cross-posted from: slrpnk.net/post/25359127

I'm setting up a computer with linux mint debian editon, and the computer is going to be used by a lot of people who sign in via AD. I have custom display settings (background, pinned applications, theme, custom menu icon) that I would like to apply to all users, but right now they only show up when I log into the account that I set it up on.

Also, is there a way to get a custom firefox esr config to apply to all users as well? I want to remove pocket and make duckduckgo the default browser.

Many thanks.

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill on July 29 allowing Ukrainian citizens over the age of 60 to voluntarily enlist in the military during martial law, the parliament's website shows.

The measure enables older volunteers to serve in non-combat and specialized roles, expanding Ukraine's recruitment pool amid continued manpower shortages.

In April 2024, Kyiv lowered the draft age from 27 to 25. In February 2025, the country introduced one-year contracts for 18-24-year-old volunteers with added financial incentives.

The new law is expected to help address staffing gaps in technical, logistical, and support units, where experienced professionals are in high demand.

Zelensky signs law allowing citizens over 60 to join military during wartime

The measure enables older volunteers to serve in non-combat and specialized roles, expanding Ukraine’s recruitment pool amid continued manpower shortages.

^{Tim Zadorozhnyy (The Kyiv Independent)}

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-keep-finding-massive-shoes-at-an-ancient-roman-fort-and-they-have-no-idea-why-theyre-so-big-180987028/

[Warwick] Powell begins his exegesis with a declaration I agree with: that perception matters more than reality, more than ever today in our increasingly ‘simulated world’, where money and economies themselves are nothing more than grossly over-counted hyper-leveraged debt-and-fiat instruments.

He goes on to argue that Trump’s unprecedented ‘coup’ over abject Ursula was actually a European triumph over the easily-cajoled nectarine narcissist.

But look beneath the bombast, and a different picture emerges. The picture is paradoxically not of European weakness per se (or vassalage as self-loathing Europeans would be tempted to say), but of European entrapment strategy from a position of relative weakness. If anything, this “deal” locks the United States deeper into Europe’s security and economic architecture, not the other way around. And it does so by using the one thing Trump cannot resist: the illusion of winning.

The article above explains that the EU commission already admitted mere hours after the “huge deal” was signed that the promised investment is to come from private corporations which have had no incentives offered to them for such a thing, which means the entire charade is nothing more than another empty show of ‘wishful thinking’, meant to glaze us with a brief PR tableau.

These days, virtually all foreign policy is conducted in this way. The tempo of our hyper-connected digital times has facilitated a kind of simulacrum where no exaggeration, lie, or absurdity is too great so long as it can be quickly flushed away by an even greater one. If one isn’t available, the mainstream media magicians are tasked with waving their hands over some new ‘crisis’ or ‘outrage’ to cover the tracks of whatever needs to be forgotten.
But why, you ask, does Powell ultimately reach the conclusion that the deal is not merely a hologram, but on the contrary a cunning triumph by the decaying Europeans? The answer lies in a compelling thesis that the Maggot Queen’s chief objective was to ensnare Trump and the US in Europe’s politics and the Euro-deep state’s Forever War. He concludes:

By offering inflated figures, headline-making numbers, and “big wins,” the EU ensures that:
- The U.S. defence industry is financially bound to Europe;
- The U.S. energy sector is locked into Europe but with limited capacity to actually deliver on the stated numbers, which means European buyers are back on the market anyway;
- The U.S. financial system continues to absorb European capital, which is only a function of persistent European trade surpluses vis-a-vis the US; and
- Any attempt by the U.S. to reduce its European footprint would now come at an enormous domestic economic cost.
In effect, Europe has engineered strategic entanglement for the U.S. in European security affairs under the guise of submission. Trump thinks he’s winning, but the structural reality is that the U.S. is being burdened with more responsibility, more expectations and more economic exposure.

Now, perhaps the above conclusion is a tad oversold for dramatic effect. Without truly crunching the economic figures in a more thorough way it’s uncertain just how ‘cunning’ or deliberate this European twist really is. But it’s true that under the guise of giving Trump’s ego a much needed economic arm-shot, Europe managed to at least maneuver him into perpetually supporting the European MIC and by extension the Ukraine war. This is not a European victory, per se—it is a grave disaster for the futures of average European citizens—but it is a victory for the Euro-deep state, the Brussels and London cabals controlled by generational private finance, the bankster clan which must hold power at all costs and cannot allow a rival system to emerge on the global stage, much less their doorstep.

As stated above, it can be argued that what we’re seeing is a self-assembly process wherein the inevitable factionalization of the post-globalist world—one based on the ‘open society’ model—is taking place. And the US, knowing it can no longer control this process, nor dominate the newly-rising factions, has simply resigned to carving the world into spheres and engineering a renewed domination of its own sphere as a kind of consolation prize. It is a necessary tactic of retreat: if we can’t be masters of the world, we’ll at least be full masters of our half of it.

At this point, the only transformational certainty lies in the rise of a rival system in the East, which will eventually lead to the demise of the one operated by the Old Nobility. The only problem: it is impossible for them to go down without a fight, and they will have to trigger major war in preservation of their waning hegemony.

Sundown on the Potemkin Empire: Trump's Trouncing of Ursula Makes For Great Theater, But Little Else?

Trump made waves this week with his major economic subjugation of Europe on the announcement of his 15% tariffs, made before a stooped and servile Ursula von der Leyen.

^{Simplicius (Simplicius's Garden of Knowledge)}

The Potato Museum

Potato historians, scientists and promoters are featured here including authors Redcliffe Salaman, History and Social Influence of the Potato, Lucienne Desnoues, All Potato, Wilhelm Volksen, The Potato in Art and Literature, heirloom potato variety preservationist Donald MacLean, French scientist A. A. Parmentier, American potato scientist and World Food Prize Laureate John Niederhauser and potato art impresario Jeffrey Allen Price.

Last spring, the United States quietly placed long-range missile launchers within reach of China’s mainland — and almost no one noticed. There was no congressional debate, no televised announcement, and no vote. It was the latest step of a growing military partnership with the Philippines, just across the South China Sea.

The U.S. has been steadily expanding its military footprint in the Philippines as part of its broader strategy against China, a nuclear-armed rival. With little public scrutiny or accountability, Washington is now preparing to deploy a second Typhon missile system to the Philippines. Experts and U.S. officials have widely acknowledged that the confrontational policy could bring the U.S. into direct conflict with China.

“We are being used as a training ground, as an experiment ground for the U.S. missile system,” Mong Palatino, the secretary-general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, a progressive civil society coalition, told The Intercept. “It endangers our population, it undermines our security. The lesson here is that we will not be able to be self-reliant as long as we are dependent on a former colonial master like the U.S. in protecting our sovereignty.”

The Philippine Missile Crisis: U.S. Deployed Arms to the Philippines and No One Noticed But China

The U.S. deployment of missiles in the Philippines is an escalation that has angered China and could come back to bite Filipinos most of all.

^{Aída Chávez (The Intercept)}

Last spring, the United States quietly placed long-range missile launchers within reach of China’s mainland — and almost no one noticed. There was no congressional debate, no televised announcement, and no vote. It was the latest step of a growing military partnership with the Philippines, just across the South China Sea.

The U.S. has been steadily expanding its military footprint in the Philippines as part of its broader strategy against China, a nuclear-armed rival. With little public scrutiny or accountability, Washington is now preparing to deploy a second Typhon missile system to the Philippines. Experts and U.S. officials have widely acknowledged that the confrontational policy could bring the U.S. into direct conflict with China.

“We are being used as a training ground, as an experiment ground for the U.S. missile system,” Mong Palatino, the secretary-general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, a progressive civil society coalition, told The Intercept. “It endangers our population, it undermines our security. The lesson here is that we will not be able to be self-reliant as long as we are dependent on a former colonial master like the U.S. in protecting our sovereignty.”

The Philippine Missile Crisis: U.S. Deployed Arms to the Philippines and No One Noticed But China

The U.S. deployment of missiles in the Philippines is an escalation that has angered China and could come back to bite Filipinos most of all.

^{Aída Chávez (The Intercept)}

“(1) GENERAL DUTY.—In order to reduce the proliferation of the unlawful sale, distribution, or manufacture (as applicable) of counterfeit substances and certain controlled substances, a provider shall, as soon as reasonably possible after obtaining actual knowledge of any facts or circumstances described in paragraph (2), and in any event not later than 60 days after obtaining such knowledge, submit to the Attorney General a report containing—

“(A) the mailing address, telephone number, facsimile number, and electronic mailing address of, and individual point of contact for, such provider;

“(B) information described in subsection (c) concerning such facts or circumstances; and

“(C) for purposes of subsection (j), information indicating whether the facts or circumstances were discovered through content moderation conducted by a human or via a non-human method, including use of an algorithm, machine learning, or other means.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4518/text

French lawyers have submitted a request to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for an investigation into the role of French officials "in the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide" by Israeli forces against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

In a 56-page communication made public by the French investigative media outlet Blast on Monday, the 114 lawyers named President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu and 19 lawmakers of the National Assembly's European Affairs Committee.

A communication to the ICC is the equivalent of a criminal complaint to the court on an alleged crime falling under its jurisdiction.

Over 100 lawyers ask ICC to investigate Macron and French ministers for Gaza genocide complicity

French lawyers have submitted a request to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for an investigation into the role of French officials "in the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide" by Israeli forces again…

^{Elodie Farge (Middle East Eye)}