Finally got to read Rubio’s speech in Munich: it is one of the most revisionist and imperialist speeches I’ve ever seen a senior American official make, and that’s saying something.

The man literally laments the outcome of WW2 because it marked the end of the era during which “the West had been expanding”, a “path” he “hopes [the US and Europe] walk together again.”

And just to ensure you’re clear about what he means: he wants to restore the building of “vast empires extending across the globe” and blames “anti-colonial uprisings” for what they did to “the great Western empires.”

He also says that “we cannot continue” to allow “abstractions of international law” get in the way of US interests.

Basically the man is openly saying that  the whole post-colonial order was a mistake and he’s calling on Europe to share the spoils of building a new one.

Which is quite a pitch for an American to make given that their own country itself was born from revolt against European colonialism, but I guess expecting the Trump administration to understand their own history is too tall an order…

The most troubling part was the reaction of the audience: “half the hall in Munich gave US Secretary of State Marco Rubio a standing ovation” (https://chathamhouse.org/2026/02/west-vs-west-munich-security-conference) and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the Global South half…

It just goes to show the complete absence of reflection in Europe. Rubio undoubtedly tried to appeal to some sort of latent nostalgia for Western imperial dominance among European elites. And it obviously worked (which is scary in and of itself).

But it also shows that Europeans remain naive to the extreme if they believe Rubio’s pitch that he wants Europe to be strong in order to share the spoils of a new age of Western imperialism.

What’s the thinking here? That Trump’s America – “America first” – would suddenly become magnanimous and share with Europe just out of sentiment? That’s not how imperialism works: the whole premise of it is that the strong dominate the weak.

When an imperial power is speaking to you of sentiments, of how much they like you and how they want to partner with you – the much weaker party – that’s cause for worry, not applause…

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Pred dnevi je Elon Musk v enem izmed svojih značilnih tvitov izjavil, da je z razvojem umetne inteligence poklic računalničarjev v temelju izgubil na pomenu. Po njegovem mnenju danes ne potrebujemo več programerjev, ki bi človeški jezik prevajali v strojno kodo, saj umetna inteligenca že razume naravni jezik in ga je sposobna sama pretvoriti v svoj operativni, “strojni” jezik. Vendar pa  Musk s to izjavo odpira bistveno širše in resnejše vprašanje: ali lahko umetna inteligenca preraste v pravo inteligenco – in če da, v kakšnem smislu.

Prav na to vprašanje poskuša odgovoriti izjemno zanimiva in konceptualno ambiciozna knjiga Maxa S. Bennetta “A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains”, ki sem jo pravkar prebral. (hvala Igorju Emriju za namig; res se je prijetno in koristno družiti s starejšimi kolegi in kolegi drugačnih strokovnih profilov!)

Max S. Bennett je nevroznanstvenik in raziskovalec na področju kognitivne znanosti, ki se ukvarja z evolucijo možganov, delovanjem živčnih sistemov in implikacijami teh spoznanj za razvoj umetne inteligence. Njegovo izhodišče je izrazito interdisciplinarno: povezuje nevroznanost, evolucijsko biologijo, kognitivno psihologijo in računalniško znanost.

Osnovni namen knjige je razviti nevroznanstveni okvir za razumevanje inteligence kot evolucijskega procesa ter na tej podlagi trezno oceniti, kje se danes nahaja umetna inteligenca in kam – realno gledano – sploh lahko pride. Bennett zavrača tako tehnološki utopizem kot tudi poenostavljene analogije med človeškimi možgani in sodobnimi AI-sistemi.

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Palantir was allegedly hacked. An AI agent was used to gain super-user access and here”s what the hackers allegedly found:

Peter Thiel and Alex Karp commit mass surveillance of world leaders and titans of industry on a massive scale.

They have thousands of hours of transcribed and searchable conversations of Donald Trump, JD Vance and Elon Musk.

They have backdoored the devices, cars and jets of world leaders and accumulated the biggest archive of blackmail material.

Palantir is creating nuclear and bio weapon capabilities for Ukraine and is working closely with the CIA to defeat Russia. They believe they are one year away. They plan to achieve this by keeping Russia busy with meaningless peace negotiations.

Palantir is responsible of the majority of Palestinian deaths in Gaza. They have developed the AI targeting for Israel.

Palantir is an arm of the CIA and all data from international clients is copied into a CIA spy cloud.

Palantir has become the most dangerous company in the world. If you work there you have the right to know that this is what Palentir AI is used for, without your knowledge.

The Palentir data the hackers allegedly gathered will be given to Russia and/or China. I was chosen as a trusted partner for this publication. I’m not involved in the Palentir hack and I don’t know the hackers. But I do know that the hack happened.

Vizija na podlagi ameriške ekskluzivne pravice

Vizija na podlagi spoštovanja mednarodno dogovorjenih pravil

Spodnji tekst belgijskega predsednika vlade je dober. V bistvu pove, da naj bi se članice EU dogovorile, da bodo naredile dva koraka nazaj glede hiper regulacije, ki jo je v njihovem imenu uvedla Evropska komisja (glede kvazi zelene agende in stroškovnega uničevanja energetsko intenzivne industrije prek emisijskih kuponov in glede pretirane regulacije vsega). In to naj bi poskusile narediti prek pilotskih projektov (ja, saj se nikamor ne mudi). In nato naj bi se zagnale v novo regulacijo prek še bolj skupnih ekonomskih in energetskih politik (in s tem še več regulacije). Kajti do sedaj te skupne politike še niso naredile dovolj škode. 

Kdor ne vidi protislovja v teh sklepih in političnih interpretacijah, seveda tudi ne more podati niti prave diagnoze niti prave rešitve. Problemi članic EU so se začeli v trenutku, ko se je iz EGS transformirala v EU – iz skupnega trga v enotni trg. S tem se je začel ta val pretirane regulacije in zmanjševanja fleksibilnosti ekonomskih (energetskih, razvojnih itd.) politik posameznih članic. Sedanje nevzdržno stanje evropske hiper regulacije je sindrom poskusa ustvaritve evropskega enotnega trga. Če bi članicam te integracije pustili samostojne fiskalne, energetske, konkurenčne, razvojne in monetarno politiko in če jih ne bi posilili s to bedasto obnovljivo energetsko in podnebno politiko, bi gospodarstva EU in skupno EU gospodarstvo bili na bistveno višji trajektoriji rasti.

Predstavljajte si, da vam ni treba plačevati CO2 kuponov za elektriko iz Šoštanja, da vam ni treba plačvati teh kuponov za proizvodnjo železa, jekla, aluminija, cementa itd. Predstavljajte si, da HSE in Gen energiji ni treba prodajati elektrike na evropskem trgu, pač pa jo prodajata po dolgoročnih pogodbah domačim subjektom po cenah blizu stroškovnih in našim podjetjem ni treba kupovati elektrike iz HSE in Gen energije po visokih evropskih cenah. Predstavljajte si, da bi naša podjetja lahko še naprej kupovala ruski plin v skladu s cenami po tistih dolgoročnih pogodbah izpred 2022. Kaj bi to pomenilo za konkurenčnost slovenske industrije? In to je samo en segment.

Toda dajmo se še malo igrati s pilotskimi projekti glede še bolj skupnih ekonomskih in energetskih (in drugih) politik. Kam je šel štrik, naj gre še vol.

Yesterday, at the informal European Council in Alden Biesen, the 27 EU leaders reached broad agreement on three urgent priorities for Europe’s competitiveness.

First, we must bring down energy costs for our industry – including through reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). Europe cannot remain a global economic power if our companies are structurally disadvantaged.

Second, we will pursue far-reaching administrative simplification. Our entrepreneurs should spend their time innovating and creating jobs – not navigating unnecessary layers of regulation.

Third, we will strengthen the protection of our European market against unfair trade practices. Openness must go hand in hand with fairness.

The European Commission has been tasked with presenting a concrete roadmap by the formal European Council in March. The ambition is clear: deliver tangible results in the short term.

The discussions also went beyond the immediate.

In the longer term, Europe must evolve from a common market to a true One Market in savings and investments, telecom and energy. These are domains where scale is power and therefore integration is strength. We will strive to move forward with all 27 Member States, starting with pilot projects. If unanimity proves impossible, functional integration – with a frontrunner group of willing Member States – must allow progress. Europe cannot afford paralysis.

If we implement what we agreed in Alden Biesen, this summit may one day be remembered as an important turning point – the moment we made the mental shift toward a genuine One Market that strengthens our prosperity and strategic autonomy.

But history is not written by intentions. It is written by execution. Time for action.

Že najmanj 25-ič v zadnjih 4 letih. Tako vsaj pravijo zahodni mediji. Spodaj je omejen spisek teh napovedi. Podobno je napovedim glede kolapsa Kitajske. Nekajstokrat je “samo što nije” kolapsirala v zadnjih 30 letih. Po napovedih zahodnih medijev.

To je ta kvaliteta zahodnega žurnalizma. Objektivna, informirana, nepristranska, absolutno apolitična. In nič, absolutno nič od teksta v njihovem poročanju ni bilo ustvarjeno v laboratorijih Cie in MI6. Vse je bilo neodvisno in poglobljeno raziskano in 3-krat preverjeno.

Kar v praksi pomeni, da če zahodni mediji (vključno s slovenskimi) za jutri napovedo sončno vreme brez oblačka, je treba iti preverit na različne meteo vire, da ne bi ostali premočeni kot cucki.

No, mogoče pa bo Rusija res kolapsirala. In Ukrajina zmaguje v tej vojni. Potrebna je le močna vera in realnost se ji ukloni.

The reports about Russia’s ‘collapsing’ economy seem to come in somewhat periodic batches.

• Russia economy: What is the risk of meltdown? – BBC, Dec 17 2014
• Russia’s Looming Economic Collapse – Atlantic, Mar 2 2022
• What’s awaiting Russia may be much worse than the chaos of 1990s – Aljazeerah, Mar 4 2022
• The Russian economy is headed for collapse – The Conversation, Mar 10 2022
• Russia admits it faces economic collapse over Putin’s war – Telegraph, May 9 2022
• ‘Slower burn.’ Russia dodges economic collapse but the decline has started – CNN, Aug 29 2022
• Russia admits it was on the verge of economic collapse – Business Insider, Nov 20 2023
• Why the Russian Economy’s Luck is Running Out – Moscow Times, Nov 21 2023
• Putin under pressure as Russian economy on verge of freefall after US ‘ultimatum’ – Express, May 4 2024
• Russian Economy Faces ‘Creeping Crisis’, Economists Warn – Newsweek, Jul 8 2024
• Russia’s weakened energy trade and lost access to the dollar will spark a severe recession within a year – Business Insider, Jul 13 2024
• An economic catastrophe is lurking beneath Russia’s GDP growth as Putin ‘throws everything into the fireplace’ – Fortune, Aug 19 2024
• The war in Ukraine is straining Russia’s economy and society – Economist, Nov 28 2024
• Russia’s War Economy Shows New Cracks After the Ruble Plunges – WSJ, Nov 29 2024
• How Russia’s economy reached breaking point – Telegraph, Dec 7 2024
• Russia’s economy is entering a year of pain in 2025 – Business Insider, Dec 25 2024
• Russian Economy is on the Brink of Collapse – Modern Diplomacy, Jan 3 2025
• Russian Economy Time Bomb: Putin Warned of ‘Seismically Disruptive’ War Debt – Newsweek, Jan 13 2025
• Addicted to War: Undermining Russia’s Economy – CEPA.org, Feb 5 2025
• Russia’s economy is stagnating – but that won’t force it to end the war – The Conservation, Mar 10 2025
• Russia needs monetary policy changes to avert a recession, says economy minister – Reuters, Jun 19 2025
• The Russian economy is finally stagnating. What does it mean for the war – and for Putin? – Guardian, Feb 6 2026
• Russia economy in meltdown as oil and gas revenues plummet to five-year low – Daily Express, Feb 6 2026
• Putin’s war economy is on the verge of implosion – Telegraph, Feb 9 2026

Vir: Moon of Alabama