Unattended Baggage, episode 320
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Yep, that’s a War Crime.” (12/06/25)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-320-yep-thats-a-war-crime
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
ETH, ADA, XRP Lead Gains as Bitcoin Edges Higher on Fed Rate Cut Expectations
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin traded just above $91,300 on Monday as Asian equities opened the week slightly higher ahead of a heavy run of central bank decisions, including a Federal Reserve meeting where markets have largely priced in a 25-basis-point rate cut. … Crypto markets followed the broader tone. Bitcoin rose 2% over the past 24 hours and is up more than 6% over the past week, extending last week’s rebound but meeting early resistance near the $94,000 area. … Ether gained 3% to trade near $3,135, outperforming most majors on the day and logging a 10.6% advance over the past week. BNB added 1%, Solana rose about 1.6%, Lido’s stETH climbed almost 3%, and XRP traded around $2.08 after a 1.2% uptick. Cardano led declines in the top tier, slipping about 1.4% on the day.” (12/08/25)
Venezuela: Eye on the Prize?
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“President Donald Trump embarked on a serial murder spree around the Caribbean in September, ordering boats (and people) blown up by US military forces on the pretense that he’s fighting a ‘narco-terrorist cartel’ headed by Maduro (on whose head he’s placed a $50 million bounty). He’s also steadily increased the US military presence in the region, rattling the American saber for ‘regime change’ in Caracas. It’s been tempting, so far, to write Trump’s belligerence off as an attempt to distract from his domestic political failures …. On the other hand, if he’s really going to take the US to war with Venezuela, what better moment — for theatrical and propaganda purposes — to launch a full-scale attack than just as his quisling of choice accepts a ‘peace prize’ in Oslo?” (12/06/25)
Ukrainian city hit by “massive” strike as peace talks in US conclude
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Russia continued its air strikes on Ukraine overnight, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a ‘very constructive’ phone call with Donald Trump’s negotiating team following three days of talks in Florida. Early on Sunday the mayor of Kremenchuk, a major industrial hub in central Ukraine, said the city had been repeatedly struck in a ‘massive’ attack. No deaths have been confirmed so far. Meanwhile, Russia said it had shot down 77 Ukrainian drones in several locations.” (12/07/25)
Our Killing Machines
Source: Pierre Lemieux
by Pierre Lemieux
“In 2019, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, famously wrote: ‘We train our boys to be killing machines, then prosecute them when they kill!’ The ‘boys’ are US soldiers, but who is we and which possessor does our refer to? … The fundamental problem with collectives is this: hidden under any collective are different and distinct individuals. Without starting from this elemental fact, one cannot understand the behavior of the collectives and sub-collectives that can be drawn around individuals. One cannot understand the social consequences of individual actions.” (12/06/25)
Benin: Regime says armed forces foil coup attempt
Source: Reuters
“Benin’s government said on Sunday its armed forces had foiled a coup attempt after a group of soldiers in the West African nation claimed on national television to have seized power. … At least eight soldiers, several wearing helmets, went on state television on Sunday morning to announce that a military committee led by Colonel Tigri Pascal had taken over and was dissolving national institutions, suspending the constitution and closing air, land and maritime borders. … Gunfire could be heard earlier on Sunday in several neighbourhoods of Cotonou, the country’s largest city and economic hub, as residents were trying to make their way to church early on Sunday morning.” (12/07/25)
Europe Fires a Speech Warning
Source: Racket News
by Matt Taibbi
“The Digital Services Act, the European Commission’s content control law developed across multiple stages dating to the mid-2010s, has finally become fully operational, in Star Wars parlance. Officials announced a long-threatened €120 million (about $140 million) fine of Elon Musk’s X platform, with the major offenses being the use of a ‘deceptive’ check mark program and failure to ‘provide researchers with access to the platform’s public data.’ The fine comes at a strange time. A few weeks ago, the EC began a public campaign of walking back its biggest censorship initiatives, thanks to a growing belief that its stifling regulatory environment was costing Old-World companies a chance to compete for investment in AI technology.” (12/05/25)
Palestine: Bethlehem’s Christmas tree lights up for first time since Gaza genocide began
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“For the first time in two years, the Christmas tree in Bethlehem lit up the night sky, restoring a glimmer of joy to the birthplace of Jesus after seasons overshadowed by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Palestinians watching the lighting said the celebration carried a dual meaning: Hope in the Nativity and a yearning for freedom from the Israeli siege gripping Bethlehem and cities across the occupied territory. … This year’s celebrations were limited to religious rituals, attended by church leaders and local officials who stood on a stage in Manger Square for a modest tree-lighting ceremony. Thousands gathered in the square, singing hymns and listening to choirs carolling – the only form of festivity permitted at a time many described as a mix of joy and mourning.” (12/07/25)
The last act of the feature film
Source: Washington Post
by Megan McArdle
“The short story used to be a viable commercial and artistic proposition, until television killed off the pulp magazines. By the 1980s, short stories were more of a loss leader for novel writers (actual or aspiring). Today, the form is mostly the province of tiny literary magazines, and its author usually survives on grants, gigs teaching creative writing and pedestrian day jobs. I’m afraid I expect the feature film to suffer a similar fate, because everything about the medium is optimized for theaters: its visual language, its lavish production budgets and even its length (long enough to be worth leaving the house for, not so long that your butt goes numb). In the future, storytelling will be optimized for streaming into our living rooms — unless, of course, it’s optimized for YouTube and TikTok, or some other technological medium I can’t yet imagine.” (12/06/25)
The Good Fight, 12/06/25
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Richard Thaler on Why People are Much More Irrational than Economists Believe.” (12/06/25)