As noted in an earlier post, authoritarians deploy shock and sacred norms violations to freeze and fatigue their opponents who struggle in cognitive dissonance and disbelief.

Watched The Wailing this weekend. Brilliant companion piece to The Exorcist. Weird, creepy and nicely ambiguous.

How the World Got Syria Wrong The international community misjudged the strength of the Assad regime—and its fixation on an external political process is being overtaken by events.

While the stagnation of diplomacy led to assumptions that Assad was consolidating his rule in Syria, the regime had, in fact, been decaying and fragmenting from within, Charles Lister writes.

B&W photo of Louis B Mayer's dining room at 625 Beach Road, Santa Monica.

So lots of talk about Conan O'Brien hosting the 2025 Oscars, which will be the 97th Academy Awards. So it's easy to forget that at one point they were just a twinkle in my great-uncle Louis B Mayer's eye. Here's the actual dining room where he shared his idea for an industry awards after dinner.

A medieval manuscript illustration from the British Library royal ms 20 a ii f3r. Image shows a medieval king in a green gown and wearing a crown. He is stood within a burning castle with arms in the air and a look of 'oh dear' on his face

"this is fine"

British Library Manuscript - royal ms 20 a ii f3r

The truth about an archaic tradition Labour wants to abolish For centuries, Parliament has had ‘noblemen’ sitting in the House of Lords, solely due to their ancestral lineage – but their days are numbered

Labour’s commitment to abolish hereditary peers is finally in motion, with the Bill advancing in Parliament. It’s a chance to bring the Lords closer to representing modern Britain, not a 17th-century aristocracy | Jenny Rhodes

TESLA = TRUMP YouTube video by Led By Donkeys

How Musk broke Twitter and helped elect Trump
(Location: Tesla European HQ, Amsterdam)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX3v...

'Fiction opened my eyes': author Jodie Chapman on growing up as a Jehovah's Witness Cult News101; news stories about cults, cultic groups and related topics. Cult Intervention, Cult Recovery.

'Fiction opened my eyes': author Jodie Chapman on growing up as a Jehovah's Witness