[FOX] Elon Musk fired back at The Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes during a Thursday interview from Tesla's Gigafactory in Texas after she said people loathed him over his efforts to influence European politics.
"I think a lot more people hate you and the media more than you realize," Musk told the journalist.
Beddoes confronted the Tesla and SpaceX CEO after challenging his support for right-wing European political parties and arguing that his wealth, ownership of X and following on the platform gave him unusual power to shape politics abroad.
#2
Last evening's White House correspondents dinner was abysmal. The president appeared to be tired and rambling. The expressions of many of those in attendance appeared to be detached, distant, and lacking respect.
[BB] South Africa experienced a surge of anti-migrant violence this summer as vigilante groups set a deadline of June 30 for illegal immigrants to leave the country or face unpleasant consequences. Several people were killed in riots leading up to the deadline date.
The anti-migrant demonstrators, many of whom rallied under the banner of “Dudula” – a Zulu word that means “to force out” – accused the South African government of failing to secure the borders or enforce immigration law, resulting in a tidal wave of economic migrants from neighboring countries into relatively prosperous South Africa.
In addition to taking jobs from South Africans and straining the country’s public welfare systems, the demonstrators claimed the migrants brought rampant crime, from drug abuse to racketeering. They also accused corrupt South African officials of working with migrant criminal gangs.
Roughly 160,000 migrants reportedly fled South Africa in May and June, and some other governments made efforts to assist their citizens with evacuating, including Ghana. Migrants held some counter-protests of their own, leading to clashes with police.
In addition to taking jobs from South Africans and straining the country’s public welfare systems, the demonstrators claimed the migrants brought rampant crime, from drug abuse to racketeering. They also accused corrupt South African officials of working with migrant criminal gangs.
[BB] A paper published by the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that Canada should take advantage of the bumper crop of corpses produced by its euthanasia policies and begin harvesting them for organs.
The organs would be taken from the euthanasia volunteers while they are sedated, but still alive.
Canada’s National Post reported on Thursday that the paper has caused a stir in the Canadian bioethics community because the organ-harvesting proposal might turn a horrified public away from Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID), the Canadian euthanasia program. But the proposal also follows the logic of euthanasia to its ultimate conclusion, which is if people want to die, and they have healthy organs, why not pass those organs along to people who do not want to die?
The paper suggested sedating the patients and removing their organs before death is initiated, to ensure maximum freshness and quality of the organs. This notion runs afoul of Canada’s “dead donor rule” (DDR), a legal requirement that stipulates organ donors must be legally dead before their organs can be taken, so the organ removal process itself cannot be the cause of death.
The paper argued it was time to rethink the DDR in the context of MAID because those who agree to euthanasia are “knowingly consenting to death.” This supposedly minimizes the risk of opportunistic doctors killing people just to get their organs.
[CIMSEC] Clarity of purpose is a combat multiplier and central to mission command, yet anyone who has spent time in a large headquarters knows that language in the modern Army can sometimes resemble a map overlaid with too many graphics.1
Each symbol intended to clarify, but collectively obscuring the ground truth and making it harder to see what matters. We are using more words to say less, and sometimes nothing at all: orders, briefs, and discussions increasingly seek to synchronize effects, leverage partnerships, and optimize potential across a complex and challenging strategic environment while enabling teams to operate whenever, wherever, and with whomever required. The result is polished language that signals alignment and intellectual weight – but regularly obscures meaning. This paper offers a deliberately tongue-in-cheek look at that phenomenon: the proliferation of empty metaphors, inflated concepts, and managerial phrasing, and what it might mean for warfighting effectiveness.
The inspiration for this reflection comes in part from Harry Frankfurt’s 1988 essay On Bullshit, a short but rigorous philosophical treatment of a word not particularly common in academic journals.2 Frankfurt argues that bullshit is not the same as lying. He asserts that the liar remains tethered to the truth and deliberately departs from it, whereas the bullshitter is indifferent to whether statements are true or false; this indifference is the defining characteristic. In reading Frankfurt, it becomes difficult not to recognize echoes of his idea in contemporary military discourse, where the obligation to brief and conceptually frame problems can outpace genuine understanding. That realization provided the motivation and starting point for this paper.
More at the link
A related piece from a generation earlier at Harvard that to me is a critical piece of pedagogy: Examsmanship and the Liberal Arts: A Study in Educational Epistemology
#1
Not to mention the incredible rise in briefings and studies saturated with it. If you are given the rank and command, then make a decision or don't take the job.
#3
OK, so how do you brief an operation where each service is involved, their sub tiers are operating, OGA's are involved and other nations and operators are there? How do you make that simple without leaving out the players that will quickly become fratricide? But then this must be parody or something?
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/25/2026 14:12 Comments ||
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Some random thoughts based on bits & pieces of information from various sources.
We seem to be approaching the conclusion of the conflict with Iran. Some of the attacks have been to isolate certain parts of the country and destroy IRGC units to prevent the IRGC from responding to one or more uprisings and the regime change that will follow. I expect the conflict to be over by September 1st +/- a week or so.
If this happens, a clear victory that not even the MSM can hide, it will significantly impact the mid-terms, almost certainly in the favor of the Republicans.
For better or worse, the months between now and the mid-terms is going to be interesting.
To everyone raging at Trump's moves on Iran
An interesting and well thought post. She certainly makes sense and there is a much longer post where she goes into more detail. Well argued.
To everyone raging at Trump’s moves on Iran, calling them random, weak, or proof he “has no plan”: I get the anger. The ceasefire, the MoU, the pauses, they look confusing, even contradictory, especially if you want the regime gone yesterday.
But here’s the truth most people…
— Ida Turan 🇮🇷 ایده توران (@iranidaturan) July 21, 2026
…the truth most people miss: This isn’t a simple game. It’s multi-dimensional chess on a board most observers only see one corner of.
The Islamic Republic isn’t a normal adversary. It’s a suicidal hostage-taker with proxies, lifelines from Russia/China/Europe/Gulf states, deep domestic infiltration, and 90 million Iranian lives as its ultimate shield. One reckless move can turn victory into regional chaos and mass slaughter.
Trump isn’t playing checkers or delivering instant checkmate. He’s systematically neutralizing pieces, sanctions, diplomacy, military pressure, narrative warfare, and internal fractures, while managing American politics, oil markets, and the risk of total collapse that could hurt the very people he wants to free. I broke it down into the five key dimensions. Yes, it's a 5D chess.
If you’re tired of the noise and want to actually understand the strategy instead of reacting to every headline, read this.
Trump isn’t stumbling. He’s playing the long game against an enemy that spent 47 years rigging the board. What looks like weakness is often calculated patience.Full article below.
Posted by: Chantry ||
07/25/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[351 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
SIDE NOTE
While in Metro-Atlanta doing somethings. I noted, Gas prices suddenly jumped from $3.49 to $3.99 & $4.09 a gallon overnight in the area.
Again, not a drop of oil from the war area has reached the USA. But the existing 7+ day supply already here jumped in price. Given the U.S. uses about 377 million gallons a day.
377M x $0.50 = $188.5M Now that's a nice 1 day ROI profit.
So, when will the DC Swamp start investigating Big Oil Global price rigging?
#5
China is slowing down their draws on stockpiles and starting to buy again on the open market. That change will ripple thru the system in about a week reducing overall availability and driving up prices.
You gave us good material to work with, my dear. I admit to it being purely selfish on my part — I see connections better when the information is in one place.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
