Link round-up for Independence Day 2026

Various interesting stuff I ran across on the net over the last week.

No, I am not going to moan and groan and hand-wring and snivel that Independence Day is bad and meaningless because Trump is president.  The US is still the US, politics is not the sum total of reality, and Trump is just a run-of-the-mill asshole who will be mostly forgotten in a few decades.  We've made it to a quarter-millennium and are still going strong.  Let's act like it.

o o o o o

This basketball shot didn't work out too well.

Don't get caught relaxing at work when someone walks in..... oops.

These are signs of functional illiteracy.

Third time lucky -- was it worth it?

Watch out for her dragon.

These books don't exist, and that's probably a good thing.

Have some Independence Day memes.

See some impressive photos here (NSFW blog, requires Blogspot login).

This is Hever Castle in Kent county, England.

Some great photos here from Segovia, Spain, plus one justly-blackened statue.

Don't discourage children from asking questions.

If you often suffer from nausea, headaches, or other unpleasant sensations when looking at a computer screen, read this.

Life changes when you leave Christianity.

Here are some tips for detecting "smart" glasses that the wearer might be using to video-record you without your knowledge.  Here's an app which claims it can detect them.

You do not own things that you "buy" in digital form, and they can be taken away at any time.  Buy real books printed on paper, and movies on DVD, so they can't pull this shit.

"AI" is theft.  Using "AI"-generated images or text is receiving stolen property.

Here's an example of just how creepy the use of your data to show you targeted ads is getting.

Mel Brooks has some simple advice -- just say yes.

We're in for the usual assholery with fireworks.

It's becoming difficult to distinguish fireworks from warfare.

Some data centers are now being approved and started in secret so that local resistance can't get organized until it's too late.  Here is a site that tracks projects so you can see what's happening or being planned in your area.

No one is entitled to demand sex from another person -- everyone has the right to say no.  And these men are dangerous creeps.

A judge has ruled that the Postal Service cannot refuse to deliver mail ballots in states that defy Trump's meddling.  It's hard to be sure this is the last word on the matter, though.

The latest Windows 11 update is shittier than ever, apparently.

"AI" companies are hiring people to train their chatbots, only to have those people feed "AI" slop into them instead of real data.

What's the difference between atheists and evangelicals?

Netflix plans to use "AI" to fake the voice of dead actor Gene Wilder for a new Willy-Wonka-themed show.  Fans are not happy.

The story of the toys of Nabatieh illustrates how lies take on a life of their own.

The modern MBA-run incarnation of Boeing can't build manned spacecraft any better than Musk and Bezos can.

This woman needs to get this narcissistic freak out of her life.

Data center construction is benefiting one major US industry -- the theft industry.

An apologist for mass murder has won a Democratic primary for a House election in the Denver area.  There's no denying it -- with "the Squad", Mamdani, Platner, and now this, the Democratic party has a deadly-serious problem.

The flood of "AI"-generated fake imagery and text is damaging the human relationship with reality and art on a fundamental level.

Elon Musk has had a meltdown at columnist Nicholas Kristof, spewing Trump-level moronic insults.

Here's a company that claims to be virtuous.

New Jersey is the latest state to ban surveillance pricing.

The unemployment rate is dropping, but it's because job-seekers are giving up on finding work in such a shit economy.

Governor Abbott of Texas has called for a ban on any new data centers in rural Texas.  It's a start.  Colorado's governor remains clueless.

"The violence isn't a bug, it's the feature."

The Colorado supreme court has struck down an election-rigging gerrymandering plan in that state.

Jewish migration from the West to Israel rose 25% in 2025, likely reflecting the increasing anti-Jewish hatred in Western countries.  Many migrants are young, skilled people -- a disproportionate loss to the countries they leave.

For ideological purists, nothing you do can ever be good enough.  You can't ever appease them enough, so why bother trying.

Data centers are adding to the burden on an electric grid already strained by the demands of the heat wave.  Some are resorting to backup diesel generators, which produce pollution dangerous to local people.

"Activist politics often treats identity as authority."  And that's a problem.

Film studio A24 turns whiny and defensive after fans and even its own top director turn against its embrace of "AI".

Here are two wealthy people who are actually doing some good, wiping out over half a billion in medical debt (link from Rade).

In a victory for women's rights, the Supreme Court has ruled that schools can keep boys out of girls' sports.  At least anecdotally, reactions reflect the inexorably shift of public opinion about trans ideology.

It's still worth fighting to take America back from the bigots.

Marshal Cummings, a union president running for the Wyoming state legislature as an independent, explains how both of the billionaire-dominated political parties have abandoned the people.

The powerful claim privileges which they deny to the rest of us.

Heavyweight companies like Ford and IBM are joining the ranks of those hiring back human employees because "AI" can't do the job.

Here are some measures being taken to defend against Trump's efforts to sabotage this year's election.

Initiative 194, prohibiting political activity by corporations, will be on the ballot in Montana this November -- part of the effort to undo the Citizens United decision on a state-by-state basis.  The state Republican party predictably opposes it.

The work environment becomes a whole new kind of hell when the boss starts using "AI" to make decisions.  You'd be better off with him using a ouija board.

America's shame:  American Jews increasingly conceal the fact that they're Jewish due to fear of the rising tide of hatred.

One of the positive effects of decriminalizing sex work is that sex workers can unionize.

A nation is not a debate.

Trump was reportedly "enraged" at the meager turnout for his vacuous "state fair".  Priorities, priorities.

Here in Oregon, a pedo, a rapist, and a murderer are suing to get more male sex offenders sent to women's prisons where they can terrorize the women inmates.

Jamie Raskin explains why the supremacy of Congress over the executive branch must be restored.  The Constitution explicitly does not make the three branches of government "co-equal".

Kamala Harris has been talking with leaders of the Israel-hating (de facto anti-Jewish) element within the Democratic party.  Of course, "talking with" does not necessarily mean "aligning with", and she has had a reasonably good track record on this issue in the past.  Still, this does need watching.  And going weak will not be good politics.  Harris didn't lose in 2024 because of supporting Israel's right to self-defense -- multiple surveys at the time showed the Israel/Gaza issue ranking dead last among dozens of issues that influenced how people voted.  The Democrats' problems that year lay elsewhere.

"If you were really women on the inside -- or even saw women as human beings -- then the last thing you'd do would be to bring your male body into female-only spaces, knowing -- and you do know this -- that you are making women uncomfortable and afraid."

There are more and more indications that the collapse of the "AI" bubble is near.

Vicious, nasty, hateful, bigoted Christians need to stay out of the medical profession.

It took too long, but "Alligator Alcatraz" has finally shut down.

Happy Canada Day!

A new bridge between Detroit and Ontario was supposed to open early this year, but remains closed because Trump wants to fight about who owns it, an issue which is already settled.

This is a Pride Month event in Toronto, and far from the first time this chant has been heard at such events.  Such people have no idea what dangerous fire they're playing with.

Canadian police presented an "AI"-faked picture to inform the public of a drug bust.  The point is unclear since the fake is very obvious and no more impressive than the real photo.

In the UK, a flagrantly-political attempted prosecution has been smacked down hard by a judge.

It's been over a year since the British Supreme Court ruled that men aren't women (yes, there exist people who need a court ruling to tell them that), but the Ministry of Defence is still not complying.

Heat-belching data centers are making Europe's record heat wave even worse.

The EU elite turned off air conditioning for their employees while keeping it on for themselves.

Funeral homes in Paris are overwhelmed after the recent record-breaking heat wave.

In Spain, solar power has made electricity so cheap that venture capitalists are leaving the industry in disgust.  Funny how what's good for regular people is bad for these guys, and vice-versa.

Great article here on the Albanian resistance uprising triggered by the government's approval of the Kushner-Trump plan to built a resort on protected land (found via Annie).  "The movement is grassroots and decentralized, with no clear leaders..... a protest against corruption, and oligarchy."

Zelensky posts video of the Ukrainian attack on the the Slavyansk oil refinery in Russia.  Here's more video showing massive clouds of black smoke.

Gas lines in Chita in Siberia, thousands of miles from Ukraine, are so bad they're bringing roads to a standstill.

As shortages loom, Russians are buying up fuel and even fuel containers in absurd quantities, hoping to resell them for profit later.

What do you think -- was this an innocent civilian truck?

See a Ukrainian attack on a military plant in Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad).  Here's what it looked like afterwards.

Ukraine is bringing the war to Russia's freeways.

A feeling of despair is spreading through Russia as Ukrainian attacks devastate the economy and it becomes increasingly clear that Putin is out of touch.  They're down.  Kick harder.

Trump's deal with the Iranian regime evokes the Chamberlain-Hitler agreement.  Israel, like other democracies, must become less dependent on the US for defense.

The huge amount of spending committed to the funeral of former supreme Leader Ali Khāmenei is causing widespread discontent in Iran, where most people are struggling badly in a collapsing economy.  Companies are even being coerced to donate money or services to the commemoration of the hated, murderous tyrant.  Government workers are being ordered to attend events.  If most Iranians actually mourned or respected this loathsome man, such bullying would not be necessary.

Changing security conditions are creating the opportunity for an alliance between Israel and Japan, both democracies threatened by powerful totalitarian regimes.

Starting a year ago, Mexico implemented a law requiring all cell phone numbers to be registered with the owner's name and ID, to destroy anonymity and facilitate spying on people.  Resistance has been intense, with only 31% of the population in compliance as of this May.  The government is now wavering, pushing back the deadline to register.

The Indian government is threatening to impose draconian restrictions on VPNs, which India's people are increasingly using as work-arounds for government efforts to censor the internet.  This is basically a war between the government and the people, and if the people don't win, censorship-minded governments elsewhere are likely to use similar tactics.

A former CinC of US Pacific Command argues that China is not capable of conquering Taiwan -- despite China's military build-up, the balance of power is swinging back to favor Taiwan and the US.

The Chinese gangster-regime has imposed a new law to intensify assimilation of its conquered subject peoples and suppress their languages.

Is it xenophobia?  South Africans are attacking and even killing migrants from nearby countries, though both groups are of the same race.

More links at Comedy Plus.  Red State Blues is still out of action this week.

My posts this week:  an image round-up, some observations on life, and this week's Catholic schism.

o o o o o

Canadians join the struggle against data centers and "AI":

o o o o o

This one needs to be viewed with some caution.  Beer being sold at sports stadiums is actually common in Europe.  The reason why northern Europe doesn't have air conditioning is that until a couple of decades ago it almost never got seriously hot there.  Some of the most serious flaws in the US, such as the lack of universal health coverage and the extreme inequality of wealth, are not easily visible to casual visitors.  But the overall point is valid.  Negativity and doom-and-gloom are fashionable at the moment, but worthless as a guide to reality.