Knowing that a visit to Sapporo isn’t complete without... sampling its world-famous seafood, Deputy Chief of Mission Aaron Snipe dropped by Oguma Shoten for an unforgettable “kaisendon” lunch that included Hokkaido’s spectacular scallops! 在札幌米国総領事館show more

Why the world needs Grokipedia? ➤ Wikipedia isn’t the... neutral source of truth it once was. It’s been taken over by far-left activists and often used as a propaganda tool, not an unbiased encyclopedia. ➤ A lot of AIs today get their info from the internet, but the web is full of unfair views, wrong facts, and tons of junk. ➤ Grokipedia will be an open-source encyclopedia focused solely on TRUTH. ➤ Grokipedia won’t be controlled by any activist or political bias. ➤ It will be open-source and free for all to use, a truly public resource without limits. ➤ xAI’s ultimate mission is to understand the universe, and that requires honest, unfiltered information. Grokipedia is a crucial step toward that goal, because you can’t build a truthful AI on biased information. ➤ The vision is for Grokipedia to become the global standard for knowledge. One day, every person and every AI system could rely on it as a trusted source of truth. ➤ Seeking truth is the greatest mission of all and that’s what Grokipedia stands for. Grokipedia is coming.show more

I am very proud of my work at Royal... Caribbean, and I was honored to be set the complex task of reinventing their entire entertainment product from the ground up (by Lisa Lutoff-Perlo and Michael Bayley), and to make it the very best in the industry, if not the world. This lofty mission resulted in an incredibly rewarding decade for all involved. Massive changes delivered massive results. Job done👍. So, as a way to recognize the incredible support that the brand gave to all of my ideas, concepts, developments and inventions (and as a fun way to give back), I always included the famous “Crown & Anchor” logo in every entertainment production. Sometimes I did this openly and loudly and sometimes more subtly, as an “easter egg” for people to discover. It’s always there tho. (Have you spotted all of them?) Here are three examples of my not-so-top-secret “Show The Logo” strategy. – An example of a small hidden one, a medium-sized subtle one, and a LOUD ‘n’ PROUD HUGE ONE, that hides from nobody. Happy hunting. 😉show more

This scene from Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece “Inglourious Basterds” is... a perfect example of cinematic tension and a masterclass in dialogue. The moment Lieutenant Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) gives himself away by using the wrong hand gesture for “three glasses” is one of the most iconic reveals in modern film history. It’s a small detail, but in the world of espionage, it’s everything. It’s a subtle clue that unravels an entire operation and leads to one of the most explosive and unforgettable showdowns ever filmed. This isn’t just a movie scene; it’s a lesson in screenwriting and acting, where every word, every gesture, and every pause is loaded with meaning. It’s the kind of filmmaking that makes you lean forward in your seat, your heart pounding, even on the tenth rewatch. Tarantino’s ability to build suspense in a single, confined space is unparalleled, and this tavern scene is arguably the best of its kind. What’s your favorite moment from this legendary film?show more

If your AI replies instantly… it’s probably not building.... Replit’s Agent just became your personal engineer. And it’s changing how we think about building apps I saw it complete a full feature build from one prompt. Try it here: • Understood the context of what I wanted • Wrote the code without micromanagement • Tested and refined on its own • Shipped a working dashboard overnight All while I stepped away. This isn’t just “AI assistance.” It’s delegation to an Agent that actually thinks. Here’s what actually happened: 1. Typed one clear prompt 2. Agent ran longer without babysitting 3. Built features autonomously 4. Debugged in the background 5. Delivered a working result by morning It wasn’t just fast output. It built something real and functional. This is the future we’ve been waiting for: ☑︎ AI that doesn’t stop at a single reply ☑︎ Agents that understand context, not just commands ☑︎ Work that gets done while you focus on vision We’re moving from “AI that chats” to “AI that builds.” Replit Agent just showed us what’s possible. Try it now: Learning something new? Repost ♻️ so others can too.show more

🇬🇷 There is a distinct, poetic charm that sets... the Ionian island of Corfu entirely apart from the rest of Greece. While the Cyclades are famous for their barren landscapes and stark white walls, Corfu is a lush, emerald paradise shaped by centuries of Venetian, French, and British rule. It is a destination wrapped in a romantic magic that somehow keeps calling you back year after year, offering the perfect intersection of sophisticated European elegance, raw nature, and authentic Greek hospitality. To truly unlock the soul of the island, you need to immerse yourself in its diverse landscapes. Begin your journey inside the UNESCO-protected Corfu Town. Walking through its labyrinth of tall, pastel-hued apartment blocks and narrow stone alleys, known locally as kantounia, feels exactly like stepping into a hidden neighborhood in Venice or Naples. Once you have taken in the history, make your way northwest to the legendary shores of Paleokastritsa. This dramatic coastline features deep, jagged bays where dense pine forests tumble directly into impossibly clear, translucent turquoise waters that are perfect for afternoon boat excursions. As the day draws to a close, you have two spectacular options to watch the landscape transform. You can travel to the sheer vertical clay cliffs of Loggas Beach to watch the sun sink directly beneath the horizon line of the Ionian Sea. Alternatively, make the winding drive up to the mountain village of Pelekas to stand at Kaiser's Throne. Built as a personal retreat for Kaiser Wilhelm II, this panoramic lookout offers breathtaking, unobstructed views of the island's rolling olive groves and distant coastlines. Finally, no journey here is complete without diving deep into Corfu's unique culinary heritage. Because of its history, the local tavernas swap out standard Greek fare for iconic island comfort foods. Be sure to order a steaming clay bowl of pastitsada, tender meat braised in a rich, deeply spiced red-wine sauce served over thick Bucatini pasta or sample sofrito, an incredibly aromatic dish of tender veal simmered in an intense garlic, parsley, and white wine reduction. It is a culinary and sensory legacy that encapsulates a timeless way of life. 🎥 travelstoriesbyalexandra | IGshow more

Building The On-Chain Cooperative 🟡 Welcome to the dawn... of a new era in the crypto space, where the buzzword "community" is not just a hollow echo but a vibrant force that propels us towards a brighter future. Let's delve into the heart of MODE, the Onchain Cooperative that seeks to redefine the landscape of web3. What does MODE stand for? MODE stands for building an on-chain cooperative focused on sustainable growth and collective prosperity. At its core, MODE is guided by the principles of cooperation, shared incentives, and community-driven development. The goal is to shift from the "fat protocol" mentality where most value accrues to the blockchain/protocol itself, towards an ecosystem where builders, users, and applications can thrive together. What’s MODE's vision and mission in the web3 space? MODE's vision is to return to web3's founding promise - a future that is better for all, not just the individual. A world with aligned incentives that drive growth for everyone involved. A place with opportunities for all, not just the few. The mission is to pioneer the on-chain cooperative - where contributors are rewarded fairly based on the value they provide. Features like Sequencer Fee Sharing distribute a portion of fees to smart contract developers, incentivizing participation. The aim is to encourage collaboration instead of confrontation. Together, the MODE community can deliver new models for cooperation and shared prosperity in web3. Mode Network will solve many problems today in Web3: • Lack of incentives for developers: Developers creating decentralized apps (dApps) currently have few direct economic incentives to create and maintain their projects. Mode provides them with a steady source of income through fee-sharing. • Lack of collaboration: There are few incentives for blockchain projects to compete less and collaborate more for the benefit of the entire ecosystem. Mode's model encourages collaboration by aligning participants economically. • Excessive value accrual at the protocol layer: Mode aims for a more balanced model where the protocol's success is fueled by the success of application developers/builders and the wider community. Growth is a two-way street – "as we grow, you grow". The MODE Pledge 💛 The promise of crypto and blockchain is a brighter future. One that is better for all not just the individual. Where nothing is more important than community. We've strayed from this path. Entering a world of player vs player. Where value is extracted rather than shared. The game is zero sum rather than positive sum. And incentives are aligned with domination, rather than cooperation. Mode is the dawn of a new age. and a return to the promise of what can be. A world with aligned incentives that drive growth for builders, users and projects. A place with opportunities for all, rather than the few. Where we say goodbye to the 'fat protocol', and hello to the onchain cooperative. Join us on our mission to grow together. If this vision for a community-powered web3 ecosystem resonates - where creators are rewarded for their contributions - you can join the MODE on-chain cooperative! Visit Join the discord community Follow Mode 🟡 Together, we can transform web3 into a positive-sum game that unlocks new possibilities for all. Where your growth fuels the growth of others. Let's build the on-chain cooperative!show more

🌭 Nathan’s Famous: The Immigrant Dream That Became America’s... Iconic Hot Dog 🔥 In 1916, a young Polish-Jewish immigrant named Nathan Handwerker took everything he had — a $300 loan and his wife Ida’s secret spice blend — and opened a tiny hot dog stand on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island. He sold them for a nickel. Half the price of his former employer, Feltman’s. The risk? Massive. The reward? A legend that’s still sizzling over a century later. Nathan wasn’t just selling food — he was selling trust. To convince skeptical New Yorkers that his cheap “mystery meat” was safe, he hired men in white coats to eat at his stand. Customers assumed they were doctors… and business exploded. By the Great Depression, Nathan’s was feeding the masses. FDR even served them to the King and Queen of England in 1939. The Magic Behind the Snap • All-beef franks (no pork or fillers) with that signature snappy bite. • Ida’s grandmother’s secret spice mix — still closely guarded today. • “Kosher-style” branding that appealed widely without full rabbinical certification. What started as one small grill grew into an empire: supermarkets nationwide, hundreds of locations, and the world-famous Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest every Fourth of July. Legend says the very first contest happened right there in 1916 when four immigrants settled a patriotism debate with franks. Nathan’s isn’t just a brand — it’s the ultimate American street food success story. From a Polish shoemaker’s son sleeping on floors and eating free hot dogs to build savings, to an institution that defines summer in New York. Next time you bite into that juicy dog with mustard and sauerkraut, you’re tasting pure hustle, immigrant grit, and Coney Island magic.show more

This is Palestine in 1945. The world ignorantly thinks... that Palestine was empty and completely undeveloped until it was invaded by Israel in 1948! For many decades, Zionists promoted the biggest lie in modern history. They claimed they came to "a land without a people, for a people without a land." Palestine was not an empty piece of land before Israel. It was a country pulsing with life, but a complete homeland embracing a civilized people. They had streets, cities, airports, schools, colleges, theaters, concerts, culture and art. They had hopes, dreams, futures, and businesses. Generations of Families lived there. Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived there peacefully side by side. The holy places of the three religions are scattered across a few hundred square meters. The Great Mosque is close to Christ's tomb, further along at the foot of the Wailing Wall. That is because the war is not about religion incompetence. Until armed Zionist terrorists entered turning this prosperity into rubble, and displacing its owners—just as the terrorist settler-invaders are doing now in the West Bank, and attempting to do in southern Lebanon and Syria. Zionism needs you to hate Muslims. Because if you saw Palestinian as human, you would see Zionist as inhuman, and then the whole story would collapse. Convincing the world to hate Islam is easier than convincing the world to like Zionism. People have brainwashed into worshipping Zionism, including some Christians, Muslims and many other groups especially in India and Africa. Christian Zionism is not Christianity. It is a golden calf dressed in white and blue. Christian Zionism is a made up lie. How did Zionism manage to convince Christians that Muslims pose a greater threat than Zionists, and how did it manage to convince Sunni Muslims that Shia Muslims pose a greater threat than Zionists, and even more, how did it manage to convince everyone that Zionism is Judaism. Zionism is not a Jewish project; they are willing to kill Jews if they stand in their way. Zionism uses religion to justify their inhuman behavior. The world should know the truth about Palestine's beauty and development before occupation!show more

‼️🇺🇲🇷🇺🇵🇱 BIG | Russia is preparing for a large-scale... military provocation, which could take place against Poland or one of the Baltic states. The US has warned Poland that the Russian Federation is preparing an armed provocation in the coming months, The Telegraph and the Polish publication Onet report, citing intelligence services. Russia's target could be Poland's critical infrastructure via missiles and drones, or Russian soldiers might cross the border into NATO territory. Washington has already sent several warnings to Warsaw about this plot, sources close to Polish President Karol Nawrocki told the Polish news outlet Onet, which, along with The Telegraph, is owned by Axel Springer and is part of its Global Reporters Network. The purpose of the Russian provocation would be to escalate tensions and force Western allies to halt aid to Ukraine. This could begin in a few months. Polish security service sources also do not rule out a more conventional attack, such as a small-scale ground incursion by Russian soldiers onto NATO's eastern flank. According to Onet's security service sources, provocation scenarios could include drone attacks on critical infrastructure like power plants, or simulated airstrikes, forcing Poland to activate its air defense systems. A Polish intelligence source stated that in the most extreme scenario, a "hybrid attack in the border region" could occur. According to the same source, an armed incursion involving Russian or Belarusian soldiers is possible. This could be presented by Russia as an accidental crossing into Polish territory due to a GPS malfunction, or as a suspicious rescue mission to retrieve a damaged helicopter. Polish sources told Onet that Russia hopes that in such a situation, instead of opening fire on Russian or Belarusian soldiers, the US would pressure Poland to negotiate with Russia or Belarus rather than respond with force. A scenario in which the Russians leave Poland as a result of these negotiations, rather than through military coercion, would be seen as a victory from Moscow's perspective. During such negotiations, in exchange for withdrawing troops from Poland, Russia's main demand could even be the termination of Western support for Ukraine. "The US systematically provides information to Poland about new Russian plans for a conventional attack on NATO's eastern flank, from which Poland is by no means excluded," said a source close to the Polish President. A second source, an ambassador of one of Poland's NATO allies, also confirmed that a provocation in the Baltic states and Poland is a serious risk. This information was confirmed by a third source within the Polish Ministry of Defense. A fourth security source from the Baltic states confirmed to The Telegraph that such plans are indeed being discussed in Moscow. Following this, Russia might attempt to claim that the provocation was carried out by Ukraine. Any ground attack by Russia could be launched either from Kaliningrad—Russia's exclave north of Poland where nuclear weapons are stationed—or from the east, via Belarusian territory. Such methods are Russia's only realistic way to stage a provocation. Because its forces are bogged down in Ukraine, it lacks the resources to wage a full-scale war against NATO allies. Although Poland remains a committed security ally of Ukraine, relations have become strained in recent months due to differing views on World War II-era history and the competitive agricultural industries of the two countries. There are fears that Moscow will attempt to widen this rift even further. In the worst-case scenario for NATO, Russia's goal would be to undermine Polish sovereignty, portray NATO as a "paper tiger" (demonstrate its helplessness), and force the cessation of Western support for Ukraine—all without triggering a conventional war with the alliance. Video is made Grok AIshow more

ELON MUSK’S DEEP LOVE FOR HUMANITY: FIGHTING FOR A... BRIGHT, MULTIPLANETARY FUTURE At the core of everything Elon does—from SpaceX’s mission to xAI’s truth-seeking AI—is a profound care for humanity’s survival, flourishing, and potential. He doesn’t just talk about progress; his actions stem from wanting to protect and expand the light of consciousness in a vast, uncertain universe. “I love humanity. I think we should fight for a good future for humanity. We should be optimistic about the future… Some hate humanity, but I love humanity so much.” This love drives his biggest bets: • Making life multiplanetary — To safeguard consciousness against Earth-bound disasters (natural or man-made), turning humanity from a single-planet species into one that endures across worlds. • Maximally truth-seeking AI — Building xAI to ensure AI serves and loves humanity, not harms it, by prioritizing truth over deception. • Sustainable energy & abundance — Through Tesla, accelerating the shift to renewables so humanity can thrive long-term without destroying its home. • Preserving the light of consciousness — Viewing humanity as a rare, fragile “tiny candle in a vast darkness” that must be protected and extended. Elon’s drive isn’t cold calculation—it’s rooted in genuine affection for people, optimism about our potential, and urgency to secure a future where we prosper, explore, and endure. In a world where some express cynicism or hatred toward humanity, he stands as a vocal defender and builder for our species. The path forward is clear: love humanity enough to act boldly. Which part of Elon’s vision—multiplanetary backup, helpful AI, or sustainable Earth—resonates most with you? Let’s keep the optimism alive and build that better future.show more

Every civilization that worships progress is already walking to... its grave. To believe history climbs ever upward is the delusion of a people in decline. Victory comes by remembering who we are. Modernity lives by the noxious falsity that history is a straight ascent, a line rising toward liberty, material security, higher knowledge, and an ever-advancing mastery of the world. Christianity once gave this expectation its sacred form in the promise of salvation at the end of time. The Enlightenment stripped away the divine horizon but kept the same conviction of progress, recasting it as the unfolding of reason, the spread of science, and the emancipation of man from what were once called superstitions. This doctrine, ideological-cum-religion, is now repeated as if it were a law of nature, and those who doubt it are accused of perversity. Yet for most of mankind history was not imagined as a line but as a cycle. The ancients knew that whatever rises must also fall. Hesiod spoke of the decline of mankind through successive ages, from gold into iron. Heraclitus declared that “war is the father of all things,” for creation and destruction are one. Thucydides wrote his account of the Peloponnesian War with the conviction that future wars would resemble it in both their causes and their ruin. Polybius conceptualized the notion of anakyklosis (recurrence), the perpetual rotation of constitutions: monarchy degenerating into tyranny, aristocracy into oligarchy, democracy into mob rule, and from collapse into monarchy again. To them the fate of empires was as certain as the turning of the seasons. Even Machiavelli, on the threshold of modernity, still echoed Polybius when he wrote of the recurrent fortunes of republics. It was into this older vision that Oswald Spengler breathed life in the twentieth century. His great work “The Decline of the West” gave to cyclical history a new form, drawn not from metaphysics but from the morphology of nature. Cultures, he argued, are living organisms. Each is born in a moment of spiritual awakening, grows with an inner law of development, creates great art and form, and then enters upon its winter, when energies are spent, forms petrify, and death becomes inevitable. For this he used the distinction between Kultur (culture), the spring and summer of a people, marked by faith, inward form, and organic vitality, and Zivilisation (civilization), the autumn and winter, marked by intellect without soul, mass life, technical routine, and exhaustion. The West, in his judgment, had already passed from Kultur into Zivilisation. The inner principle of the West, its soul, was what Spengler named Faustian. Every great culture, he held, has a prime symbol that shapes its creations. The Magian world of the Near East saw existence as a cavern, inward and enclosed. The Classical world of Greece and Rome saw the finite, bounded body as the measure of form. The West saw infinite space. The Gothic cathedral, its arches soaring upward into height without measure, was the first revelation of this soul. The sagas of Arthur, Parsifal, and Siegfried, the restless knights of the Grail, and the march of the Crusaders all bore witness to it. The voyages that opened oceans, the maps that encompassed the globe, the infinitesimal calculus of Leibniz and Newton, the endless counterpoint of Bach and the vast harmonies of Wagner, all were the expression of a will to the infinite, a yearning without rest. This Faustian spirit was not content with the near or the familiar. It sought distance, transcendence, and mastery over what lay beyond. It was both creative and dangerous, for it drove men to triumphs unmatched in history but also carried within itself the certainty of overreaching and exhaustion. Spengler’s vision was therefore tragic. The same will that raised Gothic cathedrals and revealed the law of gravitation would in the end dissolve into sterile technique, into cities without form and masses without destiny. For him the West had already entered this stage. Spengler was, in this sense, a Nietzschean. He shared with Nietzsche the rejection of teleology and the denial that history tends toward progress, and he likewise held that life itself is bound to conflict, the agon, in which both rivalry and the will to power are revealed. He spoke of cultures as organisms that arise, strive, and perish, not unlike Nietzsche’s affirmation that life is bound to conflict and that creation and destruction are inseparable. A bit of an aside, when Spengler was buried in Munich in 1936, he was laid to rest with Goethe’s “Faust” and Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” placed in his coffin. He saw himself as heir to both, the one the poet of form and destiny, the other the prophet of will and strife. The roots of this Faustian striving reach back beyond Christendom, beyond Greece and Rome, to the Indo-European warrior-aristocrats of the Eurasian steppe. These tribes of the Pontic-Caspian plain lived by horse and chariot, by the defense of herds, and by the honor of their lineage. They were ruled not by despots but by free warriors who regarded their leaders as peers, first among equals, whose authority rested on courage, generosity, and loyalty rather than command alone. Young men were formed in war-bands, associations of companions bound by oath, living by raid and by hunt, pledged to follow their chosen chief even into death. In such companies rivalry and struggle were ceaseless, for each sought to surpass the others in daring, in the ferocity of combat, and in the glory that could outlast life itself. Their poetry and myth remembered these contests not as accidents of circumstance but as the very substance of noble existence, where to fall without renown was worse than death, and to win immortal fame was the highest proof of life. To paraphrase the Hávamál cattle perish and kinsmen perish, but “the fame of a dead man’s deeds” will never perish. From this life issued the earliest epics of Europe. “The Iliad” tells of Achilles choosing immortal fame above a long life. The Mahabharata recounts the deeds of princes who waged war for honor’s sake. Beowulf sings of the Geat who sought a name that death itself could not erase. The Song of Roland praises the knight who dies rather than yield dishonor. The Nibelungenlied recounts the doom of Siegfried and the vengeance of Kriemhild. The Irish Táin Bó Cúailnge tells of Cú Chulainn standing alone against an invading host. The Icelandic sagas, from Njáll’s fate to Egil’s defiance, exalted the warrior who carved his name with blood and song. These were not works of peace or utility but of tragic greatness, affirming life in the face of fate. This ethos carried into the Greek polis, where the agon was institutionalized in public life, from the rivalries of the assembly to the contests of the games, from the tragedies on the stage to the hoplite phalanx on the field of war. The Romans transmuted it into a republic of conquest and law, turning the struggle for honor into dominion over peoples and the codification of order. The medieval knightly orders bound it to Christendom, when crusade and chivalry gave sacred form to ancient valor and set the nobility of Europe against the infidel. The Renaissance hurled it across the oceans, as Cortés in Mexico and da Gama in India sought renown and dominion in uncharted realms. The Scientific Revolution extended it into thought itself, when the telescope, the calculus, and the new physics opened infinite space to inquiry. Each age bore a new expression of the same striving for honor and mastery, the same will to overcome every limit placed before man. Spengler’s judgment was that this will, having conquered the earth, had entered its final exhaustion. What had been vital had become mechanical. The spirit of invention had hardened into sterile routine. The organic life of peoples had dissolved into the masses of world-cities. Yet the question remains whether decline is always fate. Nietzsche believed otherwise. For him life is not a store of energy to be depleted but a force that renews itself wherever men embrace struggle. He saw in the agon not only the cause of decay but the condition of greatness. If men retain the courage to live by strife, decline can be arrested, or at least transfigured into new creation. The Indo-European heritage shows that cultures are not born from comfort but from peril, not from harmony but from contest. The Greeks rose not by suppressing strife but by shaping it into ordered form. Their philosophers contended as their athletes fought, and their poets sought renown as their warriors did. Rome built its empire by the discipline of legions and the law of the strong. The West carried the same spirit into its cathedrals, its voyages, its philosophies, and its sciences. This is Faustian man, the refusal of limits, the yearning for infinity, the restless will to overcome. The cycle of decline may be unavoidable in form, but decline need not mean death. In the biological world exhaustion is followed by regeneration, decay enriches the soil for new growth, and death itself becomes the ground of life. If the West remembers its aristocratic origin, if it accepts strife as its element rather than yielding to the narcotic of progress, rebirth is possible. In Nietzsche’s vision every ending contains the seed of a higher beginning. If Europe wills it, the Faustian soul can be born again. A civilization dies when it abandons struggle; it lives again only when it embraces the agon as its lifeblood. REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE.show more

Fashion, Optics, and Hypocrisy: Meghan Markle’s Balenciaga Problem For... a couple who have built a considerable portion of their public identity around mental health and child safety, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue to display a baffling lack of self-awareness. The Archewell Foundation, which they co-founded, has made child protection and online safety central to its mission—launching campaigns calling for safer digital spaces, stricter social media safeguards, and protection for young people from the documented harms of online abuse, exploitation, and anxiety. It’s an admirable cause on paper. Yet, once again, their actions betray their own messaging. During Paris Fashion Week, Meghan Markle was seen attending the Balenciaga show—yes, that Balenciaga. The same fashion house that ignited global outrage for its 2022 advertising campaign featuring small children holding the brand’s teddy bear handbags dressed in bondage-inspired accessories. The campaign was condemned worldwide for its deeply inappropriate imagery, with critics pointing out that such visuals blurred the moral boundaries that protect children. In a related campaign (Garde-Robe), Balenciaga also included props such as a Supreme Court decision on child pornography in visual materials — which stirred further outrage over the blurred boundaries between fashion and exploitative symbolism. The backlash was so severe that Balenciaga swiftly removed the campaign, issued public apologies, and faced ongoing reputational damage for months. For most people, the lesson was clear: you don’t associate children with adult themes. Full stop. It should have been common sense. But apparently not for Meghan Markle—the self-proclaimed advocate for children’s wellbeing and online safety. While her Archewell Foundation preaches the importance of shielding children from harm, manipulation, and predatory influences, Meghan was photographed supporting a brand that became a symbol of precisely the moral decay such advocacy is meant to challenge. To wear or publicly support Balenciaga in any capacity—even years after the scandal—undermines her stated values entirely. The passage of time does not erase the original transgression, nor does it excuse the tone-deaf optics of a supposed child-safety campaigner aligning herself with a brand that used children in a context universally condemned as exploitative. This is not about fashion—it’s about consistency, credibility, and integrity. It’s fair to ask: does an invitation to Paris Fashion Week now outweigh the values Archewell claims to hold so dear? Because that is how it looks. The image of the Markle, smiling from the front row of a Balenciaga show, is a direct contradiction to the image of a humanitarian working to make the digital and physical worlds safer for children. It is precisely the kind of hypocrisy that erodes public trust—not just in her, but in the very causes she claims to represent. To make matters worse, the timing could not be more ironic. Within days, Meghan and Harry are set to receive the “Humanitarian of the Year” award from Project Healthy Minds at the upcoming World Mental Health Day Gala in New York. The irony is staggering: accepting a humanitarian honour for their advocacy on mental health and child safety, while simultaneously endorsing—through presence and fashion—a brand that became infamous for its insensitivity toward children. This is not the behaviour of serious advocates. This is performance. If there were any genuine understanding of what child protection means, such a public association would have been unthinkable. But as history continues to show, the Sussexes’ greatest consistency lies in their inconsistency. When the optics suit them, they preach virtue. When the cameras flash, those principles are conveniently forgotten. Perhaps Archewell’s PR team will attempt a quiet clean-up—pretending the Balenciaga appearance never happened or insisting that the Duchess of Sussex was merely “supporting the arts.” But even that will not wash. True advocates for child safety do not endorse or elevate brands that have, however briefly, crossed such a moral line. In the end, this is not just another minor misstep—it’s a symptom of a much larger problem. When your entire brand is built on compassion and advocacy, hypocrisy becomes your greatest enemy. And as Meghan and Harry prepare to take the stage and accept yet another humanitarian accolade, they might do well to remember that the public isn’t blind. You cannot claim to protect children with one hand and applaud a brand condemned for exploiting their image with the other.show more

When the government is the economy, your financial suffering... is their fault. Retail interest rates are predicted to skyrocket. Severe pain is incoming as the sluggish economy is about to get winded by a sucker punch. This is all driven by inflation that has almost nothing to do with discretionary spending – illustrated by the increasing din of roller shutters slamming shut for the last time on the high-street. Restaurants, cafes and bars - gone forever. They’re following the exit of long-established family businesses dropping like flies. Iconic clothing brands, manufacturing companies, and construction companies struggling to keep up with the increasing costs and declining consumer spending. Just a more amplified version of households busting to stay afloat, food, electricity, fuel, insurance and housing all running out of reach. People are hurting. The irony is that the only string holding up the false economy is the very thing causing the inflation that is destroying the real economy. Government spending. More specifically – government borrowing. Governments borrow printed money and spend it with the recklessness of a child buying gems to advance in a game on Mum’s iPhone. Using Mum’s credit card, without her knowing. Like the money isn’t real - and to them it isn’t. But it is to the rest of us who have to live in the real world, it really is. It’s just cruel. It’s one thing to borrow and invest in assets that provide returns, but using the credit card to buy skittles and beer normally comes with a hangover at some point. Welcome to the hangover. It’s as if Canberra has a giant black credit card with a tap and go facility. Mark Butler, the minister in charge of the NDIS has probably racked up the most loyalty points with the way he spends. Who knows what he will pick out of the post parliamentary reward points catalogue when he leaves. Next up would surely be Penny Wong, as she runs around the world tapping our credit card and showering other countries with the gifts we pay for, on borrowed money. Funding regimes like the Taliban… Don’t get me wrong, foreign aid has its place – and I think that is exclusively for our various island neighbours, and only when that is in this Nation’s interest. All the rest is just a waste of money, and a betrayal of the Australian people. Albanese and his team are just feckless and reckless, and Chalmers clearly thinks that spending borrowed money is the economy. It isn’t. Because when borrowed money is created, it is created without the interest (nobody ever prints the interest). But the interest always falls due. All our money supply is printed fiat currency. It’s not backed by anything. But if you are one dollar short on an interest bill – your assets can fall into the hands of the lender. Printed money buys real assets, and real assets are lost on foreclosure, as insiders often swoop in for cents in the dollar. It’s like a giant asset laundering scheme. More is always owed than was minted in the first place, because interest must be paid. So, there must be losers – that much is baked into the game - and as more people lose, more people collapse and even more assets are pooled in the hands of fewer people… and there’s the rub – eventually it all falls into the hands of the money printers and their mates. The system must have been designed by an insane clown. The only way out of this mess is to get rid of this government debt and return to sound money. All government debt just inflates assets – and the cost to hold them. Everything else is just a sideshow. They want us fighting over the gender of a toothpick that never ceded ownership of its tutu, so we don’t look at the rapid collapse of everything in real time. It is government debt and waste that is ruining Australia. Almost everything else is a distraction from the fact that there’s no more free money. I just want Australia back.show more

And just like that… ‘HIT ME HARD AND SOFT:... The Tour’ has officially come to a close after 106 unforgettable shows. We’re feeling overwhelmed with gratitude, replaying a million memories in our heads, and trying to find the words to express how much this entire tour has meant to us. First, to every single person who ever sent us a concert video, a clip, a moment, or a tiny piece of your experience: thank you. You helped us bring this tour to people who couldn’t be there in person, and because of you, thousands of fans around the world got to feel a little closer, a little more connected, and a little more included. We truly couldn’t have done any of this without your generosity and love. To Billie and her incredible team: thank you for crafting a show that felt like magic every single night. The passion, artistry, and heart you put into this tour truly touched people in ways that will stay with them forever. Watching this tour unfold city by city has been an honor, and we’re endlessly grateful we were able to see it in person. And lastly, but so deeply, to all of YOU. This community has become more than we ever imagined it could be. Your support, kindness, excitement, and trust have turned this into something truly beautiful. Even during the nights we barely slept, posting videos until the sun came up, we never once forgot how lucky we are to share this space with all of you. Being able to do this for an entire tour, and to feel your energy every step of the way, has meant everything to us! This page exists exactly because of that. We don’t know exactly what the future holds, but we can promise you this: we’re not going anywhere. As long as Billie keeps touring and honestly, even beyond that we hope to be right here with you, creating, sharing, and celebrating together. We can’t wait for the next chapter, the next show, the next era. All of it. And we hope you’ll stay with us for many more tours to come. Thank you for the memories. Thank you for the love. Thank you for making this community feel like home. Sending each and every one of you so much love, always.show more

Donald Trump just claimed again that the US donated... 350 Billion dollars to Ukraine. You are being lied to by your sitting President on the United States of America. Let’s break this down with the facts rather than these random numbers Donnie is trying to sell you after finishing his nap. Independent tracking by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy estimated that between January 24, 2022 and June 30, 2025, U.S committed aid to Ukraine amounted to about $134 billion, not $350 billion….it gets better. Already a $166 Billion dollar difference than what Trump claims. Please understand committed and allocated isn’t the same as what has actually been delivered. 56% ($74.9 billion USD) of all funds “allocated not supplied” were for weapons. HOWEVER the $74.9 of weapons (Allocated and not necessarily all provided) were independently evaluated and subsequently massively overvalued by the US Government. The True cost of lethal aid was predicted to cost around $18.3 billion even by United States weapons pricing. One reason: when equipment is drawn from existing U.S. inventories “drawdown”, the official accounting often uses replacement-cost valuations, rather than the original (or depreciated) cost. To put it plainly, if you give Ukraine one air defense system, you account for the cost of a brand new air defense system to take its place not for the cost of the 45 year old system that was handed over. Many of the weapons provided to Ukraine was soon to be destroyed by the US forces or decommissioned. ALSO it’s important to take note as we all know the American arms industry massively overvalues the cost of all system due to its industry. America prices its systems at anything from 30-100% higher than the cost of European equivalents with the same capabilities. The true value of these weapons could have been anything from $5.49 billion-$18.3 Billion. Even with a significantly lower number of this, Independent analysts suggested that a large share perhaps 60% or more of the nominal military-aid dollar amount may effectively stay within U.S. defense industry…..60%! Out of aid provided $54 Billions dollars was Financial aid consisting of grants, loans, budget support. Of the US $54.0 billion in U.S. financial-aid allocations for that period, about US $19.3 billion was provided as loans, while roughly US $29.7 billion was given as grants. 🚨🚨That means approximately 39–40% of the U.S. financial aid during that time was structured as loans or other repayable/concessional financing.🚨🚨 The US $3.4 Billion in Humanitarian aid. Here is another kicker. After everything I have just said. According to United states press briefings: the U.S. had only delivered around 83% of promised ammunition, about 67% of pledged air-defence systems, and roughly 60% of committed bombs, artillery rounds, other munitions. $5.49 billion-$18.3 Billion $29.7 billion $3.4 Billion That $350 Billion is looking more like it was 38.59- 51.4 billion to me Donnie. And it’s a funny number that. An estimated $30–60 billion dollars was spent by Americans allies fighting alongside the US after 9/11. This included Ukraine. We never once complained about this loss or the lives we lost. Absolutely shameful.show more

Times Square - New York City 🇺🇸 The origin... of this place was known as Long Acre Square, but it was renamed Times Square after being located in 1904, at the intersection of 42nd Street, the offices of the New York Times. In 1913, the newspaper’s offices moved to 229 43rd Street, and the building was renamed 1 Times Square in 1961. History of Times Square, at the beginning of the 20th century, Times Square became one of the most important places in New York City, with the construction of theaters, restaurants and luxury and first class hotels. The site began to change in the 30’s where it became a dangerous place with prostitution, crime and drugs, this lasted for more than half a century. History of Times Square During the 1980s, Mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins began a redevelopment project for Midtown Manhattan that included Times Square. In the 1990s, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani tackled the project to clean up the area with the closure of pornographic theaters, sex shops and the purchase of the nine historic theaters on 42nd Street by the State of New York. Times Square is located between 7th Avenue and Broadway, and 42nd and 47th streets, it is currently the heart of the city in general and of the New York theater district in particular. The entire area is illuminated day and night by large illuminated signs and huge television screens, this has made it famous throughout the world, as well as the descent of the Crystal ball every December 31 from the top of 1 Times Square announcing the new Year. Up to two million people flocked to Times Square to ring in the year 2000 with the lowering of Waterford’s Millennial Crystal Ball, a huge Swarovski crystal ball made specifically for this event. The north end of the square, between 46th and 47th Streets, is known as Duffy Square in honor of Father Francis P. Duffy, chaplain of the New York Regiment of Infantry during World War II. Half-price same-day Broadway show tickets are available at the TKTS Box Office, located in the center of Duffy Square. The ticket offices, renovated in 2008, are covered on its roof with wide steps in the form of a staircase that allow visitors to sit or enjoy a panoramic view. On May 25, 2009, the city council temporarily closed the section of Broadway that runs through Times Square to pedestrian traffic. The experiment was a great success and it has become a permanent pedestrian plaza where the place is more enjoyable with new metal benches, chairs and tables. Times Square has its own police station, its street cleaning company, and its tourist office that has all the information about the city, and it is also a small museum dedicated to this important square. Times Square wouldn’t be recognizable without its amazing illuminated signs. An image that is admired by two million people who pass through this square every day and many millions more in the world who enjoy it through photographs, paintings, cinema and television. Times Square began to fill with large advertisements in 1916, when the City Council encouraged its installation in this part of the city. Since then there are many who have passed through here, some true works of art. In addition, they played an important role in the remodeling of the square during its most decadent period: as a measure of pressure on the city’s rulers, one night their neighbors turned off all the signs for 15 minutes. The measure had excellent results and the negotiation was carried out. Today, a municipal ordinance obliges the buildings in this area to give up their facade for the installation of such advertisements. 🎥 : Times Square in 1932 (Colorized) 🎥© lostintimevid (IG) #archaeohistoriesshow more

🚨12 HOUR NEWS RECAP 1.⁠ Trump called it “great... news” that AG Pam Bondi directed federal prosecutors to launch a grand jury investigation into how Obama administration officials handled intelligence on Russia's 2016 election interference. 2.⁠ Sources close to Netanyahu said a final decision has been made to fully occupy Gaza in order to eliminate Hamas completely. Netanyahu reportedly said, “If the IDF Chief of Staff has a problem with that, he can resign.” 3.⁠ Russia attacked the city of Lozova, in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine overnight, killing 1 person and injuring at least 10. High-rise buildings, residential areas, and critical infrastructure were hit, leaving parts of the city without power or water. 4.⁠ Police in Pakistan raided homes overnight, arresting at least 120 activists from Imran Khan’s PTI party ahead of protests marking 2 years since his jailing. PTI said over 200 were detained in Lahore alone, where the biggest demonstration is still set to go ahead despite the crackdown. 5.⁠ Former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, was arrested for supporting the protests against Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes. His son, Eduardo, called it “an arrest without a crime, without evidence, without a trial.” 6.⁠ Over 50 people are missing after a massive flood tore through Uttarkashi, smashing homes and roads in seconds. Water surged from the mountains, swallowing an entire village in northern India’s Uttarakhand state. 7.⁠ Tommy Robinson has been granted bail after an altercation at London’s St. Pancras station. Robinson said he was threatened by a drunk individual and acted in self-defense, striking first as the man advanced, knocking him unconscious. 8.⁠ The UK finally approved a vertical rocket launch…6 years after the Space Industry Act made it legal. Skyrora, a Glasgow-based company, got the green light to launch its 11m Skylark L rocket from the SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland. 9.⁠ Texas’ House approved arrest warrants for dozens of Democrats who bailed to Illinois to block GOP-led redistricting. With no quorum, Republicans can’t pass Trump-backed maps that could flip 5 U.S. House seats. State troopers are now hunting any Democrats still in Texas. 10.⁠ Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. just dropped the hammer on employees allegedly trying to leak next-gen 2nm chip tech - the stuff that will power future iPhones and AI superbrains. Caught mid-snoop, the suspects were fired and slapped with legal action, right as TSMC preps for mass production of its most cutting-edge silicon ever.show more

They did not take cursive from the schools because... children no longer needed it. They took it because of what it was quietly building in them. Consider what the exercise actually is. A child, six years old, is handed a pen and asked to draw a single unbroken line that becomes a word. The wrist must float. The fingers must hold a living pressure, never quite the same twice, always correcting. The eye must follow the ink forward and trust the hand to finish what it has begun. There is no lifting, no stopping, no starting over mid-word. The loop must close. The ascender must rise and return. The sentence must travel from one margin to the other as a single continuous gesture, and at the end of it the hand must still be steady. Twelve years of this. Every day. Ten thousand small acts of sustained, self-correcting attention, carried out below the level of conscious thought, until the motion belongs to the body and the body belongs to the motion. This is not penmanship. It is the slow construction of an interior form. The hand that has learned to carry a line without breaking it is the hand of a mind that has learned to carry a thought without breaking it. The two are not metaphors for one another. They are the same faculty, trained in the same child, by the same daily discipline. Continuity of the stroke becomes continuity of the reasoning. The patience of the loop becomes the patience of the argument. The commitment to finish a word one has started becomes the commitment to finish a sentence, a paragraph, a life's idea, without reaching for the nearest distraction halfway through. Print is a different creature entirely. Print lifts. Print stops. Print assembles a word out of separate, stamped, interchangeable pieces, each one beginning and ending in isolation. A mind raised only on print learns to think the way print is made, in discrete tokens, in replaceable units, in fragments that can be recombined by any outside hand without the owner noticing the substitution. It is precisely the shape of thought a language model produces. It is precisely the shape of thought a language model can steer. Cursive is kata. This is the whole of it. A form repeated daily, for years, not for the sake of the form but for what the repetition lays down in the practitioner beneath the form. The swordsman does not train kata so that one day he may fight in kata. He trains it so that when the moment comes and there is no time to think, the movement is already inside him, older and deeper than thought, and it rises on its own. Cursive was the kata of the literate mind, the daily quiet drilling of continuity, of patience, of a line held steady under the long pressure of its own length. And the signature it produced at the end, that small flourished mark unique to a single human being on earth, was only the outward proof of an inward form no machine and no other hand could ever reproduce. Take the kata away and the practitioner is left with vocabulary in place of faculty. He can recognise a whole thought when he encounters one. He cannot carry one himself. He can admire a finished argument. He cannot sustain one long enough to close its loop. He begins books he does not finish, sentences he does not end, ideas he abandons the moment the screen in his palm offers him a brighter one. And when the machine begins feeding him tokens in the exact shape his schooling taught him to receive, he meets it with no interior resistance at all, because no interior form was ever built in him to push back with. They removed it quietly, across a generation, and they removed it in the last years before the machines arrived. Twelve years of daily practice in unbroken, embodied, self-authored thought, gone from the curriculum of almost every child in the Western world, just as the instruments designed to complete their sentences for them came online. The hand forgets. The mind, having never been taught the kata, forgets a thing it never knew it had. That is what cursive was. That is what was taken. And that is why the thought of anyone who still writes by hand, in long unlifted lines, remains, quietly, stubbornly, and without their ever needing to announce it, their own. Now the question stands open. What else has been banned, phased out, quietly retired from the curriculum and from common life over these same decades, under the same soft excuses? Mental arithmetic. Memorisation of poetry. Latin. Logic as a formal subject. Map reading. Knot work. The keeping of a commonplace book. The reading aloud of long passages in class. Singing in parts. What was each of those actually building in the child, beneath the surface of the lesson, and whose interest was served by its disappearance?show more

Madain Saleh, also known as Al-Hijr, is a pre-Islamic... archaeological site located in the northwest of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in the Middle East and was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008. Madain Saleh is a place of great historical and cultural significance, and it is a must-visit destination for anyone interested in the history and culture of the Arabian Peninsula. Madain Saleh was the second city of the Nabataean kingdom, which was established in 2nd Century BC. The Nabataeans were an Arab tribe who were known for their expertise in carving tombs and buildings out of rock. They were also skilled in agriculture, trade, and commerce. The Nabataean kingdom was centered in Petra, which is located in modern-day Jordan. Madain Saleh served as a strategic outpost for Nabataeans, and it was an important stop on the trade routes that connected the Arabian Peninsula with the Mediterranean world. Archaeological site of Madain Saleh covers an area of 13 square kilometers. It is located in a remote desert region, and it is surrounded by rocky mountains and valleys. The site contains around 130 tombs, which were carved out of the sandstone cliffs. The tombs are adorned with intricate carvings and inscriptions, which provide insights into the culture and religion of the Nabataeans. The most famous tomb at Madain Saleh is the Qasr Al-Farid, which means "the lonely castle." This tomb is located on a hilltop and is surrounded by a large courtyard. It is the largest tomb at the site, and it is considered to be one of the finest examples of Nabataean architecture. The tomb was never completed, and it is believed that it was abandoned after the death of the Nabataean king who commissioned it. Another important tomb at Madain Saleh is the Tomb of Lihyan son of Kuza. This tomb is located in the southern part of the site and is carved into a rock cliff. It features a large entrance hall, a central chamber, and a series of smaller rooms. The tomb is decorated with intricate carvings and inscriptions, which provide insights into the religious beliefs of Nabataeans. Madain Saleh is not just a site of tombs; it also contains a number of other important structures. These include the Al-Khuraymat and Al-Sabika temples, which were used for religious ceremonies and rituals. The site also contains a number of houses, wells, and cisterns, which provide insights into the daily lives of the Nabataeans. Madain Saleh was abandoned in the 3rd Century AD, after decline of the Nabataean kingdom. The site was rediscovered in the 19th Century by the Swiss traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. Since then, it has been studied by archaeologists from all over the world. The site is now managed by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, which has carried out extensive restoration and preservation work. Madain Saleh is not just a site of historical and cultural significance; it is also a place of great natural beauty. The site is surrounded by rugged mountains and valleys, and it is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna. Visitors to the site can enjoy hiking and camping, as well as exploring the ancient ruins. Madain Saleh is a site of great historical and cultural significance, and it is a must-visit destination for anyone interested in the history and culture of the Arabian Peninsula. Ancient ruins at Madain Saleh provide a glimpse into the engineering and architectural skills of the Nabataeans, as well as their religious beliefs and cultural practices. However, as the site becomes an increasingly popular tourist destination, there are concerns about its preservation and the impact of tourism on the local environment. It is important that the Saudi government and local communities work together to ensure that the site is protected and that tourism is managed in a sustainable way. 🎥© Paris Verra #archaeohistoriesshow more