The Post-Partisan Emporium

  The Mechanism: How the “order” Based on Made-Up Rules Is Descending Into Savagery PEPE ESCOBAR   The Europeans will never be able to replicate the time-tested Hegemon money laundering machine The awful shadow of some unseen Power Floats tho’ unseen amongst us, -visiting This various world with as inconstant wing As summer winds that creep from flower to flower.- Like moonbeams that behind some piny mountain shower, It visits with inconstant glance Each human heart and countenance; Like hues and harmonies of evening,- Like clouds in starlight widely spread,- Like memory of music fled,- Like aught that for its grace may be Dear, and yet dearer for its mystery. Shelley,  Hymn to Intellectual Beauty As the de facto North Atlantic Terror Organization  celebrates its 75th birthday , taking Lord Ismay’s motto to ever soaring heights (“keep the Americans in, the Russians out, and the Germans down”), that thick slab of Norwegian wood posing as Secretary-General came up with a merry “initiativ

  The Essence in Apple's VR Flop SIMPLICIUS THE THINKER A few people have pointed out that the much-vaunted Apple Vision Pro—meant to be the savior of AR/VR and usher in the paradigm-shifting cyberpunk age—has in fact unexpectedly, kind of, sort of, regrettably… flopped . Okay, so there’s actually a debate on that fine point. Rumors claimed the device has sold 200,000 units, which is supposedly impressive. However, others claim most of those were presales, and since release things have stalled. In fact, nearly half of those early buyers now reportedly plan to return the headset, citing various problems: https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/apple-vision-pro-returns-headaches-vr-b2496609.html Don’t worry—this isn’t meant to be a pedantic tech review. But to dispense with the preliminaries, let’s just acknowledge that the Apple Vision Pro costs a whopping $3,500 for its very lowest base price. For the highest end 1tb storage models, after taxes,  and  other recommended or quality of lif