Butwaittheresmorechaos

It is fashionable to believe that technological progress is inevitable, and that artificial intelligence will, barring catastrophe, continue its relentless march forward. But there is a future—quietly lurking just beyond the smug grins of Silicon Valley keynote speeches—where AI does not progress much further at all. Not because of some singularity, nor because we all upload our brains into the cloud, but because we collectively decide: “That is quite enough, thank you.” ...

Elijah never quite knew how to answer the question, “So, what do you do?” He could say AI liaison, but that sounded pompous and vaguely sinister. He could say digital compliance coordinator, but even his mother snorted at that one. In truth, he spent most of his days arguing with regulatory software about whether the hospital’s cancer diagnostics model violated EU data transparency directives or merely flirted with them. It was 2028, and Elijah worked at a hospital that could diagnose rare cancers with 99% accuracy. The machine—he refused to call it a colleague—could parse blood data, family history, and MRI scans in seconds. It was not always right, but it was close enough that human oversight had become more symbolic than necessary. ...

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. ...

Steelmanning the case, while noting that laughing at the circus doesn’t mean you want to live in the tent. Trump the trickster: the joke that ran for president Donald J. Trump — property mogul, reality TV star, political wrecking ball — is many things. But viewed through the mythic lens of the trickster, he becomes oddly legible. Like Anansi, Loki, or Hermes after too much Adderall, Trump doesn’t simply break rules — he points at them, mocks them, and sells merch off the wreckage. He is not the fool. He is the dealer of foolishness, and he’s made the world play. ...

The trickster is no ordinary troublemaker. They are the necessary saboteur, the holy vandal, the one who pries open order just enough to let chaos breathe. Found in every corner of the world and across every era, the trickster is an ancient archetype dressed in local clothes — part comedian, part rebel, part divine disruption. They don’t simply play tricks; they expose the trick of the world itself. From the scheming spider Anansi to the gender-bending Loki, from Coyote’s dusty trails to Hermes’ winged heists, the trickster thrives in the cracks of civilisation — those uncomfortable in-between spaces where certainties collapse and new meanings ferment. If priests bless the structure and kings enforce it, the trickster questions the terms of the deal. They aren’t against the rules. They just want to know who wrote them and whether the ink is dry. ...

Why did Israel really attack Iran? Analysis with wit and additional perspectives by PR included. Israel’s recent strikes on Iran mark a dramatic escalation in a decades-long shadow war that’s finally emerged from the shadows – rather like a pensioner suddenly taking up parkour. The reasons behind this attack weave together existential threats, geopolitical manoeuvring, domestic politics, and enough ideological hostility to make a North London dinner party look tame. Below, we dissect the key drivers – from nuclear paranoia to Netanyahu’s increasingly creative approaches to job retention – and throw in a deeper look at Iran’s creaking regime, a misfiring axis of resistance, and the global political theatre fuelling it all. ...

Meet the key players Benjamin Netanyahu – Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, now in his sixth term, is a master of political survival. His current tenure is propped up by far-right allies, a necessity given his ongoing corruption trials (fraud, bribery, and breach of trust). His primary objectives are maintaining power, weakening the judiciary to shield himself from legal accountability, and balancing the demands of his extremist coalition partners while attempting to project an image of statesmanship to the outside world. ...

Note: All personal names have been anonymised unless the individual has a verifiable public presence and wishes to be visible. I choose to run risks; I will not make that choice for others. He was 21 and already battling high blood pressure. His doctors confirmed it. His exemption papers were in order. But that didn’t stop them from coming for him. One morning in spring 2025, he opened his door to find officers holding a digital summons. No discussion. No delay. He was on a bus to a training facility by nightfall. Within a week, he was at the Ukrainian border—terrified, untrained, and furious. ...

Content Warning: May cause acute frustration in readers who (a) remember when politics had more than two settings, or (b) still believe electoral systems are designed to represent people. Being a Thoroughly Unimpressed Examination of Political Labels, Their Stubborn Persistence Despite Overwhelming Evidence of Uselessness, and Why We’re All Arguing in the Wrong Bloody Language. Recommended for Recovering partisans Citizens who’ve noticed the emperor has no clothes Anyone who’s ever muttered, “There has to be a better way” The political spectrum of left vs right is one of the most enduring, yet increasingly obsolete, frameworks in modern discourse. Its origins are surprisingly mundane, dating back to the French Revolution (1789), when members of the National Assembly physically divided themselves. The revolutionaries, who favoured democracy and equality, sat on the left, while the monarchists, clinging to tradition and hierarchy, sat on the right. ...

The received wisdom—trotted out at Davos panels, EU Commission summits, and in the more sentimental columns of the Financial Times—is that Europe, having learned its lessons from two world wars, has spent the past eight decades basking in a glow of enlightened tranquillity. No more trenches, no more blitzes. Just a polite consensus of democratic cooperation, cross-border trade, and the occasional fracas over mackerel quotas. How charming. And how utterly wrong. ...