João Seixas

Bored of Peace

Dozens of Palestinian journalists beaten, starved or raped, report alleges Israeli prison service and IDF reject allegations after research by Committee to Protect Journalists

Almost 60 Palestinian journalists detained in Israeli prisons since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack have been beaten, starved and subjected to sexual violence, including rape, a report alleges.

If US launches an air campaign that fails to quickly deliver something US can call victory, could get quagmire & pressure for further escalation. Meanwhile, war destabilizes region already rocked by Gaza, Syria, Yemen conflicts & many other challenges. Again, why is this in US interest? (8/11)

A few thoughts on possible US-Iran conflict (1/11):

Living presidents of South Korea:

Sentenced to 15 years
Acting president
Sentenced to 24 years
Acting president
Enjoying retirement
Sentenced to life
Acting president
Acting president
Acting president
Acting president
Climbed fence during the last non-acting president’s coup attempt

UK blocking Trump from using RAF bases for strikes on Iran The disagreement over the use of British sites is behind the US president’s withdrawal of support for the Chagos Islands deal, The Times understands

"The Times understands that the UK is yet to give permission for the US to use the bases in the event that Trump orders a strike on Iran, owing to concerns that it would be a breach of international law."

This is a BIG deal given the US-UK military relationship.

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Un Russe condamné à quatre ans de prison ferme à Paris pour des attaques par rançongiciel Agé de 39 ans, il a été reconnu coupable de cyberattaques menées à l’aide du rançongiciel Phobos, dans le cadre d’un des premiers dossiers majeurs en lien avec ce type de cybercriminalité.

Un Russe condamné à quatre ans de prison ferme à Paris pour des attaques par rançongiciel

Tommy Robinson was barred from the US. Trump's border force has now let him in The anti-migrant activist reportedly received a visa hours before his flight departed

British far-right agitator Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson), previously barred from the US because of his long rap sheet, secured a visa and has met with Kari Lake, the self-proclaimed acting CEO of USAGM. He has recently been revealed to be in the pay of the Kremlin for decades.

I think with Land the ’scientific racism‘ came first though they are intertwined.
Also there was a certain point in his career where meth broke his brain and he turned to the far right.

This explains a lot about Thiel and Musk.

My husband is from SF (& I lived there in '16-18 for his-family reasons, we disliked it and moved back to ATX) but the way this pervades even the average-ass randos who live in the Bay, and is infiltrating Austin, now (as the next-SF tech destination) is so enraging.

too many things that sound and feel absurd are very, very real

I talk about this in my classes and at first my students think I’m delusional. I can see it on their faces.

Silicon Valley’s Favorite Doomsaying Philosopher Nick Land believes that digital superintelligence is going to kill us all. In San Francisco, his followers ask: What if, instead of trying to stop an A.I. takeover, you work to bring it on as fast as ...

We should be talking a lot more about how the San Francisco tech scene is populated by a strange cult of doom acceleration nerds who fantasize about using computers to destroy humanity.

www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Bernie Sanders and Gavin Newsom become adversaries over push to tax California billionaires A California proposal to levy a hefty tax on billionaires is turning some of the party's leading figures into adversaries.

"Enough is enough. The billionaire class cannot have it all. This nation belongs to all of us." — Bernie Sanders

abc7news.com/post/bernie-...

You know, you trace the origins of anarchist or communist intellectuals and you get hardcore dudes with centuries old scholarly traditions behind them.

You trace the origins of silicon valley intellectuals and you get whatever the fuck this is.

@alsvid.bsky.social
@161bklyn.bsky.social

Artificial intelligence might well kill us all in time but human stupidity is doing it faster.

Every one of these guys sounds like the weed dealer who made you sit there and hold his iguana and watch a VHS copy of faces of death before selling you an eighth that was half oregano in 1997.

This is just really embarrassing for these guys. Your intellectual hero is an amphetamine casualty from the Britpop years. It would be less ridiculous to be queuing up for a lecture by Ginger Spice.

Exclusive | The Accomplice Who Was Going to Testify Against Jeffrey Epstein—Then Went Dark Model scout Jean-Luc Brunel was negotiating to provide prosecutors with evidence against the sex offender in 2016 but ultimately backed out.

He planned to testify against Jeffrey Epstein.
Then, he went dark—and ended up dead.

gift link:

www.wsj.com/us-news/epst...

Hunter Thompson was right when he wrote: “Circus-Circus is what the whole hep world would be doing Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war. This is the sixth Reich.”

Newsom and Lurie Will Both Make TV Ads Against California Billionaire Tax, as Rich Guys Launch Opposition The billionaires who don’t want to pay the California billionaire tax are lining up big bucks to defeat the ballot measure, and putting Gavin Newsom and Daniel Lurie into ads saying please don’t tax t...

The Democratic Party finds its voice:

“The billionaires who don’t want to pay the California billionaire tax are lining up big bucks to defeat the ballot measure, and putting Gavin Newsom and Daniel Lurie into ads saying please don’t tax the poor billionaires.”

sfist.com/2026/02/18/n...

Propaganda during WWI and WWII in fact

I know the endless sports gambling promotion was already bad enough but for some reason this stuff (also Giannis and Kalshi, substack polymarket embeds, etc) gives me End Times vibes. Just dark as hell, all of it.

Musk Rails Against ‘Woke And Sanctimonious’ AI Rivals—Insists ‘Grok Musk Win’ Elon Musk argued his company xAI's chatbot Grok is a counter to rivals ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, whom he labeled as “woke” and “weak sauce” on culture war issues.

Elon Musk argued his company xAI's chatbot Grok is a counter to rivals ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, whom he labeled as “woke” and “weak sauce” on culture war issues.

Russian weapons transport ship SPARTA IV with a likely warship escort spent 2+ days maneuvering above comms cables.

EUAFRICA E1 (under construction), Africa Coast to Europe, one unidentified and SEA-ME-WE 3 + TAGIDE (both decommissioned).

Took place of Portugals coast. Replay: Marinetraffic

The Germans ban Nazi speech and Twitter and other platforms complied with this long before the DSA so is State Dept is just going to go for it and make a Nazi website?

Exclusive: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere The U.S. State Department is developing an online portal that will enable people in Europe and elsewhere to see content banned by their governments including alleged hate speech and terrorist propagan...

Exclusive: The US State Department is developing an online portal to enable people in Europe and elsewhere to see content banned by their governments including alleged hate speech and terrorist propaganda, sources told Reuters reut.rs/4cySsA6