The billionaire sex pests pushing generative AI keep spinning up badly remembered science fiction scenarios of apocalypse, as both advertisement ("we are literally creating a god... it might be too powerful!") and as a way of shifting the conversation from its actual real world harms it already does

MTG can be a useful tool to weaponize against right-wingers but she is not and will never be anything resembling an ally or on the same side.

…always gonna happen. It is not everyone else’s fault for realizing how discredited and fucking stupid and weak you are

Once the dust does settle, I don’t want to hear any excuses on “oh right plan, wrong guys,” or we gave up too quickly, or we need to mow the lawn again. People who’ve wanted an Iran war for decades got what they wanted. You took your shot, and this is what happened, and one could easily argue was…

You got your ass kicked by iran. Iran. Cuba is not gonna be able to put up the same kind of fight so try your luck there (don’t, but), this is catastrophically humiliating not just for trump and the gop, but to the neocons and other elite class types who’ve long pushed for a war on Iran like this

The degree to which the entire U.S. government is going to try to spin any and all of this as a win for them is going to be a) bought by basically nobody and b) so fucking irritating

US has attacked during fake negotiations before. Yes, all sides except maybe Israel have incentive to stop the war, but what evidence is there that the fundamental credible commitment problem and Iran's geographic advantage in Hormuz have been solved on a permanent basis? 3/

First, Iran's FM statement implies that the toll scenario or "go close to Iran side" is still possible. Maybe intentionally vague? Also, does he have the real power? Second, there are huge credible commitment problems on both sides. Iran has closed it with little effort before, can't unsee that. 2/

So, I'm no market expert but have genuinely tried to learn more. Get that today on this news a big shift makes sense for trading so you're not on wrong side. But it doesn't make sense to me to leap to "it's open!" or "markets were right" given Iran's statement and dynamics of situation. 1/

Reminder that there is empirical research to prove the “when the person speaking was 12” point. It’s called Reminiscence Bump and it’s literally from ages 12-14. psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-...

Six years ago, Poland's Law and Justice party (PiS) commanded close to half the electorate and had absorbed every significant force on the Polish right into a single dominant bloc. It now polls as low as 23%. tvpworld.com/92738857/pol...

At Airminded: No longer an island? — IV

OpenAI: We’re burning money like the Joker. A miracle needs to happen for us to turn a profit Microsoft: Please please use our AI systems, we’re teetering on the edge here Anthropic: I wonder what’ll kill us first: lawsuits, regulations or model collapse Media and universities: AI is here to stay

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will join a virtual meeting of world leaders tonight to discuss how to secure the Strait of Hormuz, once conflict in the region has ended. About 40 leaders are expected to join the summit chaired jointly by the United Kingdom & France. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04...

Magyar to relocate Hungarian prime minister’s office in shot at Orbán

European governments are getting WhatsApp and Signal out of their system. 🔗 politi.co/41xZZbU

Trump turns totally toxic for Europe’s far right

So before radar, thinking that bombers are the decisive (and cheap!) weapon that can bomb armies and industries to rubble with near impunity wasn't nearly as obviously false as it is in hindsight. A *lot* of money was spent by almost all countries on a miracle weapon that turned out to be less so.

Before radar, detecting approaching bombers early enough to reliably alert interceptors & get them to the right place & altitude was *hard.* And not for lack of trying! And maintaining constant air patrols would've been eyewateringly expensive. bsky.app/profile/jmko...

It is also worth noting that it was not only the foreseeable development of faster fighter interceptors, but the rather unexpected development of *radar*, that really changed the game. Speed difference between "fast" bombers and fighters was so small that intercepts had to be *precise.*

So even smol Finland spent a hefty chunk of meager defence budgets on a squadron of British state of the art "fast bombers." The Blenheims were indeed hard to intercept when they were introduced in 1937. But they were already risky to fly in 1940, and by 1942 pretty much obsolete.

Drone-counterdrone technology is now evolving so rapidly that the best historical example I can think of is the development of air power in the late 1930s. For example, as late as in 1937 the idea "bomber will always get through", even unescorted, was quite plausible.

Rheinmetall didn't do itself any favours with this, but there is a chance he is less wrong than it might appear. Drone countermeasures are also evolving, and there are things (cheap) drones just can't do. Like reliably hitting hard targets beyond some 15-20 km with enough oomph to wreck them.

The British were so obsessed with maintaining the food supply lines for Royal Navy vessels during the blockade of Napoleonic Europe that we accidentally helped create the Italian Mafia. Like obviously don't do that AGAIN. But supply is serious business.

Dreamt I was at a ‘Beat The Carbs’ party and the invite was a picture of anthropomorphic donuts and pieces of cake playing tennis. Everyone at the party was complaining about the invite being exclusionary so now even my dreams are BlueSky coded.

New times, same old arguments. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism blog discussing the latest developments in the rapidly changing international order and how post-Brexit Britain is stuck in delusions of greatness and cries of Brexit betrayal: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2026/04/new-...

Too many of the political shouters in this country are engulfed in their own parochialism and it really fucking shows folks. It *really* fucking shows.

And it's not just on this, but it's a good example The loudest Australian political discourse is "choose your own adventure" stuff, right down to the fact that it too is nearly always complete fantasy. Information silo's based on shit you want to hear made Trump, Reform, AFD. Stop being dickeads

Australian political "debate" is so profoundly stupid. Australia is recognised around the world as a country that didn't cave to Trump and stood against him. In Australia the discourse is "Albo is so far up Trump's arse he can see Orban's feet" or "Albo hates America!". /n

#SnowyHydro lands $1.9 billion deal to supply 100 pct renewable power for state’s train, tram and electric buses, bringing an end to contracts with #Origin and #Shell.

Exactly one year ago today:

What's even more interesting is the demonstration of the absence of price gouging from the excise reduction. The unleaded shows the natural, underlying behaviour and the diesel shows the refinery capacity and shock issues globally that have occurred for that particular fuel deployment.

The difference between unleaded and diesel prices is pretty astonishing

TMZ setting up in DC to follow politicians around is FINALLY the appropriate lowbrow "news" coverage this administration has merited all along.

One Nation has retained the South Australian seat of Narungga, following a count of ballots that were missed on election day. SAEC said had the ballots been included in the original count, ON's margin in the seat would have increased from 58 to 74 votes. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04... #saparli

The Electric Viking: NSW’s New EV Strategy WILL Change Australia’s Car Market www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pWF... #nswpol #auspol

All But 3 Of The 4,499 Refugees Admitted To The US Under Trump Are White South Africans www.techdirt.com/2026/04/16/a...

A by-election for the Brisbane seat of Stafford will be held on May 16, after the death of independent Queensland MP Jimmy Sullivan. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04... #qldpol

Extra 250-thousand tonnes of Urea on the way from Indonesia for Australian farmers. It's the most commonly used nitrogen fertiliser. This is why it's important for Australia to maintain good relationships with its neighbours. #auspol www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04...

Start with a relevant sample of people for whom PT is a realistic option and you’d probably get a more relevant finding

This article feels a little misleading in that it finds only a small increase in PT use in response to free fares- but waits until halfway through to mention that half of their sample don’t have ACCESS to convenient PT. Anecdotally in central Melb PT seems much busier than usual

Contrast that with someone like Katie McHugh, who truly left the movement and then used the information she had from her time in it to educate the world about Stephen Miller's affinity for white nationalist -- leaking emails, speaking on-record in interviews, etc www.npr.org/2019/12/15/7...

Lauren Southern was Queen Bee of the far-right at her peak and played a huge part in popularizing "white genocide" beliefs among conservative audiences. Someone like her could really put a dent in the movement. But she won't. Instead she's selling books. Absolutely zero respect for that.

Shame on news outlets for letting Lauren Southern do her... third?... publicity tour denouncing the far-right while making no clear efforts to counteract the movement. She continues to seek profit off her association with it while shielding others in it from accountability. She's grifting. That's it

📢 Journalists: Have you used the Wayback Machine in your research or reporting? Share your story & support: ➡️ www.savethearchive.com/journalists/

UK Tory MP who defected to Reform advises One Nation in Australian byelection campaign Former MP Tom Hunt has been working for Pauline Hanson’s party in the seat of Farrer, where One Nation hopes for a game-changing breakthrough www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... #auspol #FarrerVotes

This is what going on the internet used to feel like

The Archbishop of Canterbury, ceremonial head of the Anglican Communion, has expressed solidarity with Pope Leo XIV in calling for peace in the Middle East. apnews.com/article/arch...

What "Do Your Own Research" Actually Means A step-by-step methodology for evaluating any claim and exploring any subject. cardcatalogforlife.substack.com/p/what-do-yo... by Hana Lee Goldin, MLIS