If something is free then you are the product

This is how you stop nukes

2015 Iran nuclear deal, Iran agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons and allow continuous monitoring of its compliance in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018. He broke his 2016 campaign promise to renegotiate the agreement.

This graph is also true for bowling.

The sources and surveys which make up the CPI are based on carefully designed and calibrated questionnaires, answered by experts and business people.

As long as these questions are consistent then it seems fine as a data source.

It’s easy to criticise but hard to improve. If you’d like to augment this with another data source then I’d be interested.

Swap Turkey for Syria and i agree with your summary.

Corruption Perceptions Index 2025 - Transparency.org https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2025

Bosnia, Serbia, Belarus, Turkey, Russia

All more corrupt than Ukraine.

1. Plastics and Petrochemicals

Fossil fuels are mainly used here as a carbon source. Plants contain carbon captured from atmospheric CO₂.

Convert biomass into platform chemicals

• Bio-polyethylene

• PLA plastics

Create synthetic hydrocarbons Using hydrogen + captured CO₂:

• produce methanol

• convert to olefins

2. Pharmaceuticals

Most pharmaceuticals rely on organic chemistry

3. Fertilizers

The key fertilizer is ammonia so use green hydrogen produced by electrolysis.

4. Air Travel

Synthetic jet fuel (Power-to-Liquid) or Biofuels (SAF)

5. Sea Transport

• Ammonia fuel

• Methanol fuel

• Hydrogen fuel cells

• Wind-assisted propulsion

6. Steel Production

Use hydrogen reduction of iron ore:

7. Cement

• electric kilns

• hydrogen heat

• carbon capture

None of these technologies violate physics or chemistry. The challenge is cost, scale, and infrastructure, not feasibility.

If oil is at $200/barrel then these alternatives become much more attractive

There is probably a sprinkle of corruption, but at least Zelensky isn’t on the Bored Of Peace

Currently a 10% chance that the elections are cancelled

Will the 2026 Midterm Elections happen as scheduled?

I loved the more blob / liquid designs like the rio forge

I bet they write a 10 paragraph essay on why the word “unironically” is pretentious.

Social networks track the living shit out of everyone and know exactly what’s human traffic and what isn’t.

Over 80% of Twitter’s accounts are actually bots

The difference now is that paying advertisers are demanding proof that their adverts are reaching humans, not bots.

Why are you given adverts for products you’ve just bought? So that paying advertisers can be tricked by the data into thinking their advert resulted in a sale.

New premise.

New datacenters are not for AGI and never have been. The are to support the hyper personalisation of advertising that requires a massive surveillance apparatus and data mining operation.

The all need to race yachts because there is only space for one yacht on paradise island.

There should be a Department of dictatorship.

Then we would have a Dick head.

No. Default is when the bond issuer doesn’t pay interest.

The US government can let the bonds default by not paying. This can be by not issuing new debt (or getting the fed to print more money).

Yes. Morally it’s much better to get bribed in money than children.

Also From 1989 up until 2003, Epstein donated more than $139,000 to Democratic federal candidates and committees and over $18,000 to Republican candidates and groups

Correct. 89% to Democrats and 11% to Republicans

From 1989 up until 2003, Epstein donated more than $139,000 to Democratic federal candidates and committees and over $18,000 to Republican candidates and groups