news

Not necessarily news but relevant given the LA fires and other recent natural disasters in the USA alone. There is some kind of poetic justice here that the empire that threatens the environment of the only home that humans have, should receive the worst of its wrath when it isn't respected (of course most of the people don't deserve this). Also curious that what gives the USA a geopolitical advantage (being between two very large oceans etc) also creates for more varied and possibly violent climate.

Blame geography for the U.S. getting hit by stronger, costlier, more varied and frequent extreme weather than anywhere on the planet, several experts said. Two oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, jutting peninsulas like Florida, clashing storm fronts and the jet stream combine to naturally brew the nastiest of weather.

Tornadoes. Hurricanes. Flash floods. Droughts. Wildfires. Blizzards. Ice storms. Nor’easters. Lake-effect snow. Heat waves. Severe thunderstorms. Hail. Lightning. Atmospheric rivers. Derechos. Dust storms. Monsoons. Bomb cyclones. And the dreaded polar vortex.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/why-the-u-s-is-leading-the-world-in-extreme-weather-catastrophes>

While Libs, Gusanos and Chuds cry about "Ebil Dictator Vuvuzela Maduro bad man", theres a literal coup happening in Ecuador

If trump makes Russia an offer and Putin is receptive then RF has maybe 3 or so months to capture as much territory as possible. Since they moved west of Oskil river Luhansk is completely controlled by Russia which leaves parts of Donetsk, northern Zaporizhia oblast and Kherson oblast north of Dnipro river still on the table.

Looking at Donetsk there are two major fronts left. In the north there is the Slovyansk - Kramatorsk line and in west there is the Pokrovsk & Myrnohrad to Dobropillya line. Slovyansk, Kramatorsk and Pokrovsk + Myrnohrad are each larger than Bahkmut and all of them are transportation hubs with multiple highway and rail access from western Ukraine. Several small rivers flow east to west thru these areas with small farm cities along the banks and with limited access but other than that it's all farmland. If Syrskyi tries to defend this like he did Bahkmut it will be a blood bath.

railroad map

https://xcancel.com/mn_storm/status/1876882956096045332

Milei Update: Argentinian cars with paper license plates are seen driving around Brazil and Paraguay.

New Argentinian vehicles have been 'registered' in this way due to a lack of material to manufacture the metal plates. And what may seem like an irregularity is actually the reality of the Argentine country which, due to a lack of raw material to manufacture the metal item, has been issuing license plates with unusual material on a temporary basis.

The authorization for cars from Argentina to circulate in Brazil and Paraguay with paper plates dates back to December 2024, and came about after the Brazilian and Paraguayan Foreign Affairs Ministries decided to issue the plates.

According to the Argentine press, the lack of materials is the result of one of the measures taken by Argentine President Javier Millei to cut costs, which has led to changes at the Mint. Without maintenance, the equipment has become incapable of manufacturing the items. In addition, the press claims that there has been an increase in demand for the manufacture of the item, which is also aggravated by the difficulty of exporting the raw material, a problem Argentina has faced for some years.

Gunman in ‘Pizzagate’ conspiracy attack fatally shot by North Carolina police

A day after Trump spoke of the 'Gulf of America', Mexico's president defends calling the US 'Mexican America'.

Claudia Sheinbaum's ironic suggestion was a rejoinder to Trump, who suggested renaming the Gulf of Mexico the 'Gulf of America' during a press conference on Tuesday (7). The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, suggested on Wednesday (8) that the United States should be renamed “Mexican America”. Her comment was a rejoinder to President-elect Donald Trump's talk of renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”, referring to the USA.

“Obviously the Gulf of Mexico is recognized by the United Nations. But why don't we call [the United States] 'Mexican America'? Nice name, right? Let's call it that, then,” said Sheinbaum, pointing to a map showing Mexico with territories that currently belong to the US, and with the US appearing in green under the name ‘Mexican America’.

Trump defended the name change of the Gulf of Mexico, the largest in the world, during a press conference on Tuesday (7), less than two weeks before returning to the US presidency. Trump also made other inflammatory statements, such as not ruling out the use of military force to seize Greenland and the Panama Canal, in addition to the intention to fix Canada's economic strangulation.

To explain the suggestion, made ironically, Sheinbaum cited a Constitution of Apatzingán, promulgated in 1814, but which was never broken. The text proposes the creation of a State throughout the territory of North America, which covers Mexico, the USA and Canada. The Mexican president also said that Trump is living in the past.

Any libs in the DC area trying to do something funny?

This is your problem now, Jack!
https://news.antiwar.com/2025/01/08/biden-administration-will-not-revoke-hts-terror-designation/

US officials told the Post that the decision about the terrorist designation will now be up to the Trump administration. They said HTS must show that it has really broken from al-Qaeda for the designation to be lifted, though HTS’s history did not stop the US from supporting the HTS takeover of Syria.

you know, of all the elements I thought would get LA in the end, I'd have presumed earth and then maybe water before fire.

Egypt is literally doing the who must go meme

Anyone have the dumbed down legalese for how the government banning TikTok is not a flagrant violation of freeze peach

Haven’t used tik tok in awhile, but like, huh?

Wish the free speech absolutists would always be this silent!

https://i.redd.it/gml6qmnh3lbe1.jpeg

Surely, they apply the same criteria to everyone

https://www.state.gov/genocide-determination-in-sudan-and-imposing-accountability-measures/

I'm actually a bit surprised Qassam doesn't use drones too much against the genocidal entity. We have seen a bunch of those on Oct 7th and a few afterwards, which includes that famous shot of a drone dropping a small grenade on a gathering of iof soldiers. Tbh I expected to see more of that, and perhaps even FPV drones which would disable enemy armour.

Huh, perhaps they couldnt get ahold of a significant number of drones due to the blockade and the limited number they have are used to plan for ambushes or observation, who knows. Also FPV drones are a novelty too, but the ones that drop explosives aren't. It's a shame because they could inflict a fuckton of casualties on the colonizers.

Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), said on Wednesday (8) that social networks will only continue to operate in Brazil if they respect the laws in force in the country, regardless of “threats and tantrums from irresponsible leaders”.

“Here in Brazil, our Electoral Court and our Supreme Court have both shown that this is a land that has law. Social networks are not a lawless land. In Brazil, [social networks] will only continue to operate if they respect Brazilian law. Regardless of the bravado of irresponsible big tech leaders,” he said.

“We can't talk about the world, but in Brazil, I have absolute certainty and conviction that the Federal Supreme Court will not allow the big techs, the social networks, to continue to be used intentionally or culpably, or even just for profit, to spread hate speech, dangerous ideologies such as nazism, fascism, racism, misogyny, homophobia and anti-democratic speech,” said the magistrate.

It's worth remembering that Moraes ordered a temporary ban on social network X in Brazil in August 2024, after billionaire Elon Musk's social network failed to comply with a series of Brazilian judicial orders. In October, the platform complied with the rules and resumed operations in the country.

Coup/Presidential Crisis in Ecuador

The Ecuadorean National Assembly returned decree 500, in which President Daniel Noboa asked for a “few days' leave” to campaign, to the presidency, and put in his place a Vice-President appointed by him, rather than the elected one. The Assembly has asked the president to take an official leave of absence. And they have said that they will only recognize the legitimacy of Veronica Abad, the Vice-President elected in 2023, together with Daniel Noboa.

A coup d'état will take place in Ecuador, says Vice-President Abad. The Vice President of Ecuador, Verónica Abad, said today that “a coup d'état will be carried out” in the next few hours by the government itself, when President Daniel Noboa entrusts the presidency to “his secretary.” Cynthia Gellibert.

At a press conference in the capital, Abad addressed the international community and said that the coup orchestrated by the Executive affects national and regional stability. “The constitutional order has been broken. The president and his improvised cabinet have repeatedly violated the Constitution and are carrying out a coup d'état for the democratic history of Ecuador,” he told journalists.

Abad opposes abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and 4th wave feminism. She says she defends freedom of religion, individual rights, private property, small government and free markets. She has also shown sympathy for politicians including Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, and the far-right Spanish party Vox. The Citizen Revolution party, a democratic socialist Correaista party, has declared its critical support for Veronica Abad. Insisting that she take over the presidency until the 2025 elections.

Meanwhile, Daniel Noboa insists that there is a conspiracy between his party, his ministers and Congress to bring down his government. He also insists that the power outages are not due to cuts in the infrastructure budget, but to a plot by one of his ministers against him because they want to remove him from power.