2025-11-17 00:56:32
BBC should not pay Trump any money,
says former director general Tony Hall
It is Not ‘appropriate’ to use licence fee payer’s money to pay US president after his threat to sue for up to $5bn, says peer
https://www.theguardi…
BBC should not pay Trump any money,
says former director general Tony Hall
It is Not ‘appropriate’ to use licence fee payer’s money to pay US president after his threat to sue for up to $5bn, says peer
https://www.theguardi…
Wikimedia says Wikipedia is seeing a significant decline in human traffic, as more people access the site's information via AI chatbots without clicking through (Emanuel Maiberg/404 Media)
https://www.404media.co/wikipedia-says-ai-is-causing-a-…
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/auction-giant-sothebys-says-data-breach-exposed-financial-information/
Auction giant Sotheby’s says data breach exposed financial information
Wikimedia says Wikipedia is seeing a significant decline in human traffic, as more people access the site's information via AI chatbots without clicking through (Emanuel Maiberg/404 Media)
https://www.404media.co/wikipedia-says-ai-is-causing-a-…
Zelensky says some air-defense systems lacked missiles until today: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/16/zelensky-says-some-airdefense-systems.html
"Removing CO2 from atmosphere vital to avoid catastrophic tipping points, leading scientist says"
#Emissions #Climate #ClimateChange
The US is not only no longer an ally of Europe, it is actively undermining democracy in Europe.
https://www.politico.eu/article/large-afd-delegation-set-travel-washington-us-congress-member-says/
Pete Carroll says he doesn’t feel as if he’s coaching for his job https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/raiders/pete-carroll-says-he-doesnt-feel-as-if-hes-coaching-for-his-job-3595938/
Stephen Jones says Cowboys are making 'good progress' in DC search https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/stephen-jones-says-cowboys-are-making-good-progress-in-dc-search
California judge says Tesla engaged in deceptive Autopilot marketing
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/16/california-judge-says-tesla-engaged-in-deceptive-autopilot-marketing-.html
RFK Jr. Says He's Ending the War on Protein. It Doesn't Exist (Sam Eagan/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/rfk-jr-says-hes-ending-the-war-on-protein-it-doesnt-exist/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260116/p57#a260116p57
Amazon files an objection to Saks Global's bankruptcy financing plan, and says its $475M investment in the department store is now effectively "worthless" (CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/15/amazon-says-saks-investment-is-worthl…
Shopify’s shuttered Indigenous entrepreneurship program will relaunch independently through an Indigenous-owned organization (Centre for Native Nation Builders)
https://betakit.com/shopifys-shuttered-indigenous-entrepreneurship…
Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors https://www.404media.co/wikipedia-says-ai-is-causing-a-dangerous-decline-in-human-visitors/
Ukraine says it struck Russian submarine armed with Kalibr missiles in Novorossiysk: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/16/ukraine-says-it-struck-russian.html
I guess I’m going to get to know the peeps at Norfolk Police quite well over the next few months. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/dec/14/public-should-heed-forthcoming-rules-on-single-sex-spaces-says-uk-equ…
Danish official says ‘fundamental disagreement’ over Greenland remains after US talks
https://ground.news/article/danish-official-says-fundamental-disagreement-over-greenland-remains-after-us-talks_ad6577
Medical examiner believes the death of man in ICE custody was #homicide, recording says
A fellow detainee says he witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos being
🔥choked to death by guards
at an ICE detention center in Texas on Jan. 3.
Comic: Santa's Cookies
— by comicss.art
What is delicious on the website and what is not is explained in an understandable way by Santa Clous for everyone.
🎅 #santa
😩 Fixing Britain’s worklessness crisis will cost employers £6bn a year, report says
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/nov/05/fixing-britains-worklessness-crisis-will-cost-employers-6bn-a-year-report-says<…
Trump declares victory as Iranian protesters are headed to the gallows
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260115-trump-says-iran-executions-stopping-as-tehran-signals-fast-trials-and-hangings
Bericht: Gerichtsmediziner sagt, dass der Tod eines Mannes in #ICE-Gewahrsam ein Mord war. Ein Mitgefangener bestätigte, er sei Zeuge gewesen, wie Geraldo Lunas Campos am 3. Januar von Wachleuten in einem ICE Gefangenenlager in Texas zu Tode gewürgt wurde.
I feel as though I should illustrate the difference that this one single constraint can make by two examples.
The rules of Simon Says are maximally authoritarian. You must perform any action ordered, with the only restriction that the authority must say "Simon says" first. Were you forced to stay in this system, it would be the most despotic autocracy possible. But it's not. It's a silly game because you can leave at any time.
Let's flip this and imagine a room. During a specific period of time you will have absolute control over everything in this room. In this room you have total freedom. This is not even the limited freedom, the coordinated freedom, the compromising freedom of civil society. You could, without consequence, perform any action you wish in this room. You could say anything, destroy or steal any object, order any individual to perform any action, kill any person in the room with you and take anything they own. This is the sovereign freedom, the absolute freedom, of dictators and kings. The only restriction is that you are not allowed to leave the room while you have this freedom. In fact, you really only have this level of freedom because the room is actually empty other than for you. I am, of course, talking about a form of torture still common in the US: solitary confinement.
Steelers' Jalen Ramsey says Ja'Marr Chase spit on him; Bengals WR denies accusation https://www.nfl.com/news/steelers-jalen-ramsey-says-ja-marr-chase-spit-on-him-bengals-wr-denies-accusation
Trump: We should release them.
Trump: UH, THEY'RE NOT IMPORTANT.
Trump: I SAID THEY'RE A NOTHINGBURGER
Trump: DON'T YOU DARE RELEASE THEM
Trump: IT'LL CAUSE IRREPARABLE HARM
Trump: I'LL UNLEASH FURY ON EVERYONE
Trump: Go ahead & release them.
☑️ In stark reversal, #Trump says House should vote to release
Zelensky says Russia continues to demand all of Donbas, adding that Ukraine will not withdraw: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/16/zelensky-says-russia-continues-to.html
"Investing in planetary health could unlock $20 trillion a year by 2070, says UN report"
#UN #UnitedNations #Climate
From #AnnafromUkraine @AnnafromUkraine@youtube.com
🧵 👇
#RUSSIA ARMY TRAPPED IN MOLDOVA, #ATLANT AERO HUGE STRIKE IN TAGANROG Vlog 1288: War in Ukraine
1,500 Russian soldiers wit…
Stephen Jones says Cowboys are making 'good progress' in DC search https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/stephen-jones-says-cowboys-are-making-good-progress-in-dc-search
Media Matters says it is ceasing posting on X due to changes in X's TOS, effective January 15, that force legal disputes to be litigated in a Texas court (Andrew Egger/The Bulwark)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/media-matters-says-its-ending-its-presenc…
Time's Up: Study Says We're At Risk Of New Ice Age | Crooks and Liars
https://crooksandliars.com/2025/11/times-study-says-were-risk-new-ice-age
Kristi Noem says that virtually anyone could face a Kavanaugh stop (Chris Geidner/Law Dork)
https://www.lawdork.com/p/noem-says-anyone-can-face-a-kavanaugh-stop
http://www.memeorandum.com/260116/p58#a260116p58
Raiders HC Pete Carroll Says the Quiet Part Out Loud https://www.si.com/nfl/raiders/onsi/las-vegas-pete-carroll-says-quiet-part-out-loud
California DMV says a California administrative law judge recently ruled Tesla engaged in deceptive marketing around its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems (Lora Kolodny/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/16/california-judge-say…
Lithuania says Russian military intelligence ordered 2024 attempted arson at factory supplying Ukraine: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/17/lithuania-says-russian-military-intelligence.html
Could Dolphins bench QB Tua Tagovailoa? Mike McDaniel says 'everything is on table' https://www.nfl.com/news/could-dolphins-bench-qb-tua-tagovailoa-mike-mcdaniel-says-everything-is-on-table
In my rush to get out today's Metacurity early, I completely dropped the ball on this big OT development.
Venezuela Says Oil Export System Down After Weekend Cyberattack
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-1…
Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity
— a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels
— after Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.
Tehran long has maintained its atomic program is peaceful, though the West and the IAEA say Iran had an organized nuclear weapons program up until 2003.
Iran says it is no longer enriching uranium at any of its nuclear sites;
We are now in the phase where Russia starts blowing up railwaytracks in Poland....
"Polish PM says railway track blast was 'unprecedented act of sabotage'".
https://www.reuters.com/world/explosion-polish-railway-t…
Bernie Kosar says he will receive a liver transplant Monday morning https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/bernie-kosar-says-he-will-receive-a-liver-transplant-monday-morning
Don’t you dare cite reports from the EPA, says the EPA
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/1/15/2363474/-Don-t-you-dare-cite-reports-from-the-EPA-says-the-EPA?detail=emailrecap
OpenAI says ChatGPT will now ditch em dashes if users tell it to; em dashes have become telltale signs that supposedly signals text written by AI (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/14/openai-says-its-fixed-chatgpts-em-dash-problem/
Georgia Republicans want more people killed with stolen guns.
https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/politics/state/2026/01/14/savannah-senator-says-its-ordinance-reduced-gun-thefts-by-30-perc…
Czech President says Ukraine must make painful concessions for peace: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/16/czech-president-says-ukraine-must.html
I feel as though I should illustrate the difference that this one single constraint can make by two examples.
The rules of Simon Says are maximally authoritarian. You must perform any action ordered, with the only restriction that the authority must say "Simon says" first. Were you forced to stay in this system, it would be the most despotic autocracy possible. But it's not. It's a silly game because you can leave at any time.
Let's flip this and imagine a room. During a specific period of time you will have absolute control over everything in this room. In this room you have total freedom. This is not even the limited freedom, the coordinated freedom, the compromising freedom of civil society. You could, without consequence, perform any action you wish in this room. You could say anything, destroy or steal any object, order any individual to perform any action, kill any person in the room with you and take anything they own. This is the sovereign freedom, the absolute freedom, of dictators and kings. The only restriction is that you are not allowed to leave the room while you have this freedom. In fact, you really only have this level of freedom because the room is actually empty other than for you. I am, of course, talking about a form of torture still common in the US: solitary confinement.
Trump Says He Plans to File BBC Lawsuit Monday or Tuesday (Skylar Woodhouse/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-15/trump-says-he-plans-to-file-bbc-lawsuit-monday-or-tuesday
http://www.memeorandum.com/251215/p118#a251215p118
MRI confirms Parsons has torn ACL, source says https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47315124/mri-confirms-packers-micah-parsons-torn-acl-source-says
The privately funded National Trust for Historic Preservation last week asked the U.S. District Court to block Trump’s project.
“No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever
— not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else,” the lawsuit states.
“And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.”
Trump had the East W…
The UK and Denmark are so poor, so immoral, so without humanity, so uncivilised that they will steal the last belongings of refugees. What sad, pathetic countries. How embarrassed must their people be?
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/17/refu…
Prescott says Cowboys have to stick to business with playoff hopes all but gone https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/prescott-says-cowboys-have-to-stick-to-business-with-playoff-hopes-all-but-gone
EssilorLuxottica stock jumps 10% after reporting Q3 revenue up 11.7% YoY to €6.9B, with wearables like Ray-Ban Meta contributing 4 percentage points to growth (CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/16/ray-ban-maker-essilorluxottica-sa…
New Trump tariffs collection hits $200 billion, Customs says
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/new-trump-tariffs-collection-hits-200-billion-customs-says/ar-AA1Spkzz?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds
The BBC says "as we have made clear previously, we will be defending" against Trump's defamation lawsuit and "we are not going to make further comment" (Christal Hayes/BBC)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpvd81470v1o
Princeton Hacked in Latest Attack on an Ivy League School
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-16/princeton-university-says-database-with-donor-info-compromised
Michael Cohen says NY prosecutors 'pressured and coerced' him into anti-Trump testimony (Michael Sinkewicz/Fox News)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michael-cohen-says-ny-prosecutors-pressured-coerced-him-anti-trump-testimony
http://www.memeorandum.com/260116/p153#a260116p153
"World’s richest 1% have already used fair share of emissions for 2026, says Oxfam"
#Climate #ClimateChange #Emissions
MRI confirms Packers' Micah Parsons tore his ACL, AP source says https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/mri-confirms-packers-micah-parsons-tore-his-acl-ap-source-says
Bucs' McMillan: Neck injury almost paralyzed me https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47317068/bucs-jalen-mcmillan-says-neck-injury-almost-paralyzed-him
President Trump plans to sue the BBC "for anywhere between a billion and $5B" next week, after the BBC rejected his compensation demands over a misleading edit (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/n
ICE detained people waiting at a food pantry, Salvation Army says (Victoria Gladstone/New Jersey Online)
https://www.nj.com/cumberland/2026/01/ice-detained-people-waiting-at-a-food-pantry-salvation-army-says.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/260116/p107#a260116p107
Also: "Vanity Fair quotes Wiles as referring to Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought as a “a right-wing absolute zealot.”"
Wiles Torches Top White House Officials In Interview, Says Glorious Leader "Has An Alcoholic's Personality" - Joe.My.God.
https://www.joemygod.com/2025/12/wiles-torches-top-white-house-officials-in-interview-says-glorious-leader-has-an-alcoholics-personality/
X updates Grok to prevent the "editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis" and geoblocks it for all users "where it's illegal" (Karissa Bell/Engadget)
https://www.engadget.com/ai/x-says-grok-wi
Westerners will literally steal from refugees rather than go to therapy.
#UK
Danish PM says US
‘ambition to take over #Greenland’
is intact after Washington meeting
'Not easy' talks with US leave to #Denmark determined to
'prevent' US takeover of Greenland
Danish prime minister
Mette Frederiksen has responded to last night’s “not easy” meetin…
Joe Burrow struggles in loss to Ravens, says earlier comments 'had nothing to do with Cincinnati' https://www.nfl.com/news/joe-burrow-struggles-in-loss-to-ravens-says-comments-during-week-had-nothing-to-do-with-cin…
DOJ Moves to Block Independent Monitor in Maxwell Case, Says Courts Cannot Force Epstein File Disclosures (Aaron Parnas/MeidasTouch News)
https://meidasnews.com/news/doj-moves-to-block-independent-monitor-in-maxwell-case-says-courts-cannot-force-epstein-file-disclosures
http://www.memeorandum.com/260117/p6#a260117p6
Ted Sarandos says that Netflix will maintain 45-day theater windows for movies after its acquisition of WBD closes, adding that he wants to "win" the box office (Nicole Sperling/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/business/media/ted-sarand…
Philly GM: 'Hard to find great players' like Brown https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47622415/howie-roseman-downplays-aj-brown-trade-talk-says-eagles-wr-great-player
Zelensky says he may visit Poland to meet Nawrocki on Dec. 19: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/14/zelensky-says-he-may-visit.html
Christian nationalist pastor says that wives must submit to their husbands
with "a sense of fear, and trembling, and awe ...
not only in things she agrees with, but in everything":
"She belongs to him. He owns her."
https://bsky.app/profile/rightwingwatc…
Exclusive: In a first, US strike in Caribbean leaves survivors, US official says (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-carries-out-new-strike-caribbean-there-are-survivors-us-official-says-2025-10-16/
http://www.memeorandum.com/251016/p165#a251016p165
A California federal jury says Apple must pay Masimo $634M for infringing a blood-oxygen patent used in Watch workout and heart-rate alerts; Apple will appeal (Blake Brittain/Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/business/us-jury-s
Source: Jags' Tuten out weeks for finger surgery https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47317954/jaguars-rb-bhayshul-tuten-finger-weeks-source-says
The Pentagon says Stars and Stripes will move "away from woke distractions" and cease publishing AP "reprints"; its EIC says he'll work to save its independence (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/20
Ukraine says it destroyed pipeline Russia used to infiltrate Kupiansk, releases video: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/14/ukraine-says-it-destroyed-pipeline.html
House Speaker Mike Johnson says
he won't call a vote to extend enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act,
effectively guaranteeing they will expire at the end of this month.
That means higher insurance premiums will go into effect for millions of Americans who get coverage through Obamacare next year
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson says the agency is examining Big Tech's acqui-hires to make sure "they are not an attempt to get around" its merger review process (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20
Zelensky says 'terror must never prevail' after mass shooting in Australia kills at least 12: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/14/zelensky-says-terror-must-never.html
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr says he won't end the FCC's news distortion policy despite a petition from a bipartisan group of former FCC chairs and commissioners (Jon Brodkin/Ars Technica)
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20
Republican congressman Thomas Massie challenged Donald Trump on Sunday
over whether the US president is making a “last-ditch effort” to keep the full files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from becoming public
by ordering a fresh investigation.
Massie and Democratic congressman Ro Khanna,
the two US representatives leading the bipartisan push to make all the files held by the government public
both raised fresh concerns about the latest actions by the Wh…
Letter: a top House Republican warns severe DRAM and HBM3E supply shortages may constrain H200 export licenses; Nvidia says it "can serve all approved" orders (Maggie Eastland/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20
Zelensky says U.S. has yet to formally respond to Ukraine's peace plan and warns it won't please everyone: https://benborges.xyz/2025/12/14/zelensky-says-us-has-yet.html
Jerry Jones says Cowboys missing playoffs would be huge 'disappointment' https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/dallas-cowboys/news/jerry-jones-says-cowboys-missing-playoffs-would-be-huge-d…
Liz Warren says Trump called her after she commanded him to - National Zero
https://nationalzero.com/2026/01/12/liz-warren-says-trump-called-her-after-she-commanded-him-to/
Deaths in ICE detention centers have occurred with increasing frequency in recent months,
as Trump’s immigration crackdown floods these facilities with record numbers of detainees.
At least 30 people died in detention last year
— the highest in two decades
— and Lunas Campos is one of four who died in the first nine days of 2026 alone, according to ICE,
which posts information about all detainee deaths on its website.
Medical examiner believes death of Ca…
Trump Orders Blockade of Sanctioned Oil Tankers in Venezuela (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-16/trump-says-he-s-ordering-a-blockade-of-oil-tankers-in-venezuela
http://www.memeorandum.com/251216/p150#a251216p150
Hegseth and Rubio to brief members of Congress on boat strikes as questions mount – live
US military says eight killed in strikes on three boats in eastern Pacific
On Monday night, the US military said it attacked three more boats believed to have been smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing eight people
Democracy Now! speaks to William Hartung about his new book
“The Trillion Dollar War Machine”
and who profits from the United States’ runaway military spending that fuels foreign wars.
Hartung says that U.S. policy is “based on profit”
and calls for a rethinking of our foreign entanglements.
“We haven’t won a war in this century.
We’ve caused immense harm.
We’ve spent $8 trillion,” he says
Cowboys' Jerry Jones says he's 'sad' for Micah Parsons after Packers star pass rusher suffers torn ACL
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/cowboys-jerry-jones-mic…
Zoe Weissman came to Brown from Parkland, Florida,
where she was a student at the middle school adjacent to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
during the mass shooting that occurred there in 2018.
“Because I’ve already processed all the grief and the sadness before,”
says Weissman about surviving a second school shooting in her young life,
“my most predominant emotion right now is, honestly, anger …
because we are the only country where this happens, a…
Rubio says Hungary received only 1-year sanctions waiver on Russian oil, gas: https://benborges.xyz/2025/11/13/rubio-says-hungary-received-only.html
Dolphins' Mike McDaniel says 'everything is on the table' regarding potentially benching of QB Tua Tagovailoa
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/dolphins-mike-mcdaniel-qb…
Ukraine says it's preparing for elections, referendum. Is it realistic?: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/13/ukraine-says-its-preparing-for.html
Patrick Mahomes injury update: Chiefs QB says torn ACL rehab is 'going great,' aims to be ready for Week 1
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/patrick-mahomes-injury-upd…
Ukraine says it struck a Taganrog drone factory and multiple targets in Russian-occupied regions: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/13/ukraine-says-it-struck-a.html
Ukraine’s commander-in-chief says Russia planned to reach Odesa and end the war in 2025: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/13/ukraines-commanderinchief-says-russia-planned.html
FBI agents searched a Washington Post reporter’s home on Wednesday
as part of a leak investigation into a Pentagon contractor accused of taking home classified information, the Justice Department said.
#Hannah #Natanson, who has been covering Donald Trump’s transformation of the federal government,
had…