Zu

here and now

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

Unreal: the symbolism of Trump signing a surrender agreement at Versailles in which the US agrees to pay massive reparations is just too perfect.

I wouldn't be surprised if Macron weaponized Trump's complete ignorance of history and told him something like: "Mr. President, Versailles is where the most consequential deal of the 20th century was signed. Yours deserves the same stage."

Either that or Macron stumbled into the perfect historical parallel through sheer obliviousness - which, knowing him, is actually even more likely.

[Equibase @Equibase]

Good Morning and Happy Saturday! 🏇☕️

Satin Blue, a 5yo mare by The Factor, averaged the highest MPH of any horse in North America yesterday, averaging 40.22 MPH in her 1 length victory in the 7th race at @ChurchillDowns for trainer @mjsharp75_joe with @jose93_ortiz aboard!

Satin Blue went 5.5F on the turf in 1:01.88, less than a second off the track record and lengthened her stride to 25.59 feet in the final half-furlong!

For more statistics from today and the day prior, visit Equibase Daily Insights with the link below:
https://t.co/qPE5fH6HY3

📸Coady Media

[The Wall Street Journal @WSJ]

Walking straight up a mountain just got easier, says @nicnguyen. Here’s her take on the $2,000 Hypershell X Ultra S bionic leg boosters. 🔗 https://t.co/NP7UiJWGAP

[Dr. Julie Gurner @drgurner]

Seneca hits you with a brick.
Pay attention to your life.

[Golf Digest @GolfDigest]

What comes next will be determined by how eagerly architects embrace AI as an asset or whether they view it as a threat.

Read more: https://t.co/Cx6YKZYtjW

[Saifedean Ammous @saifedean]

Your periodic reminder that the key to mental health is to eat meat, lift heavy things, get plenty of sun, and never talk to a psychiatrist under any conditions whatsoever.

[Marysia @marysia_cc]

Victoria Ball
Potted Teacups

[Financial Times @FT]

Military capability depends increasingly on data centres.

Now governments outpaced in AI are looking to experimental technologies: https://t.co/QPxaPbMIZ7

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, mental disorders have become the single largest contributor to disability across the planet. In 2023, more than 1.17 billion people, roughly one in seven people on Earth, were living with a mental disorder.

The numbers have risen dramatically. Since 1990, cases have increased by 95.5%, even after adjusting for population growth and aging. Mental disorders now account for 171 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) globally, with the vast majority coming from years lived with disability (YLDs) rather than premature death. They explain 17.3% of all healthy years lost to disability worldwide, making them the top cause of non-fatal disease burden.

Conditions driving this surge include anxiety disorders, major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and others. Anxiety and depression alone rank among the highest contributors to global disease burden. Unlike many physical diseases, mental illnesses often persist for years or decades, silently undermining quality of life while people continue working, studying, and raising families.

The burden peaks in late adolescence (ages 15–19), a critical period of brain development, and affects women significantly more than men. Importantly, the rise is global — every major region has seen sharp increases, not just wealthy nations.

Researchers point to a combination of factors: the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, social isolation, economic pressures, violence, declining social connections, and the stresses of modern life.

[Santomauro DF, et al. (GBD 2023 Mental Disorders Collaborators). Updated trends in the global prevalence and burden of mental disorders, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023. The Lancet. 2026. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(26)00519-2]

[Prothom Alo @ProthomAlo]

https://t.co/yu3s7sLKQX

[Zu @raotzu]

আমি বাংলায় কথা কই
আমি বাংলার কথা কই
আমি বাংলায় ভাসি, বাংলায় হাসি, বাংলায় জেগে রই

আমি বাংলায় মাতি উল্লাসে
করি বাংলায় হাহাকার
আমি সব দেখে শুনে ক্ষেপে গিয়ে করি বাংলায় চিৎকার

[Zu @raotzu]

বাংলা আমার দৃপ্ত স্লোগান
ক্ষিপ্ত তীর ধনুক
আমি একবার দেখি, বার বার দেখি, দেখি বাংলার মুখ

আমি বাংলায় ভালোবাসি
আমি বাংলাকে ভালোবাসি
আমি তারি হাত ধরে সারা পৃথিবীর মানুষের কাছে আসি

[Zu @raotzu]

আমি যা কিছু মহান বরণ করেছি
বিনম্র শ্রদ্ধায়
মেশে তেরো নদী সাত সাগরের জল গঙ্গায় পদ্মায়

বাংলা আমার তৃষ্ণার জল
তৃপ্ত শেষ চুমুক
আমি একবার দেখি, বার বার দেখি, দেখি বাংলার মুখ

[Fore Play @ForePlayPod]

The Rory line.

[Zu @raotzu]

The world is shifting faster than most people can process.

Prices for basics have gone wild: groceries that used to be weekly comfort now require strategic budgeting, rent and mortgages eat 50–70% of take-home pay in many cities, and the idea of owning a home feels like a retirement fantasy for people under 40. Real wages have barely moved in two decades while everything else doubled or tripled.

The job market feels like it's quietly collapsing in slow motion. Entire career paths that once felt safe—middle management, retail, call centers, even some white-collar office roles—are being quietly automated, outsourced, or made redundant by AI and leaner corporate structures. Meanwhile, the "good jobs" that remain demand constant upskilling, relocation, or soul-crushing hours just to stay in place.

Legacy industries are being dismantled at lightning speed. Traditional media, advertising agencies, taxi companies, travel agencies, commercial real estate, higher education value propositions, even parts of healthcare and law—many of the old power structures are bleeding relevance as technology and new coordination models eat their lunch.

Wall Street has increasingly turned into a 24/7 leveraged casino where retail traders, hedge funds, and algos chase the same momentum narratives, pump memes, short-squeeze, and blow up in spectacular fashion, all while the underlying economy feels increasingly disconnected from the ticker tape.

Trust keeps eroding. Governments, mainstream media, universities, public health agencies, big tech platforms, central banks—almost every major institution has taken heavy reputational damage in the last decade. People feel lied to, gaslit, or simply ignored too many times.

At the same time the old internet gatekeepers are losing their death grip. Centralized platforms that once controlled the conversation are being chipped away by decentralized protocols, creator-first economies, alternative social networks, encrypted communities, and direct fan-to-creator relationships.

Out of all this turbulence, something powerful is quietly emerging.

A huge opening exists right now for anyone willing to stop waiting for permission.

An opportunity to speak plainly to millions of people who feel angry, invisible, betrayed, or simply exhausted.

An opportunity to build tools, businesses, communities, media, and systems that actually put power, ownership, dignity, and agency back into people's hands instead of extracting more from them.

The chaos is real.
The frustration is real.
The disillusionment is real.

But so is the opening.

History shows that the biggest shifts in power and wealth almost always happen during exactly these kinds of messy, disorienting transition periods—when the old rules are breaking down faster than the new ones can be written.

The question isn't whether the world is changing.
It's whether you're going to be on the receiving end of that change—or on the creating end of it.

[Prothom Alo @ProthomAlo]

https://t.co/LRWSVtG57k

[Fore Play @ForePlayPod]

Pros, they’re just like us