Now in our second week of the conflict, we have seen continuing damage to both Israel and Iran, as well as direct US intervention which nonetheless seems to have caused limited damage to Fordow and little damage to Iran’s nuclear program. Regime change seems more elusive than ever, as even Iranians previously critical of the government now rally around it as they are attacked by two rabid imperialists at once. And Iran’s government is tentatively considering a withdrawal, or at minimum a reconsideration, of their membership to the IAEA and the NPT. And, of course, the Strait of Hormuz is still a tool in their arsenal.
A day or so on from the strike on Fordow, we have so far seen basically no change in strategy from the Iranian military as they continue to strike Israel with small barrages of missiles. Military analysts argue furiously - is this a deliberate strategy of steady attrition on Israel, or indicative of immense material constraints on Iran? Are the hits by Israel on real targets, or are they decoys? Does Iran wish to develop a nuke, or are they still hesitating? Will Iran and Yemen strike at US warships and bases in response to the attack, or will they merely continue striking only Israel?
And perhaps most importantly - will this conflict end diplomatically due to a lack of appetite for an extended war (to wit: not a peace but a 20 year armistice) or with Israel forced into major concessions including an end to their genocide? Or even with a total military/societal collapse of either side?
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.
Prisons Business Center in Estonia wants to open an e-shop to sell items made by inmates
The Prisons Business Center is preparing to launch an online store to market handicrafts and custom-made products created by inmates. To streamline the process, they are asking the Ministry of Justice to allow them to enter into smaller contracts without the need for public procurement procedures.
The Prisons Business Center is seeking to open an online store to market handicrafts and custom-made products. In a letter sent to the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs, Tallinn Prison noted that there are already examples of good practice — under the Stoveman brand, quality metal products made by inmates are currently being sold.
Aaro Nursi, a member of the Tallinn Prison Commission, informed the ministry that prisons — particularly the Prisons Business Center — need more flexible conditions for finding partners. This would help increase inmate employment and better utilize prison production capacity.
“Current public procurement procedures limit Tallinn Prison’s ability to respond quickly to smaller orders and to collaborate with local businesses and municipalities,” Nursi said.
He pointed out that, for example, laundry and sewing services could be used more frequently by state institutions, but there are no clear guidelines for allowing internal transactions. Smaller or seasonal orders are often missed because potential partners lack the resources to participate in procurement procedures.
Additionally, prisons cover all production costs themselves — from materials to equipment — and therefore need steady and flexible orders to operate production in a sustainable and cost-effective way.
As a result, the Tallinn Prison Commission proposed that small-scale direct contracts be allowed without the standard public procurement process. They also suggested clarifying the rules for internal transactions between state agencies in order to encourage the purchase of services from prisons.
The prison commission also called on the Ministry of Justice to support the marketing and e-commerce development of prisons, including online sales, and to involve inmates in pilot projects aimed at testing more flexible cooperation models.
“We believe this would increase inmate engagement, support reintegration into society and make prisons more visible and trustworthy partners,” Nursi said, asking the ministry to initiate discussions on changing public procurement regulations.
The Ministry of Justice, however, was in no hurry to commit. Deputy Secretary General Rait Kuuse responded to Nursi that the proposal would be taken into account in planning the future activities and direction of the Prisons Business Center, but the ministry currently has no plans to amend procurement regulations.
“The purpose of creating the business center was to boost inmate employment and production capacity — goals that align with the strategic aims of the prison service. Today, we can say the business center has been successful in increasing employment and has launched several new cooperation projects with various partners,” Kuuse noted.
The Prisons Business Center was established last year, replacing the former state-owned company AS Eesti Vanglatööstus, and operates across all three of Estonia’s prisons.
At Tallinn Prison, inmates produce textiles, metal and wood products; the facility also operates an industrial-scale laundry and handles product assembly and packaging. Examples of inmate-made goods include fireplaces, outdoor grills, fireplace accessories, sauna stoves, metal structures and a variety of custom wood products.
Viru Prison’s laundry offers a full range of laundry services. It also produces sauna stoves sold under the Stoveman brand and performs various woodworking tasks.
Tartu Prison provides shot blasting and powder coating services.
Etsy Archipelago
stateless people are those who had their citizenship stripped from them for being russian and basically anyone who moved to estonia after 1940. a lite apartheid, non-citizens cant vote in national elections. in 1992 in the first democra\tic election 42 percent of the population just couldnt vote. what a sham lol
Nazi shit
no but this is totally different and better than the evil gulags in siberia where my
gestapo“poliitiline politsei” ™ grandpa was sent!!! -the median estonian