Jeremy Strong’s portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Reckoning shows how public opinion has changed around billionaire CEOs since The Social Network’s release
When The Social Network came out, Mark Zuckerberg organised a staff viewing of a film he described as “fun”.
A group corporate outing to the sequel is unlikely.
Continue reading...The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle; As You Wake, Break the Shell by Becky Chambers; The Eye of Goliath by Diego Muzzio; Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle (Penguin, £9.99)
This short novel won almost every genre award following its 2016 US publication. As a Black writer, LaValle had a conflicted relationship with the works of HP Lovecraft. As a child, he loved the tales of cosmic horror, but grew to recognise the racism and other prejudices of the author. Unable to “throw the man’s stories away” because of how formative they were on his own imagination, he decided to write his own response to one of the most obviously racist, The Horror at Red Hook, recasting it through the perspective of a musician and hustler from 1920s Harlem later known as Black Tom. It’s a powerful tale of horror – both everyday and the occult – told with sheer brilliance.
As You Wake, Break the Shell by Becky Chambers (Hodderscape, £22)
In this cosy science fiction love story set on a distant planet, life is a constant struggle for the human colonists. As the book opens, botanist Signy is yet to meet the love of her life, Cora, a rorqual pilot. Rorquals are gigantic interplanetary creatures, trained by human pilots whose implants allow them to communicate with the beasts as they transport supplies. Chapter 1 is followed by chapter 764, set more than a decade later, when the two women are blissfully married. The non-linear narrative may reflect what we’re told is the rorqual view of time, but it also removes much suspense. The characters are adorable, and the details of growing plants in an artificial environment, or Cora’s relationship with her rorqual, are enjoyable, but readers may grow impatient with the glacial pace and reiterations of their feelings for one another. Even the “naturally solitary” rorqual is given to declaring its love for Cora. In the final pages there’s a tonal shift that ends on a cliffhanger: how Cora and Signy survive is to be revealed in a sequel.
Drawing from post-hardcore, twee and emo, the Exeter trio’s intoxicating energy feels like an invitation to form your own band
From Exeter, UK
Recommended if you like Boyracer, the Promise Ring, Rites of Spring
Up next Little Bastard EP out now
It’s tempting to view any half-decent scene as either a magical happening or a simple quirk of geography and timing. In reality, they’re more like monuments to the importance of showing up. For that to continue to happen, you need bands like Pushbike. Rattling through four songs in well under 10 minutes, each crooked hook, euphoric yelp and cheesewire guitar lead on their Little Bastard EP feels like an invitation to form a band, draw a flyer, or book a show.
Continue reading...On Kaua‘i, neighbors repair each other’s roofs, teens deliver meals and locals use their own equipment to clear roads
It was a few hours after the sun rose over the verdant valleys and clear waters of Hā‘ena on Kaua‘i’s North Shore. Michael Olanolan was already in his excavator, clearing the main highway where a wall of fallen trees had blocked access. Other neighbors joined him, moving debris so electric crews could reach utility poles downed by Hurricane Lowell.
The 76-year-old father of nine and grandfather of 26 did this every day for weeks after Lowell hit the Hawaiian islands of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau on 7 September. His generational home lost part of its roof to Lowell’s winds, but family and friends helped him repair it, freeing him up to also help his community. Clearing out roadways became his full-time job while residents were getting back on their feet.
Continue reading...Liability lawsuits have held tobacco, oil and pharma companies to account in the past. AI investors won’t ignore this threat
The most basic function of government is to protect people from harm. Two growing phenomena – the climate crisis and AI – pose escalating risks of extraordinary harm.
The climate crisis is already causing floods, wildfires, drought and record heat. AI agents are already escaping super-secure environments to hack into systems they’re supposed to avoid.
Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now in the US and in the UK
Continue reading...GENT (ANP) - "Er is nooit sprake geweest van ontvoering." Dat zei de 29-jarige Romy W. vrijdag tijdens haar verhoor in een bomvolle rechtszaal van het hof van assisen in Gent, op de tweede dag van het proces rond de gewelddadige dood van de Belgische kleuter Dean. De Nederlandse W. staat terecht samen met haar Belgische ex-vriend Dave De K. (39). Hij heeft bekend dat hij het jongetje in zijn auto heeft doodgeslagen, in januari 2022.
De Belgische justitie verdenkt W. van ontvoering met de dood tot gevolg. Dean was een zoontje van een vriendin die zij had leren kennen in een kliniek waar zij enige tijd verbleef in verband met haar ernstige alcoholverslaving. De K. en zij pasten geregeld op de twee kinderen van deze vrouw.
Het lichaam van Dean werd op 17 januari 2022 gevonden op het voormalige Zeeuwse werkeiland Neeltje Jans.
De twee verdachten zijn vrijdag door het hof gehoord. Daarbij kwam vooral De K. aan bod; voor W. waren er nauwelijks vragen.
DEN HAAG (ANP/AFP) - De Nobelprijs voor de Vrede die is toegekend aan Navanethem Pillay, oud-rechter van het Internationaal Strafhof (ICC), is extra belangrijk gezien de huidige aanvallen op het internationaal recht. Dat stelt ICC-voorzitter Tomoko Akane in een verklaring.
"In een tijd waarin de internationale rechtsorde en de rechtsstaat voor ingrijpende uitdagingen staan, is deze erkenning van bijzondere betekenis", aldus de Japanse rechter. Zij spreekt van een "belangrijke erkenning van de vitale rol die internationale rechtspraak speelt als hoeksteen van blijvende vrede".
De Verenigde Staten hebben gedreigd het hof in Den Haag "steen voor steen" af te breken. Het land heeft ICC-topfiguren sancties opgelegd en dreigt met sancties tegen het hof als geheel, wat enorme operationele problemen zou veroorzaken. Washington zou op het punt staan nieuwe strafmaatregelen af te kondigen.
Pillay was tussen 2003 en 2012 rechter bij het ICC.
De euro zakte de afgelopen maanden weg tegenover de dollar. Niet omdat Amerika er zo goed voorstaat, maar vooral omdat Europa lijdt. De belangrijkste oorzaak daarvan ligt in Frankrijk. Hoe moet voorkomen worden dat het Franse gebrek aan begrotingsdiscipline de eurozone meesleurt?
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mikeleonardvisualarts has added a photo to the pool:
