"Joe Pera Reads You the Church Announcements" (the Baba O’Riley episode) and "Joe Pera Talks With You About the Weekly Trip to the Grocery Store" are two of the greatest moments in American television history, and I will rewatch them on repeat until the day I die.
Russia revises this month’s crude export plan from its western ports to 2.1 million barrels per day — 11% higher than scheduled, as Ukrainian drone attacks on domestic refineries reduce local demand for crude. Rising spot demand in India will grab the extra crude, says Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-revises-up-september-oil-exports-western-ports-by-11-sources-say-2025-09-10/
vibes
weeeeeeeeee
Asked about his recently chickened-out sanctions against Russia in the context of a ceasefire push, Trump reiterates his newfound devotion to a full peace deal.
“People are going out to dinner.” Donald Trump’s comment just now at the summit with Ukraine’s president to end Russia’s invasion.
When you visit Trump’s Truth Social page, loading it full screen on a desktop computer still fails to display a single post — it’s all ads, one more grotesque than the other.
unspeakably weird
Finally got around to reading some of the short stories in the fall issue of Granta, and they end in such beautiful ambiguity. This is some of my first exposure to Chinese literature, and it's wonderful stuff.
Would I poison my blood to make it toxic to mosquitoes? I hesitate at the moment, but ask me after one of them bites me, and the answer will be 1000 times yes.
welp
Defense Ministry was reportedly squeezing Prigozhin & Wagner out of their empire in Africa and Syria ahead of the plane crash. Also, Putin allegedly met at least twice w him after the mutiny. "Well, you're in the Kremlin," was Putin's first opening line.
https://twitter.com/skazal_on/status/1695806843459698745
Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-bek Yevkurov has apparently been making the rounds to all Wagner's countries of interest and telling them to give Wagner the cold shoulder. Transport planes are being denied. Diplomats are getting in on it too. The end began before the crash.
X has been slowing the speed with which users could access t-co links to the New York Times, Facebook, and other news organizations and online competitors, a move that appeared targeted at companies that have drawn the ire of owner Elon Musk. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/15/twitter-x-links-delayed/
The independent outlet The Insider has published an investigation into a series of poisoning attacks targeting Russian journalists and activists in Europe: Elena Kostyuchenko in Munich, Irina Babloyan in Tbilisi, and Natalia Arno in Prague. https://meduza.io/en/feature/2023/08/15/the-most-likely-explanation
A group of UN experts today expressed alarm over the ongoing blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan, which has led to a dire humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. “Severe shortages of essential food staples including […] baby formula.” https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/08/un-experts-urge-azerbaijan-lift-lachin-corridor-blockade-and-end
A local elected official in the Komi Republic has been charged with violating Russia’s “foreign agent” laws because he submitted a local legislative initiative without including a “foreign agent” disclosure. (He got the label for receiving a train-ticket refund in London.) https://zona.media/news/2023/08/07/vorobiyov
Very much hoping this is a technical error that went through without human oversight, and Apple will restore the show soon.
adios, Soviet Motherland
