Palantir manifesto described as ‘ramblings of a supervillain’ amid UK contract fears Alarm caused by posts of Alex Karp, tech firm’s CEO, championing US military dominance and of AI weapons

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

'Scandal' as Labour respond to pro-Israel lobbying petition THE UK Government has been accused of a "political scandal on the scale of Peter Mandelson" after snubbing a petition calling for an…

www.thenational.scot/news/2603678...

Government pours $30m into counter-drone technology in wake of Iran war The Australian government signs two contracts to develop counter-drone technology, including a laser that can track an object the size of a 10-cent coin travelling at more than 100 km/h.

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04...

Silicon Valley’s Anti-Democratic Turn Begins at Work Silicon Valley’s quarrel with democracy is not abstract — it begins in the workplace, where unilateral authority is normalised.

Silicon Valley now worships authoritarian leadership in work and in society www.socialeurope.eu/silicon-vall...

Interesting - Fisher & Fieldhouse show tactical voting in UK has been crudely under-estimated. But
“across 4 elections 7% of options open to voters could be considered strategic & more than 1/3 of these were voted for, accounting for 11% of all votes cast” journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Trump’s presidency is what evil looks like: absurd, frightening, cruel | Nesrine Malik Commentators have said that the US president’s clownishness and lack of ideology somehow make him less dangerous. They’re wrong, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

A trippy column from me this week because honestly it is now impossible to think and write about Trump's presidency without entering the derangement with him. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Hegseth’s Feud With Army Secretary Spills Into Public View The spat comes as the U.S. military faces unprecedented commitments around the world.

www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

Trump Has Become What He Most Despises: A Loser There’s nothing more central to fascist authoritarianism than being proud of being a grievance-fueled failure.

Trump Has Become What He Most Despises: A Loser
There’s nothing more central to fascist authoritarianism than being proud of being a grievance-fueled failure. newrepublic.com/article/2090...

Behind Trump’s Public Bravado on the War, He Grapples With His Own Fears The president’s impulsive style has never been tested in a sustained military conflict, and he’s been ruminating on Jimmy Carter’s failure in Iran.

www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

Many thanks from all our authors to the 18,000+ readers who’ve downloaded “Australia’s Evolving Democracy” since it came out 18 months ago. As ever with @LSEPress it’s free to download it all, or any chapter, and always will be. press.lse.ac.uk/books/e/10.3...

The insider trading suspicions looming over Trump's presidency The BBC has found a pattern of spikes in trades ahead of public announcements by the US president.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Does the Mandelson case show ‘presidentialization’ of PM’s role in parliamentary systems, well covered by O’Malley et al? www.cambridge.org/core/service...
No. Instead the integral involvements of Foreign Office & vetting agency exemplify the core executive thesis. press.lse.ac.uk/chapters/e/1...

Moneybags Farage & Sunak top 'outside income' scrounger chart in MP declarations Nigel Farage might want gullible racists to believe he's a man of the people but he's the same as Sunak and Starmer - scroungers

Moneybags Farage & Sunak top ‘outside income’ scrounger chart in MP declarations www.thecanary.co/trending/202...

Starmer's disastrous '£1bn' US-UK pharma deal may actually end up costing £64bn Investigation finds that Starmer's estimates of the Trump NHS deal are way off - it won't cost £1bn but could balloon to as much as £64bn

Starmer’s disastrous ‘£1bn’ US-UK pharma deal may actually end up costing £64bn www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/...

This is not news, it's propaganda regardless of whether you like Starmer or not.

Reform dragged into tax row by Richard Tice’s unpaid £100,000 The party’s deputy leader says he will ‘pay what is owed if numbers need rechecking’ after more revelations from The Sunday Times

'Reform dragged into tax row by Richard Tice’s unpaid £100,000
The party’s deputy leader says he will ‘pay what is owed if numbers need rechecking’ after more revelations from The Sunday Times'

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Reform deputy accused of tax avoidance – after slamming Rayner over stamp duty

Tice Tax

'The Sunday Times reported that these companies, linked to his investment firm Quidnet, did not pay tax on profits, which then benefited his investment company and led to significant donations to Reform UK.'

www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/new...

These quotes show what a fanatical and ideological company Palantir is, obsessed by American force and power, wholly devoted to malign U.S. interests, and completely unsuitable as a contractor in any part of UK government, let alone the NHS. A company wedded to “might is right”. techrepublicbook.com

Things it's possible to do all at once:

1. Think Israel's treatment of Gaza = war crimes
2. Want sanctions
3. Demand Netanyahu is extradited > Hague
4. Exhibit disgust at attack on Lebanon
5. Not post Owen Jones' take

+ since when is support for Israel a new thing at the Telegraph (CONRAD BLACK)?

This report on a right wing German’s approach to Israel can be seen in a historical context:

bsky.app/profile/teac...

How Project Maven Put A.I. Into the Kill Chain Gideon Lewis-Kraus writes about a secretive A.I. system that automates warfare for the military. The progression from target identification to target destruction is four clicks.

US and Israeli military well on the way to realising Terminator newyorker.substack.com/p/how-projec...

From Obama-apes to Trump Jesus: Is there a rock-bottom to president’s Truth habit? The president has been shamed into deleting two offensive Truth Social posts in as many months this year — it’s a sign that his political shock jock act is growing stale, writes Andrew Feinberg

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Nope.....NO bottom....
Not even killing people!

Leaders of EU member countries decide this Tuesday on suspending or continuing the EU Israel sweetheart trade deal.
A citizens' petition to suspend it has already comfortably smashed the 1 million signature threshold requirement.

Good heads up. book out next month. Thanks.

Israel must be punished if its war crimes are to be stopped.

The LRB piece reminds me of that allthatsinteresting.com/atlantropa

Pour Omer Bartov, historien israélo-états-unien, dans un livre récent, affirme que c'est dans le sionisme, en tant qu'il est devenu une "idéologie d'État", que l'on doit rechercher les causes du génocide.

A Genocide Scholar Asks “What Went Wrong” in Israel The Israeli historian Omer Bartov argues in his new book that a “state ideology” of Zionism has led to what he calls genocide in Gaza.

The Israeli historian Omer Bartov argues in his new book that a “state ideology” of Zionism has led to what he calls genocide in Gaza. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Modi’s changes to electoral map ‘could decide who controls India for decades’ As the Indian government links sweeping changes to parliamentary constituencies with increased women’s representation, opposition leaders warn the reforms are designed to favour the ruling party in th...

www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/d...