Bring it on, LOL.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
From the frying pan into the fire?
So Donald Trump is going to send more arms to Ukraine. Which is exactly what the European NATO partners and the EU member-states wants. Most of them, anyway.
But...Trump also threatens to sanction any nation still doing business with Russia. That presumably would include India, Brazil and similar nations. He also continues threatening the EU with steep tariffs, thereby setting the stage for a trade "war". And the only way the EU could escape such a situation would be to trade with...yes, exactly, you guessed it...Brazil, India, and so on. Exactly the nations Trump might sanction.
So it seems the economic chaos will continue. And that´s that, I suppose.
Monday, July 14, 2025
The real conspiracy
It was long assumed that Russia would try to destabilize the United States by weaponizing the Latino population in the Southwest. Or even the Blacks. Instead, they weaponized the far right and conspiracist milieux through social media! I don´t think anyone saw that coming. It was a master stroke. After all, the relevant conspiracy theories (or - in some cases - conspiracy truths) are very similar to the worldview of the Russian nationalists themselves. Indeed, they might even have common origins, in so far as they can be traced back historically with any confidence.
However, there is another possible vector for Russian destabilization. *As far as we know, the conspiracy theory that Trump colluded with Russia in 2015-16 may have been planted by Putin´s intelligence service*. Its purpose was to be picked up by the Democrats, thereby creating political pandemonium in the America. If this scenario is correct (I blogged about it before), the Russians *really* made a master move. Meanwhile, vested Western interests corrupted themselves with Russian oil money (not to mention the gas and the uranium).
Win - win - win for the Russian Federation. Let´s hope they are worse at fighting wars of attrition than they are at propagandizing social-media consumers and buying off metropolitan elites...
Death in July?
Donald Trump´s relation to the far right or Alt Right have always been...complicated. Witness his oscillations in relation to Steven Bannon. Among other things! However, it seems we are very near a decisive turning point due to the (probably inevitable) Epstein fiasco. The hard right elements are incredulous and extremely disappointed at Trump´s handling of the case. Indeed, the POTUS has been "ratioed" at his own social media platform, Truth Social.
But this isn´t simply a decisive test for the Trump admimistration´s ability to harness far right support. It´s also a turning point for the far right itself. Now we will finally learn how strong *it* really is. Will it depart? If it does so, will MAGA split asunder? Or will the far right/conspiracist subculture turn out to be mostly irrelevant? And if so, how will this affect the future of social media? If "influencers" with a lot of clout on the web have zero traction IRL, doesn´t this affect the usefulness and authority of social media platforms?
As for Trump´s "base", most self-identified Trump supporters backed the president´s recent decision to bomb Iran´s nuclear facilities (obviously to aid the US ally Israel). So much for "isolationism"! But sure, I suppose they might also support closed borders and more protectionism. And Trump is still (kind of) pushing for those things. So it´s not immidiately obvious how this will end...
As for Bannon, he supposedly has access to 15 hours of interview material with Jeffrey Epstein himself (!)...some of it to be released next year as part of a documentary.
Oh.
What is the strategy, J D?
It seems the new strategy is the same as the old one. You know, support Ukraine and sanction the Russian Federation until Putin gets tired of it all. So I suppose the United States will no longer vote with North Korea in the UN General Assembly, then?
Rubbing my onion
This was actually funny! Overheard at The Onion´s YouTube channel and its commentary thread.
>>>Research Suggests Life On Earth Began Full 20 Minutes Earlier Than Previously Thought.
>>>This is further complicated by the fact that clocks were still being adjusted for daylight savings time . . .
>>>In young earth creationism those 20 minutes actually make a big difference..
>>>This is why I don't trust scientists. Next they're going to say it was 30 minutes.
>>>This is like that joke about the curator at the museum who says the dinosaur skeleton is 65 million and 3 years old, because it was 65 million years old when he started working there 3 years ago.
>>>Or like the rock salt i have in my pantry: it says its 250 million years old, but its best by date says its no longer good to eat in 5 years. I guess that they digged it up just in time.
>>>The expiration date is for the container itself.
>>>Surprised they didn’t find a way to cry about Trump in this post. That's not very onion of you.
>>>But even when he wasn´t mentioned, you still bring him. That is very MAGA of you.
>>>I remember another headline that said something like “dinosaur fossils found, suggesting ancient dinosaur museum”.
>>>When I was a kid, the dinosaur book my parents read to me said that the dinosaurs died off 65 million years ago. Now, that I'm the parent reading to the kids they say the dinosaurs died off 66 million years ago. I tell ya, time flies.
The Internet is offically over
This is supposedly the most intelligent person in the world, with a certified IQ of 276. Certified by organizations he founded himself, LOL. The only reason why this dude is making the obligatory rounds on the Internet just now is because he claims to be a Christian and support Donald Trump.
His English is subpar, he only holds a bachelor´s degree in theology, and his science doctorate seems to be honorary. Further, he clearly reads from a script and simply repeats the usual quantum-woo catch-phrases we have heard 1000 times before.
I suppose this means that the Internet is offically broken! Or maybe not, since this guy will be forgotten within another month or so...
Low hanging fruit salad
YouTube videos of skeptics going after some really low hanging fruit.
The first clip tells us what happens if a fairly well-educated skeptic (in a black mask) decides to seriously comment a confused spouter of quasi-quantum woo-woo. It´s funny, after a fashion.
Next, that South Korean guy who pretends to have the world´s highest IQ is apparently still at it. Just wait until the more serious Christians realize that he´s a "heretic". But sure, maybe flat earthers will still take him at face value?
And then there´s some fake "time traveler" who claims he´s the next emperor of North America or something to that effect. LOL. He´s also afraid of catching diabetes because he drinks too much soda?!
The ride never ends. And I want a tastier fruit salad!
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