Integrity watchdog urges WA premier to drop bill allowing ministers to rewrite laws
A new report warns the State Development Bill exposes WA’s already fragile integrity system to further political influence. ⌘ Read more

Iraq’s Prime Minister Leads in Elections but May Struggle to Form a Government
Mohammed al-Sudani pitches himself as someone who can keep Iranian influence in check, but his vote share may not be big enough to ensure a clear political victory. ⌘ Read more

Gustavo Petro, the Rebel Turned President Willing to Take on Trump
From his guerrilla roots, Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, has long embraced a confrontational style. Now, he has incurred President Trump’s wrath and is facing political fallout at home. ⌘ Read more

Gustavo Petro, the Rebel Turned President Willing to Take on Trump
From his guerrilla roots, Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, has long embraced a confrontational style. Now, he has incurred President Trump’s wrath and is facing political fallout at home. ⌘ Read more

How Christian Nationalism Is Shaping Trump’s Foreign Policy Toward Africa
Jessica Washington,  Political Reporter  -  The Intercept

_Stephan: ”king” Trump has a long history of racism, and is the flavor of his administration and linked to what I think of as pseudo-Christianity because White nationalist Christianity has little to do with Jesus’ teachings.  Trump and his father were taken to court decades ago over their racism, and lost, and he has never … ⌘ Read more

Now for the good news on women in politics: Australia is a beacon to the world
While Sussan Ley’s leadership is under siege, the women of Australian politics are showing that representation is truly achievable. ⌘ Read more

Canadian Conservative leader struggles to unify party divided over Trump-style politics ⌘ Read more

Virginia Teen Narrowly Defeats His Former Civics Teacher in County Election
Comments ⌘ Read more

The Dismissal: How ‘the most tumultuous day in Australian political history’ unfolded
Power, principle, politics; all three collided to expose the fragility of our democracy. Watch what led to November 11, 1975, and how it changed the way we operated. ⌘ Read more

Lawmakers are ditching Congress at a record pace
Stef W. Kight , Hans Nichols , Andrew Solender,  Staff Writers  -  Axios

Stephan:

_Tuesday’s election is, I predict, is just the first phase of a trend that is going to restructure Congress. It is not going to be just political parties; it is also going to be a generational change. My hope is that the Democrats, in spite of all the Republican election rigging, are still going to take the majority in both the House and Senate … ⌘ Read more

A rats to riches story: Larry the Downing Street cat finds place in TV spotlight
Comments ⌘ Read more

@prologic@twtxt.net when I first “fed” the text to Gemini, I asked for a three paragraphs summary. It provided it. Then I asked to “elaborate on three areas: user experience, moral/political impact, and technical/legal concerns”. The reply to that is too long for a twtxt.

I then asked to counter the OP opinions—as in “how would you counter the author’s opinion?”. The reply was very long, but started like this:

“That’s an excellent question, as the post lays out some very strong, well-reasoned criticisms. Countering these points requires acknowledging the valid concerns while presenting a perspective focused on mitigation, responsible integration, and the unique benefits of AI.”

What followed was extensive, so I asked for a summary, which didn’t do justice to the wall of text that preceded it.

Hamish is such a polite boy ⌘ Read more

Economic Anger Once Again Punishes the Party in Power
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@movq@www.uninformativ.de this I find more worrisome, and saw no mention of it on your text: Right-Wing Chatbots Turbocharge America’s Political and Cultural Wars (gift article).

Enoch, one of the newer chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, promises “to ‘mind wipe’ the pro-pharma bias” from its answers. Another, Arya, produces content based on instructions that tell it to be an “unapologetic right-wing nationalist Christian A.I. model.”

@movq@www.uninformativ.de Gemini liked your opinion very much. Here is how it countered:

The criticism of AI as untrustworthy is a problem of misapplication, not capability.

• AI as a Force Multiplier: AI should be treated as a high-speed drafting and brainstorming tool, not an authority. For experts, it offers an immense speed gain, shifting the work from slow manual creation to fast critical editing and verification.
  
• The Rise of AI Literacy: Users must develop a new skill—AI literacy—to critically evaluate and verify AI’s probabilistic output. This skill, along with improving citation features in AI tools, mitigates the “gaslighting” effect.
  

The fear of skill loss is based on a misunderstanding of how technology changes the nature of work; it’s skill evolution, not erosion.

• Shifting Focus to High-Level Skills: Just as the calculator shifted focus from manual math to complex problem-solving, AI shifts the focus from writing boilerplate code to architectural design and prompt engineering. It handles repetitive tasks, freeing humans for creative and complex challenges.
  
• Accessibility and Empowerment: AI serves as a powerful democratizing tool, offering personalized tutoring and automation to people who lack deep expertise. While dependency is a risk, this accessibility empowers a wider segment of the population previously limited by skill barriers.
  

The legal and technical flaws are issues of governance and ethical practice, not reasons to reject the core technology.

• Need for Better Bot Governance: Destructive scraping is a failure of ethical web behavior and can be solved with better bot identification, rate limits, and protocols (like enhanced robots.txt). The solution is to demand digital citizenship from AI companies, not to stop AI development.

Zohran Mamdani wins the New York mayoral race
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Zohran Mamdani wins the New York mayoral race
Article URL: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/new-york-city-mayor-election-winner-2025-race-rcna238909

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45818421

Points: 513

# Comments: 538 ⌘ Read more

We’ve done the science—let’s get on with climate action
For three decades now, I have watched Earth warm—not through headlines or politics, but in my own data. Every year, the evidence has become clearer. My colleagues have measured rising CO₂ levels in Antarctic ice cores. We have seen ice caps retreat, permafrost melt, ecosystems shift, and species vanish. Every single working day of my life has been a front-row seat to a planet in rapid transformation. ⌘ Read more

America is bracing for political violence – and significant portion think its OK
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The Political State of Generation Z
Oct 30, 2025,  CEO of PRRI  -  PRRI

Stephan: Gen Z, individuals born between 1997 and 2012, played a role in ‘king” Trump’s election to his second term, and I have been wondering what role they will play in the 2026 elections. We will get a first glimpse on Tuesday, and here is the best fact-based research I could find on the attitudes of Gen Zers.

Image

Trump administration blocked from suspending Snap benefits for millions of Americans
Lauren Gambino ,  Political Correspondent   -  The Guardian (U.K.)

Stephan: Today, we got what may turn out to be good news about the continuation of SNAP from two courts with ethical judges. That is, if the Trump coup administration follows what the court orders. That used to be a given, but under the Trump coup, that is no longer always the case.

![](h … ⌘ Read more

Cat politely drops hints that he’s interested in treats. ⌘ Read more

Trump considering plans to target cocaine facilities inside Venezuela, officials say | CNN Politics ⌘ Read more

Female spies are waging ‘sex warfare’ to steal Silicon Valley secrets
Comments ⌘ Read more

Why do Americans have shorter life expectancy and worse health than people in other high-income countries?
Mauricio Avendano and Ichiro Kawachi ,  London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Social Policy, LSE Health and Social Care | Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences,  -  National Library of Medicine

_Stephan: I have published on this in science journals, … ⌘ Read more

Poorer health linked to more votes for Reform UK, 2024 voting patterns suggest
Poorer health is linked to a higher proportion of votes for the populist right wing political party, Reform UK, indicates an analysis of the 2024 general election voting patterns in England, published online in the open access journal BMJ Open Respiratory Research. ⌘ Read more

Most polite TV license man award goes to: ⌘ Read more

I noticed Google put out this article: https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/09/lets-talk-security-answering-your-top.html it’s very current day Google, but the comments under the YouTube video are pretty on point and I saw a few familiar faces there. There is also, unexpectedly, ways to contact Google.

First a form for “teachers, students, and hobbyists”, that I filled politely, as someone who falls under their hobbyist category. It can be filled both anonymously, or with an e-mail attached, to be contacted by them (I chose the second option).

Also a general feedback and questions form, that I was not as polite in and used to send them the following message:

I have already provided some feedback, in the teacher, student and hobbyists form/questionaire, as well as an open letter I’ve recently sent to the European Commission digital markets act team, as I do believe your proposal might not even be legal, given the fact it puts privacy-focused alternative app stores at risk (https://f-droid.org/cs/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html) and it was proposed this early, after Google lost in court to Epic Games, over similar monopoly concerns. Why should we trust Google to be the only authority for all developer signatures, right after the European courts labeled it a gatekeeper?

Assuming this gets passed, despite justified developer backlash and at best questionable legality, can you give us any guarantees, this will not be used to target legal malware-free mods, or user privacy enhancing patchers, like the ones used for applying the ReVanced patches? I have made a few mods myself, but I am in no way associated with the ReVanced team. I just share many peoples concerns, Google Chrome has been conveniently stripped of its manifest v2 support, that made many privacy protecting extensions possible and now you’re conveniently asking for the government IDs, of all the developers, who maintain these kinds of privacy protections (be it patches, or alternative open-source apps) on Android.

Code is Never Neutral: Why All Software is Political
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@bender@twtxt.net To add some context, I’m not one to write open letters often, nor do I expect to become some kind of martyr, the European Union will unite over, to fight Google.

However Google did loose to Epic Games in European courts, that determined Google maintains a monopoly over its Play Store, restricting competition and developers choices. And pretty much right after courts determined this, Google gives them the middle finger and proposes changes, that would destroy F-droid - the biggest and really the only competing app store, that’s actually competing and not just taking the apps from Googles Play Store and passing them on.

There are many more qualified and likable parties, who already reached out to them, with these concerns, I just think it’s important everyone impacted by this, politely contacts them too, to convey this is not just some niche non-issue, a few IT nerds made up.

French government collapses in 14 hours, deepening political crisis ⌘ Read more

Apple takes down ICE tracking apps after pressure from DOJ
Article URL: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/apple-takes-down-ice-tracking-app-after-pressure-from-ag-bondi

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45457333

Points: 650

# Comments: 512 ⌘ Read more

Don’t avoid workplace politics
Article URL: https://terriblesoftware.org/2025/10/01/stop-avoiding-politics/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45440571

Points: 582

# Comments: 307 ⌘ Read more

NixOS Mod Team Mass Resigns in Protest
The unelected NixOS Mods, famous for their “Nazi Purge” of contributors, object to attempts to “address perceptions of political bias” in their Linux distro. ⌘ Read more

@bender@twtxt.net Shh yes 🤣 this is the problem with politics 😆 by that definition; I’m not conservative 🤣

@prologic@twtxt.net Hm, I don’t know. Over here, we have parties that we would call “left” or “right”, one of them even calls themselves “The Left”. No idea about your political landscape, but it still makes sense for us. 🤔 For me, at least.

Certainly explains why in some parts of the interwebs I’ve noticed RWNJs suddenly hating on anything Wayland and pushing XLibre.

Wild when display servers become political battlegrounds.

On my blog: Short Fiction — Transgender Athlete Bans https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/06/22/title-ix-hope.html #fiction #freeculture #lgbtpridemonth #politics

On my blog: Go Nowhere Fast https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/06/15/go-nowhere-fast.html #harm #rant #politics #harm

Pope Leo criticises ‘exclusionary mindset’ of nationalist political movements ⌘ Read more

Russia offers political asylum to Elon Musk over Trump feud ⌘ Read more

10 Epic Construction Projects That Took Centuries to Complete
These ten cathedrals and basilicas around Europe (and beyond) were built over many generations, reflecting changes in style, politics, and technology. From the Sagrada Família in Barcelona to the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, each project faced delays due to wars, funding shortages, and shifts in power. Some took more than six centuries to […]

The post [10 Epic Construction Projects That Took Centuries … ⌘ Read more

Open Source SQL Workbench Says “No Republicans Allowed!”
The Apache licensed SQL query tool says Republicans (and many others) are not welcome to use their software due to “despicable politics” and “contempt for human rights.” ⌘ Read more

Adafruit Hit With $36K Tariff Bill on 1,000 lbs of Electronics
Adafruit CEO responds to The Lunduke Journal with details and stays non-political about changing tariffs. ⌘ Read more

10 Groundbreaking & Historical “Firsts” We Witnessed in 2025–So Far!
While we typically perceive history as something we only read about in books, 2025 has already proven that history is happening right before our eyes. Despite economic, political, and social conflicts, this year has brought about incredible events and discoveries unlike anything the world has ever seen. Some leave us hopeful, others uneasy—but one thing […]

The post [10 Groundbreaking & Historical “Firsts” … ⌘ Read more

10 Times Governments Banned Colors for Bizarre Reasons
When we think of banned things, we tend to imagine books, political speech, or the occasional controversial cartoon. But throughout history, governments have cracked down on something far stranger: colors. Whether tied to class, ideology, or sheer paranoia, certain shades have been restricted, outlawed, or made dangerous to wear—all because they said too much without […]

The post [10 Times Governments Banned Colors for Biz … ⌘ Read more

What Problems are Truly Technical, not Social?
Most “tech” problems (and solutions) seem social, with e.g. most newer startups relying on internal connections to gain real world adoption, otherwise blocked due to institutional apathy and bad regulations (sms 2fa, hospital faxes…)

A recent (unlocated) poll asked a similar question: “what percent of workers in the software industry are employed writing programs that should not exist?” While we do have NP-hard problems, politically hard problems like avoi … ⌘ Read more

10 Worst Political Marriages in History
Most royals today are free to marry whomever they please (at least, up to a certain point). But for most of history, marriage was about securing power and wealth, not love. If you hated your husband from the day you met him, well, too bad! You’re stuck with him for the rest of your life […]

The post 10 Worst Political Marriages in History appeared first on [Listverse](https:// … ⌘ Read more

10 Individuals Allegedly Killed by the U.S. Government
Throughout American history, certain tragic and untimely deaths have sparked deep suspicion, skepticism, and public intrigue. Official narratives often point to suicide, accidents, or random violence—but the shadowy nature of these incidents frequently leads many to question if something more sinister might be at play. From whistleblowers and journalists to political insiders and controversial figures, […]

The post [10 Indi … ⌘ Read more