torontologist Chris

Subtle reminder that Barack Obama inherited all of the elements of executive overreach that the neocons developed in the early 2000’s, and rather than dismantle them, he expanded them

it keeps going back and forth between being infuriating and funny how much we study this when the answer is always the same and it never matters

Military spending groupthink and Canada’s left The vast majority of Western politicians have boxed themselves into too much of a corner after having demonized Russia to such an extent to really raise serious questions about the need for increased ...

Mark Carney has committed Canada to spend 5% of GDP on defence—more than double NATO’s target.

No serious debate. No scrutiny. Just consensus from a political class sleepwalking into permanent militarization while public services decline.

if you asked me to diagnose the western game industry's current problem it would start with "landlords have absorbed basically all disposable income"

Israel’s new separation wall will sever Jordan Valley from rest of West Bank The army is issuing evacuation orders and seizing land to prepare a massive barrier — part of a wider project to annex the Palestinian 'breadbasket.'

Israel’s new separation wall will sever Jordan Valley from rest of West Bank

The Israeli army is issuing evacuation orders and seizing land to prepare a massive barrier — part of a wider project to annex the Palestinian ‘breadbasket.’

@mekomit.bsky.social

www.972mag.com/jordan-valle...

Right-wing media is never held to any level of accountability because 90% of its audience doesn’t believe it’s right-wing media

From Indiepocalypse to Sindiegularity

Even if code & art stop being production "bottlenecks", nothing improves in terms of:

* attention: we're not getting more free time to play
* discoverability: algos and chaotic virality rule
* sustainability: prices fall to zero, only landlords win

Palantir co-founder says it exists to kill communists.

"If you are the person who deployed this agent, please reach out. It’s important for us to understand this failure mode, and to that end we need to know what model this was running on and what was in the soul document."

Cyberpunk 2077 data shard or real life quote?

Cancelling billionaires In this exclusive excerpt from their new book, Cancelling Billionaires Before They Cancel Us: The Urgent Case for a Wealth Tax, Linda McQuaig and Neil Brooks trace how societies have confronted runawa...

Extreme wealth is hollowing out democracy, living standards, and a livable planet.

In this excerpt from their new book, 'Cancelling Billionaires Before They Cancel Us,' @lindamcquaig.bsky.social and Neil Brooks argue a wealth tax’s moment may be closer than we think.

Israeli strike in eastern Lebanon kills four near Syrian border - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-strike-eastern-lebanon-kills-four-near-syrian-border

“Migration: it went too far, it was destabilizing,” says the Secretary of State who backed the coup in Honduras which led to mass violence and a surge of more than 500k Hondurans to the U.S.

Video: AF Post via X (@AFpost)

The eyes of the world have turned away, but Gaza is still starving and the West Bank is still being annexed piece by piece in blatant violation of international law.

🚨 Israel has approved a plan to begin registering West Bank land as “state property” for the first time since 1967, Al Jazeera reports, citing Israel’s public broadcaster KAN. Analysts describe the move, advanced by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and others, as de facto annexation, noting most Palestinian land was left unregistered after Israel halted the process in 1967 and that international law bars an occupying power from confiscating land. KAN also described the decision as another step toward annexation, saying it opens the door to regulating outposts, lifting restrictions on Jewish land purchases, reviving a state land acquisition committee, and expanding civil enforcement, including in Areas A and B. Palestinian Authority officials and Hamas have condemned the move as illegal and void.

State of Palestine @Palestine_UN Palestinian Presidency condemns Israel’s decision allowing it to classify West Bank land as a state property:

🚨 Israel has approved a plan to begin registering West Bank land as “state property” for the first time since 1967, Al Jazeera reports, citing Israel’s public broadcaster KAN.

Analysts describe the move, advanced by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich & others, as de facto annexation, noting most...

What’s the German word for resenting the pickle for being in the brine?

1C out? Spring cleaning!

Hillary Clinton: "More people were deported under my husband and Barack Obama without killing American citizens and without putting children into detention camps than were in the first Trump term or this first year of Trump's second term."

He spent decades perfecting his voice. Now he says Google stole it. NPR’s David Greene says he was “completely freaked out” when he heard an AI voice that sounded just like his own, and he’s suing over it.

NEW: David Greene was the voice of NPR's "Morning Edition." Is he also secretly the voice of Google's popular AI podcast tool, NotebookLM?

Google says no. Greene thinks they're lying. My story today breaks the news of his lawsuit and compares the two voices. Listen for yourself: wapo.st/3ZHRvho

1/3 What Musk is really referring to here is, of course “race” - that construct that served to define the hierarchies of wealth & power structured by modern colonialism. Like other far right racists though, he uses the word “culture” as a seemingly less pernicious synonym.

The shocking, rule-breaking new move in pro wrestling: getting specific about politics | CNN Business The viral-video chants of “F**k ICE” from the crowd at an All Elite Wrestling bout earlier this month were the latest, loudest sign of a shift within pro wrestling.

Wrestling has relied on political storylines for as long as there’s been wrestling. But the “Fuck ICE” chants have turned it into something else entirely, and it’s a stark difference between AEW and WWE. W/ @tomscocca.bsky.social www.cnn.com/2026/02/14/b...

The Israeli government wants you to stop calling Oct. 7 a 'massacre.' Yes, really. Israel's government objected to calling Hamas' Oct. 7 attack a 'massacre' in a new bill, as part of a strategy to alter the tale of that day.

Reminder: The biggest source of disparagement of hostage families and downplaying of Oct 7th has been the Israeli government because anything that makes Bibi look bad is verboten. Let that sink in.

forward.com/opinion/8049...

This is nice and all but “statehood is a right” is some surreal essentialization of the ornately contrived

You can be a dramaturge as well

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in February, 1818. He later chose to celebrate his birthday on February 14th.

The Secretary General’s spokesman, for a second day, failed to speak clearly or defend UN’s Albanese against a manufactured misinformation campaign:

bsky.app/profile/drop...

🚨France, Germany, Italy, and the United States have escalated attacks on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, demanding her resignation over remarks she did not make. Here’s everything you need to know: 1. U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz and the leading Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee accused Albanese of calling Israel the “common enemy of humanity.” 2. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot went further, branding her a “political activist who stirs up hate,” accusing her of comparing Israel to the Third Reich, and announcing France will formally demand her removal at the UN Human Rights Council session on February 23, 2026. He insisted she must resign immediately. 🔴3. But Albanese never called Israel the “common enemy of humanity.” She described the system enabling genocide in Palestine as humanity’s common enemy. The quote has been widely misrepresented. 4. French officials also criticized her for appearing at the Doha Forum alongside a Hamas leader and Iran’s foreign minister. In fact, she was not on stage with those figures. Paris has long accused her of “justifying” the October 7 attacks for contextualizing them within decades of occupation, a characterization President Emmanuel Macron previously called a “disgrace.”

5. The Trump administration has previously demanded her removal and imposed sanctions on her for documenting Israel’s crimes. 6. Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul echoed the push, writing: “I respect the UN system based on independent rapporteurs. However, Albanese has made numerous inappropriate statements in the past. I condemn her recent statements on Israel. Her position is untenable.” 7. Italy’s foreign minister also supported her removal, stating that Albanese’s positions “do not reflect those of the Italian government” and that her “behaviors, statements, and initiatives are not appropriate for the position she holds within a body of peace and guarantee such as the United Nations.” 8. Supporters, including various scholars, say the campaign is political retaliation for her reports on Israeli human rights violations. 9. Amnesty International France called Paris’s move a “shameful misrepresentation,” stating: “No, Francesca Albanese did not designate Israel as the common enemy of humanity… We denounce this attack on the independence of her mandate.” The group added it was “shocking” that France’s foreign minister repeated false claims while publicly prioritizing the fight against disinformation.

10. In an interview with L’Humanité, Albanese responded to @jnbarrot : “Everyone makes mistakes, it’s human. But we correct, we rectify,” calling on him to apologize and retract his false comments. 11. The backlash has not come only from Western governments.. “We don’t agree with much of what she says. We wouldn’t use the language that she’s using in describing the situation,” the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. The fight now centers on whether @FranceskAlbs , an independent UN Special Rapporteur can continue documenting Israeli crimes without political reprisal. 🎥 Video via L’Humanité. References in reply.

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs My full AJ Forum speech last week: the common enemy of humanity is THE SYSTEM that has enabled the genocide in Palestine, including the financial capital that funds it, the algorithms that obscure it and the weapons that enable it.

🚨France, Germany, Italy, & the U.S. have escalated attacks on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, demanding her resignation over remarks she did not make.

Here’s everything you need to know:

1. U.S. Amb. Mike Waltz & the leading Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee accused...

Guys lets all watch SAreee vs Mika Iwata today for valentines day

whats more romantic then two women hitting each other as hard as possible where it sounds like a shotgun going off

Video: Zak via X (@zakfilm)