Happy Thursday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 1,133 words…4.2 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: K-Pop & Howling Wolves, Zelensky Has Coffee With Starmer, Sandwich Assault, India-China’s New Era, Bionic Antelope… & much more!
🚨 Watch For:
Trump-Putin meeting in Anchorage, Alaska: Aug 15th
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
🐺 K-Pop and Howling Animal Psyops
Forget Spotify beefs — the 2 Koreas have the loudest and pettiest music war on Earth with both countries blasting propaganda on loudspeakers at the border.
And now, Kim Jong-Un’s sister is threatening to enshrine this stance in the constitution. Welcome to geopolitics 2025!
Playlists Include:
South Korea: K-pop, K-dramas, world news and democracy pep-talks.
North Korea: Disturbing animal sounds (including wolves howling), ghostly screams, apocalyptic drones and sirens.
The goal? Unsettle soldiers and ruin your neighbor’s REM cycle with broadcasts travelling up to 15 miles (24km) at night and 6 miles (10km) in the day.
Peace Gesture: Enter June 2025 - new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung pauses the broadcasts, dismantling speakers as a peace gesture and their military claimed the North followed suit.
…until Kim Yo Jong - DPRK’s queen of shade and sister to ‘rocket man’ Kim Jong Un - denied it.
N. Korea has "never removed" the speakers and "are not willing to remove them"…
"We have clarified on several occasions that we have no will to improve relations with [S. Korea]," adding that this stance "will be fixed in our constitution in the future".
Context: For decades, both Koreas have blasted propaganda across the border. But that stopped for 6 years.
Balloons in 2024 kicked off the latest round.
S. Korea sent balloons filled with anti-regime leaflets and USB sticks pre-loaded with K-dramas.
N. Korea responded with trash-filled balloons - some sent directly to the Presidential Palace.
💡 Why it matters: Loudspeakers aren’t just noise — they’re a pressure gauge. When they go silent, tensions ease; when BTS meets wolf howls at 120 decibels, we’re back in crisis mode. And right now? Let’s just say the peninsula’s playlist isn’t trending toward a love ballad.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
PM Starmer and President Zelensky at Downing Street, London, UK
🌻 Sunflowers at Downing Street, Storm Clouds Over Ukraine
Zelensky met with Starmer today — a unity photo-op with coffee, sunflowers, and zero doubt about tomorrow’s stakes. That’s when Trump and Putin meet in Alaska for a make-or-break Ukraine ceasefire deal.
Starmer warned any peace must protect Ukraine’s borders. Kyiv fears being traded away for “stability.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s MoD dropped an urgent warning:
Ukraine’s plotting a deadly ‘false flag’ attack at a hospital or crowded area in Chuguev, Kharkiv to derail the Alaska summit and sway opinion.
The attack is expected to cause significant civilian casualties and will be “immediately recorded” by foreign journalists ferried in by the Ukrainian SBU.
💡 Bottom Line: This could very well be Russia’s 4D chess move to blame Ukraine. But no matter who’s plotting a possible attack; tomorrow promises to be a very intense day.
⛽ Fuel for Thought: India Ships Diesel to China Amid Thawing Relations
India quietly shipped 496K barrels of diesel to China—its first since 2021—via a Rosneft-linked refinery.
The cargo, originally Malaysia-bound, rerouted amid EU sanctions chaos, becoming an unexpected olive branch in frosty relations .
As Modi preps for his first China visit since 2020’s border clashes, both nations are reopening Himalayan trade passes, restoring direct flights and coordinating high-level visits.
🔍Bottom Line: This isn’t friendship—it’s mutual necessity. Warming ties with Beijing offers an alternative trade lane just as US tariffs squeezes exports — and geopolitics reshuffles the fuel map.
🎵Baby Shark Bites Back in Court — and Wins
South Korea’s Supreme Court sided with Pinkfong, ruling that the "doo doo doo" earworm wasn’t plagiarized from US composer Jonathan Wright’s 2011 version—just a catchier twist on a public-domain 1970’s campfire chant.
Pinkfong’s 2016 viral hit (16B+ YouTube views) birthed a shark-themed empire—Netflix shows, global tours, even a Billboard-charting toddler anthem.
Wright’s $22K claim? Tossed out the window.
🦈 Bottom line: When your "original" work is based on public domain folk songs about shark attacks, don't expect copyright protection. Some cultural torture belongs to all of humanity.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
Left: Dunn pictured taunting the officers; Right: Arrested after throwing a sandwich and running
🥪 DOJ Employee's Career Dies by Sandwich
Sean Dunn, 37, from DOJ's criminal division (yes, ironic); spotted Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in D.C, and decided violence was the answer.
His weapon of choice? A wrapped Subway sandwich to the chest, while yelling “fascists”… “I don’t want you in my city.” - the video went viral.
The agent’s bulletproof vest absorbed the spicy Italian threat, but Dunn’s career wasn’t so armored.
He now faces felony assault charges. Federal officials vowed full prosecution, stressing that “no attack on officers is trivial.”
🗨 U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro snarled: "Stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else" , while AG Pam Bondi framed it as Deep State rebellion.
🚔 ICE's New "Look at Me!" Cars Have Agents Panicking
ICE is rolling out 2,500 dark-blue SUVs with giant yellow "ICE" logos and "Defend the Homeland" slogans—a move agents call "suicide branding" amid a 1,000% surge in attacks.
The irony: Agency wants maximum visibility to flex enforcement muscles, but insiders say the cars are "moving targets" for activists who’ve slashed tires and hurled projectiles at unmarked vehicles.
💡 Bottom line: When your own employees think your branding strategy is a safety hazard, maybe workshop it first.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
🦌 China Unleashes Bionic Antelope for Plateau Conservation
China has deployed its first bionic Tibetan antelope robot in the Hoh Xil reserve, blending into real herds to gather AI-driven, 5G-transmitted wildlife data.
Built by Xinhua, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and DEEP Robotics, it navigates harsh terrain above 4,600m, tracking migration, feeding, and mating without disturbing animals.
💡 The robot also alerts traffic stations to prevent roadkill, marking a high-tech leap in endangered species protection.
📡 Starlink Set to Power Saudia’s Entire Fleet
Elon Musk’s satellite internet is finalizing a deal with Saudi Arabia’s flag carrier to equip 140+ aircraft with Starlink—despite $500K/plane install costs and monthly seat fees.
Regulatory Roulette: While Qatar Airways already streams Starlink at 35,000 feet, the UAE’s restrictions leave Emirates grounded—making WiFi quality depend on which autocracy you’re flying over.
💡 Bottom Line: Musk’s LEO satellites are conquering the Gulf’s aviation market—one buffering-free Netflix binge at a time.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
Would you like a cuppa Kwaffee?
New Yorkers drink more coffee than any other U.S. city. Around 6.7 times the national average.
Now the only thing left to debate…is it coffee or kwaffee?
💀 THE ROAST
Because World Leaders Beg To Be Dragged
