Robert Kowalenko

Worth all 27 seconds of weirdness

In the old Italian saying: if my grandma had wheels, she would be a bike

Tech optimism is a religion… and equally resistant to evidence.

In these belief systems (= sects), to “have faith”, i.e. to believe something without grounds, is to be supremely virtuous.

Writing prompts is what some of the geniuses in our universities’ Teaching & Learning departments would like us to teach our students. And to first learn ourselves. Because, progress.
Over my dead body…

I wonder what the numbers would be for how many limbs women should have, and where to have them.

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”, said the bard…

That might be topped by what U.S. top military brass probably feels for this guy.

I will say one thing: nothing demonstrates the value of military history, the staff and war colleges, and reading military theory like watching a war conducted by a bunch of guys who skipped all of that in favor of 'manliness' and push-ups.

The whole war is defensive... Defensive of Judeo-Christian values, or some such. Western civilisation…
It’s a crusade.

BuzzFeed Nearing Bankruptcy After Disastrous Turn Toward AI Three years after its pivot to AI, the writing is on the wall for BuzzFeed. The company said there's "substantial doubt" it can keep going.

This is the destination of every company that tries to replace creative human workers with AI slop.
futurism.com/artificial-i...

Irony, indeed

Good example of “I know its English, but I don’t understand a single word”

To paraphrase the old Wittgensteinian/behaviourist joke: two body language experts are lying in bed after sex. Then he asks her ‘was it as good for me as it was for you?’

I'll bet a thousand dollars he has no idea what that means. He learned it from a movie or video game, and incorporated into his cosplay

No, that doesn't make it better

I haven’t seen a single statement that the White House is outraged that they accidentally killed 165 kids

The US is the Roman Empire of today: known for its military prowess, engineering (moon landing, Silicon Valley etc.), and the general fascism of it all: we're the bestest and greatest, you all are vermin.
Not that great in anything else, really.

Another clear market failure: academia and research

Can this be a solution?

Which reminds me of one of my favorite insults: "you look like you would enjoy Dubai".

Obviously. Even Hitler claimed the Reich was "shooting back" when it invaded Poland.

Vietnam all over again

I do however take the rest of your point. One important thing to keep in mind when thinking about the geopolitics of the Middle East, I think, is its staggering complexity: all mono-causal explanations are false.

"No one serious believes ME, Africa, Asia, S.Am would be utopias were it not for colonialism"
... may I introduce you to scores of my students and numerous African intellectuals?

hmmmm, peut-être. I'm not sure about the counterfactual, it reminds me of other such counterfactuals that are just ... uncertain (such as how splendidly well-to-do Africa would be today without the active intervention of post-colonial powers).

Just in consequentialist terms of death and suffering caused, on average, starting a non-defensive war is the greatest crime any individual human being could commit.

The world economy will probably one day pay the price for sourcing most of its energy from a region of the world disproportionately inhabited by the fanatically religious

Does the arc bend towards justice?

In the US today, opposition politicians are reduced to saying obvious truths that ought to go without saying: the sky is blue, roses are red, killing children is wrong, Hegseth should be fired
And then "what goes without saying" doesn't happen.
Implicit norms, conventions & decency have disappeared.

With Christians and the Bible, it's always pick & choose

First 6 Days of Iran War Cost U.S. $11.3 Billion, Pentagon Says

The 2026 National Science Foundation budget is $8.75 Billion.