John Lubbock
@jwsal.bsky.social
writer / filmmaker / human rights / Wikipedia / Turkish stuff / he/him / PhD about AI and journalism @ @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social
The UK should not abdicate its moral responsibility to call waging aggressive war a crime. stoptrump.org.uk/sign-venezue...
Open letter: UK must not abstain on UN Venezuela vote
Stop Trump Coalition
stoptrump.org.uk
January 5, 2026 at 10:16 PM
The UK should not abdicate its moral responsibility to call waging aggressive war a crime. stoptrump.org.uk/sign-venezue...
It’s like listening to an addict trying to convince themselves that they don’t have a problem.
Fetterman on Fox & Friends: "America is a force of good, order, and democracy. And we are promoting these kinds of values. We are the good guys."
January 5, 2026 at 9:56 PM
It’s like listening to an addict trying to convince themselves that they don’t have a problem.
Really cool stuff that OpenAI probably trained its LLM on all kinds of conspiratorial content to the point that it convinced a mentally ill man that he was in the Matrix and then he ended up murdering his mother. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...
Murder-suicide case shows OpenAI selectively hides data after users die
OpenAI accused of hiding full ChatGPT logs in murder-suicide case.
arstechnica.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Really cool stuff that OpenAI probably trained its LLM on all kinds of conspiratorial content to the point that it convinced a mentally ill man that he was in the Matrix and then he ended up murdering his mother. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...
I think what takes like this miss is the context that 41% of Americans just didn't vote in 2024. Of those, the hardened leftists refusing to vote on principle is probably a small number compared to the mass of disaffected people who don't see or understand how politics affects them.
The worst (?) part is the way this nihilism has infected both sides. I remain flabbergasted by leftists who refused to vote because they loathed the Dems to the point where rabid hatred eclipsed everything else, basic self-preservation included. Loyalty to fellow citizens never entered the picture.
January 5, 2026 at 3:10 PM
I think what takes like this miss is the context that 41% of Americans just didn't vote in 2024. Of those, the hardened leftists refusing to vote on principle is probably a small number compared to the mass of disaffected people who don't see or understand how politics affects them.
Reposted by John Lubbock
Wrote about an obvious and yet profoundly underappreciated aspect of the AI boom: its total narrative capture by Elon Musk's X nymag.com/intelligence...
January 5, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Wrote about an obvious and yet profoundly underappreciated aspect of the AI boom: its total narrative capture by Elon Musk's X nymag.com/intelligence...
Would be cool if people could stop trying to make everything into Black Mirror.
Someone told the wearables crowd that “second brain” was a good marketing phrase and now they won’t stop using it.
This $199 AI wearable wants to remember your life for you
Looki’s L1 promises proactive AI that watches, listens and organises your memories, and even follows up on meetings
www.t3.com
January 5, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Would be cool if people could stop trying to make everything into Black Mirror.
Ooo Ofcom is concerned, now Musk will be quaking in his boots lol
Ofcom, which enforces the UK's Online Safety Act, says it is aware of "serious concerns" about Grok undressing people including children on X
“We have made urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK," it says
“We have made urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK," it says
January 5, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Ooo Ofcom is concerned, now Musk will be quaking in his boots lol
Reposted by John Lubbock
Utah commissioned it's department of health to do a systematic review of gender affirming care for trans youth. In a 1000 page plus report found it was beneficial and the evidence was substantial. The lawmakers rejected it anyways.
www.deseret.com/politics/202...
www.deseret.com/politics/202...
Utah debate over transgender treatments for minors divides policymakers, experts over state 'systematic review'
Do No Harm alleges Utah Department of Health and Human Services "systematic review" misleads on transgender outcomes.
www.deseret.com
January 5, 2026 at 1:49 PM
Utah commissioned it's department of health to do a systematic review of gender affirming care for trans youth. In a 1000 page plus report found it was beneficial and the evidence was substantial. The lawmakers rejected it anyways.
www.deseret.com/politics/202...
www.deseret.com/politics/202...
Reposted by John Lubbock
I'm writing about the Palestine Action hunger strikers at the moment, any of whom could die at any moment, and the astonishing media and government silence surrounding them. The Establishment seems to have become even crueller than when Thatcher was PM.
January 5, 2026 at 12:27 PM
I'm writing about the Palestine Action hunger strikers at the moment, any of whom could die at any moment, and the astonishing media and government silence surrounding them. The Establishment seems to have become even crueller than when Thatcher was PM.
Reposted by John Lubbock
BBC journalists have been banned from describing the kidnapped Venezuelan leader as having been kidnapped.
The BBC News Editor has sent this to BBC journalists.
The BBC News Editor has sent this to BBC journalists.
January 5, 2026 at 1:19 PM
BBC journalists have been banned from describing the kidnapped Venezuelan leader as having been kidnapped.
The BBC News Editor has sent this to BBC journalists.
The BBC News Editor has sent this to BBC journalists.
Reposted by John Lubbock
One of the final House votes of 2025 was a vote on @repmcgovern.bsky.social war powers resolution to bar President Trump from military action against Venezuela without authorization by Congress.
All Republicans except Reps. Massie, Bacon, and Marjorie Taylor Greene voted to defeat the measure:
All Republicans except Reps. Massie, Bacon, and Marjorie Taylor Greene voted to defeat the measure:
January 4, 2026 at 10:09 PM
One of the final House votes of 2025 was a vote on @repmcgovern.bsky.social war powers resolution to bar President Trump from military action against Venezuela without authorization by Congress.
All Republicans except Reps. Massie, Bacon, and Marjorie Taylor Greene voted to defeat the measure:
All Republicans except Reps. Massie, Bacon, and Marjorie Taylor Greene voted to defeat the measure:
No shit.
Trump’s focus on Venezuelan oil reinforces claim action was never about ‘war on drugs’
Trump’s focus on Venezuelan oil reinforces claim action was never about ‘war on drugs’
US president claims US will take back ‘stolen’ oil, but experts say no legal claim to natural reserves exists
www.theguardian.com
January 4, 2026 at 7:02 PM
No shit.
Reposted by John Lubbock
The weak response from Can, EU and UN to Trump's flagrant crimes in Venezuela is striking.
It exposes that much of the world has been cowed.
Most notable exception: the Latin American left.
That is why the Trump Admin has gone to enormous lengths to defeat the left across the continent. 1/3
It exposes that much of the world has been cowed.
Most notable exception: the Latin American left.
That is why the Trump Admin has gone to enormous lengths to defeat the left across the continent. 1/3
January 4, 2026 at 6:35 PM
The weak response from Can, EU and UN to Trump's flagrant crimes in Venezuela is striking.
It exposes that much of the world has been cowed.
Most notable exception: the Latin American left.
That is why the Trump Admin has gone to enormous lengths to defeat the left across the continent. 1/3
It exposes that much of the world has been cowed.
Most notable exception: the Latin American left.
That is why the Trump Admin has gone to enormous lengths to defeat the left across the continent. 1/3
There's a lot about the current US neoimperialist policy which reminds me of the late British Empire. The gunboat diplomacy, the puntitive expedition to punish a state that refuses to open its economy to the imperialist aggressor. Shades of the 1897 Benin expedition. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benin_E...
Benin Expedition of 1897 - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 4, 2026 at 6:35 PM
There's a lot about the current US neoimperialist policy which reminds me of the late British Empire. The gunboat diplomacy, the puntitive expedition to punish a state that refuses to open its economy to the imperialist aggressor. Shades of the 1897 Benin expedition. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benin_E...
![Screen shot from the show Andor. Someone says to Mon Mothma “They [meaning the Empire] don’t even bother to lie badly anymore.” Mon replies “I suppose that’s the final humiliation.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ny5w2k6brb2kdubxnevke6li/bafkreibrxbmhwrnkwo2ztnczubpnzpup3uf6dpyhs7mk2uxpeoeynhjo2q@jpeg)
Reposted by John Lubbock
NEW: In a phone call this morning, I asked President Trump why Venezuelan regime change was different from Iraq. “I didn’t do Iraq. That was Bush. You’ll have to ask Bush that question, because we should have never gone into Iraq," he told me. Here is the story: www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
Trump: Delcy Rodríguez Might Be Next
The president told The Atlantic that the interim Venezuelan president will meet a fate worse than Maduro’s unless she complies with U.S. wishes.
www.theatlantic.com
January 4, 2026 at 5:22 PM
NEW: In a phone call this morning, I asked President Trump why Venezuelan regime change was different from Iraq. “I didn’t do Iraq. That was Bush. You’ll have to ask Bush that question, because we should have never gone into Iraq," he told me. Here is the story: www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
Reposted by John Lubbock
OpenAI is now facing a total of 8 wrongful death lawsuits from grieving families....who claim that ChatGPT, in particular, the GPT-4o version, drove their loved ones to suicide. Soelberg’s complaint also alleges that company executives knew the chatbot was defective before it pushed it to the public
He put his complete trust in a chat bot that turned him into a savage murderer.
Disturbing Messages Show ChatGPT Encouraging a Murder, Lawsuit Alleges
A lawsuit against OpenAI reveals the chilling ChatGPT messages that drove a middle aged man to kill his 83-year-old mother.
trib.al
January 4, 2026 at 2:06 PM
OpenAI is now facing a total of 8 wrongful death lawsuits from grieving families....who claim that ChatGPT, in particular, the GPT-4o version, drove their loved ones to suicide. Soelberg’s complaint also alleges that company executives knew the chatbot was defective before it pushed it to the public
Reposted by John Lubbock
During weeks like these, you realize how weak the U.S. left really is. It’s nice that Bernie Sanders and AOC have mainstreamed social democratic domestic policy reforms, but there simply is no antiwar movement in this country with any kind of institutional significance. It’s a void.
January 4, 2026 at 5:51 PM
During weeks like these, you realize how weak the U.S. left really is. It’s nice that Bernie Sanders and AOC have mainstreamed social democratic domestic policy reforms, but there simply is no antiwar movement in this country with any kind of institutional significance. It’s a void.
Reposted by John Lubbock
Sir Keir Starmer has just been kidnapped by American special forces. In a statement from his cell he said "gosh thank you so much, this is great!"
January 4, 2026 at 12:25 AM
Sir Keir Starmer has just been kidnapped by American special forces. In a statement from his cell he said "gosh thank you so much, this is great!"
If you're anti-Net Zero at this point, you are against your country having energy sovereignty and you may also be a stooge of the American Empire or its oil companies.
"We're in the oil business" - Trump
January 4, 2026 at 3:57 PM
If you're anti-Net Zero at this point, you are against your country having energy sovereignty and you may also be a stooge of the American Empire or its oil companies.
I want a British government that’s not going to let itself be bullied by a rogue imperialist state that arbitrarily kidnaps foreign heads of state. To do that we need to ally ourselves much closer with our EU neighbours. The time for action was yesterday. If Starmer won’t act he needs to be removed.
January 4, 2026 at 2:47 PM
I want a British government that’s not going to let itself be bullied by a rogue imperialist state that arbitrarily kidnaps foreign heads of state. To do that we need to ally ourselves much closer with our EU neighbours. The time for action was yesterday. If Starmer won’t act he needs to be removed.
Reposted by John Lubbock
Europe needs to get much more comfortable threatening Trump with serious deterrent measures, and if necessary implementing them. Tariffs, taxes & bans on US firms; selloffs of US Treasuries; expulsions of American troops; sanctions on individuals. Speak his language: strength.
Why should Trump stop at Venezuela? They’re champing at the bit for territorial expansion. Katie Miller, Stephen Miller‘s wife, posted a map of Greenland marked as a US territory with the words „SOON“.
January 4, 2026 at 12:40 PM
Europe needs to get much more comfortable threatening Trump with serious deterrent measures, and if necessary implementing them. Tariffs, taxes & bans on US firms; selloffs of US Treasuries; expulsions of American troops; sanctions on individuals. Speak his language: strength.
Reposted by John Lubbock
"It’s not for politicians to make judgments around international law"
and yet they can't shut up about international law when it's about immigration
and yet they can't shut up about international law when it's about immigration
January 4, 2026 at 10:53 AM
"It’s not for politicians to make judgments around international law"
and yet they can't shut up about international law when it's about immigration
and yet they can't shut up about international law when it's about immigration
Reposted by John Lubbock
Holding stories like this is a longstanding practice and also completely antithetical to the entire purpose of journalism. RIP Gawker.
🟡 NEW: The New York Times and Washington Post learned of a secret US raid on Venezuela soon before it was scheduled to begin Friday night — but held off publishing what they knew to avoid endangering US troops.
www.semafor.com/article/01/0...
www.semafor.com/article/01/0...
News organizations held off on reporting Venezuela raid
The American news organizations held their stories over concerns about endangering US troops.
www.semafor.com
January 4, 2026 at 2:56 AM
Holding stories like this is a longstanding practice and also completely antithetical to the entire purpose of journalism. RIP Gawker.
Reposted by John Lubbock
NYT:
At least 40 people were killed in the US attack on Venezuela, including military personnel and civilians.
At least 40 people were killed in the US attack on Venezuela, including military personnel and civilians.
January 3, 2026 at 11:25 PM
NYT:
At least 40 people were killed in the US attack on Venezuela, including military personnel and civilians.
At least 40 people were killed in the US attack on Venezuela, including military personnel and civilians.