ItsButters

Exploring the intersection of photography, 3D renders, line art, and memories

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

Someone obviously got triggered big time by my post 👇😅
https://t.co/UcOYbybJy3

And his reply, is unsurprisingly a pack of lies, some of them really funny ones.

First: "we never said our goal was diplomatic immunity." Really? The WSJ piece reported this based on a source named... Jacob Helberg, which - as far as I understand - is YOU! Also when the BCDA chief said publicly "that's [the US's] request, but we did not agree," are you saying the Philippines government is lying?

Second, you use TSMC as your example of why being in America's supply chain isn't subservience. Small problem: Taiwan is NOT a Pax Silica signatory due to its diplomatic status. And your own president keeps accusing Taiwan - and TSMC specifically - of "stealing" its chipmaking technology from the US (https://t.co/JbHqMjaDU6). Furthermore the U.S. has been running a years-long initiative to strong-arm TSMC into transferring some of its fabrication to the US (specifically to Arizona), using CHIPS Act subsidies and national security threats as leverage. Not because the free market demanded it, but because you believe that depending on a Taiwanese company for cutting-edge chips was a vulnerability to be eliminated

Which all proves the exact contrary of what you're saying: when a "partner" has real capabilities, it's unbearable to you. You don't reward it, you call them "thieves" and try to take their industry away from them. So thanks for proving my point on that one.

Lastly, and that's the really hilarious part. Calling Pax Silica a "capitalist project" is the height of irony: it's literally a government program that overrides market competition by telling sovereign countries which suppliers they're allowed to buy from and which competitors to ban - regardless of quality or price.

Sorry but if Huawei offers a better AI chip at half the cost and you're contractually barred from buying it, that's not even remotely capitalism.

Since you don't seem to be aware (understandable as someone, like you, who spent their entire career at the intersection of government power and corporate interests): capitalism, in its most basic form, means letting markets decide - you buy from whoever offers the best product/service at the best price.

Pax Silica is the precise opposite, it's all about preventing this from happening.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

This is pretty insane: the U.S. just tried to literally re-colonize part of the Philippines.

They did so under the so-called "Pax Silica" initiative, the brainchild of - surprise, surprise - an ex-Palantir guy named Jacob Helberg who now runs U.S. economic "diplomacy" from the State Department.

It's causing a big outcry in the Philippines, which is quite a feat given this is by far the most US-friendly country in Southeast Asia.

If you're the US and you're getting the Marcos administration - of all governments - to push back on sovereignty, you've really overplayed your hand.

What is the "Pax Silica" initiative? In a nutshell it's about the US getting other countries to commit to restructuring their AI tech infrastructure around a US-led stack. It's basically vendor lock-in: you hand over your critical minerals, align your export controls with Washington's, regulate AI the way America wants, and in return you get to be a US "trusted partner," whatever that means these days.

In essence, let's not kid ourselves, it's all about China: this is the US's initiative to "win the AI race" by getting other countries to contractually commit to keeping China out of their tech supply chains. When you can't preserve your lead through innovation, you seek to lock countries in contractually.

For instance as a country, this would mean telling Huawei they can't sell you AI chips, and telling Chinese firms they can't invest in your data centers - even if they're better and cheaper. It's not about choosing the best technology, it's about choosing the right flag.

But in this instance, the US went much further still: they literally tried to carve out 4,000 acres of Philippine territory (in New Clark City, 60 miles north of Manila) to be governed under US common law with diplomatic immunity - the first arrangement of its kind anywhere in the modern world.

This is according to the WSJ who ran the story last month (https://t.co/kydhIQfo2A) as if it was a done deal (it wasn't).

Heard about the "French concession" or "British concession" in China during the century of humiliation? Same thing: the US basically asked for an "American concession" in the Philippines.

Unsurprisingly, there was quite a bit of backlash in the country with for instance the Peasant Movement of the Philippines (KMP) calling it a “massive sellout” of the country’s land, minerals, and sovereignty (https://t.co/nkXSajH2Q7).

So much so that the Philippines' government - namely Joshua Bingcang, president and chief executive of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) - issued a statement saying that the Philippines had rejected US proposals that would place the project beyond local jurisdiction (https://t.co/ZmNWJB03eH).

Note, by the way, this delicious irony: the BCDA is the government agency that was created in 1992 specifically to convert former US military bases at Clark and Subic Bay after the Philippines spent decades negotiating their closure. New Clark City - where the Pax Silica's hub would go - is built on the old Clark Air Base.

So the agency whose entire reason for existing is to turn former American colonial territory (i.e. US military bases) into sovereign Philippine land is the one now being asked to hand part of that very same land back under US jurisdiction (and, apparently, declined).

Of course though, blocking this specific jurisdiction grab doesn't change the bigger picture. The Philippines is still a Pax Silica signatory, and Pax Silica itself is structurally neocolonial: you supply the cheap labor and raw materials, align your export controls and regulations with Washington's, cut yourself off from the world's rising technological powerhouse - and in exchange you get assembly jobs and the privilege of getting a pat on the head and being called a "trusted partner."

They dropped the most cartoonishly colonial demand - governing Philippine soil under US law - but the underlying architecture is the same: you serve America's supply chain, on America's terms, and you relinquish your sovereign right to trade with whoever offers the best deal.

[Mohamad Safa @mhdksafa]

This’s Cuba and there’s no electricity

The U.S is starving millions of people in Cuba. The U.S. is laying siege cruelly cut off all fuel, power is out, leaving hospitals without electricity. Dialysis patients, babies in NICU, and others will die. This’s a crime against humanity.

[Ihab Hassan @IhabHassane]

BREAKING: Israeli settlers are currently attacking the village of Al-Mughayyir in the West Bank, burning olive fields and attempting to set fire to homes with families inside.

Residents are urgently calling for help from nearby villages to stop the attack.

[mrredpillz jokaqarmy @JOKAQARMY1]

Small Hats trying to colonize Siargao Philippines

[Owen Shroyer @OwenShroyer1776]

All this to stop a nuke that didn't exist and open a strait that wasn't closed.

[Praise @tufpraise]

Don’t let them get away with this. Children being violated are not a weekly internet trend. This is real.

[Assal Rad @AssalRad]

The lack of news on Gaza isn’t because the genocide is over.

It’s because Israel slaughtered the journalists and Western media pretends there’s a ceasefire.

[Ruairí Ó Cléirigh 🇮🇪🇺🇸 @RedKingRuairi75]

Another.

Koby Don Williams - ICE Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer

Attempted online enticement of a 13-year-old child; attempted commercial sexual abuse (trafficking) of a child; drove government vehicle with ICE badge, loaded firearm, Viagra, $4,000+ cash and alcohol to a hotel to pay for sex with a decoy child.

[MUSAFIR @MusafirNafar]

You thought Epstein Island was bad?

Israel built the only military prison in the world designated for children.

Children are subjected to beatings, torture, and rape on a regular basis.

Conviction rates in courts reach 99.7%.

This applies only to non-jewish children.

[☆ ʲ ᵘ ˡ ᵉ ˢ ☆ @mrs_socialista]

I'm sorry, but didn't we all just watch the US govt commit genocide in Gaza, starve Cubans, bomb fishermen & Venezuela & kidnap their president & then carpet bomb Iran?

Why in the actual fuck would you STILL believe anything that these genocidaires, pedos & rapists tell you?

[Brian Allen @allenanalysis]

🚨 BREAKING: Rep. Ted Lieu says the full Epstein files contain information that Donald Trump RAPED minors.

So he started a war to distract us from his crimes.

Never stop speaking about Epstein.

[ItsButters @allthatwecarry]

@lisaelsewhere 🔥

[ItsButters @allthatwecarry]

@lisaelsewhere 3rd on top shelf looks like you

[Cozomo de’ Medici @CozomoMedici]

Today #ArtTank returns to the timeline…

Each week we search far and wide for 5 artworks to be acquired, in partnership with @rollbit

This week, I’ll be personally selecting the works.

Artists, show me what you got. Drop your art + link to buy below. Let’s begin 🖼️⚔️👇

[VIEW @viewsoff]

Happy New Year 2026 Tokyo, Japan

[Anna Condo @a1111ac011d0]

GM ☀️

[Cozomo de’ Medici @CozomoMedici]

This is one of best Easter eggs in art.

Look closer at The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, and you’ll see scenes from the Passion of Christ painted in the circles around the mirror.

And inside, a self portrait of the artist. Must see picture.

[ItsButters @allthatwecarry]

@lisaelsewhere Bookmarked for my future daughter 👀

[Cozomo de’ Medici @CozomoMedici]

Art is always UP.

Attention all - it’s time for #ArtTank.

Each week I search for 5 works to acquire for Medici Emerging, in partnership with @rollbit

Artists, share with us what you got.

Drop your art + show love to other you like. Let’s begin 👇⚔️🖼️