Dwayne Monroe
@cloudquistador.bsky.social
Cybernetics • AI Resistance • Dialectics • Film Noir • https://monroelab.com • vdgasjournal.com • https://padlet.com/verdigris21/verdigris-kjopwvgquczhyt06
Pinned
Verdigris Journal: 2026
YouTube video by Film Conversations
youtu.be
In 2025, we introduced Verdigris, dedicated to promoting writers who want to engage with the world. We did okay in 2025 but urgent times demand redoubled efforts. For 2026, a renewed and reinvigorated focus on writing about urgent matters and helping you do the same. youtu.be/dtPJSAMICFU
Given this long history, it's sensible to conclude the US has been a tyranny from the start (with periods of waxing and waning intensity). This should be uncontroversial but for many, accepting the stark facts is hard, perhaps impossible.
This flailing outbreak of tyranny without the government is not the ‘once in a lifetime’ moment people like to think.
McCarthyism, Prohibition, the Deportation of Anarchists by Woodrow Wilson, the Internment Camps of WWII…I could go on. This doesn’t include the low grade tyranny that is always
McCarthyism, Prohibition, the Deportation of Anarchists by Woodrow Wilson, the Internment Camps of WWII…I could go on. This doesn’t include the low grade tyranny that is always
February 10, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Given this long history, it's sensible to conclude the US has been a tyranny from the start (with periods of waxing and waning intensity). This should be uncontroversial but for many, accepting the stark facts is hard, perhaps impossible.
Kadri's work is groundbreaking and key to more fully understanding the threat capitalism poses to life itself.
NEW: "Death Itself Is On Sale" - Ali Kadri on The Accumulation of Waste
millennialsarekillingcapitalism.libsyn.com/death-itself...
millennialsarekillingcapitalism.libsyn.com/death-itself...
February 10, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Kadri's work is groundbreaking and key to more fully understanding the threat capitalism poses to life itself.
Thanks! And... well, well. If true, that's not surprising at all. The piece is over 3000 words long and seems more like a storm of text than a coherent essay.
February 10, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Thanks! And... well, well. If true, that's not surprising at all. The piece is over 3000 words long and seems more like a storm of text than a coherent essay.
In this video, inspired by @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social I read Evgeny Morozov's essay, 'Socialism after AI' or, as much as I could endure. Morozov writes about 'AI' using glittering generalities, lacking understanding or acknowledgment of the actually existing industry: youtu.be/NUby9eTbsuM
Morozov on AI: A Trip Down Academia Lane
YouTube video by Microsoft - A Materialist Approach
youtu.be
February 9, 2026 at 5:52 PM
In this video, inspired by @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social I read Evgeny Morozov's essay, 'Socialism after AI' or, as much as I could endure. Morozov writes about 'AI' using glittering generalities, lacking understanding or acknowledgment of the actually existing industry: youtu.be/NUby9eTbsuM
As a class, academics are useless on the topic of 'AI'; worse, they're usually complicit.
“She compares her work to the efforts of a parent raising a child. She’s training Claude to detect the difference between right and wrong while imbuing it with unique personality traits.”
This Philosopher Is Teaching AI to Have Morals
The tech company has entrusted the philosopher to endow its chatbot with a sense of right and wrong.
www.wsj.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:03 PM
As a class, academics are useless on the topic of 'AI'; worse, they're usually complicit.
I'm reading this now and growing more annoyed as I finish each paragraph. I'm going to record a video response, reading and responding aloud. "Academic-brain" indeed. At this point, niceties and fancy hedging is cowardice
February 9, 2026 at 1:21 PM
I'm reading this now and growing more annoyed as I finish each paragraph. I'm going to record a video response, reading and responding aloud. "Academic-brain" indeed. At this point, niceties and fancy hedging is cowardice
Reposted by Dwayne Monroe
This is the smart person’s “if wishes were horses.” Morozov repeatedly asserts that technologies have politics but he chooses to overlook here that technologies do also have material properties that circumscribe their politics. www.theideasletter.org/essay/social...
Socialism After AI - The Ideas Letter
Morozov argues that socialist attempts to harness AI have merely treated it like earlier tools of capitalist production—as a neutral instrument that can simply be redirected. In fact, he says,…
www.theideasletter.org
February 7, 2026 at 1:49 PM
This is the smart person’s “if wishes were horses.” Morozov repeatedly asserts that technologies have politics but he chooses to overlook here that technologies do also have material properties that circumscribe their politics. www.theideasletter.org/essay/social...
Reposted by Dwayne Monroe
This is Smartwashing AI. Many know that the econ & political conditions that enable the tech industry to infiltrate every sector of public & private life are unsustainable & dangerous. But bc resistance is cast as emotional or archaic a cottage industry of wishful thinking from the left has emerged.
I think part of this is academic-brain. We've disciplined ourselves into believing that refusal or simply identifying something as irredeemable are not respectable intellectual positions. Instead, the clever posture is to wishcast a scenario on to which we can project our own smart version of sthing
February 9, 2026 at 1:01 PM
This is Smartwashing AI. Many know that the econ & political conditions that enable the tech industry to infiltrate every sector of public & private life are unsustainable & dangerous. But bc resistance is cast as emotional or archaic a cottage industry of wishful thinking from the left has emerged.
Reposted by Dwayne Monroe
yes, and this is also an especially Global North/Western perspective to people's hearts: their pets — which they care about much MUCH more than they care about other humans who happen to e.g. not be USAmerican or white
I tell you what, Ring figured out exactly how to weaponize white people’s empathy in service to a corporately controlled surveillance state.
Tell them it will find your dog.
Tell them it will find your dog.
February 9, 2026 at 9:16 AM
yes, and this is also an especially Global North/Western perspective to people's hearts: their pets — which they care about much MUCH more than they care about other humans who happen to e.g. not be USAmerican or white
Right! I liken this to what happens to businesses inherited by fail-sons: the founders of the post WW2 imperium, such as Eisenhower, Truman, Marshall, Kennan, built a spider's web of power projection. Trump and his ilk are burning through that dark inheritance (which is an opportunity!)
February 8, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Right! I liken this to what happens to businesses inherited by fail-sons: the founders of the post WW2 imperium, such as Eisenhower, Truman, Marshall, Kennan, built a spider's web of power projection. Trump and his ilk are burning through that dark inheritance (which is an opportunity!)
Exactly! Sometimes, people argue with me about the nature and reach of US imperialism which is unparalleled in history (not a compliment). The reality is that our underestimation is a successful psyop. Of course, there are regional powers but only Washington has reached into the affairs of the globe
February 8, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Exactly! Sometimes, people argue with me about the nature and reach of US imperialism which is unparalleled in history (not a compliment). The reality is that our underestimation is a successful psyop. Of course, there are regional powers but only Washington has reached into the affairs of the globe
What I'm learning from Rockhill is that we deeply underestimate the international scope, and scale, of the US effort. Doubtless, the NL system is already implicated and has been for decades. The D66 only makes this plainer (for ex. the increased 'defense' spending that only serves Lockheed, et al)
February 8, 2026 at 3:02 PM
What I'm learning from Rockhill is that we deeply underestimate the international scope, and scale, of the US effort. Doubtless, the NL system is already implicated and has been for decades. The D66 only makes this plainer (for ex. the increased 'defense' spending that only serves Lockheed, et al)
I gather that, as Rockhill does in 'Who Paid the Pipers...' with regards to the direct linkages between US intellectual war and academia, Knight provides detailed information about the connections between Chomsky's work and military systems. This isn't well known
February 8, 2026 at 1:40 PM
I gather that, as Rockhill does in 'Who Paid the Pipers...' with regards to the direct linkages between US intellectual war and academia, Knight provides detailed information about the connections between Chomsky's work and military systems. This isn't well known
Yes, Chomsky so resolved but as is often the case in human affairs, he lied... to himself. Reportedly (and I'll know better after reading) the actual record belies Chomsky's resolution and this is what Knight shows. This is not unlike say, rocket engineers who emphasise spaceflight rather than ICBMs
February 8, 2026 at 12:11 PM
Yes, Chomsky so resolved but as is often the case in human affairs, he lied... to himself. Reportedly (and I'll know better after reading) the actual record belies Chomsky's resolution and this is what Knight shows. This is not unlike say, rocket engineers who emphasise spaceflight rather than ICBMs
Reposted by Dwayne Monroe
Cybersecurity education has failed because no one understands that the ai caricature/ cute filters/ throwback photos or specific dances are all to get your biometrics
But I’m sure saying phish smish vish has been useful for some folk
But I’m sure saying phish smish vish has been useful for some folk
February 8, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Cybersecurity education has failed because no one understands that the ai caricature/ cute filters/ throwback photos or specific dances are all to get your biometrics
But I’m sure saying phish smish vish has been useful for some folk
But I’m sure saying phish smish vish has been useful for some folk
I haven't read yet but, it's my understanding that isn't discussed. I don't think it was public knowledge at the time the book was released and, Knight's focus is on Chomsky's work in service to the Pentagon
February 8, 2026 at 8:19 AM
I haven't read yet but, it's my understanding that isn't discussed. I don't think it was public knowledge at the time the book was released and, Knight's focus is on Chomsky's work in service to the Pentagon
Sigh. Adnan Husain is not a "nutjob" and "China fanboy" is vague to the point of meaninglessness. Unfollow me.
February 7, 2026 at 7:21 PM
Sigh. Adnan Husain is not a "nutjob" and "China fanboy" is vague to the point of meaninglessness. Unfollow me.
As @olivia.science has stated many times, the 'AI' industry's philistines do not understand, or respect, cognitive science, science overall or nature. They are barbarians.
February 7, 2026 at 4:46 PM
As @olivia.science has stated many times, the 'AI' industry's philistines do not understand, or respect, cognitive science, science overall or nature. They are barbarians.
Currently reading this outstanding book which, among other virtues, foregrounds the real world application of dialectical materialism and the fact we are in a world war. mronline.org/2026/01/02/w...
February 7, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Currently reading this outstanding book which, among other virtues, foregrounds the real world application of dialectical materialism and the fact we are in a world war. mronline.org/2026/01/02/w...
Rockhill mentions 'Decoding Chomsky' during this conversation with Adnan Husain: www.youtube.com/live/6-okZ9M...
February 7, 2026 at 10:32 AM
Rockhill mentions 'Decoding Chomsky' during this conversation with Adnan Husain: www.youtube.com/live/6-okZ9M...
Thanks to Gabriel Rockhill for mentioning Chris Knight's book (published in 2018), 'Decoding Chomsky'. Knight describes Chomsky's ties to the US military through his participation in applied machine learning research: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decodin...
Decoding Chomsky - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
February 7, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Thanks to Gabriel Rockhill for mentioning Chris Knight's book (published in 2018), 'Decoding Chomsky'. Knight describes Chomsky's ties to the US military through his participation in applied machine learning research: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decodin...
Indeed. His powers were useless against me because he was indeed a silly billy: youtu.be/eq2BWGq_L1E?...
The Venture Bros - Silly Billy
YouTube video by aWiEeM
youtu.be
February 7, 2026 at 7:51 AM
Indeed. His powers were useless against me because he was indeed a silly billy: youtu.be/eq2BWGq_L1E?...
Ha! Filtering for hand waving techno-babble, that was the entirety of his counter-argument. I mentioned that, because I'm human, was a child, and am an experienced driver, when I noted a small child with a ball playing between parked cars, my knowledge of the world was in use, not sensors
February 7, 2026 at 7:36 AM
Ha! Filtering for hand waving techno-babble, that was the entirety of his counter-argument. I mentioned that, because I'm human, was a child, and am an experienced driver, when I noted a small child with a ball playing between parked cars, my knowledge of the world was in use, not sensors