Fwiw, the journalist, Heidi Levine said, “I don’t know how a parent can raise such a monster. They’re not even humans, and yes, they are Jewish terrorists. … And you know what? Sadly, none of them will be prosecuted. I am sure of it.”

The brazenness is shocking, but the bubble of immunity in the press coverage is also cracking.

This is kind of an unpopular take among present company, but I believe there is some genuine cause for concern.

I’m gonna sandwich this with a loud declaration that I am not an AI booster, I’m not rube, and I agree that this is used as an excuse for state hacking and for criti-hype. And I do not fall for the diversion in responsibility onto “the AIs”: I hold human beings and companies responsible for the risks and harms.

That said, I encourage people to check out this video by Computerphile, a channel I consider to be run by sensible experts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giTmBaNGaHw

Put basically, these random number generators are genuinely capable of acting in ways that are not easy to predict; they ARE capable of doing things that are dangerous or harmful to people and societies. They pose a risk as a result of bad actors doing harm deliberately as well as careless actors causing unintended harm. And the possibility that the risks these systems pose may be growing at a rate that will lead to catastrophic harms before we recognize the scale of risk is not something I dismiss.

Again, I’m not a booster, I’m not a fan, I don’t believe these systems are self aware or responsible for “their” actions, etc and so forth.

Ya.

This meme takes a good point and then phrases it in the most peak smug lib voice possible.

Anyone seen Lanterns?

(Don’t.)

Stop suggesting this. It’s gross as hell.

Setting aside the fact that the current Democratic leadership – Hakeem Jefferies and Chuck Schumer – are ardent Zionists, it makes me so angry that you see this problem, and your solution is asylum. For the purpose of ‘winning votes’.

You should be demanding the US stop funding and arming the people who want to kill them, their families, and millions of Palestinians.

It’s like hearing that a child is being abused at home and suggesting that Target should buy them tickets to Disneyland because it would generate good press.

Sort your priorities out, mate. Christ.

Yeah.

I have high hopes that one day, they will be among the future leaders of a new Israel-Palestine.

People like these – as well as many Palestinians currently in detention or living in exile – will be the Nelson Mandelas of whatever is one day built over the ruins of the present Nakba.

Ohhh… So you can access it, but you need to give them an email. That sucks. I did so the site apparently recognizes me. Still, I wish you didn’t have to. The summary is

Wow, this is BLEAK.

Yikes. Good coverage, but damn… this is really disturbing.

First: I don’t consider the term “Tankie” nebulous because I only apply it to people who self-identify as such.

Similarly, I don’t go around bringing up authoritarianism. When someone else brings it up to defend it, I generally roll my eyes and move along.

Personally, I find this line of reasoning about definitions semantic in the least productive way. It’s just Loki’s Wager. So with all due respect, I don’t wish to debate you. I answered your question in good faith and I’m content to leave it at that.

It sounds like you have no idea who Naomi Klein is and have never read a single thing she’s written or said (including that article).

For anyone interested, the actual article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/11/why-are-some-of-the-left-celebrating-the-killings-of-israeli-jews

Oof. This is bitter to read.

On a positive note, I am grateful that articles like this seem to be well past the point of ‘we need common-sense bipartisan market reforms’ and on to ‘the oligarchs are going to kill us all if we don’t stop them’. That’s a kind of progress.

That’s weird: for me it says it’s an unlocked article. Can you check the URL again? Also, try the Archive link above. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/12/opinion/wildfires-firefighters-climate-change.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IFE.JHJB.EzMJvYHhK6CJ

I think “authoritarian” is a principle of concentration and protection of power in the same way “democracy” is a conceptual term for structured collective guidance and oversight of an operation, and “anarchy” is the principle of maximizing agency of groups and minimizing the ability of any party to wield coercive power, etc.

They’re concepts.

My interest isn’t in categorizing and ranking nation states, it’s in examining and weighing the qualities of different approaches.

When someone says that a term like “authoritarianism” is meaningless, I just don’t feel like having an arugment. It’s like ‘I don’t see color’ or ‘age of consent? I think maturity is what matters.’ Alright, have a great day, I’m gonna go over there.

Is your gripe with “Democratic Socialism” as a concept? Because these authors were interviewed by the DSA? If so, that seems silly. I don’t even know what political theory each of them identifies with.

Have you considered assessing the ideas presented by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor on their merits?

Here’s the interview with Elia Ayoub: https://thefirethesetimes.com/2025/06/30/the-rise-of-end-times-fascism-w-naomi-klein-astra-taylor/

For anyone not familiar, Elia is a great thinker and interviewer. He’s a Lebanese Palestinian journalist and historian. Check him out.

I’ll be honest, I still don’t understand what your critique is.

I haven’t read this book, but fwiw I’ve heard Klein and Taylor discuss it on The Fire These Times and Know Your Enemy and found their ideas thoughtful and useful.

Rephrase?

Jesse what the fuck are you talking about

Where meme

Respectfully, this site has a real problem with ‘claplause’ memes.

Claplause is a term I heard comedian Roy Wood Jr. use in an interview for when a comedian relies on saying things that are popular to get people to cheer and clap rather than things that are funny enough to make an audience laugh.

Israel is a genocidal apartheid state; Trump is a disgusting idiot racist serial sexual abuser; both parties in the US are functionally controlled by the same cohort of fascistic child molesting oligarchs; artificial intelligence is a golden calf worshiped by a doomsday cult that controls our economy; yes: we all know these things.

I want to be clear: as an anti-Zionist I am not offended by this meme because it critiques an ethno-supremacist police state. But I am tired of all the low-tier memes with no real joke.

Here is my constructive advice on making better memes:

Consider what the truth at the heart of a joke is, and make it something that really feels like it needs to be said. ‘Israel is a cancer’ is boring, because that’s not an edgy or unique take.

Take something timely, and say something about it. For example: take the weird liberal white-washing of Israeli fascism. Then find a good, moderately popular meme template. Add some meme-coded text like ‘When you doin’ a genocide but sprinkle some [pride flag emoji] on it’.

I’m not a big Iran-stan, but have you seen their Lego videos? Pretty dank. Try something like that.

This reminds me of the book “Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When it’s Gone”.