Why Viktor Orban’s Fidesz Party Lost The opposition’s stunning victory offers lessons for U.S. Democrats—and a warning for Trump’s allies.

"As illiberal strongmen have discovered in other contexts... after a while, voters, especially moderates, become exhausted by constant messages of fear, hatred, and vituperation..."

foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/12/h...

Iris Long, Scientific Mentor to AIDS Activists, Dies at 92

It’s hard to express how important Iris was to ACT UP’s scientific development. She was the catalyst who started it all. Iris Long, Scientific Mentor to AIDS Activists, Dies at 92 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/h...

Man Who Threw Molotov Cocktail At Sam Altman’s Home Claims He Was Following ChatGPT Recipe For Risotto SAN FRANCISCO—Following reports that a 20-year-old man had been arrested for throwing a Moltov cocktail at Sam Altman’s home, the suspect stated Monday that he only initiated the attack because he was...

“I’ve been using ChatGPT to help with cooking for a while now, so I didn’t think too much of it when the ingredients list included a bottle filled with gasoline and a cloth wick,” said the alleged attacker

Factcheck: Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims

Factcheck: Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims | @ayeshatandon.carbonbrief.org @leohickman.carbonbrief.org @ceciliakeating.carbonbrief.org @rtmcswee.carbonbrief.org @tomoprater.carbonbrief.org #CBarchive

Read here ⬇️

Illiberalism Is Not Inevitable If Viktor Orbán can lose, then his Russian and American admirers can lose too.

How did Magyar win? A long running grassroots campaign in rural and small town Hungary; a refusal to be distracted by government propaganda; a focus on economic issues and corruption; a central promise to bring back democracy and the rule of law

It’s not a straight shot to the far side of the Moon! 🌕

Over approximately 10 days, the Artemis II astronauts will orbit Earth twice before looping around the far side of the Moon in a figure eight and returning home.

Credit: NASA

Trump has called on Congress to pass a record $1.5T defense budget.

Roughly half of defense spending goes to private contractors that routinely price-gouge the government.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has failed EIGHT straight audits.

The military industrial complex is cheering right now.

Fewer people posting on social media, Ofcom finds Some experts believe it highlights a social media shift as platforms boost short video.

Of relevance to recent bluesky discussion

BBC News - Fewer people posting on social media, Ofcom finds - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Dear Professor Greene, I have emailed you an urgent interview request from lucy.bailey@bbc.co.uk - for BBC World Service radio's Newshour programme this morning!

LAWFARE INSTITUTE •HABEAS NON-COMPLIANCE TRACKER Government Contempt & Non-Compliance 300 documented instances of government noncompliance with federal court orders in immigration habeas cases, with links to the specific filings and orders. 199 DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA 57 DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK 5 DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS +15 more 300 TOTAL

“Three Hundred Habeas Cases in Which the Government Has Defied Court Orders”

An extraordinary database of non-compliance, from @katherinepomps.bsky.social and @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org for @lawfaremedia.org.

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/thre...

Hi Anna, I have emailed you an urgent interview request about this stuff! From lucy.bailey@bbc.co.uk

Over 100 International Law Experts Warn: U.S. Strikes on Iran Violate UN Charter and May Be War Crimes Over 100 international law experts sign letter on Iran War, UN Charter, and international humanitarian law.

Over 100 international lawyers (including me) warn that U.S. strikes on Iran violate the UN Charter and may be war crimes.

Read the letter here:

www.justsecurity.org/135423/profe...

This OLC opinion declaring the Presidential Records Act invalid makes a number of astonishing claims, including that retention of presidential records serves no valid legislative purpose. . . . www.justice.gov/olc/media/14...

Italian council buys Mussolini’s villa to keep it away from ‘fascist nostalgics’ Riccione’s leftwing mayor, Daniela Angelini, says public purchase is victory for town and ‘act of love and vision’ An Italian council has bought a villa where Benito Mussolini spent his summer holidays, partly to avoid the property falling into the hands of “fascist nostalgics”. Daniela Angelini, the leftwing mayor of Riccione, a town close to Rimini along Italy’s Adriatic coast, said the acquisition of Villa Mussolini through an auction was “an act of love and vision” and that bringing it back into public hands was a victory for the entire town. Continue reading...

Italian council buys Mussolini’s villa to keep it away from ‘fascist nostalgics’

U.S. panel votes to exempt Gulf of Mexico drilling from Endangered Species Act In its first meeting in three decades, the Endangered Species Committee voted to revoke protections for the endangered Rice’s whales and sea turtles.

After 15 whole minutes of discussion, the Endangered Species Committee (100% Trump appointees) decided that oil & gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico don't need to exert any caution anymore to protect endangered whales, turtles, or other wildlife.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Israel Passes Law to Hang Palestinians Convicted of Deadly Attacks

Israel Passes Law to Hang Palestinians Convicted of Deadly Attacks

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/w...

Boffins

From petro transition ethics to pragmatic energy efficient transition ethics in Norway Despite the urgency of climate change mitigation, the political economy of fossil fuel lock-in in petroleum-exporting states such as Norway makes the policy underpinnings perpetuating fossil fuel prod...

📣 From petrostate to electrostate? Our new paper 👇

Norway has some of the most ambitious climate commitments in the world. It also has one of the most powerful petroleum sectors.

But how can we escape fossil fuel lock in?

journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000880

" Ireland’s plan to let farmers spread more manure ran into a hard check Thursday, with a top EU court adviser warning the government can’t raise limits without proving it won’t pollute rivers, lakes or protected habitats."

OPINION: Women's month and the silent crisis of unsafe abortion Many Kenyan women and girls are still negotiating their bodily autonomy in fear, confusion, and silence.

"We must confront a pressing thematic concern that sits at the heart of sexual and reproductive health and rights in Kenya: the growing confusion, stigma, and systemic barriers surrounding access to safe abortion, despite constitutional guarantees." - Kelvin Mokaya

So I literally had to look up Huel. I think their approach has paid off, wouldn't you say? I both know and hate them now!

A history of ‘The Quiet Storm’

And a reminder of the importance of community radio & community-focused radio

Everything about this week’s record-shattering western heat wave is extreme An astoundingly strong heat wave is not just setting records across the western U.S.—it’s pulverizing them

Really cannot overstate how bonkers the heat wave out West is. Just obliterating records. 🧪

Very disappointed by the @nytimes.com framing here. Two allies of the Russian economy had their sanctions lifted, using the pretense of the oil price. Lifting sanctions on these two individuals will not make any difference to world oil prices. It’s ludicrous and a gift to Putin.

Spain is a role model in weathering Iranian oil shocks The country’s speedy rollout of renewables has put a lid on electricity bills

The FT had a good piece www.ft.com/content/19f2...

Oil Change International Oil Change International works to expose the true costs of fossil fuels and facilitate a just transition to clean energy. Data driven, people powered.

I've served on the board of OCI since 2017. "Oil Change International is a research, communications, and advocacy organization working to expose the true costs of fossil fuels and facilitate the ongoing transition to clean energy."

Energy fallout from Iran war signals a global wake-up call for renewable energy The Iran war is exposing how much the global economy still depends on fragile fossil fuel supplies. The conflict has virtually choked off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for a fifth of the...

AP is much better. "Unlike during previous oil shocks, renewable power is now competitive with fossil fuels in many places. More than 90% of new renewable power projects worldwide in 2024 were cheaper than fossil-fuel alternatives..."

"Last Saturday, for example, electricity in Spain cost roughly one-seventh what it did in France and Germany, Mr. Sánchez said." But let the Times explain why this isn't a good thing.

Spain Says the Sun Shields It From Rising Gas Costs. Is That True?

Stunningly bullshit framing on this NYT story that insists that somehow renewables are a dicy unpredictable thing and downplays that they're far, far cheaper most of the time by focusing on how they're not always. As is often the case with the NYT, comments smarter than article.

John Sweeney remembers his friend and colleague, the celebrated war photographer Paul Conroy, a frequent contributor to Byline Times who died on 28 February John Sweeney remembers his friend and colleague, the celebrated war photographer Paul Conroy, a frequent contributor to Byline Times who died on 28 February

📚 Weekend Reads (Edition 84)
✍️ John Sweeney

John Sweeney remembers his friend and colleague, the celebrated war photographer Paul Conroy, a frequent contributor to Byline Times who died on 28 February