The one issue that unites 300 million people. Access to health insurance. Universally a good thing, the Democrats cave. There s but one party in the United States, it just has two different names. What will the American people do?

I would bet money that nothing fundamentally changes.

For the first time in my life, it felt like for once as a society America was getting it. Too bad the Senators are disconnected and geriatric. In the name of "compromise", once again failing to meet the moment, 8 Democratic Senators voted in favor of reopening the government WITHOUT ACA Subsidies.

As the #UnitedStates faced its longest government shut-down over #Republican refusal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, the nation began to feel what we have felt for decades. Real, unavoidable cracks to the system.

Tensions rose. SNAP benefits were cut. Federal courts demanded relief.

In 2025, Hungarians marched in the name of democracy and freedom. Waving Pride flags ven as the city was forced to formally cancel Budapest Pride. In the face of "LGBT facial recognition", facing real professional risks under Orban's government.

The contest was riddled with issues. #Shaman, one of the most popular Russian musical artists today, backed out in the name of "hospitality" depriving Russia of potential victory.

TO listen to the full podcast, click here: open.spotify.com/episode/534C...

In 2008, Russia tried and failed to revive the song contest. It failed, in no small part, due to the invasion of Georgia.

3 years into the full scale invasion of Ukraine, when Russia is no doubt culturally looking inward, economically closed from the world, they revived the contenst. 2/3

My podcast episode below explores the tech industry in Europe, and how we are caught in between.

open.spotify.com/episode/34aH...

Europe doesn't need to put billions to catch up in the race to General AI or Quantum. Determine regional strengths, build up capacity, & think long term. China took 40 years to start making headlines. We won't get there tomorrow, but in our lifetime it is possible.

It is in this time of grea change that Europe must do some soul-searching. Across the #EuropeanUnion we have numerous tech companies which have seen international success. The conditions exist, we just need to harness the potential at home.

In case the link above doesn't work: open.spotify.com/episode/34aH...

Within 48 hours, I'll have a new post up on the Substack feed discussing these various cultural exhibits and positive stories from the region. It's honestly doing me a lot of good mentally, during a time of stress and uncertainty. Thank you all for the continued support to my project.

Although there is growing understanding of the political reality of #CentralEurope and eastern countries under Communism, rarely do we see the stories of those who left from thier eyes. On your, "Back Home, Polish Chicago" fills that gap. www.chicagohistory.org/exhibition/b...

Video editing is indeed a pain, but I am always happy seeing videos speaking about our region from people who have strong ties to it. Thanks for this!