This is pretty insane: the U.S. just tried to literally re-colonize part of the Philippines. They did so under the so-called "Pax Silica" initiative, the brainchild of - surprise, surprise - an ex-Palantir guy named Jacob Helberg who now runs U.S. economic "diplomacy" from the State Department. It's causing a big outcry in the Philippines, which is quite a feat given this is by far the most US-friendly country in Southeast Asia. If you're the US and you're getting the Marcos administration - of all governments - to push back on sovereignty, you've really overplayed your hand. What is the "Pax Silica" initiative? In a nutshell it's about the US getting other countries to commit to restructuring their AI tech infrastructure around a US-led stack. It's basically vendor lock-in: you hand over your critical minerals, align your export controls with Washington's, regulate AI the way America wants, and in return you get to be a US "trusted partner," whatever that means these days. In essence, let's not kid ourselves, it's all about China: this is the US's initiative to "win the AI race" by getting other countries to contractually commit to keeping China out of their tech supply chains. When you can't preserve your lead through innovation, you seek to lock countries in contractually. For instance as a country, this would mean telling Huawei they can't sell you AI chips, and telling Chinese firms they can't invest in your data centers - even if they're better and cheaper. It's not about choosing the best technology, it's about choosing the right flag. But in this instance, the US went much further still: they literally tried to carve out 4,000 acres of Philippine territory (in New Clark City, 60 miles north of Manila) to be governed under US common law with diplomatic immunity - the first arrangement of its kind anywhere in the modern world. This is according to the WSJ who ran the story last month (wsj.com/world/asia/u-s-to-cr…) as if it was a done deal (it wasn't). Heard about the "French concession" or "British concession" in China during the century of humiliation? Same thing: the US basically asked for an "American concession" in the Philippines. Unsurprisingly, there was quite a bit of backlash in the country with for instance the Peasant Movement of the Philippines (KMP) calling it a “massive sellout” of the country’s land, minerals, and sovereignty (punto.com.ph/us-led-pax-sili…). So much so that the Philippines' government - namely Joshua Bingcang, president and chief executive of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) - issued a statement saying that the Philippines had rejected US proposals that would place the project beyond local jurisdiction (asianews.network/philippines…). Note, by the way, this delicious irony: the BCDA is the government agency that was created in 1992 specifically to convert former US military bases at Clark and Subic Bay after the Philippines spent decades negotiating their closure. New Clark City - where the Pax Silica's hub would go - is built on the old Clark Air Base. So the agency whose entire reason for existing is to turn former American colonial territory (i.e. US military bases) into sovereign Philippine land is the one now being asked to hand part of that very same land back under US jurisdiction (and, apparently, declined). Of course though, blocking this specific jurisdiction grab doesn't change the bigger picture. The Philippines is still a Pax Silica signatory, and Pax Silica itself is structurally neocolonial: you supply the cheap labor and raw materials, align your export controls and regulations with Washington's, cut yourself off from the world's rising technological powerhouse - and in exchange you get assembly jobs and the privilege of getting a pat on the head and being called a "trusted partner." They dropped the most cartoonishly colonial demand - governing Philippine soil under US law - but the underlying architecture is the same: you serve America's supply chain, on America's terms, and you relinquish your sovereign right to trade with whoever offers the best deal.

For those who don't know, Gadaffi's Great Man Made River Project was in the process of re-greening the entire Libyan Sahara and part of the Sahel using vast underground fossil water reserves. So when the White People Coalition Army arrived in 2011, they bombed the project sites and even its pipe factory so that the Sahara and North Sahel would remain poor, underpopulated, and eternally dependent on food imports. Little history lesson.

Socialists blocked by NDP brass launch new movement On Sunday, May 24, activists from across the country will gather in Toronto and on-line for the Capitalism Can’t Be Fixed conference. They will shape the next phase of a campaign challenging Mark Carney’s pro-corporate, anti-Indigenous and hyper-militarist agenda — a campaign that began when the NDP Socialist Caucus asked author Yves Engler to run for leadership of the NDP. The conference will discuss the case for breaking from the NDP to build an independent socialist movement, and how to pressure Avi Lewis and the NDP from the left. The gathering will consider running candidates in municipal elections and whether to organize a counter-summit when Mark Carney hosts leading representatives of global capital in Toronto in mid-September. “A warmongering sociopath leads the United States, yet not a single mainstream Canadian politician is calling for a pause to hundreds of bilateral military accords and officer exchanges with an armed forces headed by a president who has threatened annexation,” noted Yves Engler. “As Mark Carney radically increases military spending in line with Donald Trump’s demands, the NDP Premier of British Columbia and the Mayor of Toronto are auditioning their cities to be headquarters for a new global war bank. Meanwhile, federal NDP leader Avi Lewis is yet to question whether a Canadian city should be turned into a hub of militarism for decades to come. In this political moment, what progressive can doubt the need for a genuinely anti-militarist, internationalist and socialist organization?” Invited guest speakers include U.S. congressional candidate Kshama Sawant, journalist and lawyer Dimitri Lascaris, anti-war activist Tamara Lorincz, academic Kevin MacKay, author Yves Engler, Palestinian scholar Ghada Sasa and Indigenous campaigner Clayton Thomas-Müller. The conference is based on a shared policy platform crafted by 45 activists and researchers over a three-month period. Since its October release, Capitalism Can’t Be Fixed – Onward to a Socialist Future has likely become the most widely read anti-capitalist document in Canada. The campaign had a prominent presence at the recent NDP and Canadian Labour Congress conventions, and holds a weekly “Wednesday webinar” education series. For more information visit: capitalismcantbefixed.ca or call: 647-986-1917

“Apocalyptic” decline in insects is already causing malnutrition, pioneering new research concludes. It’s long past time to take this ignored crisis very seriously indeed. livescience.com/animals/inse…

Canadians may not realize it now or anytime soon. But years from now, they will realize Carney used Trump as a trojan horse to decimate our social safety net. Corporations and CEOs will have more control over our lives than we could have ever imagined.

Premier Danielle Smith says the reduced carbon price she's negotiated with PM Mark Carney will save Alberta's industrial emitters about $250 billion over the next 20 years Smith says this will help make Canada a "trusted supplier of responsibly-produced, lower-emissions energy"

A message from Mary, a 72-year-old Amazon worker from North Carolina projected onto Jeff Bezos’s $120 million penthouse before tonight’s #MetGala, chaired by Bezos.

doctor doug now eligible to reach into your sphincter zone

They are doing this promotion of anti-Semitism to drive a faux split narrative with Israel, just like they have with Europe and NATO. Tucker has spent weeks talking about Israel as a "regional hegemon" - Not Iran, a centuries old civilization with 100 million people - Israel, the US settler colony with 7 million people that has been around since 1948 😐 The purpose of this is clear - to try to create a fake separation between the US and its Israeli proxy as the crimes they commit against Iran increase and potentially become nuclear. But much like the post I made about the laughable concept of "German Independence" from the US Empire, the idea of a split from Israel is even more ludicrous. While US military aid is a small percentage of Israel's GDP, the broader U.S.-Israel economic relationship—driven by trade, R&D, and private investment—is crucial to the high-tech, service-led economy that makes up roughly 70% of Israel's GDP.  The U.S. is Israel's largest trading partner. Two-way trade in goods and services reached nearly $50 billion in 2023. As of 2026, foreign investors play a major role in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), accounting for roughly 41% of daily trading activity. The U.S. is a major investor in Israel. The total stock of U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) in Israel was approximately $42.5 billion in 2022. Foreign investors poured approximately NIS 4.4 billion into the equity market in 2025, a momentum that has carried into the record-high market performances of April 2026. A large number of Israeli companies are listed on US exchanges (Nasdaq), often creating substantial indirect ownership by US investors. Major US-based ETF firms, such as BlackRock and Vanguard, dominate foreign ownership, holding nearly 46% of foreign-invested, non-dual-listed stocks. BlackRock, Inc also holds approximately 1.80% of the TASE itself as a public company as of March 2026. Vanguard and others continue to hold massive stakes through passive index funds tracking the TA-35 and TA-125 indices.  American companies are heavily involved in Israel's high-tech sector, having established roughly two-thirds of the more than 300 foreign-invested research and development (R&D) centers in the country. That is on top of the U.S. providing around $3.8 billion in annual military aid. Many US-based multinational corporations are among the largest employers in Israel, particularly within the technology and semiconductor sectors. As of early 2026, these companies operate extensive research and development (R&D) centers. Here's a list of some of the US corporations employing Israel: - Intel is one of the largest private-sector employers in Israel, with over 10,000 employees - Nvidia has over 3,300 employees as of 2024, holding its second-largest development center outside the US in Israel. - Microsoft runs a large, strategic R&D center with over 10,000 employees in Israel. - Google maintains major R&D centers employing thousands of people. - Apple has a significant presence with multiple R&D centers employing over 1,000 staff. - Amazon expanded rapidly with its acquisition of Annapurna Labs, engaging in cloud computing (AWS) and R&D.  - Cisco Systems is a major IT company with extensive R&D facilities, frequently listed among top employers in the Israeli tech sector. - Applied Materials is a major player in semiconductor equipment with a large employee base. - Salesforce features large development units in Tel Aviv and Nazareth. - Palo Alto Networks is a US-headquartered security giant with over 1,000 employees in Israel. - IBM maintains multiple R&D labs throughout the country. - Meta Platforms has a presence in Israel focused on R&D, often through acquisitions like Onavo. - GE HealthCare maintains a significant presence. The idea that Israel is anything other than a US colony is nonsense. Whatever performative BS the Zionist and fake non-Zionist crowd like Tucker might tell you, any split will be theater to hide this reality.

Save Toronto Island! Premier Ford has expropriated the entire Toronto island for his jet scheme. Sign our petition and tell your elected rep to abandon this terrible plan! win.newmode.net/nojetsto/sav… #topoli #onpoli #cdnpoli

dissolve the idea of human nature. there is no essential human behaviour. it’s a cliche trotted out whenever anything heinous needs to be justified. it’s a coercive normative term used to keep souls in line. forget it.

There are CEOs, and then there’s Apex Karp. This is the undisputed zenith of the species ballsy enough to name itself sapiens. This is the frontallest lobe of all time, the adroitest dioxy-nucleotidinal acid beast of all space, the skill-settiest convergence of brain and brawn.

When I worked at CBC, seniors rejected my pitch to interview genocide scholars on Gaza and forced me to produce an interview with Alinejad on how the West should support regime change in Iran.

Toronto police showed up at a comedy fundraiser for Gaza and at a screening of the film Palestine 36 earlier this month. @rdassaly speaks to organizers about what's happening and what can be done to protect community members. thegrindmag.ca/cops-keep-sho…

70% of Canadian oil and gas are foreign owned and 60% are US owned. They have made huge profits and some Liberals, NDP and Alberta Labour Federation have called for a windfall tax on them - one which would add $46 Billion to make all of our lives easier.... Make it so!! Talk to your MP @FairTaxCanada '5

$28.9 million. That’s not just a number. That’s: 300 teachers/ 400 education workers/250 mental health counsellors or 2,000 students fully funded for a year. Don’t tell us there’s no money. Tell us why it’s not going into public education #OntEd #FundOurSchools #osstf

🚨Must read: Israeli soldiers with moral injury admit to unspeakable atrocities they committed in Gaza. They say it "reminded [them] of the Holocaust." One says they put a Gazan civilian in cage, stripped him down, a soldier peed on him while the others laughed Another emptied his machine gun into an elderly man with 3 children. When the commander came to the site, he spat on the bodies & called them "sons of bitches." Another soldier says they encountered an unarmed Palestinian civilian who held his hands up. An Israeli soldier "came near him, waited a few seconds & just fired, without asking questions, without the suspect doing anything," then reported the incident as a "terrorist eliminated." Another describes how IDF Soldiers "would just take pleasure in destruction" & stealing the belongings of murdered Palestinians. He said soldiers would steal "electric appliances, gold necklaces, cash, everything" & "called it a blessing to steal from [Palestinians]." NONE of those soldiers have ever been held accountable, despite their public confessions to their crimes. The IDF refuses to even recognize "moral injury" as a mental disorder because it negates their propaganda slogan that "Israel has the world's most moral army." Instead, the IDF quietly calls it "identity injury" to imply those soldiers are to blame for feeling bad about murdering Palestinians.

wait what year is it rn ? these elderly politicians are keeping us mentally locked in a time loop - pretty soon Phillip K Dick will emerge in a hologram and re-declare we’re living in 30 AD. ‘Right to defend themselves’ in 2026 is cultural gaslighting on a mass scale.