No doubt, like many others who attend to world affairs, I do so these days with a mixture of horror, disbelief, frustration, anger, trepidation, disgust, and despair. The thin bands of my hopeful pessimism are stretched to the limit.
The Problem
Perhaps most of all, even knowing what we do about the depths of depravity and callous self-interest of Western elites and their contempt for the planet and for those they exploit and murder in the pursuit of profit, I still have trouble believing that they do not see or, if they do, care about the self-destructive, suicidal effects of their folly. …
Could it be put down to a measure of confidence on his part? On this occasion, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had, in the Wing of Zion, been less cautious in making a journey to Washington through European airspace. In September 2025, French airspace was avoided during a flight to New York. Most European states, with occasional hiccups of complaint, remain signatories of the Rome Statute, the document founding the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Israeli PM, along with his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, have extant arrest warrants for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
For a long time, the classic 18th-century song “Rule, Britannia!” by English composer Thomas Arne, with lyrics by Scottish poets James Thomson and David Mollett, effectively served as the United Kingdom’s second national anthem. Its refrain, “Rule, Britannia! Britannia rule the waves,” powerfully captured the essence of the concept of “Mistress of the Seas,” a title Great Britain proudly bore for several centuries. For a long time, the guiding principle of the United Kingdom was to maintain a navy equal in strength to the two strongest navies of other powers combined. However, as the ancient saying goes, times change, and …
The deaths of Jeffrey Epstein and Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump assassination attempts have sparked furious debate in many parts of the U.S. and led internet sleuths to analyze videos and dig up information to corroborate their theories that the incidents were staged or covered up.
The mainstream media and liberal-progressive media, by contrast, have largely stuck to the official line of a suicide and deranged lone wolf gunmen, and either ignored the revelations of the internet sleuths or accused them of being “conspiracy theorists.”
This latter dismissive attitude fits a long historical lineage that goes back to at least the 19th …
If the Obsoleting Project actually succeeds, it promises societal ruptures faster, larger, and more widespread than any that came before.
— Garrison Lovely, Obsolete, p 192
Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.
— Center for AI Safety, quoted in Obsolete, p 337
In 1968, director Stanley Kubrick adapted Arthur C. Clark’s sci-fi novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey, to the big screen. The main protagonist is HAL 9000, a sentient artificial intelligence that loses its “mind” and kills most of the crew aboard the spacecraft Discovery One. HAL evinces …
Every move you make is tied to the evil Satanic Digital Monster no Matter How Much You Feign Opting OUT
by Paul Haeder / July 26th, 2026
“I hate all these new smartphones, all this new technology, all this Artificial Intelligence and crap with all those data centers. I OPT out. I’ll never use CHAT GPT or AI.”
Sure, sucker born every nanosecond:
That’s an almost daily refrain I hear when I work with seniors and even middle-aged folk. Sure, Golden Girls and you, the Old Odd Couple dudes, opting ass my ass. You think you are really opting out? Right after coming back from the doctor’s office or having …
The Israelis had their jaws dropping and dragging on the grounds. The Saudis were cock-a-hoop. The Trump administration remains, as it always does, streaky and fickle. The agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia for the creation of a civilian nuclear program was originally contingent on one vital fact: that Israel and the Kingdom normalise their relations through the Abraham Accords. But President Donald Trump is the enemy of contingency and conditions, indifferent, even hostile to stability. He is the relativising distillate, the corrosive acid that does away with fetters and understanding. Trust him, and any sense of constancy, at …
An extensive new Palestinian Feminist Collective report traces Israeli sexual violence against Palestinians from the 1948 Nakba to Gaza today, showing it isn't incidental abuse but a deliberate tool of ethnic cleansing and control.
by Nada Elia and Noura Erakat / July 25th, 2026
An image of Ibrahim Salem at Sde Teiman leaked to CNN. (Photo: Social Media)
In December 2023, former State Department official, Josh Paul told CNN anchor, Christiane Amanpour that during his tenure in the foreign service, he learned of the rape of a 13-year old boy by Israeli …
Oh now, another, yet ANOTHER, sacking of Haeder in this at-will, predatory capitalist world. And the confluence of a multi-millionaire guy and his wife running short term rental homes (vacation homes) in a county with failing infrastructure, bad traffic, no housing for the working class, and an environment that is already overrun by people.
The idea was to get active in my town and so I applied and got the delivery-guy job, at that whooping $17 an hour. Their truck, just a short walk to the main warehouse, and alas, exercise and taking me away from my ranting and rampant disgust …
You know the question by now. It’s the great Israel “gotcha” question that’s meant to stop anyone from ever standing up against genocide, apartheid, and settler colonialism. It’s a brilliant rhetorical weapon forged by genocidal sociopaths and then handed out to even the most milquetoast liberal Israel supporter.
“Do you believe Israel has the right to exist?!”
Line drawn in sand. Dichotomy fallacy officially thrown in your face.
If you answer “no,” then you’re an antisemite. If you answer “yes,” then the discussion is over (because you just signed off on …
Save Your Soul, Your Conscience and Your Sanity. Stop the bombings!
Nineteen years ago in February 2007 during the Bush administration’s Axis of Evil regime and calls for attacks on Iran from members of Congress including “Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran (to the tune of Beachboys song Barbara Ann)” recitation by Senator John McCain, I wrote an article entitled “An Appeal to Conscience to Those Who WOULD Bomb Iran.”
Now almost two decades and four presidential administrations later (Obama, Trump, Biden, Trump), the article is virtually the same, except that U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy pilots have now actually dropped bunker busting, “smart” …
The charge against Hassan Hajahmad confirms the importance of abolishing Canada’s civil liberties violating, anti-Palestinian, terrorism list. The charge must be dropped.
Wednesday it was reported that 33-year-old anti-genocide activist Ahmad Hassan Hajahmad was charged with “Participating in or Contributing to Activities of a Terrorist Group.” The offence carries a maximum of 10 years in jail.
The Toronto Police Service (TPS) release about the arrest mentions two speeches Hajahmad made at anti-genocide demonstrations on May 25 and September 7, 2024 “where he used amplification devices to make public statements that advocated for the detestation and harm against members of the Israeli and …
The Synthetic Mind: Humanity's First Engineered Mirror, Part 3
by Sammy Attoh / July 24th, 2026
Humanity is entering a new and disquieting era — one in which the most delicate aspects of human interiority are quietly receding. Not through coercion. Not through catastrophe. Through convenience.
Attention, memory, imagination, reflection, emotional depth — the core architecture of the interior life — is increasingly delegated to machines. As these capacities migrate outward, something essential within the human being begins to thin.
The central danger is not that machines will replace humans. It is that humans will gradually relinquish themselves.
This is the disappearing human. The Erosion of Attention
Attention is the basic infrastructure of consciousness — the means by which we perceive, …
In the current era, social media has delved deep into every nook and corner of our lives. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram surround us all. Social media has touched areas like business, healthcare, politics, and the list goes on! So, one must wonder how social media has also influenced education. The answer is a big YES!! The way students deal with their education has undergone a dynamic change. Let’s have a look at the diverse opportunities and challenges in a “modern-day education.”
Gone are the days when students were deeply dependent on textbooks. CONCEPT CLARITY is the …
The struggle to prevent the genocide of the Palestinian people has gathered a strong and welcoming momentum. Concurrent with the liberation of the indigenous people of the Levant is the severing of the bonds of contemporary Jewish people to spurious narratives of perpetual persecution and victimization, which has driven them into clan behavior that clashes with internationally accepted norms. A too often referred biblical tale of Moses freeing the ancient Israelis from slavery, repeatedly mentioned in film, song, book, sermon, ceremony, and press releases, has provided a twisted memory of a non-history and kept the Jewish people in bondage for …
We who think about politics all the time rarely have a good handle on what’s going on in the lives and minds of those who do not. That’s what makes focus groups so fascinating. I usually see voters holding on to conventional thinking and subconsciously absorbed conservative talking points, and I have to figure out how to communicate with them in ways that open their minds to the possibility of bigger change. — Antonia Scatton
In a massive move, Bessent just warned China that AI sanctions might be coming. The US is panicking over China’s AI breakthrough, but a ban will backfire much more on the US than on Beijing.
The naval blockade has become conveniently modish, particularly when it comes to narrow straits of water where heavy international traffic and cargo pass through. The Iranians were the first to realise an eventuality long suspected: that the Strait of Hormuz might be feasibly shut for lengthy periods of time with minimum use of force, periodically and selectively opened to balance the strategic books when needed. It has been seen, no less, as a divine gift with ambrosial properties.
The Iranian-backed Houthis of the Ansar Allah (Partisans of God) movement are now doing much the same thing with their July 20 announcement …
Economists study and analyze poverty in their nice offices, have all the statistics, make all the models, and are convinced that they know everything that you can know about poverty. But they don’t understand poverty.
A tale of two cities, a contradiction of two different thinkers, or, two ways of embracing humanity could be this commentary’s subtitle. However, for brevity’s sake, we can break our culture down to the haves and have-nots. The fact that we have a failed businessman who is a billionaire running the show (not really, it’s an oligarchy) …
In a highly anticipated vote, the House voted July 22 to adopt HR 8800, 2027 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) which includes the controversial Section 219 which would ‘merge’ assorted functions within the US Military with Israel.
Final Vote Results for Roll Call 278: The Final Passage vote on HR 8800, NDAA 2027 216- 212 which Included seven GOP Members Voting Nay: Rep. Hageman (Wyo), Rep. Brecheen (Okla) Rep. Tim Burchett (Tenn), Rep. Chip Roy (Texas), Rep. Luna (Fla), Rep. Tom Massie (Ky), Rep. Crane (Az.)
Democrats voting Aye included Golden (Maine), Gonzalez V, Texas), Davis (NC), Issa (Calif), Gray …
Eisenhower’s warning that US policy would be captured by a scientific-technological elite supplies a specific reason the US sustains the Ukraine war: Ukraine has become a unique, live-fire laboratory for AI warfare at scale.
by Jeffrey Sachs and Sybil Fares / July 23rd, 2026
In his farewell address of January 1961, Dwight Eisenhower warned Americans against the “acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex,” and the danger that “public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.” Sixty-five years on, Eisenhower’s warnings have been repeatedly and tragically vindicated. American democracy hangs by a thread, while the military-industrial complex, now including Silicon Valley, runs American foreign policy over the objections of the American people.
The aim is American primacy, meaning the unchallenged wealth, power, and prerogatives of American elites, unchecked by …
A heavy-hitting interview seldom seen in the Western world. Professor Zhang Weiwei opens up about Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and the granular details of how Chinese politics actually works
by Zhang Weiwei and Gita Wirjawan / July 22nd, 2026
Is democracy the only road to national development and human well-being, or is it simply one governance model among many? How did nations achieve historic economic leaps and lasting social stability without copying Western-style systems? As the simplistic “democracy vs. autocracy” binary fails to explain our complex world, is it time to re-examine the political models we so easily dismiss?
The answers may lie in the unique perspective of Professor Zhang Weiwei, Director of the China Institute at Fudan University. In his early career, Zhang served as an English translator for top Chinese leaders, including Deng Xiaoping and Li Peng. Decades …
“Seven years ago today, Jeffrey Edward Epstein was charged by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York with operating a vast sex trafficking network to sexually exploit and abuse underage girls and young women between 2002 and 2005 at his mansions …
On the thirty-fourth day of our journey, we arrived in Dunhuang. It is less known than other great meeting points of humanity — Rome, Constantinople, Samarkand — but Dunhuang has earned its place in their company. For much of two thousand years, this oasis town was a key gateway between China and the rest of Asia. The Polos passed through here twice: Niccolò and Maffeo in the 1260s, on their first journey to the court of Kublai Khan at Khanbaliq — today’s Beijing — and then Niccolò, Maffeo, …
Even though they siphon billions of dollars a year from public schools, receive millions more in venture philanthropy, embrace profiteering, and are allowed to float bonds, many charter schools, according to The Bond Buyer, have been in deep financial trouble for some time.
According to the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), over the years charter schools in most states “have issued more than $40 billion in tax-exempt bonds to finance their facilities.” This helps explain why charter school owners never stop trying to restructure the state in a way that funnels public funds to them for facilities and buildings. …
America’s latest forever war continues to ravage the Middle East as US forces bomb Iran for the tenth consecutive night in a series of exchanges which The New York Times reports have caused a significantly higher number of injuries to US troops than the Pentagon has acknowledged.
President Trump is saying that “Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over” while simultaneously guaranteeing more Iranian retaliations with the ongoing onslaught, which could of course easily end up killing more US troops.
It remains a prickly reminder that Australia remains an embarrassed vassal of power, annexed to the security interests of another state basking in imperial and fast-diminishing splendor. Pine Gap, known more technically as the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (JDFPG), is a largely US-operated effort in Alice Springs, Central Australia. As the late scholar of strategic studies Desmond Ball pithily remarked in 1988, it is “an espionage operation. Euphemisms should not be allowed to obscure this essential point.” It grew out of a desire on the part of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1965 to establish a remote …
An ancient Palestinian proverb warns those in need against resorting to injurious solutions: “Do not drink poison to quench a thirst,” it advises.
Wise words indeed. But merely a week after the Earth shook, some had their ears so clogged with Stars-and-Stripes diktats that they weren’t listening, preferring to gulp down some putrid poison by inviting genocidal Zionists into Venezuela as part of the post-earthquake response.
As flexes go, this one was unforeseen. Nothing says ‘I got muscle’ like pulling off the once-unthinkable and putting IDF boots on the ground in what was previously an anti-Zionist cauldron, all under the stomach-churning and clearly tricksy …
