Today, a fourfer!
2026-07-22
A composer and guitarist who's missed to this very day.
Glad to see this site is out there -> https://steveclarkguitar.com/
2026-07-21
Here's one dimension of the patriarchy, that Western feminists are rather silent on.
That part involving brown people, on their own land.
How Israel has used sexualized violence as a weapon of settler colonialism from 1948 to today
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.
Gendered violence is an inherent tool of settler colonialism and is not unique to Israel. Here in the United States, another settler colonial state, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement has highlighted the impunity surrounding the sexual assault of indigenous women on reservations where overlapping US and native criminal jurisdictions have made indigenous women particularly vulnerable to sexual assault. That it remains a significantly under-resourced and unaddressed crisis is not an accident.
Similarly, Zionist ideology, as a nation-making enterprise, necessitates the dispossession of Palestinian land and, ultimately, Palestinian elimination through juridical negation — denying their right to self determination, forced removal, containment, and/or destruction. Sexual violence is central to that effort as it both advances ethnic cleansing ambitions and shatters the social cohesion of those Palestinians who remain.
Why? Because it's about destroying an entire culture and community of people, and that includes everyone (children, women, and men), and that's a reality that the West is incapable of acknowledging; let alone taking responsibility.
A reminder that the rich and powerful will never really ever stop their destruction of the planet on their own.
They will either have to be stopped by the people of the planet, or they'll be stopped when the planet is no longer inhabitable for said people.
And, it makes me wonder 1) when they'll try again to foil a resistance to their actions and, 2) how long can people remain vigilant and ever alert.
On days like this ...
... I remind myself that in any hierarchical situation, there'll always be those who end up on top. And, often times, it's because they use their knowledge as a weapon, and that the hierarchy allows - or even encourages - them to do so. All of this is in pursuit of profit - not 'growth' as some like to say.
Knowing this, I'm learning to let a lot go in that I try to not take things directed at me personally; even if that's what's intended.
I have too many things in life that 1) Give me joy, and 2) I actively am pursuing. I'm not going to let things that happen in that hierarchy affect me, because I'm choosing to not allow myself to get drawn in further. I only get involved if I have a professional responsibility to do so, and leave it at that.
2026-07-17
One of days where I hate growing old.
Getting old is something no one can avoid.
But seeing yourself one day, then 20 years go by and seeing yourself again, that's different.
That's what sucks, at times.
Of course, it's genetics, Life choices, blah, blah, blah.
And it's better than death.
2026-07-15
Who has a 'right to exist, depends a lot on the who.
Especially if that 'who' is actually a 'what', and not actually a sapient person.
Case in point -> https://mondoweiss.net/2026/07/no-israel-does-not-have-a-right-to-exist-quite-the-contrary-actually/
Israel’s record is clear. It was founded on the breach of two peremptory (jus cogens) norms: the right to self-determination of the people of the land, and the rule on the non-acquisition of territory by force, as well as on the two highest crimes in international law: genocide and aggression.
Since then, it has refused the return of refugees and their compensation, and has continuously expanded its unlawful evictions, land theft, and colonization.
The United Nations and every major international human rights organization have concluded that the Israeli regime is guilty of apartheid and racial segregation, unlawful occupation, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
The regime is now on trial for genocide at the ICJ, charges that the Court has found plausible enough to issue a series of preliminary orders (all of which the regime has ignored).
And the same Court has found the regime guilty of unlawful occupation, the forced denial of self-determination, the unlawful acquisition of territory by force, war crimes, apartheid, and racial segregation.
And the International Criminal Court has indicted the regime’s leaders for crimes against humanity.
For the full eighty years of its existence, the Israeli regime has held the distinction of being in breach of the highest number of UN resolutions and ICJ decisions of any country on the planet.
Today, the regime is unlawfully occupying Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, attacking Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, and beyond, and perpetrating genocide in Palestine.
It has carried out assassinations across the region and has admitted to (indeed, bragged about) transnational terrorist attacks with booby-trapped pagers in Lebanon
Judged against the imperatives of international law, Israel is, in the strictest sense of the term, a rogue regime, illegitimate in its founding, and devoid of all legitimacy in its conduct ever since.
To declare that such a regime has a “right to exist” is an affront to generations of its victims, to international law, and to human decency itself. And the threat that it poses extends far beyond Palestine.
The Israeli regime is driven by a deeply racist and fundamentally violent ideology. It is armed with advanced technologies of surveillance and death, holds powerful conventional weaponry, and possesses stockpiles of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.
It has declared policies mandating the mass murder of civilians (the Dahiya Doctrine), the killing of its own citizens (the Hannibal Directive), and the potential nuclear destruction of the world (the Samson Option).
Its spies are active in countries around the globe, and its proxies are actively engaged in corrupting governments and institutions across the West.
Does such a regime have a “right to exist?” No.
In fact, dismantling such a regime and its replacement with a free Palestine with equal rights for all is not only a legal requirement, but also an existential imperative for all of humanity.
2026-07-14
Is the US Empire's rich and powerful afraid of one man?
Apparently so, given the lengths went to here -
P.S. Max Blumenthal is a fucking hero in a day and age of cowards.
2026-07-13
A site that will bring you to tears - if you are human.
If it doesn't, I'd say you're either a narcissist, a sociopath, a psychopath, or some combination.
WARNING: Once seen, you can't pretend you didn't see it.
Please try and convince me none of this is settler-colonialism, racism, and genocide all at its best.
You wouldn't succeed because you'd have to lie, obfuscate, dox, or simply deny reality.
2026-07-12
Some day I'll have to finish that post.
This one that I started earlier -
https://vultcult.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-trials-and-tribulations-of-being-in.html
https://vultcult.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-trials-and-tribulations-of-being-in_30.html
But it's days like this where I feel like nothing I do seems to go as planned.
I didn't want to work, and yet I did this weekend.
I wanted to get some music done this weekend, and I didn't.
Focusing on earning a paycheck pisses people off, and yet not focusing on earning a paycheck is a surefire way to be homeless. Doesn't matter evidently to people here.
I'll be shit on whether I work or not because to them, I'm just a living paycheck who should get it done during regular hours apparently. Never mind that should something happen to me, or my employment, we'd be homeless just like those under the bridge near our house.
But anyways, it's a reminder that I need to go back and finish Part 3.
But not tonight - I still have to work later, and be up tomorrow early to avoid traffic to get to that office to continue working (try saying that 10 times fast).
2026-07-11
I wonder if I'll ever get Social Security?
I'm not that far away anymore. Yet this isn't very encouraging.
https://scheerpost.com/2026/07/11/democracy-inequality-and-social-security/
Why exactly was one man a threat to the US Empire?
Yes he was black.
Yes it was the late 1960's.
But was really going on?
2026-07-09
In case you missed it - the so-called "The Anti-Defamation League" was NEVER a civil-rights organization.
Quite the opposite in many respects.
They have always been - at minimum - shills for US Empire.
2026-07-08
Reminder - in capitalism, labor and unions are frowned upon by employers.
The reason is simple - unions are the only effective defense against exploitation by employers in capitalism.
Like my late father said, if companies actually knew how to treat people, there's be no need for unions.
Great article from MintPressNews on the connection between Zionism, and propaganda.
Here's a hint - they're interchangeable, in that they are connected at the hip these days.
This unconditional support is unsurprising, given who actually runs the company. PragerU CEO Marissa Streit is, after all, an Israeli spy. On her eighteenth birthday, Streit joined Unit 8200, the Israeli Defense Force’s spying agency. In interviews, she has admitted that she was an officer in the controversial unit, and stated that she uses the tactics and techniques honed by Israeli spying agency on the American people. “Coming back here to the United States with the gifts that Israel had given me during my military training, I felt compelled to employ them here in my nation of the United States,” she explained.
Exactly what her role as a Unit 8200 officer remains a mystery. Streit has said of her time there that, “We were tasked with looking at problems that the intelligence community might be missing.” Given that her service coincides with the Second Palestinian Intifada, however, one can speculate that suppressing domestic resistance to occupation was among her tasks.
2026-07-07
Quote of the day -
We must not allow ourselves to grow desensitized to the reality of what our tax dollars could be funding instead of the spread of surveillance, destruction, and devastation. And we must make it clear that we will never mistake the roar of engines overhead for the promise of peace, whether that is abroad or here.
Every dollar spent on one of these performative fighter jet overpasses is a dollar stolen from our communities. The budget is a clear reflection of what the country values, and right now, our budget says we value genocide, destruction, and the theater of war over the substance of peace and the actual betterment of our communities, our country.
The America and Freedom 250 celebrations ask us to reflect on what our nation stands for, a nation started by genocide, carried out by slavery, fueled by exploitation, and exposing how militarism, racism, and fascism are on full display. Why do we spend trillions to destroy and destabilize the world, while spending pennies on investments to make our own communities actually safe?
This has to be a sign of something.
UAW becomes the first major U.S. union to vote to divest from Israel Bonds
UAW delegates voted to divest the union’s reported $400,000 in Israel Bonds, making it the first major U.S. union to do so. Organizers say it’s a victory for international solidarity and a sign of the working class's growing rejection of Israel.
2026-07-06
“Merciless Indian Savages” - a reminder of what's in the 'Declaration of Independence'.
Why not just say that racism (namely white supremacy) and religious superiority go hand-in-hand with the hierarchical nature of capitalism?
I bring it up because neither words (racism, capitalism) are anywhere to be found in the article.
2026-07-04
If i needed a reminder that propaganda serves to demonize, divide people, and keep them at each other ...
... a system that keeps the rich and powerful in control, look no further than mass media in this country.
Specifically the American movie industry aka 'Hollywood'.
When it comes to the black man specifically, the beast, the ghost, and crazy one, and the predator are all useful tropes to keep him down.
2026-07-01
New term learned today - Lehava.
From here -> https://scheerpost.com/2026/07/01/israel-is-an-apartheid-state-and-its-weird-marriage-laws-show-us-how/
There are even groups like Lehava – Israel’s version of the Ku Klux Klan – that go around beating up Palestinians caught anywhere near the Jewish neighbourhoods of Jerusalem and terrorising any young Jewish women suspected of being romantically involved with a Palestinian. Lehava hold noisy and disruptive protests to shame the odd Jewish woman who converts and marries a Palestinian citizen.
All of this happens with a quiet wink from the authorities. The current police minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, has long been a patron of the fascist, Jewish supremacist thugs of Lehava.
Breaching capitalism’s digital fortress.
I think this extends not just to the 'Left' per se, but really for all people essentially.
https://breakthroughnews.org/2026/07/01/the-left-and-breaching-capitalisms-digital-fortress/
We are called upon to take possession of the tools of our age, since just as Marx and Engels transformed the economic and philosophical sciences of their time from tools that justified the existing order into a theoretical and practical weapon in the hands of the working class, the left today is called upon to be an active and programming force in this arena. We must move from the position of the “passive user” subject to the terms of capitalist platforms, to the position of the “alternative producer” who puts forward a technology that is communal, open, and liberated.
2026-06-30
2026-06-29
Let me tell you something about people who go around waving flags of Israel.
They support an ideology - Zionism - that advocates for the destruction of brown people.
They are bigots.
They are bullies.
They are racist.
They are thieves.
They support murderers.
They support destruction.
They don't support open and honest debates or discussions.
They fuel hatred, racial and religious supremacy to justify the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. This means the destroying of the people who lived there centuries before they took over.
But the worst part is, when confronted with the facts and evidence that support all this, instead of acknowledging this, or trying to respond, they can't. Instead they deflect and project their own hatred on others (the anti-Semite one in particular is quite the trope they use; ironic since many of the Israeli Jews who live there aren't actually Semites).
Sounds a lot like what happened here in North America with the Indigenous people here, and then the Black people brought in as slaves.
They are psychopaths supporting criminal and murderous activities. The fact is, there is no reasoning or debating or even discussing such a subject.
Sadly - like the US Empire - they are a cancer feeding on the host. And they will do so until all are destroyed.
I fear that's what will happen to the Palestinians. And it's a really bad sign for all of humanity.
Because if we cannot save one group of people from doing all these things to another group, how are we going to collectively save ourselves from the coming Ecocide?
Here's but one example -> https://climateandcapitalism.com/2026/06/24/the-worlds-heatwaves-are-a-global-health-emergency/
2026-06-28
The weekend work went pretty well.
Couple of minor hiccups, but ultimately we prevailed and got a lot of work done.
Other than a couple of 'likes' from 'leadership' via their mobile phones, it drew no attention otherwise.
Nor surprising.
2026-06-27
Even in ecological catastrophe, hand it to the rich and powerful to continue kicking people when down.
https://consortiumnews.com/2026/06/26/despite-earthquake-trump-keeps-sanctions-on-venezuela/
Despite Earthquake, Trump Keeps Sanctions on Venezuela
2026-06-26
Euro-centric settler-colonialists always stick together, don't they?
I mean, that's one of the basic tenets of white supremacy. It's origins are religious in nature, but based ultimately on hatred.
Think I'm delusional?
In this context, Israel has long maintained strong relations with the Republika Srpska. Cvijanović met with Netanyahu in a diplomatic setting without Bosnian flags, prompting the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a formal note of protest. The visit sparked outrage in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with critics warning that Cvijanović was aligning with an entity accused of war crimes and promoting islamophobic narratives.
This concern was linked to Sa’ar’s remarks about the “need to safeguard Christian minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” as well as Cvijanović’s speech at the JNS Summit. There, she praised Israel for building “democracy” in the region and called for intelligence sharing and “strengthening security partnerships.”
2026-06-24
Tennessee at the center of far-right assault on Black voting rights
https://liberationnews.org/tennessee-at-the-center-of-far-right-assault-on-black-voting-rights/
... we have never won any of our rights by sitting around and waiting for politicians or courts to save us. Our power comes from collective struggle. To fight back against these anti-democratic attacks, we cannot despair. Neither can we merely vote harder in a system that was not designed to reflect the interests of working-class, and especially Black people, in the South. Instead, we must organize.
The Civil Rights Revolution that won the Voting Rights Act was nothing short of a Second Reconstruction. As the far-right tries to roll back these gains, we know that it will take a Third Reconstruction — a Socialist Reconstruction — to win the lives we deserve, once and for all.
This should surprise no one really, as it's the same state where the KKK was founded -
On December 24, 1865, a group of former Confederate soldiers established what would become the first chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee.
Dating and Zionism - who knew how fucked up such a thing would be in this day and age?
I'm off the market, but even if I wasn't - I'd still stay away from this.
Tinder’s Secret War: How Israel used the Dating App in the Propaganda Battle for South Lebanon
The choice tid-bit -
Tinder, the most popular “dating” app in the world, boasts over 75 million active users in more than 190 countries. It is owned by Match Group – a multi billion dollar conglomerate that owns the largest market share of dating platforms – Hinge, Match.com, OkCupid. Plenty of Fish, Salams, and others.
Largest market share also means one of the largest data gold mines – personal and intimate user data, messages, video calls, facial recognition and location data on potentially hundreds of millions of users across Match Group’s dozens of dating applications. Tinder’s user data was found in a breach at Gravy Analytics – a data broker company who sells data to governmental agencies to be used for police and military location tracking.
But Match Group’s strategy and their technologies became fully militarized after Zionist billionaire investor and trump donor Paul Singer and his Elliot Management group built a $1 billion stake in the company in January 2024.
Paul Singer has long worked to integrate Israeli military tech into global markets – co-founding Start-Up Nation Central (SUNC), a Tel Aviv based nonprofit started to combat the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. SUNC works to promote Israeli tech and get Unit 8200 officers – Israel’s elite military intelligence unit – hired at all major US tech firms like Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Palantir.
2026-06-23
Quote of the day - 06-23-2026.
Israelis, intoxicated by the fantasy of being the chosen people, do not have friends. They do not have allies. They have those they use and those they slaughter.
2026-06-22
Amazing how all these white folks seem to get away with all sorts of shit, and against kids and teens.
Wonder if it's system thing?
You know, a system that's colored by say, white supremacy?
Ah so what? A few billion dollars off; big deal!
A new report from the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), written by David Vine, John Bellamy Foster and Gisela Cernadas, argues that this widely reported number dramatically understates the true cost of maintaining the US military. Using five different methodologies, the report estimates that total military spending in 2025 was between $1.5 trillion and $1.8 trillion and could be as high as $2.3 trillion when interest payments associated with military-related debt are included. The report concludes that the United States has been spending well above $1 trillion on military activities for many years, contrary to the common perception that this threshold was only recently crossed.
According to the analysis conducted by the POGO, the Hartung/Smithberger methodology produces the highest base estimate at $1,766,172,000,000, followed by the Wheeler approach at $1,727,634,000,000 and the figure reported by USAspending.gov at $1,717,989,509,643. The Cernadas/Foster and National Priorities Project methodologies yield comparatively lower base estimates of $1,494,236,125,000 and $1,477,081,000,000, respectively. When interest is incorporated, the totals increase substantially, ranging from $1,713,283,160,060 under the National Priorities Project methodology to $2,284,383,842,468 under the Cernadas/Foster approach. It should be noted that the National Priorities Project figure focuses on discretionary spending and excludes mandatory forms of spending; were the latter included, this estimate would align far more closely with the others.
2026-06-21
Normally I would celebrate the 1st day if Summer.
But it's hard when you have to go back to work the next day.
2026-06-20
Another black child killed in America, and no one cares.
Especially if Kohen Wiley was killed by cops.
https://scheerpost.com/2026/06/20/how-many-ways-can-you-avoid-reporting-that-cops-killed-a-baby/
2026-06-18
Quote of the day - 06-16-2026.
If a company cannot determine how its technology was used in a military operation, what does oversight mean? If executives lack visibility into deployment, then claims about safeguards become difficult to evaluate. If a system contributes to military processes whose consequences include mass civilian casualties, can responsibility be confined solely to the final human actor? These are not questions for Anthropic alone. They confront the entire emerging alliance between Silicon Valley and the US national security state. Throughout history, periods of technological transformation have produced new partnerships between capital and military power. Railways, telegraphs, aviation, nuclear physics, and digital networks all followed this path. Artificial intelligence is now walking the same road. Its advocates promise precision, efficiency, and fewer mistakes. Yet every generation hears similar promises.
The twentieth century was filled with claims that new technologies would make war cleaner, more rational, and more humane. The historical record offers little support for such optimism. Technology often expands the scale and speed of violence even as it promises to restrain it. The children of Minab did not encounter AI as a philosophical debate. They encountered it as part of a military system whose consequences arrived in the form of explosive force. Whether Claude played a significant role, a minor role, or no role at all in the targeting process remains to be determined. Investigators must establish the facts, journalists must continue asking difficult questions, and citizens must demand transparency. But even before those facts are fully known, the episode reveals something important about our political moment. The question is no longer whether AI will be integrated into war. That integration is already underway. The question is whether societies will permit decisions about life and death to be increasingly shaped by systems that even their creators struggle to monitor, explain, or control.
The schoolhouse in Minab stands as a warning, not only about a single strike, or a single company, or a single war. It warns of a future in which technological power advances faster than public accountability. And in that future, the distance between the engineer and the battlefield grows ever smaller with AI and drones, even as responsibility becomes harder to find amongst the humans who send the machines out to kill for them.
Another brown child killed, and no one cares.
Israeli soldiers shot seven-year-old Rayyan Abu al-Ajeen in his father’s arms and mocked his father’s pleas as he cried for his dying son. The father says they were in the part of Gaza designated as “safe” for civilians during the “ceasefire.”
The real legacy of events like Juneteenth, are a reminder that white supremacy and racism are systemic, not individual nor collective.
They are basic functions of the system, and always have been.
https://scheerpost.com/2026/06/17/over-160-years-after-abolition-racism-still-structures-us-economy/
2026-06-16
Another 'ceasefire' that will go down in flames, thanks to ethnostate Israel.
Should anyone really be surprised when (not if) this happens?
This is what happens when society's economic and political systems are hierarchical in nature - such that psychopaths and criminals always rise to the top to serve the rich and powerful.
The collapse of 'Western support', or the collapse of the 'West'?
https://scheerpost.com/2026/06/15/new-threat-to-netanyahu-the-collapse-of-western-support/
Since the 'West' (i.e. the US Empire and its vassals) is the biggest threat to the planet (thanks in part to its neo-capitalist republic economic system), this couldn't happen at a better time.
But more importantly, it's a reminder that bullies exist because of the tacit (or sometimes direct) approval of the environment or system they exist in.
2026-06-11
A victory for independent media in India.
Don't take my word for it -
On Wednesday, a single judge bench of the Delhi High Court quashed the cases filed by Delhi police’s Economic Offences’ Wing (EOW) and the country’s Directorate of Enforcement (ED) agency handling issues related to economic fraud, claiming their continuation was “nothing but a gross abuse of the process of law.”
The judge, Neena Bansal Krishna, further observed that the ED proceedings were “not only mala fide, but also an arbitrary attack and abuse of powers on the free and impartial journalism of NewsClick and Prabir Purkayastha.”
2026-06-09
The Epstein class - the center of the US Empire.
https://consortiumnews.com/2026/06/09/hedges-report-epstein-the-russian-mob-maxwell/
This is too painful to read, let alone watch.
2026-06-08
Human life.
Most people live in this imaginary world of believed mental constructs that offer up all sorts of reasons to feel anxious and afraid and hostile and ashamed. And then clever manipulators use those feelings to get us consenting to wars and injustices and all the self-destructive human behavior we see before us today. And that’s why everything’s as messed up as it is.The world as it actually exists could not be more different from the world our thoughts describe. Life experienced lucidly is as different from life filtered through thought as any two things could possibly be.The human organism can function perfectly fine without nonstop mental chatter. Thought can be nothing more than a useful tool that gets picked up when it’s needed and set down when it’s not, with attention resting in the profound wondrousness of the senses instead of mental babbling about made-up nonsense throughout the day.It can take some work to undo all the interior dysfunction and come to this level of clarity, but it’s not nearly as much work as we’re already exerting in continuously turning the wheels of our insanity and keeping all these fictional worlds happening inside our heads. Bringing clarity to our inner processes and awakening to reality is actually the easy path. It’s just so much more peaceful and enjoyable.
The true face of genocide - is killing with one simply because they exist.
In this case, a 7-month old child - Sam Abu Haikal.
Because he was brown. Because his parents were brown. Because they - along with all the other Palestinians - represent a threat to US Imperialism/Capitalism/Settler-Colonialism, and so on.
Israeli soldiers shot and killed this Palestinian baby in the West Bank
Sam Abu Haikal was riding in his parents' car through Hebron when Israeli soldiers opened fire. His mother is in intensive care, and his father, wounded in the hand, buried him alone the next morning. He was only seven months old.
And yet, here in America, people are completely (or nearly completely) delusional, self-absorbed, and too caught up in all the perpetual propaganda to really understand.
This is what holds all of us back.
2026-06-05
Sigh - so ends another vacation.
I didn't get everything I wanted done. But I did get a lot done -
- Wrote some new songs.
- Recorded lots of guitar, bass, drums and keyboard parts for songs.
- New music for future songs.
Wasn't able to get much done with vocals. I have to finally accept that I'll need to set up some sort of acoustically-treated booth of sorts to do that.
Still much more to do. It's a journey. Sometimes I wish I could do more. Sometimes I wish I had started this much sooner (though I remind myself, the technology to do what I can now, didn't exist back then).
2026-06-04
Who buys the weapons in your neighborhood?
In your neighborhood?
In your neighborhood ... yeah!
Who buys the weapons in the neighborhood?
The Arab and Euro genociders each day!
Sing it with me!
2026-06-03
The US and Israel militaries becoming one and the same - can't make this shit up.
And I thought it was hard to keep up with reality or the Dubya years.
https://www.mintpressnews.com/ndaa-new-u-s-bill-will-fuse-israel-and-u-s-militaries-into-one/290951/
Section 224 of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) proposes to join the two forces together at the hip, laying the groundwork for extensive cooperation into “seemingly every manner of U.S.-Israeli military-industrial complex cooperation,” according to the Institute for Responsible Statecraft.This includes the research, development, and production of modern, hi-tech arms, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, drones, directed energy, cyber, and autonomous weapons systems. It would compel the United States to integrate Israeli arms and technologies into its defense supply chain, and fuse the countries’ data capturing and storage facilities together, meaning that Israel could have access to essentially all the U.S. military’s data.The bill also requires the creation of a new position within the Department of Defense: an executive agent whose role is to coordinate cooperation and integration between the two parties.In essence, then, it would dramatically change the relationship between the two states, from one where Washington supplies Tel Aviv with money, weapons, and diplomatic support, to a situation where the two are fundamentally intertwined.
This article from The Black Agenda Report reminds me WHY I don't follow the NFL.
And it's because of what the business did to this guy because he stood up (or rather took a knee) for what he saw was a great injustice, and it cost him his career.
2026-05-31
Time for a vacation.
I'm owed many comp days for all the late evenings, overnights, and weekend work.
How asking for it in this day and age can be like a cancer diagnosis.
But we'll see what I can get done.
2026-05-30
Thank you Habs for a great 2025-26 NHL Season.
It went far beyond I think most expected. I'm very proud of the results.
They established themselves as a top team, and future Stanley Cup contenders.
Couple of tweaks (maybe trading for Conor McDavid?), and who knows where they'll be this time next year?
2026-05-28
So far I've managed to survive two overnight releases.
As well as many late evenings, early mornings, meetings that are driven by people with no sense of time, or any self-awareness, or run by all-and-out bullies.
It's a reminder that work (just like every other hierarchical structure) I've encountered is typically psychopathic in nature, and resorts to exerting some force of various kinds to get its owners' way.
In these situations, it's important to not lose my shit, think carefully about what comes out of my mouth before saying it, be reminded that one is being watched at all times, and do one's work honestly and to the best of one's ability.
Meanwhile the genocide of brown people by Euro-centric ones continues
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2026/05/27/israel-carries-out-sixth-consecutive-eid-massacre-in-gaza/
Israel carries out sixth consecutive Eid massacre in Gaza
The newly-appointed general commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Mohammed Odeh, was killed in the lethal strikes carried out on the eve of Eid al-Adha, less than two weeks after his predecessor was assassinated.
May 27, 2026 by Aseel Saleh
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2026/05/27/israel-kills-31-people-in-lebanon-on-the-eve-of-eid-al-adha/
Israel kills 31 people in Lebanon on the eve of Eid al-Adha
Another massacre was committed in Gaza on the same day, killing nine people, despite the US-brokered ceasefire deals in both Arab territories.
May 27, 2026 by Aseel Saleh
Crapitalism. Imperialism. Fascism. Colonialism. Mercantilism. They all have three basic things in common.
First is they all are hierarchical structures - with a few at the top, and the rest at the bottom.
Second is that those at the top are often rich and powerful.
And third ... is these systems are often racist in nature.
https://www.blackagendareport.com/making-america-whiter-again-white-supremacy-action
I honestly think it should be called MAWA, not MAGA.
2026-05-26
One of the reasons I continue to read articles online (whether I agree or not with some or all of it), is every now and then one finds comments worth noting.
In this case, it's this one -
"US AI Systems are failing consistently and dramatically.
To start with, much of the data fed into them was illegally scooped up from the Internet. This is why there are so many inconsistencies with the output, which include high levels of erroneous information being served up.
The second issue, which comes from the first one above, which is that the current designs of AI internals cannot easily scale, also leading to erroneous output as a result of what is called “overlapping”."
2026-05-25
Yet another work adventure tonight.
This is starting to be a trend I'm not enjoying.
If course, the alternatives are unemployed and under some bridge.
2026-05-22
After surviving another long night of work this past weekend ...
... get to do it all over again. This time on a holiday evening, no less.
Yay me.
We'll see how that goes.
2026-05-18
The Future.
https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-the-future/
A very worthwhile piece. Probably the most succinct summary of what people around the world need to do.
2026-05-17
Another work adventure tonight.
This hot on the heels of more layoffs, more moving of jobs to other time zones (both in the US and other countries).
As always, why do I do it? Because I have no real choice.
Let's hope I survive until tomorrow.
2026-05-15
'Sportswashing'.
https://fair.org/home/jules-boykoff-on-world-cup-and-sportswashing/
As if I don't have enough reasons to avoid it.
2026-05-14
Now playing in theaters of reality near you - > 'hyperimperialism'.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2026/05/13/trumps-state-visit-to-beijing-and-the-new-cold-war-on-asia/
Trump’s state visit to Beijing and the New Cold War on Asia
What is on display in Beijing this week is not a thaw, and the executives traveling with Trump are not a sign of moderation. The economic and military aggression against China are two halves of the same project of containment. This is hyperimperialism: an empire turning increasingly to force as its economic dominance erodes, with China and other Global South countries defending their sovereignty as the primary targets. Trump’s transactional style is not a departure from US imperialism but the form it takes when its economic instruments no longer deliver.
2026-05-13
2026-05-12
Sunrise on Mount Rainier and Downtown Seattle.
They literally happen everyday, but didn't want this moment to pass me by.
Why I don't really know, nor can I really say.
2026-05-08
Normally I don't post things from social media outlets.
Like many sites, LinkedIn has its share of cesspool and idiocy.
That being said, this came up, and it does reflect a lot of what I have both observed - 1) in the past, 2) and today.
Here are 8 signs burnout is a systems problem, not a people problem
0/ Constant urgency with no real priorities
1/ Too much work, not enough capacity
2/ Boundaries ignored once pressure hits
3/ No time to recover between pushes
4/ Success rewarded with more load
5/ Feedback up, pressure down
6/ Fixing people instead of fixing the process
7/ Leaders firefighting instead of redesigning work
In true fashion, LinkedIn doesn't make it easy to post outside their site (why would they; like all social media, their owners think the world revolves around them), so here's a screenshot -
2026-05-07
2026-05-06
The Petrodollar - replaced by the Petrogasdollar?
A very lengthy and critical analysis by Richard Medhurst.
An interesting (and perhaps telling) screenshot ...
... that says something about the 2026 NHL Playoffs - Round 2.
No teams that finished 2nd in their respective Division made it either.
2026-05-05
I have to admit, I always thought of this as incredible to have. But evidently it has its disadvantages.
A closer look at extraordinary memory
Some people, such as memory competition champions, do have extraordinary memories. They can memorize thousands of digits or entire decks of cards in minutes. Their feats are real, but they don’t come from a memory that takes mental snapshots.
Instead, these people rely on strategies – mental frameworks built through thousands of hours of deliberate practice to scaffold their memory in specific domains. Without these strategies and in other aspects of life, their recall looks pretty much like everyone else’s. Experts’ performance reflects better methods, not different machinery.
In the scientific literature, the ability that comes closest to photographic memory is eidetic imagery: a form of visual mental imagery in which people claim they can briefly continue to “see” pictures they carefully studied and that are then removed from view.
This ability is rare, is seen mostly in children, and usually disappears by adolescence. Even at its peak, however, it falls short of the Hollywood ideal. Eidetic images fade quickly and are not perfectly accurate. They can include distortions and even details that were not seen.
It’s exactly what you’d expect from a reconstructive memory system – and exactly what you would not expect from a literal recording.
2026-05-03
Well 4 down for the Habs.
12 more to go.
But as my brother said, they have taken great strides.
Buffalo Sabres up next.
2026-05-02
I hadn't spoken much about this.
Mostly because there are folks like Margaret Kimberley who do a far better job at it.
2026-04-30
Amazing how a loss of electricity can affect you.
Obviously it's been that way my whole life, and before that for quite some time.
But in today's day and age, with so many aspects of life now dependent on the Internet ... well ...
I have to remind myself...
... on days like this ... I have responsibilities to take care of, and people who depend on me.
It means getting up early to drive to an office to minimize the time spent on the road.
It means sifting through tons of emails to sort out issues created by psychopaths, sociopaths, and narcissists, and help support moving things along.
It means knowing that leaving to head back in the middle of the day is done so at the ire of those above me, despite the fact that legally my employer cannot track how many hours I am supposed to be at the office. I do this for the same reasons as above - to minimize the time spent on the road.
It means creating processes to support moving things along, only to have those overrun and ignored by those above, at their discretion.
I have to accept all this - why? Because right now I have no choice.
Getting through tomorrow means surviving today. And I know what I want to do with my tomorrows.
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