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The author said they were born in Europe and moved to the US in 2008. They wrote that it had been saddening to watch what they described as overregulation drain Europe’s economy and competitiveness, and argued that restricting Europeans’ access to the best AI tools would worsen the decline rather than protect them. #AI #Overregulation #Economy #EU #US

Cuba’s Economic Failure: Beyond the Embargo For more than six decades, Cuba’s poverty has often been explained by one claim: America’s embargo made the country poor. Repetition, however, is not evidence. A study “The Forsaken Road: Reassessing Living Standards Following the Cuban Revolution and the American Embargo,” by Bastos, Geloso and Bologna Pavlik, published in the Journal of Development Economics challenges this narrative by separating three factors: the Cuban Revolution, the American embargo, and the extensive economic support Cuba received from the Soviet Union. Their findings show a major economic divergence. Correcting weaknesses in Cuba’s GDP statistics makes the gap larger, not smaller. When Soviet assistance is excluded, Cuba’s relative performance looks even worse. For decades, central planning was heavily subsidized by an economic superpower. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, that support largely disappeared, exposing the system’s underlying weaknesses during the “Special Period.” This does not mean the American embargo was harmless. Trade restrictions impose real costs, and a 2026 critique by Francisco Rodríguez argues that the study may underestimate the embargo’s effects. Still, an embargo can make a bad economic system poorer without being the reason the system is dysfunctional. Cuba did not adopt central planning because of the embargo. The Revolution restricted private property, nationalized businesses, displaced markets with political allocation, and transferred economic decisions to the state. Cuba’s history is therefore not merely a story of American sanctions. It is also a demonstration of what happens when a market economy is replaced by political allocation and then subsidized for decades by an external power. The embargo’s costs deserve serious measurement, but it should not become an alibi for an economic system whose institutions produced persistent failure. The central question remains: Why did Cuba remain economically dysfunctional even during decades of extraordinary Soviet support?

QATAR COLLAPSE 🇶🇦📉 The gas superpower has discovered how vulnerable a gas-dependent geopolitical model can be. Six months into the U.S.–Iran war, Qatar’s LNG exports are down about 96%: just 18 cargoes reportedly sailed compared with 509 in the comparable pre-war period. https://t.co/YLqNiDURl1 #QatarCollapse #LNGExports #Geopolitics #QA #US #IR

13s nachgedacht QATAR COLLAPSE 🇶🇦📉 The gas superpower has discovered how vulnerable a gas-dependent geopolitical model can be. Six months into the U.S.–Iran war, Qatar’s LNG exports are down about 96%: just 18 cargoes reportedly sailed compared with 509 in the comparable https://t.co/p2ALnMEZMr #QatarCollapse #LNG #Geopolitics #QA #US #IR

The Politics of Pity For a decade, the West has argued whether empathy should be its highest value. Some praise it as a superpower; others call it harmful. Gad Saad’s “Suicidal Empathy” topped the New York Times list. Elon Musk called empathy a weakness; John C. Reilly called it a superpower. Ideas should be judged by consequences. Compassion-justified policies have coincided with worse addiction and homelessness, rising crime, mass migration, social fragmentation, higher living costs, and controversial medical interventions for gender-dysphoric minors. When these fail, advocates often claim it was not implemented “strongly enough.” ## An Inversion of Truth A quote often attributed to Hannah Arendt claims “the death of human empathy” precedes barbarism, but no source supports it, and her writings argued almost the opposite. Arendt contrasted the American Revolution’s institutions and law with the French revolutionaries’ “politics of pity.” Pity is not compassion: it ranks “fortunate” and “unfortunate,” grants the pitier moral authority, and overrides rights. Arendt argued this enabled Robespierre’s Terror. ## The Trojan Horse Empathy can become projection—imposing your values as if they were others’ needs. Adam Smith warned about the “man of system.” Nietzsche described societies so “soft and tender” they side with those who harm them. Orwell noted equality preaching alongside elite privilege. Rob Henderson calls these “luxury beliefs.” I call it suicidal narcissism: acquiring moral status by appearing compassionate while policies erode the foundations others rely on. The reward is immediate; the damage comes later.

Trump conundrum is one for the American people to resolve. They elected him. They saddled the world with this dangerous monster. It’s they who may ultimately pay the highest price for his depredations. It's tough being a superpower when no one respects you https://t.co/SiTK9jrzHN #Trump #AmericanPolitics #Superpower #US

A sorpresa la Slovacchia di Fico azzera il rilascio dei visti Schengen ai russi fino a fine agosto e annuncia che non riconoscerà i passaporti della Superpower rilasciati ai cittadini delle repubbliche bananifere di Luganda e Donbabwe dopo il 1° gennaio 2020. Che sarà successo? https://t.co/6ftGBCgl9p #politica #Slovacchia #visti

Current level of conflict between USA and Europea is unprecedented. So, too, is the action that Europe is taking to ensure its own security. Russia, a formidable nuclear power, lacks the economic and technological foundations of a superpower https://t.co/uCLz3LU7VW #USAEuropeConflict #EuropeanSecurity #Russia #USA #EU #RU

Il sindaco di Cluj Napoca (città splendida, andate a visitarla, praticamente la Svizzera coi prezzi calabresi) dichiara guerra al CIO che subdolamente sta facendo rientrare a pezzi la Superpower nello sport internazionale: "Nella mia città scordatevi bandiere e inno russi!" https://t.co/dahkod4HXM #ClujNapoca #Sport #Russia

"Posso bestemmiare?" I prezzi della benzina nella Superpower si avvicinano pericolosamente a quelli italiani. Cade anche l'ultimo alibi della propaganda russa. Restano solo le mozzarelle di Di Battista. E le analisi di Travaglio. Incommestibili entrambe. https://t.co/0HVGSdxeoz #benzina #prezzi #propaganda

Oil superpower Russia begging Belarus & Kazakhstan for more gasoline because Ukrainian drones keep hitting its refineries: Dear friends, we have the world’s largest oil reserves but please send us fuel, please. Zakharova really said that. 2026 is getting even wilder. #Russia #OilCrisis #UkrainianDrones #RU #BY #KZ #UA

The greatest lie Russia ever told was convincing people it is a superpower. Its economy is smaller than Italy's. Its GDP per capita is lower than Uruguay's. Its military is the second-best... in Ukraine. The only things Russia truly invests in and innovates are kinetic https://t.co/mamAFvwtZ7 #Russia #SuperpowerMyth #EconomyFacts #RU #IT #UY #UA

“…two superpowers negotiate their rivalry bilaterally, sharing the gains between themselves and distributing the costs to everyone else. Europe is neither at the table nor on the menu, but it will feel the consequences of what was agreed.” Very true. https://t.co/WoVKW812FE #Geopolitics #Superpowers #Europe #US #EU

Lame-duck superpower — It calls itself the leader of the free world, but the free world no longer believes it. When it extends its hand, nobody rushes to accept. When it threatens, nobody trembles. It's not just Trump who is term-limited, but his nation https://t.co/fMAPUaU8Km #LameDuck #Superpower #Leadership #US

🇺🇸 🇪🇺 🇨🇳 The 21st Century can be shaped by 3 great superpowers: USA EU47 China But only if China chooses cooperation over confrontation. China has a historic opportunity to become: ✅ the economic bridge between Asia and Europe ✅ a global leader in technology and AI ✅ a pillar https://t.co/HaMYG5Bh4T #Superpowers #Cooperation #ChinaLeadership #US #EU #CN