Are bubbles good, actually? On Jeff Bezos’s defence of AI mania

Another interesting counter view:
(guest link)

Are bubbles good, actually? - on.ft.com/4oZdHyg via @FT

Maybe these tech gold rushes are a symptom of a need for rebalancing.

Increase aggregate demand so there's opportunities for real businesses to take off.

Tip the balance a little so the market is more led by consumer demand than the whims of eccentric and socially detached billionaires.

I feel like the AI bubble, and other tech sector issues like crypto ponzi schemes, are a symptom of an imbalance between capital and labour.

There's all this capital to burn but the lack of spending power of citizens means lack of viable business opportunities.

I think the claim that the only alternative being stagnation ignores opportunity costs. It compares a world where money is being invested in AI to a world where it isn't being invested at all, when shouldn't comparison be to the money going elsewhere?

There's possibly more weight in the cognitive capacity section, but will the benefits be enough to justify the costs?

I think there'd be clearer benefits in a green energy or house-building bubble. (permanently cheaper energy and homes)

Interesting piece.

The energy argument of a bit of stretch. If the sector was too temporarily need extra energy, but then drop its demand leaving excess supply, the logic would make sense, but isn't it more that this technology will cause a permanent increase in demand?

At least it was for Cuomo and not Adams!

Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Center for Civil Liberties, spoke at De Balie in Amsterdam about the role of citizens in war, Russian aggression, and the fact that occupation is not peace.

📹 Center for Civil Liberties/Facebook

I tried to read it and hit a paywall.

I read the whole article.
I'll now be very surprised if Leticia James' case isn't thrown out.

Apparently a relative testified to a grand jury that she'd been living the property rent-free.

The prosecution then went ahead with another grand jury but didn't invite her to testify this time... 🤦

"Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here." Anna Bower Monday, October 20, 2025, 5:40 PM Share On: f X inK My Signal exchange with the interim U.S. attorney about the Letitia James grand jury.

EXCLUSIVE: One Saturday afternoon in October, my phone lit up with a notification.

I glanced down at the message.

“Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” it began.

So began my text exchange with the woman who is prosecuting the president's perceived political enemies.

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...

Ofcourse. It's a good thing.

But it's important to understand what "authenticy" means in practice if we want more people to develop those skills.

Ah, it finally popped up in my feed! 😆

I've not seen this one. Anyone got a screenshot/link?

How it started vs How it's going.

More details: buff.ly/GbIKw4P

This is very much a Westminster insider's view of conferences.

You need to expand your horizons by attending Glee Club at the Lib Dem Spring conference in March.

Save the date 13th-15th March. I'll buy you a drink!

The international community has gotten used to the idea that Trump needs to be constantly buttered up for any chance of influencing him to do the right thing.

Very frustrating, but sadly necessary for now.

Well, I guess it depends what happens next.

WW2 left horrible devastation in its wake, but was followed by a peace in Western Europe which has allowed its people to grow and prosper.

After decades of conflict between Israel and Palestine, it does now look like a lasting peace could be possible.

I'm more reading this as a challenge to the universe itself: "Go on, prove me wrong. I DARE you to prove me wrong!"

I wish you'd say upfront when an article is premium.

It's quite annoying to be lured in by a headline, only to find that it's not covered by my subscription.

6 months until the Hungarian elections.

George was just trying to get to work.

ICE pepper-sprayed him, dragged him from his car, locked him in a detention center, and placed him on suicide watch. He even missed his young daughter’s birthday in the process.

This man is a veteran and American citizen. Don't look away.

?

Rape and torture in Assad's prisons: Syrian women break their silence During the brutal 13-year Syrian civil war, Bashar al-Assad's regime imprisoned women for their real or presumed links to the “terrorist” opposition. Many endured rape, sexual violence, and torture du...

During the 13-year Syrian civil war, Assad's regime imprisoned women for their real or presumed links to the “terrorist” opposition. Many endured rape, sexual violence, and torture during their incarceration. Here are the testimonies of some former Syrian women prisoners.
f24.my/BUS2 #longreads

I don't think he's qualifying the legal freedom.

I think he's more saying that while there should be no legal restrictions, society should take a dim view of it.

Which is fair.
There's plenty of behaviours that are legal but not socially acceptable.

So although it sounds like the chap did himself no favours in the way he presented himself in court, I'm glad it was overturned on appeal.

And yes, Jenrick is definitely showing some severe double standards here.

Nice summary of the case.

My take is that if police had arrived and asked him to tone it down and he'd ignored requests, and then warnings, then that would have reasonably escalated into a charge of disorder.

Given that escalation didn't happen, it looks like the arrest was more about expedience.

I think that kind of silliness was common among leftists long before the internet.

E.g. their opposition to intervention in Kosovo.

Inside Stephen Miller’s Secret Plan to Normalize Trump’s Dictator Rule He wants to supercharge searing civil tensions to get low-information voters to embrace their inner authoritarian. Exactly two Democrats appear to fully grasp this.

JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom are doing something new and important: They understand Stephen Miller's theory of fascist power politics, and they've developed a theory on how to combat it. More Dems need to reckon with Miller's understanding of the moment.

New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2014...