Writer tells of creating during his lunch break, at a cost of 8 dollars, "an entire fake political scandal... that could fool busy editors under deadline pressure." "This is the brutal reality of AI detection: the methods that made us feel secure are evaporating before our eyes."

this is the simple answer to people who keep saying NATO expansion matters. Sure, it matters because it presented an obstacle to Russian imperial ambitions. Putin didn't invade because he hated NATO expansion, he hated NATO expansion because he wanted to invade

Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, while simultaneously removing apps that report the location of ICE officials because Google sees ICE as a vulnerable group. “Big tech has made their choice.” www.404media.co/google-has-c...

In de Gentse arthousebioscoop Studio Skoop zijn de projectoren gestopt met draaien. Voor altijd? In memoriam van een île d’amour.

www.aei.org/articles/tru... Mandatory reading this Christmas. Then pass it on

An important point that needs to be made on the AEI website. The best deal that the Trump administration is willing to offer Ukraine is still an abomination. Trump has so warped expectations that too many can’t admit this. @kschake.bsky.social www.aei.org/articles/tru...

Oh this is just perfect - AI users mad at people stealing their prompts 😂😂😂😂😂

Gardiner was ook al een groot pleitbezorger van #Brexit... en om de Brexit te laten slagen moet de EU verdwijnen. Zo simpel is het. Dat is de agenda. En die is niet in het Nederlandse belang nos.nl/nieuwsuur/ar...

Alle maskers vallen af. De EU moet kapot, vindt Trump-trouwe Denktank. Waarom? Omdat de EU als enige nog een vuist maakt in de westerse wereld tegen de techgiganten en Amerikaanse monopoliehouders. Als dat geen schallend compliment voor de kracht van de EU is! nos.nl/l/2595747

Btw, why the western analytical community and the Pentagon, etc, are all trying to say Ukraine’s big problem is that they have not drafted all their people and sent them to the front, is because they are trying to shift responsibility away from their own terrible failures.

You can tell which Democrats have moral courage, a conscience, values, and principles based on whether or not they're standing with trans people when it's unpopular.

How humankind’s 10m-year love affair with booze might end www.economist.com/christmas-sp... From The Economist

Vrijgelaten Palestijnse gevangenen vertellen over foltering en seksueel misbruik in Israëlische gevangenissen. "Mijn cliënt vroeg me om niet meer te komen, want rondom elk bezoekje werd hij mishandeld", zegt advocaat Ben Marmarelli.

I have to say that I'm largely disappointed by the updates to EU REACH plans for restrictions on lead in ammunition. Preventing the impact on defence is likely the area that requires most care and effort it is though, I feel, used as an excuse to defer restrictions that would affect hunting. 🌍

Good on Norway to only on express support for the #ICC, but name the US as the source of threats against the Court and rule of law 👇 That may seem obvious, but this isn't something Canada has done. Do we have the will and principles to do so, @anitaoakvilleeast.bsky.social?

'The evidence proves that the West's current strategy – arming Ukraine, imposing sanctions, hardening critical infrastructure – is fracturing Russia's military, economic and political cohesion' write William Dixon and Maksym Beznosiuk.

Russia is losing - and its neighbourhood will bear the brunt www.rusi.org/explore-our-...

It’s a dark day for Europe: the EU Parliament quiescently adopted the first Omnibus package aimed at deregulating - not simplifying - the EU, thus self damaging EU regulatory autonomy and caving in to US pressure and that of special interests. Omnibus I will be challenged before Court of Justice

How can the 'CLIMATE' Commissioner defend scrapping the 2035 ban on combustion engines? Just asking as there's NO rationale, be it economic, social or planetary, justifying that U-turn - as not even in the interest of EU automotive industry EUCO www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

We hebben in elk geval de mooiste rapportages om te kunnen voorlezen aan onze kleinkinderen hoe de "death by a thousand cuts" van de Nederlandse natuur uitpakte en hoe we uitstellen en niks doen tot kunst verhieven

Armed mercenaries tied to Russia’s FSB and formerly linked to Wagner are now guarding Russian shadow fleet tankers. Hired through Moran Security, they wear camo, isolate themselves from crews, and often override foreign captains. Danish pilots say they act as the real authority on board

Een ruime meerderheid van de boeren hield donderdag een vreedzame betoging. Meer dan zevenduizend demonstranten uit 27 lidstaten en veertig Europese landbouworganisaties waren van de partij. Boos, ongerust en bang voor de toekomst.

The choice EU leaders face today is not the reparations loan vs. "Eurobonds". The choice is agreeing on a workable solution that rapidly gives a lot of money to Ukraine vs. going back to the drawing board with no clear idea where to go next while Ukraine's money is running out. Should be obvious.

Trump Announces 5,000% Increase In All Numbers

Given the location, it won't be bears that take down this Libertarian Utopia. But it could be dengue or, hopefully, screwworm.

"Not since the ransacking of the Library of Alexandria have we witnessed such a wanton, intentional assault on scientific knowledge."

As far as I can tell, RFK Jr.'s latest antivax stunt runs counter to the WMA Declaration of Helsinki. Withholding HepB vaccination clearly does not meet any definition of clinical equipoise. Doing it anyway, overseas, is straight up colonialist medicine. Details in Dr. Jacobs's thread below.

Made a site comparing the sizes of living things :) The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used > neal.fun/size-of-life/

This is very topical given two recent podcast episodes and my particular interest in wolf protection in the EU. 🌍🦤

Swedish courts have blocked the planned January wolf hunt that was supposed to further reduce the Swedish wolf population. The courts argue it might affect the conservation status negatively. 🦊 www.domstol.se/nyheter/2025...

The #EU is preparing a gift for #pesticide giants: toxic pesticides could stay on the market forever, with no safety tests at all. Yes, forever approvals. Yes, this is real. Sign now to stop it. action.wemove.eu/sign/2025-12...

Coexistence with large carnivores is not a fixed end point — it is an ongoing, adaptive process that requires ecological, social and governance dimensions to align. Below a new #LCIE perspective paper on coexistence with #LargeCarnivores, developed for the European Commission. 🦊 1/4

🐙 The GBIF Secretariat is seeking a senior data engineer to work with our Engineering team! 🌏 This is a fully remote contractor role, initially for twelve months, with potential travel to workshops or meetings with GBIF partners. 🚀 Deadline: 9 January 2026 🔗gbif.link/senior-dat...

Apparently, the logic that applies to guns doesn't apply to drugs. #Trumpistan "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" "Drugs doesn't kill people, people kill people" "Fentanyl: one pill kills" "Guns: one bullet kills"

People don’t know or care about their history. Of all places in Chili. Pinochet is laughing out loud in his grave.

📌

De EU bereidt een cadeautje voor pesticidenreuzen voor. Dit is een en al een nachtmerrie voor de rest van ons. Ja, voor goedkeuring—voor altijd. Ja, zonder veiligheidstests. En, ja, dit is echt. Teken nu om het te stoppen. action.wemove.eu/sign/2025-12...

😱 The EU plans to remove renewal deadlines for most pesticides. That means companies wouldn’t have to test for new risks & toxic pesticides could stay on the market indefinitely. 📢 Speak up now and tell the Commission: people, farmers, and nature come first - not industry profits! #ProtectMyPlate

Wie het anti-Europese discours van de regering-Trump afdoet als een wake-upcall, onderschat de diepere geopolitieke verschuiving. Niet alle Europese politici beseffen de impact daarvan. Ook niet in België en Vlaanderen.

"Then in just the last week, the Ukrainians executed a military operation that pushed the Russians back about twice the distance as it had taken the Russians to advance in more than four months. It's interesting that this story has not yet appeared in the New York Times.'

There are problems with binary definitions of nativeness “Dilemmas arise from the dynamic nature of species' distribution ranges on longer time scales, in the application to smaller regions defined by arbitrary borders, & limited knowledge of species' past distributions” doi.org/10.1002/oik....

If you think that dramatic spikes in ocean temperatures aren’t much of a concern, it’s time to think again. There is no time to wait. #ActOnClimate #climate #energy #heatwave #ClimateBreakdown

And, btw, Trump's oil "sanctions" were never meant to be serious and were part of his con to seem like he might be tough on Putin when he was working out a deal with Putin.

🧬 Today, we ran a webinar addressing questions about monitoring #genetic #biodiversity with genetic indicators. Thanks @seanmhoban.bsky.social @jgeue.bsky.social @jmergeay.bsky.social @joostraeymaekers.bsky.social for joining the panel! 🍿 The recording will be available in January. #consgen #KMGBF

People who are saying that Trump's new National Security Strategy should not be taken seriously should ask themselves this: Was it right or wrong not to take Project 2025 seriously?

📉 Our new paper shows Bewick’s Swan numbers in NW/NE Europe have fallen to ~12,900 birds - a 56.7% decline since 1995, with further losses predicted by 2026 unless survival or breeding success improves. Flyway-wide conservation is urgent. 🦢 Download paper > tidsskrift.dk/Wildfowl/art... #Ornithology

Terwijl Europese inlichtingendiensten worstelden met bureaucratische protocollen rondom mysterieuze drone-incidenten, vulden zeven studenten het gat in de defensie. Gewapend met openbare data en een huurauto legden ze een verontrustend patroon bloot. ioplus.nl/nl/posts/hoe...