Dave Andress
@davidandress.bsky.social
Historian of revolution, pessimistic anarchist. Nobody else wants these views, trust me. 'His real face is a hat' - Fern Riddell.
Reposted by Dave Andress
notorious radical left communist rag says tax the rich
February 18, 2026 at 4:03 PM
notorious radical left communist rag says tax the rich
Reposted by Dave Andress
Is this piece a parody? Every time I read an interview with one of these Fabergé martyrs who retreat to their Western Civ havens, I think — half-facetiously — does anyone want to interview *me* after leaving the academy + a presidential professorship bc of astronomical conservatism + dysfunction?
After 40 Years at Harvard, James Hankins Is Disillusioned. He’s Starting Over in Florida.
The Renaissance scholar on tensions with the conservative reform movement, his sanguine view of academic freedom in Ron DeSantis’s Florida, and the role of wine in Western civilization.
www.chronicle.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:12 PM
Is this piece a parody? Every time I read an interview with one of these Fabergé martyrs who retreat to their Western Civ havens, I think — half-facetiously — does anyone want to interview *me* after leaving the academy + a presidential professorship bc of astronomical conservatism + dysfunction?
Reposted by Dave Andress
I remember when I had to convince my students that Charlemagne's political program of translatio imperii--pretending that he was reviving the legacy of ancient Rome in order to shore up his own power--has been a leitmotif of American imperialism since the 18C. Now I just have to point at a tweet.
There is no coherent historical legacy that directly links Athens and Rome to Christian Europe and the United States while leaving out the Islamic world. This is such ahistorical nonsense.
February 18, 2026 at 1:59 PM
I remember when I had to convince my students that Charlemagne's political program of translatio imperii--pretending that he was reviving the legacy of ancient Rome in order to shore up his own power--has been a leitmotif of American imperialism since the 18C. Now I just have to point at a tweet.
Reposted by Dave Andress
2026 basically
February 18, 2026 at 4:23 PM
2026 basically
Reposted by Dave Andress
Actually, I'm pretty sure it's called the President's Daily Briefing because it's a briefing *for* the president that is prepared by the Director of National Intelligence, who chooses what to present from the various intel agencies?
Kash Patel: "You know why it's called the President's Daily Briefing? Because the president decides what are the intel priorities in that briefing."
February 18, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Actually, I'm pretty sure it's called the President's Daily Briefing because it's a briefing *for* the president that is prepared by the Director of National Intelligence, who chooses what to present from the various intel agencies?
Reposted by Dave Andress
Real insane part of this clip is Hassett saying in the beginning that NY Fed researchers “should be disciplined” for…writing an economics paper that comes to a conclusion the president dislikes? A conclusion that matches the vast majority of economic evidence on tariffs? Nuts
Hassett: "The basic theory of President Trump's tariffs is sure, we're importing stuff from China, but we've got producers in US who make stuff, maybe at alightly higher place. If we bring stuff home, create demand, then that will hurt China & drive up wages & American consumers will be better off."
February 18, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Real insane part of this clip is Hassett saying in the beginning that NY Fed researchers “should be disciplined” for…writing an economics paper that comes to a conclusion the president dislikes? A conclusion that matches the vast majority of economic evidence on tariffs? Nuts
Reposted by Dave Andress
First they came for the Humanities....
There are just 22.5 postdoctoral positions starting on new STFC astronomy grants in 2026, compared to 80-85 two years ago
Data is from a report by STFC’s Astronomy Grants Panel, whose chair Mark Sullivan did not mince his words, saying UK astronomy faces an “unprecedented funding crisis”
...
Data is from a report by STFC’s Astronomy Grants Panel, whose chair Mark Sullivan did not mince his words, saying UK astronomy faces an “unprecedented funding crisis”
...
February 18, 2026 at 3:40 PM
First they came for the Humanities....
Reposted by Dave Andress
The left is left solely with scolding because the right holds the power to literally kill en masse, which apparently means we are the meanies, not the Gestapo.
I find it frustrating that the left has been characterized as more prone to scolding when the right’s entire culture is built on an openly insidious kind of scolding
February 18, 2026 at 3:41 PM
The left is left solely with scolding because the right holds the power to literally kill en masse, which apparently means we are the meanies, not the Gestapo.
Enjoyed being in a meeting this pm where, one by one, at ten-minute intervals, everyone using an employer-supplied laptop PC had it forcibly reboot on them.
February 18, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Enjoyed being in a meeting this pm where, one by one, at ten-minute intervals, everyone using an employer-supplied laptop PC had it forcibly reboot on them.
So, what we're saying here is, a handful of predatory companies have used borrowed money to buy up not only a vital resource for the functioning of everyday life, but all the future production of that vital resource for several years ahead?
When does the UN Security Council meet on this?
When does the UN Security Council meet on this?
The personal computing market thrived because of healthy demand from a mass of consumers willing to buy all the new upgraded tech pouring into the market. A competitor has arrived, ai data centers, that completely drowns out the aggregate demand of the pc market.
February 18, 2026 at 3:39 PM
So, what we're saying here is, a handful of predatory companies have used borrowed money to buy up not only a vital resource for the functioning of everyday life, but all the future production of that vital resource for several years ahead?
When does the UN Security Council meet on this?
When does the UN Security Council meet on this?
Reposted by Dave Andress
Reposted by Dave Andress
Not to be a dick about this but literally all sci-fi warns you that the instruments of your convenience will also be your demise. The warning signs were there. Also this is why you shouldn’t use things like Rocket Money that claim to get you deals. Sometimes they also screw you into new contracts.
February 18, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Not to be a dick about this but literally all sci-fi warns you that the instruments of your convenience will also be your demise. The warning signs were there. Also this is why you shouldn’t use things like Rocket Money that claim to get you deals. Sometimes they also screw you into new contracts.
This cartoon was supposed to be a learning moment, guys.
February 18, 2026 at 3:34 PM
This cartoon was supposed to be a learning moment, guys.
Reposted by Dave Andress
Uhm. Yeah. This is terrible.
Seagate and WD just declared they've finished selling their stock for the year and won't be stepping up production early. Drives out on retail have doubled in cost this week. There's the rest of the year ahead.
February 18, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Uhm. Yeah. This is terrible.
It's almost as if the UK actually needed a thought-through constitutional structure of executive governance, not just whoever can cram into an old townhouse with a party leader who gets to pretend they're the monarch as long as they have the votes.
This is so good
"Appointments can be good, bad or indifferent, but it is wishful thinking to believe good people can overcome a bad system. When the problem is structural, the PM can feed all the good ... people he wants into the machine and it will ... deliver the same outcomes again and again."
"Appointments can be good, bad or indifferent, but it is wishful thinking to believe good people can overcome a bad system. When the problem is structural, the PM can feed all the good ... people he wants into the machine and it will ... deliver the same outcomes again and again."
Have written about how the below is one symptom of a really bad set-up at the centre of government. It makes sense that in the moment prime ministers keep trying to find a different person to do various jobs, but the problem is also a structural one, and the dysfunctional structure keeps on winning
February 18, 2026 at 3:28 PM
It's almost as if the UK actually needed a thought-through constitutional structure of executive governance, not just whoever can cram into an old townhouse with a party leader who gets to pretend they're the monarch as long as they have the votes.
Reposted by Dave Andress
I was excited about the mRNA work that was making all the vaccines and curing cancer and AIDS and stuff, but your fascist government is killing that for eugenics, so, maybe I don't hate technology I just hate your product and your fascist loving faces.
February 18, 2026 at 3:18 PM
I was excited about the mRNA work that was making all the vaccines and curing cancer and AIDS and stuff, but your fascist government is killing that for eugenics, so, maybe I don't hate technology I just hate your product and your fascist loving faces.
Reposted by Dave Andress
Since the troll column seems to have worked: The very very very very very very very obvious question is not "why hasn't the left embraced AI" but "why has the right so eagerly embraced a tech product built on theft, sold by fraud, and optimized for abuse and misinformation"
February 18, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Since the troll column seems to have worked: The very very very very very very very obvious question is not "why hasn't the left embraced AI" but "why has the right so eagerly embraced a tech product built on theft, sold by fraud, and optimized for abuse and misinformation"
Reposted by Dave Andress
“My bot, called Molty, likes to call itself a ‘chaos gremlin.’”
I’m gonna go ahead and stop you there.
I’m gonna go ahead and stop you there.
I Loved My OpenClaw AI Agent—Until It Turned on Me
I used the viral AI helper to order groceries, sort emails, and negotiate deals. Then it decided to scam me.
www.wired.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:23 PM
“My bot, called Molty, likes to call itself a ‘chaos gremlin.’”
I’m gonna go ahead and stop you there.
I’m gonna go ahead and stop you there.
Rather wry to have watched in my adult lifetime one of those handy little bits of Latin, like etcetera or passim, become indelibly associated in the public mind with pornography.
February 18, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Rather wry to have watched in my adult lifetime one of those handy little bits of Latin, like etcetera or passim, become indelibly associated in the public mind with pornography.
Reposted by Dave Andress
nice that the NYT is finally noticing that the USA's democratic institutions were as flawed as they were broken well before he came along
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...
Why Other Democracies Don’t Gerrymander Like the U.S.
www.nytimes.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:11 PM
nice that the NYT is finally noticing that the USA's democratic institutions were as flawed as they were broken well before he came along
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...
Reposted by Dave Andress
< wrestling announcer voice >
the BIBLE'S!! OOOOOOOOOORIGINAL!!!!!WOOOOOMAANNNNN!!!!!!! < airhorns >
the BIBLE'S!! OOOOOOOOOORIGINAL!!!!!WOOOOOMAANNNNN!!!!!!! < airhorns >
February 18, 2026 at 3:07 PM
< wrestling announcer voice >
the BIBLE'S!! OOOOOOOOOORIGINAL!!!!!WOOOOOMAANNNNN!!!!!!! < airhorns >
the BIBLE'S!! OOOOOOOOOORIGINAL!!!!!WOOOOOMAANNNNN!!!!!!! < airhorns >
Iceland. Population 393,000. Annual tourist visits 2,200,000.
If the UK welcomed 400 million visitors a year, it could milk them all nicely.
[We actually get about 10% of that number, who spend over £32bn. 10x that is a quarter of ALL public expenditure. So, yep.]
If the UK welcomed 400 million visitors a year, it could milk them all nicely.
[We actually get about 10% of that number, who spend over £32bn. 10x that is a quarter of ALL public expenditure. So, yep.]
I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
I’m constantly astounded at the sheer level of artistic production coming out of Iceland. Novels, movies, music. Amazing.
February 18, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Iceland. Population 393,000. Annual tourist visits 2,200,000.
If the UK welcomed 400 million visitors a year, it could milk them all nicely.
[We actually get about 10% of that number, who spend over £32bn. 10x that is a quarter of ALL public expenditure. So, yep.]
If the UK welcomed 400 million visitors a year, it could milk them all nicely.
[We actually get about 10% of that number, who spend over £32bn. 10x that is a quarter of ALL public expenditure. So, yep.]
Reposted by Dave Andress
Really excellent Sonja Drimmer essay on art history and the insidiousness of "prophesying" the supposed value of genAI.
I especially appreciate the criticism of assumptions that "collaboration" with comp sci is some good in itself. Good for who and on whose terms?
bsky.app/profile/sonj...
I especially appreciate the criticism of assumptions that "collaboration" with comp sci is some good in itself. Good for who and on whose terms?
bsky.app/profile/sonj...
People who would never otherwise agree with the premise of "downsizing" but nevertheless want to stop paying people to do necessary work now get exactly the panacea they need to justify this position. AI is nothing but permission structures all the way down.
www.artforum.com/features/gen...
www.artforum.com/features/gen...
February 18, 2026 at 2:42 PM
Really excellent Sonja Drimmer essay on art history and the insidiousness of "prophesying" the supposed value of genAI.
I especially appreciate the criticism of assumptions that "collaboration" with comp sci is some good in itself. Good for who and on whose terms?
bsky.app/profile/sonj...
I especially appreciate the criticism of assumptions that "collaboration" with comp sci is some good in itself. Good for who and on whose terms?
bsky.app/profile/sonj...
"Bug".
Assholes.
Assholes.
Microsoft said the bug meant that its Copilot AI chatbot was reading and summarizing paying customers' confidential emails, bypassing data protection policies.
Microsoft says Office bug exposed customers' confidential emails to Copilot AI | TechCrunch
Microsoft said the bug meant that its Copilot AI chatbot was reading and summarizing paying customers' confidential emails, bypassing data protection policies.
techcrunch.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:04 PM
"Bug".
Assholes.
Assholes.
Nazi who takes drugs & has multiple cosmetic surgeries is narcissistic asshole, in shock news.
The disturbing rise of Clavicular: how a looksmaxxer turned his ‘horror story’ into fame
The disturbing rise of Clavicular: how a looksmaxxer turned his ‘horror story’ into fame
His gonzo argot of ‘mogging’ and ‘jestermaxxing’ masks a malign chauvinist philosophy, and his audience keeps growing
www.theguardian.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Nazi who takes drugs & has multiple cosmetic surgeries is narcissistic asshole, in shock news.