James Bond fans launch fundraiser for statue of supervillain Blofeld in his Polish “hometown” Notes from Poland
Pabst Discontinues Schlitz, the Beloved American Lager Brand VinePair
The Rise of Build-to-Rent Housing Construction Physics
Climate/Environment
Sea level rise is swallowing Mid-Atlantic farmland faster than expected, study finds Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Central Asia’s record-breaking ice loss in 2025 raises water risks for millions Phys.org
Serious urban flash flooding strikes two major US cities – but is handled very differently Balanced Weather
Hard Rain Harper’s. “The battle over weather modification”
Scenarios, schmenarios… RealClimate
Is Community an Answer to Brittleness? The Snap Forward
THE HONEY COLLECTORS WHO RISK THEIR LIVES IN TIGER COUNTRY Atmos
Risk of snakebites increasing as reptiles adapt to changing world, says study The Guardian
Pandemics
COVID and the Great Retrenchment University of Michigan Law
This may be one of the more important long COVID papers in a while.
A new study in Frontiers in Immunology suggests that COVID can trigger new-onset insulin resistance – and that this may drive abnormal NETosis in neutrophils months after infection🧵— Zdenek Vrozina (@ZdenekVrozina) May 21, 2026
Ebola
And this is exactly what I’ve been saying happens in a pandemic with 40+% mortality. Everything breaks down. Anarchy. People not getting things. They are setting fire to the hospital (the last place you would want to set a fire to).
Supply chains break fast. You need to have… https://t.co/G8NJP4uKzg— Roger Seheult, MD (@RogerSeheult) May 21, 2026
Fears as Ebola cases reported in rebel-held area hundred of kilometres from epicentre The Independent
***
US is ‘simply choosing not to stop’ Ebola outbreak after massive public health cuts, experts say The Guardian
White House resisted letting doctor with Ebola return to U.S. WaPo. And a second one: US doctor exposed to Ebola to be treated in Prague under strict isolation Radio Prague International
US taps small San Diego biotech for experimental Ebola treatment as epidemic worsens Fierce Biotech
Hantavirus
High prevalence of hantavirus in some areas of the Pacific Northwest Medical Xpress. In rodent populations.
Water
Woman files lawsuit after arrest for Facebook post concerning Trinidad water supply issues FOX4
China?
Each American CEO came to China with a specific issue they wanted to address. Nearly all of them left empty-handed.
Most intriguing in this piece was the confirmation that China had indeed blocked Maxwell from selling solar manufacturing equipment to Elon Musk. https://t.co/4Zp9Xvshdp
— Kyle Chan (@kyleichan) May 22, 2026
Acting Navy secretary: Taiwan weapons sales paused to ensure munitions for Iran war The Hill
Trump Got the Show, Putin Got the Bromance — Xi Took the Stage George Chen
Southeast Asia
India
‘Chess Piece’ to ‘Blood Bag’? What Trump-Xi Summit Could Spell for India The Wire
Syraqistan
An Israeli unit’s “homecoming” party featured a display of their well-documented annihilation of southern Lebanon’s villages, met with cheers and laughter from crowds of soldiers, their relatives, and family members.
It is a scene impossible to see anywhere but Israel. pic.twitter.com/EkAwH3jL9s
— Israel Genocide Tracker (@trackingisrael) May 21, 2026
Gaza flotilla activists deported after ‘abuse’, ‘torture’ in Israeli custody The New Arab
They’re Not Mad At Ben-Gvir For Being Evil, They’re Mad At Him For Being Honest Caitlin Johnstone
The U.S. threatens to revoke the Palestinian U.N. ambassador’s visa NPR
Today, the Lebanese resistance targeted Col. Meir Biderman, commander of the IDF’s 401st Armored Brigade, in south Lebanon. Israeli media report that he is fighting for his life.
This is the same brigade that murdered Hind Rajab, stormed Al-Shifa Hospital and terrorised Rafah. pic.twitter.com/11h3djyvg0— Dyab Abou Jahjah (@Aboujahjah) May 20, 2026
***
Trump Cancels Last Minute Attack Amidst Reports Iran Has Now Clocked US Tactics Simplicius
European Disunion
Trump to deploy 5,000 US troops to Poland after earlier plan was canceled France24
Brussels Blames China. The Data Point Elsewhere The East is Read
O Canada
Military Minerals: How US Military Demand Is Intensifying Extraction on Indigenous Lands Transition Security Project
Old Blighty
Sadiq Khan sparks row with Met after blocking £50m AI deal with Palantir The Guardian
New Not-So-Cold War
Is Ukraine-Russia War Entering the End Game? Cliodynamica by Peter Turchin
NATO incrementalism: First they denied that NATO airspace was used to attack Russia; then they argued the Ukrainian drones did not have permission to be in NATO airspace; now the Swedish Prime Minister argues NATO should help Ukraine direct their attacks in the “right direction”… pic.twitter.com/i88txcdbzs
— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) May 21, 2026
Finland’s massive bomb shelters draw world to Helsinki in quest for security Straits Times
🚨⚠️🚨Ukrainian forces deliberately struck sleeping children in the LPR: they targeted the academic building and dormitory of the Starobelsk College.
At the time of the attack, 86 children between the ages of 14 and 18 were inside the building. At least 35 people were injured.… pic.twitter.com/vzrkK0C0wD
— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) May 22, 2026
Ukraine tests balloon-launched drone system to extend strike range Intellinews
Imperial Collapse Watch
Matter of Time Jon Kurpis, The Duran
U.S.: New Data Highlights AIPAC Ties To The U.S., Israeli Governments DAWN
South of the Border
The Provocative Reality Behind the Cuban Airplane Shootdown Accuracy.org
L’affaire Epstein
Who is Sarah Kellen and why wasn’t she charged with Epstein-related crimes? The Epstein Files by Julie K. Brown
Trump 2.0
Trump Allies and Foes Jockey for Payouts From ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund WSJ
Republicans punt on reconciliation amid furious disagreement over ‘anti-weaponization’ fund The Hill
IS TRUMP’S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PURSUING OBAMA? Seymour Hersh
Democrats Suck
Biden team failed Kamala Harris in 2024, Democratic autopsy says USA Today
DNC autopsy author Paul Rivera met with the pro-Palestinian group IMEU Policy Project in July 2025, and told them the war in Gaza hurt Democrats in the 2024 election, according to two people familiar with the meeting.
But the final report makes no mention of “Israel” or “Gaza.”… pic.twitter.com/zDjGZ80K9p
— Holly Otterbein (@hollyotterbein) May 21, 2026
California’s ‘groundbreaking’ fast food council lacks a leader, hasn’t met in over a year Cal Matters
The Uniparty
The Data-Center Divide Harper’s
Police State Watch
NEW: Multiple ICE warehouses were sold by people in Trump’s circle who were sitting on the properties and losing money.
We dug into it, and found that some properties were bought by the feds for 10x their list price.
It’s a new level of corruption — and you’re paying for it. pic.twitter.com/MmUDL9kFsW
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) May 20, 2026
Immigrants Reportedly Held in ICE Jails Despite Agreeing to Leave U.S. Documented
ICE Spent More in January Than NASA Gets All Year Migrant Insider
Newly Released Footage Highlights ICE’s Use of Facial Recognition Technology Truthout
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
After Town Bans Flock, Councilmember Crashes Out, Proposes Internet and Phone Ban 404 Media
AI
Checking the math behind OpenAI and Anthropic’s latest headlines Gary Marcus
AI is killing the cheap smartphone David Oks
Generative AI’s Existential Cringe What We Lost
The 420
Flying with marijuana? How a small change to TSA’s guidelines may impact you The Hill
Agriculture
Trump Defends Chinese Purchases of US Farmland Morning Ag Clips
The United States Has a Food System Crisis, Not a Food Shortage William Murphy
Class Warfare
Western leaders play their part in our charade democracies. Can you spot the tell? Jonathan Cook
Imperfect Guardians California Law Review. ‘…confidence in the comparatively reactionary character of ordinary, working-class, and poor people in the United States is in no way proportional to the evidence. That confidence reflects less a grounded finding, and more ideology or faith in the need for elite rule. To allow these commitments to go untested is particularly dangerous in the face of the authoritarian politics of hyper-concentrated wealth and power that has become a feature of contemporary life. Such discourse diverts attention from the fundamentally undemocratic nature of the U.S. state and allows governing elites to blame “the people” for problems elites have a disproportionate hand in creating.’
RENT STRIKES, TARGETING TAX BREAKS, AND DATA: TENANT ORGANIZING BEYOND LEGISLATIVE CAMPAIGNS Shelterforce
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Ebola in Prague wasn’t on my travel plans, but here I am in the most beautiful city in Europe where we are having a delightful family reunion. If not for WW2, I’m probably the 53rd generation to have lived here, but shift happens.
If Ebola really cuts loose in Prague, they may have substitute the letter ‘l’ for ‘r’ in the city’s name. But I have heard that Prague is a great city to visit so excuse my envy. Don’t tell them I said so but images of Prague that I have seen look like the better parts of some German cities. Enjoy your stay.
I’m in Prague too. Parts of the Old City look like a fairy tale. Glad I came.
I’m in Prague too. Parts of the Old City look like a fairy tale. Glad I came.
Sorry for the double post. Please delete the 2nd. Thanks.
Get out of the centre, have a swim, read, eat klobassi and drink the best beer in the world at one of the city lakes.
Makes for a very pleasant day.
While I am piker compared to a proper hiker, the green space in prague makes for a good days walk
However, reading the czekia president’s ravings today, I really wonder what ‘europe’ thinks or even if it can any longer think.
Poking a bear with a stick on your friends’ advice says your friends do not deeply give an f about you.
From Breaking Points:
srael PANICS After Gov Minister ABUSES Flotilla Prisoners On Camera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDikZu3BkwE
Translation – ‘You idiot! You’re not supposed to do that when the cameras are turned on!’
That’s not an unusual thing for Ben Gvir to do, only he usually does it to Palestinians, so no one cares.
From Breaking Points. Talking about the PA primary results.
AIPAC BLOWN OUT In CRUSHING PA Loss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN8FEN0rFPc
I don’t think AIPAC was blown out in PA. Somehow they let two pro-Zionist candidates stay in the race, splitting their vote and allowing the Democratic socialist candidate they disliked to win with 45% of the vote.
If only we could wager to see which of us would win the $$$ they will now spend to support the Republican candidate in the general election and correct their mistake.
“After Town Bans Flock, Councilmember Crashes Out, Proposes Internet and Phone Ban”
I think that the township of Bandera, Texas needs their own sore loser laws. Council member Jeff Flowers’s rant sounds like he just lost his paycheck or something. (‘Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Know what I mean.’)
“Say no more!”
Rather than a “sore loser law,” what they need is a “you must be THIS mature to be on city council” sign.
what about :
“you must be no taller than this on your knees to get on this wild ride to riches routinely unavailable to your abilities”
great article in Harpers about Rainmaker, it’s coming to the PNW in a big way. Harpers Index always a curiosity
For those of us who are paywalled, can you explain what Rainmaker is? Thanks!
A startup company that uses meteorological data, drones and silver iodide dispersal to try make rain much more cheaply than the old-fashioned pilot, cloud guesswork and airplane method. The jury is still out.
re: China/USA – Arnaud Bertrand
I can´t judge long-term validity
He argues Chinese secret intelligence believes US as huge threat is over. It now has to rather “manage” US as a problem.
paywalled
China’s spy agency thinks the worst is over
This is an extraordinary document which contains perhaps the most authoritative description of where China thinks its relationship with the U.S. stands, and where it’s headed.
The report was written by CICIR – the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (中国现代国际关系研究院) – which is the research institute of China’s powerful Ministry of State Security (MSS), basically the CIA and the FBI all wrapped in one.
Furthermore, it was published on chinadiplomacy.org.cn, which is jointly run by CIIS, the research institute of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In other words, you can hardly get closer to the horse’s mouth – short of sitting in on a Politburo briefing.
The title of the report is “The Great Global Transformation and the Path to U.S.–China Coexistence” and a full translation is available at the bottom of this article, but in the meanwhile let me highlight what struck me most reading it.
https://arnaudbertrand.substack.com/p/chinas-spy-agency-thinks-the-worst
From an fb-post quoting Bertrand:
To summarize briefly the most important – and, perhaps, surprising – aspect of the document: China’s spy agency – the one institution whose entire job is to worry about the U.S. threat – has largely stopped worrying.
That’s really what transpires from the document.
They use a strategic framework borrowed from Mao’s “protracted war” theory and, according to this framework, America’s offensive phase is finished and China weathered the storm intact.
The question is no longer “how do we survive America?” but “how do we manage America?” – and they’re proposing a six-step relationship recovery program.
The Chinese document machine-translated:
The Great Changes in the World and the Way for China and the United States to Coexist
Publication Date: 2026-05-13
https://archive.is/TB3re
original
https://cn.chinadiplomacy.org.cn/2026-05/13/content_118491806.shtml
from the original text, this makes me doubt that Arnaud is interpreting the subtext correctly:
“In the era of globalization, the interests of China and the United States are deeply intertwined. In many areas involving bilateral and even global common interests, such as trade, climate change, public health, counter-terrorism, and non-proliferation, both sides have a solid foundation and broad scope for cooperation. China-US relations have never been a zero-sum game of winner-takes-all or lose-lose; mutual benefit and win-win are the essence.”
I don’t understand the internal workings of China as well as Arnaud appears to, but he also seems to consistently push ideas that narrowly align with the interests of China’s business elite, like this insistence on mutual interdependence that no doubt have some currency within leadership circles.
But I also cannot imagine that the Chinese as a society have seen what the US is doing in the Americas, West Asia, Africa etc and concluded that the US sees any value in mutual cooperation. It is acting even more malevolently, sowing instability and tearing up the foundations of globalization or even just any semblance of international law, it is the quintessential rogue power.
Even if the US cannot ultimately meddle in the Taiwan issue going forward, this type of wishcasting about broad cooperation and shared interests is either propaganda aimed at westerners like Arnaud, or the product of a faction in the bureaucracy that thinks China can and ultimately should be accommodated within the club of imperialist powers.
The Waymos are at it again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1OqtIqzScI&list=RDA1OqtIqzScI&start_radio=1
Glenn Diesen posts a bunch of hallucinating, managerial-type Swedes who obviously have eaten some pieces of rye bread with ergot.
NATO incrementalism: First they denied that NATO airspace was used to attack Russia; then they argued the Ukrainian drones did not have permission to be in NATO airspace; now the Swedish Prime Minister argues NATO should help Ukraine direct their attacks in the “right direction” . These reckless people will trigger nuclear war.
A few weeks back, I read an essay here in an Italian newspaper in which the author talked about how the high-ranking officers in the Italian Army and Navy had plenty of doubts about the use of force and plenty of hesitancy about the bourgeois/civilian desire to enter World War I, which Italy “won,” but at great cost. See: Caporetto, October, November 1917.
Wikipedia tots up the Italian losses at Caporetto:
13,000 dead
30,000 wounded
265,000–275,000 captured
300,000 stragglers
50,000 deserters
3,152 artillery pieces
1,712 mortars
3,000 machine guns
300,000 rifles
The essayist pointed out something that has to be effected, although I am not sure how. In Italy, many of the high-ranking officers and many members of the nobility had lost sons and cousins in battle even before WWI. When a family is dealing with a death in war, the members don’t want to hear from a bunch of flag wavers about the glories of being slaughtered in battle.
[In the U S of A, this is your neighbor Ralph overflowing his camo cargo pants, as well as your neighbor Elsa, the Hillary Clinton diehard, who is in favor of shooting up Putin, the terrorisses in Gaza, and various Iranians and other swarthy types. And, yes, the Second Amendment worshippers who think that their gun is the freedom.]
U.S. culture is horrified of death. Well, I say, send the plastic-surgery products into battle. The Trump kids. Chelsea Clinton. RFKJr in heroic shirtless poses. Pete Buttigieg as leader of the Norwegian guerrilla army. Hunter Biden. Elon Musk. Kamala Harris, for that strategic, battle-hardened look of Shrapnel Auntie.
The people who own the country should be the first to send their spawn into battle to protect the Tesla and the sleep-away camp and the wine cave.
Here in the Golden State Havvy Basura looks like he will become our next Governor, Kamala without the charm.
Only dumber.
Porfavor? His name literally means “trash” in Spanish…
Xavier Becerra. Called Basura because nominative determinism.
Also the guy that protected CalPERS’s corruption as California’s AG and made sure that they were never held to account.
Becerra.
He is the perfect anodyne California Democrat, with all of the proper identity politics, vast experience in the Biden administration, and the usual litany of attractive yet vague and strangely familiar promises, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. With the notable exception of Pat Brown (Jerry’s dad) and Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s politics are overwhelmingly performative, and overwhelmingly dominated by deeply entrenched interests.
One small example: local governments in California love to whine about how they have no money because of Proposition 13, a 1978 tax revolt initiative capping property taxes pitched as relief for widows and orphans, but primarily benefiting the large landholders and corporations that paid for the campaign.
It would be trivial to claw back most of the tax revenues, while keeping any tax relief benefit for small homeowners and businesses and farmers, simply by exempting the biggest property holders and speculators from the property tax cap, and closing an egregious loophole that allows corporate speculators to pass along the tax break whenever they sell property.
The California legislature can do anything they want to modify or repeal Proposition 13 at any time, with a 75% supermajority vote in the state Senate and Assembly. Democrats have had that 75% super-majority in the California legislature for something like 15 years. The single change they’ve made in that time makes it more difficult for families to keep their house when the parents die.
Local governments have no money. Corporations and speculators make bank. Politicians like Becerra promise this time, for sure.
Looks like he’s descended from upon high to welcome you to an AI and data center future, too. That’s what’s so great about US democracy: no matter who you vote for, you always get freedom. /s
“Pabst Discontinues Schlitz, the Beloved American Lager Brand”
No article I’ve read about this sad event has included any details on why the Schlitz brewery in Milwaukee shut down in 1981. There was an epic battle between the brewery workers union and the Uihlein family, owners of Schlitz and local oligarchs, which culminated in a very long strike. The Uihleins refused to negotiate and eventually closed the brewery, breaking brewing union solidarity across Milwaukee.
At the time there were 4 major American breweries in the city, employing thousands of working class men and women. They are all gone but for Miller, owned by the Canadian Molson-Coors conglomerate now. All the support and distribution industries were crushed as well.
The Schlitz buildings are still there, on what is now MLK drive. Condos and small businesses inside. The Brown Bottle Tavern, which used to be the last stop on the Schlitz tour, closed in 2022. The Milwaukee working class, especially people of color, has been decimated over the past 50 years. And yes, before the beancounters were allowed to run amuck and mess with the recipe to squeeze more money out of it, Schlitz was a very decent lager. That’s why it was for many years the world’s most popular beer.
RIP “The beer that made Milwaukee famous”.
The Uihlein family sound like quite the couple-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_and_Elizabeth_Uihlein
Wouldn’t want them as neighbours though.
It is many years since I was in the US, but what I most remember was the toss up between what was more tasteless, American beer or American cheese. I cannot imagine things having improved since then.
Coors is a beer sprizter.
I’d say that about Coors Light, but the original Coors Banquet, when it’s fresh, is a good session lager.
My sister-in-law in Texas called CL beer flavored water.
As a yute I never liked beer. Then I lived in D-land for a while, and realized that REAL beer was pretty refreshing.
Coors is not beer. It is actually saki. It is made from rice not barley.
The best ale house in Milwaukee doesn’t serve any American beer. Their main fair is Guinness being an Irish pub.
Come, now. When was the last time you were there. This is just not true. Look up New Glarus Brewing Company, Sprecher Brewery, etc. The brewery mentioned in the article on Schlitz also brews lovely beers.
“Bean counters and union crushing killed _____” is the epitaph written on the gravestones of thousands of American companies that actually made stuff.
My country killed its seed corn long ago. It makes me sad.
Thanks for the backgrounder.
I’ve given up on alcohol but have read that beer consumption in general is declining.
I’ve been drinking seltzers lately if I do drink, and I guess I’m not the only one judging by the coolers in stores. I noticed half the shelf space in the local convenience store was taken by seltzers and hard lemonades/ice teas – a few years ago you might have seen a few Twisted Teas and maybe a little hard cider, with the rest all beer.
Never thought I’d be a seltzer drinker, and I don’t care for the national brands at all – too sticky sweet. But we have some local breweries that make hard seltzers on the side and those are really good – crisp, dry, and not too sweet.
I’m pretty sure the upsurge in pot smoking/vaping/edibling had a huge impact on Schlitz sales. Not saying you can’t drink and vape but the more you vape the less you remember to drink.
When I was growing up, you were either Schlitz (some would say “the beer Milwaukee made illegal”) or (What’ll you have?…”) Pabst. Miller (Champagne of Bottled Beers) “High Life” wasn’t even a thing. Until “Lite” came out. Unions helped kill the Milwaukee breweries. My Dad had a friend who worked at Blatz “I’m from Milwaukee, and I ought to know…” brewery. They walked out and it was one of those “we would rather shut it down than compromise” affairs.
The Uihleins were a big deal in the 60s when I was growing up. Among other things they financed the 4th of July parade, which featured horse-drawn circus wagons from the Wis Historical Society World Circus Museum in Baraboo (home of the Ringling Brothers long before they moved their base to Sarasota). That eventually got too expensive I think and evolved into “Summerfest”.
I think Schlitz was an innovator of the “lower tier” line of beers with “Old Mil”. Pabst revived “Red, White & Blue” to compete. This was back in my days at UW with “buck pitcher nite” and it was a real pitcher, not the wimpy things you see today.
I guess there’s always “Laverne & Shirley” reruns.
Harpers…
The cause for Republicans’ general unwillingness to embrace anti-AI politics is obvious: Donald Trump himself is closely aligned with the tech oligarchs who run the industry. But for Democrats, the aversion may seem more puzzling. After all, local Democratic candidates running in Virginia and Georgia on anti-data-center platforms swept to victory last year, and a March poll by Quinnipiac University found that a majority of American adults oppose the building of a data center in their community. Why, then, has the party failed to capitalize on the obvious political opportunity to get behind this opposition?
Because the democrat party sucks. Two sycophant parties kissing billionaire butt.
Dems in Iowa, with AI! Dem Iowa primary is June 2, a week and a half from now. From Breaking Points. (last one)
Ryan EXPOSES INSANE SCHUMER AI $9 Million SCREWUP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqHUlITsCgk
Shorter autopsy: Kamala cannot fail. She can only be failed.
“Sea level rise is swallowing Mid-Atlantic farmland faster than expected, study finds”
It sounds like trying to save those farms is hopeless as you cannot stop the encroachment of that salt. Maybe they can be purchased and turned into marshlands or something that will lessen the impact of storms blowing in from the Atlantic.
My understanding is that the Netherlands has had to keep the Atlantic Ocean at more than an arm’s length over quite a few centuries. Maybe those Mid-Atlantic states could get some ideas from over there to cope with this.
I am deeply concerned that “Immunity Debt” will negatively affect America’s response to the Measles, Hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks.
The public needs to be reassured that every thing is under control, it’s contained
To my mind the best way to do this would be a road tour, deliberately infect RFK Jr with measles ( it’s no danger to healthy people), Battacharya with Ebola and Dr OZ with Hanta virus.
Start with a presentation by all three to the White House staff at the site of the big beautiful ballroom, move on to the Sidwell Friends school ( We don’t want the kids to worry about trivialities) and the the floor of the NY Stock Exchange to reassure the markets that Trump has their back (BOHICA).
There’s nothing but blues skies and good times ahead as each day gets better and better in this, the best of all possible Worlds!
There is no such thing as immunity debt. There is damage to most of our immune systems from covid19. There is the issue of less vaccination uptake. Our ccommunity immunity declines with lower vaccination % meaning more exposure to more diseases for all of us, who mostly have damage to our immune systems from covid. So it is not great.
“Who is Sarah Kellen and why wasn’t she charged with Epstein-related crimes?”
That’s the thing about the Epstein empire. Nearly everybody got to walk. Yeah they bumped off Epstein himself. And yeah, Ghislaine Maxwell is serving some time in a luxurious Club Fed where some Republicans are already demanding a pardon for her. But all the other executive assistants and enablers have mostly disappeared off the scene. The Epstein empire was such a large organization that it would have needed a large staff to manage it but we hardly ever hear of them. I expect this Sarah Kellen to soon go off into obscurity as well.
Sarah Kellen and many other Epstein associates weren’t prosecuted because of Epstein’s plea agreement. That non‑prosecution agreement granted immunity from federal prosecution to Epstein, four named co‑conspirators and any “potential co‑conspirators,” and effectively closed a broader federal investigation.
It was an incredible deal for all involved.
“AI is killing the cheap smartphone”
‘The people who will feel it first, and feel it worst, are the world’s poor: but it won’t be too long before we, too, feel the crunch.’
Yet one more reason to hate AI.
The author is obviously an expert in his technical discussion but here’s suggesting we are still entitled to be skeptical of these “AI will eat the world” articles. People now need digital phones and especially so in poor countries with limited communication infrastructure.
Whereas we don’t need AI which, by many accounts, has been marketing hyped far beyond its true abilities and profitability.
Meanwhile I have a stack of cheap smartphones at home (many bought for their GPS function) and make calls on one that is several years old and could continue much longer if the battery holds out. It could be phones will return to interchangeable batteries allowing them to last for years. Demand destruction rather than crisis.
That article is pretty good regarding the memory crunch.
Why?
So we can have more bloated non-native electron apps?
What is it most people need to do today on a computer that requires moar performance?
We’re way past the point of diminishing returns; this is an upgrade cycle for the purpose of a consumer economy, nothing more.
My old MacBook Pro 2015 would be fine today, if not for the deluge of trash non-native electron apps and ever increasing JavaScript advertising slop stuffed into modern web pages, which bear no relationship to the early Web which I could browse effective with a computer from 2005 today no doubt.
That was my response to the article.
The story is going like this:
Online is promoted as the most efficient way to vote, file taxes etc, which it could be, but the bloated AI,SEO,surveillance overhead is (designed to) going to overwhelm any benefits.
Computers have got faster, but humans have generally got slower at typing and moving a cursor.
Which are humans’ only point of contact.
My better 50% still thinks word perfect was the best until noone else used it
File under Class Warfare:
The Story of Mouseland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqgOvzUeiAA
> Imperfect Guardians California Law Review.
As the saying goes: scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds. The current crisis moment is a bi-partisan project stretching back decades; Republicans move right, Democrats follow an election later and block any leftward movement.
I will add to this another paper:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/abs/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B
US political operatives built a surveillance app for Alberta separatists, a coordinated attack to destabilise Canada.
https://www.yacnews.com/us-political-operatives-built-a-surveillance-app-for-alberta-separatists-a-coordinated-attack-to-destabilise-canada/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vMLy5BTrlg/ (from the Burning Archive)
From 15 min mark to about 28 min mark, Nell Bonilla teases an upcoming post she’s currently writing. Discusses some of the research with the host.
In a sign of ongoing economic collapse for the working class, I just got an email from Booksy, a service for scheduling for personal care stuff that my barber is using, and they now support Buy Now Pay Later for personal care services! Hooray!
The U.S. threatens to revoke the Palestinian U.N. ambassador’s visa
Which is exactly why the UN should be on a nice, medium-sized, sorta remote, island all on its own, owned by no nation.
Does not that describe manhattan. Merchants have no nation.
Hopefully this is not subscription blocked (I can read it and I do not have a subscription):
Trump Administration Live Updates: Tulsi Gabbard Resigns as Intelligence Chief
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/05/22/us/trump-news
Bondi, Kristi, Lori and now Tulsi…
All females with a last name ending in an ‘i’
Paywalled but the summary says she said she resigned because her husband has cancer.
…I´d guess it´s a ridiculously inappropriate lie…
Spytalk.co who have been attacking and denouncing her since day #1 now act as if they were innocent:
preview
https://www.spytalk.co/p/who-is-dni-gabbards-successor-aaron
Who is DNI Gabbard’s Successor Aaron Lukas?
The ODNI’s new acting director is a product of Cato and the CIA who had an early interest in Eastern
Jeff Stein and Tomás Dinges
Tulsi Gabbard was not long for Director of National Intelligence, the scuttlebutt went for months in Washington—just too many missteps with President Trump, but particularly in regard to her widely reported opposition to “forever wars,” and specifically the administration’s war on Iran. She struggled to align Trump’s claims about the state of Iran’s uranium sites and ICBMs with the findings of U.S. intelligence, and the president’s own boasts, that they had been destroyed during the 12-day U.S. and Israeli air campaign against Iran last June.
“Her departure ends a stormy 15-month tenure in which the former Democratic congresswoman was largely excluded from President Donald Trump’s inner national security circle, even as she pushed his political priorities on election security, declassification and Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential contest,” according to an account in The Washington Post. She said she was resigning June 30 to help care for her husband, who she said has been stricken with a rare form of bone cancer, but a Reuters report said she was “forced out.”
In any event, her successor, at least on an acting basis, will be Aaron Lukas, a onetime international trade specialist at the Cato Institute who signed up with the CIA in the early years of the so-called war on terror. Spytalk Contributing Writer Tomás Dinges authored a “SpyFaces in the Crowd” profile of Lukas back on April 23, which we present again here.
via MOA
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/gabbard-resigns-trumps-national-intelligence-director-fox-news-digital-reports-2026-05-22/
thanks
Telling that the very last sentence by REUTERS is this comment by Senator Mark Warner (it comes totally out of context):
“(…)The next leader should understand the “director of national intelligence should be focusing on foreign intelligence and not involving himself or herself in domestic election incidents,”(…)”
Which btw would be the final proof that the evidence published by the FBI on Russiagate was legit (regardless of the fact that the most damning stuff has been kept secret.)
So is this whole story supposed to be real or what?
Well, I still don´t buy it. They know darn well that nobody will find out the truth as doctors are bound to secrecy. They can claim whatever they want. Tulsi will go along as “we all may save face”. Running for office still in the cards.
Tulsi Gabbard resigns, as she will be looking after her husband undergoing cancer treatment
Alas the timing seems a bit strange…
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/22/politics/tulsi-gabbard-resigns
tulsi resigns
https://x.com/DNIGabbard/status/2057877960783204419
a brief postcard from the Wilderness Bar on the farm.
this ship:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Viator
i hung its bell…bronze, no less…on the post by the walking gate to the bar…because the ducks kept goin under that gate, making my usually nekkid self think somebody was here, lookin for produce.
been in the family for 90 years. my mom’s mom’s great uncle apparently worked on that ship, ere it sunk, and ran off with the bell.
hung beside my grandma’s front door forever…and she used to call mom and my uncle home from the woods with it.
i remember my mom asking for it, for the same purpose, regarding my little brother and i…and Gagoo(my name for that grandma, that stuck, and that she adopted with poise, ever after) saying hell no, that stays here,lol.
so mom went and found a cast iron version…and thats what called my brother and i home from those same woods. the latter bell is over at moms.
i took this one from Gagoo’s front door after she died….along with all manner of stuff mom and my uncle…being unsentimental boomer people…wanted to sell for scrap.