Tor Kr. Birkeland

Trump refuses to accept that for Netanyahu and Putin forever war is the only option | Simon Tisdall The US president thought he could impose peace through sheer personality, but he didn’t reckon with two leaders with so much to lose, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall

A good take on Putin and Netanyahu.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Horrible reality. Very well put.

The 220 top buyers of Trump's memecoin will have dinner with him at his golf club tonight.

The average price of admission is $1M per person.

Trump is literally selling access to government to the highest bidders.

4. Creating and socializing a Code of Conduct for integrating AI tools into democracy movement work.

2. Developing and supporting early and systematic training efforts to equip democracy activists and organizations with the skills to use AI effectively and responsibly.

3. Launching an intentional and collaborative research agenda to employ AI tools and evaluate their impact on movement outcomes.

Good stuff indeed! If you're curious about the conclusion, the workshop identified four urgent tasks:

1. Establishing a consortium like Coders without Borders or a similar collaborative to connect AI developers with democracy movements.

This seems pretty significant, no?

Joakim Medin är hemma Efter 51 dagar fängslad i Turkiet är Dagens ETC-journalisten Joakim Medin hemma.

Den beste nyheten i dag, på Norges grunnlovsdag: Den svenske journalisten Joakim Medin er hjemme etter 51 dager i tyrkisk fengsel!

www.etc.se/story/joakim...

#FactFriday ➡️ Military spending increased in all world regions, with particularly rapid growth in both Europe and the Middle East. Explore the data: www.sipri.org/databases/milex

Accurate, dependable information matters more than ever. Invest in the facts. Support #SIPRI: bit.ly/4gI9QkX

Imamoğlu's lawyer was arrested. Now the lawyer's lawyer has been arrested. What could possibly happen next? 🤔

"So ask yourself the question: what’s the “great honour and glory” of your life? What do you hope one day to look back on?"

Inspiring by @rutgerbregman.com

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

bsky.app/profile/tork...

Valid for Americans too.

bsky.app/profile/tork...

Turks feeling insulted every time Atatürk is criticized or labeled as a dictator, is one important factor keeping democracy at bay in Turkey.

Me and My Censor | Made in China Journal When Liu Lipeng first contacted me in July 2020, I was still in China. I initially wanted to write this as a fictional short story, but I didn’t have the courage to do it at the time because it would ...

A thriller of a 1984-type story from China, very well written by @murongxuecun.bsky.social.

A shorter version is available at The Guardian with the title " ‘Why would he take such a risk?’ My censor and me"

madeinchinajournal.com/2025/04/03/m...

How is this a victory? Did the opposition call for a postponement?

In Slovakia, our grassroots movement helped oust a neo-Nazi. We can do it again | Alexandra Bitušíková Professor Alexandra Bitušíková explains how face-to-face local activism was crucial in bringing down the neo-Nazi People’s Party Our Slovakia

There are weekly, nonviolent protests in Slovakia, against the Russia-leaning prime minister. They build on the successful ousting of a neo-Nazi governor in 2017.

"Our key message since December 2024 is simple: 'Slovakia is Europe. We are Europe'."

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Oslo Børs raser etter tollsjokk: – Litt krisestemning Global børssmell og kraftig oljeprisfall sender børsgiganter rett ned.

Her omtales Kongsberg Gruppen som en av de mest omsatte aksjene på børsen. I en verden hvor normale folk ønsker å unngå krig, er det samtidig mest normalt å tjene penger på krig.

Dette kunne vi endret på hvis vi ville.

e24.no/boers-og-fin...

Godspeed!

Yeah, it's definitely not the first time they've done this, election or not.

Turks are leaving X for Bluesky because X is censoring users upon requests from the Turkish authoritarian government.

So, will it be a pro-democracy movement in Turkey or simply a CHP or frustration movement? I'm thinking demanding the release of Demirtaş would be a sign that it's pro-democracy.

De er vel egentlig på mange måter fremdeles barn. Jeg tror saftig skattlegging kan hjelpe dem (der de er) med å tre inn i de voksnes rekker.

There are 35 billionaires in Turkey whose combined wealth is almost three times that of the poorest 42.5 million in the country (i.e. the bottom 50%.)

Which puts the current protests in a broader context than simply anti-Erdoğan.

Will we see a peak participation higher than 3.5% of the population in Turkey at a key event?

They're active in construction and energy because that's where the real money is. They use their media ownership to provide regime-friendly news in exchange for huge government contracts in construction and energy.

Who made this map? What's the difference between line and arrow? Is this about 100% ownership or owning shares?

This one is pretty offensive but hilarious:

"Fuck off, whore
Sorry
(I said the right thing)"

It's a reference to a street interview that's become a meme: youtu.be/A3FqO7HSKGo?...

A passerby interrupts the interview and says "Erdoğan forever!" and the grandma tells her off.

Another pun, here:
"Honey, can we separate grudges and state affairs?"

Normally it would be religion and state, but religion (din) has been replaced with grudges (kin).

Difficult to translate and several puns, but: "It used too much electricity so I'm switching to eco mode"

Eko refers to Ekrem İmamoğlu.
The light bulb is the logo of AKP.