afrelek
@afrelek.eurosky.social
doing critical theory of the domination of nature | PhD @ Laboratory of Environmental Sociology of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences
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afrelek
@afrelek.eurosky.social
· Feb 27
Hope in a Warming World: Rereading Adorno on Progress
This article argues for the value inherent in rereading Theodor Adorno’s 1962 essay “Progress,” placing his thoughts in the context of the climate crisis and arguing for the necessity of retaining a f...
doi.org
Last year I wrote an article on Adorno's critical defense of the concept of progress, climate change, and the necessity of hope.
It's out now in the new issue of New German Critique, and it's perhaps more timely than it was at the time of writing.
doi.org/10.1215/0094...
It's out now in the new issue of New German Critique, and it's perhaps more timely than it was at the time of writing.
doi.org/10.1215/0094...
Reposted by afrelek
I double-checked this on a couple of Xitter stat sites and it's true. Average views of the main AfD account dropped 90% and average engagement dropped by 60%. This is commercial social media for you: bots, damn bots and Russian bots.
We’ve been talking about this for years.
None of these far-right movements are organic.
None of these far-right movements are organic.
October 11, 2026 at 7:03 PM
I double-checked this on a couple of Xitter stat sites and it's true. Average views of the main AfD account dropped 90% and average engagement dropped by 60%. This is commercial social media for you: bots, damn bots and Russian bots.
Reposted by afrelek
AI is a fucking pied piper, and everyone else is a rat
October 10, 2026 at 10:57 AM
AI is a fucking pied piper, and everyone else is a rat
Reposted by afrelek
equity markets go brrrrr
‘Median wealth for a family in the top 10% of earners increased 31%, while wealth decreased for the bottom 40% of earners.’ www.wsj.com/economy/affl...
October 9, 2026 at 3:50 PM
equity markets go brrrrr
an accurate representation of how it feels to check up on US politics/discourse after being down with a cold for mere three days
October 9, 2026 at 3:50 PM
an accurate representation of how it feels to check up on US politics/discourse after being down with a cold for mere three days
Reposted by afrelek
Ivan Turgenev's "Execution of Troppmann" is a short essay, published in 1870, that gives a first-hand account of the writer attending a public execution in Paris. Turgenev's details how the drunk, unruly crowd turned a somber moment into a carnival. A deeply moving essay; I encourage you to read it.
Pete Hegseth says Americans will be able to watch a Trump-approved firing-squad execution.
If he follows through, the U.S. could join a disturbing club of countries known for public executions—including Iran, Afghanistan, and North Korea.
If he follows through, the U.S. could join a disturbing club of countries known for public executions—including Iran, Afghanistan, and North Korea.
Hegseth Turns Trump’s Firing Squad Into a Public Spectacle
The Army has scheduled Nidal Hasan’s December 3 execution at Fort Hood — the first military execution since 1961 — while the Pentagon still will not explain how the firing squad will operate.
meidasnews.com
October 8, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Ivan Turgenev's "Execution of Troppmann" is a short essay, published in 1870, that gives a first-hand account of the writer attending a public execution in Paris. Turgenev's details how the drunk, unruly crowd turned a somber moment into a carnival. A deeply moving essay; I encourage you to read it.
Reposted by afrelek
They’re bringing back all the hits aren’t they
October 8, 2026 at 11:15 PM
They’re bringing back all the hits aren’t they
Reposted by afrelek
Nothing more perfectly sums up the institutionalization Of revolution more than French riot cops attacking French youth in a place they’ve been taught to celebrate revolution for their entire school career.
Tensions are rising at Place de la Bastille, where police have begun issuing warnings to disperse.
They have also blocked most of the exits from the Place de la Bastille.
They have also blocked most of the exits from the Place de la Bastille.
October 8, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Nothing more perfectly sums up the institutionalization Of revolution more than French riot cops attacking French youth in a place they’ve been taught to celebrate revolution for their entire school career.
Reposted by afrelek
The thing is this: history is complex. Ethics aren’t
October 8, 2026 at 4:08 PM
The thing is this: history is complex. Ethics aren’t
Reposted by afrelek
delighted to share with you a few slides from my powerpoint on the culture industry, which I first made in 2015 (?), pre-AI, and have added to, little by little, over the years, as the processes of homogenization have intensified & the smothering sameness of mainstream ideas become more choking: +
October 6, 2026 at 2:41 PM
delighted to share with you a few slides from my powerpoint on the culture industry, which I first made in 2015 (?), pre-AI, and have added to, little by little, over the years, as the processes of homogenization have intensified & the smothering sameness of mainstream ideas become more choking: +
Reposted by afrelek
It's so funny that they think they can buy the Pope the same way they think they bought the current president
October 2, 2026 at 2:47 PM
It's so funny that they think they can buy the Pope the same way they think they bought the current president
Reposted by afrelek
Reposted by afrelek
Google finally updated some of its satellite images of Gaza and my god, it's horrific. The entirety of Rafah has been demolished. The majority of Khan Younis is in ruins. Entire towns completely leveled and erased of the map.
September 27, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Google finally updated some of its satellite images of Gaza and my god, it's horrific. The entirety of Rafah has been demolished. The majority of Khan Younis is in ruins. Entire towns completely leveled and erased of the map.
Reposted by afrelek
AI #slopaganda is not so much about fakes or disinformation. It's about aligning the world with your preformulated descriptions of it, making reality disappear behind its formulaic image, rendering visible all your fears at once in order to enjoy them more. It's a technology of fascist daydreaming
This is 100% accurate and it’s why I’d never go to Bavaria
September 26, 2026 at 6:35 AM
AI #slopaganda is not so much about fakes or disinformation. It's about aligning the world with your preformulated descriptions of it, making reality disappear behind its formulaic image, rendering visible all your fears at once in order to enjoy them more. It's a technology of fascist daydreaming
Reposted by afrelek
Reposted by afrelek
OpenAI and Microsoft admitted LLMs are predatory tech built on “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” and the “largest theft of labor in human history.” An internal Microsoft document said AI has created a “doom loop” that is killing “the entire web.” www.404media.co/doom-loop-op...
‘Doom Loop’: OpenAI and Microsoft Admits LLMs Are Destroying the Web and Built on Theft
"Millions of people around the world will soon consider large models ‘hoovering up’ all their work to be an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions."
www.404media.co
September 18, 2026 at 1:30 PM
OpenAI and Microsoft admitted LLMs are predatory tech built on “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” and the “largest theft of labor in human history.” An internal Microsoft document said AI has created a “doom loop” that is killing “the entire web.” www.404media.co/doom-loop-op...
Reposted by afrelek
Computerisation is invisibilisation and precarisation of labour part 49462
this is so fucking crazy. huge huge huge scoop www.404media.co/inside-proje...
September 15, 2026 at 6:32 AM
Computerisation is invisibilisation and precarisation of labour part 49462
Reposted by afrelek
🚨New Paper🚨
From Socialization to Social Research: Felix Weil, Karl Korsch, and the Political Origins of the Frankfurt School
Jacob Blumenfeld
In: Contemporary Critical Theory and Latin America: A South–North Dialogue on the Crises of the Present (2026)
PDF: philpapers.org/rec/BLUFST
From Socialization to Social Research: Felix Weil, Karl Korsch, and the Political Origins of the Frankfurt School
Jacob Blumenfeld
In: Contemporary Critical Theory and Latin America: A South–North Dialogue on the Crises of the Present (2026)
PDF: philpapers.org/rec/BLUFST
September 14, 2026 at 7:47 AM
🚨New Paper🚨
From Socialization to Social Research: Felix Weil, Karl Korsch, and the Political Origins of the Frankfurt School
Jacob Blumenfeld
In: Contemporary Critical Theory and Latin America: A South–North Dialogue on the Crises of the Present (2026)
PDF: philpapers.org/rec/BLUFST
From Socialization to Social Research: Felix Weil, Karl Korsch, and the Political Origins of the Frankfurt School
Jacob Blumenfeld
In: Contemporary Critical Theory and Latin America: A South–North Dialogue on the Crises of the Present (2026)
PDF: philpapers.org/rec/BLUFST
Reposted by afrelek
The rule they are overturning was predicted to give $120 billion in public health benefits by 2047, with projections that by 2035, it would would prevent up to 1,200 premature deaths, 870 hospital and emergency room visits, 360K asthma attacks, 48K school absence days and 57K lost workdays each year
Breaking News: The E.P.A. is said to be planning to announce that the U.S. will no longer limit climate pollution from power plants.
E.P.A. Will Erase Limits on Climate Pollution From Power Plants
Generation of electricity is the second largest source of carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases in the United States.
nyti.ms
September 14, 2026 at 3:12 AM
The rule they are overturning was predicted to give $120 billion in public health benefits by 2047, with projections that by 2035, it would would prevent up to 1,200 premature deaths, 870 hospital and emergency room visits, 360K asthma attacks, 48K school absence days and 57K lost workdays each year
Reposted by afrelek
None of these features is mere sloppiness, they're all symptoms of the way genAI works: the 3rd eye is added to the established pattern of a human face the model cannot deviate from; the Roman Empire is what «antiquity» means in a latent space derived from Hollywood epics: a costume, not an epoch …
You may remember that Elon launched a «Grok Imagine Odyssey Contest», searching for AI slop versions of Homer's epic, and the winner is as hilariously bad as expected: cyclops with three eyes, soldiers in Roman armor as if from «Ben Hur», kitschy stock aesthetics, and what's wrong with that bow?
September 13, 2026 at 4:41 PM
None of these features is mere sloppiness, they're all symptoms of the way genAI works: the 3rd eye is added to the established pattern of a human face the model cannot deviate from; the Roman Empire is what «antiquity» means in a latent space derived from Hollywood epics: a costume, not an epoch …
Reposted by afrelek
Here’s how the New York Times describes this moment in their coverage:
September 11, 2026 at 12:26 PM
Here’s how the New York Times describes this moment in their coverage:
Reposted by afrelek
I still can’t deal with the fact that we live in a timeline that seems to have been written by a first semester gender studies student trying their hand at some bonkers masculinity-themed horror story
September 7, 2026 at 6:00 PM
I still can’t deal with the fact that we live in a timeline that seems to have been written by a first semester gender studies student trying their hand at some bonkers masculinity-themed horror story
Reposted by afrelek
Here's The Times trying to make masked fascists look good while one *does a Nazi salute in the story's cover photo*
Activists who brought Dover to a halt on Saturday refused to remove their balaclavas but were ‘very polite’, say fellow travellers
We were on a day out. Then masked migrant protesters got on our train
www.thetimes.com
September 8, 2026 at 8:41 AM
Here's The Times trying to make masked fascists look good while one *does a Nazi salute in the story's cover photo*
Reposted by afrelek
This was the point I emphasised about Palantir when I wrote about tech soverignty - their model is to make bits of the state dependent on them and them jack up the price.
samf.substack.com/p/sovereignt...
samf.substack.com/p/sovereignt...
September 8, 2026 at 7:04 AM
This was the point I emphasised about Palantir when I wrote about tech soverignty - their model is to make bits of the state dependent on them and them jack up the price.
samf.substack.com/p/sovereignt...
samf.substack.com/p/sovereignt...