Links 7/14/2025

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1. The Rev Kev July 14, 2025 at 7:14 am

   “Trump says US will send Patriot missiles to Ukraine”

   At this point I say that the US and its allies – including Israel – should send every single Patriot battery to the Ukraine along with every single missile they have in stock. Send the lot. And when the Russians turn them all to ash, we may have an outbreak of peace as the west will not be able to start any major military actions as they will have no air defenses left. Trump goes hot and cold on those Patriots but so what. They are not a game changer and the Russians figured how to deal with them a long time ago. It won’t change the course of the war and the only reason why he is pushing them is to be seen ‘doing something.’

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   1. Wukchumni July 14, 2025 at 8:00 am

      I won’t believe there’s an acute ammo shortage until Sally Struthers goes on TV in commercials pleading with us to donate small arms ammo so that Ukraine children won’t go without.

      …is your donation of 65¢ a day and/or rounds too much to ask for you to be a Save The Ukraine War Sponsor?

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      1. The Rev Kev July 14, 2025 at 8:20 am

         I thought it weird about two years ago when it came out that guns that were seized by police forces in the US were being packed up and sent onto the Ukraine.

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         1. Wukchumni July 14, 2025 at 9:22 am

            Hard to imagine, but TSA ‘intercepts’ nearly 7,000 guns a year going through security at airports.

            Slava par avion Ukraini!

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         2. moog July 14, 2025 at 10:25 am

            All those gangsta Glocks are a gamechanger.

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            1. The Rev Kev July 14, 2025 at 10:27 am

               Unless they are diverted to the black market after arriving in the Ukraine.

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   2. Safety First July 14, 2025 at 10:33 am

      In point of fact, last night the Russian Channel 1 news included a report about a successful combination strike (missiles, aircraft and drones) on a Patriot battery, claiming two launchers and one radar system. From the video, it seemed that they caught the thing during redeployment on some rural road, but there was no location given in the official announcement.

      Wonder how little Emma is doing. [For those who remember the US Army recruitment ad from a couple of years ago.] I have to believe each battery has at least some American operators attached, still, at the very least to show the locals which button not to press.

      That said, I have grave doubts that any “outbreak of peace” is in the offing, even if every single piece of military hardware the West happens to have is sent to, and burned to a crisp in, liberal-democratic Ukraine. What we really ought to start thinking about now is the the NEXT flashpoint – the Baltic? The Caucasus? Central Asia? – because after Ukraine, the US will just find another proxy. Again. Its strategic objectives viz. Russia have not changed an iota, and might even intensify over time if Yves’ thesis on neoliberalism-into-fascism from one of today’s posts proves correct (and it probably will, at least to some extent).

      And remember, back during the Great 2023 Counteroffensive, when it turned out that the Ukrainians had absolutely no way to protect their advancing columns from being bombed to scrap by Russian aircraft and helos, the US spent months (!) telling the proverbial savages to die harder for their white masters back in Washington. So not actually having capabilities is not an obstacle, in this sense, so long as no American lives are (officially) risked.

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2. Colonel Smithers July 14, 2025 at 7:18 am

   Thank you, Conor.

   The NC community, especially the British contingent, may find this of interest: https://27khv.substack.com/p/how-britain-became-a-poor-country.

   A couple of months ago, I fell into conversation with a frequent visitor from the US. He wondered how long London, but this could apply to the wider UK, could continue charging NYC prices for a Detroit (or some great lakes post-industrial city) product.

   Something equally depressing from yesterday. Yorkshire Rose attended a fund raiser for Palestine in Terry Flynn country. A bakery organised the event. There was Palestinian food and crafts, activities for children and music. It was a family day out. The baker received a visit from the police, who I will let Terry pipe up about, and was warned that the event would be under surveillance.

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   1. The Rev Kev July 14, 2025 at 9:11 am

      Thank you, Colonel. Maybe that baker should have baked a coupla dozen muffins for the protest that day to present to the police there. The card could read ‘To our local police – a bunch of muffins.’

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      1. mrsyk July 14, 2025 at 9:46 am

         How about a big batch of good old fashioned pot brownies?

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3. Wukchumni July 14, 2025 at 7:40 am

   FEMA removed dozens of Camp Mystic buildings from 100-year flood map before expansion, records show AP
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Like most, i’d never heard of this elite evang girl’s summer camp and it sounds rather idyllic, other than when deadly floods engulfed it.

   Deniers gotta deny, but here comes climate change, here comes climate change, right down climate change lane.
   ~~~

   Grief and Prayer at Texas Churches: ‘Lord, Turn Off the Floodgates’ New York Times
   ~~~

   Does this tragic event get whisked away vis a vis a pair of hands joined at the palms and pointing upward in front of your eyes, pleading for mercy from an almighty deity?

   Its not a lot different than the usual pablum offered by politicians after the latest mass murderer goes about his appointed rounds dispatching a bakers dozen if you include the shooter in the total, and said poltroons offer up ‘thoughts & prayers’ as their solution.

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   1. The Rev Kev July 14, 2025 at 8:49 am

      Everyone knows about flood maps but is there such a thing as flash flood maps? Areas where if you get heavy rain, that you should immediately go for high ground? Of course if there was you would have to stop any construction there due to the lack of warning time whereas floods tend to be slower to build up. Of course being in an area nicknamed Flash Flood Alley is never a good sign-

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_Flood_Alley

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   2. Henry Moon Pie July 14, 2025 at 9:37 am

      “Does this tragic event get whisked away vis a vis a pair of hands joined at the palms and pointing upward in front of your eyes, pleading for mercy from an almighty deity?”

      The picture drawn by the article was pretty amazing. The pastor’s full petition was, “Lord, turn off the floodgates right now,” as thunder boomed overhead. The “right now” sounds more like a demand than a humble prayer, but we can at least hope that feelings of helplessness, of human frailty, of the existence of something much bigger and more powerful then humans are is beginning to dawn on all of us. For those who are Christian, maybe it’s becoming clearer that treating their God’s creation like a trash dump is not particularly wise. It’s a bit of the long way ’round when recognizing directly the divinity in Nature would do the trick, but I’ll take it.

      My way of looking at it:

      People follow earth,
      earth follows heaven,
      heaven follows the Way,
      the Way follows what is.

      Tao te Ching #26 (Le Guin rendition)

      We’ve changed the Earth. Now the Earth is going to change us, our children and our grandchildren. When you and yours happen to be the ones who come up losers on the wheel still in spin, it’s understandable to go looking for help somewhere.

      The carbon’s been spewed,
      The curse it is cast.
      The slow rise now
      Will soon be fast.
      As the present now
      Will later be past
      Our hope is rapidly fadin’
      And the disaster now
      Will be far from the last
      For our home, the Earth, is a-changin’

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   3. mrsyk July 14, 2025 at 10:02 am

      From that “FEMA removed” article,
      “It’s a mystery to me why they weren’t taking proactive steps to move structures away from the risk, let alone challenging what seems like a very reasonable map that shows these structures were in the 100-year flood zone,” she said.
      Is it? Having FEMA designate your property flood zone makes it virtually unsellable and close to worthless as collateral. I wouldn’t be surprised if the camp’s insurance issuers demanded physical infrastructure upgrades in order to maintain their liability coverage.
      I’ve always considered the public act of invoking God as nothing more than a self-writ of power. Apparently Mother Nature feels the same way.

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4. Ben Panga July 14, 2025 at 7:44 am

   Re: Very Hungry “Plastivore” Caterpillars Get Fat From Eating Plastic (IFL Science)

   There was an old lady who swallowed a fly….

   Overhead inside the WEF secret volcano lab, sometime in 2027, “So these autonomous robo-mice have been attuned to the taste of caterpillar….”

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   1. chuck roast July 14, 2025 at 10:03 am

      From where I sit I can watch two robins feed a few gaping mouths in a sturdy little nest. I’m hoping that this busy mom and dad aren’t feeding “plastivore” caterpillars to their kids.

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   2. mrsyk July 14, 2025 at 10:05 am

      I’m wondering if anything eats those caterpillars. What happens then?

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   3. t July 14, 2025 at 10:08 am

      Like most science fiction readers, I’m just worried about when they invade hospitals to much on all the delicious delicious plastic inside….

      Who I am kidding? What hospitals?

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5. The Rev Kev July 14, 2025 at 7:57 am

   “Senator Graham: You’ll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves’

   Since the US and NATO are mostly tapped out, I can only assume that what will happen is that the US will draw down their strategic reserves. You know, the one meant to be there in case the US ends up in a major war. The one that will take many, many years to build back up again. Mentioned before the difference between a risk and a gamble. That if you undertake an action and it goes south but you can regain your position, then you undertook a risk. But if you undertake an action and it goes south but you cannot recover but are in a worse position, then that was a gamble. if Trump and Graham are drawing down on the US strategic reserve, then this is a high risk gamble in order to stop losing the Ukraine. And is asked about it, I am sure that both of them would say nah! It’ll be fine.

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   1. ilsm July 14, 2025 at 9:16 am

      What does an Iskander missile cost to shoot versus the two PAC III interceptors?

      Consider this, suppose the US built its arsenal of weapons, associated munitions and supply chains for war that cannot be fought again?

      Patriot etc were specified for operations against a Soviet main force invasion of West Germany.

      May not be needed for a lot of reasons: can US deploy the force, ISR, precision long range fires, etc, such concentrations of forces may not be forthcoming. Patriot etc are outdated war has moved on.

      That said their appeal becomes defending civilain targets, point defense. They are not well suited and the initial magazine of support and ammunition is too small!

      One way or another Patriot may no longer fit in US military planning. THAAD is too expensive and a longer range system.. Aegis has been fitted for shore in Poland and Rumania but it is not transportable, yet.

      Another,aside, I have not heard anyone talk about new/refurbished artillery barrels, if US can find ammunition by now the rifling in Kiev;s guns is worn….. US has very limited forge capacity!

      Of course Graham and Blumenthal will make sure all those Patriot things are resupplied at great profit and years away.

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6. Henry Moon Pie July 14, 2025 at 8:54 am

   Patrick Lawrence is a treasure. His takedown of Ayn Rand and her pernicious influence on us over the last 75+ years is epic.

   And just when I thought Lawrence’s outstanding piece would be the best Link of the day, along comes Benedetta Sabine’s superb piece tying together Europe’s response to Ukraine and Gaza

   Lots of good reading.

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7. none July 14, 2025 at 8:58 am

   Megabill may not be a silver bullet for Democrats in the midterms Politico

   If Democrats had a silver bullet, all they would do with it is shoot it into their own foot, so it’s just as well.

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8. The Rev Kev July 14, 2025 at 9:07 am

   On NC the other day there was a before and after satellite map on that Iranian strike on the US base in Qatar showing a radome being hit and some wondered if it was AI generated. It is now confirmed by the Pentagon-

   https://news.antiwar.com/2025/07/13/pentagon-admits-iranian-missile-hit-dome-used-for-communications-at-us-qatar-base/

   But at the end it says the following-

   ‘While Iran gave the US warning to repel the attack, the US military had to conduct its largest-ever Patriot missile defense system engagement to intercept the missiles, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. “We believe that this is the largest single Patriot engagement in US military history, and we were joined in this engagement by the Qatari Patriot crews,” Caine told reporter.’

   And yet Iran still hit that radome. That’s good shootin’, Tex.

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9. hunkerdown July 14, 2025 at 9:13 am

   re: “Bad Actors Grooming AI” and it’s that disinformation czarina Nina Jankowicz, trying on a new emotionally manipulative storyline OR telling us what she does in her spare time when hanging out with the think tanks.

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10. Wukchumni July 14, 2025 at 9:14 am

    “Trump, Bibi, and Ayn Rand’s ghost.” Patrick Lawrence, The Floutist
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Atlas Shrugged wasn’t a how-to manual for the far right, it was a warning in regards to the future.

    Then you will see the rise of the men of the double standard–the men who live by force, yet count on those who live by trade to create the value of their looted money–the men who are the hitchhikers of virtue. In a moral society, these are the criminals, and the statutes are written to protect you against them. But when a society establishes criminals-by-right and looters-by-law–men who use force to seize the wealth of disarmed victims–then money becomes its creators’ avenger. Such looters believe it safe to rob defenseless men, once they’ve passed a law to disarm them. But their loot becomes the magnet for other looters, who get it from them as they got it. Then the race goes, not to the ablest at production, but to those most ruthless at brutality. When force is the standard, the murderer wins over the pickpocket. And then that society vanishes, in a spread of ruins and slaughter.

    “Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion–when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing–when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors–when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you–when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice–you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that it does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot.

    AI is Project X

    Project X (2018–20), in Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, was a project of the State Science Institute, completed in the last year of the strike of the men of the mind called by John Galt. It was, quite simply, a weapon of mass destruction and was intended as an instrument of totalitarian control. Instead it became the trigger for the final collapse of the socialistic society that the United States of America had then become.

    https://www.conservapedia.com/Project_X

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11. GramSci July 14, 2025 at 9:29 am

    Re: ‘Green Corporations’

    I was disappointed that heated.world’s story (op cit) was based on guiltbytradeassociation.com‘s ranking of green hypocrites, with neither listing a single exemplary green leader.

    There may not be any, but I noticed that both sites’ rankings differed rather markedly from the lobbymap.org ranking upon which both seem to ultimately have been drawn.

    True, heated.world did manage to solicit and publish some corporate bafflegab, but both secondary ‘sources’ strike me as examples of life imitating AI.

    lobbymap seems to have done some serious research and does rank some possibly credible ‘leaders’.

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12. Milton July 14, 2025 at 9:29 am

    If I had to wager my not so hard-earned money, I’m guessing this facility was purchased by a PE firm in the recent past.

    At least 9 dead, 30 injured in fire at Fall River senior living facility. Follow live updates.
    https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/14/metro/fall-river-gabriel-house-fire-live-updates/

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    1. Wukchumni July 14, 2025 at 9:52 am

       Boy, what a tragedy!

       My late mother was ensconced in an assisted living place chain named Oakmont for the last 8 years of her life, and I used to laugh and say it was a cruise ship that never left Whittier Blvd, well appointed and probably overdone for the nonagenarian set-I never saw anybody reading in the library or much working out in the gym.

       Oakmont was different in that it was a rare assisted living place where you paid by the month instead of buying an apartment for $400k when you’re 91, as was the experience for many other assisted living homes in Cali.

       Overall she was happy with the experience, even if it became a gilded cage for 14 months during Covid when she was confined to quarters.

       ‘Good thing i’m a reader’, she assured us on one of the family Zoom calls, circa 2020.

       The one difference in her 8 year run there was there was a fairly constant turnover of staff, especially so after Covid.

       Oakmont also lost quite a few people to lower priced assisted living places during Covid, or their kids came and ‘adultnapped’ them.

       Based on what I saw, if you’re lucky enough to live that long, your politics will swing pretty far right, my mom and another lady were the token liberals out of 52 apartments.

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13. Carolinian July 14, 2025 at 9:31 am

    Re Patrick Lawrence on Ayn–there’s the no doubt apocryphal story that Frank Lloyd Wright, after reading The Fountainhead, the Rand book supposedly based on him, threw it across the room and denounced it as junk. Lawrence:

    And so we come to Trump himself, who remarked of The Fountainhead during the 2016 political season, “It relates to business, beauty, life and inner emotions. That book relates to everything.”

    So Trump did once read a book? But no

    There is one thing one ought to keep in mind as these kinds of people cite Rand and her books. In almost all cases they have not read Rand.

    Why waste time on the junk fiction when you can cut to the chase with the junk philosophy? Of course the US is a country devoted to individualism. But while this impulse once celebrated log cabin poverty as a character builder the con men of neoliberalism like to pretend that the wealthy spawn of NYC slumlords are in the same boat. And the first version wasn’t accurate either since poverty often produces later rapacious success.

    But at least a taste of reality versus pulp fiction might have helped with our increasingly demented leader.

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    1. Wukchumni July 14, 2025 at 10:16 am

       Humbly report, sir

       Dear demented leader is in way over his head, and not only has he never read any books, notice he has no close friends, no confidants, where is my Bebe Rebozo?

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14. KD July 14, 2025 at 9:31 am

    How Corporations became people, money became speech, usury was legalized, and the civil rights movement was used to advance neoliberalism

    Shouldn’t it be:

    Liberalism: Corporations are people, money is speech, usury is celebrated, and the civil rights movement is used to suppress class politics and strengthen oligarchy.

    Its hard to understand the distinction between “liberalism” and “neoliberalism,” and while Powell said the silent part out loud, these features of liberalism have been well understood since the early 20th century. Perhaps if we only elect “centrists” with an “abundance agenda” we can stop it right?

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    1. The Rev Kev July 14, 2025 at 9:38 am

       How about this version-

       ‘We now live in a nation where doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the press destroys information, religion destroys morals, and our banks destroy our economy’ – Chris Hedges

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       1. gf July 14, 2025 at 10:04 am

          1000 %

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       2. Carolinian July 14, 2025 at 10:12 am

          Speaking of Hedges,

          https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/trump-epstein-and-the-deep-state

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15. griffen July 14, 2025 at 9:47 am

    Deep fried anything, on a stick or in a dumpling, most of that sounds more interesting as a curious dish as opposed to culinary bliss. I’ll stick to chicken and french fried taters…

    Arizona for the win, my two cents…was not expecting those options but it is a state fair.

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16. Mass Driver July 14, 2025 at 9:57 am

    Israel is using thermobaric (vacuum) bombs in Beit Hanoun. These are shock waves that spread in a circular and low pattern near the ground surface, preceding the appearance of the dust cloud by far, indicating a speed faster than the speed of sound.
    This is genocide.
    — Omar Hamad | عُـمَـرْ 𓂆 (@OmarHamadD) July 13, 2025

    “Technical description” is nonsensical. AI would have probably done better job. Also, whether something is genocide or not has nothng to do with the type of explosives used. Russians have used the highest amoount of thermobarics ever, in the war with the lowest percent of civillian csualties ever.

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17. Stephanie July 14, 2025 at 10:07 am

    More cause to celebrate beavers today, including (now) mega-beavers! What kind of dams and ponds were those adorable monsters building, I wonder?

    The modern rescue-beaver variant is including all materials at hand, including hula-hoops. Maybe someone with experience in the building trades can tell me what they were hoping to accomplish with the green one they managed to squish in there – is it supposed to be load-bearing? https://youtu.be/4qKWQxvKa_E

    Video also features rescue-baby water wrestling and shots of the beavers’ pet toads.

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18. Mikel July 14, 2025 at 10:07 am

    Amid Attacks on Israel-Linked Shipping, Ansarallah Says It Remains Committed to Truce with U.S. – Drop Site

    At some point, the divisions that have caused havoc within Yemen for decades are going to have to be settled and resources re-directed toward that issue.

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19. Mass Driver July 14, 2025 at 10:08 am

    The Israeli “communications” satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida thanks to an @elonmusk-provided SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
    Israel will now have more power to spy on the American and global population thanks to US taxpayer support
    — Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) July 13, 2025

    This is geostationary satellite, meaning that it will have to be somewhere above central Africa or Indian Ocean in order to cover Israel. Americans are safe from spying, or whatever it does.

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20. duckies July 14, 2025 at 10:18 am

    Putin’s favourite conductor to lead orchestra in Italy as it breaks ban on pro-Kremlin artists The Telegraph

    LOL! It seems like Putin has a favourite in every category MSM can come up with.

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21. The Rev Kev July 14, 2025 at 10:26 am

    “Iranian president lightly wounded while escaping Israeli attack”

    Proof that the Israeli attack on Iran was all about regime change and not anything to do with their nuclear program. And after the murder of Iran’s leaders would come the golden prize – the break up of Iran and its invasion by neighbouring countries who would each rip off a chunk of it-

    https://responsiblestatecraft.org/iran-war-2672502741/

    Sounds a lot like Project Ukraine but like with Russia, Iran proved to be a resilient country whose people came together against the Israeli and US attack. And those murdered leaders were quickly replaced by a younger generation who will be even more hostile to Israel and the US. And now Iran has become a harder nut to crack and they are getting more external support. commentators are saying that Israel will go for round two in about September because Trump will let them do whatever they want and give them everything they need.

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22. eg July 14, 2025 at 10:29 am

    Re “What Do Commercials About A.I. Really Promise?”

    The entire scenario of the ad itself is is redolent of Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs: A Theory

    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466958-bullshit-jobs

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23. LawnDart July 14, 2025 at 10:38 am

    Anosognosia, Word of the Day, if not the decade

    Lambert ran this a little more than a year ago, so if you missed it the first time around, I strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the term in order to recognize and understand what you are seeing– there’s a lot of it going around.

    I myself only learned of anosognosia a couple of years ago as I disappeared into a rabbit-hole of what would prove to be a slimy and grotesque case of elder abuse served with a cold side of financial crimes… fun stuff, and I’m not by far through with it yet.

    But bottom line: covid’s making already vulnerable people even more so, and you can bet that the predators among us are figuring this out and will be taking advantage of it.

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