Jun 29, 2026
A TweeXt
Trump’s last 17 weeks of Iran posts—summed up in five seconds. pic.twitter.com/DaRMnAOmkq
— DonkConnects ♻️™ (@donkoclock) June 28, 2026
Belle
The US government does not respect
the personal freedoms of its people:
56%
How do views of Trump compare with other global leaders?
Across 36 countries, a median of 23% of adults have confidence in U.S. President Donald Trump to do the right thing regarding world affairs.
Across 36 countries, a median of 23% of adults have confidence in U.S. President Donald Trump to do the right thing regarding world affairs.
These findings come from a new Pew Research Center survey of 42,151 adults in 36 countries, conducted Feb. 8-May 13, 2026. They are part of a larger report on global views of the United States and its president.
Where do people have more positive views of Trump than other leaders?
Colombia, Hungary, Israel and the Philippines stand out as four countries where views of Trump are more positive than views of other leaders we asked about.
- In Colombia, 43% have confidence in Trump – higher than the 37% who have confidence in Macron and the roughly third or fewer who have confidence in the other leaders.
- In Hungary, 44% have confidence in Trump, compared with around a third or fewer who say the same of Macron, Xi or Putin. Confidence in Netanyahu and Zelenskyy is even lower.
- In Israel, 66% have confidence in Trump, while only a third or fewer have confidence in the other leaders. (We did not ask about confidence in Netanyahu.)
- In the Philippines, 68% have confidence in Trump, while 61% have confidence in Macron and around half or more have confidence in the other leaders.
In some other countries, including several middle-income nations (as defined by World Bank lending groups) like Argentina, Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria and Peru, Trump is among the leaders rated most positively. In most of these countries, confidence in Trump is similar to confidence in either Xi or Macron.
In three European countries – France, Germany and Greece – confidence ratings for Trump are among the lowest of the leaders asked about, often tied with Putin, Netanyahu or both. For instance, 16% of Germans have confidence in Trump and similar shares say the same about Putin (15%) and Netanyahu (15%), a sharp contrast to the 72% of Germans who have confidence in Macron.
Trump is either the leader with the lowest confidence rating or tied for lowest in many countries. This is the case, for example, in the United States’ neighbors to both the south and north:
- In Mexico, 11% have confidence in Trump, compared with 18% who have confidence in Netanyahu. Around three-in-ten have confidence in Putin and Xi.
- Canadians have similarly low levels of confidence in Putin (18%), Trump (20%) and Netanyahu (23%) and relatively more confidence in Xi (35%), Macron (59%) and Zelenskyy (65%).
In three European countries – France, Germany and Greece – confidence ratings for Trump are among the lowest of the leaders asked about, often tied with Putin, Netanyahu or both. For instance, 16% of Germans have confidence in Trump and similar shares say the same about Putin (15%) and Netanyahu (15%), a sharp contrast to the 72% of Germans who have confidence in Macron.
Trump tends to receive particularly low marks relative to other leaders in the Muslim-majority publics surveyed. Among Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, for example, only 4% have confidence in Trump – similar to the 2% who say the same of Netanyahu, but much lower than the roughly four-in-ten who have confidence in Putin and Xi. In Malaysia, too, Trump ties with Netanyahu for the lowest rating.
Trump tends to receive particularly low marks relative to other leaders in the Muslim-majority publics surveyed. Among Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, for example, only 4% have confidence in Trump – similar to the 2% who say the same of Netanyahu, but much lower than the roughly four-in-ten who have confidence in Putin and Xi. In Malaysia, too, Trump ties with Netanyahu for the lowest rating.
Jun 28, 2026
An Intersectional Poem
Shall I compare theeto a summer's day? Alright -thou art very hot.
hat tip = Brian Bilston
The New Crash
Before FDR got all the New Deal regulation in place in the 1930s, the US could pretty much count on some kinda crash or crisis every 8 - 15 years.
AI boom risks global financial crash, warn central bankers
Reversal of ‘excessive’ tech investments could have serious economic consequences, report finds
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said on Sunday that “excessive” spending on new AI data centres and opaque transactions risked a financial meltdown similar to the global credit crunch nearly two decades ago.
The BIS, known as the bank for central banks, said there was growing “peril” in financial markets from the complex web of financial ties between AI giants, shadow banks and data centre builders unravelling.
“Financial stability could ... be at risk in the event of an AI bust,” the BIS said. “Should hyperscalers slow or halt the aggressive pace of capex deployment, many borrowers across the supply chain could struggle to replace lost revenue and service their debt.
“The opacity of AI-sector financing compounds these vulnerabilities.”
Pablo Hernández de Cos, the BIS general manager, said there were major questions about whether the boom would benefit the wider economy and warned a reversal of “AI exuberance” could have serious economic consequences.
“One risk is that large-scale investment in AI infrastructure becomes excessive, as each firm tries to outcompete rivals and dominate market share,” he said.
“This could leave the sector more vulnerable if AI underdelivers, possibly bringing the current investment boom to an abrupt end, with large macroeconomic consequences.”
The BIS warning is one of the strongest yet on risks lurking in the AI boom. The Bank of England warned in December that share prices were now the “most stretched” they had been since the 2008 crisis.
The International Monetary Fund has also compared AI valuations to the excesses of the dotcom bubble.
Big tech groups such as OpenAI and Nvidia have turned to complex financial transactions to fund AI’s development, with bot developers often receiving loans from chipmakers to buy the chipmaker’s microchips.
Shadow banks, known as private credit funds, have also piled money into AI data centres to benefit from rising demand for the new technology.
The shadow banking industry is where companies borrow from funds and private equity houses rather than banks. It has expanded rapidly in recent years as regulators around the world have tightened the rules governing mainstream banking.
However, the report added that “signs of stress are already visible” in private credit funds, with many inundated with redemption requests and in some cases forced to block withdrawals.
The BIS said the global economy had weathered Donald Trump’s tariffs and his war on Iran and enjoyed a boost from technology stocks.
However, there were growing “perils” from rising inflation and speculative AI investments which had echoes of similar financial crashes.
‘Potential downside risks’
The bank noted there were parallels between the AI infrastructure surge and the dotcom boom, as well as similarities with the British railway mania of the 1840s or the “roaring 20s” before the Great Depression.
“The scale and pace of the current AI investment boom accompanied by expectations of large productivity payoffs bear resemblance to these precedents, highlighting potential downside risks in the near term,” the report said.
US and Asian stocks linked to the AI boom have swung wildly in recent days amid fears the tech rally could come to a grinding halt.
Global tech stocks plunged on Friday after Apple said it would increase prices because of higher microchip costs.
South Korea’s blue chip index, which is heavily tied to the fortunes of the country’s AI chip businesses, has also seen swings of more than 10pc in a single day.
The BIS also warned that “bottlenecks” in data centre construction or a shortage of chip supplies could threaten the AI boom.
AI giants have already taken to rationing access to their most powerful tools at peak times because of a lack of capacity.
The Financial Times reported on Sunday that Google had capped Meta’s use of the search giant’s Gemini AI because it was struggling to meet the Facebook owner’s demand.
Since the 1980s, "conservatives" have been chipping away at all the laws and regulations, and sure as fuck - we've been getting all the old shit back again, right on schedule.
Reversal of ‘excessive’ tech investments could have serious economic consequences, report finds
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said on Sunday that “excessive” spending on new AI data centres and opaque transactions risked a financial meltdown similar to the global credit crunch nearly two decades ago.
The BIS, known as the bank for central banks, said there was growing “peril” in financial markets from the complex web of financial ties between AI giants, shadow banks and data centre builders unravelling.
“Financial stability could ... be at risk in the event of an AI bust,” the BIS said. “Should hyperscalers slow or halt the aggressive pace of capex deployment, many borrowers across the supply chain could struggle to replace lost revenue and service their debt.
“The opacity of AI-sector financing compounds these vulnerabilities.”
Pablo Hernández de Cos, the BIS general manager, said there were major questions about whether the boom would benefit the wider economy and warned a reversal of “AI exuberance” could have serious economic consequences.
“One risk is that large-scale investment in AI infrastructure becomes excessive, as each firm tries to outcompete rivals and dominate market share,” he said.
“This could leave the sector more vulnerable if AI underdelivers, possibly bringing the current investment boom to an abrupt end, with large macroeconomic consequences.”
The BIS warning is one of the strongest yet on risks lurking in the AI boom. The Bank of England warned in December that share prices were now the “most stretched” they had been since the 2008 crisis.
The International Monetary Fund has also compared AI valuations to the excesses of the dotcom bubble.
Big tech groups such as OpenAI and Nvidia have turned to complex financial transactions to fund AI’s development, with bot developers often receiving loans from chipmakers to buy the chipmaker’s microchips.
Shadow banks, known as private credit funds, have also piled money into AI data centres to benefit from rising demand for the new technology.
The shadow banking industry is where companies borrow from funds and private equity houses rather than banks. It has expanded rapidly in recent years as regulators around the world have tightened the rules governing mainstream banking.
However, the report added that “signs of stress are already visible” in private credit funds, with many inundated with redemption requests and in some cases forced to block withdrawals.
The BIS said the global economy had weathered Donald Trump’s tariffs and his war on Iran and enjoyed a boost from technology stocks.
However, there were growing “perils” from rising inflation and speculative AI investments which had echoes of similar financial crashes.
‘Potential downside risks’
The bank noted there were parallels between the AI infrastructure surge and the dotcom boom, as well as similarities with the British railway mania of the 1840s or the “roaring 20s” before the Great Depression.
“The scale and pace of the current AI investment boom accompanied by expectations of large productivity payoffs bear resemblance to these precedents, highlighting potential downside risks in the near term,” the report said.
US and Asian stocks linked to the AI boom have swung wildly in recent days amid fears the tech rally could come to a grinding halt.
Global tech stocks plunged on Friday after Apple said it would increase prices because of higher microchip costs.
South Korea’s blue chip index, which is heavily tied to the fortunes of the country’s AI chip businesses, has also seen swings of more than 10pc in a single day.
The BIS also warned that “bottlenecks” in data centre construction or a shortage of chip supplies could threaten the AI boom.
AI giants have already taken to rationing access to their most powerful tools at peak times because of a lack of capacity.
The Financial Times reported on Sunday that Google had capped Meta’s use of the search giant’s Gemini AI because it was struggling to meet the Facebook owner’s demand.
A series of trillion-dollar floats are also testing the appetite of investors for high-risk bets.
SpaceX went public earlier this month, notching a valuation of nearly $2bn (£1.5bn), but shares have since plummeted 25pc from their peak.
The BIS also warned that, with near-record levels of public debt, many countries had failed to secure their public finances during periods of economic growth. Instead they were spending beyond their means, leaving them vulnerable.
SpaceX went public earlier this month, notching a valuation of nearly $2bn (£1.5bn), but shares have since plummeted 25pc from their peak.
The BIS also warned that, with near-record levels of public debt, many countries had failed to secure their public finances during periods of economic growth. Instead they were spending beyond their means, leaving them vulnerable.
A Mashup
Don't Be A Sucker is one of my all time faves.
Dave takes clips from it and puts them together with examples of the shit that Trump and his goons are doing right now.
Jun 27, 2026
Heather Cox Richardson
Believe it or not, once upon a time, the GOP wasn't filled with gutless, callous, soulless, self-dealing plutocratic freaks.
Ah, the good old days.
Never try to base an economy on an ideology, and never try to create a government from an economic system.
Business is business, government is government, religion is religion, and even though they each have some legit influence on the others, for the most part, they all have to stay in their own goddamned lanes.
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