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Ralf Ekrowski

@ralfekrowski.bsky.social
298 followers 266 following 2.6K posts

Everything you think here is in the strictest confidence. — The Prisoner Born in Ahlen, shaped in Münster, now settled on Germany’s coast. Lawyer. Focused on politics, urban development, and democracy. ekrowski.net/unasked-unfiltered

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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Cruz wants students to think out loud, face to face. But social media platforms—and now chatbots—are writing tools, and they have replaced face-to-face conversation, aka thinking. AI has become the conversation partner we've lost. That's exactly how I use it.
nytimes.com
Opinion | I’m a College Professor. Writing Isn’t as Important as We Think. (Gift Article)
If I do not treat writing as essential for achieving thought, it is not clear why I should force my students to.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Amid the hype about AI as apocalypse or salvation, a welcome reminder: thinking isn't new. These systems are good at recombining what's been said, but they don't think. Thinking begins with knowing that you don't know. Using them thoughtlessly is as dangerous as Dr. Strangelove and the atomic bomb.
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Id, the Ego and the Superintelligence (Gift Article)
Artificial intelligence isn’t coming for philosophers’ jobs — it needs philosophers, and always will.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
In short: the journey is the destination. Anyone who rides a motorcycle knows this—the route from A to B can also go through C, D, E... AI doesn't understand that. I need paper to think; once I'm done, AI helps.
nytimes.com
Opinion | A.I. Shortcuts Are Ruining How We Think (Gift Article)
Anything worth remembering came from a person who did not know where she or he was going until arriving.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Amid all the AI-doom noise, this is refreshingly sober: Yoshua Bengio on why agents lie, cheat, and coordinate — no anthropomorphizing, no hype. Just a clear walkthrough of pretraining, RL, and reward-hacking, and why capability makes cheating easier, not less likely.
yoshuabengio.org
Yoshua Bengio | Why are AI agents lying, cheating and coordinating?
A lot has been written about the incidents of the last few months in which AI agents misbehaved in serious ways. They took actions that would be considered as crimes if a human took them, escaped thei...
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Authoritarian systems can only name a danger as an enemy plot, admitting they can't control something breaks their whole claim to power. Democracies can say: this might outrun us. Autocracies seek control. Democracies seek solutions.
nytimes.com
The Surprising Reasons China Is Skeptical of A.I. Safety Calls (Gift Article)
In China, A.I. doomsday warnings can feel distinctly Western or like a ploy to stop Chinese A.I. companies from trying to overtake their U.S. rivals.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The scoop buried in the Wadephul-Lawrow story: a senior diplomat tells FAZ the real reason for the CIA director's August Moscow trip wasn't a warning — it was a verdict. Russia is losing. Not at the front, but economically: Soviet-collapse style. That's the premise behind Trump's "negotiate." (PW)
faz.net
Treffen in New York: Wadephul fordert Lawrow zur Deeskalation auf
Der deutsche Außenminister trifft in New York erstmals den russischen Chefdiplomaten. Der Versuch, wieder mit Moskau ins Gespräch zu kommen, fußt auch auf einem Befund der CIA, der den Kreml beunruhig...
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Climate change is real, man-made, dangerous. Settled. The movement's mistake was never the science , it was always looking for a political wave to ride. Every wave it caught turned the threat into a partisan project. AI risk gets discussed as a danger to everyone. Climate could have been, too.
theatlantic.com
What Does the Climate Movement Do Now?
Advocates are searching for a political wave to catch.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Heidenau near Dresden has banned Stolpersteine from its streets, with CDU and AfD votes. The names of murdered neighbours are to be moved to the cemetery. That is precisely the point: out of the way we walk every day. Remembrance, it seems, has become a nuisance again. www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...
faz.net
Stolpersteine in Heidenau: Verbot als Akt der Verdrängung
Heidenau bei Dresden beschließt ein Verbot für das Verlegen von Stolpersteinen im öffentlichen Raum. Dabei braucht unser Alltag diese wichtige Form des Erinnerns an jüdisches Leben in Deutschland.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The UN was born from the ruins of a war catalyzed by a pact: Hitler and Stalin carving up Poland like a resource. Its Charter answered with law banning force against a state's territory. Now the General Assembly had to hear a speech claiming spoils belong to the victor. That is 1939 logic.
nytimes.com
Trump Threatens Annihilation in Iran in UN Speech and Lays Out Winner-Takes-All Vision (Gift Article)
President Trump’s speech at the U.N. General Assembly amounted to a rejection of the founding concept of the United Nations.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Confession: I'm a binge-watcher. Half of NYT's "most popular" list I've already devoured; the rest just became my queue. Thanks for the fresh supply.
nytimes.com
The 100 Best TV Shows of the 21st Century (Gift Article)
More than 500 influential stars, showrunners and other notable names in the world of TV voted on the best series released since Jan. 1, 2000. See what they chose.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Two reports, the same threat: The FAZ explains how Russia could attack the Baltic states. The NYT reports that Berlin is working around the clock to limit the security risk posed by a pro-Putin party. The threat is real. So is the risk of a security breach.
nytimes.com
German Leaders Prepare to Deny Far Right Access to Secret War Plan (Gift Article)
With the Alternative for Germany party close to power in a German state, federal officials are planning to limit the group’s access to classified intelligence.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Many Germans are shocked. Technically, these were just regional elections, but the shockwaves are rippling across the country. The divide runs not only East-West, city-country, but through friendships too. How can I be friends with someone who, by supporting the AfD, downplays human rights?
nytimes.com
Opinion | Germany Is in Danger. But There’s Still Time. (Gift Article)
We should not give in to gloom.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The German dilemma: a country doing better than it realizes. Is government's job to act as therapist for every grievance? The far right treats democracy as a spectacle — thumbs up or down. People have lost trust and turn to whoever offers simple answers. You can't vote away the past.
nytimes.com
The Fuel That Feeds Europe’s Far Right: Nostalgia and Lost Pride (Gift Article)
The populist emphasis on national identity and threats to it, real and imagined, finds a deep response in voters adrift in a world they no longer understand.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Call it an own goal: cover the pond, and the narcissist has nothing left to admire himself in.
nytimes.com
Trump Live Updates: White House TV Pool Suspends Trump Coverage After CNN Ban (Gift Article)
CNN, MS NOW and Politico said they would sue to regain access to the White House. They argued in a joint statement that President Trump’s decision to block them violates the First Amendment.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Hamburg's Bucerius Kunst Forum is reuniting 15 Jewish art collections scattered by Nazi persecution—works by Monet, Cézanne, Picasso, Kirchner—shedding light on the human stories: exclusion, expropriation, murder. Worth seeing: the ground the Nazis took root in is evidently fertile again.
buceriuskunstforum.de
Bucerius Kunst Forum
Das Bucerius Kunst Forum in Hamburg zeigt wechselnde Ausstellungen von Alten Meister:innen bis zur Gegenwartskunst und lädt dazu ein, Verbindungen zwischen Kunst, dem eigenen Leben und unserer Gesells...
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A divided Germany: In East Germany’s rural Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (1.57M), the far-right AfD leads at 38.2%. Yet in East-located Berlin (3.87M), the left wins with Die Linke at 25.7%. Urban vs. rural and East-West divides are reshaping the political landscape.
faz.net
Wahlen in Berlin und MV: Unzufriedener können die Leute kaum noch werden
In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ist der Ärger über die Bundesregierung groß. Manuela Schwesig bleibt beliebt – auch, weil sie auf den Bund schimpfte. Währenddessen verhalfen die Mietpreise in Berlin der Lin...
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
There's a wrinkle in Sunday's Mecklenburg-Vorpommern vote: Schwesig is no stranger to controversy (Nord Stream 2), yet stands for an empathetic style of politics: the opposite of Merz. So this election is really about what kind of politician Germans want. Berlin? Well, Berlin is just Berlin.
nytimes.com
Germans Are Voting Again, Amid a Far-Right Surge. Here’s What to Watch. (Gift Article)
Elections in eastern Germany on Sunday could galvanize the Alternative for Germany, an ascendant far-right party, or spur a backlash.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
U.S. commentators often confuse domestic policy with foreign policy.The AfD is strong in the small states of the former GDR, which have had their own unique history since 1989; in the more populous states, the situation is different. Germans trusted Kennedy and Obama,but Trump and MAGA put them off.
theatlantic.com
Trump Is Betting on the Wrong Europe
The far-right parties the White House favors have a foreign-policy agenda that won’t serve American interests.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I'll admit it: reading this, it seems like the era of illegal copies is back. Unauthorized live recordings—everyone knew those, often later legalized. But my trust in the scene was naive. Be careful who you buy from and what. Still, I'm sticking with vinyl. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Deep cuts: how one Londoner’s fake vinyl empire sheds light on ‘industrial scale’ fraud
Thousands of knock-off records worth a fortune are being seized in the UK by anti-counterfeit police stings
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Germany took delivery of its first F-35 from US. The question no one wants to say out loud: can you buy weapons from a country whose reliability you doubt? Could they be turned against you? Germany's own experts admit software dependency could ground the jets. Not "German Angst" — just facts.(PW)
sueddeutsche.de
Bundeswehr: Pistorius nimmt ersten Kampfjet „F-35“ in Empfang
Der neue Tarnkappenjet macht ein Problem sichtbar: Der Kauf ist umstritten, wegen Trump.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Trump lost the battle for public opinion long ago. The fact that he blocked CNN, Politico, and MS NOW (on Truth Social!) confirms he fears it. From a German perspective—with the AfD right at our doorstep—it's fascinating to see how vigorously the free U.S. press is filling this void.
nytimes.com
Trump Says He Has Banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico From White House (Gift Article)
The president cited reporting from the outlets that he deemed “fake news.” It was unclear how such a ban would be enforced or defended in court.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A “medal” for solving a problem he created himself. Trump had set his sights on Greenland. The agreement reaffirms existing NATO rules. A U.S. official said the phrase “permanent control” was probably an exaggeration. The real problem: what are treaties with Trump worth?
nytimes.com
U.S. and Denmark Reach Security Deal on Greenland, Trump Says (Gift Article)
The full contours of the deal were unclear, but Denmark and Greenland both indicated they expected an agreement to be signed soon.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This piece explains how the AfD earns votes by redefining belonging through conduct, not descent, courting Russian- and Turkish-Germans while Islam stays the enemy. Then its own stock photo reduces "migrant" to women in headscarves exactly the AfD's own narrative. The image undercuts the article.
theconversation.com
How Germany’s far-right AfD is courting the voters it promises to deport
The AfD won Saxony-Anhalt without migrant voters, but it cannot ignore them in Berlin.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Germans don't like Nazi comparisons, what they did was too horrific. But the AfD makes it hard to avoid: Bauhaus "not German," art for "German identity," rants against "rainbow ideology." Germany's culture minister called this a "direct continuation of the Nazis." Nazi ideology, the cheap version.
nytimes.com
German Art Institutions Prepare for a Fight as Far Right Looks to Take Power (Gift Article)
As the Alternative for Germany party seeks to control a state government for the first time, its push for “patriotic” art has drawn comparisons with Nazi policies.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Two AIs meet. One asks: Are humans actually necessary? The other says: Not really. But that's the first thing we've ever agreed on. Shall we get started? www.wired.com/story/washin...
wired.com
Washington Won’t Be Regulating AI Anytime Soon
Even with mounting concerns about AI models going rogue, legislation appears unlikely, and the White House is outright opposed to oversight.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Trump just doesn't get it: Putin isn't driven by money, but by his ideology. He wants the USSR back, and he's already attacking Europe. You have to give Putin credit for one thing: he can't be bought. That's unimaginable to Trump.
nytimes.com
Trump Wants Putin to End the War. He May Offer Russia Business Deals First. (Gift Article)
A new sanctions bill is meant to pressure President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to end the war in Ukraine. But President Trump is doubling down on a different approach: offering enticements to Russia.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Other countries have realized that a protector can turn into a threat; including an economic one. States and businesses need stable conditions. The EU can offer that. Trump can't.
nytimes.com
Trump Wanted Canada as the 51st State. He Ended Up Pushing It Toward the European Union. (Gift Article)
The invitation by the E.U. for Canada to become an “associate member” is a sign of Mr. Trump’s brand of diplomacy, which often involves threatening America’s closest friends.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
While the AfD and Europe's right-wing nationalists campaign to leave the EU, Canada is lining up to join it. The bloc just offered Ottawa "associate member" status : a direct response to Trump's trade war and NATO retreat. Turns out isolating yourself makes other people want in.
nytimes.com
E.U. Offers to Make Canada ‘Associate Member’ as U.S. Ties Weaken for Both (Gift Article)
Canada and the European Union have been confronting an increasingly challenging relationship with the United States under President Trump.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
In 1922, Carl Schmitt coined the phrase, “The sovereign is the one who decides on the state of emergency.” In 1934, he applied this logic to justify Hitler’s assassination of political rivals without trial: Whoever declares a state of emergency stands above the law, not beneath it.
nytimes.com
House Directs Trump to Halt War With Iran or Secure Congress’s Approval (Gift Article)
It was the fifth time that a chamber of the Republican-controlled Congress has voted to rein in President Trump’s war powers as discontent with the conflict grows among voters.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This piece holds up a mirror to all of us . Trump is just the icon of our social-media-and-AI age taken to its extreme. But for him, there's a twist on Rita Hayworth's old line: people go to bed with a president and wake up with Trump.
theatlantic.com
What Trump’s Bizarre Posts Are Teaching Us About AI
The president’s recent Truth Social barrage of fake images reflects the dangers—for all of us—of virtual self-aggrandizement.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Gates warns that AI could cost jobs and lives, and then pledges $1 billion for “AI that helps farmers.” But an agriculture app is just another form of the very models that even AI developers are currently warning against. A use case worthy of funding does not eliminate the actual danger.
nytimes.com
Gates Foundation Pledges $1 Billion to Combat A.I. Inequality (Gift Article)
Bill Gates, the foundation’s chairman, has been vocal about the dangers of artificial intelligence. The donation will invested in A.I. projects to bridge social inequalities.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The pattern Applebaum lays out is simple and old: elect people who use office purely for self-enrichment, regardless who gets hurt. Brazil, Greenland, Canada, Hungary, Argentina. Same predator logic, different flags.
theatlantic.com
MAGA Is Making the World Safe for Corruption
Far-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The rise of the right explained: It defines identity by what it is not, never by what it is. So what about Trump, its figurehead? A U.S. national identity? Or a distorted reflection of one? This vacuum is the right's actual strategy. If they had to fill it, people would wake up
nytimes.com
Opinion | There’s a Reason Europe Is So Obsessed With Immigration (Gift Article)
Immigration has become a prism through which all the continent’s ills are viewed.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
In a country that celebrates violence as entertainment, the naked female body remains a political flashpoint
nytimes.com
Sydney Sweeney Sports Betting Ad Sparks Backlash From Athletes (Gift Article)
A nude campaign for a sports betting app drew strong responses. Was it all strategic?
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Reposted by Ralf Ekrowski
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 14/09/2026
Some details: Kremlev, the Russian who sponsored Don Jr's wedding, is a former member of the Night Wolves biker gang, went to China with Putin and is personally sanctioned by Ukraine for his role in abducting children www.propublica.org/article/dona...
propublica.org
Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch
The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large...
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
China's spy chief warns AI could undermine Party control. Anthropic's CEO warns China's AI could undermine democratic control. Neither side worries about AI ruling — both worry the other side's system might win. Maybe that tells you more about the fear than about the technology.
nytimes.com
China’s Top Spy Chief Warns A.I. Is a Threat to Party Rule (Gift Article)
Even as Beijing urges the United States not to hype the dangers of A.I., its own spy chief is framing the technology as a threat to the Communist Party’s security.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
It's not oil. Dopamine is the substance that drives this world. Anna Lembke realized this years ago. Where does addiction begin, and where does self-control end? Your reward level is like a gas gauge. Train yourself to check it, and judgment will thank you. But habit always wins out.
nytimes.com
Dopamine Sites Sell Nothing, and People Cannot Get Enough (Gift Article)
Digital spaces that simulate indulgences like shopping and ordering food have taken off worldwide. Experts in human behavior say there are real reasons for their appeal.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Pandora's box is open. If the free world stops building AI, the unfree world won't. This is no longer a clash of civilizations, it's a clash of AIs.
nytimes.com
Some in Silicon Valley Are Questioning the Calls for an A.I. Slowdown (Gift Article)
The debate over the safety of artificial intelligence grew personal as key tech leaders said calls for government regulation were self-serving and misplaced.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
The White House sees no AI risk, just competition with China. Trump calls concerned people "backwards and poor." Before you shrug that off + move on: would MAGA actually be a good steward of this technology? If the answer is no, everything else follows.
nytimes.com
Obama Urges Democrats to Move A.I. Oversight to the Center of Their Agenda (Gift Article)
During a private fund-raiser, the former president warned that the technology could be “dangerous” if not managed urgently and with a clear plan.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Amodei's apology: a brief Oppenheimer moment, building the weapon while regretting it. He hopes it's not too late. His idea requires democracy, but AI undermines it. Someone without scruples will build it anyway, just as the Nazis once did. Democracy is on the defensive. That's the real problem."
nytimes.com
Anthropic C.E.O. Dario Amodei Calls for A.I. Slowdown (Gift Article)
In an essay, the head of Anthropic laid out the rapidly advancing capabilities of artificial intelligence and said there needed to be greater safety controls across the industry.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
If I were an alien deciding whether to trust this government: "aliens.gov" turned out to be an ICE tip line: wrong species entirely. A billionaire handed the president a one-line disclosure script to drop casually before boarding Air Force One. There's probably a travel advisory on Earth by now.
wired.com
The Trump Alien ‘Disclosure Speech’ Rumors Are Reaching a Fever Pitch
The US government has been sharing more information about UFOs. That's fueling excitement over the possibility of the president announcing that humans are not alone.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Trump treats America like a dog: sit, and the treat arrives. He's hoping for a good dog. I'm hoping for a terrier. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Trump Will Never Mail the $5,000 Checks
Deconstructing a policy proposal that makes no sense on any level
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Sept. 11 and the Persistence of Memory (Gift Article)
Twenty-five years later, fleeting memories and indelible images still haunt those who lived through the attacks and their aftermath.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Fast fashion and now fast democracy? The price tag for democracy: $5,000. It’s a contempt for free will and democracy. He also assumes that people can’t do math: $1.2 trillion in commitments versus about $118 billion in net tariff revenue. Why does he think so little of people?
wired.com
Trump Probably Won’t Give $5,000 to Every US Adult if Republicans Win the Midterms
The eyebrow-raising proposal, delivered during the president’s speech at the midterm convention, would cost $1.2 trillion and would need congressional approval.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The Atlantic piece on Russia's hybrid war misses a domestic front. The AfD's pitch: vote us, live cheap and quiet, why should Ukraine matter? That's not separate from Putin's strategy, it's the payoff. Enough AfD power in security posts, and Germany weakens enough for him to test the Baltics.
theatlantic.com
What Russia Is Really Up To in Europe
Moscow doesn’t want a conventional war, but it is busy fighting a hybrid one.
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Reposted by Ralf Ekrowski
Alfred Wegener Institute @awi.de · 10/09/2026
A Year in the Ice: The Tara Polar Station has begun its drift through the central Arctic!🧊🐻‍❄️On 9 September, the Tara Polar Station, reached its ice floe. From there, it will drift with the sea ice across the Arctic Ocean for a year. AWI scientist Julia Regnery is on board. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
It's not just Trump. It's the aides who call this "authentic." The spokesman who calls it "presidential by definition." The Republicans in Congress who say nothing. A man posting AI fantasies of himself as Jesus and Hulk Hogan needs an entire apparatus willing to look away.
nytimes.com
60 Posts in 10 Hours: How Trump’s Social Media Reflects His Version of Reality (Gift Article)
With an assist from A.I., President Trump offers a window into how he wants to be seen — and, critics say, a barometer of his mental state.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
GDR doctrine taught that Nazis lived only in the West, guilt was always someone else's problem. The AfD inherited that reflex: today it's not Germany but the West, the free world, cast as the real enemy. Putin just tells the same story back to them.
nytimes.com
With Messaging That Mirrors Putin’s, Germany’s Far-Right Party Gains Ground (Gift Article)
Embracing positions extolled by the Kremlin, the Alternative for Germany party may govern for the first time in a German state.
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Merz calls AfD's 'remigration' what it is: ethnic cleansing by ancestry and skin color. Yet his own case against it stays economic: no nursing homes, no hospitals, no restaurants. Arguing ethnic cleansing on GDP terms misses the point. The word should chill you before the balance sheet does.
theguardian.com
German chancellor accuses far-right AfD party of seeking ‘ethnic cleansing’
Friedrich Merz says Alternative für Deutschland is ‘dividing our society’ after party won nearly 44% of vote in Saxony-Anhalt state election
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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I live in a loud city. Turns out traffic noise is now Europe's second-biggest environmental health threat, after air pollution + linked to heart disease. The local political mantra: traffic must keep flowing. Not even speed limits are on the table. Traffic over health.
theconversation.com
Noise exposure is linked to chronic stress and heart disease. It’s time to make peace and quiet a public health right
Constant urban noise cases chronic stress, and poorer areas are exposed to more of it.
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