I've been thinking recently about how the current LLM craze (and the cryptocurrency craze before it) is quite like the "Cash for Ash" scandal in Northern Ireland:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_Heat_Incentive_scandal

At its kernel, we've got this terrible idea, but we've also got externalisation of costs so that it's the users of the system that are the ones choosing to ignore the environmental costs presumably out of some sort of economic rationale.

If they are comparable, and I think they are, there needs to be a reckoning, not just for the users, but for the crafters at the centre of the scheme.

#RHI #CashForAsh #TormentNexus #Environment #Externalisation #Economics #RationalActors

The ultimate neoliberal “dreamworld” – on desert sand without water
Expat influencers sold Dubai to the world and were paid to look the other way. Now the dream is crumbling

* "The Dubai project requires demanding visitors and expats to not think too much about the suffering or question what goes on beyond the city’s borders. And how that city came to be built in the first place."

"The whole social contract of Dubai involves a wilful blindness to the proximity of suffering and violence. After all, Gaza is geographically close." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/31/dubai-influencers-expats-denial-middle-east-crisis

* Living Well at Others' Expense: The Hidden Costs of Western Prosperity, Stephan Lessenich, 2019, Polity Press >>
https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=living-well-at-others-expense-the-hidden-costs-of-western-prosperity--9781509525621

#WesternProsperity #GlobalInequality #wealth #inequality #externalisation #mobility #Dubai #drylands #settlersociety #WilfulBlindness #CrumblingDreams #FossilFuels #oil #water #war #WarZone #ClimateCrisis

🇪🇺 𝘌𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 & 𝘌𝘜 𝘓𝘢𝘸. If you are in Warsaw on 2–3 March 2026, I would like to invite you to join the conference 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘔𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. I will present a paper titled: #𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻? #𝗠𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 #𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 #𝗘𝗨’𝘀 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿.

Please go here to see more details about the event: https://inp.pan.pl/konferencje-naukowe/polskie-prawo-migracyjne-w-okresie-zmian-prawo-jako-narzedzie-ochrony-kontroli-i-karania/

#EULaw #BorderProtection #MigrationControl #EasternBorder

La Marine nationale va « louer » des heures de vol à NHV Group pour former ses pilotes d’hélicoptère

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.opex360.com/2026/01/05/la-marine-nationale-va-louer-des-heures-de-vol-a-nhv-group-pour-former-ses-pilotes-dhelicoptere/

Europe, land of (universal) human rights and respect for Democracy - yeah, right...:

"For years, EUobserver has been tracking the European Union's increasing efforts to move asylum processing and responsibilities beyond its borders — a policy euphemistically referred to as "externalisation" and “border management”.

This controversial trend raises significant legal, ethical, and humanitarian questions — but recently has been gaining increasing political acceptability.

It's a policy that has been years in the making, and one that raises serious concerns about the EU's adherence to rule of law and guaranteeing fundamental rights to people.

Here, because it’s not always easy to piece together the context from individual news stories, we answer some of the most pressing questions — and offer further reading based on our extensive reporting."

https://euobserver.com/Migration/aredb505d6

#EU #Immigration #AsylumSeekers #Externalisation #BorderManagement #HumanRights #OffshoreAsylums