Moody: the works

A list of links to all my non-tech writings:

Essays

Glanglish - with audio versions

Moody Essays 

Travel writings

Moody Travels (with photos)
Walks with Lorenzetti
A Partial India

Novels

Doing the Business
Egyptian Romance

Poems

Moody Sonnets - with audio versions

261112

Judge Who Ruled For #Trump While Angling For A Trump Appointment Lets Trump’s #BBC Lawsuit Proceed - https://www.techdirt.com/2026/11/12/judge-who-ruled-for-trump-while-angling-for-a-trump-appointment-lets-trumps-bbc-lawsuit-proceed/ another amazing @masnick.com analysis of a very bad ruling

Has the meat industry laid waste to the UK’s biggest lake? - https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026-11-12/lough-neagh-has-the-meat-industry-laid-waste-to-britains-biggest-lake meat industry must pay for the clean up

#MoD failed to publish £240m #Palantir contract - then blamed ‘admin error’ - https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/ministry-of-defence-failed-to-publish-240m-palantir-contract how pathetic 

The #Sharing Shift is a global effort building the legal, social and technical architecture for sustainable digital commons* in the age of #AI. - https://sharingshift.okfn.org/ "We study, develop and test open licences, governance models, standards, metadata and code, and seek to combine them with social practices and strategic litigation."

Bronze leg found in Scottish bog sheds new light on Roman occupation - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/nov/12/bronze-leg-scottish-bog-roman-occupation-exhibit "Once thought to have been looted by Scottish tribes, the gilded limb is the centrepiece of a new exhibition on Roman Scotland in Edinburgh" amazing

#Nvidia CEO Jensen #Huang resigns over scandal and is replaced by CFO Colette Kress on interim basis - https://www.theguardian.com/technology/live/2026/nov/12/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-affairs-share-price-plunges-live-latest well 

Afghan women told to ‘go home’ after de facto ban on male doctors treating them - https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/nov/12/taliban-ban-male-doctors-treating-women-afghanistan staggering cruelty by bigoted and stupid #taliban in #afghanistan

 Quantum leap: IBM plans to scale beyond 1,000 qubits in 2027 with Nighthawk r3 processor - https://www.theregister.com/systems/2026/11/12/quantum-leap-ibm-plans-to-scale-beyond-1000-qubits-in-2027-with-nighthawk-r3-processor/5309357 " New unit sports more qubits and is planned to be part of future fault-tolerant rig " #quantumcomputing 

 Foreign Intelligence Has Easy Access To White House IT Systems Thanks To Dodgy Russian Proxy Software - https://www.techdirt.com/2026/11/12/foreign-intelligence-has-easy-access-to-white-house-it-systems-thanks-to-dodgy-russian-proxy-software/ 

261111

Buoyancy - https://moodysonnets.blogspot.com/2026/11/buoyancy.html something light: isn't it odd that we still don't fully understand why planes stay in the sky? What would Étienne-Louis Boullée have said...? 

Woman in Saudi Arabia sentenced to 100 lashes for giving birth outside marriage - https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/nov/11/woman-in-saudi-arabia-sentenced-to-100-lashes-for-giving-birth-outside-marriage what a barbaric country 

UK social media ban expansion for under-16s could cover YouTube Kids - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/nov/10/uk-social-media-ban-expansion-for-under-16s-could-cover-youtube-kids "Regulations under consideration could affect up to 150 platforms, including LegoPlay, Spotify and eBay, sources say" #ukgov utterly clueless again 

#AI has made it ‘close to impossible’ to assess university #coursework, regulator says - https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/nov/11/ai-close-to-impossible-assess-university-coursework-regulator "Office for Students says institutions in England should return to traditional exams and in-person presentations" it's inevitable

#Nissan reduces petrol car production as EV sales boom in #China - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/nov/11/nissan-reduces-petrol-car-production-as-ev-sales-boom-in-china the same will happen in europe, which is going in exactly the wrong direction on #EVs 

Why are Britain’s streets still so polluted? Because the car industry dinosaurs do what they like, and politicians let them - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/nov/11/britain-streets-polluted-car-industry-electric-vehicles-transition "The transition to electric vehicles should be moving apace, but it is not. And why? Incompetence, expedience and cowardice" #EVs

 What happens to mathematics when #AI becomes an oracle? - https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/11/what-happens-to-mathematics-when-ai-becames-an-oracle/ "Wolfram, I think, is demonstrably right that many computer simulations are computationally irreducible, but nature might not be."

Federal judge allows #Trump’s $10bn defamation lawsuit against #BBC to proceed - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/10/trump-10bn-defamation-lawsuit-bbc-allowed "president will have to prove that he suffered “actual damages” from the airing of the document, which was not broadcast in #Florida."

Impeachment Maths - https://emptywheel.net/2026/11/11/impeachment-maths/ "This was always going to be a test vote, to see what would happen for Democrats." interesting analysis

Workers in #Iran sell organs to pay debts and cover living costs - https://www.iranintl.com/en/202611118553 grim

A New #AI Tool From #Google #DeepMind Proved the #Signal Protocol Is Secure - https://www.wired.com/story/a-new-ai-tool-from-google-deepmind-formally-verified-the-signal-protocol/ "unclear how practical it will be for widespread use and how effective it can be at securing large amounts of code."

"“I’ve been a Democrat my whole life. I grew up in a far left environment. I know more about being a progressive than almost anybody on the planet, and I absolutely believe #Palantir— all of our products are essentially progressive,” #Karp said." - https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2026/11/11/the-tech-right-pivots-left-01160648 sure

National security of all countries at risk due to #climatecrisis, UK foreign secretary warns - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/nov/11/ed-miliband-national-security-climate-crisis-cop31 more good work from Ed 

261110

 UK and Argentina clash over #Falklands #oil project as Hamburg tribunal starts - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/nov/10/uk-and-argentina-clash-over-falklands-oil-project-as-hamburg-tribunal-starts no one should be drilling for oil; these are vital conservation areas for sealife

Pharma firms’ focus on weight-loss drugs could put insulin supply at risk, experts warn - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/nov/10/pharma-firms-weight-loss-drugs-insulin-glp-1-ozempic-mounjaro national governments should be producing #insulin themselves

Exclusive: Ex-#MetPolice chief is paid adviser for #Palantir - https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026-11-10/revealed-palantir-employing-cressida-dick-as-paid-adviser "Dame Cressida Dick joined the controversial tech giant in September 2025, the Bureau can reveal"

261109

Democrats to attend #Cop31 climate talks boosted by midterms and eager to make up for Trump-era setbacks - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/nov/09/cop31-climate-democrats-midterms well, it's a start

#Trump says he was ‘only kidding’ about making UFC’s Dana White next press secretary -https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/08/trump-dana-white-press-secretary yeah, sure...

UK households face rush to find #green energy installer to beat April VAT hike - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/nov/09/uk-households-green-energy-installer-rush-april-vat-hike more short-sighted stupidity from #burnham #renewables 

261108

Buoyancy - https://moodysonnets.blogspot.com/2026/11/buoyancy.html isn't it odd that we still don't fully understand why planes stay in the sky? What would Étienne-Louis Boullée have said...?

2019 #Moldova - https://moodysbnn.blogspot.com/2020/04/moldova-2019.html a short trip I made a few years back, now updated with links and pix #travel

Kazakhstan’s #SnowLeopard Population Doubles as Scientists Begin Tracking Altai - https://astanatimes.com/2026/11/kazakhstans-snow-leopard-population-doubles-as-scientists-begin-tracking-altai/ great news, well done #kazakhstan 

Labour expected to cut EV targets for UK’s car industry despite MPs’ protests - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/nov/08/labour-cut-ev-target-car-industry-despite-climate-concerns stupid #burnham, just hands #ev industry to #china...

261107

 One Less Person in the Room - https://emptywheel.net/2026/11/07/one-less-person-in-the-room/ "This will likely hasten the pace at which DOJ loses credibility among all judges, likely including SCOTUS, and also hasten some kind of direct conflict between courts and bulldozers at a DC construction site. " #trump

 The Bantu expansion changed Africa. Scientists are still tracing how.  - https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/11/the-migration-that-transformed-africas-languages-genes-and-cultures/ " Genes and archaeology are revealing how Bantu speakers spread across much of Africa. " fascinating stuff

 British soldier ignored order to pull his SIM card, then got blackmailed - https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/11/british-soldier-ignored-order-to-pull-his-sim-card-then-got-blackmailed/ " Soldier told repeatedly to lock down devices before deploying, got sextorted, court-martialed. "

 Doctors pull knife from man’s eye that went through his brain—and he’s fine now - https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/11/man-unexpectedly-recovers-from-a-knife-wound-through-his-eye-and-brain/ " It’s the exact path, not the apparent severity that matters most, doctors say. "