiously, morally, and otherwise are quick to #boycott, #censure, #block, and otherwise silence or restrict companies and individuals who don't share their #values. Yet if I boycott, block, or find an alternative (web-browser, ISP, operating system, whatever), I'm being "too ideological" and "paranoid."

Y'all wanna go ahead and just give away your data and stuff like it doesn't matter? Go ahead and click on the image above. If I'm too ideological, then y'all are either apothetic or willfully ignorant.

in reply to ℝ𝕠𝕓𝕚𝕟

oh to beat this post's sentiment into the obtuse dead-brained apathetic obedient minds of the corporate hypnosis, dispelling their abuse-complicit slumber.


If I’m too ideological, then y’all are either apothetic or willfully ignorant.


I assert, you're not too ideological. ;3 'tis their folly.

I wonder how much apathy and wilful ignorance, let them get increased doses of aluminium (jabs, sprays, pans, etc), to cause even more apathy and ignorance. ... We've much to mend in this world.

“For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.”
John 3:34-35 KJV “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.”
‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭34‬-‭35‬ ‭KJV‬‬ bible.com/bible/1/jhn.3.34-35.…

From glued-in batteries to software lockouts, you're paying more than ever for gadgets that won't last. Here's why and what can do done about it.

Nearly every device we rely on -- from laptops and smartphones to IoT gadgets -- is designed to fail. Repairs are so expensive they might as well not exist. Upgrades? Forget them. And when something breaks, you often have no option but to replace the entire device. It's a scam, plain and simple, dressed up as progress.

zdnet.com/home-and-office/sust…

in reply to anonymiss

I guess you probably know about the non-Christian origin of the Christmas tree in Europe. It was interesting to me to discover 門松 (kadomatsu) in Japan. It's part of how New Years is celebrated. 門 is gate, and 松 is pine. At New Years (お正月), Japanese decorate their gates with pine boughs.

I've heard that there is no other historical document, other than the Christian gospels, that mention that census. I suspect it may not have occurred at all.

LA PIAZZA DI IERI A MILANO

Non serve fare paragoni o parallelismi con episodi “epici” della storia dei movimenti milanesi come le contestazioni del 1968, l’assalto alla Prima del ’76 o alcune contestazioni conflittuali della prima metà degli anni Dieci, ma ieri, per la prima volta dopo molti anni, un corteo molto numeroso si è preso le strade del centro della metropoli in contemporanea con le celebrazioni del patrono della città e con la Prima della Scala, come sempre passerella, non tanto di buona musica, ma dei potenti del momento e dell’ostentazione più sfacciata in tempi di carovita folle.

milanoinmovimento.com/primo-pi…

THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, ISN'T GOOD!

OUR FELLOW AMERICANS ARE DYING BECAUSE CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WITHIN OUR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, ARE DENYING THE ASSISTANCE!

THIS ISN'T A MOVIE, IT'S OUR HUNGER GAMES?

WE CAN'T FORGET OUR FELLOW AMERICANS!

rumble.com/v5wwldw-ep3274-bard…

"Some even appeared to celebrate it."

Well now, NBC.

Well, now. Let's see. Let's review.

Did you try letting people have anything else, anything at all, to celebrate?

Or did you tirelessly profile, in glowing terms, all the parasites who jacked up everyone's rent, mortgages, premiums, car payments, groceries, child care, subscriptions, and no-longer-optional electronics, all while "the economy" hemorrhaged jobs and employers froze wages and (this is kind of an issue) literal multimillionaires led the charge to deny people healthcare?

Did you at any point use the phrases "quiet quitting" or "vibescession?" Did you coin them? Did you make hashtags of them?

Did you lose your shit with childish glee over literally useless technology that's going to Venusform the planet, but still lie to people half the time they ask it something, and probably never really grasp what human ears look like?

Did you pass along the message from On High that the 99% must all get back to work right now, righty-ho, and you! no calling off work just because of a little long COVID! Some things are better done face-to-face, like making boss people feel extra bossy!

All the most dispiriting messages, you're happy to convey: "No you can't wear masks, it upsets the customers. No we can't raise the minimum wage, the Democrats' villain of the week won't allow it and besides, Republicans. No we can't defund the police, in fact we're going to fund them even more."

"Nope, no one in power can do a goddamned thing for you, they're maybe not good people? but so stylish! and you really shouldn't be a hater. Besides, they kind of like stamping on human faces forever and everyone needs a hobby. So no offense, but fuck you."

You broadcast this profoundly depressing shit 24/7 across the globe, yet you have the nerve to blench at some apparent celebrants?

Nah. Leave the party people alone. They'll get it out of their systems eventually.

And if you were any good at actual reporting, you'd know that even a cursory glance at social media puts a rough count of people in support of Thompson's life claim being denied at hundreds, not "tens," of thousands. You know--about the same quantity as the number of people in the United States who died of COVID in 2020 alone?

Gracious. Whatever could the survivors possibly have in this event to celebrate?

Rayner: “We have a massive housing shortage so we’re building 1.5m homes to house 3.4m people”

Phillips: “But 2.5m of those will be immigrants won’t they?”

Rayner: “No they won’t”

Phillips: “So where will all those immigrants live?”

Rayner: “We have plenty of housing”