Journalist Jackie Snow wrote this amazing article for the Los Angeles Review of Books about #reading behind bars:
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/reading-behind-bars-and-beyond-barriers/

It touches on so many aspects of #books in #prisons, from why books on yoga are okay but books on tai chi are not, to concerns about whether Colin Powell's autobiography complied with #prison rules.

#longread

‘These people are disposable’: how #Russia is using online recruits for a campaign of sabotage in #Europe

Moscow’s intelligence services have launched a new type of attack on the west, violent but piecemeal and hard to prove

https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/may/04/these-people-are-disposable-how-russia-is-using-online-recruits-for-a-campaign-of-sabotage-in-europe

Fascinating #LongRead on the future of human labour in a world of increasingly productive #AI. One early nugget that kinda shocked me is that we have apparently spent most than 10x the total cost of the Manhattan Project on #GenerativeAI (or possibly AI more broadly).

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:36mblrgaoi26sgq6ssmkrwaa/post/3lobzd44k6y26

Death, divorce and the magic of kitchen objects: how to find hope in loss.

As they pass through different hands, cooking utensils can magically connect us to loved ones who are no longer with us.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20250429-death-divorce-and-the-magic-of-kitchen-objects-how-to-find-hope-in-loss?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

The Atlantic: ‘I Run the Country and the World’ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/06/trump-second-term-comeback/682573/

„Donald Trump believes he’s invincible. But the cracks are beginning to show.“
#longread

“The future of long distance train services through the Channel Tunnel” https://jonworth.eu/the-future-of-long-distance-train-services-through-the-channel-tunnel/

#eurostar #ChannelTunnel #EU #europe #schengen #longread
____
UK border checks seem to be the biggest bottleneck in improving service.

Weekend #longread:

"Recognising that #collapse is here doesn't mean giving up. It means recognising that there is a new strategic space. And if that new space is catastrophe, so be it. There is still a need for us to organise spaces of love & solidarity."
https://steadyhq.com/de/friedlichesabotage/posts/b74f62c4-3ce2-486b-9d00-80cf60ef94fb

A year of hate: what I learned when I went undercover with the far right.

The Long Read: Working for Hope Not Hate, I infiltrated an extremist organisation, befriended its members and got to work investigating their political connections.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20250424-a-year-of-hate-what-i-learned-when-i-went-undercover-with-the-far-right?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

Thousands of troops millions of shells. Reuters investigation shows extent of Moscow’s reliance on North Korea on the Ukraine battlefield.

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UKRAINE-CRISIS/NORTHKOREA-RUSSIA/lgvdxqjwbvo/ #NorthKorea #Russia #Ukraine #UkraineWar #LongRead

Why do AI company logos look like buttholes?

"A humorous exploration of the uncanny resemblance between AI company logos and human anatomy. Discover why circular, gradient-based designs dominate the AI industry, and what this design convergence tells us about branding in tech."

https://velvetshark.com/ai-company-logos-that-look-like-buttholes

Geweldige #longread over het #CECOT schandaal. #Garcia #ElSalvador #Bukele #Trump https://sethabramson.substack.com/p/the-trump-el-salvador-scandal-deepens

What a fun, interesting, lovely read this is! I hope that the tea shop owner's wish, as stated near the end of the essay, is fulfilled and that the legacy of the shop and its wonderful volunteer customer operators remains in place for many years to come.
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/4/19/i-always-come-here-the-indian-tea-shop-that-runs-on-trust
#LongRead

The GitHub link: https://github.com/stevenaleach/iden

I think I finally have this thing complete - the paper is live hosted on a little test node, also lives as README.md on the GitHub.

https://idens.net/iden://z1HRUsTNcYMkN5WPm9s1YjGaLUVs58RVRHPjBrV1kYwdAJ.642/pub

Es wird euch nicht überraschen, dass ich mich in den letzten Tagen viel mit dem Koalitionsvertrag zwischen CDU-CSU und SPD befasst habe. Ich bin ja SPD-Mitglied. Sollte ich zustimmen? Sollte ich ablehnen? Die Entscheidung ist mir nicht leicht gefallen, und es gab viele Schwankungen in mir. Ich veröffentliche gleich einen Text, der meine Entscheidungsfindung nachzeichnet. Wird ein #LongRead Es war nicht leicht, eine Entscheidung zu fällen.

‘Parkinson’s is a man-made disease’.

Europe’s flawed oversight of pesticides may be fuelling a silent epidemic, warns Dutch neurologist Bas Bloem.

His fight for reform pits him against industry, regulators — and time.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20250414-parkinsons-is-a-man-made-disease?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

‘Parkinson’s is a man-made disease’.

Europe’s flawed oversight of pesticides may be fuelling a silent epidemic, warns Dutch neurologist Bas Bloem.

His fight for reform pits him against industry, regulators — and time.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20250414-parkinsons-is-a-man-made-disease?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward