@bradsafarik
PhD, Associate Professor in Poli Sci, interested in political systems of the Global South, increasingly concerned about democratic backsliding in my own country. Polyglot. Eyes wide open. Reposts are sometimes endorsements
Hacking internet-connected civilian security cameras for recon has become a standard operating procedure of modern warfare. First for Russia and Ukraine, now for Israel and Iran.
Your insecure internet-of-things surveillance system is now their targeting system.
www.wired.com/story/from-u...
I know this last week has been a lot but just to unpack:
The US is taking steps to ensure Russia gets additional funding for its war on Ukraine in an attempt to ease a global energy crisis it itself created by attacking Iran based on a Bible promise to Israel.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
The SAVE Act doesn't just add requirements.
It ends:
— Online registration
— Registration drives
— DMV registration
5.6% of Americans registered at an election office in 2024.
Under the SAVE Act, that's the only way. For everyone.
“When you think about it, we weren’t trying to make history or trying to rewrite history. We were responding to the problems of the particular time.”
What a life! Rest in power.
Venezuela’s Orinoco Mining Arc—like much of the Amazon—is being destroyed by a violent nexus of criminals and corrupt officials. The Maduro raid didn't change a thing. Environmental crime now blends so deeply into the economy that it’s nearly untouchable, says Mark Ungar in the latest WOLA Podcast:
Oh look, Ukraine has cards!
A US submarine sinking a lonely, dinky Iranian surface ship an ocean away from the theater of the main conflict—and 9000
miles from North America—makes it pretty clear the US is fighting a general war, without the declaration required by the Constitution. www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...
I hear Nicaragua has a dictator to be overthrown, many they could finance some arms shipments somehow..
“Mohammed bin Salman made multiple private phone calls to Trump over the past month advocating a U.S. attack, despite his public support for a diplomatic solution, the four people said”
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
An ICE detainee in Arizona has died of a TOOTH INFECTION after it went untreated for weeks, a local official says. He was a Haitian asylum seeker imprisoned in Florence, Arizona. @emilybregel.bsky.social reports.
tucson.com/news/local/b...
How some libraries are becoming “third spaces” where students find belonging, tutoring and connection to community. They’re more than just a place to study. By Joshua Bay www.insidehighered.com/news/student...
💥New post | The majority of UK academic institutions now no longer post on X
✍️ @andytattersall.bsky.social
#AcademicSky #X #AcademicSocialMedia
Google is partnering with Back Market to sell USB sticks that let you install ChromeOS Flex on older Windows and Intel-powered Macs collecting dust. www.wired.com/story/back-m...
So the White House was able to evacuate *some* US citizens www.thedailybeast.com/trump-allies...
It appears we may have replaced Ayatollah Khamenei with Ayatollah Khamenei
Holy shit. These people shouldn’t be near sharp cutlery, let alone seats of power.
Mullin: “This is war.”
Raju: “You concede this is war?”
Mullin: “We haven’t declared war.”
Reporter: “You just said it’s a war.”
Mullin: *stammer
The moon going from full moon to a red moon and starting to go back to a normal full moon, then my camera battery door fell off.
Here's my first edit on the March 3rd Lunar Eclipse. 15 moon shots, 1 foreground. Taken over a 3 hourish period.
'All major large language models (LLMs) can be used to either commit academic fraud or facilitate junk science, a test of 13 models has found.'
All versions of Claude are 'the most resistant to committing fraud'.
Which LLM is your university encouraging students to use most? Asking for a friend.
She just lost the primary— overwhelmingly— to this guy
Remember when the US encouraged the Marsh Arabs in southern Iraq to rise up against Saddam Hussein after the Gulf War in 1991? They were slaughtered by the tens of thousands when the US couldn’t back them up. Ask the Kurds how it went for them in the north. Does anyone remember history anymore?
Preview of Nov. 🚨
"Voters used to casting a ballot at any location were surprised Tuesday to be redirected to their precinct, a change prompted by the county GOP."
The shadow docket and judicial imperialism, an ongoing series www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2026/03/the-...
As neighbors tightened controls, Guinea-Bissau emerged as a regional fish meal hub. Chinese-owned factory vessels began arriving in 2019, and new onshore plants soon followed.
But on Jan. 29, the govt abruptly banned fish meal production, citing threats to marine ecosystems and food security.
"A New York Times analysis shows the stunning velocity at which the fortunes of the 1 percent have increased across the country since President Trump first took office in 2017. The richest Americans saw their net worth soar 120 percent." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/u...
I have seen a lot of cursed stuff in my time in academia but this is among the *most* cursed.
Grammarly is generating miniature LLMs based on academic work so that users can have their writing ‘reviewed’ by experts like David Abulafia, who died less than two months ago.
On the 6 US troops who died at Shuaiba port in Kuwait: Troops asked for more drone defeat capabilities, none came. It was recommended that the makeshift tactical operations center not be used because it was hard to defend and concentrated too many troops in one place. www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-st...
Mystery Solved! Turns out it is "Webinar.tv" whose disgusting and unethical business model is: register for a zoom call under a fake name and email address, record it without consent and put it on a public website with genAI summary and everyone's names and faces and then charge for access. WTAF.
Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin in their costumes sitting next to each other, Connery's arm on Baldwin's shoulder, inside the Hunt for Red October's tilting submarine interior set
a contender for my favorite behind-the-scenes photo: The Hunt for Red October crew built their submarine set(s) on top of a hydraulic gimbal, 45 ft above the stage floor, capable of tilting 45 degrees to mimic a sub's movements - Sean Connery said it made him seasick. even the gauges inside worked.
