Lev Zadov is not my real name. I expropriated it from a dead man. He wasn’t using it. It wasn’t his real name, anyway. It was his dead name. Dead names aren’t real. In real life he went by Zinkovsky. I’m not particular about my own pronouns. We’re all on the same side of the Class War. "He/him/they" works. I also respond to "yo," "soup’s on," and "freeze motherfucker!" I call other people by whatever pronouns and/or aliases that they say they want to be called by. It’s only polite.
Public Key
npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Profile Code
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2026-07-09T22:57:16Z Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Under whose control? npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka America: Built by slaves on stolen land. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Oh, no. Not the Luigi option. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #AI #chatbots "Why Do Chatbots Keep Telling Stories About Someone Named ‘Elias Thorne’? Chatbots just aren't very creative. (. . .) Who in the world is Elias Thorne? He’s a regular fixture in stories told by chatbots, as first spotted by software engineer Daniel May, but no one knows why… until now. According to a new preprint research paper first reported by 404 Media, the proliferation of the legend of Elias might be related to guardrails put in place for AI models during safety and alignment training. If you need to catch up on the Elias Thorne of it all, the paper published by researchers Sil Hamilton and David Mimno at Cornell University is a good place to start. They gave several AI models, including OpenAI’s GPT-5.4 Mini, Anthropic’s Claude Haiku 4.5, and Google’s Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite, five different prompts to generate stories. They looked at about 20,000 stories generated by the models and found a shocking amount of repetition: 11 words—Lighthouse, Keeper, Baker, Mayor, Clockmaker, Fisherman, Librarian, Conductor, and the names Mara, Elias, and Elara—appeared in a whopping 88% of all stories. No combination of that incredibly narrow pool of nouns for storytelling purposes appears more often than Elias the lighthouse keeper, which showed up in two-thirds of all stories generated. That’s pretty much in line with the anecdotal examples provided by May, who also prompted multiple different models to write stories and found the same Elias the lighthouse keeper pop up over and over again. So what exactly is the deal? The researchers posited that it might have something to do with the pre-training data fed into these models, but quickly ruled that out when they couldn’t find anything to suggest 'Elias the lighthouse keeper' appears with excess frequency in pre-training data or literature used in training. Instead, they attribute the issue to the use of specific datasets that have become commonly used by AI labs. They cited WildChat, an open-source dataset of millions of conversations between people and a GPT-3.5-powered chatbot, as a possible example. The dataset was created to help researchers understand how people communicate with bots, but has since been used to train many different models. They theorize that alignment training meant to steer models away from copyrighted characters and adult content may have inadvertently given 'safe alternatives, such as 'Elias the lighthouse keeper,' unusual prominence, causing them to appear repeatedly when users ask the model to generate a story." https://gizmodo.com/why-do-chatbots-keep-telling-stories-about-someone-named-elias-thorne-2000770629 npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka LLM ≠ AI npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Explain please. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #ClimateCrisis #Antarctic "These three horsemen’ of Antarctic instability could transform the oceans into a driver of climate change by 2030 Antarctica has been impacted by three major events, which researchers have identified as a 'perfect storm' that could finally initiate major melting on the icy continent, with major implications for exacerbating climate change. According to new University of Southampton research, these events have begun a spiral that could move the global oceans from a hedge against climate change, to one of its primary drivers. In a recent paper published in Science Advances, the team behind the study used satellite data to identify the root causes of record-low sea ice in the Antarctic and the potential future effects on the global climate." https://thedebrief.org/these-three-horsemen-of-antarctic-instability-could-transform-the-oceans-into-a-driver-of-climate-change-by-2030/ npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Which one? What street? When? Is there somewhere online we can view the footage ? npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka USA's invincibility was shattered five decades ago in Vietnam. The only victories it can claim are tiny ones, the SS Mayaguez, Grenada, Maduro, etc. Iraq was a debacle. Even Korea was fought to a draw. The US is a paper tiger. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Good cop, bad cop, both cops. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka "Like, we can innovate *everywhere*, but no, don't touch the only two possible systems of power? Really?” I never said that. Don’t put words in my mouth. It’s rude. It’s dishonest. It’s very bad form. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka See also: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+4:32&version=KJV npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Then there’s Christian communism. According to the bible, if you're not a communist, you're not a real Christian. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A44-46&version=NKJV npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Somebody is lying. "The first casualty when war comes is truth". — Hiram W Johnson (attributed) "All warfare is based on deception” — Sun Tzu npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #ClimateCrisis #EndangermentFinding "Trump has done more than harm the government’s ability to fight global heating By repealing the EPA’s determination that greenhouse gases threaten public health, the president is denying reality itself. The climate crisis is killing people. These deaths are measurable, documented and ongoing. Concluding otherwise is just playing pretend. Studies explain the mechanics, but lived experience supplies the truth. The people who suffer the consequences see the fire rising and water closing in. They need their government’s help. Despite that, the president of the United States stood at a microphone last Thursday and abdicated his duty to them. 'It has nothing to do with public health,' he claimed about the climate crisis while announcing that the federal government would repeal the Environmental Protection Agency’s 'endangerment finding', a determination that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare. 'This is all a scam, a giant scam.' What he was lying about is a truth the federal government – even under his first administration – has embraced for nearly two decades. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the 'endangerment finding' in 2009. Drawing upon extensive scientific evidence, the EPA concluded that emissions driving the climate crisis contribute to extreme heat, intensified storms, rising sea levels, wildfires and degraded air quality, all of which carry direct consequences for human life and safety. The endangerment finding was not rhetorical flourish. It was the legal keystone of modern US climate regulation, the scientific and administrative determination that enabled the federal government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. It formed the basis for emissions standards governing vehicles, power plants and industry." https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/18/trump-epa-climate-crisis-public-health npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Meanwhile, back in the past . . . In about '73-4 some people in New Haven, Connecticut started a food coop. My communal household was the 12th household to join. One night a week, at three in the morning, one of the households would go tho the loading dock and buy wholesale produce strait off the trucks, take it back to the house and divide it up. We rotated this task. More and more households joined. Pretty soon we were moving enough food that the living room floors of communal households wasn't a big enough sort space. There were about 1500 of us. We chipped in and rented an unused bodega in the Hill (one of New Haven's several ghettos), not to do retail, but just to have enough floor and shelf space to sort the food. We also were able to store non perishables there so we could buy that stuff in bigger lots. We immediately ran into another food coop operating in the neighborhood. It was all Black and based on the basement floors of a network of Black churches, instead of a network of living room floors like we were doing. Other than that, we operated exactly the same. There were about 1500 of them, too. We held one joint meeting and voted unanimously to fuse. Now there was 3,000 of us. So we rented out an abandoned supermarket. It might have once been a Kroger. It was one of those chains. I forget which one. Whatever it was, when it closed it created a food desert. We cleared one space out for childcare and another for socializing. The rest of the layout stayed the same. It had pretty much everything available that capitalist grocery stores had, even a limited selection of junk food snacks. Mostly, though, the food was not junk. Everything but the meat sold at 2% over cost, which covered the building's overhead. The meat was prorated according to cut because that was the only to make the budget work. The coop was staffed by volunteers, except we also hired a professional butcher and two part time drivers with the money we saved by not having a boss. Then we acquired a grant writer who worked for commission. We spent the grant money on infrastructure. Membership was by household, not individuals. A tight schedule made sure there was always enough staff on hand. It was never a problem. The food was excellent. The members were the best ever. It became a sort of community hang out in addition to being the community pantry. Sometimes political groups held meetings in the socializing area. It was sweet. Then I moved to California (long story) and lost track of the place. Whatever happened to it? I don't know. Anybody out there care to bring me up to date? npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #KanyeWest #antisemitism #ConsiderTheSource "Kanye West reveals devastating health battle and apologizes for antisemitism in extraordinary full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal "His latest statement attributes his behavior to the effects of his health battle, one which he says was caused by a 2002 car accident. In a statement appearing in the January 26 print edition of the WSJ, West alleged he sustained a brain injury during the accident that went 'unnoticed' at the time - with the 'medical oversight' sparking his bipolar disorder. West, 48, said the illness made him 'detached from my true self' and caused him to be drawn 'toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika'. The advertisement, which was paid for by Yeezy and authored by West, was headlined 'To Those I Hurt' and described how, after 'hitting rock bottom' several months ago, he decided to seek help at the encouragement of his wife, Bianca Censori." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-15498841/Kanye-West-antisemitic-bipolar-disorder.html npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Don't hold your breath. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Don't hold your breath. The local cops are outnumbered, out gunned, and surrounded. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka "Almost"??? npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka The only question relevant to the Stephen Miller saga is whether he ends up in the dock at the Hague or dangling from a lamp post here in America. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka The American electorate is a distinct minority. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Who's on first? npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Party politics is how we got here. Party politics is not going to get us out. it's time to start thinking outside the box. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Democrats? Feh. Good cop, bad cop, both cops. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Democrats? Feh. Good cop, bad cop, both cops. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka See also: https://kolektiva.social/@LevZadov/115951210066457913 #note1m9j…shyt npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka You posted a link to Substack, a Nazi infested site. If the shoe fits . . . npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka It sure would be a shame if some #StreetJustice caught up with him some night after the bar closed, he was alone, and he was too drunk to defend himself. That would be just awful. Crimes are bad. Don't do them. If anybody asks you why not, tel them it's because I said so. Never do anything illegal. You might get in trouble, especially if you're stupid enough to do it in front of witnesses and/or cameras. Just saying. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka May his executioners never find comfort in their *short* lives again. There, I fixed it for you. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka I believe this is a caste society in the Isabel Wilkerson sense. It's not only about race, she said. I'm white. male, and primarily heterosexual. I'm also old, poor, and disabled. What caste am I? npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Murder most foul. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka There is only one way he can redeem his honor. It's a Japanese custom. Look it up. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka All unpaid, but compulsory, labor is slavery, commuting for example. So is housework if you're afraid he'll hurt you (or your kids) if you try to leave him. Then there's prison. When cannabis became legal in California a number of prisoners were about to be released, Kamala Harris petitioned Sacramento to keep them locked up because the state needed them to fight wildfires. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka They're giving goons a bad name. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka I already dumped it, just not to be spied on. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka It's *one* of the reasons, anyway. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka "If You Don't Like the News Go Out and Make Some of Your Own" -- Wes "Scoop" Nisker npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Come for the cats, stay for the people. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Good cop, bad cop, both cops. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka A frontal assault would be mass suicide. Maybe *that* would woke some people up. As it is, most Americans are more interested in sports, celebrities, and the weather. As an American, I'm deeply embarrassed. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Me, too. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #ICE Minnesota #history "Fort Snelling was a concentration camp used by the United States during the Dakota Indian Wars to imprison thousands of Dakota and Ho-Chunk people in abysmal conditions. In early 2026, the Bishop Henry Whipple Building, located in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, emerged as a major center for immigration enforcement detainment processing, but the site has a much longer and more complex history. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration Enforcement Control programs have long used the Whipple building as a headquarters for its operations in the Twin Cities. In 2019 local residents first raised awareness over concerns regarding its use for detainment. As historic immigration raids emerged in the city in early 2026, the building has once again become a center for the processing of detained immigrants and in at least two confirmed cases, detained Indigenous people." https://ictnews.org/news/former-native-american-concentration-camp-lies-beneath-current-immigration-detention-center/ npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka RE: https://kolektiva.social/@LevZadov/115946334973234299 @npub1wms…9mqc @npub176n…543l Good idea, mel. I'll do that right now. Yo, Margaret, Germans have a saying. It presents as a riddle: Q: "If ten Nazis sit at a table, and someone sits down with them, how many Nazis are sitting at the table? A: Eleven. By publishing on Substack, you're setting the table and serving their dinner and drinks. Why? Do you *want* to promote Nazism by attracting attention to their propaganda? I ask because that's exactly what you're doing by providing content to #Substack. Anything that anybody does that helps Nazis in any way, no matter how small, gives aid and comfort to the forces of evil. Is that what you want for your legacy? Your call, not ours. I, for one, will never forgive you. The spread of Nazi ideology is a life and death matter for me. Among other things, I'm what Nazis call a "race traitor". My wife of 41 years is a Jew. We live in San Francisco. At least 3,459 self-professed neo-Nazis live and vote within an hour's drive of where the two of us live. 841 of the live within walking distance. They say they want to kill us both. They have a track record. To feel even remotely safe we keep a scatter gun next to the bed. In a recent GOP primary, neo-Nazi Patrick Little, campaigning on a platform of Holocaust denial and ethnic cleansing, got 1,369 votes in Alameda County, 841 in SF and 1,249 in Contra Costa. That's a lot of neo-Nazis in what most of the country considers a hotbed of leftism. And that's just the ones who voted. They can never win an election. There aren't enough of them, but it only takes one to shoot up a synagogue, a daycare, a supermarket, a school. Or my wife and me. Also it's worth noting that ICE is actively recruiting them. The pay is good. The "training" is brief. There's a signing bonus. They're joining in droves. And you're promoting their propaganda. How do you suppose that makes my wife and me feel? How do you suppose that makes *any* of their intended victims feel? Do you even care? Why not? Are you devoid of empathy or merely ignorant of history? #note18wm…0p7v npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka It's about time that *all* these women got paid enough that they didn't need to play in Russia during the off season to make ends meet npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Forget the extensions. Chrome itself is evil. Wise up. Dump Chrome. Do it today. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka https://archive.ph/enjhJ npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka This looks interesting. I'd boost it if it wasn't a link to Substack. Substack also platforms fascists. That's a red line for me. It should be a red line for *all* anti-fascists. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Will he be legally prosecuted or is this a case best left to #StreetJustice? Just wondering, not trying to incite any crimes. Crimes are bad. Don't do them, especially in front of witnesses and cameras. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka “Al Fascismo no se le discute, se le destruye” -- Buenaventura Durruti npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka This is barbarism. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka "I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't believed it" -- Marshall McLuhan npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #archeology "50,000-Year-Old Artifacts Unearthed at Controversial Archaeological Site Could Rewrite the Early Prehistory of the Americas American archaeology is a discipline in constant flux. Over the last half-century, conventional attitudes about the arrival of humans in North America have undergone repeated shifts, with estimates of the earliest human activity continually pushed back to more distant times. However, discoveries stemming from one controversial archaeological site in the American Southeast, if confirmed, could extend present timelines for human arrival in the New World by several tens of thousands of years, adding to a growing number of findings in recent years that are reshaping our understanding of the early Americas. (. . .) Few other proposed pre-Clovis archaeological sites have aroused as much controversy as the Topper Site in Allendale County, South Carolina. An ancient chert quarry, the site was initially identified by Albert Goodyear, Ph.D., now a semi-retired professor of archaeology at the University of South Carolina, more than four decades ago. During the late Pleistocene American Paleoindian period, some of America’s earliest inhabitants relied on the abundant Allendale Coastal Plain chert rock nodules at the location for crafting ancient stone tools, which included the distinctive fluted projectiles now associated with the Clovis cultural manifestation. Initially, Goodyear said he had not been inclined to dig beneath the Clovis boundary at Topper, mainly because he didn’t expect to find anything of archaeological significance. 'Back then, I wasn’t particularly interested in, or even believed that there probably was any serious pre-Clovis in North America,' Goodyear said in 2018. 'You don’t look for what you don’t believe in, so I sort of stopped there. I wasn’t finding any artifacts, so to me that was the end of the dig.'" https://thedebrief.org/50000-year-old-artifacts-unearthed-at-controversial-archaeological-site-could-rewrite-the-early-prehistory-of-the-americas/ npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #archeology #SocialNetworks "Social networks spanned thousands of square kilometers during the Upper Paleolithic period, study finds Researchers from several European institutions, led by scientists from the University of Barcelona and the University of Alcalá, have demonstrated that the hunter-gatherers who inhabited the interior of the Iberian Peninsula during the Last Glacial Maximum (between approximately 26,000 and 19,000 years ago) were part of large-scale social networks capable of connecting vast territories in western Europe." https://phys.org/news/2026-01-social-networks-spanned-thousands-square.html npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #evolution #California "Bird feeders have caused a dramatic evolution of California hummingbirds Beaks have grown longer and larger, and ranges have expanded to follow the feeders Hummingbird feeders are a beloved pastime for millions of backyard birders and a convenient dining spot for the birds. But for the Anna’s hummingbird, a common species in the western United States, feeders have become a major evolutionary force. According to research published this week in *Global Change Biology*, artificial feeders have allowed the birds to expand their range out of Southern California up to the state’s northern end. They have also driven a transformation of the birds themselves. Over just a few generations, their beaks have dramatically changed in size and shape." https://www.science.org/content/article/bird-feeders-have-caused-dramatic-evolution-california-hummingbirds npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #biodiversity #UK "Biodiversity collapse threatens UK security, intelligence chiefs warn Ecosystem destruction will increase food shortages, disorder and mass migration, with effects already being felt. The global attack on nature is threatening the UK’s national security, government intelligence chiefs have warned, as the increasingly likely collapse of vitally important natural systems would bring mass migration, food shortages and price rises, and global disorder. Food supplies are particularly at risk since 'without significant increases' the UK would be unable to compete with other nations for scarce resources, a report to ministers says. Some vital ecosystems could face collapse within five years, threatening the UK’s national security and prosperity, according to the 14-page report." https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/20/biodiversity-collapse-threatens-uk-security-intelligence-chiefs-warn npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #Epstein #science #scientists "Last December, the U.S. Department of Justice released its first batch of files on disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Among the thousands of images was one video clip, the only one in the lot. It showed four seconds of the noted psychologist and writer Steven Pinker of Harvard University riding with Epstein on his now infamous private plane. It wasn’t a great flight even in 2002, years before Epstein’s first criminal conviction, Pinker says of the trip, which was heading to a TED Talk. 'I immediately disliked Epstein and thought he was a dilettante and a smartass,' he says. Pinker has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Epstein, who died in federal prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, spent a lot of time talking to scientists. When more records are released from a reported stash of 5.2 million, now a month overdue, questions about what the 'Epstein files' say about science and scientists are sure to arise. Already, e-mails dropped by a congressional committee and files released by the DOJ—thousands of notes, lists, videos and investigation records—have once again raised the question of why so many prominent scholars were involved with Epstein." https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-did-jeffrey-epstein-cultivate-famous-scientists/ npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #data "Millions of people imperiled through sign-in links sent by SMS Even well-known services with millions of users are exposing sensitive data. Websites that authenticate users through links and codes sent in text messages are imperiling the privacy of millions of people, leaving them vulnerable to scams, identity theft, and other crimes, recently published research has found. The links are sent to people seeking a range of services, including those offering insurance quotes, job listings, and referrals for pet sitters and tutors. To eliminate the hassle of collecting usernames and passwords—and for users to create and enter them—many such services instead require users to provide a cell phone number when signing up for an account. The services then send authentication links or passcodes by SMS when the users want to log in. A paper published last week has found more than 700 endpoints delivering such texts on behalf of more than 175 services that put user security and privacy at risk. One practice that jeopardizes users is the use of links that are easily enumerated, meaning scammers can guess them by simply modifying the security token, which usually appears at the right of a URL. By incrementing or randomly guessing the token—for instance, by first changing 123 to 124 or ABC to ABD and so on—the researchers were able to access accounts belonging to other users. From there, the researchers could view personal details, such as partially completed insurance applications." https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/01/millions-of-people-imperiled-through-sign-in-links-sent-by-sms/ npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #OliverSacks "The Confabulations of Oliver Sacks A neurologist reckons with recent revelations about the celebrated doctor and author Sacks’ journals suggest he injected his own experiences into the stories of his patients. In the years since I first read about the journalist, I have become a neurologist, well versed in the medical jargon that describes symptoms like his: confabulation, a gap in memory filled with a story that feels entirely true to the person telling it. Confabulations can be fantastical or banal, grounded in memory or imagination, but confabulations share one essential feature: Confabulators experience their own stories as the truth. A confabulation is not a conscious lie, but rather an unconscious repair. Neurologist Oliver Sacks, who died in 2015, was perhaps the most prolific chronicler of symptoms like confabulation, filling the pages of his books with detailed descriptions of his own patients’ wounds and blindnesses. I first read Sacks as a college student studying cognitive science and again as a neurology resident steeped in the strangeness and wonder of wounded brains. In his foreword to Awakenings, the stories of patients who had survived the 'sleeping sickness' epidemic of the 1920s, alive but lethargic and permanently immobilized, Sacks wrote that the book was possible in large part because of the Bronx hospital where he practiced, which he called 'a chronic hospital, an asylum,' where his patients resided for decades. https://nautil.us/the-confabulations-of-oliver-sacks-1262447/ npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #ICE #Minnesota #DonLemon "Minnesota magistrate judge rejects charges against Don Lemon over anti-ICE church protest, blocks some charges for 2 protesters A Minnesota federal magistrate judge refused to sign a complaint charging independent journalist Don Lemon in connection with a protest inside a church in St. Paul on Sunday, multiple sources familiar with the proceedings told CBS News. 'The attorney general is enraged at the magistrate's decision,' said a source familiar with the matter. Attorney General Pam Bondi has been in Minnesota for two days, as the Justice Department has sought to surge prosecutorial and law enforcement resources there. A different source stressed that the process is not over, and the Justice Department could find other avenues to charge Lemon." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/magistrate-judge-rejects-charges-don-lemon-anti-ice-protest-minnesota-church/ npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #Cubans #Florida #ICE "To Their Shock, Cubans in Florida Are Being Deported in Record Numbers Cubans had long benefited from legal privileges unavailable to immigrants from other countries. President Trump has changed that. Heidy Sánchez took her 17-month-old daughter to a routine check-in last April with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Tampa, Fla. During the appointment, federal authorities told her that she was being detained and that her husband should pick up their daughter, who was still breastfeeding. Two days later, Ms. Sánchez, 44, who worked as a home health aide, was deported. Ms. Sánchez’s story quickly spread across social media, in part because she is Cuban, a group that had long been treated differently than other immigrants, even when they entered the country illegally. That has changed under President Trump. He has repatriated more than 1,600 Cubans in 2025, according to the Cuban government. That is about double the number of Cubans who were repatriated in 2024. And in the years that Mr. Trump has been president, he has sent more Cubans back than his three predecessors. Those numbers are greater for Cubans who were deported by land into Mexico. Some of them had been in the United States for decades and built families and businesses, but were removed because of an old criminal conviction — say, from Miami’s infamous cocaine cowboys days in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Nowhere has the shock of treating Cubans like other migrants been felt more than in Florida, which was shaped in modern times by exiles of the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Families, businesses and communities that once felt removed from or immune to immigration enforcement now must face it head-on. Some Floridians worry that these deportations could stain the state’s proud Cuban identity, turning older immigrants against newer ones. Under Mr. Trump, many other countries saw similar increases in repatriation. The difference is that Cubans had not previously been targeted as aggressively for removal. Regular deportation flights to Cuba began in January 2017, under President Barack Obama, paused during the coronavirus pandemic and restarted in 2023. Many Cubans have also been detained for weeks or months in a facility in the Florida Everglades known as 'Alligator Alcatraz.' At another nearby detention facility, Cuban detainees protested last June by writing 'SOS Cuba' on their shirts and spelling out 'SOS' with their bodies in the recreation yard." https://archive.ph/4rPyO npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #utilities #inflation "One in five Americans can’t afford their heating bills this winter as people are blindsided by utility costs A huge winter storm this weekend could be just the latest strain on Americans’ utility expenses The massive winter storm forecast for this weekend could put much of the country into a deep freeze, and the mercury is plummeting at a time when utility bills are skyrocketing. Over 200 million people in the South, Midwest and Northeast are expected to get pummeled with snow, sleet, freezing rain and arctic temperatures starting Friday, and new data show that Americans are facing increasing financial pressure in keeping their homes warm this winter. The winter gas and electric bills in these regions could climb by 10% or more over last year, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Winter bills for electric-heated homes will exceed $1,000 across the country, according to the organization’s projections. Factoring in all fuel sources and all regions, households will spend an average of $995 on their heating bills this winter, the NEADA said. The NEADA counts the winter period as stretching from November to mid-March. But for some households, $1,000 isn’t a full season’s heating cost — it’s one billing cycle." https://www.marketwatch.com/story/one-in-five-americans-cant-afford-their-heating-bills-this-winter-as-the-seasonal-cost-nears-1-000-on-average-17cd6edc npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #ErikaKirk "Erika Kirk Declares 'Sex Sells, Babe' In Unearthed Video That Has Fans Stunned At Her Religious Turn Erika Kirk was seen behaving in a less restrained manner in a recently unearthed audition tape for 'The Amazing Race.' The footage is one of many from Erika's past that have surfaced since she was thrust into the spotlight following the death of her husband, Charlie Kirk. Netizens who saw the video criticized the mother of two for being fame-hungry and accused her of being two-faced. Erika Kirk has increasingly received criticism since taking over from Charlie as CEO of Turning Point USA and has previously stated that she does not intend to make a habit of responding to the critiques. (. . .) Erika Kirk has mostly given off a traditional wife vibe since the spotlight shone on her in the wake of her husband's unfortunate assassination last September. However, a recently resurfaced Erika's behavior sparked a torrent of comments in the comment sections that accused the mother of two of being fame-thirsty. 'She sure has been chasing fame for a good while now," one netizen wrote, while another commented, "It only took another decade for her to attain the level of fame she wanted all along." She literally auditioned for EVERYTHING. This is nuts. She is the definition of THIRSTY,' another user remarked. Some users also accused Erika of being duplicitous in her behavior, citing the contrast between how she acted in the resurfaced video and her more recent public appearances, where she comes off as 'ultra-religious.' One wrote, 'Literal shapeshifter (both physically and personality). Who is she, actually? A Military Industrial Complex weapon?' A second commented, "She is literally performing every moment of her life. Everything is an act, and even (. . .) Unsurprisingly, the resurfacing of the video quickly caught the attention of netizens, who at the time compared her appearance in the clip with how she presents herself today." https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/erika-kirk-declares-sex-sells-013009565.html npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #TrumpRegime "Trump Goes on Manic 50-Post Rampage After World Leaders Humiliate Him The snubbed president spammed Truth Social at nearly a post a minute for two hours. Donald Trump spent two hours on Truth Social attacking his enemies and reposting praise after world leaders ignored his 'Board of Peace' ceremony in Davos. The 79-year-old president shared almost a post a minute on Thursday, hours after his 'Board of Peace' initiative at the World Economic Forum attracted a motley crew of Trump-allied leaders from the Middle East and South America. Between 10:38 am and 1:01 pm EST, Trump fired off 51 posts, several of which were screenshots of people agreeing with videos he’d posted seconds earlier. Subjects covered in the posting barrage include a video of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller bashing Trump’s enemies, a court victory that will allow ICE to use force against protestors in Minnesota, 2020 election fraud conspiracies, threats to sue the New York Times for publishing polls that displease him, and rants against Special Counsel Jack Smith. (. . .) The president’s posting rampage comes at the end of a humiliating and widely criticized trip to the World Economic Forum. After giving a speech on Wednesday in which he intimated the U.S. could take control of Greenland, Trump met with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, who apparently talked him down. Trump walked away from the meeting claiming he’d gotten the 'framework of a deal' for the United States on Greenland, but didn’t give any specifics." https://archive.ph/5sTfd npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Quote of the day "It is from the love of humanity that we are revolutionaries: it is not our fault if history has forced on us this distressing necessity." -- Errico Malatesta npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka "The world" has not invested in defending Ukraine against a fascist Russia. Not even all of NATO has invested in defending Ukraine against a fascist Russia. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka How so? Be specific. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #TrumpRegime #WhiteSupremacists #Minnesota #ICE 'We always take people from Somalia, places that are a disaster, right?' he said in December. 'Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime,' he told reporters at a cabinet meeting. 'They contribute nothing. I don’t want them in our country, I will be honest with you.” He added, 'Their country stinks.' But Trump’s animus toward Minnesota seems to be driven by something even deeper. The state is a political outlier in the Upper Midwest; the five states that surround it voted for Trump at least twice. On paper, Minnesota might look like friendly territory for MAGA: It is significantly whiter than the national average, and it has a substantial rural and exurban population. Trump is convinced that Minnesota belongs in his column, insisting that he won it all three times he ran for president but that his victory was snatched away by devious local election officials. His administration seems to think that riling up resentment against the state’s roughly 100,000 residents of Somali origin is a ticket to luring the state’s white supermajority into his xenophobic camp. But Minnesotans are unlikely to take the bait. The state has a long tradition of welcoming refugees, and Somalis — along with Hmong, Cambodians, Ethiopians and Ukrainians — have become part of the fabric of the state. " 'Minnesota represents everything that the administration hates,' said Mukhtar Ibrahim, a Somali American journalist and entrepreneur who came to Minnesota as a refugee 20 years ago. 'If he can do this in Minnesota, nothing else will stop him. This is, I think, ground zero. If Minnesota falls, the country will fall.' npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Such a parcel of rogues. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Cruelty is the point. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Your posts support a platform for Nazis. Is that your intent? npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka https://archive.ph/8hFDX npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka https://archive.ph/FXiJ7 npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka https://archive.ph/rqyGw npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka If this is not colonialism, what is? npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Predictable npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka As someone who lived through both Newson's term as mayor of San Francisco and his governorship of California, and is not looking forward at all to his impending presidency of the US, I can state conclusively that better than Trump is a mighty low bar. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka I'm not boosting this until it shows up in the Wayback Machine or archive.ph because our data and meta-data have proven to not be safe with The Intercept. For details ask Reality Winner npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Good cop, bad cop, both cops. No matter who you vote for, government wins. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Uvalde proved once and for all that cops are worse than useless, they're in the way. There's a name for people who rely on police to protect them. They're called "victims." Police have no obligation to protect us. The SCOTUS agrees. See: Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005) See also: DeShaney v. Winnebago County, 489 U.S. 189 (1989) npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Good cop, bad cop, both cops. No matter who you vote for government wins. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka This looks interesting. I'd boost it if it wasn't a link to Substack. Substack also platforms fascists. That's a red line for me. It should be a red line for *all* anti-fascists. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Neither had I. Thanks for the tip. npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #ExtinctionRebellion "Jurors who find activists not guilty for moral reasons could face jail Verdicts must be based on evidence (. . .) On the first day of the two-week trial in February, posters were displayed outside the court. Some said: 'Message to the public: If you are on a jury, you have an absolute right to acquit (not guilty) a defendant on your conscience for any reason you choose.” The trial judge told jurors that this was not an accurate statement of the law. 'It is a criminal offence for a juror to do anything from which it can be concluded that a decision will be made on anything other than the evidence in the case,' Judge Reid said. (. . .) In their judgment, the Court of Appeal judges ruled that his warning to the jury did not result in them believing they might be sent to prison if they acquitted the five women." https://archive.ph/Ecf1A#selection-4275.0-4279.0 npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #extinction #dolphins #bycatch "Groups File New Lawsuit to Prevent Extinction of Earth’s Rarest Marine Dolphins Suit seeks U.S. ban on New Zealand seafood as fishing fleets harm rare Māui and Hector’s dolphins Earthjustice and Law of the Wild filed a legal action on behalf of the grassroots group Māui and Hector’s Dolphin Defenders to protect the rarest marine dolphins in the world. The new legal claim asks the court to order seafood import protections to prevent extinction of New Zealand’s Māui dolphins and their close relatives, Hector’s dolphins. Background on this case This recent lawsuit follows on the heels of an action Earthjustice and Law of the Wild filed in December 2024 on behalf of Māui and Hector’s Dolphin Defenders to enforce the U.S Marine Mammal Protection Act, which requires the U.S. government to ban seafood imports from any foreign fishery that excessively harms marine mammals. The 2024 suit contended that New Zealand fishing fleets are driving the critically endangered Māui dolphin to extinction, with estimates of only 30 to 50 left on Earth, and very few breeding females. Fifty years ago, there were 2,000 Maui dolphins. Since then, the population has plummeted by over 97 percent. The closely related Hector’s dolphins are also dwindling – only about 15,000 Hector’s dolphins remain, down from a population of about 50,000 in 1975. The fishing fleets operating along the West Coast of New Zealand’s North Island don’t intentionally catch Māui or Hector’s dolphins, but the marine mammals get caught when fishers target commercial seafood species. The fishers use large nets that hang in the water for days or drag through the sea, scooping up everything in their path. Even if the dolphins are freed from the nets and do not drown, they can suffer serious injuries while struggling to reach the surface to breathe. In August 2025, after reviewing all the evidence, the Court of International Trade ruled that the U.S. government’s decision to allow seafood imports from two of New Zealand’s west coast fisheries was arbitrary and unlawful. But the victory was short-lived. Just days later, the U.S. government issued another decision, allowing all seafood exports from New Zealand to the United States. This decision permits the U.S. market to support not just the fisheries impacting critically endangered Māui dolphins, but also equally problematic fisheries that catch Hector’s dolphins and other marine mammals. The U.S. government’s decision that New Zealand’s bycatch levels are 'sustainable' is based on the same flawed reasoning and evidence that the Court of International Trade had previously found severely deficient The new legal action filed last week challenges that decision." https://earthjustice.org/press/2026/groups-file-new-lawsuit-to-prevent-extinction-of-earths-rarest-marine-dolphins npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #Caribbean #Dutch #colonialism "Bonaire climate ruling: Moment of truth for Dutch State’s failing climate policy On January 28, the District Court of The Hague will rule on whether the Netherland’s current climate policy is unlawful for failing to adequately protect the people of the Caribbean island and Dutch special municipality of Bonaire from the impacts of the climate crisis. It’s the first European adaptation ruling on overseas territories that could have groundbreaking legal consequences worldwide. While the Dutch government does a lot to protect citizens in the European part of the Netherlands from the impacts of climate change, no similar protections have been provided to Bonaire residents, who are already struggling with extreme heat and extreme weather." https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/80715/bonaire-climate-ruling-moment-of-truth-for-dutch-states-failing-climate-policy/ npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #ClimateCrisis #capitalism "Half of world’s CO2 emissions come from just 32 fossil fuel firms, study shows Critics accuse leading firms of sabotaging climate action but say data increasingly being used to hold them to account. Just 32 fossil fuel companies were responsible for half the global carbon dioxide emissions driving the climate crisis in 2024, down from 36 a year earlier, a report has revealed. Saudi Aramco was the biggest state-controlled polluter and ExxonMobil was the largest investor-owned polluter. Critics accused the leading fossil fuel companies of 'sabotaging climate action' and 'being on the wrong side of history' but said the emissions data was increasingly being used to hold the companies accountable." https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/21/carbon-dioxide-co2-emissions-fossil-fuel-firms-study npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #TrumpRegime #immigration #protests "Thousands of U.S. workers and students marched through cities and university campuses on Tuesday in opposition to the immigration policies of President Donald Trump. On the first anniversary of Trump's second term, protests sprang up across the country against his aggressive immigration crackdown that prompted outrage after federal agents dragged a U.S. citizen from her car and shot dead 37-year-old mother Renee Good in Minneapolis in past weeks. Hundreds of protesters gathered in Washington and smaller cities like Asheville, North Carolina, where demonstrators marched through the downtown shouting 'No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA,' according to online videos." https://www.reuters.com/world/us/thousands-protest-against-trump-immigration-policies-2026-01-20/ npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka A 'pet opposition party'? Where have we seen that before? npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #Bangladesh "Jmember-secretary Akhter Hossen has said that, as in the past, Jatiya Party has once again taken a fascist stance in favor of 'No' vote in the upcoming referendum and 'the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (JS)election. 'Jatiya Party is an ally of fascism and they were dictators. They do not want the country's transition from the current state structure,' he said. (. . .) Akhter Hossen said that Jatiya Party has now taken a stance in favour of 'No' vote from the same attitude. The party participated in the governance of the country in the past as a 'pet opposition party' in a fascist manner. 'Jatiya Party has once again exposed its fascist character through their 'No' vote campaign. Even if they talk about 'No' vote, the people will not pay attention to it. Rather, the people will say 'no' to the Jatiya Party, not the referendum,' he said." https://www.bssnews.net/others/353491 npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #Queer #Feminist #art "Interview ‘The rise of fascism makes our work even more important’: Montez Press, champions of queer, feminist art They published a raunchy book inspired by the Guardian’s Owen Jones; broadcast interviews with obscure punk legends; and make calendars to navigate the world of underground art. Now they’re going global Established in 2012 by a group of exchange students from Goldsmiths College of Art at Hamburg School of Art, Montez Press was formed to counter a publishing landscape dominated, they say, by heteronormative journalists and academics. Instead, they wanted to celebrate more experimental forms of writing, led by artists who championed feminist and queer perspectives. Their first book was Chubz by Huw Lemmey, a nightmarish, homoerotic satire about the protagonist, who dates a leftwing journalist, inspired by Owen Jones, whom he meets on Grindr in the summer of 2011 as Nigel Farage rises to power as prime minister. It’s a story about class struggle, populism, and our dependence on technology – tied together with a lot of sex. The press commissions a novel each year, written by a younger artist doing something 'we perceive to be particularly groundbreaking in the realm of auto-speculative or fan fiction,' says Pope. That’s literature rooted in personal experiences explored through a futuristic or fantastical lens, often inspired by existing characters, settings, or plots from copyrighted media. Their latest release was Jaw Filler, written by Maz Murray and Charlie Markbreiter. It’s a pulpy neo-noir detective novel about the disappearance of Character as he enters Sim World’s First Trans Commune, a virtual reality community constructed by an influencer and paid for by a dark tech company." https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/jan/21/the-rise-of-fascism-makes-our-work-even-more-important-montez-press-champions-of-queer-feminist-art npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #TrumpRegime "How to Tell If Your President Is a Dictator A year into Donald Trump’s second term, labeling his governing style remains an elusive goal. President Trump prosecutes his political opponents; deports immigrants, including some here legally, to foreign prisons without due process; solicits tribute payments from corporations and foreign governments; deploys soldiers to American cities that are not, in fact, in civil-war-level chaos; and puts his name and image on government buildings that quite obviously don’t belong to him. So, a question: What do you call this form of government? Authoritarian? Kleptocratic? Totalitarian? Fascist? Above all, Trump attempts to govern by decree, unconstrained by norms, shame, or the Constitution. (. . .) But any analysis that attempts to answer the question of whether this makes him a despot must take into account that he is still not terribly successful at despotism. Sometimes he gets his way, but sometimes he does not. The White House on occasion seeks Congress’s approval and is periodically thwarted. Courts block his administration’s moves weekly, even if the small fraction of cases that make it to the Supreme Court mostly go Trump’s way. His enemies continue to walk free, despite his efforts. He is historically unpopular and his term ends in three years." https://archive.ph/GyH5a#selection-601.0-609.93 npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #Portland "Portlanders are pushing back on the rising tide of fascism, and doing it from every possible angle From inflatable frogs and a naked bike ride, Portlanders motivation to protest the Trump administration's growing authoritarianism persists Portlanders are pushing back on the rising tide of fascism, and doing it from every possible angle From inflatable frogs and a naked bike ride, Portlanders motivation to protest the Trump administration's growing authoritarianism persists We’re one year in on Trump 2.0, and protest has turned deadly. Some see speaking out as more dangerous — and necessary — than ever. Before the New Year, actions of civil disobedience were giving many hope. Especially those observing and documenting Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, with so many documented instances of haphazard, violent, indiscriminate arrests. Then, ICE agents fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three in Minneapolis, after she used a whistle to alert her neighbors of ICE activity nearby. Portlanders are pushing back on the rising tide of fascism, and doing it from every possible angle. There is an inflatable brigade of protest frogs. A Hillsboro teen turned a viral moment into an opportunity for community organizing. A Multnomah County domestic violence prosecutor is choosing to run for local office in Oregon’s most diverse district. Hours after Good’s death, hundreds of Portlanders gathered at a vigil in her honor. Demonstrators protested outside the Portland ICE detention center, where Portland police made six arrests. Portland is notorious for its passionate political demonstrations and protests, with citizens engaging in various creative forms of non-violent resistance. It was upsetting — though not at all surprising — when ICE agents ramped up their cruelty. In early October, federal agents knocked an elderly couple to the ground. Laurie and Richard Eckman, both 84, were participating in a peaceful protest at the ICE facility in South Portland. Another incident captured on video showed protesters Leilani Payne and Finnegan Greene outside the ICE facility. After a heated verbal exchange with officers, a federal agent pepper sprayed them both, directly in their faces. In a third incident, an agent pepper sprayed Seth Todd (aka the Portland Protest Frog), directly into the vent of his inflatable frog costume. That’s partly what inspired a movement of inflatable costumes, led to the creation of the Frog Brigade, and inflatable animals in general becoming adopted as a symbol of nonviolent resistance to de-escalate tensions with law enforcement. Even U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Portland, kicked off a November town hall in response to the ICE activity with a procession of protestors from the Portland Frog Brigade. Since then, Dexter has often worn frog earrings to show her solidarity with Portland’s activist community. 'At the Portland Frog Brigade we believe that peaceful, creative dissent is the best way our group can fight fascism,' Slurmit the Frog of the Portland Frog Brigade told Street Roots. 'Some have other techniques, and that’s okay. There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle.' The Frog Brigade’s joyful absurdity is a stark counter to the claim that protesters in Portland are violent extremists, that Portland is 'War ravaged.' 'Creative dissent throws a wrench in the narrative that protesting is violent or destructive,' Slurmit said. 'It also brings in more people as many folks don’t want to join the front line but will join a bunch of frogs in a march or stand in solidarity with them. It is also very Portlandy and draws a lot of media attention, which helps get the word out and garners more support.'" https://www.streetroots.org/news/2026/01/21/portlanders-are-pushing-back-rising-tide-fascism-and-doing-it-every-possible-angle npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #fascists #fascism #USpol "Has US Fascism Moved From a Theoretical Debate Into an Urgent National Crisis? We must look past the headlines and evaluate the Trump administration’s trajectory against the historical markers. 'For the last decade, there’s been a debate among people who don’t like Donald Trump about whether he’s a fascist,' writes Michelle Goldberg in a January 2026 New York Times article. This rhetoric, which began during his first term, reached a fever pitch during the 2024 campaign when Hillary Clinton compared his Madison Square Garden rally to the infamous Nazi gathering held there in the 1930s. In 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris and half of the American public, according to ABC News/Ipsos polling, embraced the label for Trump, while many others dismissed it as hyperbolic. A year into Trump’s second term, Goldberg suggests that those who sounded the alarms are being vindicated. The debate over fascism has become more pervasive following the killing of Renee Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross in Minnesota. The video of Good’s death was seen by 80% of Americans, and polls from Data for Progress, Quinnipiac, CNN, and YouGov/Economist reveal that the majority of Americans do not think the killing was justified. Nonetheless, the Trump Administration has ramped up the assault in Minnesota. The internet is flooded with viral videos of ICE agents violently detaining a U.S. citizen child at a Target and warning peaceful bystanders that they will end up like Good. Other footage shows agents punching citizens for legally recording them, assaulting a woman whose disability prevented her from exiting her car, and using flash bangs and pepper-spraying peaceful protesters. As they were driving, a Minneapolis couple and their six children were reportedly caught in a chaotic clash between federal agents and protesters. According to the parents, officers deployed flash-bang munitions and tear gas that filled their vehicle, causing their 6-month-old baby to stop breathing and lose consciousness before emergency responders arrived. These violent acts are not just limited to Minnesota. Since 2025, ICE has been responsible for nine fatal shootings and about 40 deaths in custody, including one ruled a homicide. The agency has also detained nearly 200 U.S. citizens, including Native Americans. It is no wonder that the concept of abolishing ICE is more popular than ever. Social media is increasingly filled with videos of everyday citizens who emphasize that they are not overtly political and rarely, if ever, protest, yet feel compelled to speak out because they believe the President’s version of events is demonstrably false. (. . .) The escalating violence in Minnesota and the administration’s shift toward military intervention have transformed the debate over fascism from a theoretical academic exercise into an urgent national crisis. While critics point to the crackdown as proof that the country has entered the later stages of authoritarian consolidation, others maintain that these actions are necessary measures to maintain order within a polarized democracy. This divide suggests that the 'fascist' label remains as contested as it is consequential, leaving the public to reconcile the disturbing events in the streets with the historical frameworks provided by scholars. While the debate persists, the nation waits to see if its institutions will bend or break under the current pressure." https://truthout.org/articles/has-us-fascism-moved-from-a-theoretical-debate-into-an-urgent-national-crisis/ npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #nukes #Japan #Fukushima "Japan restarts world's largest nuclear plant as Fukushima memories loom large Japan has restarted operations at the world's largest nuclear power plant for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster forced the country to shut all of its reactors. The decision to restart reactor number 6 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa north-west of Tokyo was taken despite local residents' safety concerns. It was delayed by a day because of an alarm malfunction and is due to begin operating commercially next month. Heavily reliant on energy imports, Japan was an early adopter of nuclear power. But in 2011 all 54 of Japan's reactors had to be shut after the most powerful earthquake it had ever recorded triggered a meltdown at Fukushima, causing one of the worst nuclear disasters in history." https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq6v0v32rg1o npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #Davos "Howard Lutnick heckled at Davos dinner as Christine Lagarde walks Event hosted by Larry Fink descended into uproar after combative remarks by US commerce secretary The gathering on Tuesday night descended into uproar after combative remarks from Lutnick, according to several people present, with widespread jeering amid appeals for calm from BlackRock’s Larry Fink, the host of the event and interim co-chair of the WEF. Lagarde was among the attendees who walked out during the speech, according to people familiar with the matter. This year’s gathering in the Alps has the theme: 'A spirit of dialogue.' Lutnick told his audience that the world should focus on coal as an energy source rather than renewables, according to one person present, and made dismissive comments about Europe. He had earlier on Tuesday written an op-ed for the FT in which he said: 'We’re not going to Davos to uphold the status quo. We’re going to confront it head-on.' He also wrote: 'We are here at Davos to make one thing crystal clear: With President Trump, capitalism has a new sheriff in town.' One chief executive present described the atmosphere as 'tense', while another said it was 'noisy and spicy'. One of the hecklers was Al Gore, the former US vice-president, according to two executives present. The US commerce department said: 'Only one person booed, and it was Al Gore.' Gore said: 'I sat and listened to his remarks. I didn’t interrupt him in any way. It’s no secret that I think this administration’s energy policy is insane. And at the end of his speech I reacted with how I felt, and so did several others.'" https://www.ft.com/content/e2ae0417-6146-4428-96db-0484a6b024d1 npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #CPB #LA "Immigration officer injured during targeted operation in Los Angeles area A Customs and Border Protection officer was injured in a targeted immigration operation, though the extent and nature of the injuries were not immediately clear. (. . .) At the intersection where the incident took place, a man could be heard in a livestreamed video shouting in the background for federal agents to 'get out' of the neighborhood, while a group of onlookers gathered near police tape blocking access to the scene." https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/los-angeles-shooting-federal-agent-fbi-car-chase-arrest-rcna255234 npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka #caltrops Please don't scatter caltrops where the feds might run over them. It's illegal. You could get fined for littering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXu2PKi81V0&t=2s npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka Quote of the day. “When I dare to be powerful – to use my strength in the service of my vision – then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” -- Audre Lorde npub1et6yknexrshka5dfs72x20g5qv5h37494qp4rrqqrs4ecmkxxjps64e5sv Levka I'm old enough to remember when 23+ million people on every continent (including Antarctica) demonstrated against the war with Iraq. I also remember the Iraq war happening anyway. Demonstrations are not enough. We need a #GeneralStrike.