Melinda Batchelor
banner
melindab.bsky.social
Melinda Batchelor
@melindab.bsky.social
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
The FBI posted about being careful about online scams and being catfished for Valentine’s Day and the replies with photos of Kash Patel with his country singer girlfriend were getting so much traction the FBI deleted the tweet.
February 14, 2026 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
Ring, the doorbell video security system owned by Amazon, parted ways with a tech surveillance company that promoted a “Search Party” function that could access multiple cameras in a neighborhood. The function, which was featured in a Super Bowl ad, drew criticism over privacy concerns.
Ring Ends Deal to Link Neighborhood Cameras After Backlash to Super Bowl Ad
A commercial about a lost dog being reunited with his family ignited concerns that a “Search Party” feature posed privacy risks. Ring parted ways with the tech company Flock Safety.
nyti.ms
February 14, 2026 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
It’s up to all of us to now step up and call this absolute bull**** out
🚨Reform leader Nigel Farage has posted on X

“1 million people living in this country don’t speak any English at all. 4 million people living in this country barely speak passable English”

It’s racked up 2 million views

AND IT’S COMPLETELY UNTRUE
youtu.be/o56Tw8vSEfE?...
Farage’s latest video has racked up 2 million views - AND ITS COMPLETELY UNTRUE
YouTube video by Peter Stefanovic
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
Rubio just made a speech to the European defense community in Munich that did not mention Ukraine. Or democracy. Or US business deals with Russia. Or the administration's plans to support the European far right. But there were lots of nice words about our common civilization.
February 14, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
Both Jeremy Bowen and James Van Der Beek were diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer. In the FT Weekend today, we have an interview with Bowen, going strong aged 66, and an obituary for Van Der Beek, dead at 48. Ufff, life.
February 14, 2026 at 11:43 AM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
NEW

What the Palestine Action judgment means - and what it does not mean

How the High Court ruled against the government, but not with enthusiasm

By me: emptycity.substack.com/p/what-the-p...

(A follow up to my Prospect post this morning.)
What the Palestine Action judgment means - and what it does not mean
The High Court rules against the government, but not with enthusiasm
emptycity.substack.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
This may be the relevant bit, together with the next post.

#WAT
The court once again hammering home that they really don't accept the idea that is a peaceful or non-violent group.

This is significant *because they've found in PA's favour*. It is hard to say they're a bunch of kumbayah singing lentil weavers, if you read the judgment.
February 13, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
Also this is every DHS social Gen AI social media post
February 13, 2026 at 3:27 AM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
Plasma donation centers are popping up in middle-class neighborhoods, including suburban strip malls and college towns.
Middle-class Americans are selling their plasma to make ends meet
Last year, people in the U.S. made an estimated $4.7 billion selling their plasma. Donation centers are popping up in middle-class neighborhoods, including suburban strip malls and college towns.
www.nbcnews.com
February 12, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
A) This is a lie. Other countries have it.
B) Trump uses it regularly.

Bottom line: They are afraid of you voting.
February 12, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
Aside from predictable inaccuracy & consequent opposite of time-saving when it all needs to be checked & corrected, WTF are social care settings doing using non-bespoke #AI eg Copilot for highly confidential stuff like transcribing at-risk children's interviews?!
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Social workers’ AI tool makes ‘gibberish’ transcripts of accounts from children
Transcription tools used by councils in England and Scotland reported to wrongly indicate suicidal ideation
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 10:06 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
I haven’t been this excited for a bubble to burst since I was a toddler.
MIT’s NANDA initiative found that 95% of generative AI deployments fail after interviewing 150 execs, surveying 350 workers, and analyzing 300 projects. The real “productivity gains” seem to come from layoffs and squeezing more work from fewer people not AI.
MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing
There’s a stark difference in success rates between companies that purchase AI tools from vendors and those that build them internally.
fortune.com
August 20, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
Damn! I was almost right! I thought we would put a base on the Moon to mine Helium 3 for clean power back on Earth… clearly the future is actually solar powered kiddie porn generating AI infrastructure.
Elon Musk told employees at xAI, his artificial intelligence company, on Tuesday that the company needed a factory on the moon to build A.I. satellites and a massive catapult to launch them into space.
Elon Musk Wants to Build an A.I. Satellite Factory on the Moon
In a meeting with employees at his company xAI, Mr. Musk revealed a vision for a facility that includes a giant catapult to launch his satellites into space.
nyti.ms
February 11, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
During a congressional visit, Congressman Joaquin Castro discovered that babies as young as two months old are being held at the Dilley, Texas Family Concentration Camp. (February 10, 2026)
February 11, 2026 at 4:18 AM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
February 10, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad
February 10, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
It’s very good of Prince William to distance himself from his horrific uncle Andrew, while on a visit to hang out with journalist-murdering bastard Mohammed bin Salman. I
February 9, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer says his client will only speak if Trump grants her clemency
February 9, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
ICE sacked some tiny Idaho town and deported ~4 percent of the population at a stroke, it's liable to collapse the local economy www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...
A Raid in a Small Town Brings Trump’s Deportations to Deep-Red Idaho
www.nytimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
if you have a ring camera you are a child, terrified of the silhouette of a jacket hanging on a chair. you are lower than a worm to me. you have sold your soul to a devil that has offered you nothing in return
February 9, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
Since #bbclaurak is trending, let’s remind ourselves that ONE MONTH ago, the BBC invited Mandelson on for a soft-ball interview on her show. While HIS CLIENT , Palantir’s Louis Moseley appeared as a pundit

Both, as I wrote at time, were ‘abject failures of journalism’
1/
February 8, 2026 at 10:13 AM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
JD Vance getting booed, as called around the world (auto transcribed & translated, mostly):
February 8, 2026 at 6:33 AM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
My heart isn't in the Superbowl this year, but for tradition's sake, here is my favourite #SuperbOwl meme... 🦉🏺
February 8, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Melinda Batchelor
It only took them 12 months to build massive concentration camps all over the USA. You’d think there would be more uproar, but no. No one cares unless it’s in their backyard.
February 8, 2026 at 9:42 AM