RevolutionsPerMinute

No idea how I ended up on their email list, I've never been involved with Coursera or the University of Alberta ever in my life. Tried to unsubscribe from their emails and it won't let me lol

This is the webpage for their course if anyone's curious: https://www.coursera.org/learn/holodomor

In this video posted today (https://www.youtube.com/live/0ggaIWliyuY) they discussed the situation in Iran. I'm only 35 minutes in, and so far they seem to think that major factors in Trump's decision to attack Iran are pressure from Saudi Arabia and Israel, and because Trump wants the US to be actively at war so he can suspend the US midterm elections.

A couple of weeks ago they had another episode that also had some questionable takes (https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/guillotines-for-the-epstein-class). For example, they bought into the narrative that Venezuela was selling oil to Israel.

I get the impression that they are consuming mostly western media and believing it quite uncritically (Alyson specifically cited CNN as a source for some of what she mentioned). Their perspectives also seem overly focused on US domestic issues and the psychology of Trump, perhaps lacking an adequate understanding of the bigger picture of these international situations in terms of capitalism/imperialism.

I've listened to a lot of their content, especially the older theory-focused episodes with Alyson, which were very helpful back when I was first beginning my ML study. Not sure if something has changed with them recently, or if I'm just now noticing it, but some of their recent takes on geopolitical issues are troubling to me.

So basically my question is, what are your thoughts on these takes they've had? I'm especially wondering about the claim of Saudi Arabia pressuring the US to attack Iran, as this was the first I've heard of that.

MOSCOW, February 24. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Alliance will become a direct participant of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine if France and the United Kingdom provide the Kiev regime with nuclear weapons, a Russian military expert told TASS.

"The transfer of nuclear technologies is impossible without professionals trained to handle such high-tech components," said Alexander Stepanov, a military expert at the Institute of Law and National Security at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). "All international regulations stipulate that such weapons should be under proper control throughout their entire life cycle, up to the moment when they are used. It will be impossible to simply give away such a warhead without accompanying it until it is ready for use. In fact, we are witnessing a clear step towards the NATO-Russia conflict."

The expert added that the transfer of nuclear technologies or warheads to the Kiev government will be another red line crossed, presenting an existential threat to Russia.

In his words, if Ukraine gets French-made TN75 compact thermonuclear warhead, used on M51.1 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, Kiev will obtain a nuclear weapon "which is by times more powerful than the bombs dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

"Therefore, in accordance with Russia’s military doctrine, it will be treated as an act of aggression and warmongering, which necessitates reciprocal steps to neutralize the threat," Stepanov added.

Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service reported that London and Paris believe that Kiev’s negotiating position could improve if it receives a "Wunderwaffe," which is German for "miracle weapon". The European capitals consider it to be nuclear or so-called dirty bombs. According to the Russian intelligence agency, France and the UK are actively working on a covert transfer of European-made components, equipment, and technologies to Ukraine, including a French small-size warhead from a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

Celebrating the life and work of Michael Parenti, a towering figure in Marxist scholarship and activism.

We will discuss Parenti’s profound impact on the study of imperialism, war, propaganda, fascism, and the difficulties of socialist construction, as well as his unwavering commitment to the global class struggle.

Speakers

• Ali Kadri (Professor, Sun Yat-sen University)
• Ben Norton (Editor, Geopolitical Economy Report)
• Corinna Mullin (Associate Editor, Middle East Critique)
• Immanuel Ness (Professor, City University of New York)
• Gabriel Rockhill (Author, Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism?)
• Sara Flounders (Co-director, International Action Center)
• Shiran Illanperuma (Researcher, Tricontinental Institute)
• Barry Lituchy (Professor, City University of New York)
• Chair: Carlos Martinez (Co-editor, Friends of Socialist China)

Organisers

International Manifesto Group / Critical Theory Workshop

Co-sponsored by United National Anti-War Coalition, Iskra Books, Manifesto Press, Friends of Socialist China

John Bellamy Foster opens Breaking the Bonds of Fate with a refusal that is at once philosophical and political: the refusal to accept that human history, human suffering, or human defeat are governed by immutable laws. The phrase that gives the book its title—“breaking the bonds of fate”—is not rhetorical flourish. It names an ancient and ongoing ideological battle, one in which ruling classes repeatedly dress their power in the costume of necessity, while materialists insist that what is presented as destiny is in fact the product of historically specific social relations. Foster’s wager is simple and dangerous: that Marxism, properly understood, belongs to a much older insurgent lineage that has always fought against fatalism, fear, and the naturalization of domination.

In this episode, Pranay and I look back at the debate that took place at the Communist International in 1920 between Lenin and Indian Communist M.N. Roy on the national and colonial question. At its heart, the debate sought to figure out what form the struggle for national liberation could take in the colonies as part of a world revolution, and especially, what role the indigenous bourgeoisie would play in this national liberation struggle.

In the first half of the episode, we go through Lenin’s and M.N. Roy’s positions on the national question, we look at where there are overlaps, and where there are differences. In the second half of the episode, we fast forward just over a century and explore the resonances of this debate in our current moment, specifically as they relate to China and Palestine.

Pranay Somayajula is an Indian-American writer, researcher, and political educator whose work focuses on the structures of global imperialism, as well as questions of decolonization, internationalism, and anti-imperialist resistance—both historically and in the present day. He is a PhD student in Political Science at the University of Minnesota, specializing in political theory and international relations from a Third World Marxist perspective, and is the host of the podcast Return to Bandung. Pranay’s writing has appeared in numerous outlets including Protean, Jacobin, and Monthly Review, as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock.

TAIPEI, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least three people died in a knife attack along with the use of smoke bombs on Friday in the city of Taipei, China's Taiwan region.

The attacker was among the dead, according to media reports. Six others were injured.

The attack happened around 5:30 p.m., with CCTV footage showing that the suspect, wearing a gas mask, threw smoke bombs in the Taipei Main Station of the city's metro. The smoke bombs caused smoke inhalation in a bystander.

The suspect attacked a person, who was later confirmed dead from severe injuries, media reports cited the hospital as saying.

The suspect then fled the scene to another busy business area and attacked several more bystanders, leaving six injured, one of whom was confirmed dead from serious injuries.

The suspect has been identified as a 27-year-old male and is believed to have fallen to his death from a department store while being surrounded by the police. His motive is still under investigation, local media reported.

How ~~the deep empire~~ Youtube eliminates threats to its hegemony