the fisherman of halicarnassus

in 1900, john d. rockefeller controlled roughly 90% of all oil refineries in the united states. by some estimates, he was the richest private individual who ever lived.

he had a problem. scientists were discovering that compounds derived from coal tar, a byproduct of petroleum processing, could be used as synthetic medicines. aspirin derived from coal tar was commercialized by bayer in 1899. what rockefeller had previously treated as industrial waste could now be sold back to the public as medicine at profit margins approaching 10,000%.

he had another problem too. american medicine in 1900 was a competitive ecosystem of homeopaths, herbalists, naturopaths, osteopaths, midwives, and traditional doctors who used food, plants, water, and lifestyle as the primary tools of healing. nearly half of all american medical schools taught some form of natural or alternative medicine.

rockefeller invested heavily in the german pharmaceutical industry and eventually gained major interests connected to the ig farben consortium, which included bayer, basf, and hoechst. then a report was commissioned.

the report was written by abraham flexner, an educator with no medical degree. funded by the rockefeller and carnegie foundations, it was published in 1910. the report declared natural and alternative medicine schools to be unscientific quackery. it recommended shutting down more than half of all american medical schools and standardizing the remaining institutions around medicine based on synthetic patented drugs.

congress acted. within a decade, more than half of american medical schools were closed. the remaining schools accepted rockefeller and carnegie funding on the condition that they restructure their curricula around pharmaceutical treatment. nutrition was removed. herbal medicine was removed. lifestyle intervention was removed. the role of the doctor was redefined: diagnose the symptom, prescribe the drug.

the drugs were petroleum derived. the petroleum came from rockefeller controlled refineries. the medical schools were funded by rockefeller. the journals were funded by rockefeller. the american medical association was backed by rockefeller. hospitals were funded by rockefeller.

by 1925, the american medical system had effectively become a vertically integrated extension of the oil industry operating under the marketing slogan of “scientific medicine.”

this is the system that still exists today.

the pharmaceutical industry now generates around $1.5 trillion annually. although the united states makes up about 4% of the world’s population, it consumes roughly 50% of all pharmaceuticals produced globally.

the system was not designed to make people healthy. it was designed to manage symptoms in ways that create lifelong customers. a healthy patient is a lost customer. a managed patient taking pills every day for the rest of their life is recurring revenue.

the goal has always been to keep you profitable in that corridor between healthy and dead.

healthy enough to keep buying for as long as possible. not healthy enough to stop.

the doctor telling you to fix your metabolism by changing your diet is, from the system’s perspective, a defective product. the doctor prescribing statins, metformin, antidepressants, and lifelong blood pressure medication is functioning exactly as designed.

the system was designed by an oil baron who needed a market for the waste products of his refineries.

and more than a century after the flexner report, it still operates almost exactly the way it was intended to.

you are the customer.

the corridor is where you live.

fenerbahce got eliminated by benfica in the champions league qualifiers;

the manager went to benfica.

benfica got eliminated by real madrid in the champions league round of 16;

the manager is now on his way to real madrid.

and all of this happens within a single year.

it's a painting so small in size that seeing it in person for the first time gives you that "meeting up with a girl you matched with online and finding out she's way shorter than expected" feeling. image

the live version, lasting at least six minutes, featured on elvis presley's 1970 las vegas-recorded album "that's the way it is," has somehow surpassed all other interpretations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1g5tVGZhfk

you explain in plain language what you want to do in your excel sheet, and it writes the formula for you. it currently supports excel, google sheets, and apple numbers. https://reviso.net/formula-generator

probably half of what you see on the internet, maybe even most of it… isn't real.

according to the theory, the internet effectively "died" after 2016. the vast majority of the content you see is produced by bots, ais, and corporate/state operations. the things real people write are either made invisible or drowned out by algorithms.

think about it:
– the same template comments are constantly recycled on twitter/x, instagram, tiktok, etc.
– news sites are exact copies of each other, same headlines, same sentences.
– forums and blogs have collapsed; independent content is almost nonexistent.
– posts from small accounts don't reach anyone, while big accounts and sponsored content are pushed to the front.
– the debates circulating on social media feel like they're part of a pre-written script.

who's behind all this? according to the theory, big tech companies (meta, google, x, etc.) and governments are working hand in hand. the goal is clear: shaping public opinion, psychological operations, and creating an artificial ecosystem driven entirely by money.

you might say "you're exaggerating," but no one knows the exact ratio of bot accounts. some say 15-20%, others say 70%. on top of that, chatgpt and its derivatives came out and turned the internet into an ai dumpster. it's now become impossible to tell which content is produced by an actual human.

personally, there's a massive gulf between the internet of the early 2010s and the internet today. people used to produce; today, algorithms and bots pump out content. is the internet still alive, or is it dead? in my opinion, it's pretty much become a zombie.

"there is one disadvantage to loneliness that is not as easy to recognize as the others. this disadvantage is that, due to constantly staying indoors, our bodies become so sensitive to external influences that we fall ill at the slightest draft. because of being perpetually withdrawn into our corner, our mental state becomes so sensitive that the most trivial events, words, and even mere gestures unsettle us, make us ill, or wound us. whereas someone who is constantly among crowds doesn't even take notice of these things."

so said arthur schopenhauer.

as someone who believes education should always start with love and that people who work alongside loving colleagues in the workplace will perform better in a more peaceful environment, i was glad to see that even though the devil still wears prada, she can no longer be as (d)evil as before, even if only out of necessity (and for show).

we owe this much, at least, to gen z. nobody puts up with employers/bosses/managers/teachers who treat them like dogs anymore. and anyone who does is now ostracized. if wokeness played a part in this, thanks to that too.

it didn't flow as smoothly as the first film. that might just be my shrinking attention span, i don't know, but the colors, the atmosphere, and the music were lovely. anne hathaway doesn't age.

even the most malignant people are forced to soften with age. meryl streep is a phenomenal actress. it was nice to witness the character grow older and lower her standards over the course of the film series.

working yourself into oblivion can seem appealing when you're young, but real life unfortunately isn't like that. just like the streets of new york…

fashion is murder. i couldn't bring myself to feel sorry that her magazines no longer sell, because i've never encountered genuine morality anywhere people are judged by their appearance and clothing.

as the name suggests, maladaptive daydreaming is more than just having an active imagination. it can cause someone to lose their social connections and feel disconnected from the world around them. if you are thinking, “i daydream all the time too, i make little music videos in my head,” then this probably is not what you imagine it to be.

people who experience maladaptive daydreaming do not drift into random fantasies every day. their inner worlds follow certain patterns. often they have several ongoing storylines in their minds, each with recurring characters. sometimes a character appears one way in one story and a little different in another. they form deep emotional connections to these imagined people, sometimes stronger than the bonds they have with real ones. there are also characters they dislike. it is not hard to guess that many people with this condition become talented storytellers or writers. it would also not be unreasonable to say that in severe cases, it can resemble schizophrenia.

it is a continuous process, something that does not really end. there is no known cure, but i do not even see it as an illness. to me, it is simply a state of being. when you learn to keep it under control and turn it into a kind of discipline, it can even be seen as a gift.

a roman emperor and philosopher once said,
“a person’s worth is measured by what they devote themselves to.”

first, a bit of motivation:
“if something external upsets you, the pain doesn’t come from the thing itself, it comes from the value you’ve placed on it. and you have the power to change that value at any moment.”

it is called the "flying wing" concept.

in other words, it is essentially one giant wing. not just any wing either, with a wingspan of 52 meters. from an aerodynamic perspective, it is a true engineering masterpiece. the surface is perfectly smooth, with not even the tiniest bump or seam, in order to maintain laminar airflow and stealth capability.

the fuselage is made of carbon composites. it is covered with radar-absorbing paint, special coatings that leave no magnetic signature, and exhaust diffusers that reduce infrared visibility. on radar, the aircraft practically shouts, "i am not here."

it can carry up to 18 tons of bombs, from gps-guided jdams to b61 nuclear bombs.

the cost per plane is 2.1 billion dollars. even if you park it on the ground, it requires constant, around-the-clock maintenance. and this is not ordinary maintenance. even the technicians who apply the coatings are not allowed to touch the surface without gloves. if you pour water on it, it would leave a mark. that is how sensitive it is.

tennessee is that part of america where country music was not just born but given a leather jacket and a guitar. it is a state packed with mountains, rivers, deep history, and the kind of storytelling that can either make you cry or laugh till your ribs hurt. if you picture rolling hills, front porches with rocking chairs, barbecue smoke drifting through the air, and someone somewhere strumming a guitar, you are probably thinking of tennessee without even realizing it.

it officially became a state in 1796, but it has been at the heart of a lot of america's biggest moments. civil war battles, civil rights marches, the birth of rock and roll, moonshine legends, and political giants all left a mark on tennessee soil. the state has this split personality in the best way. in the east, you get the misty great smoky mountains and a lot of outdoor adventure vibes. in the middle, it is nashville, where dreams are chased with a guitar case in one hand and a coffee in the other. and over in the west, memphis hits you with deep blues music, powerful civil rights history, and the ghosts of legends like elvis presley.

nashville is called music city for a reason. it is where singers go to either make it big or spend a few wild years trying. walk down broadway at night and it feels like every single bar has a live band better than half the stuff on the radio. memphis, on the other hand, is where you feel the soul in your bones. it is gritty, proud, and alive. walk beale street and you are standing on the same sidewalks where blues and rock once rewired the world's idea of music.

beyond the fame and neon lights, tennessee is also about stubborn pride and fierce loyalty. people from there will let you joke about their state but only if you are one of them. otherwise, you better mind your mouth. food is serious business too. hot chicken so spicy it makes you question your life choices. barbecue that tastes like someone cooked it with equal parts smoke and love. biscuits and gravy that could fix a bad day.

an interesting detail is that tennessee has this weird mix of old-school manners and wild independent spirit. yes ma'am and no sir roll off tongues naturally, but so does a strong belief in doing your own thing without waiting for permission. it is a state that values tradition but also knows how to throw a party loud enough for three states over to hear it.

in short, tennessee is not just a place you visit. it is a feeling. a messy, musical, slightly stubborn, deeply beautiful feeling that stays with you long after you leave.

imagine a guy who looked at the entire history of philosophy, religion, and morality and basically said, "yeah, we got it wrong." that is nietzsche. he is the philosopher who did not just think outside the box. he stomped on the box, set it on fire, and said we need to build a whole new way of thinking from scratch. born in 1844 in germany, nietzsche was a professor of classical philology before he became a full-time thinker and writer. he was not exactly popular while he was alive, but after he died, his ideas lit a fire across modern thought.

nietzsche is important because he called out the foundations of western civilization. he said things like "god is dead," which is not really about religion fading, but about the collapse of old values that used to give people meaning. once those old certainties are gone, we are left in a world where we have to create our own meaning. that is terrifying but also freeing. nietzsche wanted people to stop being followers and start becoming what he called the "übermensch" or the "overman," someone who creates their own values and lives boldly without crutches like traditional religion or herd mentality.

his style was wild. he did not write boring academic papers. he wrote books that felt like a mix of poetry, prophecy, and a punch in the face. no long arguments full of careful logic. just fierce, brilliant, sometimes chaotic writing that made you either want to fight him or follow him. books like "thus spoke zarathustra," "beyond good and evil," and "the birth of tragedy" are not easy reads but they hit hard. zarathustra especially is written like a strange new bible where the main character is trying to teach humans to grow up and own their existence.

one of nietzsche's big ideas is the "will to power," the force inside living things to grow, expand, assert themselves, and overcome challenges. it is not just about survival. it is about thriving and pushing boundaries. another huge idea is "eternal recurrence," the thought that life might repeat itself infinitely, so you should live as if every moment would happen again and again forever. it is a mind-bender, but it was nietzsche's way of forcing you to think about how deeply you value your own life.

an interesting detail is that nietzsche wrote his most famous works while battling intense health problems, loneliness, and the growing signs of a mental breakdown. in 1889, he completely collapsed in turin after seeing a horse being whipped. he spent the last years of his life in a state of insanity while his sister took control of his works and messed with them to fit her political views, which caused a lot of confusion later on about what nietzsche actually believed.

despite all the myth-making, nietzsche was not a hater of life. he loved life, but he thought loving life meant being brutally honest about it. no sugarcoating, no fairy tales, just the raw, terrifying beauty of existence. that is why he is one of the biggest names in existentialism, even though that term came after him. without nietzsche, there is no sartre, no camus, no modern rebellion against easy answers.

in short, nietzsche asked the scariest and most exciting question. if all the old rules are gone, what are you going to do with your freedom.

currently in prison, but maybe (hopefully) the new president of turkey in 2028.

istanbul mayor ekrem imamoglu, a leading opposition figure from the republican people's party (chp), has emerged as a symbol of resistance in turkey's evolving political scene. renowned for his reformist approach and strong connection with urban voters, he gained national prominence after winning istanbul's mayoralty in 2019 under contentious circumstances. his recent detention on charges of corruption and terrorism has triggered widespread protests, heightened economic uncertainty, and renewed debates over democratic freedoms in turkey. the incident is seen as a critical juncture in a long standing power struggle between the government and its critics.

timeline of key events

march 18, 2025
istanbul university annuls imamoglu's degree amid allegations of irregularities, a decision that jeopardizes his eligibility to run for president.

march 19, 2025
turkish police surround his residence in istanbul early in the morning. despite sending a message of resolve on social media, declaring that he would not give up, imamoglu is detained along with over 100 others on charges including corruption, extortion, and alleged ties to terrorism.

march 23, 2025
he is formally arrested on corruption charges and transferred to marmara prison. authorities accuse him of leading a criminal organization connected to municipal contracts and by extension influencing ties with designated terrorist groups.

march 24, 2025
mass protests erupt nationwide in response to his arrest. the government enforces restrictions on public gatherings and social media, while economic indicators show a sharp downturn amid rising political uncertainty. international voices call for upholding democratic processes, underscoring the broader impact of these events.