For the past year videos have circulated of American cities being burdened with these tent villages of people who have fallen through the cracks.
Homelessness is on the increase in Britain too. 2022 saw a 26% increase in people sleeping rough and it's only set to increase as British capitalism decays.
As wages stagnate, welfare is attacked and housing prices raise astronomically you can expect to see more poor souls suffering its effects.

This picture is from Liverpool town centre January 2023

The imprisonment of Sergei Udaltsov is a reminder that modern Russia is still governed by the Yeltsin constitution of 1993 and many who command the forces of repression are bitter anti communists. This is why I refuse to indulge the irresponsible fantasy that Russia is "moving towards socialism". Where Russia is going is subject to many factors rooted in the current battle with US imperialism and the domestic class struggle. There will be no return to socialism by executive order. Even in the (unlikely) event of Nikolai Kharitonov winning the Presidency it will take an intense class struggle against the parasitic Russian capitalist class and the anti communist forces in Russia who serve them.

It is true that the modern era shows us that there are many different versions of a revolutionary process and communists must not be rigidly stuck to only one method of struggle. Dogmatism is indeed an enemy of the Marxist method but this cuts both ways. The dogmatism of the ultra left which declares that only a Peoples war and insurrection can win power and this is foolish. Then we have the dogmatism of the revisionists who declare that there is no need to even consider such things and that "times have changed too much". What revolutionary processes such as those in Venezuela and Nicaragua have in common, even though they are dismissed by ultra leftists, is that they rely upon the raising of the level of consciousness of the proletariat and peasantry. Both countries have incorporated proletarian democratic elements into the ongoing revolutionary process. This is why they have prevailed against the plots of US imperialism. If socialism is to return to Russia then, at the very least, it must rest on such expressions of proletarian power which requires an advance of class consciousness and political organisation within the Russian proletariat. Many of the forces within the Putin coalition are viscerally opposed to all of these things. The SMO and the forces it has unleashed may change things but we must wait and see what changes this leads to.

"At Midnight 1979" (from the series "Builders of Siberia")

Artist - Anatoly Pavlovich Levitin

Press statement from the representative of the DPRK Ministry of Defense

Pyongyang, January 19. /KCNA/

Below is the full text of the press statement issued on January 19 by a representative of the DPRK Ministry of Defense: “Under no circumstances will we allow reckless military-confrontational hysteria.”

Since the beginning of the year, the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea have been actively conducting provocative military exercises.

Since January 15, in three days, the American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "Carl Vinson", the cruiser "Princeton", equipped with the multifunctional combat system Aegis ("Aegis"), ships of the Navy of the "self-defense units" of Japan and the Navy of the Republic of Korea again conducted joint naval exercises at sea around Jeju Island.

The current exercises, which took place after the military gangsters of the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea jointly drew up a multi-year plan for trilateral exercises in December last year, have caused further destabilization of the situation in the region and are actions that seriously threaten the security of our state.

In response, the Institute of Underwater Weapons Systems at the DPRK National Defense Academy conducted an important test of the Haeil-5-23 underwater nuclear weapon system, which is under development, in the Korean East Sea.

Our Army's undersea nuclear response readiness will improve, and a variety of responses above and below sea will naturally continue to deter hostile military actions by the U.S. Navy and its allies.

We strongly condemn the reckless actions of the United States and its satellites, which have seriously threatened the security of the DPRK since the beginning of the New Year, and sternly warn of catastrophic consequences.

🔴 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine:
—
The decisions of the European Union are a complete partnership in the war of genocide.

The recent decisions and positions of the European Union institutions carry an agenda of aggression and ongoing genocide against our people, representing a continuation of European partnership and involvement in the war crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people.

The decision of the European Parliament, which waited more than 100 days from the genocide against our people, despite formally adopting a call for a ceasefire, carried the conditions of Netanyahu's government and its demands to eliminate the Palestinian resistance by calling for the "dismantling of Hamas". The decision, which called for the release of the occupation's prisoners, completely ignored the rights of Palestinian prisoners to freedom, and deliberately overlooked the ongoing genocide against our people or taking a stance against the occupation and its crimes in its logic and formulation.

The Front considers the European Union's decisions to impose sanctions on Hamas and the brother leader Yahya Sinwar as another expression of this complete bias towards the occupation. Such decisions will not weaken the resistance movements or their determination to defend the legitimate rights of our people, including the right to resist the occupation in all its forms.

This decision reflects the same colonial arrogance that has governed the European position since the beginning of the genocide against our people, an extension of European colonial positions throughout the conflict between our people and the colonial occupation project. The European Union or any entity in the world has no right to determine the fate of any of our people's forces and factions.

The resistance forces, including Hamas, its leaders, cadres, and fighters, are an integral part of our people, and the movement, alongside other resistance forces, is fulfilling its duty to legitimately defend our people against the occupation and ongoing genocidal policies.

Those who supply the occupation army with ammunition used in the genocide of our people, provide it with political and military support to exterminate our oppressed people, and whose hands are soaked in the blood of Palestinian children, have no right to take positions on what our people are doing in defense of themselves in the face of genocide and war crimes launched by the occupation with American and European support.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Central Information Department
January 19, 2024

"Previously, the bourgeoisie was considered the head of the nation; it defended the rights and independence of the nation, placing them “above all else.” Now there is no trace left of the “national principle”. Now the bourgeoisie sells the rights and independence of the nation for dollars. The banner of national independence and national sovereignty has been thrown overboard. There is no doubt that you, representatives of the communist and democratic parties, will have to raise this banner and carry it forward if you want to be patriots of your country, if you want to become the leading force of the nation. There is no one else to lift it"

Joseph Stalin - Speech at the 19th Congress of the CPSU

Man's dearest possession is life. It is given to him but once, and he must live it so as to feel no torturing regrets for wasted years, never know the burning shame of a mean and petty past; so live that, dying, he might say: all my life, all my strength were given to the finest cause in all the world. The fight for the Liberation of Mankind

- Nikolai Ostrovsky

The Metropolitan Police in Britain stated its intention to contact Palestinian activist Mohammad Kurd for a speech he made condemning the Israeli genocide in Gaza during London's demonstration.

Revolution Square in Moscow.
1961.

🇩🇰Maersk Issues Warning to Customers Amidst Red Sea Crisis: Global Transportation Disruptions Feared

In light of the escalating military situation in the Red Sea, Moller-Maersk, the Denmark-headquartered logistics corporation, is cautioning its customers about potential widespread transportation issues on a global scale. Despite expressing optimism for a swift transition to stability in the region, Maersk urges customers to proactively prepare for potential disruptions in the global transportation of goods.

Emphasizing the impact of cold weather in the northern hemisphere and the unpredictable nature of the Red Sea crisis, Maersk acknowledges the imminent potential for adverse effects on the corporation's logistics activities.

#Maersk #oil #transportation
@songofoil

"Who is it that has made brothers spill each other's blood? For centuries kings and nobles have sent Polish peasants to fight the Turks. They have always incited one nation against another. Think of all the bloodshed and misery they have caused! And who benefited by it all? But soon all that will stop. This is the end of those vermin. The Bolsheviks have flung out a slogan that strikes terror into the hearts of the bourgeoisie: 'Proletarians of all lands, unite!' There lies our salvation, there lies our hope for a better future, for the day when all workingmen will be brothers. Comrades, join the Communist Party!"

- Nikolai Ostrovsky