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Victor Shammas

@victorshammas.com
2.6K followers 1.6K following 1.6K posts

Associate Professor of Sociology in Norway—with a global perspective. Research: victorshammas.com. Newsletter on politics, culture, and social theory: theorybrief.com.

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Reposted by Victor Shammas
Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
RFK Jr. received "more than $250,000 worth of free flights to Fiji and Greece as well as use of a vacation home in Washington, D.C. from Gavin de Becker..." de Becker has been described as Jeff Bezo's "top security staffer" www.wsj.com/politics/rfk...
wsj.com
Exclusive | RFK Jr. Got Free Flights to Fiji and Greece From a Top Donor
The health secretary disclosed over $250,000 in gifts from security specialist Gavin de Becker.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 19/09/2026
“Why did a Russian oligarch who is close to Putin pay for much of the president’s son’s wedding?…A retired career FBI official…put it this way: ‘If I’m paying for your wedding, at some point, you’re going to owe me something.’”
propublica.org
“Our Dear Friend Umar”: How We Uncovered That a Russian Oligarch Bankrolled Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding
On social media and in tabloids, photos from Don Jr. and Bettina Trump’s Bahamas wedding were tightly curated. But sometimes, what — or, who — isn’t pictured is just as important as what is. Let’s go ...
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 19/09/2026
“…the most substantial danger that is before us [is] not a malignant AGI/ASI…but the unchecked concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a delusional set of billionaires.”
techpolicy.press
What Policymakers and the Public Need to Know About the Cult of AI
Nathalie Maréchal asks, why are we betting the economy and the future of democracy on cult-like beliefs?
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 18/09/2026
“A Microsoft executive called the training of artificial intelligence models the ‘largest theft of labor in human history,’ according to a legal brief…The comments come from Brent Hecht, Microsoft’s director of applied science.”
wapo.st
Microsoft exec called AI the ‘largest theft of labor’ in history, court records show
The quote headlined an unsealed document in the New York Times’s copyright case against Microsoft and OpenAI.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 16/09/2026
“A Russian businessman with ties to the Kremlin paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to help finance Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding after-party in the Bahamas this year…In April, Putin honored Mr. Kremlev with a high-level state award, the Order of Friendship.”
nytimes.com
Russian Businessman With Putin Ties Paid for Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Party (Gift Article)
The payments, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, represented an extraordinary flouting of ethical norms for an American president’s family member.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 13/09/2026
Sweden’s nominally center-right PM, parroting Trumpian rhetoric, says he wants to “make Sweden great again”—which means, in practice, catapulting the far right to power.
theguardian.com
Sweden’s PM channels Trump saying he wants to ‘make Sweden great again’ ahead of election – as it happened
Ulf Kristersson’s comments come ahead of the parliamentary election taking place this Sunday
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 13/09/2026
Today’s election in Sweden is a choice between the far right entering government, aided and abetted by Moderates, Liberals, and Christian Democrats—or a Social Democratic-led alternative.
theguardian.com
Sweden’s extremely close election could see far right enter government
Latest poll shows 0.3-point gap between left and right blocs, with country’s reputation as global champion of human rights said to be at stake
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 09/09/2026
"Job postings and interviews with senior security officials at Anthropic show that the frontier AI lab is building out an extensive monitoring system to keep tabs on activists who oppose the rapid development of artificial intelligence." #AI #CriticalTech
prospect.org
Anthropic Is Building a Predictive Surveillance System to Monitor Activists - The American Prospect
New hires and comments in interviews show that the AI giant is using its capabilities against dissenters.
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Reposted by Victor Shammas
Quinn Slobodian @quinnslobodian.com · 23/08/2026
Nice piece by Sharon Weinberger about Jobs's early lifeline from the security state. www.wsj.com/tech/steve-j...
wsj.com
The Hidden Debt That Apple Owes to the CIA
Without CIA funding that helped keep NeXT afloat in the ’80s, Steve Jobs might not have made a triumphant return to Apple—and the iPhone might not have its foundational operating code.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 09/08/2026
“In June of 2025, the United Arab Emirates-based Aqua 1 Foundation – run by Zhou – purchased $100 million in digital tokens from World Liberty Financial, an organization run by Trump’s family, along with the family of Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special peace envoy.”
rawstory.com
Trump sons profit handsomely from ‘shady’ money-laundering suspect: report
A company run by President Donald Trump’s three sons received a mysterious $100 million investment from a crypto fund run by an individual under investigation for money laundering, The New York Times ...
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 08/08/2026
"It’s another example of how quickly Meta dropped its once-stricter content moderation policies when Donald Trump returned to the White House. Shortly before his second inauguration, Meta loosened its standards around hate speech, particularly on topics like gender identity and immigration." ⚠️
futurism.com
Meta Caught Paying Nazis to Post on Facebook
An investigation found that Meta has been paying prominent neo-Nazi accounts to post on Facebook through its invite-only monetization program.
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Reposted by Victor Shammas
Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 07/08/2026
The WSJ asked whether it’s time to “liquidate” sociology. It’s a question tied to a wider reactionary politics. My essay: www.theorybrief.com/p/the-politi...
theorybrief.com
The Politics of Sociological “Liquidation”
Those who would see sociology unmade are aligned, consciously or not, with a powerful reactionary force working to remold the academy—and the world.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 07/08/2026
The WSJ asked whether it’s time to “liquidate” sociology. It’s a question tied to a wider reactionary politics. My essay: www.theorybrief.com/p/the-politi...
theorybrief.com
The Politics of Sociological “Liquidation”
Those who would see sociology unmade are aligned, consciously or not, with a powerful reactionary force working to remold the academy—and the world.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 06/08/2026
Slobodian & Tarnoff's book "Muskism" shifts attention from pure biography to the political-economic formation Elon Musk might represent. My review:
theorybrief.com
Elon Musk for the Not-So-Perplexed
Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff’s “Muskism” is a much-needed critical study of the world’s first trillionaire. But Musk is no enigma—and no mere symptom either.
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Reposted by Victor Shammas
Don Curren 🇨🇦🇺🇦 @dbcurren.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I’m already very tired of “—maxxing.” We should be “maxxminning.” #maaxing
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 22/07/2026
So now we know the price of that red card removal (and the FIFA “Peace Prize”).
nypost.com
Exclusive | Trump wants FIFA boss Gianni Infantino for UN secretary-general following World Cup
President Trump wants FIFA President Gianni Infantino to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations, The Post has learned.
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Reposted by Victor Shammas
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 22/07/2026
Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 21/07/2026
"The minute you deny the legal standing of a minority and refuse to acknowledge that they exist within legal and public discourse, you nullify their legal and public existence…They fall into a kind of legal unreality…that allows for their rights to be taken away, including the right to life."
currentaffairs.org
Judith Butler Explains the Gender Panic
The leading scholar and philosopher responds to critics of “gender ideology,” both from the right and left.
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Reposted by Victor Shammas
Reuters @reuters.com · 17/07/2026
Musk's SpaceX in talks to provide computing power to the Pentagon, WSJ reports reut.rs/4wcnxAM
reut.rs
Musk's SpaceX in talks to provide computing power to the Pentagon, WSJ reports
Elon Musk's SpaceX is in ​talks to provide the ‌U.S. Department of Defense with access to data center ​capacity worth billions of dollars ​to run AI models, the Wall ⁠Street Journal reported ​on Friday, citing people familiar ​with the matter.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 18/07/2026
"Fascism has a script…You attack the universities, you attack the journalists…You attack voting rights. And he's doing it, step by step." (Video source: @thegoodliars.bsky.social)
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 18/07/2026
“For a starting fee of about $2,000, the rich and aggrieved can pay to put a journalist’s work on trial before an ‘AI jury,’ which then issues a verdict and assigns the reporter an ‘Honor Index’ score. A private, billionaire-funded tribunal that uses AI to attack journalists.” @gilduran.com
thenerdreich.com
Peter Thiel Snags Top Prize from Politico’s Owner
Politico’s parent company honors the “Antichrist” lecturer — without mentioning the $50 million he gave the CEO's son
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Reposted by Victor Shammas
James Horn @schools-matter24.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Catastrophic meltdown awaits the Ellisons, Zuckerbergs, and Musks of the world. When will the balloon pop!? Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/b...
nytimes.com
Big Tech Firms Like Oracle Turn to Bonds to Finance A.I. Data Centers (Gift Article)
Risk is rising as big tech companies like Oracle — the ultimate financial source of the Ellison media empire — need to turn to the bond market for staggering sums to finance data centers.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 17/07/2026
“A guest on Malaysian soil…is publicly threatening the prime minister with capital flight unless he is granted an audience—and a memorandum of understanding. This is the Network State ideology performed in real time: power and sovereignty as a negotiation between a government and a bloc of capital.”
thenerdreich.com
Balaji Srinivasan's Tech Cult Threatens Malaysia
Founder of 'tech Zionism' cult miffed after passport controversy
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 15/07/2026
"The father of a Colombian immigrant shot and killed by a federal agent in Maine on Monday described him as 'a good person raised with strong values,' who worked two jobs to support his wife and 3-year-old daughter."
nytimes.com
Colombian Immigrant Killed by ICE in Maine Had Legal Status, Father Says (Gift Article)
The father of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, the man fatally shot by a federal immigration agent on Monday, said his son had been working two jobs to support his wife and daughter.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 11/07/2026
Reflect Orbital wants to reflect sunlight onto Earth during the nighttime, brightening the night sky artificially. The Trump-aligned FCC just approved the first satellite. The company wants 50,000 of them. #SpacePolitics
spacenews.com
FCC approves first Reflect Orbital satellite
The FCC approved a satellite to test the ability to reflect sunlight into nighttime regions, a project criticized by astronomers and environmentalists.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 10/07/2026
“Mr President, your plan will fail miserably. If you think the American people will allow fascism, you are gravely mistaken. The NAACP will do everything in our power to send people to the polls and make their voices heard.” –Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP
theguardian.com
Trump accused of trying to ‘rig’ elections after firing federal commissioners
President’s dismemberment of Election Assistance Commission called a ‘brazen attempt’ to control elections
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 10/07/2026
Steven Shaviro reviews a biography "tracing the strange alchemy by which [J. G.] Ballard was able to transmute both his personal experience and the often dreadful historical events of the mid- and late-20th century into fantastic fiction."
lareviewofbooks.org
The Estranged Worlds of J. G. Ballard | Los Angeles Review of Books
An incisive and moving new critical biography of one of the nuclear age’s greatest visionaries.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 07/07/2026
The real puzzle is why so many keep backing Musk—from Tesla-driving, Starlink-surfing consumers to governments and corporations that continue doing business with him. Musk has agency, but we also need to understand the social order that has permitted his rise, despite his noxious views and actions.
open.substack.com
Elon Musk for the Not-So-Perplexed
Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff’s “Muskism” is a much-needed critical study of the world’s first trillionaire. But Musk is no enigma—and no mere symptom either.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 06/07/2026
Post-Orbán: “MCC Brussels…declared €6.37m in annual funding in 2024 from MCC Budapest, making it one of the best-funded thinktanks in the EU capital. … Furedi…now a leading ideologue for the new right, said that MCC Brussels would need alternative funding from September.”
theguardian.com
‘Attack on civil society’: why Viktor Orbán’s favourite thinktank is in crisis
MCC Brussels received lavish funding from Budapest, but Hungary’s new PM is launching an investigation
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 05/07/2026
Trump called Infantino on Wednesday. Result: "The first time since 1962 that FIFA has nullified a suspension for a red card received during the World Cup."
nytimes.com
Trump Asked FIFA to Review U.S. Player’s Suspension. Now He’s Eligible to Play.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 04/07/2026
Musk’s amplification of the movie “Citizen Vigilante” legitimizes violence against immigrants.
theguardian.com
Elon Musk promotes ‘anti-migrant’ Armie Hammer film with free download on X
Citizen Vigilante, which follows a businessman taking bloody revenge on immigrant criminals, was posted by the tech trillionaire in the wake of damning reviews
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Reposted by Victor Shammas
Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 03/07/2026
Trump says he thinks Elon Musk will donate SpaceX stock to the Trump accounts initiative
bloom.bg
Trump Thinks Musk Will Donate SpaceX Stock to Trump Accounts
President Donald Trump said he thinks Elon Musk will donate SpaceX stock to the Trump accounts initiative, following other technology executives who have embraced the new investment vehicles for children.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 02/07/2026
"Nigel Farage and his partner have built a mortgage-free property empire worth more than £4 million in the last decade…Land Registry records show that all but one were purchased with cash since 2020."
standard.co.uk
Everything we know about Nigel Farage's £4 million property empire
MPs and independent experts have raised concerns about the transparency of Mr Farage’s arrangements, with only two of his properties registered
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 02/07/2026
“Hungary’s government has begun dismantling controversial public-interest asset management foundations created under Viktor Orbán’s previous administration, taking direct state control of dozens of institutions.”
euractiv.com
Hungary starts taking back control of Orbán-era foundations | Euractiv
The overhaul has left thousands awaiting clarity over their future
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 29/06/2026
Right-wing lawlessness: "President Donald Trump said on Sunday that work will begin Sept. 1 on the public East Potomac Golf Course despite a federal judge's warning of "serious consequences" if the administration begins major work without getting approval and notifying the court in advance."
abcnews.com
Trump says work will begin on DC golf course despite judge's warning
President Donald Trump said work will begin Sept. 1 on the public East Potomac Golf Course despite a federal judge's warning.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 28/06/2026
Far-right Sweden Democrats say there are “too many mosques” in Sweden. If this were said about any other religion, people would rightly be calling for a cordon sanitaire. But Islamophobia now passes with barely a notice—part of an attempted normalization of far-right extremism in the Nordics.
expressen.se
SD-topp: ”För många” moskéer i Sverige
Charlie Weimers står bakom en ny sajt som listar moskéer. Väljare måste få information om ”islamiseringen”, säger han. – Hela områden i Sverige lyder i praktiken under en slags ortodox variant av isla...
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 28/06/2026
“Trump ‘started repeating himself’ after 15 minutes, Luce said. ‘I contrived to end the call, which I never expected. I said, “Mr. President, I know you're really busy.”’ Luce said Trump started to ask him questions about the Iran war, like, ‘Should I take the oil? Should I take Kharg Island?’”
rawstory.com
Columnist recounts trying to hang up on Trump during 'very strange' phone call
A British columnist's phone call with Trump was so "strange" that he began looking for a way to end it.Financial Times columnist Ed Luce recounted the interaction during an episode of The Mona Charen ...
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 27/06/2026
"California voters will get to decide in November whether billionaires should pay a one-time 5% tax, after a deadline passed on Thursday for its backers to withdraw the measure."
theguardian.com
California billionaire tax will appear on ballot after deadline for deal passes
Proposal to introduce one-time tax of 5% will go to voters in November after backers decline to withdraw measure
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Reposted by Victor Shammas
ProPublica @propublica.org · 27/06/2026
When the Pentagon announced a $620M loan last year to a startup linked to Donald Trump Jr., defense officials and the company tried to tamp down suspicions of cronyism. We found that the request came from White House adviser Peter Navarro. (Published May)
propublica.org
The White House Intervened to Get a $620 Million Deal for a Company Tied to Donald Trump Jr.
About three months before the Pentagon announced plans to lend money to Vulcan Elements, Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm took an undisclosed stake in the company.
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Reposted by Victor Shammas
amanda moore 🐢 @noturtlesoup17.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
“Loitering is not permitted in this area. Please proceed to a designated location. Thank you for your cooperation,” a surveillance machine tells a small cluster of National Guard members as they patrol the fenced off Reflecting Pool in the rain.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 27/06/2026
“‘For Jordan Bardella to dare to quote Marc Bloch is an outrage to all the victims of France’s collaboration with the Nazis,’ wrote professors Joëlle Alazard and Annette Becker in Le Monde.”
jta.org
A Jewish hero’s elevation to the French Panthéon uncorks simmering divisions over who wears the mantle of resistance - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Marc Bloch’s family called for leaders of the far-right National Rally to be banished from the ceremony.
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Reposted by Victor Shammas
Foreign Policy @foreignpolicy.com · 26/06/2026
Quinn Slobodian examines the immense size and dominance of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and considers whether one company—and one man—should be able to determine the future of space policy and connectivity.
foreignpolicy.com
The Geopolitics of SpaceX and Elon Musk
Should one company—and one person—have this much power?
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 26/06/2026
“A Trump supporter, whose sister Betsy DeVos served as education secretary in the first Trump White House, he also offered to help the administration deport immigrants. ‘Deporting that many illegals is hard logistically…I’ve done some fairly big manpower logistics efforts in my past,’ he says.” ⚠️
giftarticle.ft.com
Blackwater founder Erik Prince: Trump was ‘badly advised’ on Iran
The mercenary-in-chief on facing public anger — and the role that private contractors will play in the future of war
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 26/06/2026
“As foreign technology companies invest in data centres, cloud services and AI systems across Africa, how much control will African countries ultimately have over the infrastructure on which those technologies depend?”
aljazeera.com
Who will control Africa’s AI infrastructure, and at what cost?
Data centres and AI systems are expanding across Africa, bringing new pressure on energy and resources.
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Reposted by Victor Shammas
Foreign Policy @foreignpolicy.com · 25/06/2026
Instead of rebuilding, Washington should close its damaged bases, leave the Middle East, and adopt a strategy of offshore balancing, argues Jon Hoffman.
foreignpolicy.com
Washington’s Middle East Military Presence Is Uniquely Counterproductive
Rather than ensuring the free flow of energy, U.S. intervention has only interrupted it.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 25/06/2026
The far-right Sweden Democrats added a mosque "filter" to their Migrationskartan ("Migration Map") website, rendering the number of Muslim houses of worship in Sweden as a problem to be dealt with, presumably, by a new far-right government. #RWMonitor
bulletin.nu
Sverigedemokraterna lanserar moskékarta
Sverigedemokraterna har lanserat ett nytt filter på sajten Migrationskartan som kartlägger moskéer och bönelokaler i Sverige. Enligt partiet ska tjänsten ge allmänheten en överblick över moskéernas fr...
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 25/06/2026
“Nigel Farage has been referred to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over claims his cryptocurrency advocacy has benefited his billionaire backer, Christopher Harbone.” #RWMonitor
independent.co.uk
Nigel Farage referred to financial regulator over donations from crypto-billionaire
Christopher Harbone has donated millions to the Reform UK leader and his party
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 24/06/2026
Work from home was a great enabler of work/life balance, without the productivity collapse many employers feared. A corporate backlash threatens to undo the gains.
nytimes.com
How Remote Work Has Helped a Generation of Working Parents
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 24/06/2026
"AfD politician Reichardt criticized for Hitler salute accusation. Member of Parliament Martin Reichardt is facing serious accusations…The photo dates from 2020. The image shows Reichardt extending his left arm. Two eyewitnesses reportedly confirmed to 'Inside AfD' that it was a Hitler salute." ⚠️
tagesspiegel.de
Mutmaßlicher Vorfall aus dem Jahr 2020: AfD-Politiker Reichardt wegen Hitlergruß-Vorwurf in der Kritik
Ein AfD-Politiker mit ausgestrecktem Arm? Der Bundestagsabgeordnete Martin Reichardt sieht sich schweren Vorwürfen ausgesetzt. Die AfD weist die Vorwürfe zurück.
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Victor Shammas @victorshammas.com · 24/06/2026
Diagonalism: “Diagonalist politics often presents itself as thinking outside the box, beyond exhausted categories and technocratic language. This refusal of old distinctions leaves the direction of travel apparently open. In practice, the diagonal often veers right.”
iwm.at
Veering Right While Talking Left
Italy’s recent history shows why today’s populism cannot be mapped neatly onto left and right. From the 2018 anti-immigrant consensus to pandemic-era diagonalism and Giorgia Meloni’s electoral victory...
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