Brett Hetherington 🍉 (No AI used)

Author – Slow Travels in Unsung Spain @ABCNews @CataloniaToday | UNESCO City of Lit. Virtual Resident (Melbourne) 2025

[Brett Hetherington 🍉 (No AI used) @BrettHethering]

Another new ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reader review (that makes it all worthwhile)

"Strikingly akin to George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia.

Exudes authenticity and realism.

A book meant more for explorers than for tourists..."

https://t.co/MYsXIlpqpA

[Brett Hetherington 🍉 (No AI used) @BrettHethering]

Apparently...

[The Herald @heraldscotland]

'The idea that our society was steadily becoming more progressive, more equal, more inclusive, has rotted away. Extremism is today’s currency: scapegoating, othering, exclusion, persecution.' 👇

[Francesca Leader @mooninabucket]

New York just passed a law requiring ads with AI-generated people to clearly label them as “synthetic performers.” This is a great first step. Now we need laws requiring the labeling of “synthetic art” and “synthetic literature.” And we need them to apply nationwide.

[Brett Hetherington 🍉 (No AI used) @BrettHethering]

@CrisisReports @RestIsPolitics @RoryStewartUK Which only shows how little imagination he has and how completely conventional his thinking is.

[Brett Hetherington 🍉 (No AI used) @BrettHethering]

Over on Substack: "America turns 250 next month.
What books would you read to understand it? Not celebrate. Understand it."

Damn good question. For a start…I’d say, James Baldwin’s Tell Me How Long The Train’s Been Gone (or his non-fiction) and almost anything by Sylvia Path.

[Scott Santens @scottsantens]

"In a world where the wealth gap is widening and the political environment is infected with corruption, there is a very real fear of what our world will look like with the benefits of AI solely in the hands of the powerful. An AI dividend, or UBI, may be our only hope at prosperity for the many and not just the few."

[Brett Hetherington 🍉 (No AI used) @BrettHethering]

@unojen_wood Exactly. The real story is that a govt that falsely calls itself a Labour one is palming off theft software onto schools to make it seem like they care about poorer kids. Absolutely shameful.

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

Systems of oppression endure bcs ordinary people sustain them.

No one is powerless. People have the power to defeat Apartheid.

Check your groceries.
Check your insurance company.
Check your medications.
Check your bank.
Make informed choices.

Stop financing apartheid and war.

[Johnny Vedmore @JohnnyVedmore]

Large Language Models are not Artificial Intelligence, they’re Techno Winston Smiths burning facts as they go.

They lie, deceive and hallucinate.

LLMs are the erasure of independent journalism. It’s part of 5GWarfare.

[Brett Hetherington 🍉 (No AI used) @BrettHethering]

@graceblakeley @zeteouk In my book you're already up there in the legend category with @yanisvaroufakis and a few other of the best progressive lefties.

[Andre Damon (WSWS) @Andre__Damon]

South African-born writer J.

[Zack Polanski @ZackPolanski]

Brilliant news and not a moment too soon! 👇🏼

[Cecilia Rikap @CeciliaRikap]

GenAI replaces your creativity, your (critical) thinking.

#GenAI augments the gap between tasks' conception & execution.

US (& Chinese) #BigTech not only concentrates capital, they also steer tech change. They decided this is the tech that we get.

https://t.co/bAaRpFos9G

[Brett Hetherington 🍉 (No AI used) @BrettHethering]

Currently...

[blue @bluewmist]

I'm finally reading Dune. This quote, which is in the first few pages, hits hard:

"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them."

[Isabella M Weber @IsabellaMWeber]

Hard to think of a greater honor than to be considered The Economist‘s intellectual enemy #1.

My work is “intellectual ballast” for the largest number of Americans since 1975 wanting government to “improve the standard of living” of the poor, cut their costs, raise their incomes and stop AI from wrecking society, they say. Dream of an endorsement. Thank you @TheEconomist!

[Brett Hetherington 🍉 (No AI used) @BrettHethering]

Right wing power aligning itself with other right wing power in the AI exploitation industry

[Craig Calhoun @craigjcalhoun]

Javier Milei tries to join the Silicon Valley accelerationists: Argentina invites AI to free itself https://t.co/xi8Ry3PMmR via @ft

[Chris Wick @ChrisWickNews]

They told you the planet is dying… and you’re the problem.

Your food.
Your habits.
Your existence.

Meanwhile, behind closed doors, something else is growing.

AI data centres in the UK alone could pump out 123 million tonnes of carbon emissions — the equivalent of millions of human lives over a decade.

But where’s the outrage?

Instead, they blame cows… tax farmers… and squeeze the people who actually feed you.

While tech giants expand quietly… signing deals… building systems that never sleep… and never get questioned.

Different rules.
Different targets.
Same script.

So let me ask you…

Why are everyday people being punished…
while the biggest emitters keep getting rewarded?
Is this really about saving the planet…
or controlling who pays the price?
Drop your thoughts below — I want to hear what you think.

And if this made you stop and think for even a second… share it.

More people need to see this.

[Brett Hetherington 🍉 (No AI used) @BrettHethering]

Big changes are happening.

[Brendan Boyle @BrendyBoyle]

🇪🇸 % of the population made up by foreign-born residents across Spain’s provinces.

(El País)