Repealing the endangerment finding may tick of a lot of boxes for right wing extremists, but the result could be not what they expect.

The post Whether The Endangerment Finding Stays Or Goes Will Be Up To The Supreme Court appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Airbnb plans to double down on artificial intelligence to improve its user experience for both guests and hosts. During a fourth-quarter earnings call, Airbnb's CEO, Brian Chesky, said the company is building an "AI-native experience" aimed at helping guests book trips, assisting hosts with their listings, and running the company more efficiently. According to Chesky, there's an AI search tool to help guests book trips that's live for a small percentage of users right now.

In a shareholder letter posted on Airbnb's website, the company said it's conducting early testing with an AI-powered search that is "focused on giving guests a more natural way to describe what they're looking for, and ask questions about the listing and location." The letter added that the AI search tool will become "a more comprehensive and intuitive search experience that extends through the trip," but the company didn't offer a definitive date on when it would be available to the public.

While it may feel like Airbnb is late to incorporating AI into its ecosystem, it introduced an AI chatbot that handles customer service requests last year. While the AI agent is only available to users in North America currently, Airbnb said that it already handles a third of customer requests without the need for human intervention, as reported by TechCrunch. Chesky also said during the earnings call that the AI chatbot would tackle "significantly more" customer tickets a year from now and that it would roll out to the rest of the world.

Five Years Ago

As you probably know, we marked the 30th anniversary of Section 230 this week, so it's not surprising that this same week in 2021 we were celebrating its 25th anniversary with a special online event where we were joined by Chris Cox and Ron Wyden. We also wrote about the many reasons to celebrate the law and explained how it lets tech companies fix content moderation issues, and how to think about 230 in the context of online advertising. Plus, we celebrated the matching anniversary of the Declaration Of The Independence Of Cyberspace by John Perry Barlow. Of course, none of that stopped the GOP from rolling out a dumb new talking point saying 230 should be killed if net neutrality happens, nor did it stop Orrin Hatch from telling flat out lies about what 230 does.

Ten Years Ago

This week in 2016 we were, of course, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Section 230 and doing the same for the aforementioned Declaration. We also looked at the impact of Title II regulation a year after the many doomsayer predictions about it. Meanwhile, Warner/Chappell had to pay up in the lawsuit over the Happy Birthday copyright while the plaintiffs began seeking to declare the song in the public domain, Honda got hit with the Streisand Effect in its attempt to get Jalopnik to dox a commenter, a judge changed their mind and allowed James Woods to unmask a Twitter user who made fun of him, and Techdirt received (and rebuffed) yet another bogus legal threat from Australia.

Fifteen Years Ago

This week in 2011, while Righthaven was going after a new target that had a strong fair use case, we wondered what the shutdowns of ACS:Law and MediaCAT meant for the future of the US Copyright Group, just as the latter was teaming up with the producers of The Expendables to shake down thousands of people. Meanwhile, a report from IP Czar Victoria Espinel was little more than a list of lobbyist talking points, the MPAA filed a surprisingly weak billion dollar lawsuit against Hotfile, the US Chamber of Commerce was calling for more censorship and more IP protectionism, and a bizarre opinion piece in NME claimed the recent takeover of EMI by Citigroup was proof that file sharing had "murdered the music business".

Canada has just shifted its electric vehicle policy architecture. Instead of relying on an explicit EV sales mandate, the federal government has moved toward tightening fleet average emissions standards combined with credit trading and trade policy adjustments. On the surface, this looks like a procedural change. In practice, it changes ... [continued]

The post Canada, California, & Europe: Three Ways to Force EV Adoption appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The greedy, grasping, living cartoon of a Scrooge who currently occupies the White House is leveraging coal power to support his plans for killing as many Americans as possible. Hopefully he will leave office again — peacefully, this time — before doing much further damage. In the meantime, energy storage ... [continued]

The post New Energy Storage Solutions Are Killing Trump's Coal Power Fantasy appeared first on CleanTechnica.

words on a T-shirt I saw recently; pretty much sums up what the pols and their media are trying to do to our minds, I think

Things can change. So Cory Doctorow reassures us:

 [In] Thomas Piketty's 2013 Capital in the 21st Century, [he introduced] the notion that any societal condition that endures beyond a generation becomes "eternal" in the popular consciousness… [This] is a vital observation about the human condition: as a species, we forget so much. Something that was commonplace a generation ago becomes unimaginable today, and vice versa… Things that seem eternal and innate to the human condition to you are apt to have been invented [not long] before you started to notice the world around you, and might seem utterly alien to your children. As Douglas Adams put it:

Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that's invented between when you're fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.

What Cory seems to be saying is that even if the government of the day seems hopelessly awful and the situation seems utterly chaotic and collapsing, things can change in ways we can't and daren't imagine.

Of course, this is true. Everything may be determined, but nothing is predictable. Black swans come in a range of forms, from apocalyptic to rapturous. Circumstances change, in ways we can't imagine or control, and they can change everything.

What I'm hearing a lot these days, from friends and contacts all over the world and across the political spectrum, is the weary assertion that anything would be an improvement over what we're dealing with now. My sense is that that belief is often rooted in an ignorance of history, and/or in Cory's observation that we forget so much.

Forgetting can be the essential ingredient in healing. And it can also be the essential ingredient in inaction, in complacency, in unwarranted hopefulness, and, too often, in enabling recurring cycles of error, and of tyranny.

COLLAPSE WATCH

El Niño is waking up and is forecast to return with a vengeance this summer, reaching full intensity in winter 2026-27; from NOAA via Severe Weather Europe

Rate of global warming increase is doubling: The latest analysis by James Hansen suggests that the global warming rate is accelerating and we will hit 2ºC of warming by the late 2030s (ie in a decade or so), and 6ºC of warming before the end of the century. If economic and political collapse haven't completely undone our civilization by then, that will be more than enough to finish it off.

First, the economy: Tim Morgan explains again why it will be economic collapse that will precipitate the collapse of the rest of our civilization's systems.

The return of El Niño: As the chart above illustrates El Niño is expected to return this summer and will probably make next winter, and both 2026 and 2027, the hottest on record.

Entering an era of "water bankruptcy": Just one more sign there is now not enough (of any essentials for life) to go around, and the situation is rapidly worsening.

Detoxing from "hope porn": The flowery "we can do this and we have to, for our childrens" absurd, unrealistic reassurances from people like Rebecca Solnit, Ezra Klein, a host of neoliberals, and even Greta Thunberg hold out false hope and pacify us into magical thinking, when the only effective activism now is climate realism. Thanks to Paul Heft for the links, and the one that follows.

How "recycling" plastic makes it worse: An entropy scientist explains the myth of the circular economy, and that much of our society's environmental damage is essentially permanent.

Why the economy hasn't crashed — yet: Hank Green provides his theory, and explains how this has made the economy horrifically unstable and vulnerable, created an unprecedented Ponzi bubble, led to unprecedented political and economic corruption, and radically redistributed wealth to the ultra-rich from everyone else, and then discusses it with economist Kyla Scanlon (whose blog I just added to my RSS feed).

LIVING BETTER

I have used this for years in just about all my creative writing — even in poetry and especially in dialogue; from the memebrary

Ways of Seeing: John Berger's extraordinary 7-essay series produced for the BBC in 1972 on how we "see" western art and images, and how the misogynistic and capitalistic message of western art and now of graphic advertising has (not really) shifted since the Renaissance, is now on YouTube and the derivative book is online.

Secure your own mask first: Advice from Tod Maffin on dealing with the endless doom news cycle when you're also dealing with substance addiction and/or emotional challenges.

Breaking free from the Big Tech Oligarchy: A step by step guide to switching to alternatives to Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, XTwitter, and the rest of the abusive gang. Thanks to Emily van Lidth de Jeude for the link.

A different kind of red hat: Opponents to ICE have taken to wearing red toques with a long history of anti-fascist resistance behind them.

How resistance to the ICE paramilitary looks on the ground: A reporter describes the endless hard work involved in alerting people to, and resisting, Trump's domestic storm troopers. Thanks to Kavana Tree Bressen for the link.

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS AS USUAL

screencap from a video of a delivery robot steering around a homeless man; pretty much says it all; Google has now censored this video from YouTube but I found it here thanks to Caitlin's post

"America is unraveling": Under the mad king and an impotent opposition and crumbling judiciary, "there is no point fearing an American dystopia to come: It has already arrived and we live in it." And "the American imperium [is] sliding into ever-accelerating decline—at home and abroad—and taking the Constitution and ordinary citizens down with it". As 'leaders' mumble, a ragtag resistance emerges when there is no other choice: "Organized gangs of wine moms" take to the streets: "the messages flash by in the ever-expanding network of groups. Someone needs food, someone needs shelter, someone needs diapers, formula, someone needs a lawyer. And the ask is answered. For a moment, the need is met".

...and threatening the rest of the world as it goes down: Trump declares economic war on the rest of the world (except Israel, its only remaining ally). The deranged, childlike missive of the king to all international heads of state. Danish MP Rasmus Jarlov says that if the US military invades Greenland, "it would be a war, and we would be fighting against each other." Canada's PM says Trump's actions represent "the death of the rules-based order". In China, Canadian ex-pat Daniel Dumbrill and US ex-pat Ben Norton explain what this means for the acceleration of multipolarity to fill the crumbling Empire's void. At Davos, an incoherent rambling Trump and back-room talk and front-stage warnings from the rest of the world.

… and a different take from the astonished Global South: Indrajit says the "civil war" that Trump has unleashed within White Empire is great news for the Global South, and that Canada, Europe, and Australia have shown their true 'Empire is fine as long as we're benefiting from it' stripes.

Imperialism, Militarism & Fascism: Short takes:

• Three Shots — a song for Renée Good (thanks to Brent Bolton for the link)
• Plurality of Americans want ICE completely abolished
• The abortive US "Board of Peace" — an "abomination" to replace the UN
• Bannon calls on ICE to "swarm" and intimidate voters at polls during midterm elections
• Bessent's "economic statecraft" is just illegal economic warfare
• A new, thorough explanation of how the US dollar 'system' is used to sow global political and economic disorder (via Cory Doctorow)
• Oops, Sy: The usually-unimpeachable Sy Hersh gets it all wrong on Russia
• Is Türkiye playing both sides in the cold war between US-Israel and Iran?
• In case you'd forgotten, the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank continues unabated
• The US' deliberately unnavigable, monstrously complex immigration process
• The atrocity of Canada's publicly-funded "Catholic" hospitals denying constitutionally-guaranteed and humane MAID continues
• Canada's white supremacy movement, encouraged by the country's two main right-wing extremist parties, the Conservative and People's parties, and largely dismissed by the media as a tiny fringe, has cynically tapped into and whipped up public fear and frustration, to the point this highly centralized, militarized, racist movement now poses a serious threat to Canadians, especially those of South Asian and First Nations ancestry. Just ask the reporters facing death threats and other dangers for trying to investigate them.

Propaganda, Censorship, Misinformation and Disinformation: Short takes:

• How Iranians and ex-pats are being led by the nose by US/CIA/Mossad propaganda
• The US openly admits they, with the CIA and Israel, are funding, planning, organizing, propagandizing, and fomenting the violence in the streets of Iran
• Yanis walks a fine line on the chaos in Iran
• While "the [US-Israeli] tag-team failed to overthrow the regime in Iran, it surely has not given up on that goal, and there is good reason to think that Israel and the US did not 'win' the 12-Day war".

Corpocracy & Unregulated Capitalism: Short takes:

• Fascinating take on how Ireland exploited international tax loopholes for temporary prosperity, for better and for worse, and how it could be a model for global "de-enshittification"
• How grocery oligopolies use lease agreements to prevent local groceries from opening
• Canadian companies in billionaire Jim Pattison's empire, and Canadian companies Hootsuite and Roshel, are getting pushback (but nothing more) for selling properties and weapons to ICE
• Billionaires are pulling out all the stops to defeat a proposed California wealth tax
• How stock buybacks enrich billionaires and impoverish everyone else
• Musk's Starlink satellites have to make 400 "course corrections" a day to avoid collisions that could cascade and fill the atmosphere with debris that would make future space travel impossible
• The horrific state of predatory pricing in the sports and entertainment industries
• The fight against Trump's lunacy has to include punishments for the corporate oligarchs egging him on (the article also has interesting advice on how Europe in particular could fight back by tanking the US stock market, divesting from US bonds, exploiting the Trump regime's weak information security, and preparing to defend against and retaliate for US military attacks)

Administrative Mismanagement & Incompetence: Short takes (I could have included every link about Trump in this section):

• A brilliant spoof of the staggering incompetence of Ursula von der Leyen
• A lovely rant from Aurélien on how to 'manage' incompetent and mentally deficient 'leaders': "Mr Trump's antics are not the fundamental problem: he is a natural consequence of a state machine that no longer functions."
• When will Trump attack Iran?: "the enemy cannot know your plan, if you do not know your plan."
• Gavin Newsom's biggest problem is Gavin Newsom
• Could Trump be removed under the US 25th amendment before his mental illness causes disaster?

Department of Health Prevention: Short takes:

• Emails obtained under FOI releases reveal that RFK Jr lied under oath and to Congress about his trip to Samoa, where he was promoting his anti-vax conspiracy theories just before thousands fell ill from a huge measles outbreak there in which 83, mostly children, died. Congress shows no signs it is prepared to remove the lunatic from office before he does further damage. Democratic party leaders are opposed to the latest impeachment motion.
• 50 media articles criticizing RFK Jr's disruptive anti-science interference in public health management in his first year as health secretary

FUN AND INSPIRATION

that's the US Democrats for you — ignore the devastation and just foment righteous indignation until they get their turn back at the trough; Lee Camp is a comedian and an astute political commentator

What we mean by "science": It isn't theory or hypothesis. It's something much more important. (Hank Green)

Why AI music (like Suno) is bad for musicians: Adam Neely gets it right, when it comes to the damage these tools, and the greedy corporate assholes behind them, will do to music professionals and the "industry". But what he doesn't acknowledge is that AI music is a wonderful tool for amateur musicians, a very useful learning tool, and enormous fun. Should we still ban it?

The making of the Beatles' A Day In The Life (and Jimmy Webb's Wichita Lineman): David Hartley provides a fascinating, step-by-step walkthrough of the process of collaborative musical genius that resulted in the Beatles' masterpiece. And as an encore, here's David's explanation of the strange process that produced another masterful song, Jimmy Webb's Wichita Lineman. Bonus: If you want to understand how well-crafted music can make you cry, check out David Bennett's chord-by-chord analysis of the unusual and evocative structure of Jimmy Webb's remarkable song. These are two examples of brilliantly, imaginatively composed, masterfully crafted, popular musical works, the types of works that no AI will ever be able to produce. And, sadly, the types of works that the oligarchic pop music "industry" almost never produces anymore.

THOUGHTS OF THE MONTH

cartoon by the incomparable Kansas-based cartoonist Grant Snider

From Arundhati Roy: War Talk

Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness - and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we're being brainwashed to believe.

From Robinson Jeffers: Shine, Perishing Republic:

While this America settles in the mould of its vulgarity, heavily thickening to empire,
And protest, only a bubble in the molten mass, pops and sighs out, and the mass hardens,

I sadly smiling remember that the flower fades to make fruit, the fruit rots to make earth.
Out of the mother; and through the spring exultances, ripeness and decadence; and home to the mother.

You making haste haste on decay: not blameworthy; life is good, be it stubbornly long or suddenly
A mortal splendor: meteors are not needed less than mountains: shine, perishing republic.

But for my children, I would have them keep their distance from the thickening center; corruption
Never has been compulsory, when the cities lie at the monster's feet there are left the mountains.

And boys, be in nothing so moderate as in love of man, a clever servant, insufferable master.
There is the trap that catches noblest spirits, that caught - they say - God, when he walked on earth.

From Li-Young Lee: To Hold:

So we're dust. In the meantime, my wife and I
make the bed. Holding opposite edges of the sheet,
we raise it, billowing, then pull it tight,
measuring by eye as it falls into alignment
between us. We tug, fold, tuck. And if I'm lucky,
she'll remember a recent dream and tell me.

One day we'll lie down and not get up.
One day, all we guard will be surrendered.

Until then, we'll go on learning to recognize
what we love, and what it takes
to tend what isn't for our having.
So often, fear has led me
to abandon what I know I must relinquish
in time. But for the moment,
I'll listen to her dream,
and she to mine, our mutual hearing calling
more and more detail into the light
of a joint and fragile keeping.

Disney is going after another generative AI tool, accusing ByteDance and its recently released Seedance 2.0 of using its copyrighted material without permission. As first reported on by Axios, the Walt Disney Company sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, claiming the Chinese company developed its Seedance tool "with a pirated library of Disney's copyrighted characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and other Disney franchises, as if Disney's coveted intellectual property were free public domain clip art."

The letter, which was obtained by Axios, included examples of Seedance videos featuring copyrighted Disney characters, including Spider-Man, Darth Vader, Peter Griffin and more. Even though ByteDance just released Seedance 2.0 on Thursday, it's already earned praise, but also indignation from Hollywood studios, when it comes to its AI-generating capabilities.

With the strong early momentum, Seedance has already found itself in hot water with one of the largest media companies in the world. However, it's not the first time that Disney has threatened legal action against an AI company, since Character.AI received a cease-and-desist letter for the same offense in September. A few months later, Disney even accused Google of copyright infringement when training its AI models. On the other hand, Disney partnered with OpenAI in a three-year licensing agreement that allows the AI giant to generate images and videos using that highly sought-after intellectual property.

Need something new for your reading list? Here are two titles we think are worth checking out. This week, we read Aoife Josie Clements' deeply unsettling Persona, and the first issue of Bleeding Hearts, from the relaunch of the DC imprint, Vertigo.

Vanessa Napaltjari Davis puts $70 per week on her prepaid electricity card - but as Alice Springs swelters through ever-hotter summers, that credit lasts less than three days

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Since the start of summer, Vanessa Napaltjari Davis and her grandchildren have sweltered in their two-bedroom home. Temperatures in the southern half of the Northern Territory have been well above average, and the electricity running their single air-conditioner has been regularly disconnected.

"We almost had 40 days over 40," she says. "I was struggling to keep on top of the power bill and keep my little grannies [grandchildren] cool."

OpenAI's GPT-4o may have survived its first brush with going offline, but it won't be as lucky this time. OpenAI has officially retired GPT-4o, the ChatGPT model that was seen as more conversational and notoriously sycophantic, on February 13. The news of GPT-4o's end was first announced in a post on the OpenAI website in January, but the discontinuation also included GPT-5, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4-mini from ChatGPT.

It's not the first time that OpenAI has delisted GPT-4o as an option for ChatGPT. In August, the AI giant sunsetted the GPT-4o model in favor of rolling out and prioritizing the latest GPT-5 model at the time. However, a wave of user complaints led OpenAI to restore access to GPT-4o but with no guarantee that it'll be around forever.

This time around, OpenAI doesn't seem very open to preserving access to GPT-4o, especially since it'll serve only a small portion of the user base. The company wrote on its website that "the vast majority of usage has shifted to GPT‑5.2, with only 0.1 percent of users still choosing GPT‑4o each day." On top of that, OpenAI is facing several wrongful death lawsuits that specifically mention the GPT-4o model. Despite the two weeks of notice before GPT-4o's last day online, there is still a vocal group of users mourning the loss of their AI boyfriends and even calling for OpenAI to open-source their preferred model.

The Crew-12 mission, SpaceX's 20th human spaceflight, launched at 5:15 AM Eastern on February 13 from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It's expected to dock with the International Space Station today, February 14, at 3:15 PM, and you can watch the event below as it happens. By the time the mission's Dragon capsule docks with the ISS, it will have traveled approximately 34 hours since lift off. Inside are NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency's Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

The four spacefarers are joining the three remaining passengers onboard the ISS after Crew-11 flew back to Earth a month earlier than planned. If you'll recall, NASA made the decision to cut their mission short after one of the crew members had a medical issue that instruments on the ISS aren't capable of diagnosing. While the crew member was stable, the agency decided to bring the whole mission home out of an abundance of caution.

Crew-12 will be staying on the ISS for eight months and will conduct a number of scientific experiments, including ones related to human health and ones meant to advance technologies for future missions to the moon and Mars. They will study how pneumonia-causing bacteria can lead to long-term heart damage, for instance, and will also look into how a person's physical characteristics can affect blood flow during spaceflight. NASA's live coverage for the docking starts at 1:15 PM.

6 years and 3 months ago my wife and I took delivery of our new long range, dual motor Tesla Model 3, on October 21, 2019, at the Salt Lake City Delivery and Service Center. At the time, I paid $6,000 for what was called Full Self Driving (FSD). I ... [continued]

The post AI = Artificial Intelligence or Always Incorrect? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

After a washed out test at Portimão, the Moto3 class had a day of good weather at Jerez for the first day of the two-day test at the Andalusian circuit. Alvaro Carpe ended the day as fastest, just ahead of Guido Pini and Scott Ogden. Times were some way off record pace, however: Carpe's 1'44.980 is six tenths slower than the race lap record, and 1.2 seconds off David Alonso's outright lap record set during qualifying in 2024.

• Read more about 2026 Jerez Moto3 Test Day 1 Times: Carpe Leads Pini And Ogden
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In recent years, many right wingers have centred their politics around pretending that London is some sort of post-apocalyptic hellscape. Politicians like Tory-defector, the tax-dodging Zahawi have echoed these narratives. This plays well with people outside of London; it plays less well with the people who've been there.

Although it's obviously disgusting to see a liar pretending to be a coward, you do have to admire the effort these right wingers go to. Or the effort they usually go to, anyway. There was no such effort in this claim from Reform's Nadhim Zahawi:

London 'not safe', claims Reform UK's Nadhim Zahawi after he's 'forced to cross street from man who hadn't slept' https://t.co/pzEk8pjXi5

— LBC (@LBC) February 13, 2026

First things first, London is relatively safe — especially in the historical sense:

London struggles with petty crime (shoplifting, snatch theft) but levels of serious crime (assault, murder) have just fallen to the lowest since records began.

The drop in murders of under-25s is particularly striking… pic.twitter.com/nRyFVHwOhV

— Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) January 12, 2026

Lowest London murder rate in a decade, after significant decline. taking into account population, since records like this began in 2003

At 1.1 in 100k one of the safest major cities in the globe, safer than all big American cities, & every single US State https://t.co/klGSh3Qf9b

— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) January 12, 2026

Of course, this doesn't mean it's safe enough for the snowflakes who would rather everything was covered in safety foam.

As reported by LBC:

"An individual walked past me. I literally walked off the pavement into the middle of the road, kept a very close eye at 8am, right, to see whether…"

Nick asked whether the man appeared to be drunk or aggressive.

Mr Zahawi replied: "He just looked at, you know, like, you know, he hadn't slept for, you know, a week and just looked like somebody that might be violent.

"I don't know. But I just walked away from the pavement, and I'm a big guy, and I don't feel safe that my 13-year-old can walk in London. That can't be right."

Out of all the traits that a person might find dangerous, 'tiredness' isn't usually one of them.

Realistically, an incredibly tired person is going to be less dangerous than the alternative. It's the well-rested ones you need to watch out for; those people have energy to spare, and their braincells are firing like popping candy.

As a result of his sickening shitbaggery, people have been rightfully mocking Zahawi:

Can't have been easy to do the media after a near death experience like this.

Thoughts and prayers etc.pic.twitter.com/2l6V2c60TB

— Stephen Flynn MP (@StephenFlynnSNP) February 13, 2026

"You boy! Did you walk past Nadhim Zahawi looking slightly scruffy and make him fear that western civilisation would collapse?" pic.twitter.com/LKGlA8NSU5

— Mark Hammond (@MarkHam80780803) February 14, 2026

Breaking:Nadhim Zahawi inoculated after passing man in street who might have been working class. pic.twitter.com/oIqeU4lsq7

— Mark Hammond (@MarkHam80780803) February 14, 2026

London's murder rate in 2025 was reported to be at its lowest level in decades and the lowest per capita since comparable records began, BUT there was a man who looked like he hadn't slept. https://t.co/DCVM6wfPmy

— richard bacon (@richardpbacon) February 14, 2026

If you thought being terrified of tired people was bad, it gets worse; Zahawi also fears the asleep:

Nadhim Zahawi has a form. Remember when he saw a homeless vulnerable person in distress, and his first thought was to take a picture and post it on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/8zasIFWpWB

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) February 13, 2026

Be safe out there, people; some of these cockney psychos are operating on less than 8 hours a night.

Featured image via the Canary

By Willem Moore

Organised in partnership with the University of East Anglia, the Science Fair will entertain, invigorate and stimulate all who attend and is the third largest science festival in the UK. Catering for all ages, from the moment you enter Norwich's Forum's atrium, you'll notice that this space has become the Explorium for the duration of the festival. The festival is spread across numerous venues throughout Norwich, including Norwich School and Norwich Theatre.

If you're fascinated by microscopic science, the Microbe Zoo based in the Forum's Gallery will be open from 10.30 - 16.00 - be prepared to queue. Once inside the 'zoo', you'll be transported into a world inhabited by bacteria, fungi, viruses and algae. A team of 'zookeepers' from Norwich Research Park will guide you through the different habitats, as you discover "what these tiny creatures do and how they keep plants, people, and the planet healthy."

The Microbe Zoo, is presented by the Centre for Microbial Interactions, based at the Norwich Research Park, will guide you through the different habitats as you discover what these tiny creatures do, and how they keep plants, people and the planet healthy. Other organisations from the research park have provided funding for this event through the SAW Trust, which was founded in 2005 at the Norwich based John Innes Centre.

Families are welcome and many of the events are children centric. From 16 - 21 February the church of St Peter Mancroft, opposite the Forum, is hosting a fascinating exhibition, Bells, Beasts and Bones. Just pick up an explorer's backpack and follow a trail around the church. Children from the ages of 4 to 12 will have a great time making discoveries, and anyone over the age of seven can take part in a bellringing taster session on 18-19 February.

Some people love marmite others absolutely hate it. Dr Duncan Gaskin, a former research scientist and currently chair of the Norfolk and Norwich Science association, will delve into the science behind our food tastes with experiments and demonstrations. This event is based on the Atom stage, right in front of the Forum and is weather dependent so it's a good idea to check with the information desk whether the display is still running.

If you ever wanted to learn more about what it's like to work at CERN, home to the Large Hadron Collider , then Tik Tok, Insta and You Tube creator, Dr Clara Nellist, particle physicist, will be on hand in the auditorium on 20 February to explain how she built her successful career. She'll highlight some of the difficulties encountered along the way as well as the satisfaction she gains from her career.

For an £8,00 ticket, from 16 - 21 February you can take part in a unique series of workshops where you have to imagine that the city is shrouded in darkness. It's down to you to restore power. You can make your own electrical circuits and even learn how to launch an electrical flying saucer. Children aged 5-8 are welcome along if accompanied by an adult. The event takes place at the Sir Isaac Newton Sixth form situated in the old fire station on Bethel Street.

Many of the events are free and the organisers do not offer concessionary tickets. Booking is essential, even for the free events as many of the most popular events fill up quickly or sell out in advance. Those without tickets can buy on the day at the Information Desk in The Explorium at The Forum.

With a thematic issue on a vital topic - the rise child poverty, ending on a hopeful note. You will find sharp analyses on the effect of poverty on children's lives, with a spotlight on the communities that are on the front line of deprivation, with personal stories and shared solutions. Click on the image to gain access to it, or find us on Substack.

Journalism by the people, for the people.

The post The tenth Norwich Science Festival is on now first appeared on East Anglia Bylines.

First Person/Opinion:

By John Ulrich

Continuing the theme we started last month, award banquets are great fun. Here are photos taken by Louis Stevenson during the 2025 WMRRA award banquet. 

The post WMRRA: Scenes From Another Award Banquet appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

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Cover for Dillinger Relic 23, one of Arthur Hlavaty's zines posted at Fanac.org. 

Andy Hooper, a prominent science fiction fan who writes a lot about fanzines and fannish history, has justed posted a good tribute/obituary for Arthur Hlavaty. Arthur was a BNF, a "big name fan," nominated many times for the Hugo Award for best fan writer, although many of us knew him as a friend of Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson and the founder of The Golden APA. 

Hooper mentions that he went through a number of Arthur's zines as he was working on the piece. As the Hugo nominations imply, they are well worth reading. Many of his zines are available at Fanac.org.  At one section of the site, they are alphabetized by editor; scroll down in the H section. From the zine pictured above: "Then someone else called up to report that he just read ILLUMINATUS last week, and he's already started hanging out with witches and smoking hash. Some people are just fast learners."

Hooper's piece mentions "Goldencon, a 1980s gathering of Illuminati fandom," does anyone have any more information? 

Senators said repeal was 'particularly troubling' and was counter to EPA's mandate to protect human health

More than three dozen Democratic senators have begun an independent inquiry into the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) following a huge change in how the agency measures the health benefits of reducing air pollution that is widely seen as a major setback to US efforts to combat the climate crisis.

In a regulatory impact analysis, the EPA said it would stop assigning a monetary value to the health benefits associated with regulations on fine particulate matter and ozone. The agency argued that the estimates contain too much uncertainty.

ISIS — remember them? Tommy Robinson certainly does, because he's on the run from them apparently:

Tommy Robinson has left the country. Apparently, ISIS is targeting him, and he's asking for donations for the relocation and the ongoing security costs. pic.twitter.com/VOrES3YYAW

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) February 13, 2026

It looks like Robinson has put the 'dick' in 'predicament'.

Tommy Robinson announced he was fleeing from ISIS in a video he voluntarily uploaded:

We don't know why we're giving him advice, but Tommy Robinson — if you're on the run from international death squads — don't publish a video from the airport you're flying out of (have you thought this one through mate?)

In Tommy Robinson's own words, he is:

A PRIORITY TARGET FOR ISIS!!!

We dunno, Tommy Robinson; it seems like they've got bigger things to worry about since they lost the caliphate.

We're pretty sure we talk about Robinson more than ISIS does, and we wouldn't even say he's one of our priority targets.

Given the situation, many people are making the same point about Robinson's predicament:

Is he….. seeking a safe country while unable to financially support himself?

Well, well, well. https://t.co/EPe2yJ6seY

— Ginger Tucci (@Ginger_Tucci) February 14, 2026

Just to confirm, fighting age man #TommyRobinson feels unsafe here, so has fled to another country, leaving his family behind.

Sadly, the delicious irony of this will be lost on his low IQ gang of fanboys. pic.twitter.com/lmgHHwGeP6

— Benny Dreadful

Green MP Ellie Chowns challenged the thrust of Reform's entire game on BBC Question Time.

Chowns took apart the notion that immigration is to blame for the UK's woes:

Reform UK, before it was the Brexit Party, before when it was UKIP, has been busy for many years fermenting this idea that immigration is the problem in this country. It's completely untrue. Inequality is the problem in this country. The housing problems are…  because we have had 40 years of governments not investing in housing. The health problems… are because we've had governments… failing to invest in our public services, presiding over decline. It's inequality.

Ellie Chowns, "Reform UK, before it was the Brexit Party, before when it was UKIP, has been busy for many years fermenting this idea that immigration is the problem in this country"

"It's completely untrue"

"Inequality is the problem in this country"

"The housing problems is… pic.twitter.com/XYVFIyibVJ

— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) February 12, 2026

Indeed, Oxfam found in 2023 that 1% of Britons have more wealth than 70% of the country.

It's not foreign born people who are the issue — it's the super rich migrating their finances to avoid tax and Labour — doing nothing to fix the issue. Tax doesn't fund public spending but it can help control inflation through reducing the amount of pounds available.

Meanwhile, net zero immigration would actually contract the UK economy by 3.6%. Chowns' is not wrong to diagnose inequality as the core issue — one compounded by the economic disparity such a contraction would cause. People cannot afford to have children, driving dependence on imported workers.

Another reason inequality is the core issue is that it literally caused the 2008 financial crash. That's because people didn't have enough money to keep up with inflated house prices. So banks gave them excessive credit — known as sub-prime mortgages — and house prices relative to income have  worsened since. No wonder Chowns received such applause on BBC Question Time.

We must also remember that inequality depresses demand for products and services. People currently living in poverty would spend more if they had the security of home ownership, while excess wealth at the top stagnates or inflates the value of assets.

£1 million sitting in a bank account would be spent by hundreds of less well off people, but if just one person has it no economic growth happens. It doesn't necessarily mean everything should be entirely economically equal, but the level of disparity today is simply ridiculous. On top of that, immigration adds further demand for products and services, expanding the economy.

Reform's whole mantra is completely wrong — economically and morally. Chowns got right to the heart of it on BBC Question Time and the audience thanked her for it.

Featured image via the Canary

By James Wright

In an interview with NBC, victims of Jeffrey Epstein have accused attorney general Pam Bondi of foul play:

BREAKING: Multiple Epstein victims tell NBC News that Pam Bondi intentionally un-redacted their names and other victims' names as a way to threaten them into silence!

"I think we all realize now that [the DOJ] really wanted to silence us, and [they] thought that [they] could… pic.twitter.com/c6zeiFFAvG

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) February 12, 2026

Ed Krassenstein wrote above:

BREAKING: Multiple Epstein victims tell NBC News that Pam Bondi intentionally un-redacted their names and other victims' names as a way to threaten them into silence!

"I think we all realize now that [the DOJ] really wanted to silence us, and [they] thought that [they] could scare us by putting our names out there."

"It had a list of victims, and one was redacted. That makes no sense. This is a list of victims. That is INTENTIONAL!"

This is an impeachable offense. Pam Bondi needs to be impeached immediately!

The women speaking in the video are the same group who stood behind Pam Bondi when she spoke before the Justice Department Oversight committee. The reason the women are raising their hands in the below image is because they were asked to indicate which of them have been ignored by Bondi's Department of Justice (DoJ):

An image we won't soon forget. Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to look at Epstein survivors pictured behind her on the Hill today. pic.twitter.com/KYCBQCXz3Y

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) February 11, 2026

Regarding coverage of victims, Maddison Wheeldon wrote for the Canary:

According to BBC News, on Friday 30th January two lawyers for Epstein's victims insisted that a New York federal judge order the DOJ to remove the website holding the files. They stated that the negligent release was:

"the single most egregious violation of victim privacy in one day in United States history".

At the Canary, we agree wholeheartedly.

This US-led failure to redact identifying images and names of victims has made the complete removal of such content the only viable response. Once again, women around the world are left feeling exposed and vulnerable, while so-called efforts to 'protect women' operate instead to shied powerful perpetrators of abuse. Yet again, a manipulative and abusive system has retraumatised the very women it was ostensibly meant to serve.

For more on the Epstein Files, please read:

• The media circus around Epstein is erasing the experiences of victims and survivors (Maddison Wheeldon).
• Epstein files show how racialised trafficking erased Black girls from victimhood (Vannessa Viljoen).
• Epstein's 'broligarchy' is being ignored by the corporate media (Alice Charles).

Featured image via the Canary

By Willem Moore

Celebrating St Valentine's Day is a very old tradition which may have its origins in the Roman festival of Lupercalia, a festival that marked the start of springtime. One, perhaps apocryphal, ritual was that during the celebrations, boys drew the names of girls from a box. They would be boyfriend and girlfriend for the duration of the festival. Sometimes they'd marry.

There are many other strategies for finding your soul mate: the 3-3-3 rule, where you review yourself at three different points - after three dates, after three weeks, and after three months; the 6-6-6 rule, which is probably best when seeking a male partner, as it refers to choosing someone who is six feet tall, has a six-pack abs, and earns over six figures; and the 37% rule, where one dates and rejects the first 37% of potential partners. 

I've never been much persuaded by dating formulas. What follows is simply my own way of thinking about relationships, shaped by years of experience rather than theory. It's not for everyone, but as it works for me, I thought I'd share it.

Romance and dating don't have to be conventional, but require vulnerability and commitment. The caveat is, when seeking a romantic partner, one does need to use some common sense to avoid headache and heartache.

Over the years, friends have marveled at how successfully I have navigated the adventures of dating. My approach is simple: is the person of good character and does he or she meet my "rules of engagement"?

We all have different ideas about what we want in a relationship. So, before I explain further, I ask that you seek pen and paper, and write out what you are looking for in a relationship. That is, what are the first 12 attributes that come to mind and the 12 things that you will bring to a relationship?

Having made your lists, set the paper aside. Now read my rules of engagement. Remember, this exercise is about clarity, not a critique.

Without this, you are wasting your time. Pining away for unrequited romance is a counterproductive state of mind and, I think, a very unattractive trait.

The individual must be available. Simple as this may read, I cannot count just how many friends I have known over the years that had romances with someone who is committed to someone else.  Exhibit self-worth - if they are genuinely attracted to you, let them first take the steps to make themselves single.

To me, it is also important that the individual is emotionally available - not longing for a previous failed relationship or grieving over the death of a romantic partner. Absolutely avoid falling into the role of "emotionally supportive caregiver". You are looking for a romantic relationship, not the role of therapist.

The individual should be on the spot. It can be very challenging to date someone who is distant. I know internet dating can bring together persons far and abroad, and happiness can transpire. But ask yourself this, "If they are so wonderful, why are they choosing to look at distant romantic possibilities?"

Early romance has enough awkward communication patches without adding in the hurdle of long-distance.

The individual must be self-supporting. This means not living off their parents, their great aunt, their ex, or a trust fund.

I would want the person to be on a spiritual path. Don't let this throw you. It doesn't mean a structured religious person, but someone who is humble, and honest enough to acknowledge that there is something greater in the cosmos than themselves. The key word here is humble. Someone who hugs a tree, or looks beyond themselves, is an excellent example.

Read my rules of engagement one through six, and apply them to yourself; I believe it is only fair that you uphold the same standards.

Now, prioritise each of the two lists you wrote out at the beginning of this article. This allows you to see the most important traits you desire in someone, and what you are offering. Know your goals, know yourself.

And so, the early stage of courtship begins. Remember that ultimately, you can only be who you are, and they in turn, will be who they are. If you find romantic love, research suggests such a pairing with commitment delivers optimal conditions for rearing children.

For those of you that have given up on dating or are discouraged, don't be - unless you prefer to remain footloose and fancy free. Make your own happiness. There is nothing more attractive to others than someone who is independent and content with their life.

Allow the cosmos to surprise you. Romance and love may come when you least expect it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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The post St Valentine's Day and the art of choosing love first appeared on East Anglia Bylines.

On 13 February, the High Court ruled that the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist group was "disproportionate". Since then, various politicians including Zarah Sultana have come forwards to voice their support for the ruling. The problem is that many of them didn't speak up when it counted:

On the vote to proscribe Palestine Action, Liberal Democrat MPs abstained.

Stop gaslighting people.

When it mattered, you didn't show up. https://t.co/nSd2SHcCWf

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) February 13, 2026

Reporting on the ruling, Maddison Wheeldon wrote for the Canary:

The government's choice to proscribe Palestine Action has been met by widespread public condemnation both at home and abroad. It has been viewed as an attempt to shut down solidarity that British people have shown with Palestinians through their legal right to protest.

Israel's ongoing, horrific genocide against Palestine has been met with absolute impunity by Western leaders, resulting in mass protest and civil disobedience across the UK since October 2023. This proscription of direct-action group Palestine Action in the UK has widely been declared as an authoritarian and draconian overreach into the hard-fought civil liberties of British citizens.

Today's ruling marks a positive step in the right direction.

In the video above, Davey says:

This High Court judgment shows prescribing Palestine action was a grave misuse of terrorism laws. Labour must accept its mistake, drop its appeal and stop wasting taxpayers' money and suppressing civil liberties. Degrading counter-terror powers is a genuine threat to national security.

Davey isn't wrong in what he's saying. The problem is he's showing he isn't a leader — he's a follower. And others have noticed too:

Ed Davey says banning Palestine Action was a grave misuse of terrorism laws.

Every single LibDem MP, including Ed Davey, abstained in the vote to ban them (66 had no vote recorded and 6 abstained by voting both for and against) pic.twitter.com/Y8qmDxO1pg

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) February 13, 2026

As Richard Burgon noted, only 22 MPs voted against the government:

I welcome the High Court ruling that the ban on Palestine Action is unlawful.

I was one of just 22 MPs who voted against proscribing Palestine Action and in my speech in Parliament I warned the Government of the consequences of its ban.

The Government must not seek an Appeal.

— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) February 13, 2026

Only 22 MPs voted against proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. They should be proud of themselves; the other 628 should be ashamed. pic.twitter.com/Z2507SzhI9

— Karl Hansen (@karl_fh) February 13, 2026

Labour MP Karl Turner at least had the decency to admit that he "bottled it". Just like with Davey, though, this will come across to many as a face saving exercise:

This is true. I bottled it and voted with the government. But should have stood firm. I told them though. PM and Home Sec. https://t.co/b9rfxasDAN

— Karl Turner MP (@KarlTurnerMP) February 13, 2026

Turner also said that Starmer's government pushed the ban on the basis that they 'knew more' than they could let on (something the court case has ultimately disproven):

Just because it's this MP or that MP on the left of the party warning the powers that be shouldn't mean the helpful advice is discounted. @johnmcdonnellMP and many others warned the government at the time and we were just pushed aside as not knowing what they knew.

The BBC is looking for a new head of its Arabic-language service to please Israel lobbyists. Mouthpieces for the occupation had complained it was too quick to blame Israel for its actions. The move is intended to force BBC Arabic to use the same dishonest framing as its English-language services.

The manufactured furore began in November 2025. Pro-Israel pressure groups complained that the BBC Arabic coverage of its 'war' in Gaza was "critically different" from English coverage. This meant that it was - this is not satire — "painting Israel as the aggressor" in Gaza.

Yes, genocidal Israel has murdered hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza along with hundreds of journalists and their families. It uses weapons that are illegal under humanitarian law on families in tents. But saying Israel is the aggressor is beyond the pale to the BBC. There was also criticism of BBC Arabic's guests, because two of them had supported violence against Israelis.

Commenting on the BBC Arabic reshuffle, the Arabic-speaking Israeli 'journalist' Edy Cohen, welcomed the move:

Thank you Sir @Keir_Starmer
BBC Removes Head of Its Arabic Service and Moves to Restore Its Professional Integrity
Sources within the BBC have told us that the broadcaster is moving forward with reform measures for its Arabic service, aiming to align its work with the high… pic.twitter.com/HJozDFvMMC

— إيدي كوهين אדי כהן