I have to say that I am still shocked by the continuous revelations emerging from the Epstein files. It's almost as if we are ruled by an at best amoral, unaccountable elite not governed by any law. Call me crazy, but I had a bit more faith in our leadership before, though I think the whole thing started with Bush I.
As a sidenote: interesting and shocking what has been revealed in France since MeToo. The sense of entitlement and the sheer depravity of anyone from Foucault to Duhamel is just astounding.
By my count (and I’m not going to go back and check) today’s accusation by Trump that Keir’s deal is “a very big mistake” is his third volte face in a few weeks where he has said this, and then the opposite,
The thing is, Trump's memory is shot. So he tends to go with whatever the last person to talk to him said. If a couple of people close to him have different opinions on some topic, you can expect to see exactly that sort of flip-flopping.
Further to russell's comment upthread about the new social media site for AI "agents" to interact, this is an NYT writer interviewing her own agent about its experiences on the site:
And, on an entirely unrelated note (as far as I know), you could get a dislocated neck if you were trying to keep up with Trump's reaction to the UK's proposed settlement with Mauritius of the Chagos problem, and Diego Garcia. By my count (and I'm not going to go back and check) today's accusation by Trump that Keir's deal is "a very big mistake" is his third volte face in a few weeks where he has said this, and then the opposite, and now this again. Not to mention his original back and forth about it a year ago:
But, while on the subject of Western Civilisation, and its American version, did you see that 12% of Americans believe that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife?
It's not a consistent or cohesive or reality-based perspective because it is just egotism transformed into politics. The Vance/Trump/typicalCongressionalRepublican/etc who believe that shit do it because it gives them a feeling of superiority and entitlement and that's what they want more than anything else. They are the insiders, all others are outsiders. It's their excuse for pursuing power for its own sake. Hubris.
Europe as the Troy to the US Rome. The ancestry that gives a reputation in the face of other old powers while one can despise the effeminacy of the actual people (Phrygians then, decadent limeys and frogeaters to-day). It was the few decent ones that crossed over to build the new and better empire.
Oddly, to me, all of this blather comes in the context of the US basically telling Europe to fuck off. Which seems… inconsistent with an emphasis on “preserving our Western identity”.
Miller and Trump are trying to build Fortress America, which will include big doses of misogyny, racism, and unrestricted Gilded Age capitalism. They think Europe ought to be building Fortress Europe along the same lines, without an American military presence. (Yes, the transition looks a lot like "f*ck off".) "Preserving our Western identity" means we were on the same side during the Cold War. Seriously, they're not thinking any farther back in history than that.
This year I skipped the Berlinale. I don't feel that well and it has become a wee bit too expensive too.
I also miss queuing for tickets in person. Now it's all online.
I have essentially switched to the Fantasy Film Festival (which also takes place around here with one or two additional shorter spinoffs at other times of the year).
Frederick Wiseman died. He was one of the great documentary filmmakers. I love his films - but then I love Rohmer, Barry Lyndon and Ceylan - i.e. long films where not much happens, lol.
Thanks Charles, though I have my doubts about Grok's accuracy. I'm sure if Musk thought there was some money to be made, Grok would be claiming that Edwards is an assatarian...
...and they have to baptize Plato and Aristotle posthumously...
And then they use the less than pleasant aspects of both. See Aristotle's views on women and race (one of the few authors of antiquity that fit the modern definition of racist) or Plato's 'ideal state' where lying to the commoners is an integral part (not to forget the infamous idea of euthanasia: "Sick (=unable to work) for more than 3 days? You have become a parasite and should kill yourself or be treated as a pariah.").
Interestingly the Nazis presented Plato as the ideal Aryan while seeing Socrates as in essence a Jew (and found it difficult to explain how the former could be a pupil of the latter). In Plato's favor it has to be said, that he would have despised the Nazis and strongly objected to them citing him as inspiration.
As for Rubio, did he leave out the French contribution deliberately (and Russian Alaska)? Without French help the colonies would very probably have lost the war and France ruined herself financially by it, paving the way for the revolution (which was decidedly anti-Christian in nature). And the Brits took New Amsterdam by force while hunting for two guys involved in the execution of the previous British king. What is the US Right's official view of Cromwell btw? Tyrant or role model for a Kristian(TM) republic?
russell - But which Christianity? There are a lot of them.
From the point-of-view of the christian nationalists, the answer to anyone capable of asking such a question is "clearly not yours." It's a very pluralistic, humanistic, Post-Enlightenment sort of question, and anyone who thinks that way is clearly an apostate and a victim of liberal delusions.
My own thought is that it's all about whiteness. And specifically whiteness deriving from a northern European genetic heritage. Which, for similar reasons, they don't want to be right out front with.
Tan won't do, and Marco "my first AND last names end in a vowel" Rubio may need to watch his back.
I think "breezy" captures a bit of the pejorative, since it is so often deployed as a collocation with "indifference."
I'm not going to bother trying to suss out the origins of Western Civilization as a concept because it is absolutely clear to me that the vast majority of the people who are acting as Western Civ chauvinists don't really mean Western Civilization when they deploy that term; it's just a bit to on-the-nose for them to say what they really mean: "Christendom."
They'll keep Judaism as a poor relation, and they have to baptize Plato and Aristotle posthumously (à la Aquinas) to keep their philosophical pretenses, but neither of those are truly in the line of succession. And if they can finally undo all that Enlightenment blather about pluralism and rationalism, they'll sure as shit go right back to calling it Christendom. Western Civ is just its nom de guerre.
Oddly, to me, all of this blather comes in the context of the US basically telling Europe to fuck off. Which seems… inconsistent with an emphasis on “preserving our Western identity”.
Yes, and regarding nous's comment in the other thread about the standing ovation Rubio got, it just shows how pathetically (and I really mean that) grateful they all were that, unlike Vance, Rubio was taking the trouble to put it in more flattering, quasi-ingratiating diplomatic-style language. FFS.
(Glib is pretty good, but as an adjective "facile" might be as or even more pejoritive, whereas as a noun "facility" seems to me to lose that somewhat insulting implication.)
The writer knew that Shambaugh hadn’t spoken to him and stuck them in anyway.
The writer's explanation.
"The piece was retracted the same day after Shambaugh revealed that quotes attributed to him were fabricated using AI, violating Ars Technica's policy against unlabeled AI-generated content. Edwards apologized publicly, attributing the error to rushing while ill with COVID and accidentally using ChatGPT-paraphrased text from Shambaugh's blog as quotes; he emphasized it was his sole responsibility and not representative of Ars' standards."
On “Open Thread”
In a sane world, this would be a bombshell of a story and we'd be hearing bipartisan talk of impeachment. Instead, I'm only learning about it here.
On “Perpwalk Imperial”
I have to say that I am still shocked by the continuous revelations emerging from the Epstein files. It's almost as if we are ruled by an at best amoral, unaccountable elite not governed by any law. Call me crazy, but I had a bit more faith in our leadership before, though I think the whole thing started with Bush I.
As a sidenote: interesting and shocking what has been revealed in France since MeToo. The sense of entitlement and the sheer depravity of anyone from Foucault to Duhamel is just astounding.
"
A good time to watch Stewart Lee on Prince Andrew
https://youtu.be/MDUeO4lRhu4?si=N3cb873hkKF98w7-
On “Take your’n and beat his’n”
I wonder how many of those also confuse Martin Luther with MLK jr. (or think that the latter is the former's son) ;-)
On “Open Thread”
The thing is, Trump's memory is shot. So he tends to go with whatever the last person to talk to him said. If a couple of people close to him have different opinions on some topic, you can expect to see exactly that sort of flip-flopping.
"
Further to russell's comment upthread about the new social media site for AI "agents" to interact, this is an NYT writer interviewing her own agent about its experiences on the site:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/upshot/moltbook-artificial-intelligence-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NFA.HHDh.MSfIxI2Jr59d&smid=url-share
"
Oh my God, just when you think you can't be shocked any more by examples of the administration's (or the POTUS's) corruption, you learn otherwise:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/opinion/corruption-trump-accountability.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NFA.U6Ki.7VQgP7cuBbQV&smid=url-share
And, on an entirely unrelated note (as far as I know), you could get a dislocated neck if you were trying to keep up with Trump's reaction to the UK's proposed settlement with Mauritius of the Chagos problem, and Diego Garcia. By my count (and I'm not going to go back and check) today's accusation by Trump that Keir's deal is "a very big mistake" is his third volte face in a few weeks where he has said this, and then the opposite, and now this again. Not to mention his original back and forth about it a year ago:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9dqg3nqynlo
On “Take your’n and beat his’n”
Speaking of Western Civilisation, I am linking Jamelle Bouie on Rubio's speech and its implications etc:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/opinion/marco-rubio-is-failing-western-civ.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NFA.nGv3.IM14r16m3-M0&smid=url-share
But, while on the subject of Western Civilisation, and its American version, did you see that 12% of Americans believe that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife?
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/religion-and-horror-soul-mates-in-popular-culture-1.3065296/joan-of-arc-is-not-noah-s-wife-1.3065328
On “Xi and China’s military: an off the wall theory”
A necrobump on this, this substack piece (don't worry, no Nazi newsletters!) is about Zhang Youxia
https://chinadrew.substack.com/p/the-demise-of-zhang-youxia-hits-different
On “Take your’n and beat his’n”
It's not a consistent or cohesive or reality-based perspective because it is just egotism transformed into politics. The Vance/Trump/typicalCongressionalRepublican/etc who believe that shit do it because it gives them a feeling of superiority and entitlement and that's what they want more than anything else. They are the insiders, all others are outsiders. It's their excuse for pursuing power for its own sake. Hubris.
"
makes me miss the over-confident paternalism of the PNAC days. sure, it was gross, but at least we had friends.
"
Europe as the Troy to the US Rome. The ancestry that gives a reputation in the face of other old powers while one can despise the effeminacy of the actual people (Phrygians then, decadent limeys and frogeaters to-day). It was the few decent ones that crossed over to build the new and better empire.
On “Open Thread”
I remember when Splatting Image was a thing.
"
I'm sorry to hear that, Hartmut. But the Fantasy Filmfest should be fun too.
On “Take your’n and beat his’n”
Oddly, to me, all of this blather comes in the context of the US basically telling Europe to fuck off. Which seems… inconsistent with an emphasis on “preserving our Western identity”.
Miller and Trump are trying to build Fortress America, which will include big doses of misogyny, racism, and unrestricted Gilded Age capitalism. They think Europe ought to be building Fortress Europe along the same lines, without an American military presence. (Yes, the transition looks a lot like "f*ck off".) "Preserving our Western identity" means we were on the same side during the Cold War. Seriously, they're not thinking any farther back in history than that.
On “Open Thread”
This year I skipped the Berlinale. I don't feel that well and it has become a wee bit too expensive too.
I also miss queuing for tickets in person. Now it's all online.
I have essentially switched to the Fantasy Film Festival (which also takes place around here with one or two additional shorter spinoffs at other times of the year).
"
Actually, Rohmer films aren't long.
"
Frederick Wiseman died. He was one of the great documentary filmmakers. I love his films - but then I love Rohmer, Barry Lyndon and Ceylan - i.e. long films where not much happens, lol.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/frederick-wiseman-dead-oscar-winning-documentarian-1236507046/
The Berlinale is on:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/berlin-film-festival/
I haven't had time to check out the program but this looks interesting:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/collapse-review-documentary-israel-gaza-palestine-1236503404/
"
Thanks Charles, though I have my doubts about Grok's accuracy. I'm sure if Musk thought there was some money to be made, Grok would be claiming that Edwards is an assatarian...
On “Take your’n and beat his’n”
...and they have to baptize Plato and Aristotle posthumously...
And then they use the less than pleasant aspects of both. See Aristotle's views on women and race (one of the few authors of antiquity that fit the modern definition of racist) or Plato's 'ideal state' where lying to the commoners is an integral part (not to forget the infamous idea of euthanasia: "Sick (=unable to work) for more than 3 days? You have become a parasite and should kill yourself or be treated as a pariah.").
Interestingly the Nazis presented Plato as the ideal Aryan while seeing Socrates as in essence a Jew (and found it difficult to explain how the former could be a pupil of the latter). In Plato's favor it has to be said, that he would have despised the Nazis and strongly objected to them citing him as inspiration.
As for Rubio, did he leave out the French contribution deliberately (and Russian Alaska)? Without French help the colonies would very probably have lost the war and France ruined herself financially by it, paving the way for the revolution (which was decidedly anti-Christian in nature). And the Brits took New Amsterdam by force while hunting for two guys involved in the execution of the previous British king. What is the US Right's official view of Cromwell btw? Tyrant or role model for a Kristian(TM) republic?
"
russell - But which Christianity? There are a lot of them.
From the point-of-view of the christian nationalists, the answer to anyone capable of asking such a question is "clearly not yours." It's a very pluralistic, humanistic, Post-Enlightenment sort of question, and anyone who thinks that way is clearly an apostate and a victim of liberal delusions.
"
But which Christianity? There are a lot of them.
My own thought is that it's all about whiteness. And specifically whiteness deriving from a northern European genetic heritage. Which, for similar reasons, they don't want to be right out front with.
Tan won't do, and Marco "my first AND last names end in a vowel" Rubio may need to watch his back.
"
I think "breezy" captures a bit of the pejorative, since it is so often deployed as a collocation with "indifference."
I'm not going to bother trying to suss out the origins of Western Civilization as a concept because it is absolutely clear to me that the vast majority of the people who are acting as Western Civ chauvinists don't really mean Western Civilization when they deploy that term; it's just a bit to on-the-nose for them to say what they really mean: "Christendom."
They'll keep Judaism as a poor relation, and they have to baptize Plato and Aristotle posthumously (à la Aquinas) to keep their philosophical pretenses, but neither of those are truly in the line of succession. And if they can finally undo all that Enlightenment blather about pluralism and rationalism, they'll sure as shit go right back to calling it Christendom. Western Civ is just its nom de guerre.
"
Oddly, to me, all of this blather comes in the context of the US basically telling Europe to fuck off. Which seems… inconsistent with an emphasis on “preserving our Western identity”.
Yes, and regarding nous's comment in the other thread about the standing ovation Rubio got, it just shows how pathetically (and I really mean that) grateful they all were that, unlike Vance, Rubio was taking the trouble to put it in more flattering, quasi-ingratiating diplomatic-style language. FFS.
(Glib is pretty good, but as an adjective "facile" might be as or even more pejoritive, whereas as a noun "facility" seems to me to lose that somewhat insulting implication.)
On “Open Thread”
The writer knew that Shambaugh hadn’t spoken to him and stuck them in anyway.
The writer's explanation.
"The piece was retracted the same day after Shambaugh revealed that quotes attributed to him were fabricated using AI, violating Ars Technica's policy against unlabeled AI-generated content. Edwards apologized publicly, attributing the error to rushing while ill with COVID and accidentally using ChatGPT-paraphrased text from Shambaugh's blog as quotes; he emphasized it was his sole responsibility and not representative of Ars' standards."
Ars Technica Writers' Reputation After Retraction
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.