Bar of Progress

Check the Progress Here

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

The German Purdue nobody's talking about. 🧵

Grünenthal, the German company behind Tramadol & Tapentadol, was co-founded by scientists tied to Nazi-era medical crimes
Same company made Thalidomide — the sedative that caused ~12,000 babies born with severe birth defects in the 1950s-60s

Fast forward to 2010: a German panel deciding whether to tighten Tramadol regulation had multiple members with direct ties to Grünenthal — including a professor whose university chair was funded by the company.

Result: no tighter controls. Tramadol stayed easy to get.

Decades later, that same molecule is showing up in soil and groundwater in West Africa, and moto-taxi drivers in Togo are popping it just to survive 12-hour shifts.

No loud OxyContin-style marketing blitz. Just quiet, patient regulatory influence — one committee seat at a time. 💊

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

A guy in India bought a Sony Bravia TV. It developed green lines under warranty. Sony's service team called it "external damage" and refused replacement.

So he registered https://t.co/nUQ5cNWuCg and posted the entire saga — emails, service records, photos.

Sony's response? A 6-page legal notice demanding he delete everything, apologize in 7 days, or face a ₹5 crore civil + criminal claim.

Indian Gen Z really isn't sparing billion-dollar brands. 😭

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

https://t.co/mVrs2pFigl

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

🏆 World’s Most Loved Leaders – Nov 2025
(Morning Consult, latest)

Narendra Modi 🇮🇳 71%
Claudia Sheinbaum 🇲🇽 67%
Javier Milei 🇦🇷 64%
Lee Jae-myung 🇰🇷 58%
Mark Carney 🇨🇦 57%
Donald Trump 🇺🇸 51%
Anthony Albanese 🇦🇺 49%
Giorgia Meloni 🇮🇹 47%
Keir Starmer 🇬🇧 45%
Prabowo Subianto 🇮🇩 44%

Global avg: 41% 🔥
#WorldLeaders #Politics

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

Most people think the KKK was always white sheets & burning crosses.
Wrong.
The first Klan (1865–1871) looked more like a deadly frat prank gone wrong than the “ghost” costumes you know.

Started Christmas Eve 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee by six bored ex-Confederate soldiers. Original name? Just “a social club.”
They rode around at night in crazy disguises—horns, fake beards, tall hats—to scare superstitious freed slaves who thought they were ghosts of dead Rebels.

It worked TOO well.
Word spread, copycat dens popped up across the South, and what began as “harmless” midnight pranks turned into systematic night-riding terror: whippings, murders, driving Black & white Republicans out of towns.
By 1868 Congress was investigating them as a terrorist army.

Fun fact: The famous “white sheet” look? That actually came LATER.
The second Klan (1915–1940s) copied it from the movie *The Birth of a Nation*—which portrayed the first Klan as heroic knights. Hollywood literally invented their iconic uniform.

Peak membership of the second Klan? 1924: 4–6 MILLION members.
They weren’t just anti-Black—they hated Catholics, Jews, immigrants, even bootleggers. Marched 40,000 strong down Pennsylvania Avenue in 1925 like it was a 4th of July parade.

Today the KKK is a fractured joke—maybe a few thousand members total.
A group that once controlled state legislatures now sells its robes on eBay.

Moral: Hate can cosplay as patriotism, get millions of members, and still end up a historical punchline.
Never forget how normal it can look at the start.

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

Once, OpenAI seemed invincible — the center of the AI universe, riding high on ChatGPT’s success. But now, that polished exterior is showing real cracks.

🧊 What’s changing:

1. High-stakes alliances turning complicated
OpenAI’s cozy relationships with Microsoft and Nvidia are under strain as they back rivals too. ([The Economist][1])

2. Exploding costs
Training next-gen models is getting crazily expensive. OpenAI is deeply exposed, relying heavily on cloud infrastructure. ([The Economist][1])

3. Safety vs profit tension
Its hybrid structure — “nonprofit mission, for-profit scaling” — is now a fault line. Investors push for cash, while safety voices demand restraint. ([The Economist][1])

4. Competition is heating up
New players like Anthropic, Google, and others are challenging OpenAI on capability, ethics, and governance. ([The Economist][1])

5. User and developer fatigue
As AI becomes mainstream, expectations are shifting. People want more transparency, reliability, and real value — not just hype. ([The Economist][1])

---

💡 Big picture:
This isn’t a collapse — it’s a transition. OpenAI’s dominance is being contested, not by one giant, but by many. The AI future looks less like a single superpower and more like a diverse ecosystem.

What do you think? Is OpenAI on shaky ground — or just evolving?

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

Imagine being born in prison. Not for anything you did, but because your grandfather tried to escape North Korea during the Korean War.

This was Shin Dong-hyuk's reality in Camp 14.

Born in 1983 inside a political prison camp, he never saw the outside world. No toys. No school. No childhood. Just survival.

At 4 years old, his first memory was watching executions. Guards tortured prisoners over coal fires. He lost a finger. Starvation was constant—so constant that he saw his own mother as competition for food, not family.

At 13, Shin overheard his mother and brother planning to escape. He reported them to the guards, hoping for extra food as a reward.

Instead, they tortured him. Then they made him watch as they executed his mother and brother by firing squad.

He was 14 years old.

For the next decade, Shin worked as a slave laborer. He thought this was normal. He didn't know any other world existed. No one had ever told him about freedom, cities, or countries beyond the electric fence.

At 23, another prisoner told him about the outside world—about chicken, about life beyond the camp. Together they planned to escape.

They ran for the electric fence. His friend hit it first and was electrocuted instantly. Shin crawled over his smoking body and made it through.

He fled to China. Then South Korea. Then the United States.

He became the only person known to have been born in a North Korean political prison camp and escaped alive.

Today, Shin still carries the scars—physical and mental. He struggles with guilt for betraying his family. He battles trauma every day.

But he speaks out because Camp 14 still exists.

And 150,000-200,000 people are still trapped inside North Korea's camps right now. Men, women, and children imprisoned for crimes their grandparents supposedly committed.

The world knows about these camps. We've known for decades.

But they're still operating today.

Three generations punished. Born in prison. Die in prison.

This is happening right now, in 2025.

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

> spent 17 years infiltrating America's most violent hate groups for the FBI
> went deep undercover as a contract killer and arms dealer named "Hillbilly Donnie Brasco"
> spent 1.5 years inside the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, arresting 15 men he considered 'brothers'
> became a fully naturalized member of the Ku Klux Klan
> joined "The Base," a violent neo-Nazi terror group, enduring goat sacrifices and rituals
> prevented a mass murder of an Antifa couple and a mass shooting at a pro-gun rally
> retired in 2021; honored with his own "Scott Payne Day" by the FBI
> his integrity led to his final act: telling a betrayed friend "I love you too"

Has Scott Payne quietly led one of the most consequential careers in modern law enforcement?

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

🚨 Epstein's Private Emails Implicate Trump & Expose Cover-up 🚨

Newly released documents from Jeffrey Epstein's estate reveal his private concerns and boasts about Donald Trump's connection to the sex trafficking operation.

THE HOURS: In 2011, Epstein noted the "dog that hasn't barked is Trump" because a victim spent "hours at my house with him," expressing surprise he hadn't been implicated.

THE DIRT & DEBT: Epstein boasted in 2018, "I know how dirty Donald is," and discussed using photos/information to "hang him later or save him generating a debt."

THE CONTRADICTION: Ghislaine Maxwell's testimony that she never saw Trump at Epstein's house is directly rebutted by Epstein's own private 2011 email.

THE PROTECTION: Trump appointed the prosecutor (Alex Acosta) who gave Epstein his 2008 "sweetheart deal," which granted immunity to unnamed co-conspirators.

END/RESULT: The written evidence from Epstein and Maxwell shows unprecedented political protection and a concerted effort to mislead investigators.

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

In 2014, South Korean cult Grace Road moved to Fiji, claiming it was the 'promised land' to escape Armageddon.

Built a vast, profitable empire of over 50 businesses, from restaurants to construction.

Cultivated close ties and received political protection from the former dictatorial government.

Leaders convicted of fraud and violence (Shin Ok-cho) for allegedly subjecting hundreds of Korean members to abuse.

The cult became such a significant economic driver that the new Fijian government is now hesitant to fully prosecute.

A cult leader sits free on bail, protected by the very economy he built on alleged abuse. This is the chokehold on Fiji.

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

@Mrbankstips 70% Of Gen Z can't sleep due to financial anxiety

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

2025 is 82% Complete

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

🔥 Cristiano Ronaldo’s YouTube Records - SIUUUperstar Status 🔥

The GOAT’s channel ‘UR Cristiano’ broke the internet! Here’s the rundown:

🚀 Fastest to 1M Subs - 90 mins flat! ⏱️
🎉 10M Subs in 24 Hours - Golden Play Button unlocked! 🏆
🌍 20M Subs in a Day - Shattered all records! 💥
📈 50M+ Subs in a Week - Unstoppable growth! ⚡
👀 137M+ Views - 69 vids, pure fire! 🔥
🌟 CR7: Football legend, now YouTube king!

#Ronaldo #URCristiano #Recordbreaker

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

@statmusefc Bergkamp:

315 PL games, 87 goals, 94 assists, 3 PL titles, 4 FA Cups.

Rashford:

316 games, 88 goals, 65 assists, 0 PL titles, 2 FA Cups.

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

@AbhijithRavi20 Triad is a secret society originating in China, typically involved in organized crime. ✅

Not THREE ❌

Ath vere ith vere.

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

@msjojos Hi

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

@msjojos GOOD MORNING 🌞

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

@msjojos Good night 😴

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

@luxinoxia01 Thank you so much 👍

[Bar of Progress @bar_of_progress]

@msjojos HEYYYY