Human–AI symbiosis (best case)

Pau was late, again, thanks to the AI-run tram that insisted on pausing for precisely 12.4 seconds at each station “for optimal urban harmony.” “Urban harmony my arse,” he muttered, stepping out into Barcelona’s midday sun, which was now neatly moderated by micro-reflective paint and smart algae rooftops. Somewhere, a city-wide AI had just nudged the temperature down a degree using a predictive cloud-seeding protocol. It was not magic. It just felt that way. ...

July 21, 2025 · 4 min
An operating table under a harsh white light. Surgeons in academic robes dissect the word 'WOKE' with scalpels and annotated footnotes. Floating thought bubbles contain words like 'Garvey' and 'culture war.'

The strange afterlife of 'woke'

The term “woke” began its journey not as a fashionable slogan but as a survival mechanism within Black America. Its trajectory, from literal vigilance to political litmus test, reveals how language can be both weapon and shield. Survival and vigilance In its earliest uses, “woke” carried the weight of bodily survival and communal resistance. In 1923, Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey exhorted his diasporic audience with the cry, “Wake up Ethiopia! Wake up Africa!”, a metaphorical awakening to racial oppression and collective self-determination. You can still look for him in the WhirlWind. ...

July 20, 2025 · 5 min

Evangelicals for world domination

The ARTE and Artline Films documentary series Evangelicals for World Domination (2023) dissects the improbable journey of evangelical Christianity from tent revivals to the corridors of power. Directed by Thomas Johnson, this three-part investigation charts how a once-fringe religious movement became a geopolitical heavyweight, shaping policies from Washington to Jerusalem. With a mix of archival footage and candid interviews, the series reveals a story of divine ambition meeting earthly power plays, a holy trinity of faith, money, and influence. ...

July 20, 2025 · 11 min

Climate: A survival scaffolding

Recent studies confirm that unchecked climate change is disrupting oceanic systems at an unprecedented scale. The Arctic, warming nearly four times faster than the global average, is a bellwether for planetary collapse. As Carlo warns, the convergence of ocean circulation breakdown and toxic algal blooms could render Earth uninhabitable for most mammals, leaving only the ultra-rich in artificial bunkers, a dystopia where sensory deprivation replaces lived experience. This article verifies his arguments, synthesising climate science, critiques of anarcho-capitalism, and democratic reform proposals to avert systemic collapse. ...

July 19, 2025 · 17 min · Nienke Fokma

Slavery, ICE, and the machinery of control

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), far from being an unfortunate bureaucratic misstep, represents a meticulous continuation of state-sanctioned racial subjugation. The organisation does not merely enforce immigration law; it embodies the operational logic of a system built, quite literally, on unpaid labour, racial hierarchy, and legally sanctioned cruelty. This article serves as a follow-up to ICE: The shadow of unchecked power, moving beyond symptoms and into the structural bones of the matter. We shall trace three interlocking chains: the legal codification of slavery via the 13th Amendment, the evolution of concentration camp logic in immigration enforcement, and the ideological inheritance ICE receives from the American South’s slavery economy. ...

July 19, 2025 · 6 min
A diverse group of activists and migrant families link arms in front of an ICE detention bus. Protest signs read “No One Is Illegal” and “Abolish ICE.” Indigenous leaders stand alongside children holding handmade posters. Legal observers document the scene.

ICE: The shadow of unchecked power

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal agency with a deceptively bland name and an extraordinarily sharp bite. Tasked with enforcing immigration laws in the United States, it enjoys a unique combination of expansive authority and startlingly little oversight. Armed with military-scale funding and a mandate that blurs domestic policing with national security, ICE operates in a legal and moral grey zone, where the consequences are all too real for the communities it targets. ...

July 18, 2025 · 11 min

EuroStack meets healthcare IoT

The EuroStack initiative is Europe’s ambitious attempt to reclaim digital sovereignty by building its own federated, standards-based infrastructure. In the healthcare sector, this means enabling patients’ health data (much of it generated by Internet of Things (IoT) devices) to move securely and interoperably across national borders. The goal is to make care more responsive, especially in emergencies or when people travel, without compromising privacy rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). ...

July 15, 2025 · 12 min

Zero-knowledge proofs and the pub test

Zero-knowledge proofs are a rare and beautiful thing: deeply technical, yet profoundly human. They offer a way to engage with digital systems without handing over your soul. Like a well-trained butler, they keep your secrets while getting things done. In an age where over-sharing has become the default, they offer something radical: the power to prove yourself, without losing yourself. The pub test: The colour-blind friend experiment Picture the scene: you are at the pub with your colour-blind friend Nicole. On the table are two pool balls – one brilliant blue, the other an unapologetically yellow sunshine hue. To Nicole, they look exactly the same. She thinks you are pulling her leg. Telling her to “just trust you” will not help, and simply pointing out which is which feels like cheating. ...

July 15, 2025 · 4 min

The REISSWOLF Paradox

This started, as many things do, with an offhand comment in conversation: “Isn’t it strange that a company like REISSWOLF, handling sensitive data for decades, has no public breaches?” Strange indeed. Curiosity piqued, I started digging. What I found was less an open book and more a politely sealed envelope: glossy references to ISO certifications, GDPR compliance, and a “closed security chain”, but no independent breach logs, no third-party audit results, and no visible incidents across over forty years of operations. ...

July 11, 2025 · 6 min
A woman at a supermarket checkout looks confused as the screen reads “PURCHASE BLOCKED: DIETARY POLICY.” Behind her, other shoppers face similar digital payment refusals for reasons like age restriction, carbon limit, and social credit, highlighting a dystopian scenario of programmable money control.

Digital currencies and their discontents

Digital currencies promise a brave new world of financial innovation. But let us not get carried away with the techno-optimism. These things are not just magic internet money, they come with a tangled web of risks, from eye-watering scams to dystopian surveillance features. Especially when central banks start sniffing around with programmable money and “policy precision”. Beneath the glossy marketing and breathless whitepapers lies a simple truth: digital currencies, while technically clever, may be socially and economically catastrophic if adopted blindly. This is about governments reengineering the monetary system with a fine-toothed comb and far too much enthusiasm. ...

July 11, 2025 · 9 min