an incredible story about a Georgian crime gang that stole scores of rare and valuable editions of Russian classics (Pushkin, Gogol, etc.) from libraries across Europe.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

'NIQ’s Russia business in June used its social media channel to tout coverage of beer sales in “the new territories of the Russian Federation” — the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, whose annexation Russia announced in 2022 despite not fully controlling them'

Should've used this photo

Zelda Williams: “And for the love of EVERY THING, stop calling it ‘the future,’ AI is just badly recycling and regurgitating the past to be re-consumed. You are taking in the Human Centipede of content, and from the very very end of the line”

variety.com/2025/film/ne...

The US healthcare system seems to be increasingly stacked against patients. This is a great explainer from @propublica.org on how to challenge your insurance company's denials of necessary care

www.propublica.org/article/heal... by @deldeib.bsky.social

“where’s the whale? did he get the whale yet?”

On Oct. 7, 2006, Novaya Gazeta reporter Anna Politkovskaya was assassinated in her apartment building in Moscow. 19 years ago today. At least one of the men who planned her murder, a former police officer, has since been pardoned for going to kill again in Ukraine.

Also today, Putin turns 73.

📣 Germany's close to reversing its opposition to mass surveillance & private message scanning, & backing the Chat Control bill. This could end private comms-& Signal-in the EU.

Time's short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how horrifying their reversal would be.

fortunately all our politicians are in their late 70s and 80s so they'll all be around to answer for any mistakes im sure

i just wish more people knew about the race to the north pole of 1909

Antoni Lallican, 37, was embedded with Ukraine's military near the front line in the Donbas region when he was killed in a drone attack on the area, said Ukrainian authorities.

www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/10/04/m...

but hang on a mo,

A very funny paper mentioned in Matt Levine's most recent column, studying the LinkedIn Finance Guy

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Today marks the 7th anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

Done staring at a screen [professionally], I think I’ll relax by staring at a screen [recreationally]

I keep coming back to @theonion.com, from August 2007:

The Smug Little Shit Behind The Latest Internet Phenomenon
theonion.com/the-smug-lit...

the new york times had some odd picks in their 25 most influential magazine covers. what was missing?

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/t...

If all of this transpired -- EU takes/uses the frozen assets and Russia takes whatever is left from Western cos -- and they still want to do energy deals... the money would find a way?

Probably Russia would be turning off the gas on Dec. 24 or Dec. 31 anyway. Tradition calls for it

I don't think there's a ton left to take. And whatever is still there is going to be peanuts in the scheme of things compared to the assets Europe has frozen. From the top of the article:

I dunno... Signaling you'll nationalize the Russian units of Raiffeisen & UniCredit kinda sounds like threatening EU regulators with a good time
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Traders at their stalls minutes after an exploding Russian drone hit the roof of an indoor market in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. 📸REUTERS/Thomas Peter

What happens when you lock up independent journalists behind bars on bogus charges? Well, they continue reporting even from behind bars.

My latest for @balcanicaucaso.org on corruption, rights violations and other shenanigans inside Azerbaijani prisons

www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Az...

most recently: david ellison

and yet it was clearly made by someone deeply familiar with eastern bloc animation