More evidence that passive submission doesn't protect you. SPLC has largely disappeared from the the public debate and has done almost no anti-extremism work under Trump 2.0, yet is still targeted.

Palantir's Manifesto Is as Subtle as a MAGA Hat Palantir's 22-point manifesto is nonsense, writes Dave Karpf. But it at least it is short enough to be clarifying, he says.

So much of Silicon Valley has reached the conclusion that there is money to be made from American authoritarianism, writes Dave Karpf. With its ‘manifesto,’ Palantir wants to remind you that it reached that conclusion first, he says.

This Scammer Used an AI-Generated MAGA Girl to Grift ‘Super Dumb’ Men A med student says he’s made thousands of dollars selling photos and videos of a young conservative woman he created using generative tools. He’s not alone.

“… an AI Nazi hot girl influencer would blow up, it would just break all the records …” www.wired.com/story/ai-gen...

I really enjoyed that set. It made me happy. I liked the tunes and I liked the lyrics. I didn’t need to ingest that experience into a model fed by gigawatts, and then get it to explain it to me back on a screen.

I, a human, just listened to some songs sung for my enjoyment, by another human

It was a connection — between an artist, playing music with her own hands and voice — and me, a human in the audience, listening with my own ears and brain. I got to say thankyou and “good set” later on at the bar and it was a real conversation between two people

One of the things I hate the most about our current AI bullshit is the way it effaces the human connection. The other night I stumbled into a bar in Sydney Rd and I saw a fucking incredible set by local artist Molly McKew. There were 20 people there. But that set meant something to me, a human being

I believe we got exactly this speech recently from a higher up

See also-

Academics: If I research and publish for years I might end up with 1 or 2 articles that are so ground breaking that they make it into top journals in my field.

University managers: Great. So just publish those then. But also, more often.

Silicon Valley has forgotten what normal people want Did the tech industry get high on its own supply?

Elizabeth Lopatto: The tech bros are not okay www.theverge.com/tldr/915176/...

It’s such a transparent austerity play. Complete with the tactical leaks about fraud etc

“I used AI to combine the data from two excel lists and then send emails to people who were on one list but not another. Saved me so much time.”

My brother in academia, you just fucking discovered mail merge. Welcome to early nineties computing.

Silicon Valley has forgotten what normal people want Did the tech industry get high on its own supply?

"The people who tell us that AI will dominate our future and take our jobs are the people who are hoping that will be true. They may be hoping this because it makes them feel important, or because they want to be billionaires, or because they simply do not understand other people."

Won’t someone think of the gas companies

Sign the Petition Save 2SER-FM

Sydney's much-loved community radio station 2SER-FM is under imminent threat. We've started a petition to go to UTS, (the uni that will make the call). WE DON'T WANT MONEY, just your support. Can you help? c.org/xnykpfBd7r Please share.

Yep, the entire discourse about NDIS has been wildly skewed by a rampant scare campaign. Vanishingly little real evidence

NDIS infiltrated by organised crime gangs using intimidation and threats of violence against Australians Review recommends better use of NDIS data to identify repeat rorters and a requirement for providers to register with the government

Australian politicians love to claim welfare programs are beset with fraud, even if there's very little evidence, because it justifies cutting welfare spending www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Comic of the beetle from the cover of Massive Attack's "Mezzanine" meeting the crab from the cover of The Prodigy's "Fat of the Land".

Hi this joke is for me

Faculty Defect From Texas Publics, Citing Censorship Fed up with the state’s censoring of Plato, Joan of Arc and Romeo and Juliet, humanities professors are leaving Texas public institutions in pursuit of academic freedom.

'Texas A&M philosophy professor Martin Peterson is leaving the university after administrators told him in January that he couldn’t teach Plato’s Symposium in his philosophy class; they said the ancient Greek philosopher’s work violated the system’s restrictions on gender and sexuality content.' 1/3

The Must-Have Item in Silicon Valley Is a $178 Sweater With a CEO’s Face Leaders at companies from Nvidia to Palantir are now driving fashion, signaling a new era of the cult of the founder.

My “I am a toadying lickspittle” sweater is raising questions answered by my sweater

www.wsj.com/tech/silicon...

Data centers are expensive, unpopular — and could be a tipping point in the midterms Anger over the data center boom has spilled into politics with voters unseating local politicians who support them. It's become an issue hard to ignore in the midterm elections.

Anger over the data center boom has spilled into politics with voters unseating local politicians who support them. It's become an issue hard to ignore in the midterm elections. n.pr/3QfF8I1

Globe showing the Atlantic Ocean with arrows depicting the AMOC circulation: warm surface currents (pink/red) flowing northward from the tropics toward the Arctic, and cold deep return currents (blue/purple) flowing southward. The background shows sea surface temperature trends, with a prominent blue cold patch, the "cold blob", south of Greenland, contrasting with warming (orange/red) across the rest of the ocean.

1/ There's a system of ocean currents in the Atlantic that shapes Europe's #climate, drives monsoons, and keeps sea levels stable along the US coast.

In the last 5 years, the scientific evidence that it could collapse has shifted dramatically.

Most people have no idea. 🧵

THREAD: The IEA global energy review 2026

* CO2 record high, but growth nearly ground to halt
* Clean energy shaved 3bn tonnes off CO2
* Fossil-fuel power pushed into reverse
* Age of Electricity "confirmed"
* "Extraordinary" solar growth
* Batteries up 40%
* EVs up 20%
1/10

That’s doughlicious

Opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald about community radio station 2SER-FM. Titled 'Shutting this priceless cultural asset would hurt.'

The University of Technology in Sydney is poised to close community radio station 2SER-FM. Here's my opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald, arguing that it would be pure folly to do so.

Two hooded figures with lamps approach a moonlit, isolated cottage. A woman answers the door. We have come for the child, says the hooded figure So soon? she asks It is time, says the hooded figure. The woman is distraught. We should never have got him a library card! What is done cannot be undone, says the hooded figure We couldn’t see the harm! We just wanted him to enjoy reading! For most, it ends there, says the hooded figure, turning away and walking into the wilderness Oh lord, What have I done! says the woman, the child walks past her and out into the darkness with them. Do not cry mother. I am a writer now.

my latest books cartoon for @theguardian.com

Yep, also lost a good mate. Terrible illness

Sure seems like a successful product

Hard agree

Buy, Borrow, Die: How America's Ultrawealthy Stay That Way YouTube video by ProPublica

In the second season of Beef on Netflix, Oscar Isaac's character references "Buy, Borrow, Die" — a tax-avoidance method used by the ultra-rich.

As part of @propublica.org's Secret IRS Files series, we put together this animation back in 2021 to explain how it works:

Massive