Ancient Egypt endured for so long that the pyramids were already ancient by the time Cleopatra ruled. The Great Pyramid had stood for roughly 2,500 years before she was born. In fact, Cleopatra lived closer in time to the invention of the internet than to the construction of the… pic.twitter.com/Bxc8n3aSyP
— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) September 7, 2026
Scientists say love follows hidden mathematical rules Science Daily (Kevin W)
Flight Attendants Wish Seniors Knew These 10 Boarding Secrets YouTube. News some of you can use!
Climate/Environment
The charts that show the havoc El Nino is set to wreak across the world Independent
‘Her body temperature was 106’: How heat is killing Americans in their homes NPR (Kevin W)
A Surge of Marine Heat Waves Threatens to Scramble Ocean Life Yale360
Water
Water is at heart of economic tensions between Mexico and the US LeMonde
Cape Town water crisis fears as City warns of restrictions within weeks 2OceansVive
In Cambodia, Floating Houses Are Stuck Aground as Climate Change Takes Hold The Diplomat
China?
China prepares £40bn stimulus for financial sector amid fears over sluggish growth Guardian
Compliance Decoupling: China Is Breaking the West’s Supply-Chain Compliance Chain Leon Liao
The embedded AI inside ‘Made in China’ Asia Times (Kevin W)
Why English keeps returning to China’s culture wars Pekinology
China wants to help Egypt build out a local AI industry. The US isn’t happy. New Arab (Kevin W)
Japan
Japan’s August foreign reserves post largest-ever drop after record intervention Reuters
Russia’s New Monument To Its 1945 War Against Japan Symbolizes Their Newly Revived Rivalry Andrew Korybko
Koreas
North Korea vows nuclear-armed navy as US ally drills open France24
India-Pakistan
Pakistan rebuts India’s ‘baseless’ claims on disputed Jammu and Kashmir region The News
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia’s extreme heat exposes holes in safety net for outdoor workers South China Morning Post
Africa
Niger blames France for inciting failed mutiny, Paris denies involvement AfricaNews
Blood In The Gourmia: Isis-Sahel Claims Mass Jnim Casualties Near Timbuktu Modern Ghana
‘This is what I have to do to survive’: the Sudan refugees forced into sex work Guardian
South of the Border
Venezuela-US oil deal risks violating local law, say experts Financial Times
US forces sink Ecuadorian vessel over alleged drug trafficking links in Eastern Pacific FirstPost
Argentina escalates Falklands tensions as Milei moves to impose sanctions on oil firms Independent
O Canada
Canada Imposes New Tariffs on U.S. Goods, as Trade War Intensifies New York Times
Canada braces for prolonged trade war as counter-tariffs on US take effect BBC. Lead story
Trump threatens to block Canada’s Bombardier sales unless planes made in US Aljazeera (Kevin W)
A Bad Year for Bees Gets Worse as Trump’s Tariffs Hit Canada’s Honey Belt New York Times
European Disunion
AfD’s Historic Win Sends Reverberations of ‘Shock’ Through German Establishment Simplicius. A fine data wrap, and pick up a key point: the remaining parties will have to band together to contest AfD, and that will include the heretofore inconsequential Communists, who will be able to get some of their policy planks at least verbal support.
German chancellor vows to stay in office despite AfD triumph in state election Guardian (Kevin W)
Volkswagen to slash half its vehicle lineup and 50,000 jobs in cost-cutting effort CNN
Germany’s far-right AfD thanks Elon Musk as France warns state election win a ‘serious moment’ Guardian
Not Japan or the US: France risks becoming the next debt crisis Euractiv
White House pressures US firms to skip Paris space summit The Cradle (Kevin W). Pathetic.
France Allocates Over €1 Billion in Farm Aid After Heat Waves Bloomberg
Old Blighty
Britain’s gas cliff-edge is drawing dangerously close Telegraph
Jaguar Land Rover said to cut 4,000 jobs amid tariffs, falling sales AutoNews
UK subsidence claims surge after hottest summer on record Guardian
UK set to announce ban on trade with Israeli settlements on Tuesday Middle East Eye
Israel v. The Resistance
‘Survival of the nation’: Israel’s obsession with dead soldiers’ sperm 972 Magazine (Kevin W). I can’t even….
Turkey pushes KAAN stealth jet as tensions with Israel deepen New Arab
Iran War
>Washington claims EU ‘officially joined’ economic warfare against Iran The Cradle (Kevin W). “The European Commission statement cited by Bessent announces no new measures against Tehran and no change to the bloc’s existing sanctions.”
Yemeni forces claim strategic district amid intensified Houthi clashes Aljazeera
Pentagon refused payout for soldiers who died in Iran conflict ‘because it isn’t a war’ Telegraph (resilc)
New Not-So-Cold War
‘Nobody will win’: Zelenskyy adviser warns of mutual destruction if war with Russia continues Guardian
Norway seizes Russian ship to enforce $4.22 billion Ukrainian compensation claim France24
Deadly escalation in Black Sea attacks prompts fears of even higher food prices Guardian
Too gutless for peace: no one will say the war is failing Ian Proud
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Pervs Distraught as Meta Bricks Their Smart Glasses Remotely Futurism (Chuck L)
Imperial Collapse Watch
9/11: The beginning of the end of the American Century ABC Australia (Kevin W)
Democrats Suck
Ranking the Democratic 2028 presidential contenders The Hill
Economy
Experts unsure why labor force has taken plunge Bloomberg (Robin K)
People aged 65 and over surpass young children in historic global shift Nation Thailand
Fuel prices at record Labor Day high in US thanks to Iran War and refinery issues Independent
Food supply chain is “insufficiently prepared” for upcoming extreme El Niño Retail Detail
Mr. Market is Moody
Treasury yields face 4.8% test as fiscal risks threaten to spill into other assets CNBC. Yours truly is old enough to remember when the S&P threat to downgrade the US rating from AAA to AA+ was seen as the end of the world. We were close to alone in saying it would be a nothingburger. We were correct. The idea that Treasuries breaching a 5% yield would be catastrophic is cut from the same cloth. Recall that investors almost with one voice have been objecting to Bessent’s interventions to try to contain Treasury yields. The big beef what that the Treasury should save its firepower for a real need, and Trump’s fetishes are not that.
I know many have the view that "intervention can never work" —
But have to say that the rebound in the Korean won after the NPS (via changes to its hedging strategy) helped mount a backdoor defense of KRW (at 1520-1550) has been impressive.
1/2 pic.twitter.com/tDhc90Eyrx
— Brad Setser (@Brad_Setser) September 7, 2026
The Silver Turnstile Illusion: Tracking the 330 Million Invisible Ounces that Prevent Delivery Failure Craig Tindale
Treasury sell-off piles pressure on weakest US borrowers Financial Times. As we’ve said, lower rated credits sell off first.
AI
He Did Tech PR. Now He Rails Against AI for a Living. Vanity Fair (Micael T). Ed Zitron gets a profile!
Uncanny and unappetizing: appetites spoil as AI images take over food menus Guardian (Kevin W)
The Bezzle
Blue Owl Slashes Private Loan to Near-Zero Amid Bankruptcy Risk Bloomberg
Guillotine Watch
just got off the phone with my university friend.
His daughter was diagnosed with leukemia in March.
He has insurance. Good insurance. The kind you feel safe having.
5 months later:
Savings wiped out. 401k: cashed early. Penalties and all. House: refinanced to cover the gaps…— skumm🧊 (@skumWgmi) September 7, 2026
It wasn't his own puppy, but he protected it as if it were.
The rain was pouring down, and this dog didn't move. He stayed put, covering the little kitten with his own body. pic.twitter.com/x08MzJUbqR
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 6, 2026
Class Warfare
Obamacare is becoming even more frail Economist. Li: “A YouTube commentators described Obamacare as a bailout for health insurers. He might have a point.
Note closing paragraphs of this article. Why does govt care have to be actuarilly sound or profitable?”
Antidote du jour (via):
A bonus:
She went from homeless to a loving home… What a perfect ending pic.twitter.com/tTohrGGEsl
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 7, 2026
A second:
जो कहते हैं कि गधे को अक्ल नहीं है वो आज अपनी आंखों से देख सकते हैं।
क्यों चमचों 🥵😂 ✌️ pic.twitter.com/QGTnDL3n1h
— S.C.Rana (@S_CRana_ji) September 6, 2026
And a third:
It wasn't his own puppy, but he protected it as if it were.
The rain was pouring down, and this dog didn't move. He stayed put, covering the little kitten with his own body. pic.twitter.com/x08MzJUbqR
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 6, 2026
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Almost hate that it came out. Aisle chairs on airlines have a hidden unlock lever in the back!
re: AfD’s Historic Win Sends Reverberations of ‘Shock’ Through German Establishment Simplicius.
“Communists.” -What Communists? Germany has no Communist Party, dude.
A very long article for a very small state with a very small electorate.
And as I pointed out and as the map shows: Of all states this was the place with the highest approval ratings for AfD.
Lets calm down.
This media mess makes as much sense as the Leipzig hysteria.
Or better: The reaction in both cases is precisely what was intended by the media and by the parties allegedly under siege.
Just look at the GREENS. The magic of coloured revolution still works.
You won´t have seen it the last time.
And SPD has been desperate to find a scapegoat to herd back its disenchanted voters.
Gosh. What would we be doing without the Nazi Party.
Lucky us.
I agree. As a supporter of the BSW, who helped them put up election posters among other things and has regular debates with their members during “Stammtische”, I can confirm that they are far from being Communists. As for the Linke… please.
This guy cited by Simplicius, Dries van Langenhove, has a very peculiar perspective indeed. There are no “far-left communists” in the parliament of Saxony-Anhalt or anywhere near. In fact, communists are a very small minority in Germany today; they exist mostly in the imagination of right-wingers, similar to those “radical leftist terrorists” the MAGA people fantasize about. It’s true that the left party, Die Linke, descends, in part, from the communist party of the former GDR, but it has long since turned into a social democratic party, occupying positions abandoned by the formerly social democratic SPD. The BSW, a split from Die Linke, is also a social democratic party. So, there are two social democratic parties in Germany today and a third party that is still called the Social Democratic Party of Germany but is in reality a centrist neoliberal party. The communist parties that still exist in Germany don’t get enough votes to win a seat in parliament. Some communists have therefore chosen to work inside the left party, trying (mostly in vain, in my opinion) to turn Die Linke into a proper socialist party.
The main consequence IMO of AfD historic win will be the normalization of the party within the German electoral system. The cordon sanitaire has exploded and i believe that this will make more likely in the future a CDU-AfD coalition than, lets say a CDU-semaphore coalition against AfD. Like in 5 Spanish Comunidades Autonómas with a working PP-VOX (CDU-AfD-like) pact. This study concluded that within Europe populist parties are subject to the same electoral rules as mainstream parties in the sense that they are all similarly eroded after their participation in governments and this suggests normalization of the far-right within the neoliberal landscape is the future in Europe.
I’m going to take a guess and say that the main parties are going to offer the AfD a deal. That they will back and adopt the Afd’s emigration policies so long as they let the establishment keep on running their Ukrainian operation. And they might even agree to this.
“[Three main factors that affect relationships]… The first is the mutual attraction between partners. The second is the gradual weakening of feelings that can naturally occur over time. The third is how each person responds emotionally to the other.”
Wow. Amazing minds at work here. Groundbreaking stuff. Can’t wait for the iMarriageAI app.
Came to say don’t hold your breath because I saw an ad for an AI app to maintain your relationship for you, a month or so back. I did an online search for ai relationship coach because I couldn’t rememeber the name of it just now, but the volume of results I got made me nauseus.
” Pentagon refused payout for soldiers who died in Iran conflict ‘because it isn’t a war’ ”
Well that sucks. So by Pentagon logic, they could technically refuse every single payout for every soldier that saw action since WW2. I mean, Korea was a police action while no war was ever declared for Vietnam. Sorry but you get dead and wounded, then you have a war. And when you get killed, you pay out full benefits and not chintz on technicalities.
Perhaps the Pentagon poached some people from insurance companies in order to beef up its skills at denying claims.
After all, isn’t that what that twit under “Guillotine watch” regarding a family ruined by a diagnosis of leukemia, despite being endowed with theoretically excellent health insurance coverage, is all about?
“Russia’s New Monument To Its 1945 War Against Japan Symbolizes Their Newly Revived Rivalry”
That breaking stone in that statue was not some random design but is ‘an exact replica of the boundary stone Japan erected on Sakhalin, seizing half of it after the Russo-Japanese War.’ The Japanese are having a fit about this statue as it attacks their imperial past and are demanding that the Russians take that statue down. Russians online have said that they will consider doing that but only after Japan takes down their Tower of Peace in Miyazaki which celebrated Japanese Imperialism having been built of stones taken from around their empire in Korea and in China where they took stones from China’s Imperial Palace and the Great Wall of China-
https://contestedhistories.org/wp-content/uploads/Japan_-Tower-of-Peace-in-Miyazaki.pdf
IDF sperm–
This is a 21st century version of Levirate law:
When brothers reside together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, taking her in marriage and performing the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed to the name of the deceased brother, so that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. But if the man has no desire to marry his brother’s widow, then his brother’s widow shall go up to the elders at the gate and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ Then the elders of his town shall summon him and speak to him. If he persists, saying, ‘I have no desire to marry her,’ then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal off his foot, spit in his face, and declare, ‘This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ Throughout Israel his family shall be known as ‘the house of him whose sandal was pulled off.’
Deuteronomy 15:2-10 (NRSVU)
This law connects with one of the most interesting stories in the Hebrew bible. Judah was the fourth son of Jacob. Judah himself had three sons, Er, Onan and Shelah. Er married Tamar, but for some reason, YHWH didn’t like Er, and he put him to death before Tamar had born any children. Cue Onan, whose job it was to father a child with Tamar to give Er a descendant and Tamar a source of support later in her life. Onan bailed, “spilling his seed on the ground,” so Tamar was out of luck. Then things got interesting.
I got an idea. So before an IDF soldier goes off to war, his mother could pull him aside, hand him a Dixie cup, point out the bathroom and tell him not to come out until he delivers the goods. And if he gets a case of brewer’s droop because he knows that she is on the other side of the door, maybe she could even help him out by giving him a copy of ‘Playboy Israel’ or something. Then when he finally succeeds, he can go off to war and his mother can know that her future grand-kids are assured. Sounds like a plan.
God just hated that family. That’s the lesson I took.
The most interesting part is that a woman, Tamar, manages to get what she needs while humiliating the powerful family patriarch in front of his family. It was high stakes. Tamar could have ended up stoned to death if she had not had that seal. How did such a subversive story end up in the overwhelmingly patriarchal Genesis text?
This is typical Trump, cheating Families whose sons and daughters died in a “War” he started to please the Zionists is the sort of thing he has been doing his entire life.
Cruelty combined with demonstrating “Dominance” with no concern for the consequences to others.
And the Generals went along with this, undermining “Good order and discipline” to please their unhinged boss.
This is going to have more of an effect on retention than the treatment of the Sailors on the Abe Lincoln.
Trump has lost it, big time and if that doesn’t frighten you, it damn well should.
my guess is that time will tell that “trump the chump” and his band of suicide suppositories….. have done more than any foe of the american military or the american empire could EVER have dreamed of doing , to damage ,subvert, sabotage in every way shape and form the american war machine abroad.
The actions and choices of the traitorous executive branch will do more damage to the brand of all the US armed forces… than any enemy could ever have hoped to achieve. Their utter incompetence and obvious graft , arm in arm with their zeal for zionists and their contempt for americans , will bring consequences to all these forms of american power. Soft and military.
Deplete the stockpiles of weapons… check.
piss off the countries you need to rebuild said weapons… check
Piss off the people who joined the military who chose to support their country… check
bring about negative conditions for the petrodollar system, which had everything going for it… until now…. check
abuse the constitution in every conceivable manner… check
enshrine an era of lawlessness, and rule by incompetence allowing the whims of deranged, morally deficient people to run roughshod over everyone else… check
deplete the national strategic oil reserve… check
“The full faith and credit of the united states”…. in shambles….. check
clean water… polluted…. check
clean air …polluted… check
environmental protections…. gutted….check
the bill of rights…. meaningless… check
etc.etc.etc….
Really even the soviet union, hitler’s reich, and everyone else didn’t do the damage as trump the chump, his heritage foundation project 2025’ers,the zionists, republicans..(including the republicans who call themselves democrats)… are doing to america right now..
That is saying something.
The fact that any group of people can be so actually factually incompetent and corrupt as to stick the knife into the empire,without meaning to… but in all ways completely intentionally… I mean how stupid do you have to be?
I mean, If I weren’t sitting in the backseat of this car that is being driven off a cliff by these morons… this would be comical….but…
“Experts can’t figure out why the labor force is shrinking”
Um, I think a room full of 5th graders could figure that out … here are a few clues:
+Average baby boomer is 71 … well past retirement age … GenX cohort much smaller
+ATH’s for stonks, allowing for some to retire early
+The coof killed 1.2M and disabled many more
+ICE, ICE baby
What will Trump do domestically as his policies fail spectacularly?
Nothing good, is my guess.
I don’t think there are any actions too extreme for Trump to take, and every setback will push him further over the edge.
About the only thing he could order that might cause saner heads to remove him would be ordering a nuclear strike on an American City.
Something spectacular, stupid and violent seems most likely.
Hoo Boy.
re: Jaguar cars.
Falling sales you say?
Jaguar’s Internal Combustion Engine Era Ends
https://evinfo.net/2025/12/jaguars-internal-combustion-engine-era-ends/
and
Jaguar Walked Away From the Cars People Knew and Bet the Brand on a $130K EV
https://autos.yahoo.com/ev-and-future-tech/articles/jaguar-walked-away-cars-people-153010468.html
What would Inspector Morse say? /;)
He would say that he is keeping his 1960 Jaguar Mark II sports saloon thank you very much and would drive off to share a pint with Lewis and Hobson.
1955 Jaguar XK140 – Inline‑Six Engine Character & Exhaust Sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51rMABXtgV0
viewer advisory: car porn
“‘You Can See Everything’ Review: Shocking Elizabeth Holmes Documentary With Nathan Fielder Is Like No Other You Have Ever Seen – Telluride Film Festival”
Yeah. Even years ago I noted that Elizabeth Holmes had really creepy eyes while she wore her imitation Steve Jobs outfits. But I invite readers to watch that video of her halfway down the page and note here eyes. Definitely not the face of a crazy woman.
The Botox and surgery around the eyes removing human facial expressions and doesn’t help. But yes, the eyes…there’s no connection.
If you told me this was a trailer for an “AI girlfriend version of Fatal Attraction” I would believe you.
The line between crazy and uber-manipulative is a fine one (if they are actually distinct).
Speaking as a recovering magnet for crazy women, she elicits a loud inner “Run!!!” response.
I don’t think they are. Anyone who’s not playing by the usual rules, either because they don’t care or because their mind is broken doesn’t have the normal guardrails. They do this until they get a result, or they do that until they get what they want. Tears don’t work? Try cold. Cold doesn’t work? Act offended.
– ‘9/11: The beginning of the end of the American Century’ – ABC Australia
The official post-9/11 history for mainstream liberals. That means that we are allowed to decry what this dastardly deed by Osama bin Laden led us to do – like fight wars that involved torturing some folks and making Iran and China and Putin stronger. But we are not allowed to ask any real questions that go any deeper that this. I kept reading this thing because I kept expecting the author to eventually reveal the official Narrative for what it was. But by the time I got to the Obama years I realized what was going on and gave up. The Wikipedia version is better; at least it includes references.
re “Norway seizes Russian ship to enforce $4.22 billion Ukrainian compensation claim France24”
It’d be a shame if something happened to that gas pipeline crossing the Baltic from Denmark to Poland.
Good luck with that one Norway. The Ukraine is a very long way from Norway while Russia itself is right next door. Just read today the Norway has let the US install a missile launcher in that country which can fire Tomahawk missiles at Russia. Russia is definitely not happy with Norway so there will be consequences-
https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/russia-slams-deployment-of-long-range-us-missile-launcher-to-norway/
“Ranking the Democratic 2028 presidential contenders”
Flatly nauseating list, like the political equivalent of reading an old school clickbait piece entitled “TOP 10 WORST WAYS TO HAVE YOUR ENTRAILS PROCESSED INTO LUNCH MEAT (NUMBER 7 WILL SHOCK YOU)!” I can’t wait for my well-meaning and fatally optimistic progressive friends to convince themselves that President AoC would at least pass Medicare for All before starting a proxy war in the South China Sea.
Well they got Josh Shapiro. Maybe they can bring in Ben Shapiro for diversity. He may be a Republican but so is the leadership of the Democrats. :)
My blue MAGA friends call it a deep bench. I call it deep stench. But Trump will be gone so it’s all good.
The UK has now announced it’s new sanctions related to the West Bank with some stronger language alongside other nations
UK accuses Israeli ‘terrorists’ of ethnic cleansing in West Bank with government backing (Guardian)
Israeli “terrorists” are conducting ethnic cleansing in the West Bank with the tacit backing of the government, the UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband has said, as he announced sweeping sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements alongside France and Canada.
In the strongest condemnation ever issued by the UK government, Miliband said the government would now take the official position that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank was unlawful in its entirety, saying such acknowledgment was “the least the people who face such suffering deserve. And it should be the prelude to justice.”
Miliband said that the government would now enact:
An import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.
A comprehensive sanctions regime against providing services such as construction or financing for Israeli settlements.
A ban on the advertising in the UK of illegal settlement properties.
Personal sanctions against key individuals accused of promoting settler violence.
A new ban for arms licences and other exports that “materially contribute to the occupation”.
The UK is among 12 countries who said on Tuesday that they would impose the sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank. They include Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
—
Not far enough but still welcome.
—
Full text of joint statement from Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK
The Government of Israel’s actions in the West Bank are undermining the possibility of a two-State solution. The situation is rapidly deteriorating amid unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion, including the unacceptable decision to publish tenders for the E1 settlement project. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, the President of France Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney have agreed on the need to take action to prevent further damage.
Today, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK confirm their intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law, or that they are actively considering these and other measures, in accordance with their national procedures. In this regard, the UK, France and Canada welcome the important action already taken by Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium and will bring forward national measures to ban trade in settlement goods.
Together, we are resolute: the two-state solution must be protected, and we will take action in pursuit of a just and lasting peace, based on the principles enshrined in the New York Declaration adopted one year ago. We firmly oppose actions tantamount to the annexation of Palestinian land and forcible displacement of the Palestinian population.
The Government of Israel must immediately halt the expansion of settlements and civilian administrative powers, ensure accountability for settler violence, and investigate allegations against Israeli forces.
We recognize Israel’s legitimate security interests and reiterate our condemnation of the Hamas 7 October terrorist attack, the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust. We are clear in our determination to tackle antisemitism wherever it occurs. We are unequivocally committed to the two-state solution, in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, that enables Israel and a sovereign, democratic and viable Palestinian state to live side by side in peace, security and mutual recognition within secure and internationally recognised borders.
—
Still waiting to hear “genocide” and “Israel is the source of instability, death and destruction in the middle east and must be stopped” though.
– ‘Ranking the Democratic 2028 presidential contenders’ – The Hill
This is The Hill, after all, but I was still startled by the opening sentence of this article:
“Democrats are already looking beyond November’s midterms to the 2028 presidential contest — and they like what they see.”
Say what?
It turns out that sentence was referring to Trump’s cratering approval rating, not the list of candidates the author goes on to “rank.” At least I think these were rankings. If so, then I’m afraid Democrats have some worrying to do. Numbers one and two are AOC and Newsome. Anyone who believes these “radical leftists” from the communist states of New York and California are electable is delusional. Number three is Jon Ossoff of Georgia. I don’t know enough about him (who does?), but I do think if the Dems have any chance to take advantage of the Trump fiasco it would probably have to be someone like him. Four and five are Harris and Buttigieg, and even the author doesn’t seem convinced of their viability. Six is JB Pritzker; he is a billionaire, which goes a long way toward meeting today’s qualifications for higher office. Next is Pennsylvania governor and champion of Israel Josh Shapiro… and so on.
I’m not a Democrat anymore so maybe I don’t count. But I can’t say that I like what I see here.
Pervs Distraught as Meta Bricks Their Smart Glasses Remotely
I’m thinking Israeli pagers…
‘Historic Vids
@historyinmemes
Ancient Egypt endured for so long that the pyramids were already ancient by the time Cleopatra ruled. The Great Pyramid had stood for roughly 2,500 years before she was born. In fact, Cleopatra lived closer in time to the invention of the internet than to the construction of the Great Pyramid.’
That’s a very dark, moody image of Cleopatra. I think that it is because she has realized that she was born far too early to get Netflix.
I think the Dems should run Hillary again, focusing on her combination of youthful vigor and wide foreign policy experience.
Facts Only
* The Great Pyramid was constructed approximately 2,500 years before the birth of Cleopatra.
* Germany's AfD party won a state election, leading to statements from the German chancellor and reactions from France.
* Volkswagen announced plans to cut 50,000 jobs and reduce its vehicle lineup by half.
* The UK government announced an import ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
* Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the UK issued a joint statement regarding the two-state solution and West Bank settlements.
* The US Pentagon declined payouts for soldiers killed in a conflict with Iran, stating it was not an official war.
* Norway seized a Russian ship to enforce a $4.22 billion Ukrainian compensation claim.
* A documentary titled "You Can See Everything" regarding Elizabeth Holmes premiered at the Telluride Film Festival.
* The US Treasury is facing potential yields of 4.8% amidst fiscal risk concerns.
* Meta remotely disabled certain smart glasses.
Executive Summary
Global geopolitical tensions are escalating across multiple fronts, characterized by trade wars and diplomatic fractures. North America is seeing intensified trade friction, with Canada imposing tariffs on US goods. In Europe, the rise of the AfD in Germany is shifting the political landscape, while the UK and several EU nations have coordinated sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution.
Concurrent economic instability is evident in the automotive sector, specifically with Volkswagen's massive job cuts, and in the US financial sector, where Treasury yields are under pressure. Military and legal disputes are further complicating international relations, notably Russia's rivalry with Japan over historical monuments and Norway's seizure of Russian assets for Ukraine. These events occur against a backdrop of environmental crises, including extreme heat waves in the US and Southeast Asia, and severe water scarcity in Cape Town and Cambodia.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative presents a world in a state of systemic "unravelling," where the post-WWII institutional order—ranging from the petrodollar and the US-led security umbrella to the European consensus—is collapsing into fragmented, transactional rivalries.
The analysis operates from a paradigm of imperial decline. It assumes that the "American Century" has ended and that current political volatility is not a series of isolated incidents, but a symptom of a broader structural failure. By juxtaposing the "bezzle" of private loans with the tragedy of medical bankruptcy and the "deep stench" of political leadership, the narrative frames the current era as one of managed decay where the ruling class is increasingly decoupled from the lived reality of the citizenry.
The implications for human agency are sobering; individuals are presented as collateral damage in a game of "dominance" played by incompetent actors. The cost is borne by the soldier denied benefits on a technicality and the worker exposed to extreme heat without a safety net. The benefit accrues to those capable of navigating the ruins—the "billionaire" candidates and the opportunistic political parties.
Patterns detected: none
Bridge Questions: Is the perceived "collapse" a genuine systemic failure, or is it a transition to a multipolar world that requires a different set of metrics for stability? What evidence would suggest that the current political volatility is a corrective mechanism rather than a terminal decline?
Counterstrike Scan: A coordinated campaign would use these disparate crises to induce a sense of hopelessness and "doomerism" to make a radical, authoritarian "savior" appear necessary. While the content is highly critical and pessimistic, it functions as a curated aggregation of grievances rather than a structured psychological operation.
Sentinel — Likely Human
The text reads like a highly opinionated, stream-of-consciousness reflection where disparate news items are stitched together with intense personal commentary, indicating strong human authorship overlaid with significant subjective interpretation.
