Keith Drummond

My latest oddly shaped thought… What if, instead of asking different AIs the same question, we had a “Ready Room” — letting the advocate, sceptic, analyst and pragmatist make their cases before we decide? Sometimes it helps to hear all the voices in the room. severalcatslater.com/never-mind-u...

Oh no 😭 One of the last members of the USS Enterprise has left. RIP Walter Marvin Koenig (1936-2026) Star Trek, Babylon 5, Moontrap, The Starlost, The Questor Tapes, Futurama... What a career in sci-fi. I will miss Pavel Chekov. Again 😞

Interesting article. But made me wonder: which AI company will offer a genuine enterprise LTS model first? Five years of stability, security updates and predictable costs, rather than constant model upgrades. For businesses managing budgets and compliance, that could be more valuable.

Perhaps a simple rule: if losing an election means fleeing the country to avoid prison, you probably shouldn't be running. Thinking of Trump and Netanyahu. Of course, dictators also use false prosecutions to silence opponents. That's the complication. www.thejournal.ie/flavio-bolso...

Only people who have never had to survive on welfare seem to think it’s a reason to not work. And as the study points out, not addressing it pushes the problem elsewhere in society. But since it’s not a vote winner… ethics and morality can wait. www.thejournal.ie/ireland-soci...

Stubb said. “We used to be able to say that the three biggest killers of mankind, disease, famine and wars, have been defeated. That is not true anymore. The light has given way to darkness.” More ongoing conflicts than at any time after the Second World War. www.politico.eu/article/euro...

US research challenges assumptions about ageing: Between 1993–2017, life expectancy at 66 rose 2.4 years, ALL in good health. Time in severe ill-health fell 30%. Pension costs rose 14%, but modelled healthcare costs just 6%. Important implications for ageing societies. cepr.org/voxeu/column...

An interesting finding from Germany’s 2025 election: chasing far-right voters by adopting their positions can backfire. The far right simply moves further right, while the political centre shifts with it. A lesson worth considering across Europe. cepr.org/voxeu/column...

This is NOT an ad for @alexgibneyfilm.bsky.social’s new documentary “MUSK” (in theaters now). We are promoting it for free. Join us right here on October 20, 2026 at 9am Pacific/noon Eastern for a livestream hosted by @niedermeyer.online.

So, the US is now buying Russian diesel. The EU sanctions Russian oil and can target third-country companies helping finance its trade. Follow that logic far enough and we arrive at the rather entertaining prospect of the EU sanctioning American companies. Full circle.

Imagine being too fascist for BMW

If you went into a bank and asked for a loan, saying you’d put the proceeds into a savings account, they’d think you were a bit cracked. On a macro scale, that’s what Ireland is doing. This week’s column for @thejournal.ie:

Seems remarkably short-sighted. The US has reportedly directed millions towards Europe's far right. And that's just one of our supposed allies. Yet the EU withdraws support for a conference on disinformation because Washington objects? Quite a contradiction. www.euronews.com/2026/10/08/e...

Presumably the next step is identifying whose intellectual property the AI was trained on, so the original creators can be credited and compensated. Full circle, right? arstechnica.com/ai/2026/10/o...

An interesting argument that worker-owned businesses might actually make capitalism work better. Less inequality, more broadly shared prosperity, and no need to abandon free markets. Almost as though capitalism and concentrated ownership aren’t necessarily the same thing. cepr.org/voxeu/column...

Plague outbreak in Russia from a lab. We MUST ban all commercial flights to and from Russia NOW

My department - @ucdpolitics.bsky.social - is hiring two PERMANENT posts in any area of politics, international relations, theory, or development studies. Please apply if you are on the academic job market, and if you're not, please do us a solid & spread the word! Deadline NOV 9.

The skins of missiles striking civilians in Kyiv this autumn and winter may be part Irish. One refinery has never been subjected to the EU’s sanctions on Russia bit.ly/4xPN4Qk Photo: Alamy

The EU needs to learn to believe it’s worth defending. And act like it. Probably not going out on a limb to suggest they have not privately threatened to collapse other EU governments. www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2026/09/27/g...

Little cuts everywhere. meduza.io/en/news/2026...

Yes, many Trump pardons may be coming. But remember: they only cover federal crimes. Other avenues remain, including: • State prosecutions • Civil lawsuits • Congressional probes • Foreign/int. cases, where jurisdiction exists A pardon isn’t a force field. www.thedailybeast.com/stephen-mill...

Think about it. So much hardship facing ordinary people today comes back to three old men: Putin, Netanyahu and Trump. All seemingly determined to spend their golden years anywhere but a courtroom. And electorates put them all in power. History rhymes, eh?

Explore space, absolutely. But the fantasy of escaping Earth instead of learning to sustain it gets things backwards. We won’t leave our social, political, and environmental problems behind. We’ll export them. Build a civilisation worth sustaining. Be like the WO. unherd.com/2026/09/spac...

This Revolut breach raises a question: are requests from some government domains effectively pre-trusted by banks? Authenticating the email is not the same as authenticating the legal authority behind the request. That distinction suddenly looks rather important. techcrunch.com/2026/09/12/r...

Always those other people to blame… they say with a wink and smirk. Not you, those other people. www.thejournal.ie/readme/surre...

A girl betrays a friend. A daughter betrays a mother. A sister betrays herself... 1000xRESIST is 40% OFF right now on Steam and Nintendo Switch 2.

This is a first rate investigation of Reform’s dodgy dealings by C4 News. Would be good if other broadcasters did similar.

Europe can't let a single veto hold it hostage! With 11 EU countries now demanding an end to foreign policy vetoes, it's time to move past paralysis. To face global crises with a swift, unified response, we need qualified majority voting.

𝗨𝗻𝗽𝗮𝘆𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 (𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳𝗹𝘆) - Too many people still hope they can wait out Trumpism for things to return to 'normal'. But the world is past that even if Trump departs after his second term. This isn't just a blip, and instead of hope we need adaptation for survival. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Have you ever wondered why certain products cost more in your country than in neighbouring countries? Legislators call it “Territorial Supply Constraints”. We call them unjustified restrictions for retailers set by manufacturers that lead to price increases for consumers. Learn more ⤵️

1000xRESIST AMA tomorrow at 11AM PT / 2PM ET! Ask us anything about the new Nintendo Switch 2 Edition! r/nintendoswitch

You know, peole could be misreading the CIA Director’s visit to Moscow this week. What if… he was letting Russia know that Trump wants a quick little victory and is going to move on Greenland. Don’t be alarmed if we attack a NATO member. As to what you do while we do that 🤷‍♂️

This is great.

Russia is escalating a sabotage campaign against European defence factories supplying Ukraine, The Telegraph reports . Western intelligence says local criminals are recruited online and paid in crypto, giving Moscow plausible deniability while keeping attacks below NATO’s Article 5 threshold.

"This is a five-alarm fire. It’s freaking out all the data-watchers I’ve been pestering over the past twenty months, who are usually assuring me that the guardrails have held."👇

This admin is really worried what the day after it ends looks like. Rightfully so. www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

In hindsight, I wish I’d bought a Fairphone instead of an iPhone. The further you get from Cupertino, the less useful Apple devices become. Android, from an EU company, repairable, with long-term support? Yeah, that’s increasingly looking like the winning package. arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026...

Greece’s economic collapse showed what can happen when official statistics can’t be trusted. Russia undoubtedly has the same problem; the US raises questions too. This is a fascinating, if not conclusive, way around it: use satellite data to measure what’s actually happening cepr.org/voxeu/column...

Will you carry this? Revealing the long-awaited ✨ PHYSICAL EDITIONS ✨ for our Peabody award-winning game 1000xRESIST! This wouldn’t be possible without you. Hekki grace and thank you so much for your support. 💛 🔗 WORLDWIDE: fanga.me/r/1xr 🔗 UK AND EU: fanga.me/r/1xr-eu

1000xRESIST is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on August 20, 2026. A huge visual improvement, bringing the experience on par with PC. Hekki grace.

If you find yourself dooming, it's worth recalling that Trump has neither the legal nor (more importantly) the practical ability to effectively federalize & rig the midterms. But if you find yourself complacent, it's important to note he can cause a whole lot of chaos by illegally trying & failing.

Very symbolic of our age. arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026...

It’s election week! At this important moment I would like to address your entire planet with a message to the people of Earth. And I think I found the perfect place to do it.

KASPAROV: Why can't NATO shoot down Russian missiles over Ukrainian territory? When Iran attacked Israel, the Americans, French, British shot down Iranian missiles. Why can one shoot down Iranian missiles flying at Israel but cannot shoot down Russian missiles flying at Ukraine?

Bessent epitomises everything that’s wrong with the current administration, even more than Trump. Smug, stupid and shielded from consequences by his money. Unserious on every level. 2/

Reuters highlights the lack of transparency regarding the approval of Tesla FSD in the EU. ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/pressur...

Geopolitics and Security Studies Center analyst Dionis Cenusa on the Ceuta crisis: “The timing chosen for this hybrid warfare operation was not accidental… 1/

"A US government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a state department presentation at a global conference in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attenders who took screenshots and posted them online."

The long game could be very rewarding. But it would take leadership. www.politico.com/news/magazin...