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Best of the Web: Peterson, Rogan, Psychopathy, Ponerology

Harrison Koehli
Political Ponerology
Wed, 30 Apr 2025 19:07 UTC
jordan peterson joe rogan
© The Joe Rogan ExperienceJordan Peterson in dialogue with Joe Rogan, April 22, 2025
Parsing Peterson on political psychopathology

Love him or hate him, I have always thought Jordan Peterson one of the best-placed public intellectuals to popularize political ponerology. His motivations for writing his first book, Maps of Meaning, were pretty much identical to Lobaczewski's — though they came from vastly different circumstances. Peterson was a young Canadian at the time, pondering nuclear war and the ideological conflict between east and west, communism and western democracy. Lobaczewski was a practicing psychologist living in communist Poland, trying to understand the psychopathology of the system in which he lived and systematize that understanding for communication with other scientists. And of course, both are or were psychologists applying their clinical insights to politics.

I have my strong disagreements with some of Peterson's positions (as I do with every public intellectual), but I'm always interested to hear what he might have to say about ponerological ideas. His recent appearance on Joe Rogan fits the bill, so here are my thoughts on what he said there. I will first focus strictly on what he had to say about political psychopathy, saving any side-issues and specific applications of the general ideas and implications for a bit further below.
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USA

Now you know

James Howard Kunstler
kunstler.com
Mon, 28 Apr 2025 00:00 UTC
The Overton Window
© UnknownThe Overton Window
"Being mean or telling the truth is indistinguishable to far too many people."
— Mike Thompson on X
Woke liberalism is exactly what Christopher Lasch predicted in The Revolt of the Elites, published in 1995, the year after his early death at 61. Lasch saw how the juvenile idealism of Boomer hippiedom would slide into the narcissistic, sado-masochistic degeneracy of open borders, drag queen story hours, Covid-19 despotism, DEI racism, showbiz Satanism, censorship, forever wars, and now, the legal insurrection of lawfare.

In doing so, Lasch also predicted the "mass formation psychosis" described by Belgian psychologist Mattias Desmet, spawned by a crisis of meaning and purpose in the thinking classes of Western Civ. And now you know exactly how come a place like Boston, with its concentration of "elites" in universities, computer tech, and medical research displays a batshit-crazy dedication to ideas bent on destroying our political culture: the American republic.
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Robot

China steps up its game in the global AI race

Pepe Escobar
Sputnik International
Tue, 29 Apr 2025 13:26 UTC
China Robot
© Sputnik / Lidiya Stanchenko
Late next month, Huawei will be testing its new powerful AI processor, the Ascend 910 D, even as by early May the previous 910C will start to be mass-delivered to scores of Chinese tech companies.

These serious breakthroughs are the next chapter of Huawei's drive to counter Nvidia's global monopoly in GPUs. The Ascend 910D is supposed to be more powerful than Nvidia's extremely popular H100.

Huawei is pulling no punches in its race to manufacture a new generation of processors. Huawei has collaborated with SMIC - China's largest semiconductor foundry - to apply Deep Ultraviolet Lithography (DUV) on what was previously only possible on EUV (Extreme Ultra-Violet technology). Once again, Huawei and SMIC defied the proverbial American "experts" with creative engineering solutions.

Huawei arrived at fabricating 5nm chips with DUV even as the process is more expensive than with EUV. If Huawei had access to EUV they would be already manufacturing 2-3nm chips. That will come, in short time, as both China and Russia, under permanent US high-tech blockade, must by all means develop their own EUV technology.

Shanghai geeks are convinced that Huawei will switch on 6G networksbefore the end of the decade. Their current breathless drive is not just aimed at the smartphone front - where Huawei is peerless; the new Huawei Mate 70 Pro + is by far the absolute top smartphone in the world, running on Harmony OS. Huawei is looking at cloud computing, AI and enterprise servers - and to become no less than the core player in the AI infrastructure race.
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Truck

Common sense: Trump executive order requires truck drivers to speak English, pass literacy tests as 'communication problems' mount

Emma Colton
Fox News
Tue, 29 Apr 2025 15:37 UTC
truck crash driver no english
© America Truckers/XCrashes involving non-English speaking drivers have been on the rise for years
'That's a very commonsense policy,' Leavitt said of the upcoming executive order

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order requiring truck drivers to pass English literacy tests, which will bolster road safety, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Trump will sign an "order directing the Department of Transportation to include English literacy tests for our truckers. This is a big problem in the trucking community," Leavitt said on Monday afternoon during a press conference with new members of the media. The press conference was separate from a White House press briefing earlier Monday morning.

Trump is expected to sign the executive order late Monday afternoon, Leavitt said.

"You might not know, but there's a lot of communication problems between truckers on the road with federal officials and local officials, as well, which obviously is a public safety risk," Leavitt continued. "So we're going to ensure that our truckers, who are the backbone of our economy, are all able to speak English. That's a very commonsense policy."

Comment: From NewsMax:
Duffy said in a news release [...]:

"Federal law is clear, a driver who cannot sufficiently read or speak English — our national language — and understand road signs is unqualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle in America," Duffy said in a statement. "This common sense standard should have never been abandoned. This Department will always put America's truck drivers first."

The new order by Trump, who signed an executive order in March making English the official language of the United States, reversed a June 2016 directive by the Obama administration that eliminated requirements for federal inspectors to suspend drivers of commercial motor vehicles for English language proficiency violations when conducting safety investigations.

Formal driver interviews to confirm such violations also weren't conducted during roadside inspections. Further, the memo, revealed in an April 10 letter from Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., to Duffy, stated that ''if the driver cannot read, write, or speak English but can communicate sufficiently with the inspector/investigator, they should not be cited" for such a violation.
[...]
The Transportation Department said the FMCSA has documented cases in which the driver's inability to read signs and speak English might have contributed to a series of fatal crashes.

In 2019, a semitruck driver traveling down a congested highway at almost 100 mph blew past several signs that warned of steep grades and dangerous curves. The crash killed four people and injured others. In January, a fatal collision in West Virginia involved a driver fleeing another crash who required an interpreter for the crash investigation.

None of the "truck drivers involved in these crashes can speak English:






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Cross

A small Gaza parish mourns their friend Pope Francis

Tareq S. Hajjaj
Mondoweiss
Tue, 22 Apr 2025 21:25 UTC
holy family church gaza city
© Hadi Daoud /APA ImagePalestinian Christians participate in the Christmas Mass at the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City, December 24, 2024.
Palestinian Christians in Gaza remember Pope Francis and his daily calls to the Catholic church in Gaza. "Gaza was among his last words," one member of the parish told Mondoweiss. "His voice made us forget the sound of the planes and the bombs."

Christians around the world are mourning the death of Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21. But in the Gaza Strip, the local Christian community is not just mourning the loss of a religious leader, but the loss of a friend and someone they called "a true father."

Universally hailed as a champion of the oppressed and the marginalized, the late Pope demonstrated his commitment to this reputation during the past 18 months of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. It has been widely reported that he made regular and near-daily calls to the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza and that he roundly condemned Israel's actions, describing them as "terrorism" with "the characteristics of a genocide."

Comment: Holy Family Catholic Church has come under repeated attacks by Israel.



Full text:

Notable famous Churches Damaged or Destroyed by Israel.

❗️1.Saint Porphyrius Church, Gaza City: The oldest church in Gaza and the third-oldest in the world, suffered damage during Israeli airstrikes.

❗️2.Holy Family Church, Gaza City: Gaza's only Roman Catholic church was damaged in an airstrike, destroying part of a school within the church complex.

❗️3.Ahli Baptist Church, Gaza City: Located within the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, this church was hit during an Israeli strike on the hospital, resulting in significant casualties.

❗️4.Byzantine Church of Jabalia, Gaza Strip: Built in 444 AD and known for its colorful mosaics, this historic church was destroyed in October by Israeli airstrikes.

❗️5.Monastery of Saint Hilarion, Nuseirat: Dating back to the 4th century, this significant archaeological site was damaged during Israeli bombardments.


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Light switch

Mass blackouts hit Spain, Portugal

David Blackmon
Energy Transition Absurdities
Mon, 28 Apr 2025 17:59 UTC
Blackout Underground Train
© Energy Transition Absurdities
Spain and Portugal, both of which generate a majority of their electricity with renewables, were simultaneously hit by widespread power outages on Monday, with no explanation immediately forthcoming about the cause. Some reports said the outages also hit some parts of France.
Spain Portugal Blackout
© Energy Transition Absurdities
Cellular service and Internet were reported down throughout both countries, and airports lost power as well, according to sky news:

Airport Blackouts
© Energy Transition Absurdities
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Violin

As Trump overhauls DC performing arts venue, organizers cancel LGBTQ pride events at Kennedy Center

Victor Nava
New York Post
Sun, 27 Apr 2025 19:37 UTC
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
© Scott SuchmanThe John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in better days
A slate of Pride Month events at the Kennedy Center has been quietly canceled amid President Trump's dramatic overhaul of the Washington, DC, performing arts venue, according to organizers.

The events were part of the Kennedy Center's "Tapestry of Pride" programming, which had been scheduled to coincide with this summer's World Pride festival celebrating LGBTQ rights, the Associated Press reported on Friday.

A June 5 performance at the venue was abruptly canceled within days of Trump's Feb. 7 Truth Social post announcing leadership changes at the cultural institution, Michael Roest, founder and director of the International Pride Orchestra, said.

"They went from very eager to host to nothing," Roest said. "We have not since heard a word from anybody at the Kennedy Center, but that's not going to stop us."
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Handcuffs

DHS spox touts 'major success' in Florida: Nearly 800 illegals nabbed in 4-day 'Operation Tidal Wave'

Harold Hutchison
The Daily Caller
Sun, 27 Apr 2025 19:16 UTC
illegal immigration operation tidal wave
© ICE“Operation Tidal Wave” Nets Nearly 800 Arrests In Florida Immigration Enforcement Surge, April 26, 2025
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin described the arrest records of some illegal immigrants arrested by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of "a large-scale operation" during a Saturday evening appearance on Fox News.

Federal, state and local law enforcement carried out Operation Tidal Wave in Florida, arresting nearly 800 illegal immigrants during the four-day operation, according to a post on X by Fox News reporter Bill Melugin. McLaughlin said the sweep was a "preview" of additional operations.

"This was a major success, it was a large-scale operation. And to your point, this is a preview of what is to come throughout the nation," McLaughlin said. "We have partnerships under 287(g) authorities that Secretary [of Homeland Security Kristi] Noem signed, and this empowers state and local law enforcement to actually be able to use their enforcement authority to carry out immigration enforcement."
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USA

Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis forced to shut down North Carolina store amid battle over massive American flags

Nicholas McEntyre
New York Post
Sat, 26 Apr 2025 22:02 UTC
Camping World american flag big
© Camping WorldA large American flag flies over a Camping World dealership.
The Camping World CEO claims he was forced to close down one of his North Carolina stores as he defied local politicians over the massive American flags flying over the locations.

Marcus Lemonis made the shocking revelation that one of the national RV dealerships in Greenville, NC, was shuttered on April 18.

Lemonis says he was forced to shut down operations at the smaller of the two locations after the city council sued him and the company for violating city ordinance with the larger-than-life flags, and continues to impose fines.

"We think the ordinance is wrong," Lemonis told local radio station WTIB, according to WITN. " I think it's also wrong council members have been working very actively to disparage my business and on Friday I had to consolidate modification of 2 dealerships in town."

Comment: Of all the things to pick an ordinance fight over, this is pretty petty. Don't the Greenville and Sevierville city councils have more pressing problems? How many people have been put out of work by those city officials?

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Attention

Outsourcing war: British mercenaries now run America's front lines


RT
Fri, 25 Apr 2025 19:58 UTC
Outsourcing war British mercenaries
This image was generated using AI technology.
G4S's mercenaries are everywhere - from the halls of American power to the darkest corners of detention centers

The British-American private military company Group 4 Securitas (G4S) has evolved far beyond its original mission of providing security for Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and Ukraine's critical infrastructure. Today, it resembles a quasi-state, complete with its own armed forces, prison systems, and global reach. G4S secures US embassies around the world, guards airports, government agencies, and military installations for both Washington and London, and even monitors sections of the US border.

Comment:
Out sourcing is very common. Many government and companies do it all the time. It would be strange if military and security was not one of the areas where this happens.

The article comes at a time when there have been car explosions killing a couple of high ranking people in Moscow. Perhaps it is only a coincidence. Be that what it is, below are a number of other articles related to G4S:

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