The linked reports name a range of thinkers from whom Peter will draw inspiration, including René Girard, Francis Bacon, Jonathan Swift, Carl Schmitt, and John Henry Newman. This may be true, but Thiel’s allegedly most important and very early inspiration comes from Ayn Rand, a 20th century Russian immigrant to the US, whose philospophy strongly resonates with with many other tech moguls in Silicon Valley.

Interestingly and a bit contrary to Thiel’s speeches, Rand rejected faith and religion at all, as well as state interventionism. She supported a sort of laissez-faire system based individual rights, notably private property rights. Today, Rand is often associated with the libertarian movement in the U.S.

It all depends what Ukraine gets in return I would say.

Alarming Statistics: Retractions and China’s NSFC Sanctions Rock Chinese Academia

China leads global retractions, with studies showing 40% of biomedical papers tainted by misconduct per surveys. In 2025, NSFC [National Natural Science Foundation of China] disclosed multiple batches: 26 cases in April (plagiarism, data forgery) and 25 in July, affecting top institutions. 96 By early 2026, another 46 sanctions linked to 20 universities emerged.

• 2023 Hindawi: 8,200+ Chinese-linked retractions out of 9,600 total.
• NSFC 2025: 51 sanctions, including 11 proposal plagiarisms.
• Medical universities: 14.81% lack public RM [research misconduct] investigation records.

These figures underscore pressure from ‘publish or perish’ metrics at elite ‘Double First-Class’ universities, where 15% report incidents.

@Cowbee@lemmygrad.ml

Lemmygrad. ml is explicitly ML.

Exploring Left-Wing Extremism on the Decentralized Web: An Analysis of Lemmygrad. ml

… findings reveal a substantial increase in user activity and toxicity levels following the migration of these subreddits to Lemmygrad. ml. We also identify posts that support authoritarian regimes, endorse the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and feature anti-Zionist and antisemitic content … Moreover, their support can extend beyond backing these authoritarian regimes, even cheering on their violent actions, as evidenced by their posts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine …

The whole study makes a good read.

never anything that paints China (let alone its government) in the slightest positive light

Feel free to change that. Just use quite sensible and well-sourced articles.

Why the Creator Economy Must Confront Its Alabuga Moment - [Opinion]

The Alabuga Start […] is our cigarette-doctor moment — a reminder that trust, the very currency of the creator ecosystem, must be protected and continuously earned […]

Investigations revealed the programme was a front for forced labour in a Russian industrial military complex. Workers were allegedly exposed to toxic chemicals, placed under surveillance, and forced into long hours supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Influencers who promoted the programme — some of whom have since apologised — became unwitting vectors of exploitation. Whether misled or negligent, the outcome was the same: they betrayed their audiences’ trust […]

Number of Russian firms planning to hire more staff halves in nine months, survey shows

The survey, conducted among over 300 professionals across Russia by job sites Rabota .ru and SberPodbor, both owned by Russia’s largest lender Sberbank, showed that a quarter of respondents were planning to expand headcount from September, down from 56% at the end of last year.

The survey also showed that around 12% of Russian companies were planning layoffs this autumn, up 4 percentage points from the end of last year.

Meanwhile, Russia will borrow more than planned in 2025, finance minister says

Exploited in Russia: African women forced to make drones

They hoped for a better career but ended up in Russia’s war factories. A new study reveals how young women, mainly from Africa, have been being exploited. Some of those affected have shared their stories.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (‘DPRK’ or ‘North Korea’) continues to operate one of the world’s most entrenched systems of state-imposed forced labour. Over 100,000 DPRK nationals are currently believed to be working overseas across a number of countries, although predominantly in Russia and China. These workers are subjected to 12- to 16-hour workdays under the constant surveillance of state security officers, are only allowed one or two rest days per month, and face constant threats, physical and mental abuse. Severely underpaid, much of their wages are appropriated by the State. In addition to these working conditions, DPRK nationals are stripped of their fundamental rights, including freedom of movement, expression, and association, enduring conditions akin to modern slavery.

No, it isn’t.

As two examples among many: First, Putin Doesn’t Combat Nazism, He Cultivates It

An essential element of the Kremlin’s crusade to manipulate cracks in the West is exploiting transnational white supremacist movements to endorse racially and ethnically inspired violent extremism. Russia serves as a sanctuary and networking hub for far-right extremists, with one of America’s most infamous neo-Nazis finding refuge there. Rinaldo Nazzaro, leader of The Base, an American neo-Nazi, white supremacist paramilitary organisation, lives in Russia and guides the group from St. Petersburg […]

Putin’s weaponisation of neo-Nazis was always a dicey tactic, but it was not illogical. Unlike mainstream nationalists, who often support the concept of free elections, neo-Nazis repudiate democratic institutions and the very idea of egalitarianism. For a dictator disassembling democracy and engineering an authoritarian regime, they were perfect accessories. In Ukraine, Putin is not combating neo-Nazism. The country most in need of “de-Nazification” is Putin’s Russia.

And, second, there is a revealing analysis on The Nazi Inspiring China’s Communists

[…] China has in recent years witnessed a surge of interest in the work of the German legal theorist Carl Schmitt. Known as Hitler’s “Crown Jurist,” Schmitt joined the National Socialist Party in 1933, and, though he was only officially a Nazi Party member for three years, his anti-liberal jurisprudence had a lasting impact—at the time, by helping to justify Hitler’s extrajudicial killings of Jews and political opponents […]

China’s fascination with Schmitt took off in the early 2000s when the philosopher Liu Xiaofeng translated the German thinker’s major works into Chinese. Dubbed “Schmitt fever,” his ideas energized the political science, philosophy, and law departments of China’s universities. Chen Duanhong, a law professor at Peking University, called Schmitt “the most successful theorist” to have brought political concepts into his discipline […] An alum of Peking University’s philosophy program, who asked not to be identified speaking on sensitive issues, told me that Schmitt’s work was among “the common language, a part of the academic establishment” at the university […]

Schmitt’s influence is most evident when it comes to Beijing’s policy toward Hong Kong. Since its handover to China from Britain in 1997 […] freedoms have been eroded as the CCP has sought greater control, and more recently have been undermined completely with the national-security law.

There is a lot of good research on the matter, just read it.

There is a thread already here on this issue: https://feddit.org/post/16135663

Secret Russian Intelligence Document Shows Deep Suspicion of China

In public, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia says his country’s growing friendship with China is unshakable — a strategic military and economic collaboration that has entered a golden era.

But in the corridors of Lubyanka, the headquarters of Russia’s domestic security agency, known as the F.S.B., a secretive intelligence unit refers to the Chinese as “the enemy.”