Sonny Loughran™️
@sonny101.bsky.social
Writer, journalist, and producer of excellent current affairs coverage on BBC Radio 2
https://open.substack.com/pub/sonny101
https://open.substack.com/pub/sonny101
Huge W for bluesky this
February 8, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Huge W for bluesky this
Reposted by Sonny Loughran™️
This is real ‘mad king’ stuff. “It was not immediately clear how or where the federal government intends to transport the water.”
www.latimes.com/environment/...
www.latimes.com/environment/...
February 1, 2025 at 9:27 PM
This is real ‘mad king’ stuff. “It was not immediately clear how or where the federal government intends to transport the water.”
www.latimes.com/environment/...
www.latimes.com/environment/...
These are truly insane times
US official policy is to weaken Canada economically, end Canadian sovereignty and annex Canada to the US
February 2, 2025 at 8:44 PM
These are truly insane times
Insane thing for a White House Press Secretary to say
Trumpism is a Christian nationalist movement sorry not sorry
Trumpism is a Christian nationalist movement sorry not sorry
February 2, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Insane thing for a White House Press Secretary to say
Trumpism is a Christian nationalist movement sorry not sorry
Trumpism is a Christian nationalist movement sorry not sorry
Nick Schwellenbach has shared this message that was sent to the entire FBI workforce from Acting Director Brian Driscoll
The TLDR is that Trump is demanding records on everyone who investigated the Jan 6 riots
Hate to be a doomer, but this is a major attack on the rule of law
The TLDR is that Trump is demanding records on everyone who investigated the Jan 6 riots
Hate to be a doomer, but this is a major attack on the rule of law
February 1, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Nick Schwellenbach has shared this message that was sent to the entire FBI workforce from Acting Director Brian Driscoll
The TLDR is that Trump is demanding records on everyone who investigated the Jan 6 riots
Hate to be a doomer, but this is a major attack on the rule of law
The TLDR is that Trump is demanding records on everyone who investigated the Jan 6 riots
Hate to be a doomer, but this is a major attack on the rule of law
@georgemonbiot.bsky.social sorry to be the bearer of bad news but i think your twitter account may have been hacked - unless you are really into Green Coin?
January 30, 2025 at 10:12 AM
@georgemonbiot.bsky.social sorry to be the bearer of bad news but i think your twitter account may have been hacked - unless you are really into Green Coin?
Anne simply doesn’t miss
American social media companies write the algorithms that determine what voters read; moderation systems are opaque; political advertising cannot always be tracked. Do European democracies, or any democracies, really have sovereign elections anymore?
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Can Europe Stop Elon Musk?
He and other tech oligarchs are making it impossible to conduct free and fair elections anywhere.
www.theatlantic.com
January 27, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Anne simply doesn’t miss
Reposted by Sonny Loughran™️
American social media companies write the algorithms that determine what voters read; moderation systems are opaque; political advertising cannot always be tracked. Do European democracies, or any democracies, really have sovereign elections anymore?
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Can Europe Stop Elon Musk?
He and other tech oligarchs are making it impossible to conduct free and fair elections anywhere.
www.theatlantic.com
January 27, 2025 at 1:45 PM
American social media companies write the algorithms that determine what voters read; moderation systems are opaque; political advertising cannot always be tracked. Do European democracies, or any democracies, really have sovereign elections anymore?
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
On American Oligarchy and the threat thereof - I stumbled across an insane example of how wealth inequality has accelerated
Just 10 years ago, you needed 50 oligarchs to equal the wealth of bottom half of the United States.
Today you only need two - Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos
Just 10 years ago, you needed 50 oligarchs to equal the wealth of bottom half of the United States.
Today you only need two - Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos
January 24, 2025 at 5:55 PM
On American Oligarchy and the threat thereof - I stumbled across an insane example of how wealth inequality has accelerated
Just 10 years ago, you needed 50 oligarchs to equal the wealth of bottom half of the United States.
Today you only need two - Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos
Just 10 years ago, you needed 50 oligarchs to equal the wealth of bottom half of the United States.
Today you only need two - Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos
God I’ve been waiting for Sam Harris to spill the tea on his beef with Elon and it does not disappoint
open.substack.com/pub/samharri...
open.substack.com/pub/samharri...
The Trouble with Elon
I didn’t set out to become an enemy of the world’s richest man, but I seem to have managed it all the same.
open.substack.com
January 17, 2025 at 7:56 PM
God I’ve been waiting for Sam Harris to spill the tea on his beef with Elon and it does not disappoint
open.substack.com/pub/samharri...
open.substack.com/pub/samharri...
Best nugget of info Bluesky has given me yet
Sincerely delighted to discover, 45 minutes into this nearly-wordless three-hour documentary about French monks who take vows of silence, that among the reasons they *can* talk is "to make sure the monastery cats know when it's mealtime by making little kitty-calling noises at them."
January 11, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Best nugget of info Bluesky has given me yet
Reposted by Sonny Loughran™️
Fascinated by this train wreck of a column. Wrong, but wrong in myriad ways. A worldview that despises Britain, revels in its supposed failures, fantasises about completely implausible US sanctions on Britain & has no coherent view of geopolitics. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01...
Keir Starmer is about to get a taste of his own bitter medicine
Labour is blind to the scale of the global Right-wing vibe shift, and the fury of the Trump administration
www.telegraph.co.uk
January 8, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Fascinated by this train wreck of a column. Wrong, but wrong in myriad ways. A worldview that despises Britain, revels in its supposed failures, fantasises about completely implausible US sanctions on Britain & has no coherent view of geopolitics. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01...
This is bad - the West continues to lose the information war (in part) because we have managed to polarise the topic of disinformation itself
Peak times
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
Peak times
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
A leading US government agency that tracks foreign disinformation has terminated its operations, the State Department said Tuesday, after Congress failed to extend its funding following years of Repub...
www.france24.com
December 26, 2024 at 4:21 PM
This is bad - the West continues to lose the information war (in part) because we have managed to polarise the topic of disinformation itself
Peak times
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
Peak times
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
I know nothing about poetry but I’m obsessed with the Kipling poem in the 28 Years Later trailer
It’s about the maddening effect of endless marching on soldiers in the Boer war
The recording is over 100 years old and its so haunting I literally can’t stop listening to it
youtu.be/s9RYG-iMdx0?...
It’s about the maddening effect of endless marching on soldiers in the Boer war
The recording is over 100 years old and its so haunting I literally can’t stop listening to it
youtu.be/s9RYG-iMdx0?...
'Boots' by Rudyard Kipling - recited by Taylor Holmes
YouTube video by Vizler András
youtu.be
December 17, 2024 at 11:59 AM
I know nothing about poetry but I’m obsessed with the Kipling poem in the 28 Years Later trailer
It’s about the maddening effect of endless marching on soldiers in the Boer war
The recording is over 100 years old and its so haunting I literally can’t stop listening to it
youtu.be/s9RYG-iMdx0?...
It’s about the maddening effect of endless marching on soldiers in the Boer war
The recording is over 100 years old and its so haunting I literally can’t stop listening to it
youtu.be/s9RYG-iMdx0?...
We were talking about the joys of the old man boozer on R2 today and I was reminded of George Orwell’s incredible essay on the qualities of a great pub
a genuinely hilarious and insightful read on what seems like a trivial topic from the 🐐
a genuinely hilarious and insightful read on what seems like a trivial topic from the 🐐
December 12, 2024 at 5:37 PM
We were talking about the joys of the old man boozer on R2 today and I was reminded of George Orwell’s incredible essay on the qualities of a great pub
a genuinely hilarious and insightful read on what seems like a trivial topic from the 🐐
a genuinely hilarious and insightful read on what seems like a trivial topic from the 🐐
Seen people dunking on this and though idk about dictators themselves being doctors, cognitively/emotionally speaking, authoritarianism is 100% associated with feelings of disgust (and therefore purification) that are rooted in an evolutionary aversion to disease etc
Soooo kind of a based take?
Soooo kind of a based take?
December 11, 2024 at 12:04 PM
Seen people dunking on this and though idk about dictators themselves being doctors, cognitively/emotionally speaking, authoritarianism is 100% associated with feelings of disgust (and therefore purification) that are rooted in an evolutionary aversion to disease etc
Soooo kind of a based take?
Soooo kind of a based take?
If you are the social media manager for a massive international organisation plz just don’t post this i am now on a prepping website buying essentials for my bugout bag
December 6, 2024 at 8:34 PM
If you are the social media manager for a massive international organisation plz just don’t post this i am now on a prepping website buying essentials for my bugout bag
i'm reading Annie Jacobsen's book about nuclear war and it includes some genuinely insane details about how the end of the world would actually go down
like the US President having 6 mins to decide how America should respond to a first strike while being evacuated from the White House - crazy
like the US President having 6 mins to decide how America should respond to a first strike while being evacuated from the White House - crazy
December 6, 2024 at 12:50 PM
i'm reading Annie Jacobsen's book about nuclear war and it includes some genuinely insane details about how the end of the world would actually go down
like the US President having 6 mins to decide how America should respond to a first strike while being evacuated from the White House - crazy
like the US President having 6 mins to decide how America should respond to a first strike while being evacuated from the White House - crazy
Reposted by Sonny Loughran™️
A (not so) quick thread on disinformation and its growing place in inter-state competition 🧵 1/
November 25, 2024 at 2:48 PM
A (not so) quick thread on disinformation and its growing place in inter-state competition 🧵 1/
weird weird times
This week, the FBI and CISA published a guide encouraging Americans not to text, and to use encryption messaging as much as possible.
Here's our practical guide on protecting yourself from surveillance, from best encryption messaging platforms to location services:
Here's our practical guide on protecting yourself from surveillance, from best encryption messaging platforms to location services:
The WIRED Guide to Protecting Yourself From Government Surveillance
Donald Trump has vowed to deport millions and jail his enemies. To carry out that agenda, his administration will exploit America’s digital surveillance machine. Here are some steps you can take to ev...
www.wired.com
December 6, 2024 at 8:43 AM
weird weird times
The distinction between mis- and disinformation is sooo important yet is so often missing from mainstream discussion
I just wrote a piece breaking down disinfo and information warfare as waged by Putin’s Russia - I hope it underlines the disinfo side of the problem!
quillette.com/2024/11/24/t...
I just wrote a piece breaking down disinfo and information warfare as waged by Putin’s Russia - I hope it underlines the disinfo side of the problem!
quillette.com/2024/11/24/t...
December 6, 2024 at 8:39 AM
The distinction between mis- and disinformation is sooo important yet is so often missing from mainstream discussion
I just wrote a piece breaking down disinfo and information warfare as waged by Putin’s Russia - I hope it underlines the disinfo side of the problem!
quillette.com/2024/11/24/t...
I just wrote a piece breaking down disinfo and information warfare as waged by Putin’s Russia - I hope it underlines the disinfo side of the problem!
quillette.com/2024/11/24/t...
The gap between these two lines directly correlates with my mental well-being
December 2, 2024 at 9:08 PM
The gap between these two lines directly correlates with my mental well-being
truly remarkable statement from a former Israeli defence minister and IDF chief of staff
“Ya’alon said that Israel’s leadership, driven by far-right elements who seek to resettle Gaza, was taking the country down a path of ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip”
www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahus-e...
“Ya’alon said that Israel’s leadership, driven by far-right elements who seek to resettle Gaza, was taking the country down a path of ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip”
www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahus-e...
November 30, 2024 at 9:50 PM
truly remarkable statement from a former Israeli defence minister and IDF chief of staff
“Ya’alon said that Israel’s leadership, driven by far-right elements who seek to resettle Gaza, was taking the country down a path of ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip”
www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahus-e...
“Ya’alon said that Israel’s leadership, driven by far-right elements who seek to resettle Gaza, was taking the country down a path of ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip”
www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahus-e...
Craig Jones is such an asset to bjj
November 29, 2024 at 6:49 PM
Craig Jones is such an asset to bjj
Reposted by Sonny Loughran™️
How outrage drives the spread of online misinformation.
New work from @killianmcloughlin.bsky.social with Bluesky luminaries @klonick.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, @williambrady.bsky.social and colleagues.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl2829
New work from @killianmcloughlin.bsky.social with Bluesky luminaries @klonick.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, @williambrady.bsky.social and colleagues.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl2829
Misinformation exploits outrage to spread online
We tested a hypothesis that misinformation exploits outrage to spread online, examining generalizability across multiple platforms, time periods, and classifications of misinformation. Outrage is high...
www.science.org
November 29, 2024 at 6:13 PM
How outrage drives the spread of online misinformation.
New work from @killianmcloughlin.bsky.social with Bluesky luminaries @klonick.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, @williambrady.bsky.social and colleagues.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl2829
New work from @killianmcloughlin.bsky.social with Bluesky luminaries @klonick.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, @williambrady.bsky.social and colleagues.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl2829