Notices by Alexander Karn (xankarn@mastodon.online), page 2

Soviet style show trial being conducted in the U.S. Senate today. These calls for self-flagellation were also seen during China’s Cultural Revolution.

https://nypost.com/2026/07/29/us-news/bernie-moreno-goes-off-on-fauci-during-senate-covid-hearing/

RE: https://mastodon.online/@xankarn/116043900122478228

Also applies to the endless attacks on journalism and journalists. #WHCA

They’re not accountable to you. You’re beneath them. You don’t deserve the truth because you don’t give them your slavish obedience.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/us/politics/troops-injured-jordan-iran-war.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Guy who invited Russia to drop oppo on Hillary Clinton and begged Ukraine to smear Biden(s) now says he needs full control of election process to ensure secure outcomes.

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/trump-putin-no-relationship-226282

This is really important. Neuroscience starting to better understand the intellectual/cognitive costs of instantaneous answers and AI's erosion of the brain's curiosity state.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/opinion/ai-google-gemini-search-questions.html?searchResultPosition=1

Impossible to do collective problem solving without a clear, accurate picture of reality.

In a nation that’s misinformed and, therefore, impotent, only THE LEADER can “fix” it.

No facts. No truth. No democracy.

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/2026/07/trump-administration-public-record-data-holes/687867/?utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Drowning in “content,” while the data we need to take crucial decisions evaporates or is withheld.

That’s our so-called Age of Information.

@Guillotine_Jones

Yes and no.

It’s true what you’ve written, but, at the same time, DOGE and others have dismantled key reporting agencies and disappeared important databases. HHS has also shut down important data collection endeavors.

So there’s overload and malfeasance.

Highlight of the day. Nicole Eisenman, Destiny Riding Her Bike (2020).

There are no solitary events. Everything is connected to everything else. Buckle up.

Quiet, rainy moment in Flåm churchyard. #Norway

RE: https://mastodon.social/@randahl/116849161839776000

It takes no small amount of courage and sacrifice to live in truth.

Watch the speech (10 mins.) as we head into the Independence Day observance.

#JasonWatson #uspol #democracy #resistance

“How much organized deceit can a democracy endure before it ceases to function?”

RE: https://kolektiva.social/@DoomsdaysCW/116765668088540260

Love her writing.

“The painful event was an almost too-perfect symbol of the larger problem infecting Trump’s White House: it’s run by men obsessed with looking tough, but who are, in actuality, weak and incompetent. The more they fail, the more they grasp for these theatrical but ineffectual displays of masculine preening, hoping that the public mistakes loud and violent displays for strength.“

“Defense lawyers say that about half of the 36 federal cases in Minnesota charging individual defendants with assaulting or interfering with federal agents assigned to the crackdown have already been dismissed. Judges have questioned the evidence underlying the accusations.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/16/us/minnesota-immigration-charges-antifa.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qlA.R0cc.oWph-gAooq4B&smid=nytcore-ios-share

RE: https://flipboard.com/@thenewsdesk/news-i8koidj5z/-/a-g72jaWdNT82DyrHcJIHCTA%3Aa%3A43591897-%2F0

Instead of “Is this fascism?” we should be asking “What stage of fascism is this?”

We've reached the Willy Wonka stage of American fascism:

https://genius.com/Gene-wilder-pure-imagination-lyrics

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/01/world/video/majority-us-military-sites-damaged-iran-vrtc

"I’ve never seen anything like this before.… These are rapid, targeted strikes, with [advanced] technology,” the source said.

"The main targets appeared to be multimillion-dollar aircraft. At the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, a Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft, which provides surveillance, command, control, and communications to the U.S. military, was destroyed. That aircraft is worth nearly half a billion dollars, and is currently out of production."

https://newrepublic.com/post/209850/iran-destroyed-majority-military-sites-middle-east

Party of limited government now zombie walks behind guy who says the only check on his power is his own conscience. Since 2019 he has asserted “the right to do anything I want” under Article 2 of the Constitution. SCOTUS happy to assist.

But don’t worry. He’s not a king and this is still a democracy.

Back to the Met Gala, the new season of whatever, and all the grinding pressures of late capitalism.

Hump day!!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/05/06/iran-us-bases-satellite-images/