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Independent researcher/writer based in Hong Kong since 1997. Reformed academic. My long-form, analytical articles are collected here https://laura-ruggeri.medium.com/ email: lauraru852@yandex.ru
Vladimir Solovyov: "At a meeting with Zelensky, Merz said that Germany would do everything possible to prevent Nord Stream 2 from being put in operation. In addition, the German Chancellor announced that Germany plans to organize the production of long-range missiles in Ukraine.
"On behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany, I declare: We will do everything possible to ensure that Nord Stream 2 is not put back into operation. Today we also discussed Germany's military support for Ukraine. I will refrain from disclosing details, but I can say the following: We will continue to provide military support and strengthen it so that Ukraine can defend itself from this Russian aggression both now and in the future. And in this context, I would like to emphasize something new. We finance a significant part of Ukraine's Starlink system. And today our defense ministers will sign a declaration of intent on the purchase of long—range weapons systems of Ukrainian manufacture - the so-called Long Range Fires. At the same time, there will be no range restrictions. This will allow Ukraine to fully defend itself, and carry out attacks on military targets outside its own territory. This is the beginning of a new form of military-industrial cooperation between our countries, which has great potential." /channel/SolovievLive/323579
The US is buying time as it tries to reorganize its military industrial complex.
"In 1950, the US manufacturing labor force made up 33.7 percent of the domestic economy—a figure that has dwindled to less than 8.4 percent today. US defense manufacturing capabilities have struggled to keep pace with Ukraine’s expenditure of 8,000 155mm howitzer shells per day. The same kind of challenge holds true for electronics. In the 1990s, 37 percent of the world’s computer chips were produced domestically. Today, that number has declined to 12 percent. Offshoring these capabilities for a cost advantage is emblematic of a critical production shortfall in several domestic sectors that will take years to resolve.
At the end of the Cold War, the US industrial base consolidated from 51 to five “prime” defense companies, reflecting the new “peace dividend.” The contraction reduced the engagement of smaller firms with the Defense Department by as much as 40 percent. This reduction impacted both the American ability to manufacture and its ability to innovate. Without a robust private sector innovation engine, the DOD must rely on five prime contractors, a network of 43 federally funded research and development centers (FFRDC), and 14 university-affiliated research centers (UARCs).
While there have been successes, especially through the Defense Innovation Unit, a renewed push for broader private sector capabilities is urgently required. The private sector possesses far more resources to bring to bear to propel defense innovation. General Motors’ internal research and development budget alone is greater than that of the five defense primes combined.
Contested Supply Chains and Loss of Sanctuary
Effective manufacturing is further complicated by contested and vulnerable supply chains. China processes up to 90 percent of the necessary rare earth elements, exporting 60 percent for global consumption. Overreliance on Chinese-controlled sources already impacts US military technology. F-35 delivery was stalled in 2022 after Chinese mineral components were discovered in the jet’s turbomachine pumps. Export controls announced by China for critical minerals—antimony, tungsten, and scandium—create further problems. The United States even faces challenges in accessing critical minerals in Africa due to Chinese and Russian initiatives in those countries."
Over a year ago, in March 2024, Germany's Bundestag voted against the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, aligning with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's concerns about escalating war involvement. Of the 687 lawmakers who took part in the vote, 494 voted against the delivery with 188 in favor and five abstentions. That vote is far more representative of public opinion in the country than the war lobbyists' rallying cry. When Chancellor Merz was an opposition politician, he demanded the delivery of Taurus, routinely egged on by CDU foreign policy spokesman Roderich Kiesewetter, Chair of the Bundestag's Defence Committee Thomas Röwekamp and Miss Rheinmetall Strack-Zimmermann. In his new role as Chancellor does Friedrich Merz represent the interests of BlackRock or those of Germany? @LauraRuHK
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Hong Kong punta a diventare "capitale della mediazione"
▪️Il 30 maggio a Hong Kong nascerà ufficialmente l'Organizzazione Internazionale per la Mediazione. L'organizzazione avrà sede nella più internazionale delle città cinesi, consolidando ulteriormente il ruolo di Hong Kong come hub legale globale.
▪️In 2022, la Cina e 19 Paesi, tra cui Indonesia, Pakistan, Laos, Cambogia, Serbia, Bielorussia, Sudan, Algeria, e altri Paesi africani, hanno lanciato congiuntamente l'iniziativa di istituire l'Organizzazione internazionale per la mediazione (OIMed). Quasi 60 Paesi di Asia, Africa, America Latina ed Europa e circa 20 organizzazioni internazionali, tra cui le Nazioni Unite, invieranno rappresentanti di alto livello alla cerimonia della firma a Hong Kong. Lo stesso giorno si terrà il Forum globale sulla mediazione internazionale per discutere, tra l'altro, di “mediazione delle controversie tra Stati” e “mediazione delle controversie tra uno Stato e investitori stranieri e delle controversie commerciali”.
L'OIMed intende diventare una piattaforma importante per salvaguardare gli scopi e i principi della Carta delle Nazioni Unite.
▪️La Cina si sta posizionando attivamente come mediatore nelle controversie internazionali, facendo leva sulla sua influenza globale per facilitare il dialogo e la risoluzione dei conflitti.
L'aumento delle attività di mediazione cinesi è iniziato nel 2013, anno in cui è stata lanciata la Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) nota in Italia come Nuova Via della Seta.
Da tempo Pechino sottolinea la necessità di una maggiore cooperazione internazionale, di un ordine mondiale più equo basato sul multipolarismo e su quello che definisce un “approccio win-win” in alternativa a pratiche egemoniche ed imperialiste.
▪️La Cina, in quanto maggiore esportatore e importatore mondiale, ha un chiaro interesse a promuovere la stabilità internazionale, e non solo lungo la Belt and Road.
🔺/channel/LauraRuHK🔺
EU Pays Double for U.S. LNG Compared to Russian Gas
Eurostat data reveals a stark cost disparity: U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) costs the EU €1.08 per cubic meter, while Russian gas averages €0.51. In Q1 2025, the EU spent €14.7 billion on 13.4 billion cubic meters of U.S. LNG, compared to €2.7 billion for 5.3 billion cubic meters of Russian gas.
Russian pipeline gas is even cheaper at €0.32 per cubic meter, though sanctions-related transport costs via third countries inflate prices. @LauraRuHK
La rivelazione di Washington sulla presenza di circa 500 militari statunitensi a Taiwan è solo l'ennesima di una lunga serie di provocazioni mirate a testare le "linee rosse" di Pechino.
La rivelazione, fatta dal contrammiraglio in pensione della Marina statunitense Mark Montgomery durante una testimonianza al Congresso, è stata la prima ammissione ufficiale di una presenza militare americana così consistente a Taiwan. Naturalmente, Pechino non ha bisogno di questa ammissione per sapere che truppe statunitensi sono di stanza sull'isola. E i tempi, la natura e la portata della sua risposta non saranno certo dettati da una rivelazione di Washington. @LauraRuHK
Fonte: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3311807/us-500-military-personnel-taiwan-open-test-beijings-red-lines
Every statement by European politicians regarding the provision of long-range weapons to the Kiev regime prompts Russia to recalibrate its plans for a strategic buffer zone, Natalia Nikonorova, a member of the Federation Council’s Committee on International Affairs, has told TASS.
“Europeans should bear in mind that each such announcement about deploying long-range weapons influences our operational plans, adjusting them in accordance with the weapon’s reach, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly emphasized. Our foremost priority remains ensuring the safety of our citizens,” Nikonorova stated.
Yet another saga involving AI-enabled plagiarism. A "writer", Marco Buscaglia, appeared to have wholly cut and pasted ChatGPT’s opus and passed it off as his own while the editors of King Features Syndicate and various news outlets failed to do their jobs and didn't fact-check a farcical article that contained a reading list riddled with nonexistent books — many of them falsely attributed to real authors. This was an instance of plagiarism, ChatGPT's all-too-common hallucination and a collective dereliction of duty from the media that published that overconfident slop. By now it should be clear that AI models like ChatGPT prioritize fluency over accuracy and that search engines, Google in particular, and social media have a tendency to up-rank the outputs of serial plagiarists and derivative texts rather than original articles. @LauraRuHK https://swentr.site/news/618100-ai-hallucination-global-embarrassment/
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This morning I received an angry message from someone who took issue with my previous post about EU countries buying lemons from the US while Washington is desperately trying to upgrade its arsenal after realizing that China and Russia are innovating faster than expected. /channel/LauraRuHK/10092 Despite the fact that i shared a RAND corporation podcast, I am accused of "spreading Russian propaganda, exaggerating and talking about something I know nothing about" by those who are too biased and blinkered to deal with inconvenient truths. A word of caution to my critics. I research before writing and have news for the EU apparatchik who contacted me. Actually, pretty old news. In 2018 Foreign Policy published an article that should have been read and filed in Brussels. "On March 25, 2018 Houthi forces in Yemen fired seven missiles at Riyadh. Saudi Arabia confirmed the launches and asserted that it successfully intercepted all seven. This wasn’t true. It’s not just that falling debris in Riyadh killed at least one person and sent two more to the hospital. There’s no evidence that Saudi Arabia intercepted any missiles at all. And that raises uncomfortable questions not just about the Saudis, but about the United States, which seems to have sold them — and its own public — a lemon of a missile defense system." @LauraRuHK https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/28/patriot-missiles-are-made-in-america-and-fail-everywhere/
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Missile attack on targets in Odessa. Iskander missiles hit a container ship that was transporting military equipment to the port of Odessa, as well as a container warehouse in this port.
According to Russian MOD there were about 100 containers with military cargo on the ship, including tanks, UAVs and ammunition. As a result of the fire damage to these targets, there was a secondary detonation of ammunition and containers unloaded onto the pier. /channel/epoddubny/23558
🔺Attempts to impose any fixed timeframes for talks between Moscow and Kiev or issue any ultimatums are absolutely counterproductive, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
“Attempts to set any premature timelines for dialogue, exert pressure, issue any ultimatums, threaten, blackmail, whip up hysteria via the Western-controlled mass media, or stir up any unhealthy hype are absolutely counterproductive,” she said, commenting on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s statement that this week will play a crucial role in talks on settling the Ukrainian conflict.
I must have touched a nerve...this is exactly the kind of anti-China narrative South Koreans are subjected to. @LauraRuHK
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A wave of anti-China fake news is rocking South Korea
South Korean police requested an arrest warrant for the reporter of an internet news website who posted misinformation about Chinese spies purportedly confessing to mass-scale election rigging in Korea. The far-right news outlet Sky Daily is notorious for making false claims that incite racial hatred. The article, posted on December 3, 2024, claimed that 99 Chinese spies were arrested by the Martial Law Command during former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief martial law imposition. The report, which lacked evidence and credible sources, is part of an anti-China media campaign that has left Chinese nationals and ethnic Korean-Chinese in the country afraid for their safety.
Who benefits from stoking Sinophobia in South Korea?
Although politicians from the ruling conservative People Power Party (PPP) and other far-right factions use anti-China narratives to rally their base ahead of the June 3 presidential election, one must be aware that their strings are pulled by the US.
Washington can capitalize on South Korean public sentiment to pressure Seoul into supporting American initiatives, both trade and military initiatives, even if they risk antagonizing China, which is South Korea's main commercial partner.
Washington is trying to strengthen its strategic position in the Asia-Pacific region and exerts considerable pressure on Seoul to prioritize its alliance with the US over maintaining balanced ties with Beijing.
Spreading anti-China narratives that are designed to weaken Beijing’s soft power and economic leverage in South Korea, can be seen as part of the ongoing hybrid war on China.
Japan is another potential beneficiary of this wave of anti-China sentiment, as it would help eclipse anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea and strengthen U.S.-South Korea-Japan trilateral partnership. 🔸/channel/LauraRuHK🔸
On 19 August 2024, seven people lost their lives in the mysterious shipwreck of the Bayesan yacht off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo. Among them was Mike Lynch, the owner of Darktrace, a company that collaborated with numerous secret services. Nearly at the same time, Stephen Chamberlain – the company's chief operating officer — died after being hit by a car while out jogging in Cambridgeshire. ▪️Last night during Quarta Repubblica, a talk show on Italian tv network Rete 4, it was revealed that the site of the accident was combed by British agents before Italian divers had access to it. 'From what I have been able to gather from confidential sources close to those investigating the case,' said Federico Carbone, criminologist, forensic analyst and expert at the Palermo court, others arrived before our divers. The foreign soldiers would have arrived “in the hours immediately following” the shipwreck, “within 24 hours”, and were most likely looking for data relating to Lynch's activity with the cybersecurity company Darktrace.' Extremely sensitive data. Lynch worked for several international intelligence services, including the Israelis, MI6 and the CIA. The suspicions, according to the sources quoted by the forensic expert, would point to the British secret services because “their military boats were spotted near the site.”
Darktrace started working with GCHQ and MI5 very early on. Lynch's very first company, Cambridge Neurodynamics, had done work for the British intelligence agencies, as Lynch told WIRED in 2002. Darktrace has long been engaged in the cyber dimension of the war in Ukraine. In particular, we are talking about the Prevent-Ot project launched in 2015.
It is perhaps no coincidence that in the week following the outbreak of the conflict, between 24 February and 3 March 2022, the value of the company's shares, which at the time was still headed by Lynch, grew by 40 percent. Darktrace may have also provided assistance to Kiev's attack on the Kursk region. @LauraRuHK
The EU has approved the nth package of anti-Russian sanctions. If you suffer from sudden insomnia, visualize the content of each package and count the packages till you fall asleep. It's guaranteed to work. On the other hand, if you suffer from unexplained lethargy, try to visualize what would happen if one of the Baltic lapdogs tried to seize a tanker carrying Russian oil. So many possibilities, so many scenarios. I am sure they will keep you awake. @LauraRuHK
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Vladimir Solovyov: "I am sure that the Taurus missiles are already on the territory of Ukraine. Obviously, in order to please his Western masters, Zelensky will strike at the Crimean Bridge. This was repeatedly demanded by the Germans. We remember how information was leaked about a telephone conversation between high-ranking German military personnel discussing a strike on the bridge. This is what the British have wanted for a long time. The military-political significance should not be underestimated. The bridge is a fundamentally important infrastructure that has solved the issue of supplying Crimea. The strike may be carried out on a significant date, most likely on June 12. Of course, the date of June 22 is more familiar to Germans, but even for the Nazi bastard Merz it would be too much. Although I won't be surprised at anything anymore.
It seems to me that it is necessary to inform the German side through all available contacts that in this case a counter strike will be immediately launched both at the decision-making centers in Kiev and at a number of facilities in Germany. They shouldn't have any illusion that we won't respond. Do you want a Third World War? Carefully read what is written in our nuclear doctrine. The attack on the Crimean Bridge would be the beginning of the Third World War. /channel/SolovievLive/323575
Più di un anno fa il parlamento tedesco votava contro la consegna di missili da crociera Taurus all'Ucraina, allineandosi alle preoccupazioni dell'allora Cancelliere Olaf Scholz che giustamente temeva un'escalation del conflitto che avrebbe coinvolto la Germania. Dei 687 legislatori che parteciparono alla votazione, 494 si espressero contro la consegna, 188 a favore e 5 si astenneroi. Il risultato di quella consultazione è molto più rappresentativo dell'opinione pubblica del Paese di quanto non lo sia il grido di battaglia dei lobbisti della guerra. Quando il Cancelliere Merz era all'opposizione, strepitava per la consegna dei missili Taurus, la cui gittata puo' raggiungere i 500 chilometri,incoraggiato dal portavoce della politica estera della CDU Roderich Kiesewetter, dal Presidente della Commissione Difesa del Bundestag Thomas Röwekamp e dalla cheerleader di Rheinmetall, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann. La domanda da porsi è se nel suo nuovo ruolo di Cancelliere, Friedrich Merz rappresenta gli interessi di BlackRock o quelli della Germania. @LauraRuHK
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IF THEY STRIKE WITH TAURUS — RUSSIA'S NEXT TARGET WILL BE GERMAN MILITARY FACILITY
Ukraine does NOT have the technical capability to operate Taurus missiles on its own. Without German military specialists on the ground, these missiles are useless. This means Bundeswehr soldiers would directly participate in combat against Russia, says Igor Korotchenko, military analyst and editor-in-chief of “National Defense”.
💬 “Giving Taurus missiles to Ukraine’s terrorist Zelensky regime—and their use against Russia means Germany is officially at war with Russia. For the 3rd time [in history], Germany becomes a world war instigator.”
💬 “If Ukraine continues using Taurus missiles against us, the next German military or industrial facility will be destroyed. We do not want war, we want peace. But under the UN Charter, we will act in self-defense.”
Hong Kong aims to become the ‘capital of mediation’ ▪️On May 30, the signing ceremony of the Convention on the Establishment of The International Organization for Mediation will take place in Hong Kong. The organization will be headquartered in the most international of Chinese cities, further cementing Hong Kong's role as a global legal hub.
▪️In 2022, China and 19 countries, including Indonesia, Pakistan, Laos, Cambodia, Serbia, Belarus, Sudan, Algeria, Djibouti and other African countries, jointly launched the initiative to establish the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed). Almost 60 countries from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe, and around 20 international organizations including the UN will send high-level representatives to the signing ceremony in Hong Kong. On the same day, the Global Forum on International Mediation will be held to discuss “mediation of disputes between States” and “mediation of disputes between a State and foreign investors and commercial disputes”, among other issues.
The IOMed posits itself as an important mechanism in safeguarding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
▪️China is actively positioning itself as a mediator in international disputes, leveraging its global influence to facilitate dialogue and conflict resolution.
The increase in Chinese mediation activities began in 2013, the year that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was launched. Beijing has long stressed the need for enhanced international cooperation, a fairer world order based on multipolarity and what it calls a "win-win approach" rather than one side benefiting at the expense of another.
▪️China, as the world's largest exporter and importer, has a clear interest in fostering international stability, and not only along the Belt and Road. 🔺/channel/LauraRuHK 🔺
Without affordable Russian gas Italian industries can't compete.
"Our companies continue to suffer from an energy (price) surcharge of more than 35% over the European average, even reaching peaks of 80% when compared to the largest European countries," Emanuele Orsini said at Confindustria's annual meeting. The head of the country's main business lobby Confindustria continued "Italy needs an extraordinary industrial plan: investments of 8 billion euros per year for the next 3 years to achieve at least 2% growth [...] We need to act urgently. The situation is unsustainable and weighs on Italy." Orsini called for a change in the price mechanism for electricity, a cut in the general costs included in energy bills and a return to nuclear energy.▪️Building a nuclear power plant typically takes 6 to 10 years, 6 in China and 10 in Europe. Good luck. @LauraRuHK
Washington’s disclosure that around 500 US military personnel are stationed in Taiwan is clearly a provocation designed to test Beijing’s red lines.
The disclosure, made by retired US Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery during congressional testimony, was the first official acknowledgement of such a substantial American military presence in Taiwan. Of course, Beijing doesn't need this admission to know that US troops are stationed on the island. And its response won't be dictated by Washington's limited hangout. @LauraRuHK Source: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3311807/us-500-military-personnel-taiwan-open-test-beijings-red-lines
"Only beautiful planes fly" - Yulia Zheltikova and her husband Andrei Tupolev, the father of Soviet aviation. She had impeccable taste, translated texts in foreign languages for her husband, and even designed the cabins of passenger planes. @LauraRuHK
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At NATO summit after NATO summit, European leaders get a clear public message from Washington — increase spending on defense.
In private, there’s another message that’s just as clear — make sure a lot of that extra spending goes on U.S. weapons.
RAND's senior defence researcher David Ochmanek admits that US Patriot defense systems do not work as effectively as they should. https://www.rand.org/pubs/podcasts/policy-minded/2025/its-time-to-rethink-us-defense-strategy.html
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A major electricity outage hit the Alpes-Maritimes region in southern France on Saturday, including Cannes which is hosting its annual film festival. According to French police the black out may have been caused by an arson attack. Talking about outages, X/Twitter and Facebook are currently down. X is probably suffering the after-effects of a mass outage that took place on Thursday when a fire broke out at a data centre in Hillsboro in US’ Oregon.
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🔺EU officials are contemplating the possibility of depriving Budapest of its voting rights, citing concerns over Hungary’s capacity to obstruct key decisions such as bankrolling Ukraine's military. The EU Council is scheduled to hold a hearing on May 27 concerning this potential suspension.
🔺Meanwhile Hungary is seeking a closer cooperation with the Organization of Turkic States (OTS). Following the informal summit of the OTS which Budapest hosted on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, recalled that his country joined the organization as an observer seven years ago and that although the world has changed a lot since then, these changes have only further reinforced the importance of cooperation with the Turkic states. He pointed out that Europe is facing serious challenges in the areas of security, the economy, and energy supply, but thanks to its cooperation with the Turkic states, Hungary has been able to find answers to these difficulties more easily.
“We have also contributed to this by doubling our trade with the Turkic states, and as a result of the significant infrastructure developments that have taken place in the Turkic states, the transport time between Europe and China will be reduced by approximately one week (...) Hungary has taken advantage of the fact that the economic growth of the Turkic states has not stalled,” he emphasized.
As an example, he mentioned that Hungary's and Turkey's largest railway construction companies have formed a strategic alliance, Hungarian pharmaceutical companies will soon begin production in Azerbaijan. He also said that an industrial park had been set up in Uzbekistan specifically for Hungarian companies, and a hydroelectric power plant was being built in Kyrgyzstan with Hungarian participation. Péter Szijjártó then pointed out that Hungary's energy supply would not be secure today without the Turkic states, as the majority of natural gas reaching Hungary is already transported via the Turkish Stream pipeline.
The region represented by the Turkic States has become the world's third largest source of oil and natural gas, so Hungary's cooperation with these countries is of enormous importance in terms of the country's energy supply, he said.
(Source: Telex) @LauraRuHK
🚨💵BRICS bank EXPANDS as de-dollarization heats up
The BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) just added ALGERIA as its newest member—fueling the bloc’s push for a multipolar financial world.
NDB President Dilma Rousseff hailed the move, saying Algeria will help BOOST the bank’s global influence.
👉The NDB, or the BRICS Bank, was created by Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa to fund infrastructure & sustainable projects—without relying on the West-dominated World Bank or IMF.
👍 Boost us | Chat | Stickers |@geopolitics_live
The European Union's decision to sanction two German nationals, Thomas Roeper and Alina Lipp, could set a dangerous precedent, where Brussels could severely limit the rights of any critic, journalist and blogger Thomas Roeper told RT.
They have been accused of "destabilizing activities" and slapped with an EU entry ban, as well as an asset freeze.
The European Council approved the bloc's 17th round of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday.
Both Thomas Roeper and Alina Lipp currently reside in Russia and have a large following in Germany. @LauraRuHK
How do you sell digital totalitarianism to EU member states? Simple. Use children. Under the guise of protecting children online, Brussels intends to establish an EU-wide "age of digital adulthood", below which minors would need parental consent to log onto social media.
The proposal is set to be discussed by EU digital ministers at a meeting in early June and Denmark which will take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU has already committed to action.
It goes without saying that in order to verify age all users of digital media, not just children, will be required to prove their identity, that is provide their ID and biometrics to some kind of app described as an Age Verification Unit. In a year or two this app will be replaced by the European Digital Identity Wallet which has been in the pipeline since the Covid psyop. @LauraRuHK
Why I don't use AI, besides ethical considerations. There are as many writers as there are literate people, some may never write anything more elaborate than a greeting card, a recipe or a shopping list, although even recipes and grocery lists can read like poetry, just think of Sylvia Plath's handling of domestic tasks 😏
I don't write all the time -- chores, reading, walking and interacting with people -- take up more time. But when i sit at my desk and start writing I create space, slip beyond the grasp of mundane constraints and stammer in my own tongue. Unseen, unheard, I try to find order in the chaos that paralyzes my mind. Like most of you, i have to deal with information overload, but if i delegated that task to AI and its automated winnowing process, the chaff would be permanently removed from the wheat. And with that white flour i could only bake white bread. The fact is, I like my bread brown and enjoy kneading it. Since I am not running a mill, generative AI would deprive me of that pleasure. I write because questions are crowding my mind, and the thicker the forest, the more exciting the journey. It can take months to clear a path because i refuse to use a bulldozer. To write is to hack through the strata of predetermined meaning, eschewing the service of the known. In the space i create, thought can wander, fork, and proliferate. It is not a space of escape — honestly, I prefer other forms of escape to writing — and is not a retreat from the messiness of the world but a necessity when i want to make sense. It is not subjected to the utilitarian grids of efficiency. Making sense takes time. Writing for Deleuze & Guattari was a war-machine that resists fixed meanings, disrupts established codes, and creates lines of flight, new possibilities for thought and becoming. I like the metaphor, but must admit that it is not the most dependable or efficient war-machine. Nevertheless, it's a pleasure to ride it. @LauraRuHK