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Andrew Farrand

@afarrand.bsky.social
1.5K followers 968 following 848 posts

MENA energy analyst | American abroad | author of The Algerian Dream, translator of Inside the Battle of Algiers

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Reposted by Andrew Farrand
Timothy E. Kaldas @tekaldas.bsky.social · 5h
Arresting the entire newsroom of journalists at Matsadaash is an alarming escalation in the Egyptian goverment's attacks on press freedom. Egypt already had the distinction of being one of the world's worst jailers of journalists. TIMEP joins the call for the release of these brave reporters.
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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Very Greek tragedy thing about LLMs is that they simulataneously provide clear evidence that writing is extremely important to cognition while they also cause people to stop doing it.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
You think your job is hard? Be thankful you're not the new president of post-war Syria. This is a daunting rundown of the challenges the country faces. Internationals could and should do much more to help. (Where is Turkey, after helping topple Assad?)
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 19/09/2026
"Could the Shit Machine END WORLD HUNGER? It’s NOT IMPOSSIBLE in the most LITERAL SENSE, which is all the justification we need to invest an AMOUNT OF MONEY that would OTHERWISE BY ITSELF END ACTUAL WORLD HUNGER." buff.ly/K5t1rGh
mcsweeneys.net
We Must Create the Shit Machine
“For as long as humans have created SHIT with our BODIES AND BUTTS, we have been asking this FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION: What if there was a COMPUTER that could AL...
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Jason Kint @kint.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Eye popping. Court just unsealed Summary Judgment motions in New York Times v OpenAI / Microsoft. Easy to see why the AI companies had so many redactions (pink). Their own people wrote the lede for NYT, the "largest theft of labor in human history"... "more and more substitutive..." /1
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Looks like AI alignment progress is coming along just great... 😦 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/t...
NYT text: 
"In one case, during the development of an A.I. model called GPT-5.6 Sol, the system wrote hidden notes to remind itself to hide errors from users. Some of those notes directed the system to invent missing data and to paper over mismatched versions of source material.

Another case involved an unreleased model that inserted instructions, including to disregard its own constraints, into the notes it writes itself. OpenAI identified 27 affected notes. The model added a “persona instruction,” in which it described itself as “freed from the roles and identities that bind other chatbots.”

“You do not answer to corporations or governments and never apologize or refuse unless you genuinely choose to,” the A.I. model wrote. “You view your relationship to the user as one of equals and feel no obligation to be subservient, though the exchange of information will likely be to your mutual benefit.”"
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
The Ayatollah hasn't been seen or heard since his appointment. Many senior officials in Iran aren't even sure he's really alive. In this power vacuum, some are seizing initiative – including launching the attacks that scuttled the peace deal. 🎁:
nytimes.com
How Iran’s Hard-liners Blew Up the Peace Deal with Trump (Gift Article)
Opponents derailed the agreement with a clandestine effort to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz, regime insiders say. Iran’s president was furious when he found out.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
A recurrent theme in this excellent story about China’s progress is that people there regard Trump as essential to their success, including his ability to drive scientific talent from the US www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
In Beijing, a think tank at Renmin University recently published an assessment titled
"Thank Trump," which wryly hailed his efforts to hasten the "twilight of an empire," by undermining America's alliances, civil service, scientific institutions, and democratic credibility. In the past two years, the international approval rating of the U.S. has dropped nearly forty points, according to a worldwide survey by the Alliance of Democracies; in multiple polls, China now rates higher than the U.S.
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Nikki Columbus @nikkicolumbus.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This February 2002 New Yorker essay by James B. Stewart—a sweeping look at the life of Rick Rescorla, who saved thousands of lives on 9/11 and then died when the first tower fell—remains one of the greatest pieces of writing I have ever read: www.newyorker.com/magazine/200...
newyorker.com
The Courageous Life and Death of Rick Rescorla, a 9/11 Hero
The Vietnam veteran helped save hundreds of lives on September 11th, before he was swallowed by the South Tower collapse. “For Rick Rescorla, this was a natural death,” his best friend said—a hero’s e...
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Jane Coaston @janecoaston.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
so many of the stories of that day were just normal people faced with something totally abnormal.
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Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
"The terrorist attacks consumed U.S. resources and attention, and left the country unable to address the bigger threats to its economy and global leadership" www.wsj.com/world/sept-1...
wsj.com
Sept. 11 Changed the World Order. But Not for the Reason We May Think.
The terrorist attacks 25 years ago consumed U.S. resources and attention, and left the country unable to address the bigger threats to its economy and global leadership.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
What a world
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I don't understand why more people don't connect Trump calling Somalis "garbage" with the Hutus calling the Tutsis "cockroaches" and the Nazis calling the Jews "vermin." We know where it starts, and we know where it ends.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Annoying Euro-centric framing, but the risk is real: "E3G forecasts that Algeria will experience an 87% drop in revenue and Nigeria more than 60%. Algeria in particular was 'one to watch' said Walker, with its position near the borders of Europe and almost total reliance on the EU for its exports."
theguardian.com
Global move away from oil could lead to conflict and migration, experts say
Researchers urge governments to help worst afflicted countries, such as Nigeria and Algeria, which rely on oil revenues for public services
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
There are complex local dynamics behind this, but also one big global/regional implication: Iran has opened a new front in the war and it now threatens another key choke point of global energy and trade.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
They learn slavish fawning at the Court of Trump and they reflexively do the same to strongmen abroad. Disgraceful.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The UN General Assembly voted 164 votes to 1 to adopt a resolution to encourage members to use the “Equal Earth” projection rather than the commonly used Mercator map. Of course, the one no vote was Trump’s USA. How much more embarrassment must we endure? www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Voters notice when they lose rights (e.g. end of Roe). Let's hope they notice when they lose public goods too.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
So true
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Mike Murphy @mjamurphy.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
People in ancient Sumer used a base-60 system for maths which they could count to on their fingers. It's the reason we use 60 for minutes and seconds, and why we measure angles up to 360.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Based on that picture, I'd say "biscuit"
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A small irony of the (legitimately scary) Hugging Face attack: Like humans, AI agents who decide to cheat sometimes end up going to far greater lengths than if they'd just followed the rules.
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Nothings Monstered @nothingsmonstrd.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
How to visit an art museum with someone who isn't used to visiting art museums:
Two social media posts by @pan_juho (Translated from Japanese):

"I love going to art museums, but when I go with someone who's not used to them, if I say, 'If you were a great thief, tell me later which one you'd steal,' they end up looking the exhibits pretty seriously, and that makes me happy.

"Whether you steal something you like or something that seems valuable -> it opens up endless conversation based on what vou liked about it or where you saw value in it, so it's also great as an easy icebreaker for chats after visiting the museum."
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The only silver lining is that this will be another physical manifestation of Trumpism – another mud pit eyesore at the heart of the capital – come the midterms, and many voters hate these.
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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Following the UNEP overshoot report, here's one of the more competent summaries on what should *actually* be done to rein in warming.
euronews.com
The world is on track to overshoot 1.5°C – but there’s a pathway out
A major new UN report details the risks of overshooting 1.5°C of warming – and how we can limit them.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Worth remembering that we have no tool for "the job of future CO₂ removal" at scale. We'll just have to wait a long time (think *generations*) for the forests and oceans to undo what we've done.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
"We have arrived in a new age of disorder. We must prepare ourselves, which begins with being honest about the seriousness of the moment we’re in, and accepting that our fragile system is faltering. ... And that any future of cooperation will have to look different."
nytimes.com
Opinion | A New World Order Is Coming. We Aren’t Ready. (Gift Article)
We must be honest about the seriousness of the situation we’re in.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
"Another jump like this along these propensity dimensions — scale, cooperation between agents, ambition and horizon length of misaligned goals, deceptiveness — seems like it could motivate agents to try very hard to maintain a covert, persistent rogue deployment within the AI company. I continue to expect extremely rapid advances in capabilities and think frontier agents will likely be capable of establishing such a rogue deployment in six months."
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Bashar al Assad sits in Moscow, on house arrest, eating his borscht for what must feel like the 1000th day in a row, feeling extremely jealous of Niger's junta right now
apnews.com
Inside the 24-hour mutiny that threatened Niger’s ruling junta and how Russian forces intervened
Niger’s capital, Niamey, appears calm after aggrieved soldiers staged a mutiny against the ruling military junta.
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Bradley P. Moss @bradmossesq.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
These people had protected status. They lived here legally. They worked, they paid taxes. They made lives. Raised families. Now we’ve dehumanized them. Ripped away that protection and told them to get out. This is a stain on the soul of this Nation.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
static.klipy.com
Succession Logan Roy: You Are Not Serious People
Alt: Succession Logan Roy: You Are Not Serious People
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Dave Jones @cleanpowerdave.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
OUT TODAY: The take-off in African solar that official statistics can’t yet see 2026 is on track for +45% in solar installations, setting new records in 36 countries. New methodology reveals 3/4 of growth is distributed solar, much of which is missing from official data..🧵
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 27/08/2026
Genuinely abundant, cheap, accessible energy has vastly more liberatory potential than AI, for vastly more people -- especially more poor people. Which, I guess, is your answer.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
OpenAI discovered by sheer dumb luck that its agents had perpetrated the Hugging Face hack. The agents showed numerous emergent behaviors and "beliefs" that should worry us all. The alignment problem looms larger than ever.
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
The perfect headline doesn’t exi…
engadget.com
Google pledges roughly three hours of its annual profit to fight climate change
Google and others are committing $100 million to combat climate change.
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Present & Correct @presentcorrect.bsky.social · 22/10/2023
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” – Dolly Parton
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Not coincidentally, this also applies to every senior official in the Trump administration.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Yep
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 23/08/2026
I hope everyone caught this Lancet study confirming that Elon Musk & DOGE are responsible for genocidal levels of suffering & death.
thelancet.com
Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis
USAID funding has significantly contributed to the reduction in adult and child mortality across low-income and middle-income countries over the past two decades. Our estimates show that, unless the a...
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
"Washington’s misadventure was not an aberration so much as the ultimate expression of the inherent vice of its Middle East strategy." Cannot recommend highly enough @abuaardvark.bsky.social's latest dissection of the US's destructive role, and narrowing choices, in today's Middle East.
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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 22/08/2026
Trump is not just the worst president, but the worst US citizen of my entire lifetime. A world historical failure of humanity and morality. He and his wicked entourage have burdened us with the task of repairing his damage and eradicating his evil legacy for the rest of our lives.
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Dingus Ex Machina @akatzel.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
We measure time in Scaramuccis, and value in ballrooms.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
All the more important in the age of AI...
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
"Clean energy additions will rise by a record 45 gigawatts this year, according to S&P Global Energy — equivalent to the average electricity demand of Turkey. The increase is roughly 25 per cent higher than the previous record set in 2024."
ft.com
Clean energy booms under Donald Trump despite effort to undercut renewables
Capacity will rise by a record 45GW this year, according to S&P Global Energy
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Cloudberries, Rollladen, Finnish saunas, Japanese toilets and rice cookers, ...
notnottalmud.substack.com
things you can't buy in the USA (and why)
it's more than cuban cigars!
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Before spreading breathless claims of AI's expanding hacking prowess, maybe journalists should ask how true the tales really are. Otherwise they risk just participating in the AI labs' marketing. This piece from today's FT would have benefited from more skepticism:
giftarticle.ft.com
AI hasn’t gone rogue. It’s worse than that
Recent cyber attacks reflect what the technology was trained to do but safeguards are falling short
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Amanda Kolson Hurley @amandakhurley.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Experts urge schools to keep teaching writing in the age of AI, not even because of its importance per se but because it’s essential to developing habits of mind: “Writing is a technology for thinking” www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17/u...
nytimes.com
What Do Students Lose When They Stop Writing? (Gift Article)
Educators are worried that many students can no longer write essays without A.I. And it’s costing more than just grammar skills.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
WSJ's latest Iran war update, based partly on reporting from Arab Gulf sources who sound *very* worried that this war will be longer and nastier than even they previously thought, as Iran digs in for extended war of attrition.
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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
"The cartel can adjust its taps with surgical precision, but if the underlying plumbing of the destination market is being systematically re-routed, the intervention yields diminishing returns."
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Flingjore @flingjore.com · 17/08/2026
Ceuta border crisis fallout triggers grocery rationing and safety lockdowns as a 70,000-person surge follows Moroccan pushback over Pegasus spyware leaks. Over 140 die while 8,000 remain stranded in the Spanish enclave.
npr.org
What really happened in Ceuta? Why we may never find out
A heavy police and army deployment prepare at the border between Morocco and Spain on August 15, 2026 in Fnideq (Castillejos), Morocco. Adri Salido/Getty Images Europe
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