BL—I was 20 years old in 1968 and for anyone born either three years earlier or 3 years later I’m confident you know exactly what that experience was like. In the capitalist psychology of the West we were taught to separate individual development (ontogenesis) from world history. History, after all is made by extraordinary people, not by the average bloke. But in my experience my psychological development as a young adult was inseparable from hitting a cop on a horse with an anarchist flag at an IRA demonstration in New York City against the English in the Fall of 1968. My initiation into love in young adulthood was no college dance. It consisted of having a polyamorous relationship with a revolutionary woman working for the War Resisters League.

AA—Regarding China, a search of all Jacobin’s articles on China yields, as expected, a mix: on the one hand, articles opposing US pressure on China, for the former, while on the other, many pieces accusing China of having become capitalist. This is yet another confirmation that one of the main features of Western Marxism is to oppose actual existing socialism. This Jacobin position has been fully debunked in Carlos Martinez’s two books: The East is Still Red—Chinese Socialism in the 21st Centuryand No Great Wall: On The Continuities of the Chinese Revolution.

The heart of the matter is that Rockhill demolishes the very raison d’être of Jacobin and their ilk. On China, Rockhill’s own work along with Jennifer S. Ponce de León also points in that direction, as part of his ongoing defense of actually existing socialism:

RB—With US planes now driven back to bases in Israel and beyond, and its radar infrastructure in the region laid to waste, the wear and tear on US aircraft intensified. Packed Israeli military airfields also provided a tempting and very productive target for the Iranians. In addition there was the continued falls in the stocks of US stand off missiles and interceptors, with a third and more of them already expended against Iran. Trump could either escalate more, risking utter destruction to the Gulf oil and gas facilities and with the Iranian promise to kill one US service person for every Iranian citizen killed, or he could back off.

GG—Max Blumenthal, a prominent journalist for The Grayzone News, shares his experience of unlawful device seizure at the US border following his coverage of Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral in Iran. He details how his phones were confiscated in what appears to be a politically motivated crackdown tied to pro-Israel interests within the US government during the Trump administration. Blumenthal narrates the extensive pressure campaign from Israeli-aligned actors, including political operatives and groups like Canary Mission, aimed at suppressing dissenting viewpoints on the Israel-Iran conflict. Further, he discusses the ongoing proxy war dynamics between the US and Iran, emphasizing Iran’s strategic military posture and the significant public opposition to the US war effort. Lastly, he warns about the fragile security situation in the Gulf, highlighting Kuwait’s vulnerability amid escalating tensions and strikes.

OBB—Yemen has achieved some profound strikes on Saudi Arabia, most recently hitting its ultra-modern Aramco oil facilities. Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a coordinated retaliatory strike using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and armed drones against Saudi Aramco facilities in the coastal cities of Jazan and Yanbu. Aramco is primarily owned by the Government of Saudi Arabia with the majority stake managed through the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and a small percentage traded publicly on the Tadawul stock exchange. The Government retains the vast majority of ownership, holding direct shares and managing portions via the state’s sovereign wealth fund. A small minority stake (around 1.5% to 2%) is publicly owned following an initial public offering (IPO) on the Saudi Exchange in December 2019. The Jazan plant is equal to 460 soccer fields.

AM—ragerU is trying to take over American schools. The right-wing, pseudo-educational group is now an official educational partner in at least ten states, and blitzes children with highly questionable messaging on race, history, and politics. Even more concerning, PragerU is led by former Israeli spy, Marissa Streit, who has stated she uses the tactics and techniques honed by IDF military intelligence on the American people.

Streit’s company is involved in a big-money operation targeting children with neoconservative, pro-war, pro-business, pro-Israel messaging, attempting to indoctrinate them at their youngest and most impressionable age.