I'm not sure where this article was originally posted; a search for Proletarskaya Gazeta turned up the following, possibly old, website and there are a few articles on the Revolutionary Democracy and ML Translations websites: red-kommuna.narod.ru/pgazeta/ru/index.htm ? This newspaper was founded around February 5, 1999. Among other things in the article there is alleged evidence that the US elite desired the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022 before it happened, to create a situation in which the US could separate the EU, especially Germany, from Russia's natural resources, to benefit the weak US economy and curb the influence of the major powers in the EU.
Also, January 19th regarding Palestine, etc. – Israel was just accused of destroying cemeteries in northern Gaza (videos on social media show "extensive damage," "broken" gravestones, "open graves," "bulldozer tracks") and the excuse seems to be that they are looking for the bodies of captives, and will return any Palestinian bodies they remove; Israeli soldiers cheered the demolition of a UN school in Gaza (the BBC played a recording and NPR has not, so far), one of the many educational institutions destroyed, intentionally or not, though an Israeli official said that Hamas is the only party destroying Gaza; January 19th in the morning NPR played a recording of Biden outright saying that he is a "Zionist," though many Americans apparently don't know what that means, and Biden went to Israel as a supporter during an Intifada; NPR also interviewed Dennis Ross (?), but I forget the noteworthy comment, maybe regarding Yemen or Iran, or maybe it was that Trump tried to impose a 'Muslim ban,' etc., so supporters of Palestine have no choice but to vote for Biden; the captives in Gaza are to get medicine (I would check it for tracking devices) in return for Gazans getting medicines for cancer, etc. – implying that Israel is withholding medicine from civilians as a war tactic; hospitals – including Jordanian field hospitals – are being fired upon; a few days ago NPR said that the US Navy sank a probably wooden sailing vessel off Yemen that was allegedly transporting weapons to Yemen for Iran, but they didn't say anything about what the Navy did with the ship's large crew (14?); the Israeli military allegedly killed civilians standing in slippers by a roadside fire in the West Bank and telecom employees in a van in Gaza; telecommunications have been off for days in Gaza – 'lucky' artillery fire?; and Israel basically bans anti-war protests and the police beat protesters, though a march was held, after the organizers went to court; at the march an Israeli woman haltingly said that "from the River to the Sea, we should all be free" and a bystander woman claimed be too enraged to be interviewed; just now someone from the "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace" claimed that Iran wants to "replace Israel with Palestine [without prosperity or security for the Palestinians, he added]," destroy that 'rules-based international order,' and maybe the other thing was push the US out of the region; and is NPR claiming that Netanyahu's far right cabinet is forcing him to go against Biden? They also had someone from the US Peace whatever, which doesn't sound very peace-promoting either when brought up.
Regarding the Republican presidential primary, why is the media suddenly focusing so much on Nikki Haley? Is she representing George W Bush Republicans? I haven't been following her campaign closely and I forget the offensive positions she voiced as our UN ambassador. Trump is a warmonger (along with Biden and other leading Democrats) and carried out acts of war against Syria and Iran (in Iraq) and raised tensions with Russia and China, but recently his campaign emails have even condemned "warmongers and globalists" (January 16th ) and I think there was something about preserving Medicare, along with his usual rhetoric against leftists and Marxists. Trump is probably even more 'pro-Israel' than Biden, but Israel still gets what it wants from the Democrats – though Congressional Republicans might have delayed military aid for their own reasons – and Biden isn't very far from the George W Bush wing of Republicans. He helped them invade Iraq and despite anti-war protests he was rewarded with continued time in Congress and then promotion to vice president and president. Ross might have said that US elections aren't determined by foreign policy. Reward the Biden administration for what it is doing in the Middle East, Europe (very little about Ukraine recently, but maybe Taiwan is going to start making demands – I heard a young Taiwanese comedian on a BBC panel, maybe The Real Story... An interview with a Zelensky aide is coming up next week and just now something about the civil war in Myanmar), "the Indo-Pacific," in the "Cyber" theatre of militarism, etc., because "fascist" Trump, or DeSantis, is worse? And because Haley didn't aver that the Civil War was about slavery and that the US is racist, and not because of what she did at the UN and wants to do if elected? In 2023 Arab-American and other protesters said that they wouldn't ever vote for Biden again, but the media has months to further hammer the public about the "insurrection," Trump corruption, "our democracy," gerrymandering and other anti-democratic activities (but only if Republicans do them), "slow civil war," etc. and how great the Inflation Reduction Act is for the climate and economy, how pro-"middle class," and 'pro-union' Biden is, etc. Trump is supposed to represent an unprecedented threat to the majority of Americans and the world (worse than the Bush-Cheney administration?), and the solution offered by the Left, even apart from the Democrats, seems to be to give Biden a second term and then carry on with business as usual, such as demonstrations that the media generally ignores, even very large and widespread demonstrations, with the result that the general public doesn't know about them unless they are nearby or are in the 'far left' themselves (I just saw a Democratic Party rightist formulation from the "Liberal Patriot" – "isolationist" Republicans and the "indecent left"). The media also covers up the history of US anti-war activity. Even in very "blue" states voters are not to discuss or vote for left third parties and third parties are to be prevented from forming where possible, as in North Carolina. So far it isn't even possible to vote against Biden in the Democratic primary in NC, except maybe with a write-in. Communists would also seem to be in danger of persecution for advocating insurrectionism or whatever, as in the 20th century, if not just repressed through extra-legal measures. I don't know what the answer is, but the business as usual strategy that resulted in or did not prevent the current domestic, international, and economic 'crises' is what I hear being recommended in so many words, and then the media and the Durham City Council blame the Russian people for not being more successful anti-war and democratic activists than Americans have been over many decades. I haven't been as active regarding Ukraine and Palestine as I was regarding Iraq, though there was also more going on to participate in back then. Some of it was like what Russians are doing now, apart from the armed struggle the BBC claims is going on in Russia. At best the US anti-war movement might have only somewhat delayed or shortened the war and the weakened pro-war Republicans were replaced by pro-war Democrats and the movement was mostly laid to rest, so that now "endless wars" refers to what Democrats have done and they are discredited. And Bush and Co have been rehabilitated against Trump. The media ignores Trump's foreign policy plans (!) and doesn't say what Haley is proposing at home or abroad, concentrating on her chances against Trump and off the cuff comments. It isn't like she doesn't have a long record in politics to consider.
Trump probably wants to destroy Gaza too, but Gaza is being destroyed even with a president who professes to believe in a "two state solution" and Gaza was impoverished before that, as Senator Chuck Schumer desired, and Trump and Biden both seem interested in WWIII, violation of our civil liberties, and increasing presidential power against the rest of the government. The combined civilian and military death toll in Gaza, mostly civilian, is now nearing or around 25,000, which doesn't count those lost under the rubble. Trump and Biden might differ over Ukraine, but Trump didn't establish peace in Eastern Europe (or Korea) when he held the presidency. The Trump administration might have been more negative in Latin America (regarding Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, etc) than Biden's, so far, but Biden hasn't been much better, and might be too distracted to the east for much adventurism down south. Biden doesn't seem to want a new direct war, but what if someone gets 'lucky' and there is a direct hit on a US Navy ship, or a large airplane is downed, or something unexpected happens in Ukraine?
In more positive news, Japan successful carried out a soft landing on the Moon, and the first precision landing by any country (Japan hasn't determined where it is yet?) today, after recent failed attempts by Russia and a private US effort.
I could see relatively bright Naos [zeta Puppis] and pi Puppis [Wikipedia claims that this star is also known as Ahadi] and maybe even Suhail down in Vela through the bare trees to the south this week, without having to go to a more open location. I'm still working on Canopus, further south, in Carina, and there is Eridanus, starting relatively high in the southern sky, at Orion's foot, but meandering too far south to follow to the end from this latitude. Later in the spring part of Centaurus and other stars south of Hydra and Virgo, up in the morning now, should be visible. I haven't looked enough at Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius and south to Lupus, Ara, etc. – but I have to go to a different location for a good view that low when the trees are green. Cancer, by long Hydra's head and Gemini, is further north and up longer now but is dim and gets missed. The traditional Aquarius period is January 20th to February 18th, though it apparently should be February 17th to March 13th, if based on the Sun's actual position against the stars. People differ on when that famous Age of Aquarius should begin, but it is likely very far off.
Upcoming star parties and astronomy month/day events in Jamestown, NC; French Camp, MS, Scout Key, Florida, Aquilla, TX, more than one in Pennsylvania, London, UK and across the world are listed at is.gd/star_parties The Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox will be March 19th at 11:06pm EDT (off because of DT?: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox )
[Crime and social policy in Ecuador: newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/chaos-in-ecuador Baluchistan, Iran, and Pakistan: newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/the-baluchistan-imbroglio WEB Du Bois as a Jeffersonian: newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/marx-or-jefferson
[A Hindu rightist mob destroyed the Babri Masjid mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India December 6, 1992, triggering inter-communal violence; the Ram Mandir temple to Rama, under construction, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the BJP January 22, 2024.]
[French painter and member of the Paris Commune Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet (June 10, 1819 – December 31, 1877), blamed for the May 16, 1871 destruction of Paris' Vendôme Column: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Courbet and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Vend%C3%B4me ]
[The DPRK seized the spy ship USS Pueblo in or near its coastal waters January 21, 1968.]
[Evo Morales became president of Bolivia January 22, 2006 and was elected to two more terms, until he was toppled by a violent US-backed coup and received asylum in Mexico, November 12, 2019. An unelected rightist and anti-Indian government temporarily ruled Bolivia. The security forces refused to protect the elected government, but violently repressed and killed Morales supporters. Morales' party returned to power in the next election.]
[There was a protest for Palestine Sunday, January 21 at 3pm in Raleigh's Moore Square, and it is probably likely that there will be one the afternoon of January 28th and/or February 4th, but I don't know have definite information.] [International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine (ICSGP): January 31 Condemn the Complicit! such as the German imperialist government]
[Around January 21st the Ukrainian military shelled a market in the seceded eastern city of Donetsk, killing and wounding many civilians, according to Russian media, which our mainstream media wants people to reflexively ignore.]
[An exceptionally large NATO exercise targeting "Russia and the terror groups" began in Europe in late January and will continue into May?]
[French painter Alexandre Cabanel (September 28, 1823 – January 23, 1889)]
[Former Durham County Commissioner Becky Heron, in office December 6, 1982 – August 1, 2011, passed away January 23, 2014 (born in 1927): durhamspark.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-moment-of-silence-for-becky-heron.html and www.northeastcreek.org/wordpress/remembering-becky-heron-1927-2014/ ]
Some upcoming events at the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies that might be of interest, though probably rightist where political; Jews and the Pig: A History on Monday, January 22nd at 5:30pm and war-related events January 23rd and February 21st: jewishstudies.unc.edu/events/upcomingevents/
[The first Apple Macintosh PC, renamed the Macintosh 128K, came out January 24, 1984, following the "1984" Super Bowl XVIII ad January 22nd, but it wasn't the first personal computer: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_128K and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer ]
[January 24th it was announced that a wastewater treatment plant in Burlington had detected a 545 micrograms per liter/release of 1,4 dioxane, ultimately thought to be from Apollo Chemical, through the plant and into the Haw River. According to the HRA "the water quality standard is 0.35ug/L. People in Pittsboro were told not to drink the town's tapwater and were offered an alternative water supply at the Chatham Marketplace.] [A sedimentation violation was reported by the HRA at a Triangle Brick Company site – a current site or at their former claypit in Durham, now the 55-Hopson construction site, which I might be audible for miles when the wind is right? I need to go see what they've done in a year, and I'm sure there has been a great deal of silt runoff.]
[The United Mine Workers of America was founded January 25, 1890: marion-polk-yamhillsolidarity.blogspot.com/2024/01/today-in-union-history-founding-of.html and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Mine_Workers_of_America ]
[A man claiming to be Satoshi Kirishima was arrested at a hospital in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture January 25th, according to NPR and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia_Anti-Japan_Armed_Front ; check the Throw Out Your Books blog on the Japanese left and radicals.]
[The Full Moon was January 25th, briefly visible in the evening through the clouds here; it was very cold and dry the week before and then warm, overcast, and sprinkling this week, with some fog at night; few animals came out out of dormancy though; I haven't heard any frogs calling yet, though some salamanders and other amphibians might breed now in North Carolina. The next New Moon for unhindered stargazing will be February 9th.] [A flock of red-winged blackbirds, not the first this winter, was nearby on the 25th, and a thrush and robin that came by might have been them. Sapsuckers have been around for months but only started taping a nearby red maple in recent days, and myrtle warblers, kinglets, titmice, etc. sometimes try to join in. Doves are appearing again and what might be a pair of downy woodpeckers. Juncos appeared maybe a week or two ago, but are rarely around now, maybe due to climate change. Unfamiliar sparrows were with the common white-throated sparrows earlier in January. The cattail seeds have mostly drifted away.]
[The Ingenuity helicopter on Mars was deployed April 3, 2021, operated between April 19th of that year and January 18th this year, and the mission was ended January 25th: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingenuity_(helicopter) ]
[Astronauts Day, January 26th in 2024, commemorates deaths in the US space program, many of which happened in late January and early February, and is on the last Friday of January each year. According to Wikipedia, one way to commemorate is by placing a lit candle in your window and thinking of those who died for the space program and re-committing to achieve a personal goal.]
[January 26th RFK Jr is taking up the defense of Julian Assange.]
Bengali rebel Titumir / Syed Mir Nisar Ali (January 27, 1782 – November 19, 1831)
[The Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the USSR January 27, 1945 and January 27th is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.] [It is being used to support Israel's war this year.]
[The 23rd Annual African-American Cultural Celebration will be January 27th 10:30am-4:30pm in Raleigh: www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/events-and-programs/festivals/23rd-annual-african-american-cultural-celebration ]
[There will be a livestreamed PSL 2024 presidential campaign event January 28th at 2pm ET: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgWWGm8U1Nw ]
[There will be an HRA State of the Haw presentations at the Kathleen Clay Library in Greensboro February 1st 6-7pm and at the Chapel Hill Public Library February 21st 6-7pm; RSVP at: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfM9XlIlRvM0AZonEKRlzWuXt6J_nZ4DIr5akPTzWve4-aHFQ/viewform There will be a stream restoration in Durham February 17th 10am-12pm: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSePFv0Q4BNSHoRWAFL6uLr-jL3SH7PNi1OKz-Pl76lxdn7JtQ/viewform ]
[Author Michael Craig Ruppert (February 3, 1951 – April 13, 2014, allegedly by suicide): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ruppert ]
[There will be a Unified Development Ordinance Open House February 8th 11:30am-1:30pm at 2000 South Alston: engagedurham.com/211/Get-Involved ]
[The Iranian Space Agency was created February 28, 2004.]
The current calendar and I was planning to post more soon: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2024/01/some-events-and-anniversaries-around.html
From Proletarskaya Gazeta #46,
December 2023
THE INTRIGUES OF U.S. IMPERIALISM AGAINST THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY IN CONNECTION WITH THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE AND THE RETALIATORY MEASURES OF GERMAN CAPITAL
The Swedish newspaper "Nya Dagebladet" ("New Daily Newspaper") published a secret document dated January 2022, prepared by the American corporation "RAND", closely associated with the Pentagon and the US military-industrial complex. The document refers to the plans of the US imperialist tycoons to completely destroy the European economy "through Russia's attack on Ukraine,” in which the main role is assigned to the German government. This internal document of the RAND Corporation contains a detailed analysis of the imminent collapse of the European economy as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine, provoked by the US imperialists.
The authors of the document outlined the "RAND" strategy in the following points:
1. Weaken Germany and strengthen the United States, which is now unable to survive the developing economic crisis without external support. The uncontrolled issuance of money, which began in the United States in 2020, led to a significant increase in public debt, an overabundance of money in the economy, and high inflation. The only available source of resources for the U.S. economy is the economy of European countries, bound by obligations in NATO and the EU. However, Germany's growing independence, which is further strengthened as U.S. capital withdraws from Western Europe, could lead to a political agreement between Germany and France, followed by Italy and other Western European countries. If this scenario materializes, the countries of Western Europe would become a dangerous competitor for the United States in Eastern Europe.
2. The economies of Germany and Western Europe are very vulnerable. Having provoked an economic crisis in Germany, the United States is counting on the flow of resources from the European economy to the US economy. The pace of economic development of the European countries largely depends on the economy of the Federal Republic of Germany, which plays a leading role in the EU and depends on access to cheap minerals from Russia and to cheap electricity from France. The suspension of Russian supplies will lead to the collapse of the German economy and, as a result, to the collapse of the EU economy.
3. Controlled crisis. The United States stopped the operation of Nord Stream 2 in order to completely cut off Germany from Russian energy supplies and thus involve Germany in a military confrontation with the Russian Federation in Ukraine. As the facts show, the actions of the United States in Ukraine have already led to the invasion of Ukraine by the armed forces of the Russian Federation, and a pre-arranged package of sanctions automatically cut off Germany from access to Russian raw materials.
4. Expected consequences.The suspension of Russian supplies will inevitably lead to the collapse of the German economy in its key areas – petrochemistry, metallurgy, and mechanical engineering. These industries will inevitably suffer significant losses, which, in turn, will lead to the complete collapse of European industry, an increase in unemployment, and, as the tycoons of the US business are counting, the mass emigration of educated Europeans to the United States, which again, according to the same calculations, will help the US economy to receive a large additional income.
The U.S. imperialists hope that in the medium term this will enable the U.S. economy to derive significant profits from the realization of the above-mentioned points and thus overcome the catastrophic crisis that is approaching their capital. For its part, the German government is now considering the possibility of nationalizing the energy concern Uniper and other major gas consumers to prevent the collapse of the country's energy complex. In addition to Uniper, it is planned to take state control of the companies Verbundes Gaz (VBG) and SEFE (Securing Energy for Europe), formerly known as Gazprom Germania. The German government is also considering the possibility of acquiring a controlling stake in Fortum, which owns 78% of Uniper's shares, at a nominal price, in order to further "invest billions of euros in the company through capital increases" and further increase its profits. Thus, it is obvious that the economy of the Federal Republic of Germany is becoming more and more merged with the German state and is becoming less and less "market-oriented".
Some commentators regard the measures taken by the German government to nationalize the economy as almost socialist. This, of course, is utterly absurd. Of course, these measures create the prerequisites for the transition to socialism in the future, but in themselves they are only a consolidation of the state-monopoly character of German capitalism. Indeed, the capitalist nationalisation of key sectors of the British economy during the Second World War was not a socialist measure. Even if we imagine the complete nationalization of the entire economy of the country without the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, this would not be socialism. According to Lenin's definition ("The Impending Catastrophe and How to Combat It"), "... socialism is merely state-capitalist monopoly which is made to serve the interests of the whole people and has to that extent ceased to be capitalist monopoly.” As has already been pointed out in previous issues of Proletarskaya Gazeta, socialism is state-capitalist monopoly [?] plus the dictatorship of the proletariat.
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