Music box made in Geneva around 1780, depicting a tightrope walker
— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) May 11, 2025
Could Ditching Elections Save Democracy? Boston Review
Waymo granted first permit to begin testing autonomous vehicles in New York City CNBC
Busy Beaver Hunters Reach Numbers That Overwhelm Ordinary Math Quanta Magazine
13 Years Without Rain. How Drought May Have Toppled the Maya SciTech Daily
COVID-19/Pandemics
Scientists Are Fighting Future Pandemics With a Secret Weapon: Airplane Toilets Popular Mechanics
Getting a Covid shot this fall could be a lot more complicated Politico
Climate/Environment
Climate Change Is Bringing Legionnaire’s Disease to a Town Near You Wired
Licence to burn: Victoria is changing the way it deals with rubbish – is it moving too fast? The Guardian
China?
🇨🇳China is building biggest and fastest high-speed rail network in the world
How many rail line are there? 24? pic.twitter.com/OqaYvOQKQF
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) August 23, 2025
80 years on, Japan’s wartime denial still shadows China-Japan ties CGTNChina’s ‘super embassy’ in London sparks spy panic RT
Global South: Trump is playing into China’s hands Le Monde
Taiwan’s energy dependence is ‘Achilles heel’ amid immense threat by China Fox News
China’s new flying-wing stealth drone rivals US B-2 in scale in leaked images Interesting Engineering
South of the Border
Ecuador is rolling out the welcome mat for U.S. troops. Washington should ignore the invitation. The American Conservative
Trump, Venezuela and China’s Latin America advance Asia Times
US remittances to Mexico at lowest since 2022 Andolu Agency
Violence in Colombia: Deadly twin attacks expose country’s deep security crisis El Pais
Africa
The 10 fastest-growing trading nations in Africa Business Insider
European Disunion
Europe burns as deadly infernos tear through Spain and Portugal in worst wildfire season on record Daily Mail
Europe’s Eclipse of Intelligence – Diplomacy Finn Andreen
After the Alaska Summit, Europe’s Moment of Truth The National Interest
With MAGA’s help, Europe’s far-right marches into the mainstream Axios
Old Blighty
UK’s Farage sets out plan for ‘mass deportation’ of asylum seekers Jerusalem Post
Israel v. Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iran
Famine has officially been declared in Gaza.
It’s not famine. It’s forced starvation.
And forced starvation is an act of genocide. pic.twitter.com/0HXZyYgHzU
— Mohamad Safa (@mhdksafa) August 22, 2025
Israeli army database suggests at least 83% of Gaza dead were civilians +972
LIVE: Israel kills over 70 in Gaza as UN warns of famine ‘survival crisis’ Al Jazeera
Classified IDF Intel Reveals 83% of Palestinians Killed in Gaza Are Civilians ScheerPost
New Not-So-Cold War
Trump: I may let Russia and Ukraine fight it out The Telegraph
Hungary, Slovakia fear oil cuts after Ukrainian attack on Russian pipeline Al jazeera
Once a top backer, Poland fades from Ukraine peace talks amid domestic turmoil Kyiv Independent
Brief Frontline Report – August 22nd, 2025 Marat Khairullin Substack
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Tornado Cash Case Sparks Culture of Fear Among Privacy Tool Developers CCN
Trump and Palantir Build Unified Federal Database Amid Privacy Risks WebProd News
Imperial Collapse Watch
Trump’s plan for DC homeless is giving San Francisco deja vu BBC
Rep. Mike Lawler floats bill to charge fentanyl trafficking as attempted murder NY Post
F/A-18 Crisis: String Of Crashes Rocks US Navy & Allies; What’s Going Wrong With Hornet Fighter Family? The EurAsian Times
Trump 2.0
Trump’s Acquisition of Stake in Intel Highlights Similiarities Between Right-Wing Nationalist and Left-Wing Socialist Economic Policies The Volokh Conspiracy
Trump mobilizing up to 1,700 National Guard troops in 19 states to widen crime and immigration crackdown Independent
Trump blames renewable energy for rising electricity prices. Experts point elsewhere AP
Trump’s Attacks on Institutions Threaten a Bulwark of Economic Strength NY Times
Trump’s FBI Raid of John Bolton’s Home Looks Like a “Five-Alarm Fire” The New Republic
Tariffs
Trump’s aluminum tariffs impact Wisconsin foundry, local manufacturing jobs NBC.
From earlier in the month, still germane:Europe to halt postal services to US after tax deal scrapped Euronews
Fearing Customs Chaos, DHL Joins Others in Suspending U.S. Shipments New York Times
Musk Matters
Musk set to pay $500 million to 6,000 workers fired without severance after his Twitter takeover The Independent
Democrat Death Watch
Playbook: Can Dems talk their way out of the wilderness? Politico
Democrats alarmed over new data showing voters fleeing to GOP The Hill
Immigration
National Guard mobilizing up to 1,700 troops in 19 states amid immigration, crime crackdown NY Post
The Legal Labyrinth of Immigrant Detention The Regulatory Review
Our No Longer Free Press
RSF calls on National Guard to respect press freedom while deployed in Washington, DC ifex
Pritzker signs bill to protect freedom of press, Illinois journalists WCIA.com
Mr. Market Is Moody
Dollar falls against every major currency as US stocks post worst global underperformance since 1993 Cryptopolitan
The US housing market’s historic slump could send inflation plummeting in the coming year Business Insider
U.S. unemployment claims surge to nearly 2 million, the most in almost 4 years Fortune
AI
The Trillion-Dollar AI Bubble Nobody Sees Coming technobezz
The role of predictive AI warfare in Gaza has been catastrophic, and is a perfect showcase of the mass digital surveillance system that Big Tech and the security state have built finally being used for targeted assassinations and mass slaughter. pic.twitter.com/wFCfAEwcOh
— Chris Hedges (@ChrisLynnHedges) July 14, 2025
Google games numbers to make AI look less thirsty The Register (Kevin W)
AI chatbot therapy is becoming a weird trend and it’s full of red flags Cryptopolitan
Elon Musk unveils Macrohard AI project that could ‘simulate Microsoft’s entire operations’ Interesting Engineering
The Bezzle
Interpol recovers $100m in Africa cybercrime sweep on crypto miners and scam networks DL News
Guillotine Watch
Virgin Galactic announced they will be selling tickets to travel to space this summer 😳
Ticket price: $450,000 For 90 Minutes
Initial Deposit: $150,000 (25k non refundable)
Pay remaining $300,000 before you fly pic.twitter.com/xeeHWeByMk
— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) June 26, 2023
Blue Origin takes you to space (100km, 350,000ft) and allow passengers to float in zero gravity for a few mins before returning back. You need to deposit 150,000$ to begin the process to reserve a seat for the 11 min flight. Tickets are said to cost between 500,000-1 mill $+ https://t.co/Zaxve127Pc pic.twitter.com/wyXxwNRdux
— Mauman (@mauman707) April 15, 2025
Antidote du jour (via)
“African Union endorses campaign to finally fix the maps that massively understate how big the continent really is”
Not just Africa. Everywhere-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLqC3FNNOaI (3:57 mins)
True story…Last night I was wanting to check out a world map and I told myself, “And I need one that gets the size of Africa correct to know it’s good.”
Then I saw all the stories about this breaking knews and it put a smile on my face.
The Gall–Peters Projection may be just what you need-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gall%E2%80%93Peters_projection
Damn, Africa is huge.
It’s “knews” for those of us “in the know”. 🙃
Check out this perspective:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/africa-share.jpg
Bucky Fuller, who was able to look at things with a new and unique perspective, had a (wait for it) dymaxion map of the world. Decades and decades ago.
https://www.bfi.org/about-fuller/big-ideas/dymaxion-map/
If you want to read a great book, “Critical Path”. I had the great fortune to hear him speak circa time the book came out. Sadly, so often, we seem heel bent for leather to consistently take the wrong path!
Critical Path with Kiyoshi Kuromiya, adjuvant.
St. Martin’s Press, New York City, New York. ©1980, hardback; paperback.
Find Critical Path here
Europe burns as deadly infernos tear through Spain and Portugal in worst wildfire season on record.
Portugal and Spain have enjoyed a very rainy spring this year (records broken) resulting in larger than usual growth of herbs and cereals. This might have resulted in lots and lots of dried straws this summer that might have facilitated the fires. This is my working hypothesis and i would suggest that straw clearing before fire season would be advisable.
Saw some video clips from Spain and they were pretty bad. One had a fire crew caught when flames turned direction and their truck died. They made it out but one was burned pretty bad. It looks like something out of a bad Aussie bushfire season. I understand that France has sent more than 60 firefighters with trucks and two plane to help out here.
Yeah Rev. It made me recall the terrible fires in Australia.
I understand that there are a lot of Eucalyptus trees in Spain with them making up about 28% of the forests in the Spanish region of Galicia alone. I bet that they did not help-
https://livesandtimesblog.com/2018/03/19/galicia-against-the-eucalyptus-remedying-an-australian-curse/
Stuff the timber and pulp industry, they gotta be culled.
Allow me to shed a tear in solidarity with the perennial warmonger John Bolton. I really hope they don’t have to waterboard him to get him to confess.
Trump coy on raid of critic John Bolton’s house: ‘I could know about it. I could be the one starting it’, Fortune. Full quote, emphasis mine,
“I could know about it. I could be the one starting it. I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer. But I feel that it’s better this way,” Trump said.
The comments on the Neuralink article are positively glowing, meanwhile I’m just waiting to hear how this device can eventually be remotely turned off or something.
Re; Imperial Collapse, Big Brother, The Beezle, “Defense”… I think this may have been overlooked…
Executive Order 14307—Unleashing American Drone Dominance
The Secretary of Defense, the President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Chief Executive Officer of the United States International Development Finance Corporation, and the Director of the Trade and Development Agency shall, to the maximum extent permitted by law, prioritize and support the export of United States-manufactured civil UAS and related systems through the use of, as appropriate:
(i) direct loans and loan guarantees;
(ii) equity investments and co-financing;
(iii) political risk insurance and credit guarantees;
(iv) technical assistance, feasibility studies, and grant mechanisms;
(v) market access facilitation; and
(vi) any other incentive mechanisms authorized by law.
US spending on UAS (unmanned aerial systems) in 2026 is exponentially higher than fiscal year 2025, and the executive order cited above pushes a very-aggressive timeline for implementation. There is much civilian/military overlap here.
24/7 AI-assisted drone surveillance is coming to your town within a year or two, but so are pizza-delivery drones… it evens-out, right?
I wonder where the parts for all those drones will be manufactured (cough*Chyna*cough). Could this turn out to be another rare earths scenario?
Or might said parts have back doors openable only by Chynese state intruders?
So what you are saying is that Chyna could seize control of all those drones spying on and following ordinary Americans every day of the week and send them to hover instead over every politician and every billionaire in America. Can you imagine the panic in some quarters – and the laughter from everybody else?
I see a big future in American sales of those Russian “anti-drone” shotgun shells.
See, (I know it’s a ‘reddit,’ but scroll down to the comments. Crowdsourcing ideas for anti-drone tactics. Who says America ain’t great.): https://www.reddit.com/r/ForgottenWeapons/comments/1cv9gsm/russia_is_testing_experimental_antidrone_shotgun/
Haven’t watched it myself but here is a video of Russian tests of factory-made 5.45 mm caliber anti-drone buckshot cartridges in case you are interested-
https://www.bitchute.com/video/xHWlpybfJCjI (22:27 mins)
Trump’s Acquisition of Stake in Intel Highlights Similiarities Between Right-Wing Nationalist and Left-Wing Socialist Economic Policies – The Volokh Conspiracy
“F.A. Hayek warned about the same tendency in his 1960 essay “Why I am Not a Conservative”:
[T]his nationalistic bias… frequently provides the bridge from conservatism to
collectivism: to think in terms of “our” industry or resource is only a short step away
from demanding that these national assets be directed in the national interest.”
Economists in the serivice of various types of empirialists over the centuries can’t have countries thinking their resources ahould be used to help the people of the country.
Much better for them that it’s all pillage for a global elite.
The Trillion-Dollar AI Bubble Nobody Sees Coming – technobezz
Ed Zitron: (clears throat loudly)
It really stands out that this does not reference Ed Z. Same with others catching on in 2025.
“A US Teenager Has Been Locked in an Israeli Prison, With No Trial, for 6 Months. Where’s the Outrage?”
Same place as the outrage for Gonzalo Lira is to be found. Biden let him be killed because he would not haul the Ukraine over the coals and embarrass them, even though all it would have taken was a simple phone call. And this kid could also be killed by the Israelis but Trump would fob his death off by saying ‘I haven’t heard that’ if asked.
The ‘totally braindead’ administration.
Blue Origin selling space flight like Miller selling cheap beer.
I need to get one of those jumpsuits for my wife.
Something along these lines?
https://www.amazon.com.au/Hengzhifeng-Astronaut-Costume-Coverall-Jumpsuit/dp/B09BDCW4S6/ref=asc_df_B09BDCW4S6
Set phasers for fun.
Lol, nope. The flaring “boot cut” ankle cuffs are a must.
Cue up the Ohio Players.
Or get one for Halloween.
IDK, will it make me look fat?
But if your wife ever asks that, the answer is always and forever more a definite ‘No! Of course not.’
(signed) a married man.
Now that’s diplomacy.
No, that’s survival. :)
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Cavendish
Slipping on banana peels where the grapes of wrath are stored
We have let loose the fateful sweet white 9 inch white sword
Neo-Anchuria is marching on
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Business as unusual is marching on
I have seen Banana Republics in the 3rd world-not here
They have built Edifice Wrecks empty of all cheer
One financial bubble after another, the reasoning not clear
Business as unusual is marching on
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Business as unusual is marching on
In the beauty of his thinking tariffs were borne across the sea
With a resultant inflation that effects you and me
As he tried to make us understand it’s a non-negotiable fee
Business as unusual is marching on
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
My Gawd, what is going on?
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
My Gawd, what is going on?
Battle Hymn of the Republic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy6AOGRsR80&list=RDJy6AOGRsR80
er…. Macrohard vs Microsoft…. that’s a sex joke, right? / ;)
Re: “Israel v. Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iran”
Which has me wondering: how are surprise attacks to date topped?
Could the next be some kind of attempted Greater Israel Blitzkrieg, where it, along with proxies and assorted global enablers, does moves on all five at the same time?
Torah, Torah, Torah!
Elon Musk Says Success Comes Down To ‘Simple Math.’ Putting In 100 Hours A Week Means You’ll Achieve Twice As Much As Those Working – 50 Benzinga
Simple math sans simple brain chemistry.
The Ketamine is to help him get through the second 50 hours.
2-1 = 200 Proof
I’ll think to that~
Democrats are alarmed that “you can only have one increment at a time” while they lard up the excrements to the grifting class is leaving a mark
The penultimate quote meant to inspire hope…oops not that…lets say a path forward…
“We need to make sure that while we fix it, we don’t only fight the last war and not be attuned to things possibly changing again,” Vale said. “Because we have already seen in a lot of polling that younger people, Latino and African American men are souring on Trump, and that can be something that can be the leading edge of winning them back registration-wise.”
So “…but trump” may actually start working at some nebulous point in the future.
Whew. O.K.,
adding on the header democrat deathwatch, greg sargent needs therapy but really should have minded the axiom that the guiler shall himself beguiled be and so should adam schiff and letitia james. Not to mention that the people who paraded dick cheney for that wine bar/brunch lady are shredding their fingernails due to injustice being borne by John Bolton?
i got an increment for you right here…wait…let me dig it out of the trash bin…it’s a kleenex drenched with crocodile tears.
Because we have already seen in a lot of polling…, lol, have these people forgotten how to think for themselves?
Trump theory of reality: If you can’t measure it, then it isn’t there.
Trump wants NASA to burn a crucial satellite to cinders, killing research into climate change
If a tree falls in a forest and Trump is not around to hear it, does it make a sound?
The only way this makes sense is that the Trump regime, in order to Make America Great Again, will let American industries pollute all they want with no restrictions whatsoever. It will be like the early 20th century before the Clean water and Clean Air Acts came in. But sure as hell he does not want it to happen that you have a US satellite picking up the changes to the climate caused by those polluting industries and it being published. It’s like getting rid of a potential future witness.
We have this 400 pound black bear who is the terror of Tiny Town, ‘Ursus Geller’ is the name i’ve bestowed, due to his or her ability to bend 1/2 inch wide metal rods locking down a in theory bear-proof trash bin like it was a teaspoon.
Ursus Geller laughs at our preventive measures, although plans to build trash bins out of 100% Kryptonite are under way.
Pirro Orders Office to Maximize Criminal Charges on Street Arrests, NY Times (archived), August 19. The lede,
The instruction amounts to a declaration that the understaffed U.S. attorney’s office will seek to ramp up criminal charges arising from the president’s takeover of law enforcement in the capital.
Ka-Ching goes the private prison industry. It seems as if they seek to institutionalize/imprison the lot of us. Will DA’s comply? Will they have the manpower?
13 Years Without Rain. How Drought May Have Toppled the Maya SciTech Daily
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our 5 year drought from 2012 to 2016 was on the verge of getting pretty scary kids, if only another year went on, and this with us having gigantic reservoirs designed to tide us over in such times drawing from our watery savings and loan plan, dams.
13 years of drought (of what turned out to be a 50 year long drought) is about how long the Anasazi lasted before getting the hell outta dodge in the 12th century.
Things were uneven climatically around the world in which truly nobody knew nothing about almost all the rest of the inhabitants of this good orb, and while the Anasazi were chased out of Chaco Canyon and elsewhere, Europeans were in the midst of their 3rd Crusade of many, and when you can equip and send an army to war for centuries, societal collapse due to climate change isn’t an issue in your world.
Re:Farage mass deportation of Asylum seekers.
The plan is to leave the ECHR, however I think he would also have to leave the UNHCR (which even the USA has signed up for) to make this process legal in our courts. Anyone know if the UK may have the right to backtrack on the 1967 protocol and abide by the 1951 version, which means the rules only apply to Europeans?
Previous racist regimes here have never seriously attempted the deportation, despite promising to do so, they put on a show and then just blame the courts for not letting them. So could this just be another example of using a policy to get elected and then not acting on it?