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Deeply offended as a middle aged Epicurean

“Reverses in a struggle for freedom have more influence with a courageous man than not to have struggled at all.” - Gaius Licinius Macer, tribune of the plebs (73 BCE), in Sallust’s Histories

"A Reuters analysis found the image of the map included ⁠in the presentation contained an artificial intelligence watermark that signals it was made with OpenAI tools." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conferenceState department ‘takes full responsibility’ for erroneous, widely shared chart displayed at Aids conference in Brazilwww.theguardian.com

Asahi Shimbun: "The international trust that Japan has built up in the postwar era by calling for the elimination and reduction of nuclear weapons under a non-nuclear policy must not be eroded." www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...

EDITORIAL: Koizumi sets stage for review of non-nuclear principles | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and AnalysisDefense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has repeatedly touched upon the need for discussions related to nuclear weapons.www.asahi.com

The golden age

"If the Trump administration submits this so-called deal for the required Congressional review, we will take all available steps...to reject any deal that fails to include the safeguards necessary to prevent Saudi Arabia from developing nuclear weapons.” garamendi.house.gov/2026/07/29/g...

North Korea's exports were up 30% last year as its post-pandemic recovery continues - still a lot lower than 2017 though en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN2026...

N. Korea's exports hit 8-year high in 2025: data | Yonhap News AgencySEOUL, July 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's exports rose sharply to an eight-year high i...en.yna.co.kr

Oh wow - in a message ostensibly commemorating the Korean War armistice, Trump said that the "same communist ambition that once sought to conquer the Korean Peninsula is trying to rear its ugly head once more - this time in the West." en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN2026...

Trump says S. Korea, U.S. remain 'united' in 'steadfast' alliance in armistice anniv. message | Yonhap News AgencyBy Song Sang-ho WASHINGTON, July 28 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump has said Sou...en.yna.co.kr

"An order in which Asian countries assume greater responsibility for their own defense and rely more on one another — and less on an increasingly distracted United States — could ultimately prove stable and secure. At any rate, it is unavoidable." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/o...

Opinion | A New Security Order Is Taking Shape in AsiaAsian countries are starting to shoulder more of the burden of their own defense, and the region could be stronger and more stable for it.www.nytimes.com

Abolishing ICE is not a fringe position - nearly half the country supports it yougov.com/en-us/articl...

"So long as denuclearization remains the entry fee for dialogue, Pyongyang has little reason to bargain and every incentive to deepen its reliance on Moscow and Beijing." www.scmp.com/opinion/asia...

Opinion | America’s North Korea strategy needs a dose of realityWashington’s dogged insistence on denuclearisation first has led to a prolonged deadlock that has only widened Pyongyang’s options.www.scmp.com

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/u...

Iran’s New Leader Is More Open to Pursuing a Nuclear Weapon, U.S. Intelligence SaysThe previous supreme leader, who was killed early in the war, had renounced nuclear weapons. U.S. spy agencies believe his son is more interested in building a bomb.www.nytimes.com

Matt Kroenig has been one of the biggest cheerleaders for Trump's nuclear policies - and even he thinks this deal is bad www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...

Opinion | The Saudi Nuclear Deal Invites DisasterAllowing Riyadh to enrich uranium would open the door to proliferation in the Middle East and beyond.www.wsj.com

Good www.the-independent.com/asia/east-as...

South Korea abandons hardline stance on North’s nuclear weapons programmeSeoul is moving away from demanding Pyongyang fully give up nuclear weapons before any settlementwww.the-independent.com

Saw some video art from the 70s at MoMA this weekend and the critique of television being “you are the product” hits both differently and harder in an era when everything has become TV

“For the most part the intentions of kings are as volatile as they are severe, and often self-contradictory.” - Sallust

It’s too bad the WaPo is a shell of its former self - because someone should really look into how local oligarch and former legislator Chap Petersen created his own free newspaper to advertise his law firm, republish his blogposts, and launder NIMBYism through the mail to Fairfax residents.

Doubling the bitters in a rum old fashioned is a very good idea punchdrink.com/recipes/ryan...

Important report: "By striking a deal that could lead to Saudi Arabia enriching uranium on its own soil, Washington has prompted an inevitable question in Seoul: Why Saudi Arabia, and not us?" www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/w...

For South Korea, U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal Exposes a Double StandardPresident Trump has put Saudi Arabia on the path to enriching uranium on its own soil, a demand South Korea has been making for years.www.nytimes.com

Probably not good when your newly-announced deal produces headlines like these