The successive American Republics—each defined by a founding narrative that shapes its institutions, myths, and civic identity—is a compelling historical lens.

First Republic (1776–1865): Founded on the Colonial experience, the Revolution and Constitution, with a narrative focused on liberty, independence, and self-government.
Second Republic (1865–1945): Refounded after the Civil War, with a focus on national unity, industrial expansion, and manifest destiny.
Third Republic (1945–present): Reoriented by World War II and the Cold War, with a narrative grounded in global leadership, liberal democracy, and the postwar international order.

Given that framework, what will be the inciting incident and founding narrative of the Fourth American Republic?

"A troll remarks that I must be getting paid to constantly attack Trump in such a lazy and self-defeating way. I’m actually not, which is somehow more pathetic."
https://www.theconundrumcluster.com/p/a-day-in-my-life-after-leaving-the#:~:text=A%20troll%20remarks%20that%20I%20must%20be%20getting%20paid%20to%20constantly%20attack%20Trump%20in%20such%20a%20lazy%20and%20self%2Ddefeating%20way.%20I%E2%80%99m%20actually%20not%2C%20which%20is%20somehow%20more%20pathetic.

Hermit crayfish have a special pair of paws to scratch their bum in the shell.

"The Russians, knowing the possibility of direct NATO intervention, have been keeping very powerful reserves in order to utilize them if necessary. This is why most of the Russian casualties have been from the provincial militaries and the mercenary companies. The Russian air force has lost all of 6 aircraft in 2025; the US Navy lost half that many from a single carrier in a single deployment in the Red Sea.

"So I very much doubt that the Chinese are very impressed by the performance of the US military or are afraid to risk a confrontation with it over Taiwan. I also doubt there will be an actual invasion as such; it is far more likely that reunification will be quietly negotiated behind the scenes, then announced one day along with a series of arrests of pro-independence advocates.

"It’s a shame that the foreign rulers of the USA have inverted the historical American philosophy coined by Teddy Roosevelt, and instead elect for speaking loudly while carrying a small and fragile stick."

https://voxday.net/2025/05/31/a-chilling-warning/

Map Of The Barbary Slave Trade & Other European Slave Trade Networks
https://redd.it/1kwjt3s
@r_mapporn

View of the fire in Los Angeles from the Griffith Observartory

Is Mel Gibson coming out with another movie? I'm seeing this story resurrected, again.

"I went on William Ramsey Investigates May 21, 2025 to discuss where physics went wrong with the legendary William Ramsey, himself. The bad news? I only got through 26 of 66 slides. The good news? William was kind enough to invite me back next month. Check it out on your favorite platform."

https://aetherczar.substack.com/p/part-1-einstein-relativity-and-modern

The Summer Based Book Sale will run Wednesday, June 18 through Tuesday, June 24. The Call for Authors will post Tuesday morning.

Sign up to be sure you don't miss it. https://basedbooksale.substack.com/

Fake Reviews on Amazon

The traditional publishers are actively manipulating the reviews of their books on Amazon and GoodReads alike: Every “A-list” author from the major sci fi imprints seems to start out with 100+ “pre-release” reviews (almost all 4 or 5 stars) on Goodreads. Now, this could just be successful ARC promotion. That’s entirely possible. Another explanation is […]

https://voxday.net/2025/05/31/fake-reviews-on-amazon/

"Here’s the critical thing you must understand: Almost all —99%— of what’s called “AI development” today isn’t about inventing intelligence. That part is already done. Now, it’s more about building out bigger, faster, more powerful infrastructure wrapped around the original, mysterious core— the random word generator that magically turned out to be something much more.

"Don’t get me wrong— there’s lots of keen, important innovation happening. I’m not at all minimizing or criticizing the effort. Creative developers are layering AI models on top of and in between each other, making them run in parallel and series, injecting invisible prompts to improve output and enforce safety, wiring AIs into every other software tool, and making them even more easily accessible, like Sam Altman and Jony Ive busily making their new AI-in-your-pocket.

"But at the end of the coder’s workday, all of that is infrastructure— not the AI’s inner mind."

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/black-boxes-friday-may-23-2025-c

Commie cubicles incoming.
Join: @davidavocadowolfe 🥑

A Sultan's Shadow: The Truth About Neo-Ottomanism
https://www.fairobserver.com/world-news/turkey-news/a-sultans-shadow-the-truth-about-neo-ottomanism/

*NEWS INTERRUPTION*

"A mobile application, distributed quietly among Syrian officers via a Telegram channel, had spread rapidly in their ranks. In truth, the app was a carefully planted trap, the opening salvo of a hidden cyberwar — perhaps one of the first of its kind against a modern army. Militias had weaponized smartphones, turning them into lethal instruments against a regular military force."

https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/how-a-spyware-app-compromised-assads-army/

"It’s worth noting that the Russians started the use of fiber optic wires on the FPV drone in the spring of 2024 and Ukraine quickly followed suit. You can read more about that in our original story here.

Yas’ comments on fiber optic FPVs are part of a nearly two-hour interview conducted on Memorial Day about the Unmanned Systems Battalion and its fight in and around the rubbled city of Toretsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. We will publish the rest of the conversation in the coming days. The questions and answers have been slightly edited for clarity."
https://www.twz.com/news-features/inside-ukraines-fiber-optic-drone-war#:~:text=It%E2%80%99s%20worth%20noting,edited%20for%20clarity.

🇫🇷 The streets of Paris, France, 1925