“Tech billionaire Peter Thiel recently warned that Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and critics of technology or artificial intelligence are ‘legionnaires of the Antichrist’ in private lectures on Christianity that connected government oversight of Silicon Valley to an apocalyptic future, according to recordings reviewed by The Washington Post.In the four, roughly two-hour lectures, which began last month and culminated Monday at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Thiel laid out his religious views to a sold-out audience told to keep the contents ‘off-the-record,’ according to an event listing. He argued that those who propose limits on technology development not only hinder business but also threaten to usher in the destruction of the United States and an era of global totalitarian rule, according to the recordings. ‘In the 17th, 18th century, the Antichrist would have been a Dr. Strangelove, a scientist who did all this sort of evil crazy science,’ Thiel said in his Sept. 15 opening talk, according to the recordings. ‘In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to stop all science. It’s someone like Greta or Eliezer,’ he said, referring to Thunberg and Eliezer Yudkowsky, a prominent critic of the tech industry’s approach to AI. Thunberg has criticized global capitalism as a driver of environmental degradation while Yudkowsky advocates for limiting AI research to prevent the technology from surpassing human intelligence. Thiel previously funded Yudkowsky’s work but said in his Sept. 15 lecture that he is now embarrassed by the association and that the AI critic and others like him have become ‘deranged,’ according to the recordings. Thiel’s lectures come at a time of rising Christian nationalism in the United States … The Post sent Thiel, through a spokesperson, a detailed list of questions about his remarks in the lectures, but Thiel declined to comment … The Post reviewed audio recordings of all four of Thiel’s lectures, titled ‘The Antichrist: A Four-Part Lecture Series’ …Thiel, an early investor in Facebook and co-founder of data analytics firm Palantir, has long espoused libertarian views, arguing that politics, bureaucracy and regulations have led to economic stagnation in the U.S. and Europe.” (Nitasha Tiku, Elizabeth Dwoskin, Gerrit De Vynck via WashPost)
“Elected in May to replace Francis, Leo has shown a much more reserved style than his predecessor, who frequently criticised the Trump administration. But Leo has been ramping up his disapproval in recent weeks, drawing heated backlash from some prominent conservative Catholics. ‘The Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking,’ the pontiff writes in the document, titled ‘Dilexi te’ (I have loved you). ‘She knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community. Where the world sees threats, (the Church) sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges,’ Leo says, referencing Francis’ 2016 criticism of Trump as ‘not Christian’ because of the president’s plan in his first term to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border … The number of people living in poverty “should constantly weigh upon our consciences’, the document said. ‘There is no shortage of theories attempting to justify the present state of affairs or to explain that economic thinking requires us to wait for invisible market forces to resolve everything,’ it said. ‘The poor are promised only a few ‘drops’ that trickle down, until the next global crisis brings things back to where they were.’ The document signals that Leo shares some of the same priorities of Francis, who shunned many of the trappings of the papacy and frequently criticised the global market system as not caring for society’s most vulnerable people. ‘The illusion of happiness derived from a comfortable life pushes many people towards a vision of life centered on the accumulation of wealth and social success at all costs, even at the expense of others,’ the text says.” (Joshua McElwee via Reuters)
“He’s already installed a makeup studio complete with lights and a director’s chair at the Pentagon, and now the Daily Mail can reveal that Pete Hegseth has kicked his beauty routine up a notch – by getting Botox. The Defense Secretary, 45, underwent a round of cosmetic injections last month and has been since seen with noticeably smoother skin and visibly diminished wrinkles. An insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the father-of-four: ‘It’s all an ego play for Pete. He’s always been full of himself but lately his ego is off the charts. ‘He’s obsessed with his body and now he wants to create the entire military in his image.’ Hegseth made headlines late last month after summoning top brass to a meeting at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, where he harangued them over military fitness standards. The Pentagon chief, formerly known as the Secretary of Defense before Trump’s rebrand, added: ‘No more DEI, dudes in dresses, or gender delusion...prepare for war.’ He also told the generals that American enemies would ‘FAFO’, which stands for ‘f**k around and find out,’ if they challenged the US, before concluding: ‘From this moment forward the only mission of the newly restored Department of War is this: war fighting, preparing for war and preparing to win.’ The former Fox and Friends host went on to say he was ‘tired of seeing fat troops’ and wanted to see tough physical standards imposed.” (Ruth Styles/Daily Mail)
“As the Department of Homeland Security floods social media with ‘propaganda’ videos, and pro-Trump commentators flock to Portland and Chicago in search of a ‘rebellion,’ local residents are responding with... chicken suits and clever jokes. Last night on ABC, Jimmy Kimmel tossed to a ‘special report’ from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, ‘reporting from war-torn Chicago.’ Pritzker, wearing body armor, played a TV reporter in the video clip. ‘We’ve seen people being forced to eat hot dogs with ketchup on them,’ the governor quipped. While Kimmel’s show was airing, a real reporter for The Oregonian was recording a video outside the ICE facility that has long been a magnet for protests in Portland. The topic: ‘Protest frogs are multiplying.’ The video showcased how Portlanders are wearing inflatable costumes to mock what one of the frog cosplayers called ‘insane government overreach.’ The dress-up ‘dismantles their narrative a little bit,’ Jack Dickinson, a.k.a. the ‘Portland Chicken,’ told Willamette Week. ‘It becomes much harder to take them seriously when they have to post a video saying Kristi Noem is up on the balcony staring over the Antifa Army and it’s, like, eight journalists and five protesters and one of them is in a chicken suit.’ Pritzker and Dickinson have something in common: They’re using the tools at their disposal — smart phone cameras, social media apps and satire — to turn ‘war’ rhetoric into a punchline. ‘The Daily Show’ did it too, with this clip labeled ‘REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.’” (Brian Stelter/Reliable Sources)
“Three ritual platforms unearthed in eastern China at the site of Qianzhongzitou may be linked to political unification in 221 B.C. under Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, Phys.org reports. Excavated by a team of researchers led by Qingzhu Wang of Shandong University, Qianzhongzitou began as a small village before it became a ritual center. The first platform has been dated to the Western Zhou period, between 1046 and 771 B.C. The other two platforms were constructed during the Warring States period, between 475 and 221 B.C. The platforms were made with different colors of earth, and one of them had been marked with the character tu, translated as ‘earth.’ Food remains and cooking vessels found at the platforms suggest that large-scale feasts were held there, perhaps as a way to bring the local population together and adapt local cults through shared rituals of earth worship. ‘Elites strategically utilized grand public rituals and feasting on monumental platforms to integrate diverse peoples and their spiritual beliefs, cultivating a shared identity that helped form powerful states,’ Wang explained.” (Archaeology)
“As the administration ramps up its assault on American cities, the Marvel movie production values are undeniable. Over the weekend, right wing influencer Benny Johnson went to Chicago with ICE, donned a flak vest and got to cosplay warrior, selfie-sashaying past a line of sign-holding protesters he called ‘terrorists.’ He later created an AI generated video of himself as Batman, battling sombrero-wearing ‘terrorists.’ Benny makes a fitting mascot for this phase of the MAGA insurrection. Like all MAGA influencers, he’s a longtime fraud whose shamelessness helped him fail upward. Sacked for plagiarism not only by mainstream media but by a right wing outlet, he was rescued from oblivion by Russian covert disinformation money that literally made him rich and famous. Now, like all the superstar MAGA influencer-bros, Benny leans on performative uxoriousness (they all profess to be happily married), fake-Christian sanctimony and racist/misogynist political insult comedy. Tweeting out his slick embed video, he announced, ‘From tunnels under Trump Tower to the most targeted ICE facility, we faced violent Antifa, chaos, and criminals on the run.’ Anyone who bothered to actually watch the video didn’t see any violence from the sign-holding protesters, and the only chaos appeared to be among the twitchy men in flak vests. Before he ‘deployed’ to the streets, he snagged an interview with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. In the video, they hug and then have a chat… about Bad Bunny and the Super Bowl. For those blissfully unaware of MAGA’s buffet of racialist obsessions, they’ve lately been losing it over the NFL’s choice of halftime entertainment. Bad Bunny, born and raised in Puerto Rico, a US territory, is an American citizen. But because he sings mostly in Spanish and is vocally anti-Trump, MAGA world views his selection as a personal affront, a pro football diss to the greater whiteness project.” (Nina Burleigh via American Freakshow)
“For Colombian mercenaries hardened by decades of jungle warfare, Sudan’s conflict seemed slow at first. ‘In Sudan, they spend the night sleeping – they don’t even have security because everyone goes to bed,’ said Carlos, one of hundreds of Colombians hired to fight in the African country. ‘Colombians are different – we are used to a different kind of war.’ So when Carlos and his comrades reached the front, they pressed on through the darkness, driving deeper into enemy territory. ‘And then there began to be much more fighting – and many more deaths,’ he said. Carlos arrived in Sudan earlier this year, almost two years into the country’s brutal civil war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has plunged Sudan into one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history according to UN officials: 150,000 people have been killed, women and girls have been abducted and raped and nearly 13 million have been forced to flee their homes, in the world’s worst displacement crisis. About 260,000 people remain trapped in El Fasher, North Darfur’s capital and the army’s last major stronghold in the Darfur region, which has been under siege for more than 500 days. Aid has not entered the ravaged city for nearly 18 months and children have been reduced to eating locusts and animal feed.” (Harriet Barber via The Guardian)
“On September 28, 2025, Moldovan citizens delivered a decisive vote in parliamentary elections shaped by one of the most aggressive hybrid interference campaigns Russia has coordinated in Moldova and in the region. Despite Moscow’s sustained efforts to destabilize the process through illicit financing, disinformation, cyber attacks, bomb threats, orchestrated protests, and institutional sabotage, the pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) secured 55 seats in parliament, thereby gaining a majority by surpassing the 51 seat threshold. The result ensured that Moldova’s trajectory toward European Union integration remains on track, with accession negotiations that should start and accelerate in advance of the 2029 European elections. For the United States, the significance extends well beyond Moldova’s borders. The vote represents a democratic victory in a fragile state but also a critical test case in resisting Russian hybrid warfare. Moldova is where Moscow deployed its most advanced tools, including cryptocurrency, deepfake-driven disinformation, and even paramilitary-style training abroad for protest escalation … The September elections were held under extraordinary pressure. Russian operatives deployed vast resources, expending more than 100 million dollars, for an interference campaign designed to tilt the balance away from pro-European forces … Beyond money, Russia invested in shaping the information environment. Moldova was subjected to massive disinformation operations that included deepfakes, bot networks, fabricated news stories, and micro-targeting campaigns that reached even adolescents as young as 12. These operations were reinforced through the Orthodox Church, which was aligned with the Moscow Patriarchate, acting as both a civic mobilization hub and a vector for legitimizing pro-Russian narratives.” (Sanda Sandu via Stimson)
“Too often, Mr. Trump’s ethics flare-ups fade quickly. But I see glaring problems in the handling of Mr. Homan’s case that cry out for an independent investigation. The first red flag is apparent enough: Mr. Homan and the White House gave inconsistent responses to the allegations. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters that Mr. Homan never took the money — a flat, categorical denial. Mr. Homan has said only that he did nothing wrong and nothing illegal. Notice the difference. If Mr. Homan did not accept the bag of cash, why not just say so? Why fall back on a narrow denial about wrongdoing or illegality? Whose account is more credible? The second red flag is even more alarming. When Mr. Trump took office, Mr. Homan was under F.B.I. investigation for bribery. And yet he went on to serve as a senior White House official, likely with a high security clearance. How did that happen?” (Mark Greenblatt via NYT)
“When President Donald Trump delivered a barrage of false statements about climate change during his September 23 speech to the UN General Assembly, he made headlines around the world. Mocking climate change as a ‘con job’ promoted by ‘stupid people,’ Trump’s remarks also illustrated a dilemma facing journalism’s traditional approach to covering politics, where not appearing to take sides has long been a cardinal rule … Some of the coverage of Trump’s UN speech had exactly the latter effect. In a nine-minute video package, the BBC did not include a sentence correcting Trump’s climate inaccuracies. The broadcaster’s only hint about the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change and its devastating impacts on people and economies was to note that Trump’s remark was ‘met with gasps across the assembly floor.’ The Associated Press and The New York Times, however, avoided such pitfalls. Both news organizations employed a journalistic technique known as ‘a truth sandwich.’ A concept developed by the linguist George Lakoff and backed by media critics including Margaret Sullivan and Brian Stelter, a truth sandwich starts by stating the factual truth, then reports the false claim, then restates what’s true. The AP story began by reporting that some of the world leaders gathered at the UN ‘are watching their citizens die in floods, hurricanes and heat waves, all exacerbated by climate change.’ Trump’s remarks ‘didn’t match’ that reality, the AP continued, ‘nor did it align with what scientists have long been observing.’ AP’s story did quote Trump at length, but it put his statements in context, citing data and quoting experts making it clear that Trump, knowingly or not, was spreading misinformation. The Reuters playbook endorses the same approach, but uses a different term for it, FWEF, which stands for: ‘State the Fact. Warn the audience they’re about to hear a lie. Explain how the lie misleads. Restate the Fact.’ Adopting this approach won’t ‘cost money, needn’t hurt ratings…and is something newsrooms can start doing tomorrow,’ Tov writes.” (Mark Hertsgaard via The Nation)
“Perched menacingly at the front of every nineteenth-century classroom was a ferule—a thin stick of wood used to discipline unruly children. It was this object—not a book or a pencil—that symbolized the goal of education. Successful schooling produced obedience, achieved through memorization and recitation of facts. Freethinking was discouraged, often with the aid of the ferule. This was the educational culture that nurtured a young Thoreau. His transcendentalist colleague Ralph Waldo Emerson pointedly described it as, ‘We are shut up in schools . . . for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing’. After graduating from Harvard College— which was only more rigorous memorization and discipline—in 1837, Thoreau became a teacher at Concord Grammar School. He lasted 10 days. After board members demanded he flog his students to set an example (he did so with three of them) he was so distraught that he promptly resigned. This proved to be a formative moment in his life. In searching for new employment, he explained in a letter to his friend, Orestes Brownson, that ‘discipline, which we allow tobe the end of life, should not be one thing in the schoolroom, and another in the street’; rather than the whip, discipline should come from life itself. It was a revolutionary idea at the time, and even Thoreau recognized that this kind of teaching ‘supposes a degree of freedom which rarely exists’ . He found this freedom by opening a school with his brother, John. This autonomy gave him the opportunity to experiment with new educational practices: he rejected memorization and recitation, favoring practical experience and discussion. The ‘Thoreau School,’ as it became called, was one of the most important early educational experiments in America.” (Maggie Desbaillets via Commonplace)