the year 2000, the Cave of Crystals was uncovered beneath Mexico’s Sierra de Naica Mountain.
This remarkable cavern, situated around 300 meters (984 feet) below the surface, houses some of Earth’s most massive crystals ever found
pic.twitter.com/IZSJnQBTjV— Science girl (@sciencegirl) December 6, 2025
A New Governing Ecosystem Is Evolving Noema
⚡️The Kilauea volcano has started erupting in Hawaii
Observers see three roughly equal fountains, according to experts, this is an extremely rare phenomenon.
At the moment, it has been erupting for several hours. pic.twitter.com/Ak9LGP7pen
— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) December 7, 2025
What Time Is It on Mars? Physicists Finally Have an Exact Answer SciTech Daily
Vibecession: Much More Than You Wanted To Know Astral Codex Ten
Critics Warn of ‘Catastrophic’ Threat If Netflix Acquires Warner Bros. Scheerpost
COVID-19/Pandemics
French Study on mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Finds a Drop in Severe COVID—and No Increase in Deaths Reason
Ultra-processed foods: Leading cause of ‘chronic disease pandemic,’ scientists warn MedicalXpress
Climate/Environment
Nowhere to move: How climate change became the property market’s biggest nightmare Euronews
The Indian Ocean disaster is a climate tragedy — and needs more attention Nature
South of the Border
Insomnia and anxiety stalk Venezuelans amid US military buildup CNN
Maduro says the real reason for Trump’s Venezuela fixation is oil – is he right? The Guardian
Flavio Bolsonaro enters Brazil’s 2026 presidential race with father’s nod Al Jazeera
China?
CR450, China’s newest high-speed train. 400-450 km/h.😃 pic.twitter.com/A2ikY2yHin
— Sharing Travel (@TripInChina) December 31, 2024
China aircraft carrier conducts drills in Pacific, Japan scrambles jets Kyodo NewsWant an Explanation for China’s Nuclear Build-Up? It’s Not in the New White Paper RealClear Defense
Ceding the future to China Pearls and Irritations
How China would cut Taiwan off The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak substack
India
India’s elaborate welcome of Putin strains Western ties DW
India’s largest airline melts down after new crew rest rules CNBC
Clean energy surge: India adds record 31.25 GW non-fossil capacity this year, says Pralhad Joshi The Times of India
Africa
The American fixation on white Afrikaners in South Africa stretches back nearly a century The Conversation
WHO: Africa hit hardest as malaria deaths rise worldwide BORNA News
How Emerging Movements Are Redefining Democracy Across Africa Open Society Foundations
European Disunion
Germany may miss target start date for implementation of EU’s Renewable Energy Directive III S & P Global
‘EU is drowning in corruption,’ claims Hungarian premier Andolu Agency
EU rapporteur calls Turkey’s rule of law ‘a disaster’ in Ankara visit Turkish Minute
Old Blighty
Low-tax or high-welfare? The UK must decide what type of country it wants to be The Conversation
Nigel Farage accused of trying to ‘whip up hate’ ahead of Reform UK rally in Scotland The Independent
Israel v. Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iran
This is a video from a few days ago
In Gaza, from what the US and Israel call the “yellow line,”
the Israeli soldiers firing toward Palestinians on the other side for Fun pic.twitter.com/QHSdtDSv9w
— Warfare Analysis (@warfareanalysis) December 5, 2025
Israeli Tourism Sightseeing Of Gaza During Genocide
Special Interview with Lt Col Anthony Aguilar and Cpt Josephine Guilbeau
Thank you to:@InsideWithSam @JWGuilbeau
Follow them too!Unity for Victory! pic.twitter.com/N1vMOztdDC
— Erik Warsaw (@WarsawErik) November 30, 2025
Egypt calls for deploying international stabilization force along Gaza’s ‘yellow line’ to verify ceasefire Andolu AgencyEscalating Violations: Injuries, Abductions And Attacks Across West Bank IMEMC News
Syrian president warns Israel against tampering with 1974 ceasefire agreement Middle Easat Monitor
Lebanon: UN peacekeepers warn of ‘clear violations’ following latest Israeli airstrikes UN News
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia unleashes massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine as diplomatic talks continue AP
Sinking Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’: Has the Ukraine war reached Senegal? France 24
Alarm grows in Europe over what is seen as Trump’s ‘betrayal’ of Ukraine Los Angeles Times
Zelensky’s Government Sabotaged Oversight, Allowing Corruption to Fester NY Times
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Monetary Privacy: The Last Bastion of Human Dignity cointribune
AI glasses spark “RIP privacy” alarm in the Netherlands: A new era of recognition? EuroWeekly News
UK’s Ofcom to Boost Online Monitoring by 2026, Sparking Privacy Fears WebPro News
Imperial Collapse Watch
New federal rules could put formerly unhoused people back on the streets ABC 7 Chicago
What does a series of record-breaking drug busts mean for Colorado? CPR News
Trump 2.0
Trump’s Illegal Boat Strikes Recall Duterte’s “Drug War” Mass Killings Scheerpost
Hey, Does Anyone Want to Talk About Donald Trump’s Infirmities? The New Republic
Trump wants to be known as a peacemaker while frequently threatening war Washington Post
The Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine The National Interest
Musk Matters
EU Fines Elon Musk’s X $140 Million Over Deceptive Blue Checkmarks Technobezz
Musk’s SpaceX aims for 2026 IPO with jaw-dropping $800B valuation: reports NY Post
Elon Musk wants to create a ‘modern-day Library of Alexandria’ — and send copies to deep space Business Insider
Democrat Death Watch
Joe Biden Stumbles Over Word ‘America’ In LGBTQ Forum Speech Newsweek
Democrats in Congress Are Out of Touch with Constituents on Israeli Genocide InDepthNews
Immigration
ICE Goons Pepper Spray Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva During Tucson Raid Scheerpost
Detained illegal immigrants will face $5K ‘apprehension fee’: Border Patrol chief Fox News
Our No Longer Free Press
In another blow to press freedom in the US, White House launches media ‘Hall of Shame’ Euronews
Press pass showdown: New York Times takes Trump administration’s Pentagon to court Scripps News
Mr. Market Is Moody
Dollar steadies near five-week low on Fed rate cut bets Thompson Reuters
Poor job numbers save investors yearning for interest rate cut Courthouse News Service
US Treasuries Wrap Up Worst Week Since April Amid Fed Doubts Bloomberg
AI
Elon Musk’s Grok AI Is Doxxing Home Addresses of Everyday People Futurism
ChatGPT is losing the AI race to Gemini Cryptopolitan
‘AI is going to change creativity,’ Bill Gates tells Doha Forum Andolu Agency
Inside the Creation of Tilly Norwood, the AI Actress Freaking Out Hollywood Wall Street Journal
Meet the Anthropic team reckoning with AI’s effect on humans and the world The Verge
Perplexity AI hit with copyright violation lawsuit Cryptopolitan
Are We Seeing the First Steps Toward AI Superintelligence? Scientific American
The Bezzle
States Most Vulnerable to Identity Theft & Fraud WalletHub
FBI warns of high-tech ‘virtual kidnapping’ extortion scams Desert Sun
Guillotine Watch
The 5 most expensive ice cream in the whole world pic.twitter.com/85rlLzjjNf
— Knowledge Bank (@xKnowledgeBANK) November 5, 2025
The Frrrozen Haute Sundae: This dessert available at Serendipity 3 at New York, consists of 23-karat edible gold! Added to this is 18-karat gold bracelet plus 1 carat of white diamonds at the base of the goblet. Price: $25,000 pic.twitter.com/MioK1feTM9
— Eli Dror 🎗️ (@edrormba) November 22, 2018
Antidote du jour (via)
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
FDR was desperate to get us involved in WW2, and despite a number of American ships sunk in the Atlantic by U-boats, public opinion was still very much against it…
Did he ‘let’ Pearl Harbor happen?
Unlike today’s Ambassadors to foreign countries-often selected based on political perks, Joseph Grew was the real deal~
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Grew
Watched Ep 2 Victory at Sea on YouTube.
Six of the 8 battleships bombed at their slip were raised, repaired, modernized and served in the war. Other ships were also repaired. Better sink ships in deep water. Not bombing the dry docks was mistaken.
Pearl Harbor attack has always been there, I am 75. All the men I knew growing up were veterans.
Trillions have been spent over last 80 odd years bc “ in part for no more Pearl Harbors”. Good profit.
Its worth noting that the battleships @ Pearl Harbor were ancient WW1 vintage, and that brand spanking new North Carolina class battleships were launched in 1942.
I was five years old in December 1941.Pearl Harbor is among my collection of early memories. It occurred to me that a person age five in 1775 with a memory of the Battles of Lexington and Concord could have been around for the bombarding of Fort Sumter in 1861. The five year old in 1861could have heard the radio announcement of Pearl Harbor. Now here I sit at 89. Three long lifetimes encompass the history of the United States. Imagine if you will, the child of 1775 in 1861, telling the child of the event in 1775 and that person in old age telling me of 1775 and 1861. That chain of transmission of memory would be extraordinary. WOnder if anything like it ever happened.
That’s amazing and very good insights! Thanks for sharing.
That reminds me of a story, supposedly about a conversation that took place in 1923. A 91 year-old lady talked about Oliver Cromwell. She supposedly said: ‘my first husband’s first wife’s first husband knew him well and liked him much’.
John Tyler’s grandson died in last May. For reference, Tyler was the first US President born after United States came into existence (born in 1790).
From 2016:
U.S. Still Paying a Civil War Pension
https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-08-08/civil-war-vets-pension-still-remains-on-governments-payroll-151-years-after-last-shot-fired
There was a TV program in the 50s called “Guess my Secret” and one guy’s secret was that he saw John Wilkes Booth shoot President Lincoln. Also on YouTube is a video of British philosopher Bertrand Russell saying that his step father met Napoleon. The past is a lot closer than we think.
Bulldog Bob who lived to be 103, described a Kamikaze attack on his Destroyer in the South Pacific, over breakfast at my mom’s assisted living place about 5 years ago.
A neighbor related that sailing on battleship was great. The power plant was so great the sailors had hot showers all they could get……. As opposed to destroyers where it was cold showers.
The 14 inch guns were still good for long range bombardment beyond the beaches!
Here’s a good series on the War in the Pacific starting with the debate about Pearl Harbor:
Pearl Harbor–Avoidable or Inevitable-Episode 101
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1fIuC1pp-Q
It’s safe to say that the USN knew a war was coming by then, they just didn’t know when or where. Japan had invaded China in 1931 and controlled a significant part of the country by then. Germany had conquered Europe and invaded the Soviet Union. America was preparing for war, and cutting off Japan’s access to oil was not done to provoke an attack – most of the world was already completely engaged in war.
Cutting off Japan’s access to oil was certainly done to provoke war. Roosevelt, seaching for a way to start a war, had been told by his advisers that this economic attack was the way to force Japan into one.
As for the USN, when the destroyer USS Ward sank a Nipponese sub in the entrance to Pearl Harbor, more than an hour before the planes appeared, the report was shuffled, ignored and ultimately denied for decades and there was no alert issued or action taken to guard against an imminent attack. Even an hour of serious preparation could have changed the outcome.
How about 11 months of warning in advance, and how convenient that the aircraft carriers weren’t at Pearl Harbor?
The flaw of conspiracy theorists lies in their lack of understanding of military science. The notion that “if intelligence had been obtained in advance, a surprise attack could have been prevented” does not hold up in reality. Before the German surprise attack in 1941, the Soviet Army received substantial intelligence, yet still failed to avoid being caught off guard. In the same year, the Japanese attacked the U.S. military airfields in the Philippines—note that this occurred just one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor!—yet the American forces were still unable to prevent the success of the Japanese surprise assault.Why, on December 8, 1941 (I emphasize once again: this was the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor), were the American fighters and bombers stationed in the Philippines not away from the airfields at that exact moment?
I read someplace that the U.S. was not ready for war in December 1941, and that FDR had hoped to delay it until at least June 1942. Of course de facto the U.S. was already at war with Germany in the Atlantic — U.S. ships had been torpedoed and we were depth charging U-boats. IIRC Germany’s treaty with Japan didn’t obligate Hitler to declare war on the U.S. even after Pearl Harbor, and many historians think his doing so was a catastrophic mistake.
Sinking of the Reuben James, by Woody Guthrie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICy5P1pKy5A&list=RDICy5P1pKy5A
Yes, that’s probably much, much closer to reality back then. Roosevelt was gearing up for war in Europe. The USN had extensively war gamed an attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor and had concluded it could not be done. The fleets in both the Atlantic and the Pacific were forwarded based to support the British Navy. The carriers were delivering airplanes to remote islands and were delayed by a storm. The commanders at Pearl ignored warnings from the Secretary of War, ignored the report by the USS Ward, ignored the report from the radar and very bad $hit happen. Here’s a bit more to the puzzle:
Pearl Harbor: Five Things Most People Don’t Know About the Attack on December 7, 1941
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS_mA64nICI
Either that, or apparently FDR is an evil genius who’s commie New Deal socialism created the American empire, and the subsequent 50 year effort getting rid of said commie New Dealism was what resulted in the wrecking of America and the loosing of it’s empire.
Just watch what I linked to above, it’s a bunch of guys that have studied this for decades, and they go into all of it.
“Maduro says the real reason for Trump’s Venezuela fixation is oil – is he right?”
It is and it isn’t. The US keeps piling up troops in this region which caused me a rethink. During the First Cold War the US kept an enormous military force in Europe to deter the USSR but now Trump is winding down what troops are still stationed there. So it may be that Trump is causing a huge force to be now stationed in this region instead of Europe as their priorities swerve to the western hemisphere. Therefore those military forces are just not meant for Venezuela but also Columbia, Nicaragua, Cuba and any other nation that dares to have a socialist or leftist government. After all, those resources there are not going to pillage themselves.
Here’s a different take on T’s reason for threatening Venezuela.
Jimmy Dore with conservative podcaster Stew Peters. utube, 17 minutes.
Israel Pushing Trump Into War With Venezuela To Silence Maduro!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCv7UvCakR4
This makes as much sense as anything else, imo.
My impression may be somewhat similar, US impunity in Venezuela uses similar justification to israels excuses, and provides cover for ukraine as well. The triumvirate represents those who are struggling with a world they already controlled turning out to be not so much. A real sense that we could buy the world, simply put. 15 years of QE and subsequent stock buybacks along with all those mark to model securities that .gov laundered and the bank accounts are stuffed full. Gaza will be a great freedom city, and the prosperas of the world will attempt to recreate feudalism. Digital i.d’s and crypto, privacy?…no. Tabula rasa reset everyday. Pretty much all the worst things about religion and none of the best. I recall back in the aughts the tpp was an end run around government sovereignty which damn near succeeded and may have been the harbinger of the losses the davos crowd is now facing. Who would think the magna carta could be such an impediment to the brave new world ™. But financialized guns don’t shoot as well as they make money and there a’int no way around that reality. Funny hearing gates et al talking about new opportunities, No doubt his and the other tech bros kids are on a standard tech finance track at the ivies trying to be just like dad. Creativity not.
Easily the most misspelled country in the world…
A primer:
Columbian Cartels are in DC, not in Colombia.
Stupid spellcheck. I knew the right spelling but clicked on the wrong version. I understand that the CIA is still distraught over losing all those poppy fields in Afghanistan so maybe they want to take Colombia and get some drug production going full time – but for their coffers.
Or perhaps they are in Yakima and Kennewick.
For anyone interested in US policy toward Venezuela, or other areas, I can suggest the National Security Strategy of the United States of America recently released in late November 2025.
It’s a 29 page document and of particular interest beginning on page 15, “Western Hemisphere: The Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.”
It states in part, “We will deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets, in our Hemisphere. This ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine is a common-sense and potent restoration of American power and priorities, consistent with American security interests.”
The “Trump Corollary” is no doubt, but not exclusively, aimed at China and perhaps Russia. I think the entire document is worth a quick read:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf
WAIT is that it??? it just ends on page 29????
It looks unfinished … incomplete upload?
In my first reading, it sounds like a “Pivot”, except, it sounds like a pivot away from more than a pivot to … maybe the Trump guy ain’t dumb after all, and he’s herding neocons away from the disasters of Russia/China/Iran etc and toward the places here in our hemisphere that we should have been paying attention to but weren’t (but do it nicely, like the Chinese) ?
Of course it’s oil. Don’t look, but Honduras is where the action is right now.
Enduring flows: The transit of drugs in contemporary Honduras, Sage Journals, Volume 25 Issue 1, February 2025. Author makes a compelling case for how valuable Honduras is as an established black market distribution hub. And look at this number,
In 2019, around 120 metric tonnes of cocaine departing from South America via air or sea made a first stop in Honduras, not counting the shipments sent via land routes (INCSR, 2020)
Now, consider the pardon of Juan Orlando Hernández, who was the president at this time, Examining Trump’s Pardon of Former Honduran President Convicted of Trafficking Drugs to U.S., factcheck.
Meanwhile the election has been tampered with to the point that figuring out the intent of the voters may not be possible.
In a letter, Ochoa alleged manipulation of the results-transmission system as well as obstruction from within the state’s electoral authority. Ochoa said the TREP suffered deliberate failures, including disabled biometric checks, altered digital tally sheets, unexplained vote transfers, and the 40-hour retention of more than 16,000 tally sheets, which created massive discrepancies he claims total nearly one million votes. With the entire vote-processing chain compromised, he concluded that “there is no certainty whatsoever about the results.” That’s Marlon Ochoa, a representative for the Libre Party on the three-member National Electoral Council (CNE), from Honduras Plunges Into Post-Election Turmoil as Electoral Official Alleges “Monumental Fraud”, Dropsite News.
All this with a third of the US Navy prowling about. With 20k troops. Who’s trip to Venezuela might involve a stopover in Honduras first if those results aren’t favorable.
Simón says invade?
This sounds mostly correct.
I heard that there were 2 factions somewhere.
1) Little izaN Rubio that wants to rip out the the leftists to somehow get the oil and serve his anti leftist grudge. Regardless of the stability issues that may lessen the ability to get at the oil.
2) The people that just want to make deals and thereby increase the probability of actually accessing the oil.
Have to give them (the neocons and their israeli handlers) something to do.
At least it’s not getting our soldiers murdered in Europe or CHYYYNAH.
Instead they’re just picking fights with locals here in Jefferson Parish, LA.
Local DSA is swelling with Lib PMC types and no one’s really explaining anything to them. It’s all FILM ICE and KNOW YOUR RIGHTS classes led by the Orleans Public Defenders Office.
Like seriously, the Night School is training these dumb libs to know what it feels like to get arrested in these bizarre role playing exercises led by the lawyers who acted like the cops.
Fucking sheep and here they have the dumb LIB lawyers leading them for their dumb LIB non profit friends in Indivisible.
Does the S NOT stand for SOCIALIST?
What about the A? Isn’t that AMERICA?
Know they’re all in on the ICE Immigration hand grenade the Rich are lobbing into our backyard to stir shit up because they have all this excess security capacity and no where to blow it.
WHO DAT
BECNEL OUT
No doubt ICE is snooping on DSA
Records show monitoring of online criticism amid New Orleans’ immigration crackdown AP News
They aim to arrest 5000 in 2 months.
Re: AI “actress”
Where is a good old-fashioned Hollywood blacklist when we need one?
Can you imagine the meltdown that those AI techboys will have when they find that people are illegally downloading that AI “Actress” and are using her for pron videos?
As the Clash sang, “hooray for Hollywood.”
As Frankie sang, “Relax!”
“Forget it Fake, it’s Hollywood.” And the pervert old moneybags get away with it yet again.
Livin’ la vida Hollywood would be interesting, nobody watches TV in movies or on televsion, you always get an ace parking spot and seldom does anybody go to the bathroom unless its used as a plot device.
pron videos? Good thing that Wuk is on board. The original Spellczech.
I was riding a lift chair up @ Mammoth a couple weeks ago with a couple my age speaking Czech and I impressed them with my strictly limited vocabulary, and a common greeting is ‘Ahoj’ which sounds just like the nautical version, and we got off the chair and said our ahojs, which must have seemed weird to everybody else.
I thanked someone in Lithuanian once and someone else said gesundheit. (Aciu is Thank You in Lithuanian.)
Meltdown? They’ll be first in line. And then try to figure out a way to monetize. The only meltdown would be if people were downloading without paying.
‘You’re like me, you’re really like me!’
{with apologies to Sally Field}
Rather than that meme about actors…On this subject, it’s better to call attention to Sally Field in this scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvqpyDWvDyE/
Thanks for that. Great, great scene from a movie I love when it came out.
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned the 2002 Al Pachino movie “Simone” about a CGI/virtual actress.
They used a real actress for the depiction in the movie, but 23 years later, that might be unnecessary.
Hollywood may have depicted the AI actress a while ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_(2002_film)
Hollywood also depicted an AI Government back in 1997 in the film “Wag the Dog.”
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wag_the_dog
When Donny comes marching home again,
Chorus: Hurrah, hurrah!
They’ll give him a hearty welcome then
Chorus: Hurrah, hurrah!
The evangs will cheer, the boys will shout,
The ladies, they will all turn out
Chorus: And we’ll all feel less gay
When Donny comes marching home.
The old church bell will peal with joy,
Chorus: Hurrah, hurrah!
To welcome home our darling boy,
Chorus: Hurrah, hurrah!
The takes a village idiot lads and lassies say,
With roses they will strew his way
Chorus: And we’ll all feel less gay
When Donny comes marching home.
Get ready for the hyperinflation Jubilee
Chorus: Hurrah, hurrah!
We’ll give the hero three times three;
Chorus: Hurrah, hurrah!
The laurel wreath is ready now,
To place upon his loyal brow,
Chorus: And we’ll all feel less gay
When Donny comes marching home.
Let love and friendship on that day,
Chorus: Hurrah, hurrah!
Their choicest dogma on display;
Chorus: Hurrah, hurrah!
And let each one perform some part,
To fill with joy the warrior’s heart,
Chorus: And we’ll all feel less gay
When Donny comes marching home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0CLsxAm7fY&list=RDV0CLsxAm7fY
re: ICE Goons Pepper Spray Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva During Tucson Raid
US police and ICE train in Isr with the IDF. Bringing IDF tactics home to the US. From The Real News:
‘Deadly Exchange’: US sends hundreds of law enforcement to Israel to learn ‘worst practices’ from IDF
https://therealnews.com/deadly-exchange-us-sends-hundreds-of-law-enforcement-to-israel-to-learn-worst-practices-from-idf
From one perspective, it is as if one branch of government is overthrowing the constitutional balance by attacking the other branch. If Congress does not stand up (and I do not think it will), it will end up in jail or against the wall one of these days for whoever is out of favor with the dear leader. So far, Israel has not crossed that rubicon, though I am sure netanyahoo dreams of being the god-appointed leader for life.
Krav MAGA
‘Sharing Travel
@TripInChina
CR450, China’s newest high-speed train. 400-450 km/h.😃’
One smarty pants had a funny reply to that video-
‘Jean P. Gelinas
@JeanPGelinas
They stole the technology from the US high speed rail network!
Oh wait…’
Someday the HST from Chinatown in LA to Chinatown in SF will be completed, just you wait!
For better or verse~
~~~~~~~~~
I’ve waited 18 years for the bullet
Got me nowhere, wonder when they’re gonna pull it
I’m tickled to drive now
I’m a road trip son-of-a-gun
So hold it right there little choo-choo
We’re gonna have big fun when it goes to Malibu
Might be an outlier-the inland route
It may take forever to complete it, but oh, yes I will
I’ve waited 18 years for the bullet
Got me nowhere, wonder when they’re gonna pull it
It’s a super fast, sure shot, yeah
It’s a national breakout
So how come it’s gone nowhere
Huh, c’mon let’s figure it out
It’s high on the debt chart
It’s close to the tip of the top
But you can’t stop something you start
It ain’t never gonna stop, never, never entertain that thought
We got a smash north-south double-header
If we can only keep it together
Talkin’ ’bout you Tehachapi
Talkin’ ’bout you Pixley
I’ve waited 18 years for the bullet
Got me nowhere, wonder when they’re gonna pull it
18 With a Bullet, by Pete Wingfield
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x35B0XCofeU
This sentence strikes me as oblivious to the point of absurdity. Why on earth would -any- commercial shipping whatever continue if there was even the vague possibility of a ship being destroyed? Surely just the insurance costs alone would make any commercial venture unviable. Why do these people not consider such obvious facts?
–
–
–
“The CSIS report reached a similar conclusion: Taiwan can withstand non-military pressure from China, but once the PLA introduces submarines or mines, Taiwan cannot hold alone. In simulations where Taiwan fought without direct U.S. intervention, 40 percent of inbound ships were destroyed, even when Taiwan received Western support.”
“
About this link presented today, Sinking Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’: Has the Ukraine war reached Senegal?
“And in all these cases, they targeted tankers specifically, and they targeted tankers which were involved in transporting Russian oil and oil products.”
The publisher, France24 limits it’s whodunit speculation to plucky ukrainians targeting Russian Shadow fleet, consistent with the Western narrative.
The article never once mentions Mali, where that Russian oil is most likely going, and where it is a big part of how Mali is surviving the increased Jihadist JNIM attacks. But considering these unmentioned facts might lead a reader to suspect Western attacks (instead of plucky ukrainians) supporting the overthrow of the Malian government, which has demanded more compensation for their gold and other resources
From what you say, it seems more likely that it was the French that did it rather than plucky Ukrainians as they would have the most to gain from such an attack. You wonder how the Russians will retaliate and if it will even make the news.
Mercouris has similar suspicions
re: West vs. rest and vocubulary
paywalled
Gordon Hahn
The Western Schism, a Return to American Neutrality, and the New Multipolar Order
https://gordonhahn.substack.com/p/the-western-schism-a-return-to-american
A fundamental objection against certain terms, “idealism” and “democratisation” as used in this text, e.g.
“But, alas, the world again split apart between East (and South, to a certain extent) and West largely as a function of the latter’s abandonment of realism and embrace of a radical idealism driven by ideological beliefs and post-Cold War hubris.”
“On the background of such monumental scale, Ukraine’s people and even Ukraine statehood itself become small sacrifices on the altar of global democratisation and NATO expansion, if this promises the defeat of democracy’s enemies and guarantees humankind’s final march to utopia.”
(Inlcuding the incomprehensible rise of Fukuyama´s nonsense within academia.)
The West´s/NATO´s policies have nothing to do with either embracing idealism or democratisation.
Idealism is in the essence a left leaning egalitarian concept that considers the good in human beings and regards them as rational. That and “democratisation” are exactly what imperialism is destroying or trying to destroy.
If the West/NATO´s behaviour on geopolitical level has a single intent it is the destruction of achievements such as freedom, liberty and equality (liberté, égalité, fraternité) in countries outside its centre. And if it serves the elites they are willing to fight it even domestically.
So if we seriously wish to discuss Western geopolitics we should completely abandon such terms as “idealism” and “democracy” or “human rights.” The post 9/11 wars e.g. were a scheme to destroy these very developments outside “empire”.
6M dead as a consequence are the most obvious fact.
This too goes for critics such as Hahn, Diesen, The Duran, etc.
They should stop using this vocabulary because it is not intended in any genuine way. It is PR and lies.
If they complain about Orwellian Newspek, then they should not ascribe (albeit unintentionally) to the same practice.
Imperial Rome seems the model.
US is as dangerous to human dignity as Rome in 50 ACE.
Hmmm. With respect to Newspek… and tying in the all too common alarms from teachers up and down the educational stack (I watched a yt yesterday of a H.S. teacher with ~50 students, of which only 2 were reading at grade level), it would appear our society is rapidly reverting to a Roman Empire level of literacy as well. Propaganda works best if no one can read for themselves.
Once in a while in order to torture a younger person, i’ll ask them to write out a sentence with a pen and paper, and you take away spell check from them, and oh my gosh, the results are as bad as you’d imagine.
seriously?
I, for one, will embrace my Imperialist Citizenship and run for Tribune!
Long live the plebs!
– ‘Joe Biden Stumbles Over Word ‘America’ In LGBTQ Forum Speech’ – Newsweek
I thought Caitlin Johnstone’s remarks on Biden’s “award” at this event were quite appropriate:
“After genocidal war criminal Joe Biden was elected in 2020 I wrote an article titled “Biden Will Have The Most Diverse, Intersectional Cabinet Of Mass Murderers Ever Assembled”.
“On Friday the Hague fugitive former president was presented with an award at the International LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference for running “the most inclusive administration in US history.”
“The US empire is impossible to satirize.”
Amen.
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/12/07/sudan-venezuela-and-other-notes/
From the 2 Due Dissidence guys. Pretty funny. utube, ~16+ minutes.
Somalis BRILLIANTLY TROLL Israel: MAGA Misses The Joke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2XIfZbLZPU
Regarding “The Indian Ocean disaster is a climate tragedy — and needs more attention”. Abrupt, catastrophic climate change is still the biggest elephant in the room as this article specifically details.
Some countries, such as Sri Lanka, have declared a national emergency and asked for international help. Others, including Indonesia, have not even acknowledged that this is a crisis.
More, Perhaps one reason for the delays is the sparse coverage of the crisis in the global media, which has failed to portray the vast scale of this catastrophe.
Which is more likely,
A) Humanity across the globe comes together in a monumental collaborative effort to effect a successful last ditch effort.
B) Aliens save us.
Happy Sunday! I hate this timeline.
This second option is more likely: B) Aliens cleanse the planet of the cancer known as humanity.
One species is not worth more than all other life on the planet. Any life that can travel between the stars will surely see who is responsible for the current disaster.
And yes, I hate this timeline.
I have mentioned before that fossil fuels may be “dinosaur seeds”.
Ancient plants/animals deposited “hydrocarbon seeds” that needed to be aged for millions of years and then extracted and burned by a sufficiently advanced life form to recreate the environment in which dinosaurs thrived.
What a long planning horizon!
more like giant cockroach and dragonfly seeds.
ive held for years that we’re recreating the Caboniferous Period…almost as if we are ruled by big lizards in human suits….
And with Charlie Sheen as the human who will rescue us…
James Tiptree Jr.’s “Screwfly Solution” comes to mind.
re: Martyanov comment on new US National Security Strategy
Totally Agree …
… which is strange because it is from The Telegraph))
https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2025/12/totally-agree.html
“The American fixation on white Afrikaners in South Africa stretches back nearly a century”
Hardly an American fixation but more one for the Trump regime. If you asked most Americans, not many would know who the Afrikaners are and maybe half, if asked, would say that they came from somewhere in Africa. Perhaps the seeds for this were planted by Musk who come from there and Trump is using the whole issue as one to beat on the South Africans with. Otherwise there is not much going between the Afrikaners and Americans. Even during the Boer war there were not that many Americans that fought on their side and probably an equal number fought for the British-
https://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/Century19th/AmericansInTheBoerWar
In other words, this whole issue is made out of whole cloth.
I have known who Afrikaners were for 50 years, because I lived & worked in NYC & my first boss out of college was a British South African woman academic, married to an Afrikaner corporate exec (Hilton Intl.). It is spooky how people w Afrikaner ties – not just Musk, but Thiel, whose father took his family to live in an Afrikaner community for his mining engineering work (right?), and Nick Land, whose dad worked in S Africa for Shell Oil, who is an eminence grise to the Silicon Valley types & I think they lived in an Afrikaner area – are influential in this Trump admin.
But yes, nobody’s fixated on Afrikaners except those guys.
A simpler explanation is to assume DC is being run out of Tel Aviv, and this is the frankenstein’s monster shuffling off in a direction of a ‘color revolution’ in SA as a response to the ICJ genocide case. Having so many at the top level Afrikaner-adjacent greased the skids.
Afrikaner friends emigrated due to reasons like not wanting to be car-jacked or murdered, having their farms burned and family murdered, and desiring a better quality of staying alive. They found those in the US, New Zealand and even the UK for a while.
Friends were driving a rental car in Capetown a couple years ago when taking an off-ramp, and one of them had a smartphone in the cradle on the dashboard, when somebody busted her side window, reached inside and grabbed said phone.
I’d split too, as in yesterday.
Back in the early- to mid-90s, if you saw a Land Rover on the streets of my central BC town, you could be almost certain that it was being driven by a white South African émigré doctor. By the end of that decade, they’d all moved to Vancouver Island and other southern areas. I guess they just couldn’t handle the winters.
Not just Musk – David Sacks is South African and Thiel spent his teenage years there.
“Monetary Privacy: The Last Bastion of Human Dignity”
The author apparently knows everything about his subject except the only thing that really matters — fiat currencies (ie. the thing he figures his concept of “money” can replace) are an expression of sovereign power. That lots of people misunderstand what “money” is leads to all manner of pointless dead ends, including his own.
Thus do libertardians go on losing forever and ever in a world ruled by GROUPS of human beings, who fundamentally by biology and anthropology are social animals … 🙄
Arnaud Bertrand on Asahi Shimbun’s request for “westerner” content confirming the Japanese biases against Chinese people.
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1997544439481290985
This sinking of the shadow fleet….. is there an issue with oil escaping into the water? .. a deep water horizon or a exxon valdez or somthing at scale in regards an environmental catastrophy…. being overshadowed by the ongoing plantetary environmental catastrophy?
haute frozen sundae, woo, big deal! (I’m making a lewd hand gesture) I had this mastic ice cream the other day that had some kind of fruit on the bottom. I’d never had mastic ice cream, was surprised that it tasted dense, almost like cheese cake. I think I spent 1 euro and I bet it was way tastier than that gross gold foil travesty.
I’m watching my caloric intake, how many calories in edible gold?
Asking for a friend.
Best…H
The better way to measure the gold “flavoured” treat’s effect on your caloric intake would be to measure the ‘hole’ it makes in your yearly food budget. By replacing purchasing food with purchasing gold, you force yourself to cut back on calory intake. You simply cannot afford to buy food after you have spent all your available income on gold.
So, yes, precious metals can be an integral part of your weight loss programme.
Would that be ‘Auzempic’?
Well done Wuk, well done.
10 sheets of edible 24 carat gold costs about $20.00. It’s not that expensive.
More proof that the rich have no taste. It doesn’t even look like good chocolate.
On Taiwan by Mr. Mak’s Substack, an honest appraisal of its narrative leads to peaceful reunification – China’s desire, as Taiwan loses bigly (no mention of casualties!) in the military alternatives, yet repeatedly argues that Taiwan needs to strengthen itself.
-from the end of the blog:
“We believe that empathy and authoritarianism can’t mix – that when we tell deeply-reported human stories of people threatened by dictators, it compels people to act against injustice.”
The blog has lots of pro-Ukraine pieces (wow does he know elections are canceled). The blog is well written, yet reads more like a psyop than from a point of ignorance on what the meaning of dictator is.
I am not holding my breath for empathy for Americans whose government dictates their impoverishment or Brits imprisoned for free speech or the yellow vests (how many killed, maimed) or Gazans…
—– couldnt let it go —-
One thing that grated at the story’s start – Jack didn’t score high enough to become a chef (his dream), so he entered the Taiwanese navy. Weird – that is not how chefs are made in any country I know. A quick Google search suggests pure, unadulterated bovine excrement. If I cared, I would check whether the story has signs of AI generation (there are signs).
Still an informative case example of how psychological operations (psyops) are developing.
If Zelenskyy can demand Donbas back, Xi can have Taiwan.
Yes indeed. I wonder if they ever write and compare housing affordability in Taiwan compared to China, and how the elites and real estate moguls and developers are squeezing everyone in Taiwan…
Quite a few countries have chef programs at colleges, with Taiwan being one of them.
The story was not very good, but that detail is certainly possible. Of course a better writer would have left it out (because who cares).
Here are some initial impressions of the NSS, having read only the first couple of sections in detail:
– Why now? This seems like the kind of document you would release at the beginning of an administration, not almost 1/4 in. It should not take 10+ months to devise 29 pages. (See “Theory” below).
– No list of authors/contributors (maybe POTUS mentioned this in the prelude — didn’t read)
– Lots of generalities, light on specifics (thus far) — implying not a policy, but a political document
– Lots of superlatives, unsurprising given a certain proclivity for hyperbole
– More than one reference to “God-given” rights
– Written at the level of a freshman year Comp. I assignment (e.g., “suck us into”, as in foreign entanglements)
– Complains of unspecified “elites” — I suppose that the Prez, Musk, Miriam, etc. are not “elites”? Or maybe it is that some elites are more elite than other elites?
– Comes across a bit as “a kinder, gentler American exceptionalism” sort of groove
Theory: Trump, facing falling approval ratings but more importantly fractures in his base, has the team assemble this document (heavy input from Rubio, maybe edited by Vance) in order counter to that problem. It is general enough where it will readily interpreted according to one’s biases (the kerfuffle over “de-Europeanization” of Europe, but also “hostile foreign influence” — think Kirk/Tucker). The congressional Republicans, assuming their constituents are not reading the document in full and critically, can selectively cite and interpret parts of it in a manner meant to soothe the base (see, he is sticking to his promises and addressing your concerns!) and reinvigorate support.
One thing that struck me as a possible conjunction between this document and the 1980 article by Israel Shahak featured in yesterdays links. The “de-Europeanization” of Europe is attributed to immigration. Where is that immigration coming from, at least the variety likely implied (that not being from E. Europe and Ukraine?) The Middle East and Africa — the lands of the Yishma’eli and Kushim (roughly) respectively.
On the “why now”, my supposition may not be correct — the prior NSS issued by the Biden administration was issued in Oct. 2022, so it appears these do not have a cadence. Oct. 2022 would have been just prior to the mid-terms, though.
On further investigation, this specific report may not be that much of an outlier with respect to prior submissions, at least with respect to form, judging by the 2022 report.
Per the defense/war history site:
“The …(NSS) is a report mandated by Section 603 of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-433). The NSS has been transmitted annually since 1987, but frequently reports come in late or not at all. The NSS is to be sent from the President to Congress in order to communicate the executive branch’s national security vision to the legislative branch.”
If a report does not come in, then what exactly was transmitted?
If this was authored by Rubio and Vance it should be considered a document of deceit and misdirection.
I do not know if there is “cadence” for NSS.
There is set cadence for raising the army and funding the army and funding maintain a navy. That being national defense authorization act NDAA, that sets the things appropriations pay for. There is a two year cycle in appropriations.
Wait and see if the next NDAA noticeably reduces authorized land and Air Force due to reduced commitment to Europe.
I doubt things will change even as Trump blusters about NATO taking over burden.
A lot of vague words in that NSS.
It is supposed to be submitted annually to Congress, but when within a given year appears to be at the discretion of the administration.
There is a lot vagueness/generality, but I get the impression these documents are not meant to define concrete policy but rather supply policy directions (in the vector sense).
I am currently dismantling this document sentence by sentence — this passage just caught my eye:
The United States must reconsider our military presence in the Western Hemisphere. This means four obvious things:
…
[4] Establishing or expanding access in strategically important locations.
The last line on the 2018B movie Anon is quotable.
It’d not about hiding, it’s about autonomy and deciding who I will share with. A simpler concept for females, perhaps, who spend adolescence and early adulthood constantly dealing with people who want a piece of us regardless of our feelings. “Just a smile” if nothing else.
Syrian president warns Israel against tampering with 1974 ceasefire agreement – Middle Easat Monitor
A terrible al-Julani stand-up comedy routine disguised as news article.
I’ve always thought Xmas trees were kind of barbaric, you guillotine a perfectly good pine around 15 years old and then place it in a vat of water to reanimate it so as to make it look alive still.
That said, we are planning to walk to the Grant Tree next Saturday on the Centennial of the Nations’ Christmas Tree celebration, join us!
(please, no chainsaws)
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2025/12/join-park-staff-100th-annual-trek-nations-christmas-tree
Standing among the sequoias is a type of therapy. Blood pressure drops, hearing becomes more acute and senses overall help one bliss out.
Also available in travel paks, see Grand Canyon, Yosemite, beaches and rivers all over.
redwoods, sequoias and Pando, in Utah…are on my list of seven or so things i’d still like to see.
the rest are Glastonbury Tor, Delphi. Central Asia(stan countries, esp Tian Shan and Altai), and the Canadian Rockies.
Paris used to be on that list, but i have on good authority that its rather frelled, these days.
do please note that nowhere in israel is on my list.
at this point, make it glass and take it away from everybody.(I consider Saladin the last more or less just ruler of that place)
Giant Sequoias are an easy get, they’re waiting for you~
Kilauea volcano: Wow! Just wow! The beauty and the beast at the same time.
I would love to see that, and timing is oh so very tricky.
A friend went a week ago and got nice photos of nothing whatsoever going on~
Re; Israel AND Big Brorher AND Our No Longer Free Press v. Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and the rest of us
Pro-Israel Forces Intensify Effort To Control American Discourse
A shorter post with a lot to unpack. Touches upon TikTok (never was about China), control of US media, free speach threats to universities, and our lapdog lawmakers; a summary of the mechanics involved with the rewriting of history in real-time:
Across the American political spectrum, support for the State of Israel is steadily eroding. With the long-running, staggeringly expensive redistribution of American wealth and weapons to one of the world’s most prosperous countries under unprecedented threat, Israel’s advocates inside the United States are growing increasingly desperate to suppress the facts, opinions, questions and imagery that are causing this sea change.
Desperation has a tendency to foster extreme measures, and I don’t think that we need a crystal ball to see what might be heading our way.
New suspicions that Trump is at the bottom of the Palestine Action persecution after they vandalized his Scottish gold course. Hell hath no fury like a DJT scorned.
ttps://consortiumnews.com/2025/12/05/did-trump-pressure-starmer-to-ban-palestine-action/
Please. All we need is one semi-serious radiation release to render most or all of the tiny island of Taiwan uninhabitable for 100,000 years. This could be accidental, like a construction fiasco, an earthquake, or a typhoon; or it could be the result of sabotage, terrorism, or deliberate military action against the reactor or the fuel cooling pond. It could also be a consequence of loss of external power needed to keep the reactor systems running safely; power grids seem to be an enthusiastic target during most present day wars.
Hopefully this dude is not representative of US naval intelligence!
UNHINGED Panelists THREATEN Israel’s Enemies Everywhere
Due Dissidence Pod
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZgrXGcKWQ4
Re France vaccine study
This study actually confirms the “healthy vaccinee effect which corresponds to the numbers produced. Frances excess All cause mortality fluctuated from 0% to 20% over the pandemic years according to Our World In Data. The concerning numbers come from the under 60 cohort which this study looks at. I show below in FOI’s from BC that the under 40 cohort there are concerns starting in 2021 and rising through 2023.
Here is another study on France and Covid.
Excess mortality and years of life lost from 2020 to 2023 in France: a cohort study of the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality | BMJ Public Health https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/3/1/e001836#DC1
From the French vaccine study all cause mortality rate in both cohorts was less than 0.1% of national rate. Current rate in 2025 is 9580/million whereas 2010 was 8500/ million. Pre Covid YLL (years of life lost) in the under 60 year olds rose from 17% in 2020 to 50% of total in 2023 which has an extreme effect on overall life expectancy. From the linked study “Individuals younger than 60 years old accounted for 17% of the YLL in 2020, 26% in 2021, 32% in 2022 and 50% in 2023. Men were more affected than women by both excess mortality and YLL.” This corresponds to a BC FOI request on under 40 year olds hospitalizations for cardiac related issues. BC FOI HTH-2024-42317. In this report hospitalizations admitted through the ED rose 69% in 2023 over the 2017-20 average. In another BC FOI All Cause Mortality in under 40 year olds for 2021-24 rose 23% over the 2017-20 average. See this FOI for government response, HTH-2025-51679.
I made an error in ACM of vaccine study. The vaccinated in study were 25% approximately compared to absolute ACM. The unvaccinated were 34%. Basically equal to an expected 76% healthy vaccinee effect.
re:States Most Vulnerable to Identity Theft & Fraud WalletHub
Surprised the tips didn’t mention putting a freeze on your credit report. In the US this is a good idea. No cost, you can manage it yourself. You temporarily lift the freeze if applying for a loan or a new credit card.
How to place or lift a security freeze on your credit report
A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report. If you suspect someone stole your personal information or identity, placing a credit freeze can help protect you from fraud.
https://www.usa.gov/credit-freeze
“Are We Seeing the First Steps Toward AI Superintelligence?”
Beveridge’s law would suggest no. The writer seems unusually credulous.
re: Glenn Greenwald looking back at ascent of USA surveillance state and Ed Snowden
Glenn Greenwald commentary, 16 min.
(I will never get used to his way of speaking, though, which is about as fast as Jennifer Jason Leigh in “The Hudsucker Proxy” but 1) that was a screwball comedy 2) unlike Greenwald Leigh never stumbles)
But worth the time I think:
https://scheerpost.com/2025/12/07/how-the-u-s-security-state-expanded-even-after-snowden-revelations/