News from the Front: The Reflections of a Russian Anarchist in Rojava

A Russian anarchist volunteer speaks on the collapse of the Assad regime, the future of Russia, and the looming threat of a Turkish-backed invasion of northeastern Syria.

https://crimethinc.com/Rojava2024

"I watched with special feeling as the Russian columns passed by me at one of the positions. I peered into the faces of the soldiers, trying to understand whether they realized that all these years, they had been terrorizing the population with bombings, they had surrendered Afrin to the Turkish army, they had kept Assad’s regime alive—and now all this is over. Russian military aid to the Syrian dictatorship has ended. I do not think that those soldiers realized that they were looking into the eyes of a man from the same country as themselves, but who chose the other side of the barricades."

FUSE ODG: WHY ‘BAND AID’ SUCKS FOR AFRICA

In 2014, Ghanaian-British artist Fuse ODG declined an invitation to join Band-Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' 30th-anniversary remake. The charity single was first released in 1984 to fundraise for famine relief in Ethiopia.

This year, on the 40th anniversary, he's released his response track called 'We Know It's Christmas' - and has been vocal, as in this clip from a recent LBC radio interview, in his criticisms of patronising and counterproductive Western aid initiatives for Africa.

He argues that although Band-Aid has raised millions over the years for those affected by various humanitarian catastrophes - from famine in East Africa to ebola in West Africa - its narrow portrayal of the continent as a charity case and a place eclipsed by war, suffering, and disease, has done more harm than good.

Bias in AI amplifies our own biases, finds study | Artificial intelligence systems tend to take on human biases and amplify them, causing people who use that AI to become more biased themselves, finds a new study by UCL researchers.

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#BiasInAI #ArtificialIntelligence #HumanBias #UCLResearch #TechEthics

Women exhibit less manipulative personality traits in more gender-equal countries. In countries with lower levels of gender equality, women scored higher on Machiavellianism, potentially reflecting increased reliance on manipulative strategies to navigate restrictive or resource-scarce environments.

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#womenempowerment#genderequality#personalitytraits#Machiavellianism#socialpsychology

Song of the Day 🧊🥤: https://open.spotify.com/track/2z1yZ6tsne36nPpQWcQmKs

Die neoliberale Politik, die die AfD stark gemacht hat, droht sich unter der kommenden Regierung noch zu verschärfen. Die antifaschistische Antwort wäre eine Wirtschaftspolitik, die die Menschen ermächtigt und ihnen die Hoffnung gibt, dass es auch wieder bergauf gehen kann.

https://jacobin.de/artikel/antifaschistische-wirtschaftspolitik-merz-afd-ampel-neoliberalismus

"Only Class War"
Seen in Downtown Los Angeles

Looting cripples food supply in Gaza as Israel neglects pledge to tackle gangs, sources say

Israel has failed to crack down on armed gangs attacking food convoys in Gaza, despite a pledge to do so in mid-October to help ward off famine in the Palestinian enclave, according to three U.N. and U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

The commitment, made behind closed doors, seemed like a breakthrough because, since the beginning of the war in October 2023, the international community has struggled to enlist Israel's support to improve the dire humanitarian situation in the war-ravaged territory, the three senior officials said. read more

Merry Christmas.

It does not matter to me what you believe, I sincerely hope and wish you all true peace, true love and true kindness the coming year.

Be blessed.