Image is from the Britannica article on CECOT, known as the Terrorism Confinement Center in English.
This megathread’s topic is inspired by our lovely news regular, @[email protected], who talks often about the conditions inside El Salvador and gives nuanced and informative takes.
As the Trump administration continues to make foreign policy blunders that would make even the staunchest anti-imperialist accelerationist blush - and we are barely three months in! - it’s interesting to compare and contrast his policies of incompetent imperialist and domestic management to the dictators in other countries.
Bukele is somewhat unique among fascists, in that he seems to not hide - and seems to even admit to - his evil, self-describing as the world’s “coolest dictator”. El Salvador has no particular shortage of prominent fascists in their history, but one major example is Maximiliano Martínez, who led the country over much of the 1930s and the early 1940s. He was responsible the deaths of many thousands of communists and indigneous people, and yet joined World War 2 on the side of the Allies and against the Nazis.
The comparisons between Martínez and Bukele - and, indeed, between Bukele and Trump - in terms of their impact on minority groups are slowly growing as world attention is being drawn to the country. The recent meeting between Bukele and Trump has shifted a spotlight onto El Salvador’s crime policy; the internal conditions of El Salvador’s prisons are genuinely monstrous. One gets a similar feeling as when reading descriptions of the conditions of Holocaust victims in German concentration camps. Trump has made statements to the effect that he want a similar crime crackdown inside the United States, and I certainly believe that he wants this (ICE is already just kidnapping people off the streets into vans), but his administration has been so chaotic and mismanaged that it’s difficult to determine whether this will be an interest he rapidly drops in favor of some other hair-brained scheme.
Last week’s thread is here. The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
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The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA reports on Israel’s destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia’s youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don’t want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it’s just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists’ side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR’s former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR’s forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster’s telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a ‘propaganda tax’, if you don’t believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
In case anyone’s wondering why I only share or post satellite imagery or geolocations after any bombings have already happened, and am very strict about OPSEC (even to the point of not reposting posts from resistance figures or media with poor OPSEC), this is why. US CENTCOM has been using social media OSINT (twitter, telegram, WhatsApp, etc) for targeting information, resulting in innocent people dying.
Remember, this is war, not a circus or videogame. Innocent people just like me and you are dying. Don’t post, repost or share incriminating stuff, even if a popular resistance figure posts say, a selfie of themselves next to a US daytime bombing while it’s happening (Yes, this actually happened, no, I will not share it). Don’t post satellite imagery of “potential military sites”. Unfortunately many people online in OSINT communities do not understand this, they either don’t realise war is real or they don’t consider those on the other side of the world as human.
Ultimately the responsibility is on those doing the bombings (the US Navy in this case), and a group’s OPSEC is their own responsibility, and not the responsibility or fault of random twitter accounts, but still, don’t play any part in the death of innocent people. There’s a reason why Ansarallah in Yemen have put in place a strict official media and social media censorship campaign, which I have posted about before.
Also if the Commiejones moderator on hexbear is still around, thank you for enforcing OPSEC when you were around.
If anyone’s wondering, the data I use for the daily Yemen posts comes from the Ansarallah/Houthi owned and ran Al Masirah TV.
Firestorms in Israel
Huge forest fires in Israel. So-called ‘firestorms’ are raging all across Israel, with much of the country experiencing strong winds with velocities up to 110 km/h, reportedly a ‘highly unusual’ event per Israeli media.
All ‘Independence Day’ events and gatherings are canceled across Israel due to the firestorms. Israeli tanks and military bases are burning in the firestorm. The firestorm has reached an Israeli military base in Central Israel, with soldiers reportedly trapped inside their barracks and possibly being burnt alive.
Israeli Channel 14: Some of Israel’s highways are completely shut down due to the firestorm. ‘There are dozens of fires burning across the country, and not a single one of them is located in an Arab area’
Israeli Fire Commissioner: ‘The firestorm is spreading at a significant rate. Winds are expected to worsen, and the fires will become more severe the next 24 hours’ Not a single one in the West Bank or any Arab community inside Israel. A massive sandstorm has started to appear in the Israeli Negev desert
Israel: ‘International aid and firefighting teams will not start working until tomorrow’ Israel has requested international assistance to combat the ongoing fires, reaching out to Cyprus, Croatia, Greece, and Italy for support.
- Telegram
https://english.news.cn/20250430/0e0a48cbc7e64a45b3fbe6ac30b3ddc3/c.html
China’s State Council Information Office released a report about coronavirus. They go over the Chinese response, the investigation into the origins (not Wuhan) and the US’s bungled response. It ends with a call to investigate US biolabs including Derrick as a possible source of the virus
I remember the detrickposting back on the sub, it seems like ages ago now
Apparently Kneecap came out and said they do not, in fact, support Hamas or Hezbollah.
While a little disappointing, I do believe (and UK comrades can correct me if I’m wrong), that expressing verbal support for “designated terrorist groups” actually can land you in jail in the UK.
So if that’s true, I at least kinda understand why they’re saying it.
Irish woman legally residing in US for 30 years detained following visit to ill father in Ireland
…meanwhile our taoiseach is more focused on chastising kneecap for something they said at a gig a year ago
for something they said at a gig a year ago
and, totally coincidentally, right after they slagged off Pissrael at Cochella
dow nearly where the liberation started, and yield fallen to 4.6 from 4.9 on 30 years treasuries, another nothing ever happens gang W.
We have stopped all trade with the largest market in the world and stocks are the same. Money is so fucking fake man
it’s vibes-based, supply chains aren’t in crisis yet
I believe - and I think there’s a tremendous amount of evidence that supports me - that the stock market is “efficient” in the sense that all information is processed nearly instantly (that doesn’t mean stock markets lead to efficient allocation of capital, that’s a very different thing). So that begs the question, the market is NOT pricing in an economic crash. Why?
It’s reasonable to conclude that market makers are not on the Trump Train and don’t actually believe he will restart American manufacturing or bring in hundreds of billions in tariff revenue.
OK, so that means the market thinks the tariffs won’t have much of an impact. Given the broad consensus among economists of all stripes about tariffs, it’s also reasonable to conclude that it’s not that the market anticipates there will be no impact from tariffs.
Thus, I think that right now the market assumes these tariffs won’t stick, and that they’ll actually disappear fairly soon. Market makers are not blind acolytes of capitalism, though. They have a laser focus on making money. So IMO, I think they have reliable inside information that the tariffs won’t stick. Like, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bessent is begging China to just give Trump the most nominal, pointless win so he can fold. And the market - looking back on the past - thinks China will end up being the rational grown-up and will spare any economic pain for giving Trump is cookie.
And… they might be right. Or at least, I see why this is the response from bourgeois capitalists. But I think if the market ever gets the notion that the tariffs might actually stick then I think you will see the market crash hard and fast. Maybe not as bad as 1929 because I think the market will hold out hope that the tariffs will be lifted (and why would anyone destroy the economy on purpose?) if things get really bad.
market is inefficient plenty of times, it might just be external hedge funds have unloaded onto trump simps, the volume will then thin out, every retail trader will leverage out, and then it will crash a second time with margin calls on retail traders after disappointing q2
or you might be right.the market has volume, price and depth of volume at the price (which is unknowable until price is reached), maybe someone dumping 200 billion will go unnoticed, maybe it will crash the whole thing, because deep pockets think different from you, but don’t care to short (but also won’t care to buy), and just wait on sidelines (like buffet). crashing dollar is very impossible proposition for example, no one has pockets deep enough against money printer, so they can’t pull off asian/pound crash even if they plausibly wanted to, forex markets aren’t that deep on that scale.
like examples of shadowy albatrosses everyone ignores inside america: saudis are cash negative already at 65 dollars, what they’ll do with that; india/pakistan is absolutely not priced in, despite modi being second bibi; oil inside usa is not, strictly speaking, very cash money as well at 65 (i think some wells are at 40$ cost, while some at 55, which is already bordering on non-profitable); lumber/steel shocks in construction, truck deliveries missing plausibly a month at this point; dropshippers not getting ad revenue, which also fucks google/meta; farmers getting boned inside usa with usaid pull out; ai not fucking working (tech companies do be swimming in cash to afford it, but their evaluation implies much more); construction work inside cities suddenly getting labor prices of non-migrant workers as well.
Or to put it another way, the market is bought and sold by Nothing Ever Happens gang
Yea, local currency bond yields were never a good measure. On the other hand, exchange rates are. DXY hasn’t recovered much.
There will always be demand for US Treasuries domestically as long as the US State is functional. It has no risk of involuntary default and is basically money (even long term ones to some extent). Short term treasuries are considered “cash equivalents” in accounting.
Hedge funds and money managers love Treasuries. It’s the easiest way to store money. Reserve accounts at the Fed are only accessible to eligible financial institutions, Treausries are accessible to public.
If you are a money manager, you can store money in a commercial bank and earn interest. Even if there were no default risk and all deposits were guaranteed by Gov, the deposits are still a liability of the commercial bank, not the Government.
That is not the case with treasuries, these are direct libablities of the Gov.
markets declaring they’re not a measure of the economy is very cool and will definitely have no implications with the imperial core
Decided to waste my time on Reddit and saw a thread from Liberal hive Fauxmoi frothing over John Cena apologizing to Chinese netiziens over referring to Taiwan as an independent country. The narrative has shifted to the CPC making him do it.
I forget sometimes just how rabid Americans can get over celebrities being friendly with countries they’re told to hate.I’ve met American boomers who still refer to Jane Fonda as Hanoi Jane.
Pakistan’s Minister of Information made a televised speech where he alerted the country to “credible evidence” of an imminent Indian military strike, within “the next 24-36 hours”.
Statement was changed now, from “military strike” to “military action”. Still not good at all. Honestly that could be worse. A strike implies a limited action by India, but a generic claim of “action” could mean anything from a limited strike to a full on incursion into Pakistani territory. If you read the article below you’ll understand what I mean by that potentially being worse.
Decker Eveleth, 26 April 2025 - Pakistan and Missile Defense Defeat Strategies
There’s a very gruesome video of the aftermath of a recent “israeli” massacre carried out against the Gazans, it’s very bad and little kids were struck by them. When I saw it I said to myself that this is the worst I’ve seen so far, but then I remembered I’ve said that last week, and the week prior and so on. I fear we are becoming too used to this, we definitely reached an almost complete normalization of the relentless killings.
“Israel” is consistently breaching over and over again the limits of violence, each week they become more and more savage and murderous. And now they suffer no backlash for it.
This is it then. Gazans will be taken out one by one by the zionists. It has been decided by those who can stop this madness, this ridiculous bloodshed, that this will be the fate of Gaza, to be killed either by starvation, water deprivation, unbearable sanitary conditions, bombs, bullets or by their own hand. Let it be known that the image of that little girl today, just sitting there not being really sure what’s going on to her, is but a small preview of what’s to come to, honestly, all of us if “Israel” is not stopped and thoroughly dismantled. In her, I saw the future of millions.
May zionism suffer a terrible death. May everyone who defend and support this genocide be thrown into the darkest pits of hell and rot there, forever. May Gaza and Palestine win and “israel” die. The future of Gaza and Palestine is now entirely on the hands of it’s Resistance, glory to them.
Btw bernie sanders is still both sideism. AOC and the squad also approved increased funds for that state.
Just a reminder of the “leadership” of the american left.
20·2 months agothe image of that little girl today
I havent seen it, do you have a link?
I’m very sorry I don’t have the courage to go back to it.
I am not sure if I have found what you were talking about, nor do I have the need to anymore. I fully understand.
Lol, lmao even
A US official said that initial reports from the scene indicated that the Truman made a hard turn to evade Houthi fire, which contributed to the fighter jet falling overboard.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/28/politics/us-navy-jet-overboard/index.html
Fighter jets sliding around aircraft carriers like loose furniture in the back of a pickup truck on the highway
Navy deckhand confidently slapping 100mph tape on a gazillion dollar plane going “oh yeah, that ain’t going anywhere”
cue Benny Hill theme
Today Vietnam celebrated the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City).
A grand military parade was held and veterans were honored: https://www.vietnam.vn/en/khoanh-khac-an-tuong-le-dieu-binh-mung-ky-niem-50-nam-thong-nhat-dat-nuoc
And there were fireworks: https://www.vietnam.vn/en/ruc-ro-man-phao-hoa-tam-cao-o-tphcm-chao-mung-dai-le-30-4
White supremacy. Next question. Link (no transcript yet)
main
writing funny headlines is a dream job. getting paid to shitpost
Well shit. That’s why we haven’t heard from Medhurst in a while. They nabbed him (a second time) in Austria, and have stolen all his equipment and data and kept legal cases open against him in both countries to silence his journalism.
Kyiv ready to sign US minerals deal within 24 hours, Ukrainian PM says https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/apr/30/germany-spd-coalition-friedrich-merz-ukraine-volodymyr-zelenskyy-russia-vladimir-putin-europe-live-news lol
