Weekend Reading
What fresh hell is this? #Incompetence #Corruption #Affordability
“For President Trump, the first day of his visit to Beijing was all about the personal relationship between him and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader. ‘You’re a great leader,’ he told his host, whom he has often said he admires for his ‘powerful’ control over a nation of 1.4 billion people. ‘I say it to everybody.’ Mr. Xi, unsurprisingly, spent little time Thursday on flattery. Once the 21-gun salute and precision-marching by units of the People’s Liberation Army were finished, the disciplined Chinese leader plunged right away into setting boundaries for the two countries’ relations. The red line was Taiwan, he said, making it abundantly clear that Mr. Trump’s effort at rapprochement could crash on takeoff if he interferes with China’s long-term effort to take control of the self-governing island. ‘The U.S. must handle the Taiwan issue with utmost caution,’ he said according to a readout from Xinhua, China’s official news agency. The warning came just minutes into his public remarks in the Great Hall of the People, the center of power for the People’s Republic starting just a decade into Mao’s revolution. For Mr. Xi, it was all about setting boundaries, from the start. The moment seemed to capture the new equilibrium between the two adversaries. Mr. Xi arrived highly scripted, leaving no doubt that for all of China’s problems — deflation, depopulation, the bursting of the real estate bubble — the moment when China acts as a peer superpower had arrived. At every turn, at least as he began his two-day trip to China, Mr. Trump sounded conciliatory, the exact opposite of his portrayals of China in public appearances back home, where during his presidential campaigns he has talked about the country as a job-stealer and national security threat. Mr. Xi, while smiling and welcoming to Mr. Trump, was quietly more confrontational — especially on Taiwan, where he delivered an unequivocal warning.” (David Sanger/NYT)
“China emerged from the 2025 trade war in a position of relative strength. As tensions escalated in early 2025, strategists in Beijing argued that disruptions would hurt China but that they would hurt the United States more. As predicted, after Beijing blocked exports of key rare-earth elements and critical minerals, threatening the viability of U.S. manufacturing, the Trump administration quickly sought an off-ramp from the trade war it had launched. Chinese officials saw their assumptions vindicated. Their confidence soared. An earlier wariness of Trump’s unpredictability gave way to near certainty that Beijing could manipulate his administration with ease. Chinese officials concluded that they could negotiate with the United States on equal footing and that, if anything, China held the stronger hand. In the aftermath of the trade war, both sides refocused on the ostensibly technical task of unwinding the most damaging retaliatory measures they had imposed … The United States and China routinely discuss national security concerns, but in the past, how Washington addressed those concerns was not up for negotiation. The United States might ultimately decide not to act on a particular threat, but neither side would have expected China to hold explicit authority over how U.S. officials would proceed. Now Beijing gets a vote. To some observers, this represents a diplomatic breakthrough similar to the nuclear arms control negotiations of the Cold War. After China and the United States teetered on the edge of mutually assured economic destruction, the two sides successfully pulled back from the brink. The Busan deal, however, lacks the symmetry of the twentieth-century disarmament treaties, in which identical military capabilities were subject to reciprocal restraint. Instead, China withdrew one weapon—its most severe restrictions on rare-earth exports—in exchange for the United States refraining from export controls in all domains, including technology, cybersecurity, and nonproliferation. The imbalance in this arrangement has strengthened China’s overall position within the bilateral relationship. And because it is explicitly linked to China’s chokehold over rare earths, which the United States will need for some time, current and future U.S. policymakers may find it difficult to reestablish a more favorable foundation for U.S.-Chinese stability.” (Henrietta Levin/Foreign Affairs)
“‘I saw their faces. I remember them,’ the 26-year-old university graduate told AFP. Baby Yasser is one of thousands of children born to rape survivors in the three years of fighting between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Nesma’s family fled Khartoum early in the war, but a year in, she went back to retrieve the birth, graduation and death certificates they needed to start again. RSF fighters stopped her bus among the factories of Khartoum North, ordered everyone out and separated the men from the women. Nesma passed out as the third fighter raped her. ‘When I came to, it was morning. I went outside and one of the men from the bus was shot dead on the ground.’ Her story matches the modus operandi of RSF fighters, who UN experts have accused of systematic sexual violence. Such was the trauma that Nesma -- whose name we have changed at her request -- only realised she was pregnant after five months. She wasn’t sure if she was going to keep the baby until the eve of her caesarean section. ‘Then I just couldn’t let him go,’ she told AFP as Yasser nuzzled into the crook of her neck. ‘It’s not my son’s fault, just like it is not mine,’ she said.” (France24)
“At the request of the U.S., Ukraine set up its Sky Map air defense system at Prince Sultan Air Base following the Iranian drone attack a U.S. base in Kuwait, which killed six American servicemen, and after another attack destroyed an E-3 Sentry aircraft in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine's TTPs helped the U.S. shoot down Shaheds ($20,000-50,000) without expending expensive munitions such as the Patriot interceptor ($6-$10 million).” (Michael Weiss)
“Archaeologists working in Egypt have discovered a remarkable combination of Homeric epic and Egyptian ritual: a 2,000-year-old mummy with a papyrus fragment of the ‘Iliad’ sealed in a clay packet outside its wrappings. It is the first time a literary work has been found playing a functional, spiritual role in the mummification process. And it suggests that for a Roman-era Egyptian, the ‘Iliad’ — specifically some lines from Book 2’s ‘Catalogue of Ships’ — was perhaps as crucial for navigating the afterlife as a magical spell. ‘The find is incredibly significant, primarily for the discovery of such a papyrus with Greek literary text in its original context,’ said Foy Scalf, an Egyptologist at the University of Chicago. ‘We have evidence that such Greek literary texts could be used as magical amulets and that Homer was frequently cited in such amulets, as well as in the large handbooks now known as ‘The Greco-Egyptian Formularies.’ The new find directly supports that indirect knowledge.’ The mummy, a nonroyal male, was unearthed by the Mission of the University of Barcelona at a burial site known as Oxyrhynchus, as part of a project directed by Ignasi-Xavier Adiego of the university’s Institute of Ancient Near East. Leah Mascia, a specialist in the written and material culture of Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt at the Free University of Berlin, coordinated the collaborative breakthrough that finally brought the damaged text to light… Traditionally, mummified bodies we’ formulaic manuals intended to protect and guide the deceased through the underworld. Yet, by the early Roman period, a major shift emerged: the introduction of sealed papyrus packets placed upon the dead. These new packets contained a surprising mix of texts, including Greco-Egyptian magic, documentary records and even literary works like the ‘Iliad,’ indicating a personalized, alternative funerary practice.” (Franz Lidt/NYT)
“As the leaders of the United States and China met in Beijing on Thursday, Xi Jinping had a much older rivalry on his mind. The Chinese president invoked a warning from the Classical world, when the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta went to war, saying that the United States and China should beware the ‘Thucydides Trap’ in their own relations. Mr. Xi cited the concept, popularized in recent decades, as he warned that Beijing and Washington could enter an ‘extremely dangerous place’ if President Trump sought to impede China as it asserted itself over Taiwan. The trap referred to by Mr. Xi was named for Thucydides, the ancient Athenian general, whose account of the Second Peloponnesian War (431 B.C. to 404 B.C.) is considered one of the first written military histories. In it, Thucydides argued that the war between Athens and Sparta was driven by the threat posed to an established power by one gaining strength. ‘The rise of Athens frightened Sparta and forced them into war,’ wrote Thucydides. (The precise translation is contested among classicists). For some scholars, the war — and the explanation offered for it in that ancient passage — presaged nearly every major conflict to follow. The international relations theorist Graham Allison dubbed it the ‘Thucydides Trap’ in the early 2010s. ‘The idea is that when an established, great power is met with a rising power, conflict between the two is certainly likely if not inevitable,’ said Daniel Sutton, a classicist at the University of Cambridge who studies Thucydides, on Thursday. In Mr. Xi’s version of the analogy, an emboldened China is the Athens to an American Sparta.” (Leo Sands/NYT)
“Not so long ago, the stock image of someone from the far-Right was easily summoned: they’d be male, obviously, and very probably bald, with steel-toe boots and questionable tattoos. Times, however, have moved on: this week, it was reported that the Government had banned seven ‘far-Right agitators’ from entering the country to attend a Tommy Robinson rally on Saturday. Three are strikingly telegenic young women. Among the verboten ones is Ada Lluch, an impeccably coiffed 26-year-old Catalan activist who has defended the Franco regime and had told the most recent ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally last September that western democracies have been ‘completely invaded’. Valentina Gomez, an influencer from the US, has also been barred, having told last year’s rally that ‘rapist Muslims’ were ‘taking over’ the country (she’s said she’ll still try to come on Saturday, though – via small boat). And Eva Vlaardingerbroek, a Dutch political activist and commentator, has been forbidden too, having lamented ‘the rape, replacement and murder of our people’ in London last autumn. The face of the far-Right, it seems, is changing – and it’s becoming a good deal prettier. Part of the shift is due to a growing number of young people flooding into politics – many of whom are profoundly disaffected with mainstream parties – and bringing with them a native understanding of the importance of a good Instagram filter. At the same time, there seems to be a rising awareness across the movement that improving its ‘look’ is vital to broadening its appeal, which in recent years has come to rely heavily on a network of highly prominent social media influencers.” (Leaf Arbunthot/Telegraph)
“Unfortunately, a new report from Judd Legum, the independent journalist behind the Substack Popular Information, reveals that enshittification is exactly what is happening across a network of award-winning newsrooms that have been publishing ‘thousands of low-quality articles promoting gambling and prediction markets’ under the guise of journalism. The publications are all owned by Advance Local, the parent company of The Oregonian, The Star-Ledger, The Patriot-News, and other local outlets across the country. Legum’s analysis shows that Advance Local has published more than seventeen thousand of these gambling pieces—which Legum describes as ‘gambling slop’—across its sites in less than five years, significantly increasing the volume in 2024. The articles promote sportsbooks, prediction markets, and online casinos. In one example, The Patriot-News, which has won a Pulitzer Prize, posted an article with the headline ‘Kalshi promo code PENNLIVE: UFC 328 Preview,’ noting that UFC 328, a mixed martial arts event, was ‘an awesome opportunity for new users to grab the Kalshi promo code PENNLIVE and get a $10 bonus when they trade $10+.’ Very similar articles were then published by The Star-Ledger and the Birmingham News. ‘When you look at the content, it’s indistinguishable from content that, when published elsewhere, people are very clear is just essentially content marketing and advertising,’ Legum told me. According to Legum, publications make money from this ‘gambling slop’ either through flat referral fees or, in some arrangements, by receiving a cut of a reader’s eventual gambling losses when they sign up using a promotional code.” (Susie Banikarim and Riddhi Setty/CJR)
“At the Pentagon, (Special Advisor to U.S. Defense Secretary Tim) Parlatore has distinguished himself by drafting unconstitutional restrictions on the press while simultaneously propping up his flop-sweating former client, Pete Hegseth. He got to know the philandering, boozing Fox News host while helping settle a roofie rape accusation against him. Before that, Parlatore had won virility-obsessed Hegseth’s loyalty by successfully defending a truly psycho Navy Seal charged with war crimes in Iraq (fellow SEALs alleged that the man bragged about killing women and children and boasted of a ‘kill rate’ of 10 to 20 people a day). But Parlatore is not just a Pentagon macher. He is one of the top guardians Donald Trump has relied on to protect his dirtiest secrets. Which brings us to Epstein. Parlatore is in the Epstein files, representing the MCC guard who accompanied Epstein’s body from his jail cell to the hospital where he was pronounced dead – one of the first people to communicate with the duty guards responsible for watching over the incarcerated international trafficker. But Parlatore also has another much deeper Epstein connection. He boarded the Trump train when post-presidential Donald needed ‘killer lawyers’ to defend him against federal charges tied to the theft of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago. A month after taking that case, Parlatore brought Darren Indyke into his law firm – yes, the same Darren Indyke who spent decades serving as Jeffrey Epstein’s personal lawyer.” (Nina Burleigh/American Freakshow)
“French President Emmanuel Macron is facing backlash after he interrupted a panel at the Africa Forward Summit in Kenya to demand silence from the audience. Macron stormed the stage to rebuke audience members for what he called a ‘total lack of respect,’ accusing them of disrupting speakers during a presentation by artists and young entrepreneurs. He had earlier described himself as a ‘Pan-Africanist’ during a news conference. The summit is meant to showcase France’s new policy for the continent — a shift from a former colonial power seen as dominating to what Paris describes as a partnership of equals. On Tuesday, Macron announced a $27 billion investment into various sectors in Africa, including energy, artificial intelligence and agriculture. Videos of Macron’s heated intervention on Monday quickly spread across social media, drawing a mix of mockery, praise and criticism. Appearing visibly frustrated by the noise in the room, Macron abruptly walked onto the stage and asked the speaker to hand him the microphone, saying he would ‘restore order.’ Addressing the audience in English, he criticized attendees for talking over the speakers and creating disruptions during the session. Some audience members applauded the intervention, but Macron also drew criticism over his response. ‘Just imagine what would happen if an African leader did the same thing in America or Europe,’ said Thierno Mbaye, a history student at a university in Senegal’s capital, Dakar. ‘He acted like a schoolteacher scolding children,’ Mbaye told The Associated Press. The intervention also drew criticism in France.” (Mark Banchereau/Reuters)