Making history for his country & proving that patience is key ✨
It took Artur Davtyan three Olympic Games to win Armenia’s first Olympic medal in artistic @gymnastics, and at his fourth, in #Paris2024, he advanced from bronze to silver.
See you at @LA28, Artur? 😉 pic.twitter.com/B6eod78PgN
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) June 26, 2025
The Biggest-Ever Digital Camera Is This Cosmologist’s Magnum Opus Quanta Magazine
Caltech’s New Smart Pill Can Read Your Gut Like Never Before SciTech Daily
Florida cat sniffs out another new virus—and scientists are listening ScienceDaily
Is the State of the World Causing You Pain? Nautilus
How water-based clocks revolutionised the way we measure time Aeon
COVID-19/Pandemics
Life expectancy in California still hasn’t rebounded since the pandemic LA Times
Growing number of homeowners who bought in pandemic boomtowns owe more than homes are worth The Independent
Climate/Environment
Seeing More Fireflies in New York City This Year? You’re Not Alone. THE CITY
How Hot Can It Get? Scientists Are Struggling to Find an Answer Financial Post
Sand, dust storms affect about 330 million people due to climate change: UN Al Jzeera
China?
Why ‘uneasy alliance’ between US tech titans and Maga may backfire in China rivalry SCMP
Amazing technology.
5 minutes of charging your EV => 470 kilometers (292 miles) of driving!
This 1000kW supercharger is from BYD, the #1 electric car in China.
BYD will likely surpass Tesla to become the #1 BEV in the world this year (in units sold). pic.twitter.com/dhZV4KHK9Q
— S.L. Kanthan (@Kanthan2030) March 17, 2025
Nvidia CEO China trip alarms senators The Hill
🇨🇳 First footage of the wing mechanization system of the flight prototype of China’s next-generation multirole 6th-generation fighter, developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC).
The stealthy tailless design with a lambda-shaped wing features advanced full-span wingtip… pic.twitter.com/9dCbHRL7PQ
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) July 11, 2025
US demands clarity from allies on their role in potential war over Taiwan, FT reports Reuters
South of the Border
The awkward truth behind Mexico City’s ‘Anti-gentrification”‘ protests Mexico News Daily
Colombia Is At The Heart Of a Record-Breaking Global Cocaine Boom The Latin Times
Outrage in Brazil as Donald Trump threatens tariffs of 50% DW
Africa
Cholera, mpox claim 4,200 fatalities across Africa-CDC APA News
As Climate Heat Lowers Africa’s Great Rivers, Migration Cartels Maximize Profits From Farmers on the Move Pulitzer Center
European Disunion
The EU’s Plan To Ban Private Messaging Could Have a Global Impact (Plus: What To Do About It) Reclaim the Net
EU’s population hits record 450 million with numbers driven by migration, Eurostat says EuroNews
Old Blighty
UK campaigners threaten legal action to block return of Elgin Marbles to Greece Andolu Agency
Fall in UK GDP puts focus back on expectations of tax rises in autumn budget The Guardian
Israel v. Palestine/Yemen/Syria/Lebanon/Iran
There is no moral difference between putting people in gas chambers and burning people in safe zones inside tents.
A holocaust is happening right before our eyes in Gaza and the world is silent. pic.twitter.com/RYDeOAHvDc
— Mohamad Safa (@mhdksafa) July 8, 2025
Dozens killed by Israel at aid site in Gaza, children dying of malnutrition Al Jazeera
Israel latest news: American citizen ‘beaten to death’ by Israeli settlers Telegraph
Family of American citizen killed by Israeli settlers demands US probe Al Jazeera
Syria 2025 Is Iraq All Over Again | Opinion Newsweek
China, Russia Vow ‘Strategic Coordination’ To Promote Peace in West Asia ScheerPost
WRAP-UP – After Netanyahu’s Washington visit ends, truce in Gaza remains out of reach Andolu Agency
New Not-So-Cold War
Trump to use presidential authority to send weapons to Ukraine, sources say Reuters
A bitter truth looms over Europe: the war in Ukraine can’t be won with weapons. Brussels keeps burning billions, but there’s no defeating a nuclear power on the battlefield. How much longer will common sense be ignored? It’s time to abandon failed illusions and let diplomacy do… pic.twitter.com/keH7iHMZDe
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) July 11, 2025
Russia fires over 600 drones, missiles in massive barrage targeting western Ukraine France 24
Beijing’s Growing Boldness: China’s Stance On Ukraine Sparks EU Alarm Radio Free Europe
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
German court rules Meta tracking technology violates European privacy laws The Record
AI profiling poses growing threat to privacy and national security Andolu Agency
Imperial Collapse Watch
How many parents have their driver’s license suspended for unpaid child support? Jake Solomon substack
Ultra-woke city’s airport overrun with homeless drug addicts leaving travelers terrified to fly Daily Mail
Trump 2.0
How the Trump shooting changed America Unherd
The Arms Race to Kiss Trump’s Ass Has Never Been More Ridiculous The New Republic
Trump Doctrine is the Nixon Doctrine 2.0 RealClear World
‘I don’t like what’s happening’: Trump tries to quell MAGA blowup over Epstein Politico
One year after Trump rally shooting, witnesses say investigations leave more questions than answers Fox News
Musk Matters
Elon Musk says even if AI ultimately proves bad for humanity he still wants to be there to see it Fortune
DOGE staffers are fleeing the government after Musk team’s whirlwind overhaul of DC
Elon Musk’s new party is a distracting sideshow unlikely to succeed The Hill
Democrat Death Watch
Immigration
Trump admin to appeal order barring race-based immigration arrests alleged in LA area Axios
Newsom lauds court ruling blocking some Trump immigration moves: ‘Justice prevailed’ The Hill
Florida lawmakers allowed into ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ say detainees packed into cages CNN
Our No Longer Free Press
LA journalists reflect on protest attacks Freedom of the Press Foundation
USAID Leaks: Censorship As Regime Change ScheerPost
Mr. Market Is Moody
Tariff Man Returns and He’s Coming for Powell Credit Bubble Bulletin
Dollar weakens as global reserve currency, while de-dollarization efforts accelerate Andolu Agency
Homes are taking longer to sell in these once-popular markets NY Post
AI
The Role and Ethics of AI Use in Online Dating Reason
Federal judge says voice-over artists’ AI lawsuit can move forward BBC
AI therapy bots fuel delusions and give dangerous advice, Stanford study finds Ars Technica
Grok 4 is better than PHDs in every subject, no exceptions. I gotta let this sink in. pic.twitter.com/AaIq9lTESL
— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) July 10, 2025
The Bezzle
Airline passenger claims thieves are using discarded bag tags for fraud scheme Fox News
Guillotine Watch
This couple spent $600 MILLION on their wedding festivities
• Guest list: Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton, Zuckerberg
• Rihanna’s first concert in 6 years
• Duration: 7 monthsSounds unbelievable. Let`s find out more… 🧵 : pic.twitter.com/D5ZzhnIgRS
— Colours of Bharat (@ColoursOfBharat) February 21, 2025
Melania Trump in a 22 KILO custom $200.000 Christian Dior by ✨John Galliano✨ FW04 Couture gown, designed of 60 meters of fabric, 550 hours of handwork and 1500 rhinestones and pearls for her wedding with Donald Trump. 🪡 pic.twitter.com/dO12k2JdYV
— La Mode Unknown (@LaModeUnknown) July 25, 2024
Antidote du jour (via)
And a bonus:
— Beauty Of Nature 🌳 (@ShouldHaveAnima) July 13, 2025
A second bonus:
— Why you should have a cat (@ShouldHaveCat) July 12, 2025
And a third:
— Beauty Of Nature 🌳 (@ShouldHaveAnima) July 13, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
146 comments
Comments are closed.
“Elon Musk says even if AI ultimately proves bad for humanity he still wants to be there to see it”
‘They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn’ – Alfred Pennyworth
The predictions of AI doom are part of the con. Note Musk is currently funding his AI company.
It’s possible those seeing the $$$ have to convince themselves that people will be stupid enough to fall for the most hyped aspects. It’s easier on their egos if they can have that be the MSM record than the fact that as much as possible is being done to try to force much of the crappification into people’s lives.
WHAT is a unit of time. Let the thoughts flow.
Why it’s one eternity, of course.
The Joker would be slandered by the comparison.
Musk and his ilk are more akin to a brain-dead, immoral version of the League of Shadow.
Re: last antidote–
“Why is Now?” Music: Les McCann Lyrics: Rev B (aka Betty Grove Eisner)
In case anyone had a sort of morbid curiosity, the most diehard MSGA people from the former the donald community are deeply upset about the entire attempt at handwaving the Epstein files away
Wonder how much this will affect the mid terms
https://patriots.win/p/19BZyzOrN0
There were only 37 US House seats decided by less than 5% of the vote in 2024. Everything else is safe as kittens for either of the parties because of cooperative gerrymandering. In those 37 seats, the not GOP but ‘give Trump a chance because my life sucks’ vote was worth 5 or 6 points. That vote has very little reason to turn out for higher prices, more wars and protecting the powerful. GOP House majority in great danger, Will Robinson.
I don‘t understand the rules: if you are rich, you are allowed to be a paedophile? Or is it if you strive to becomemrich and powerful you can be a paedophile?
In every other situation I hear screams for harshwr sentences for paedophiles but… not here.
Paging Lamberts rule of neoliberalism? Or just the eternal ruling-class depravity (paging de Sade)?
Changed a word~
I think it’s more “if you allow us to compromise you for blackmail material we will help you get ahead with access to more money and power, which can be taken away and your reputation destroyed if you don’t do what you’re told.”
So those compromised toe the line and enjoy a privileged lifestyle. Who’s the puppet master pulling the strings? Well that’s the real question, isn’t it? A lot of folks can make a lot of assumptions (myself included), but without actual facts and data there’s no way to turn that think into know.
New public-private investment opportunity in millstone manufacturing coming soon?
It’s like a slow motion Jackpot
Yes, those are the rules and have been for thousands of years.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html
“He castrated the boy Sporus and actually tried to make a woman of him; and he married him with all the usual ceremonies, including a dowry and a bridal veil, took him to his house attended by a great throng, and treated him as his wife. And the witty jest that someone made is still current, that it would have been well for the world if Nero’s father Domitius had had that kind of wife. This Sporus, decked out with the finery of the empresses and riding in a litter, he took with him to the assizes and marts of Greece, and later at Rome through the Street of the Images, fondly kissing him from time to time.”
Suetonius is a very entertaining read. Lots of the more prurient accusations against the various emperors have the feel of an ancient version of the “pee tapes” – at times Suetonius basically says “I don’t now if this is true but I’m going to repeat it anyway”. I highlighted this example since there appear to have been many eyewitnesses. The snarky comment about Nero’s father making the rounds at the time is also very fitting for the vast majority of today’s political class.
To sum it up: ”I am not a whore but I do like money.”
The question is, how “unsullied” Suetonius was…?
“Or just the eternal ruling-class depravity (paging de Sade)?”
The marquis de Sade is a curious example, because his depravity was so extreme that despite all the protections he could afford with his relatives and friends pulling all the stops (he was the scion of a very prominent, very influential aristocratic family), he was eventually thrown into jail.
French nobility was degenerate and blasé, and revelled in debauchery and perversion, but organizing wild orgies with prostitutes that desecrated religious symbols and ended with the death of some participants went decidedly too far and could hardly be covered up.
My memory was hazy, but one of the orgies by de Sade did not actually end up killing people — but caused them to get sick (a consequence of having them ingest an extract from Spanish fly).
In one of his latest “adventures”, a prostitute filed a complaint against him for “outrageous debauchery”…
He can bluster, he can threaten and insult reporters, he can try to ignore it but it all has the effect of a cat trying to cover up its mess on a tile floor.
It won’t, it will blow over well before the mid terms.
The right will manufacture a tidal wave of lies on other issues.
It will be long forgotten.
1)Whistling past the graveyard? 2) Hard evidence 3) Hopium. Other options?
Elections? We don’t need no stinking’ elections.
Lol, what’s even the point? It’s one friggin party.
Maybe, but I wouldn’t bet on it. What I think Trump and his minions fail to recognize is the “Epstein List” is baked into the MAGA DNA.
It’s going to be hard to shift that mindset with the standard “oh look at the new shiny thing” type tricks. As an example, even ramped up ICE actions have failed to stop to backlash.
From ‘I don’t like what’s happening’: Trump tries to quell MAGA blowup over Epstein
Trump, the Father figure, confused about why his MAGA children are not behaving. Not the daddy I’d be wanting to have.
But he’s the daddy that Rutte wants – and told him so.
I do like the red Kool Aid more than blue….\sarc
from the Barenaked Ladies best of album….” Everyone get in line, everyone turn and cough….this won’t hurt at all…”
Trump using Kiev to divert, start WW III over the Epstein files.
Graham and Blumenthal are in!
A lot of Kiev conscripts will die bc Trump covering up for Epstein and the listed……
Here’s a Jimmy Dore episode that’s not to be missed. Jimmy’s still on the trail to find out “what really happened” in the Texas hill country. He begins by pointing the finger at poor Mr. Doricko and the cloud seeding company, Rainmaker. Dore uses his usual incisive methods of argumentation, making fun of Doricko’s name and haircut, before he brings on his big guest who has all the data to prove this was no “natural” event.
As you’ll see, Jimmy didn’t do too much prep with this guest , whose first words are to the effect that Doricko is a patsy who had nothing to do with the floods. The guest goes on to explain that the real cause was NEXRAD, a new system of interlocking Doppler radars. The “cover story” is that these radars enable weatherpersons to better track tornadoes and downpours, but this fellow knows their real purpose. Jimmy’s interviewee claims that the NEXRAD system held the storm in place to increase the flooding in that area in order to frighten people about climate change in order to take away our freedumbs. He claims the same system was used to steer Helene to western North Carolina. (Impressive!) Along the way, he attributes the plot to a “cabal” of some undefined composition. (blood-drinking weathercasters?)
It’s all quite funny, but not in the way Dore intended.
I think Aaron Mate might reconsider his connection to Dore.
Thanks for this, HMP. It’s sad how Jimmy Dore has gone off the rails… Seems to me there was a time when he was worth watching. From this quarter, not any more.
Dore is little more than an inverse Alex Jones. Same playbook … same Amway salesman motivations.
A technology that privileges clicks and likes and views over all else is bound to produce, sooner or later and probably sooner, ephemera.
Here’s an article from March of this year that might be a little bit more on point about river flooding and flood warning systems:
Stream Gaging Capacity Cuts Could Be Devastating for the West
https://onland.westernlandowners.org/2025/policy-arena/stream-gaging-capacity-cuts-could-be-devastating-for-the-west/
The current NEXRAD radars have actually been around a while (deployed since 1988, one USN station I was at actually tested and repair the electronics for the radars all the way back in the 1990’s), and I’m just guessing that if these actually demonstrated the ability to CONTROL the weather that the DOD would have long ago weaponized them and deployed them as part of the military. But other than a couple sold overseas to Japan and South Korea, it looks like that hasn’t happen:
NEXRAD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEXRAD
And it’s not exactly like radar is cutting edge technology anymore, if such technology could control weather, I’m pretty sure other countries would be doing it too.
Would this mean there is indeed good reason to yell at clouds?
That river has flooded to that extent now three times in my lifetime. First in the 1970s when my brother was trapped at Rio Vista, the boys camp just up river from Camp Mystic, again in 1987, and then last week.
The main difference is there are a lot more people there now and people don’t take memories as more significant than commercial pressures. Plus ca change…
My great great great grandmother bought 1000 acres from one of the Mexican families shortly after the Republic of Texas declared itself. Family lore includes the story of a flood where the first homestead on a high point too close to the river began to flood, and the family fled. But for some horses caught in the flood themselves, my family would have been washed away, instead grabbing onto the horses they were pulled from the flood. (In my imaginary there were a couple of Mexican on Round Mountain (nearby, overlooking the drama) chuckling at the happy outcome, “stupid gringos almost didn’t make it!”)
I’m sorry, this is bullshit. The humidity was record high. This had NOTHING to do with cloud seeding.
I am really bothered that you are promoting nonsense like this.
There were PLENTY of warnings of severe flood risk the day before.
However, the “GTF out of Dodge” alerts went out at 1:14 AM.
That should have been ample time for 4:00 AM when the big water rise statted.
But because AM and holiday weekend, and potentially not trained camp personnel (mainly teens), pretty much no one reacted. Not ruining a holiday was more important than taking precautions.
Thought experiment: where would people have gone who wanted to take the alert of the day before seriously? This was a holiday weekend. Aside from those in RVs, they’d have to go home. Lotta inertia.
I’ve been in that part of the hills, and if it started to rain, you got the hell out. Away from any form of water. Levees two stories tall with logs near the top. Might be a locals only thing…
????
Was this comment in reply to mine? If you read through the comment, I’m far from promoting Dore’s bullshit, and I made no point whatsoever about the adequacy of the warnings. I recommended that people check out Jimmy’s video to see that when he tells you he’s just a jag-off comedian, believe him.
Linking to him drives traffic to his nonsense and elevates him in Google searches. It IS promoting him. You even encouraged click-throughs by saying “not to be missed”.
It is well established in cognitive bias research that repeating a claim, even if you debunk it (unless done with extreme care) has the effect of reinforcing the claim. Your long-form repetition with only wry asides also did that.
I think the lack of flood sirens in Kerr County, like the ones counties downstream deployed (which also had few if any any fatalities), didn’t help issues and could well be identified as the prime failure. For the paltry sum of around $100K per siren, Kerr County could have avoided this issue.
While this specific failure is not tied to DOGE or Trump, this is the type of mentality they embody. The US needs to get ready for a very bumpy ride.
Here’s a report about the missing flood sirens in Kerr County:
Kerrville didn’t have weather sirens used in other cities – >
Welcome back
Dead men tell know tales, was your ticket out
Welcome back
To that same old place that you laughed about
Well, the names haven’t changed
Since in that cell you hung around
But those dreams have remained
And they’ve turned around
Who’d have thought they’d lead you
(Who’d have thought they’d lead you)
Back here where we need you?
(Back here where we need you?)
Yeah, we tease Jeffrey out a lot
‘Cause we got him on the spot
Welcome back
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back
Welcome back, welcome back
Thanks for that cultural blast from the past. We did get Travolta out of the deal, plus we got Barney Miller on the back end.
(I nicked my mom’s copy of Fear of Flying thanks to a Barney Miller episode, for research of course.)
…along with Epstein (Juan Luis Pedro Felipo de Huevos Epstein) and a Horshack
Wouldn’t Travolta be a negative? I’m not sure his acting skills make up for the damage Scientology has caused…
Pulp Fiction
Nothing else really matters.
Oh come on now. You don’t get as ‘camp’ as “Battlefield Earth.”
“Family of American citizen killed by Israeli settlers demands US probe”
I hate to say it but I think that Sayfollah Musallet is fated to become the Gonzalo Lira of Israel. The US State Department will say nothing, do nothing, will apply no pressure on Israel to account for his death, nor will Trump do anything. Then, in about three months, Trump will write on his Truth Social media account-
“LET THE STATE DEPARTMENT DO THEIR JOB — THEY’RE GREAT! Let’s keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Sayfollah Musallet, somebody that nobody cares about. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Even Tucker Carlson is now talking about dual loyalty and saying those who fight for a foreign country should lose their American passports. This is very threatening to our president who is the essence of a dual loyalist. A photo of his recent confab with Netanyahu was a sea of Israeli and American flags as though they are both the same.
Israel is not even a democracy since half the people who live there have no right to vote and “all men are created equal’ is the opposite of what they believe. Trump’s crime family, er, business family view of the world may not be WEF but it has nothing to do with patriotism as his embrace of Israel will only take us down with it. Meanwhile at home he insists on a new budget that will hurt Americans who don’t happen to be rich like him.
And “happen to be” is the essence of who Trump is. He was born rich and is only president because his opponents were so bad. Lately he looks terrible and his unmoored stream of consciousness drift through life and our lives may be catching up with him. How will it all end?
Wouldn’t it be hilarious if a law was passed that you cannot be a member of the Senate or the House of Reps if you own any other passport than that of an American one? I would imagine a hard scramble for the doors before such a law came into effect. As a side effect, it would mean that they would have to get rid of all those Israeli and Ukrainian flags outside the offices of all those Congress people.
We’ve a new flag now which I’ve seen a number of now. It’s a blend of the US and Israeli flags. I saw a number of these proudly displayed in the once quaint town of Port Clyde, Maine earlier this month. I know not what would compel a person to fly one.
Is “ironclad” synonymous with “clapped in irons”/
If you are not worried about getting into a spat, you could ask those Israeli/US flag wavers if the Pledge of Allegiance that kids in school give should be changed to include Israel as well. Then tell them that when you went to school, that Americans were only supposed to be loyal to America and not to foreign countries. That back in the day that that was called treason and they put people in prison for that. And at that point you would have to turn and run away as fast as you can. :)
I want that ban to be extended to political donations and donations to PACs. Actually let’s just make it that You hold any passport in addition to your US passport and you are banned from running for any elected office, banned from holding any civil service position from Cabinet on down to small town town hall receptionist, and banned from donating to any political campaign or organization. You can however still vote.
Frankly the small town receptionist might be overkill, but dual citizenship is inherently indicative of divided loyalty so not by much. Sure I get that Irish passport is unlikely to bring on conflicts of interest, but you never know.
Just make AIPAC register as a foreign agent.
registring will change nothing
Edinburgh university students last week made their voices heard on Palestine at their graduation ceremony. Unfortunately, the only available video of the event is on Instagram, but it’s worth watching (2 mins).
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMACDkYsnl1/
Gooooooooood Moooooooorning Fiatnam!
The order had been given out on high, er from JD’s keepers, create HALigator Alcatraz on Sand Hill Road, a handy location to house coders until we can think of a new occupation to hype, and AI makes them fully redundant.
Regarding Grok4: “better than PhD’s in every subject, no exceptions…lack common sense”
So, nonsensical conclusions are not an exception?
Does it have street smarts? Somehow I doubt it.
So, when do corporations start laying off executive suites and use A.I. instead? Think of the cost savings alone and the improved effectiveness.
( I know, always outsource labor, never management, just like in the 1980s.)
Regarding the expensive wedding, Russell Brand seems to have put on some weight! /s
It kinda put me in mind of this double image-
https://ifunny.co/picture/when-your-son-asks-you-why-he-has-to-study-fBV6Dr539
And yes, that is a real photo and not just posed models.
Aah! Young love :)
Nice.
That looks like Flavio Briatore. Not the best role model for educational path. :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavio_Briatore#Early_life,_convictions,_and_exile
Regarding the expensive wedding, it’s not the money spent that make it Guillotine Watch material, but the guest list.
Red Wedding, please…
“Florida lawmakers allowed into ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ say detainees packed into cages”. Bedcause of course they are, to enact the maximum dramatic effect for immigration enforcement theater. Gotta show the folks at home how rough and tough we are… That’s probably why they didn’t allow the Congresscritters in — the cages weren’t ready yet.
And can we just drop the bureaucratic bafflegab and get back to calling them prisoners, at least?
Re: How Hot Can It Get? Scientists Are Struggling to Find an Answer Financial Post
This really isn’t that hard to answer. This hot —
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian-Triassic_extinction_event
This hot.
And in real time.
RE: The awkward truth behind Mexico City’s ‘Anti-gentrification”‘ protests
That’s only a “truth” if you are a white Westerner trying to absolve yourself of any responsibility for gentrification by white Westerners. The author fully admits that she gets a US salary while paying a Mexican cost of living, which her Mexican neighbors can’t do. Were she to work a Mexican job she wouldn’t be able to be “comfortable” there. But gentrification isn’t her fault – there are other neighborhoods way more expensive than the one she inhabits, and the rich white people who live there are being overcharged by greedy Mexicans, so it’s capitalisms fault. This is really galling –
“And wile this is, let’s be honest, an inherently unfair system, it’s of course not the fault of any one individual. Building and maintaining a system is one thing; taking advantage of it as a worker is another, very human by the way, thing.”
She’s just being a human being and a worker bee you see, and in no way a capitalist taking advantage of labor arbitrage, and because she doesn’t live in the absolute richest neighborhood, it’s not her fault. No mention is made of how much the rents in the neighborhood where she lives have gone up due to the presence of people like her.
Its the same dynamic in the neighborhood I live and so many others. Due to the influx of people making NYC salaries who can work remotely in Maine, housing prices have skyrocketed. $750K for a tiny crapbox(!) seems cheap to the urbanites. It has occurred to me that I could sell my grossly overpriced suburban house and move to a more rural area with a lower housing costs, but then I’d be contributing to the problem in my neighborhood while also driving up the prices somewhere else, putting housing out of reach for those in the rural area.
I wish I had an answer for all this other than waiting for the capitalist system to collapse. But maybe understanding how capitalism works, realizing when you personally are becoming part of the problem, and not taking actions that harm others just so you can live a more luxurious life would be a start.
LAB- I get that the idea of selling your overly priced home seems like you are selling out your neighborhood. But, it seems inevitable to me that in time you’ll be surrounded by new folks/homes that may or may not, represent the character of the old ones. Finding another home in a more rural area doesn’t necessarily make you the bad person for raising everyone’s taxes. Particularly if you can find a place that otherwise has been neglected and can be saved before it falls into the cellar hole or is scraped off by an developer and replaced with something less in character with the neighborhood. You can try circling the wagons but at some point your wagon will be the last one standing.
I held out for 15 years after my kids had moved on in my 1907 Colonial home West of Boston. Eventually all the little capes and ranches on my cul de sac had been turned into McMansions and I decided it was time to leave. Bought a bungalow in the next town over that needed to be gutted and redone. Developers were eying it to scrape away but, the family estate that owned it were happy to see me keep it more or less as is.
Thank you for the encouragement. Trying to do the right thing in this economic system can be paralyzing.
I do like going to NYC and Boston and have lots of friends there, I just chose not to live there myself. When the big city starts coming to me and that’s not what I want, maybe there’s eventually a time to move on.
You are overthinking this.
lets drown capitalism in a bathtub then managed economy with strict price controls and watch the heads explode
“US demands clarity from allies on their role in potential war over Taiwan, FT reports”
‘The Pentagon is urging Japan and Australia to clarify what role they would play if the U.S. and China went to war over Taiwan, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.’
That needs a bit of translation that. What people like Colby are demanding is a commitment by Australia and Japan to go to war against China if the US decides to do so. So if Trump wakes up one fine morning and decides to shoot down a Chinese plane or some other idiot move, then we and Japan would have to declare war against China. To hell with that. To make it worse for the Aussie PM, you had “reporters” asking him loaded questions about this – just as he arrived in fricking China for a 6 day visit.
We’ve been here before when Oz was part of the British empire. When Britain declared war on Germany, the PM at the time went onto radio and said-
‘Fellow Australians, it is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that in consequence of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her and that, as a result, Australia is also at war.’
The thought that we could end up in a full scale war depending on how Trump feels any particular day is not one to contemplate. I’m sure that Colby will say no nuke boats for Oz unless we give the US a war commitment but I know what Colby can do with those nuke boats and where he can put them.
Pentagon should ask DPRK , the same questions.
Watch the other crises: Epstein, Zelenski, genocide.
Diversion!
Maybe the crazies see Taiwan as the US’s very own Tech Gaza which they will crush the minute there is any attempt by the Chinese, or the Chinese and Taiwanese citizens of Taiwan to become in reality what it is formally: a part of the PRC.
The US does not seem to realise that both Australia and Japan can only benefit from good relations with China whereas the US, under whatever President or party is just a scorpion doing as a scorpion does, and it will treat them as it has treated Ukraine and Europe, ostensibly as friends but actually as subservient gofers watchful of their masters moods and attempting to keep him happy like by rolling over on their stomach, tails wagging in fear whilst trying to act pleased to see him as they hold back the vomit because it is their misfortune that this master has always been very careless with his vassals.
Those of us who live in the u.s. feel your pain and then some.
Since neither Australia nor Japan recognizes Taiwan as a sovereign state, it’s unclear why they would need to protect it. Furthermore, the Australian military appears reluctant to cooperate with Japan because of its implementation of the death penalty.
Why would the death penalty be a contentious issue? The Australian military has no problem teaming up with the U.S (see – war crimes committed by AUS special forces during the occupation of Afghanistan), and the U.S has the death penalty.
RE: The Elgin Marbles
There is absolutely no reason they should not be returned to Greece. A few decades ago, the argument for keeping them was that Athens was a very polluted city and the statuary would corrode there, while it could be better preserved at the British Museum. That may have ben true at the time, but no longer. The original Caryatids from the Erechtheion are already housed in a modern museum in Athens (the ones you see on the Acropolis are replicas), and the rest of the sculptures now could be, too.
I think the term “cultural appropriation” is often misused, but in this case it’s 100% accurate. Time to give back the colonialist plunder.
I suspect that most British do not care about them and if told the situation, would say send ’em back. The elite on the other hand are really wrapped up with those marbles. How far? If the Elgin marbles were originally from Kiev in the Ukraine and not Athens, they would still not hand them over even though they are shipping 5 billions pounds per year there which is about the size of the deficit in the UK’s budget.
Erstwhile 40-day British PM and all round idiot Liz Truss, seems to think the marbles came from Elgin, a town in Scotland and therefore part of Britain’s national culture.
Boy did her time as PM cress, heard she’s going up against an endive in East Grinstead, good luck Liz!
The elite is currently in the process of looting Kievo-Pecherska Lavra, which is the exact opposite of giving back stuff.
He was under extra pressure once he realized that Pashinyan might be able to make Armenia completly disappear before the next Olympic Games.
COVID-19/Pandemics
For an incisive critique on the homicidally wacko state of play in public health by a virologist and an infectious disease doctor I recommend the following. I am reminded of Lambert Strether’s posts on this topic.
TWiV 1234: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin
Microbe TV, 57 minutes
Not so Cold War……
Russia might not be beat by more materiel sent forward for Kiev to use to defend or attack rear areas which do not effect the attrition at the “front”.
GMRLS is not a tool, without massive complementary systems such as air interdiction.
Worse, air defense systems such as Patriot envisioned for air land battle campaigns are not logistically suited for years of on going static defenses. Neither Kiev nor Tel Aviv are using the systems as conceived.
The stockpiles were not planned for this.
Presidential drawdown is limited to how much stock is needed for the pentagon’s other 1.5 wars, China and Iran.
U.S. lacks strategy and logistics.
fwiw: Brian Berletic´s latest spends some time on the missile/AD issue.
US Still Dangerous Despite Limits of Military Production
41 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTT6sF__pUE
I am still standing by Postol´s and Martyanov´s assessments of Western AD.
Berletic by design always suggests nothing is ever totally useless. It´s a bit of an easy non-biased verdict which I think is revealing more lack than confirmation of highly specialized expertise. The both-sides-are-true appears like just a safe bet at least in this context 🤔. It´s not politics, it´s science and it´s evidence and proof by scientific data. If they don´t hit their targets. Well, then they simply don´t hit ´em.
the only thing that keeps us going is a large fleet of boomers
Growing number of homeowners who bought in pandemic boomtowns owe more than homes are worth The Independent
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Damned panic was one hellova motivator (waives away home inspection) although Covid gets an assist.
>The Biggest-Ever Digital Camera Is This Cosmologist’s Magnum Opus
Dr. Becky (Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church)):
The FIRST images from the RUBIN observatory!
It discovered some 2,000 previously unknown asteroids.
That’s in seven days.
News you can use?!
Now I’ll get back to decrying Gaza.
How many parents have their driver’s license suspended for unpaid child support? Jake Solomon substack
******
This article comes off like it’s written by an uninformed white liberal — its sympathy in tone is with the deadbeats. Having had first hand experience with the child support system, what I have seen is not that there is too much enforcement, but too little enforcement. There are parents who fail to pay for anything not because they can’t, but because they don’t want to. The issues are exacerbated by a lot of judges and magistrates who just don’t want to get their hands dirty.
Interestingly, a lawyer in the comments to the article, who obviously has far more experience, made more or less the same point.
As a divorced dad who paid child support for two kids for years, I think the idea of suspending driver’s licenses to enforce payment of child support payments is remarkably stupid. If there were better public transit, then I might consider suspending driver’s licenses might be a poor but passable enforcement means. What about garnishing a portion of the offender’s paycheck instead?
I do not know about other states, in the state where I was divorced my child support payments were set based on my income at the time of the divorce. As my employment grew ever more shaky I contacted an attorney to find out what I might do to adjust my child support payments if I became unemployed. I was advised that such adjustment would be difficult to impossible. Similarly, if I received a big raise or promotion at another firm it was difficult for my ex-wife to get my child support payments increased — although I have always suspected obtaining an increase might be a little less difficult. My attorney’s advice came as cold comfort in this icy era of iffy employment and iffy wages.
As a relatively informed white middle class man I would argue the laws and methods for establishing and enforcing child support, and child custody and visitation together with what I perceived as a strong bias against fathers might add at least one reason for the reluctance of young men to get married. As for the lawyer JohnC and his comment, I am afraid the comment by Ethan in response to JohnC is much more in line with my experience with the legal system.
“I think the idea of suspending driver’s licenses to enforce payment of child support payments is remarkably stupid. If there were better public transit, then I might consider suspending driver’s licenses might be a poor but passable enforcement means. What about garnishing a portion of the offender’s paycheck instead?”
I agree and furthermore, what about impaired driving charges? In rural areas with little or no public transit, a license suspension can mean loss of job. Let’s say a young man has a few in Turkey Neck Bend Idaho and decides to drive home. First of all, he hasn’t endangered a lot of people (it is, after all, Turkey Neck Bend) and secondly, his job could very well depend on his driver’s license. A suspension of it could mean he can’t make it to work any more.
Better solution: A moderate fine and maybe days off from work in jail. I know weekends in jail worked wonders for a friend of mine.
But…to quote a former Canadian radio talk-show host, “You are making a serious mistake if you think the people in charge know what they’re doing.” Unless, of course, their intent is to immiserate as many people as possible, in which case they know exactly what they are doing.
ZERO tolerance for drunk drivers. We all know it is illegal, but people do it anyway. Drunk driving deaths are up 36% from lows 10 years ago. Over 13500.
Every other G7 have DUI deaths that are a small fraction of the US. A Slap on the wrist is the norm in the US. Ontario has per capita deaths that are 1/4 those in neighboring NY State. And 1/10 of the worst US states.
Better solution vehicle impoundment and jail time. People get that kind of message unambiguously north of the border in Ontario.
As the parents of an innocent DUI victim your trivialization of DUI is repugnant.
Every single vehicle should have interlock.
Every. Single. Vehicle.
Period.
Yes, the unending pain/regret of loss after preventable DUI is real.
In Oregon, at least, the first DUI is diversion eligible. In other words, complete the treatment, fines, classes, and you keep on driving.
No sympathy for second offenders.
And people wonder why the birthrate is declining.
‘I don’t like what’s happening’: Trump tries to quell MAGA blowup over Epstein – Politico
If nothing else, this is a reminder that the “Empire of Misdirection” only shows what it wants people to see.
I’m about a third of the way through my two-week vacation in Bogota. I lucked out with an extremely safe place to stay. Not only is it in a very safe part of town, but also it is a gated community of towers that has controlled entry with armed guards who took my photo after they confirmed that I belonged here. These towers are about 20 years old and originally could only be purchased by current and former police or military personnel. So you can imagine the security level here.
So I’m renting a room in a four-bedroom penthouse apartment with lovely views, that is decorated in an elegant 50’s style with lots of wood paneling, wallpaper and chandeliers. I have the best room, which includes not only an in-suite bathroom but also a jacuzzi! There’s a large painting of Marilyn Monroe applying makeup at one end of the room, but over the bed hanging. a large painting of Jesus Christ!! Lol
I rented the room from booking.com and the owner lives in the apartment as well. His 9-year-old daughter is currently visiting, but I think she’s only here for today. The only other tenant right now is the Ukraine US dual citizen I’ve already spoken about. I’ve stopped asking him a lot of questions because the guy is really quite damaged. He’s a self-medicating A LOT and he’s also a proudly violent person.
A former Marine who served in three theaters, he then moved to Odessa, having known Ukraine since birth as he lived between the two countries. Since he had entered Ukraine on a Ukrainian passport he was identified and conscripted into the UAF. But he also fought with heart, because of his close association with the country. He won’t admit it but I guess he left because he realized there was no way to win. He was also an amateur boxer who believes in dominance by strength and through violence. He believes life is full of violence and it must have been quite heartbreaking for him to have given up on Ukraine and snuck out on his US passport after his last tour ended. I asked him why he chose Columbia and he said it was because everybody said not to go there.
As to today’s links article about Colombian cocaine, my housemate’s self-medication includes quite a bit of the stuff. His idea of fun is hanging out with his Pisanos, doing cocaine and getting in fights. I mostly see him in the evenings then we smoke a couple bowls of weed together and chat. We get along quite well and I don’t feel like I’m any danger from him. When we have walked around together I didn’t feel in any danger at all because of his very characteristic former marine vibe. But I’m interested in going to parks in museums, and that’s not what he’s into, so I go solo.
He absolutely loves the apartment because of all the security, remember that he’s still recovering from war-induced PTS. He always has a beer in his hand but I haven’t seen him drunk. He says he feels safe enough here in this guarded complex that he’s finally able to sleep well. So, not only for my own personal safety but also in support of his healing journey, I’ve decided to stop asking about Ukraine or discussing current events. He probably doesn’t know what’s going on in Ukraine now or about the possible start of an assassination program by the Russians, and I’m certainly not going to tell him!
Saludos!
Thank you for the update!
Very kind of you E2U. thanks for the updates.
‘I asked him why he chose Colombia and he said it was because everybody said not to go there.’
Now that’s my kind of contrarian! Right up my street, though I’ll skip the violent side.
Thanks for these updates. If you can squeeze any more UKR-related info out of him, that would be fun to read; however, I get the impression that he very much wants to be alone, a la Greta Garbo. And do be careful interacting with him, as people like him have a way of exploding unpredictably.
…know what happens when you play a soldier of fortune song backwards?
You get your arm back, you get your back pay, and the M1 Abrams ain’t blown up yet.
Best to avoid any armored vehicle nowadays, even a top of the line M1. Too many drones out there.
My best friend in high school was Swedish (although from quite the mixed background), and we vaguely kept in touch over the years. By the mid-90s, he was living in Bogota while I was in Moscow; at the time, two of the planet’s less risk-free locales, somewhat puzzling choices in light of our privileged backgrounds. We were mutually astonished by each other’s perceived wild risk-taking, but after calm discussion we both agreed that much depends on one’s specific local knowledge as to behavioral norms and what not to do and where not to go. He ended up marrying a Colombian lady and they now are safely ensconced with multiple offspring in the Seattle area. While I’m married to a Russian lady and endlessly bouncing back and forth between Italy and Moscow.
It’s funny how life works out. When we were back in high school, who’d a thunk…..
I never strayed far from the first world when it came to pushing old metal in the 1980’s, for the main reason that it was easy-peasy to go through borders with aged round metal discs, but if you were a numismatic mercenary, South America was your cup of Mate. every country was hyperinflating and bargains were to be had with the usual proviso that you had to be there, but the risks of what could be conceived as smuggling by a zealous customs agent on your way out of the country with the goods was always quite the dissuader in yours truly not doing business there, plus I don’t dig revolutions except from afar.
A couple of UK coin dealers I knew would do what was termed ‘barnstorming’ in that you put an ad in the newspaper saying your buying coins, jewelry, antiques, etc., and then you hope to attract in particular matrons of a certain age experiencing profound purse droop.
They decide to go barnstorming to Malta, and one of em tells me, ‘we killed them the first day, they brought in so much good stuff to sell, and we’re all anxious for the second day, when the Malta police come in and arrest us.’
The world had plenty of oyster to go around~
Yes, here too, appreciate your report.
p.s. you wrote it, but I forgot – what did lead you to Bogota of all places?
(That Ukrainian guy, you, that guarded place – it´s all a Sundance Film Festival odd-ball dramedy ensemble film – winning audience award.)
Here’s the soundtrack for today’s tourist report. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keBB_UjZ6RE
“He always has a beer in his hand but I haven’t seen him drunk.”
None of my Ukrainian relatives consider beer to be an alcoholic beverage…
Same attitude prevails in Cape Breton.
you call that a gd vacation man you need to get out more
sort of related
Jacques Baud interviewed by Glenn Diesen on the strategic approach of RU vs. UKR/NATO tactics only
Jacques Baud: Europe Leading Ukraine Down the Path to Destruction
Colonel Jacques Baud is a former military intelligence analyst in the Swiss Army and the author of many books. Colonel Baud discusses the growing intensification of Russian strikes on Ukraine. Is Ukraine heading toward collapse?
Jul 12, 2025
76 min.
https://glenndiesen.substack.com/p/jacques-baud-europe-leading-ukraine
p.s. he says UKR media reported 80% of soldiers in AFU are now forced conscripts.
Drones Are Key to Winning Wars Now. The U.S. Makes Hardly Any.
If only we had a domestic industrial base.
Photoed, wearing a Thiel Fellowship t-shirt. Hooray.
I predict a great future for rural enlistees with duck hunting experience. Might even get a special Military Occupational Specialty out of it – bring back the 11D!!!*
I also note that Retrotopia, by John Michael Greer, has an interesting chapter where the locals are competing in a drone hunting contest. The book was written almost a decade ago…
*which, sadly became 19D for some reason, meaning scouts were no longer eligible for various infantry awards.
As I said here in December: there is a huge realignment of the spigot that is defence spending. Expect Thiel-linked firms (Palantir and Anduril obviously, but also a load of techy droney AIy startups) to continue hoover up dollars. Most of them are privately held and a large number feature Founder’s Fund and/or Andreessen-Horowitz (a16z) early funding.
JB: If only we had a domestic industrial base.
BP: The cretins have thought that bit out some:
Anduril’s Zach Mears Details Vision for Arsenal-1 Facility, Workforce Development, and Future of Defense Manufacturing in Ohio (Scioto Post)
Tl;Dr = 4000 direct jobs in a 5 million sq ft facility based on the Tesla/Space-X model
Quite remarkable that it’s Victor Orban instead of some mature West European diplomat/leader (are there any?) who’s being sensible on how might (or should) the Ukraine war can be concluded.
The use of the word still here is great. The virus seems to be going against the plan being set up by the media, a source of great frustration to many reporters and editors.
Here we learn that the excess deaths are being caused by cardiovascular disease instead of covid. This is just a semantic game, of course, since covid is a cardiovascular disease in large part, as well as a disease of many other body systems, notably the immune system.
This article also attributes many excess deaths to drug overdoses. I claim this is overwhelmingly due to the shift from heroin to fentanyl as a product of Mexican drug labs. Since fentanyl is so much more compact per dose, it makes obvious sense to smuggle fentanyl as much as possible. So without a doubt we can lay the blame for this shift as a result of the pointless and horrific “war on drugs,” which we will be winning any day now.
Not a very deep analysis by the LA Times, though no less than we have come to expect in the US mainstream media.
Thanks for posting this and not me, and this was exactly what I wanted to say.
I also wanted to point out that the deaths being higher among minorities is potentially because they’re in jobs where they’re less able to protect themselves from COVID and likely have living situations where household spread is more likely, in addition to difficulty affording healthcare.
I’d love to know from where you’re getting your information. Specifically the bit about Covid being a cardiovascular disease. First I’ve heard that one! My sources — and I’ve learned a lot about virology over the past few years — tell me Covid is/was a respiratory virus. Full stop. Incidents of myocarditis and pericarditis have occurred as a result of the jab (mRNA) not Covid.
I agree, the LA Times article is thin on analysis, but my critique comes from the other direction, what is causing increased incidence of cardiovascular disease? Could it be from vaccination? This tracks with the alarming rate of excess deaths that have been occurring ONLY in countries where the mRNA “vaccines” were distributed, pushed (to the point of being threatened with job loss) and injected.
It’s hard to find in Western media, but African nations, where people were not vaccinated in high numbers, where natural immunity worked its magic, are not experiencing these excess deaths (and the consequent falling age of life expectancy).
A virus needs a living body in order to propagate. If it kills the host, it dies as well. Therefore, its evolutionary survival is dependent on becoming 1) more infectious, while at the same time becoming 2) less lethal. Even one created in a lab.
For the record, I am not anti-vaccines. However, the mRNA therapy is not a vaccine by traditional definition. It is experimental. Talk about a “semantic game,” have you noticed how BigPharma is trying to get the definition of vaccine changed to accommodate this experimental drug?
Ask yourself why Pfizer lied about transmission and efficacy. Why did they downplay natural immunity and discourage doctors’ recommendation of all other life-saving drugs and therapies that were already out there (i.e. generic)? Why is it still so difficult to get them to release pertinent information regarding their test results? Why is the little bit we get from Pfizer (from the courageous reporters at US Right to Know via FOIA) heavily redacted? What are they hiding?
Then follow the money.
Here in the USA a foreign country overtly bribes and coerces our legislators, Chat GPT writes our foreign policy and a “Republican” President declared himself King weeks after being elected…
And this is Normal, nothing to see here, move along.
Tariff Man Returns and He’s Coming for Powell Credit Bubble Bulletin
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reno(vations) 911!
Benedict Donald is really attempting to get rid of Jerome on account of interior decorating?
I think an important question here is: what does Brazil export to the US? Im not an expert, but my hunch is that it’s mainly commidities, esp raw materials (e.g. ore, steel, oil). In that case, this looks more like Russia sanctions redux. Sanctions will cause trade disruption, but traders will find their intermediary countries to reroute. Last time Trump already put tariffs on Brazil, during Bolsonaro’s presidency. But then he lowered them for steel etc. expressly saying it’d benefit Bolsonaro’s popularity. However, one can also note that the USA would be the main victim of the tariffs, so Trump just lowered them because he’d have done so anyhow. They are just bluffs and tantrums. What I’m excited about is the possibility of united counter-sanctions. I dont think I’ll live long enough to see them, or at least before WW3 or so, but it’d be a nice sight for sore eyes
Your hunch is correct. Here are the top 10 exports from Brazil to the USA:
$7.96B Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products
$5.72B Iron and steel
$3.65B Machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers
$2.69B Aircraft, spacecraft
$1.94B Coffee, tea, mate and spices
$1.69B Pulp of wood, fibrous cellulosic material, waste
$1.62B Wood and articles of wood, wood charcoal
$1.41B Electrical, electronic equipment
$1.25B Vegetable, fruit, nut food preparations
$1.07B Meat and edible meat offal
Remember the Alamogordo!
Just a few days away from the fourth turning, with the dawning of the atomic age in New Mexico 80 years ago~
Overall, it has been quite the dud as a useful weapon after showing early promise in Nippon trials, but never count a kiloton out.
This guys been posting STRAIGHT FIRE 🔥 on r/Stupidpol about the American 🇺🇸 Revolution:
https://www.reddit.com/r/stupidpol/s/Rb1l1sp3BH
Here’s to an American 🇺🇸 Revolution 2.0!
A historic lodge on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim has been destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire, the park said Sunday.
The Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodging inside the park at the North Rim, was consumed by the flames, park Superintendent Ed Keable told park residents, staff and others in a meeting Sunday morning. He said the visitor center, the gas station, a waste water treatment plant, an administrative building and some employee housing also were lost.
Two wildfires are burning at or near the North Rim, known as the White Sage fire and the Bravo Dragon fire, and have collectively burned more than 45,000 acres. The White Sage fire burned 40,126 acres near the North Rim, while the Dragon Bravo fire, burning to the south within Grand Canyon National Park, reached 5,000 acres according to InciWeb, a federal government wildfire tracker.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/13/wildfires-destroy-grand-canyon-lodge-north-rim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Was just there in the fall, and a grande dame of parkitecture it was.
Had views up the wazoo, and that old-timey feel,
The North Rim has always been my favorite, its a nobody goes there place compared to the zoo that most everybody goes to on the South Rim.
Wow. I’ve been there too.
“The Grand Canyon Lodge, the only lodging inside the park at the North Rim, was consumed by the flames, park Superintendent Ed Keable told park residents, staff and others in a meeting Sunday morning. He said the visitor center, the gas station, a waste water treatment plant, an administrative building and some employee housing were among the 50 to 80 structures lost. “Numerous” historic cabins in the area also were destroyed, the park said.”
For those of us who love visiting our National Parks, this is another major loss.
Walked rim to rim from the North Rim to South Rim in a day about 20 years ago, it was very much as if I was walking through time~
We got to the South Rim where friends were waiting and all went to the El Tovar hotel for dinner, and our friends mentioned what our trio had accomplished, and our waiter related that about 1 out of 10 hikers who go rim to rim in a day and come and have dinner, fall asleep between ordering and when the food arrives~
The parkitecture (hand hewn local materials) may provide an opportunity to rebuild the lodge. Haven’t seen the destruction, but the stone walls of the lodge may still be standing sentry over the ash of the wood roofing.
re: German court rules Meta tracking technology violates European privacy laws
That´s why we need our own EU “Meta”. Then the same technology won´t violate anything. Problem solved.
I thought German courts are congested with cases of grannies liking wrong memes on the Internets.
Gosh, don’t underestimate the number of useless German courts…
re: Epstein
CONSORTIUMNEWS Interview
Author Nick Bryant, the first to publish Jeffrey Epstein’s little black book, joins CN Live! at 8pm EDT on Saturday night, to discuss the DOJ’s attempt to close the Epstein case.
Epstein Justice?
July 12, 2025
77 min.
https://consortiumnews.com/2025/07/12/watch-cn-live-epstein-justice/
>>>Ultra-woke city’s airport overrun with homeless drug addicts leaving travelers terrified to fly Daily Mail
It has been a few years since I used SFO, but I am not surprised by the influx of homeless to there. In the past five years, the state of California spent twenty-four billion with a b dollars with nothing to show for it really. This is two thousand dollars per a per a month per person for five years. The cost of a cheap apartment is roughly two thousand a month and forty percent of the homelessness have jobs. And yet, it always seems to get worse. I do wonder what impression the homeless in SFO give to all the tourists visiting the city give?
How can an airport be overrun with homeless when they can’t get past the gate to get into the airport?
Lol, maybe a sneak preview of downtown?
I find airports to be a haven away from the homeless once you go through security, it isn’t as if they can get anywhere~
In that world we once knew where you could greet passengers of an arriving flight just after they got off the plane…
Always wanted to be a somebody… if only for 15 minutes
My wife and I are flying to LAX from Reno circa 1999, and we’re gonna need at least a dozen paparazzi clicking away to pull this off, 20 would be better. We settle on 17.
So under the auspices of going to that weird tall building that specializes in hosting failed businesses in the middle of LAX, I proposed a few days before arrival to the strictly amateur crew of celebrity chasers that my wife and I be the subject of adoration, and then we’d go to Encounters-the restaurant in that preying mantis looking building aforementioned.
We get off the plane with sunglasses on, and the would-be Ansel Adams types are out in force practically rushing to the end of the jetway, one friend has 4 cameras dangling from his neck, oh well-nobody ever died from overkill, or the wrong f-stop setting.
They’re clicking away madly, and this being LA where this sort of thing must happen all the time, it’s a chance for the hoi polloi, er those also waiting to greet somebody that have cameras, to join in with the fauxarazzi.
There’s a Japanese tourist banging away, must have 54 shots of yours truly in vivid color.
A number of friends have microphones that go nowhere and are interviewing me, asking leading questions such as:
‘Was it smart to put everything on black?’
‘Would both of you having extramarital affairs help or hinder your career in the film industry?’
An onlooker asked one of our confederates, ‘Who are they?!’
He gave the only prudent answer in exclaiming that I was the leader of a small but highly important country who was here to star in movies.
I wonder who wrote this headline? The content was from an article in the SF Chronicle today. They found an increase in homeless compared to last year. You have to be a fairly high functioning homeless person to get there. It’s only accessible by train. Sure, if you dress nice and don’t stand out you could probably spend some time at SFO if it was cold or raining outside. SFO is hardly overrun with homeless people. San Mateo County (where the airport is located) pays for a group to work with the homeless encountered at SFO, feed them and offer them shelter. I use SFO quite a bit and I don’t recall ever seeing a homeless person there.
When I read “Ultra-woke city …” of course I had to click to find out which city they had in mind. Lol
As for getting there, I thought BART goes direct from downtown SF to SFO and the station connects right to the intl. terminal. Should be no problem for homeless, as long as they can cough up the $11.
Every time I’ve visited the Civic Center station in SF, it’s been full of homeless ppl, and I remember seeing a fair number of homeless on BART too.
Granted, this was some years back. Did the police start cracking down, denying homeless rides on BART?
Is the State of the World Causing You Pain? Nautilus
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the contrary, its making me howl with laughter how bold faced lies are told and then more or less accepted as par for the course. {Fore!}
The repercussions are eventually gonna be horrid. but go with the gallows humor you have-not the grim reality to come.