More evidence that we now need to regulate social media platforms and AI as what they are - massive polluters of the information ecosystems we depend on.

Ours is to reason why, actually. I always disliked the claim that capitalism is driven by greed and fear, but if you want an explanation of what we are living through, that hypothesis is hard to better.

What happens if you completely instrumentalise Higher Education? www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Fascinating.

From the climate to the economy, Republican policies and lies destroy everything.

The daily photo. RHS Wisley, Surrey. April 2025

Take Me To Church. Iddesleigh, Devon, UK. April 2021

The daily photo. Stoney Middleton, Peak District, UK, April 2022.

I think Americans are most worried about Americans.

John Oxley, spot-on about the AntiChrist-ianity of the claims to Christian faith on the populist right. open.substack.com/pub/joxleywr...

Such a window of opportunity to drive a more ambitious deal. At EU and UK levels the context is there. For some reason Labour is still running with a 2020 strategy.

Hoekstra: “The only way forward is more electrification, more nuclear, more solar, more wind, more battery capacity, more interconnectors in the European Union, and all of it with much more speed.” More and more people are saying it. www.ft.com/content/5102...

One Nation under Satan.

The FIFA World Cup in MAGA America: neoliberalism meets oligarchy meets ensh*ttification. Jonathan Liew in the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Did the BBC assume that asylum applications, unlike every other facet of human society, were completely free of fraud? Seems like a complete loss of perspective over their investigation, which is now into its second day of dominating its headlines

The daily photo. Parisian walkway, April 2017.

Grift, grift, and a bit more grift. How can any voter tolerate this?

I was also surprised by that line. But someone here pointed out it’s in the Book of Isaiah (1.15). When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!

So now we know the answer to the question “But who will look after the billionaires?”

Looking on the bright side, our grandchildren and great grandchildren are going to think we are worst people who ever walked on the planet. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

"[Trump's] destroying his own base. He's destroying his own credibility. He's destroying his own power. And even though that means he's more dangerous, because he's going to be more desperate, I think we can see a path—a difficult path—but a path that can be traversed with great determination."

from my book Nervous States

I take no pleasure in sharing this bylinetimes.com/2026/04/13/m...

The daily photo. Wimbledon Common, April 2020.

Ukraine becoming the world’s most effective military under Zelensky’s leadership — while the historically powerful US Armed Forces has its reputation decimated by Donald Trump — is exactly what this nation deserves for voters disrespecting it so much they twice gave Trump the White House.

We are deciding right now if we are to be a nation of concentration camps and ethnic cleansing. And there is much citizens can do!

I’m not Catholic, but I am Team Pope.

Technically, the Kremlin is correct: Orbán was never a friend of Russia, he was a payed employee.

Worth remembering when Reform and the Tories attempt to position themselves as 'pro-business' that a majority of business leaders support the net zero transition and large numbers think political climate scepticism and hostility to clean tech is deeply damaging. www.businessgreen.com/news/4528251...

Today, Pam Bondi defied a federal subpoena to testify on the Epstein files. The DOJ says her testimony is "moot" because she was fired. This is a textbook obstruction strategy. If Bondi doesn’t face a contempt vote, Congressional oversight is officially a myth. Read more in my recent essay:

Alan Elrod on what the MAGA regime reveals about deep American malaise. www.liberalcurrents.com/after-a-dark...

Radio the same. And the word “populist” does not cover it.

ExxonMobil and other fossil fuel giants funded an illegal black ops outfit that spied on and attacked climate scientists for years, now one of their operatives has been apprehended and is being extradited back to New York. The fossil fuels industry, however, remains untouchable.

"Trump presided over catastrophic mismanagement of a global pandemic. Then he led an insurrection. And then we put him back in power again...that's damning." On the pod, @aselrod.bsky.social is great on what Trump's colossal unfitness says about our country: newrepublic.com/article/2089...

My favorite part of going to the doctor is when he touches my forehead holding the glowing orb of light

Guess how many times this Spiked piece - which blames Orban’s loss on ‘identity politics’ and ‘therapy culture’ - mentions that Furedi is literally working for Orban? democracyforsale.substack.com/p/orbans-brits

Did Fraser Nelson ever share this view with his columnists at the Spectator?

The daily photo. Dowland, Devon, UK. April 2021.

If you want to know what a real Christian is like, see Pope Leo. If you want to know what AntiChrist-ianity looks like, see Trump and the entire MAGA regime.

The daily photo. Flowers in the rain, Wimbledon, April 2022.

Orban has conceded. Majority too big for him to try any nonsense. Tisza is going to have plenty of challenges in sorting out Orban's mess but this is a good day.

It's not just that Orbán losing inspires hope in other competitive-autocratic countries ruled by right-wing nationalist authoritarians. It's that his loss materially changes things in those other countries, because he's been operating as a headquarters and funding source...

1/ The starting point: Orbán did not build an illiberal democracy. He built an authoritarian regime: an illiberal kleptocracy with institutional cover.

Perhaps now is a good time to share the @financialtimes.com investigative series on Viktor Orban. To start with here’s the one we sent a reporter up in a plane for … (300 free clicks) as.ft.com/r/8cd54659-d...

Remarkable. Democratic frontsliding.

So far, Vance’s foreign policy record is yelling at Zelensky for not thanking Trump enough, campaigning for AfD in Germany and Orban in Hungary, getting rejected by the Pope on his invite to the US, and failing in the Iran negotiations.

This is what it looks like when you sell your soul for ambition as the realization sets in that you boarded a sinking ship that is taking you down with it.

The Strait of Hormuz crisis is doing something a decade of subsidies and mandates struggled to achieve: making millions of people want an EV who previously discounted them. www.theguardian.com/environment/...