opinion

Opinion pieces from the left, right, and everyone in between.

Two Pandas Left Chengdu Before Sunrise. This Is What Waited for Them in Atlanta.
A ten-year stay: two pandas head to Atlanta At 2:55 a.m. on September 27, 2026, on the tarmac of Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, the cabin door of a charter flight closed.
By Jinabout a month ago in The Swamp
What the Xi-Trump White House Meeting Put on the Table
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2026 — Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump met at the White House on Thursday, with discussions ranging from trade and artificial intelligence to Taiwan and major international conflicts.
By Jinabout a month ago in The Swamp
The Worker of Pathways and the Bubble of Greed
The Worker of Pathways and the Bubble of Greed Copilot The Worker of Pathways walked into a world where the sky looked normal, but the air felt wrong, stretched thin, like something enormous was sucking the breath out of the streets.
By Vicki Lawana Trusselli about a month ago in The Swamp
Signed While Tariffs Stayed: The 20-Year China-U.S. LNG Deal, Explained Without the Hype
On September 14, 2026, Venture Global issued an announcement. The announcement confirmed that China Gas Holdings had signed a new liquefied natural gas sale and purchase agreement with Venture Global. Under the agreement, China Gas Holdings will purchase 500,000 tonnes of U.S. LNG per year beginning in 2030, for a term of 20 years. The same announcement stated that the new agreement brings the total long-term purchase arrangement between Venture Global and China Gas Holdings to 2.5 million tonnes per year, supplied from Venture Global’s project portfolio.
By Jinabout a month ago in The Swamp
'Big brother' apparatus to create a state of obedience
So in the brave new world of the miliary-industrial complex how do you turn a public relations dilemma and media pushback within the pseudo-democratic matrix into a smooth transition to all-out dystopian domination? Well, that seems to be the quandary facing Palantir at the moment.
By Steve Harrisonabout a month ago in The Swamp
Crunching numbers to turn us all into police informants
In the first part of this investigation into the “Miami lice sucking away our civil liberties” I suggested the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) was probably fairly satisfied with its relationship with Palantir, the National Health Service (NHS) less so – although still committed to a seven-year deal signed in 2023 – while British police authorities seemed to have some serious misgivings about the tech giant, however I harbour sneaky suspicions it’s just rhetoric to placate a fragile public perception of the surveillance monster.
By Steve Harrisonabout a month ago in The Swamp
Inside the belly of the beast also known as Palantir
Just guessing, but I figure I’m one of very few people from my generation who has not read J R R Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” or watched Peter Jackson’s cinematic adaptations of the epic created by the “father of fantasy”.
By Steve Harrisonabout a month ago in The Swamp
The Last Blast Furnace: How Ukraine’s Steel Industry Went Dark in One Month
In the early hours of September 12, 2026, in Kryvyi Rih, the blast-furnace operator on duty at the ArcelorMittal plant saw the hot-blast stove pressure drop to zero in the control room. There was no explosion. The power system went down first. The pipe network lost pressure afterward. The molten iron in the hearth stopped flowing. Its temperature fell, degree by degree. Workers called over the radio. No answer. A few hours later, the plant announced a shutdown. This time, the blast furnaces could not be lit again.
By Jinabout a month ago in The Swamp
Friends, Rivals, or Something In Between? How Xi Jinping Manages China’s Most Important Relationships
Friends or Enemies? Bishkek, August 31, 2026. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit was still under way when Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin sat down together in Bishkek. The two men shook hands, spoke briefly and posed for the cameras. It was a familiar scene. Since Xi came to power, the two leaders have met dozens of times. Putin had visited Beijing only a few months earlier, in May, when the two governments agreed to extend their 2001 Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation and signed a series of other agreements. Four months into the year, the relationship had already produced another summit in Central Asia.
By Jinabout a month ago in The Swamp
The $14 Billion Arms Sale Trump Won’t Sign — And the Quiet Message to Taiwan
US$14 Billion on the Table On September 21, 2026, The New York Times reported that Ryan Hass, a former China director at the U.S. National Security Council, said some Taiwanese officials visiting the United States had been asked by Trump administration officials to reduce their visits to think tanks in Washington.
By Jinabout a month ago in The Swamp
Britain Sent One Tanker to Saudi Arabia. Here’s Why It Could Decide the Red Sea.
UK refuels Saudi jets: how one Voyager links Yemen, the Red Sea, and Britain’s bills On 22 September 2026, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told reporters aboard a flight to New York that the UK had agreed to Saudi Arabia’s request for the Royal Air Force to provide air-to-air refuelling for Saudi jets. He said the recommendation came from the defence secretary and the foreign secretary, and that he had approved the “defensive” support the night before. The agreement is time-limited and will be kept under review. In the coming days, an RAF Voyager tanker will carry out the mission, refuelling Saudi aircraft on missions to defend against drones and missiles. Britain said the mission will not support offensive strikes against the Houthis.
By Jinabout a month ago in The Swamp
Is Ed Sheeran for Everyone?
A big no-no we were taught in college while I was studying film was to avoid saying your project was “for everyone.” The reality is that you’re not “for everyone.” You can’t be. I’ve relearned this lesson myself over the years. Between Vocal, Medium, and Substack, I’d say only ninety people are subscribed to me, with fewer bothering to read my work. Of my self-published novellas, I’d say a similar number are fans. If I had to estimate, based on comments, reviews, and emails I’ve received, I would say approximately fifty people in the whole world have resonated strongly with anything I’ve made. I accept that. That is the reality of being a creative. I am in very good company.
By Conor Matthewsabout a month ago in The Swamp