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Carceral Nation: Twenty Years from Blog Post to Book
In December 2006, I published an article on this blog about mass incarceration, racial disparities in the American prison system, and a concept I was trying to name: the carceral citizen, the person whose freedom exists in a state of permanent conditional revocation. The article was one entry among many in the Boles Blogs Network, which at its peak ran fourteen blogs across a range of subjects. One of those fourteen was called Panopticonic.
Panopticonic was the blog where I wrote about surveillance, inspection, the legacy of Bentham’s prison design, and the spreading logic of watching as governance. The writing accumulated across years, and in October 2008 I registered two domains: CarceralNation.com and Panopticonic.com. Registering those names was the moment the concept took a shape I could hold. The articles continued. The Panopticonic archives were collected into the first volume of Best of Boles Blogs alongside material from WordPunk, Memeingful, and Celebrity Semiotic. Through all of it, the question never changed: what happens when a society that calls itself free organizes its civic life around the assumption that everyone is being watched?
That question has been running underneath this blog for twenty years. Carceral Nation: How the Prison Escaped Its Walls and Made a Panopticonic Society is the book that question became. It is available now from David Boles Books in paperback, Kindle, and as a free PDF download.
From Blog to Book
The difference between writing about surveillance on a blog and writing a book about surveillance is the difference between accumulating observations and constructing an argument. The blog posts were reactions: a new camera program in New York, a data-sharing agreement between a police department and a tech company, a court ruling on warrantless cell phone tracking. Each post identified a piece of the architecture. The book assembles the pieces into a single structure and asks what the completed building looks like.
The answer required going back further than I had gone on the blog. Carceral Nation begins in the 1680s, with colonial lantern laws that required enslaved people to carry lit candles after dark so that white citizens could see them coming. Forced visibility. The first American surveillance technology was fire in a Black hand. From there, the principle of compulsory visibility moves through Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon and Michel Foucault’s theoretical expansion of the panoptic principle, then forward through the fingerprint registry, the Cold War intelligence apparatus, the post-September 11 mass surveillance state, the commercial data economy, and the neighborhood platforms where your neighbors now report your movements to one another.
What the Blog Could Not Say
Twenty years of blog posts taught me the facts. The book taught me something about myself that the blog format never forced me to confront. During the three years I spent writing Carceral Nation, I changed my own behavior. I became more careful about what I searched. I reconsidered certain article topics for Prairie Voice because I wondered whether the research trail itself might attract attention. I paused before typing phrases into search engines that, in a different political climate, might be unremarkable but that in 2025 felt like they carried weight. I caught myself performing exactly the self-censorship the book describes, and I kept writing anyway, because documenting the condition seemed more important than pretending I was exempt from it.
Bentham called the panoptic principle “a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind.” He was describing a building. What we have built is a condition in which the writer researching the surveillance state modifies his own research behavior because of the surveillance state. The book is its own evidence. I am its own case study.
The Word “Panopticonic”
The subtitle uses a word I need to account for: “panopticonic.” The adjective “panoptic,” meaning all-seeing, has existed since Bentham. “Panopticonic” appeared once in the prior record, a 1959 Time piece using it casually to describe the audience’s experience of watching prison life through cinema. The word was never developed, defined, or repeated. Carceral Nation reclaims it and gives it a specific definition: a panopticonic society is one in which the panoptic principle has escaped the institutional settings Foucault described and has become the organizing logic of civic life itself. A panopticonic society is one in which the panoptic principle has escaped the institutional settings Foucault described and has become the organizing logic of civic life itself. Prison logic has dissolved into the society. Guard towers have been replaced by smartphones, doorbell cameras, and algorithmic risk scores. The walls came down, and the logic walked out through the gap.
Connecting the Constellation
Readers of this blog will find threads connecting Carceral Nation to work published across the Boles web constellation over the past year. The Human Meme podcast episode “The Pause Before You Speak” examines how the surveillance condition reshapes consciousness, building on the earlier episode “Pause Before the Lie” to explore what happens when self-censorship becomes continuous rather than momentary. Prairie Voice published “The Watcher on the County Road,” investigating how Flock Safety cameras, school surveillance systems, and correctional culture have wired rural America into the same panopticonic infrastructure the book describes at the national level. The book has also been developed through the same production pipeline we have refined across across The Broadway Machine, The Counterfeit Bargain, and The Human Universal Beautiful: manuscript through multiple editorial passes, KDP paperback interior with embedded DejaVu Serif typography, wraparound cover, Kindle edition, and web PDF for free download.
The cover design deserves a word. The front panel shows a red brick wall with an irregular breach revealing a surveillance camera lens behind the bricks. Falling bricks cascade around the title text. The image is the argument in visual form: the prison wall has been broken from behind, and what looks out through the gap is an eye that records everything it sees. The brick pattern continues across the spine and back cover as a single continuous wall, because the surveillance infrastructure does not recognize the boundaries between public, private, and personal.
Getting Carceral Nation
Carceral Nation: How the Prison Escaped Its Walls and Made a Panopticonic Society by David Boles is published by David Boles Books Writing & Publishing, New York City. 2026.
Kindle ebook: $9.95 Paperback: $19.95 Free PDF: BolesBooks.com
The book is also available on Amazon.
#atlanta #bolesBooks #books #carceralNation #davidBolesBlogs #lens #panopticonic #prison #soceity #surveillance #watching -
Carceral Nation: Twenty Years from Blog Post to Book
In December 2006, I published an article on this blog about mass incarceration, racial disparities in the American prison system, and a concept I was trying to name: the carceral citizen, the person whose freedom exists in a state of permanent conditional revocation. The article was one entry among many in the Boles Blogs Network, which at its peak ran fourteen blogs across a range of subjects. One of those fourteen was called Panopticonic.
Panopticonic was the blog where I wrote about surveillance, inspection, the legacy of Bentham’s prison design, and the spreading logic of watching as governance. The writing accumulated across years, and in October 2008 I registered two domains: CarceralNation.com and Panopticonic.com. Registering those names was the moment the concept took a shape I could hold. The articles continued. The Panopticonic archives were collected into the first volume of Best of Boles Blogs alongside material from WordPunk, Memeingful, and Celebrity Semiotic. Through all of it, the question never changed: what happens when a society that calls itself free organizes its civic life around the assumption that everyone is being watched?
That question has been running underneath this blog for twenty years. Carceral Nation: How the Prison Escaped Its Walls and Made a Panopticonic Society is the book that question became. It is available now from David Boles Books in paperback, Kindle, and as a free PDF download.
From Blog to Book
The difference between writing about surveillance on a blog and writing a book about surveillance is the difference between accumulating observations and constructing an argument. The blog posts were reactions: a new camera program in New York, a data-sharing agreement between a police department and a tech company, a court ruling on warrantless cell phone tracking. Each post identified a piece of the architecture. The book assembles the pieces into a single structure and asks what the completed building looks like.
The answer required going back further than I had gone on the blog. Carceral Nation begins in the 1680s, with colonial lantern laws that required enslaved people to carry lit candles after dark so that white citizens could see them coming. Forced visibility. The first American surveillance technology was fire in a Black hand. From there, the principle of compulsory visibility moves through Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon and Michel Foucault’s theoretical expansion of the panoptic principle, then forward through the fingerprint registry, the Cold War intelligence apparatus, the post-September 11 mass surveillance state, the commercial data economy, and the neighborhood platforms where your neighbors now report your movements to one another.
What the Blog Could Not Say
Twenty years of blog posts taught me the facts. The book taught me something about myself that the blog format never forced me to confront. During the three years I spent writing Carceral Nation, I changed my own behavior. I became more careful about what I searched. I reconsidered certain article topics for Prairie Voice because I wondered whether the research trail itself might attract attention. I paused before typing phrases into search engines that, in a different political climate, might be unremarkable but that in 2025 felt like they carried weight. I caught myself performing exactly the self-censorship the book describes, and I kept writing anyway, because documenting the condition seemed more important than pretending I was exempt from it.
Bentham called the panoptic principle “a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind.” He was describing a building. What we have built is a condition in which the writer researching the surveillance state modifies his own research behavior because of the surveillance state. The book is its own evidence. I am its own case study.
The Word “Panopticonic”
The subtitle uses a word I need to account for: “panopticonic.” The adjective “panoptic,” meaning all-seeing, has existed since Bentham. “Panopticonic” appeared once in the prior record, a 1959 Time piece using it casually to describe the audience’s experience of watching prison life through cinema. The word was never developed, defined, or repeated. Carceral Nation reclaims it and gives it a specific definition: a panopticonic society is one in which the panoptic principle has escaped the institutional settings Foucault described and has become the organizing logic of civic life itself. A panopticonic society is one in which the panoptic principle has escaped the institutional settings Foucault described and has become the organizing logic of civic life itself. Prison logic has dissolved into the society. Guard towers have been replaced by smartphones, doorbell cameras, and algorithmic risk scores. The walls came down, and the logic walked out through the gap.
Connecting the Constellation
Readers of this blog will find threads connecting Carceral Nation to work published across the Boles web constellation over the past year. The Human Meme podcast episode “The Pause Before You Speak” examines how the surveillance condition reshapes consciousness, building on the earlier episode “Pause Before the Lie” to explore what happens when self-censorship becomes continuous rather than momentary. Prairie Voice published “The Watcher on the County Road,” investigating how Flock Safety cameras, school surveillance systems, and correctional culture have wired rural America into the same panopticonic infrastructure the book describes at the national level. The book has also been developed through the same production pipeline we have refined across across The Broadway Machine, The Counterfeit Bargain, and The Human Universal Beautiful: manuscript through multiple editorial passes, KDP paperback interior with embedded DejaVu Serif typography, wraparound cover, Kindle edition, and web PDF for free download.
The cover design deserves a word. The front panel shows a red brick wall with an irregular breach revealing a surveillance camera lens behind the bricks. Falling bricks cascade around the title text. The image is the argument in visual form: the prison wall has been broken from behind, and what looks out through the gap is an eye that records everything it sees. The brick pattern continues across the spine and back cover as a single continuous wall, because the surveillance infrastructure does not recognize the boundaries between public, private, and personal.
Getting Carceral Nation
Carceral Nation: How the Prison Escaped Its Walls and Made a Panopticonic Society by David Boles is published by David Boles Books Writing & Publishing, New York City. 2026.
Kindle ebook: $9.95 Paperback: $19.95 Free PDF: BolesBooks.com
The book is also available on Amazon.
#atlanta #bolesBooks #books #carceralNation #davidBolesBlogs #lens #panopticonic #prison #soceity #surveillance #watching -
Carceral Nation: Twenty Years from Blog Post to Book
In December 2006, I published an article on this blog about mass incarceration, racial disparities in the American prison system, and a concept I was trying to name: the carceral citizen, the person whose freedom exists in a state of permanent conditional revocation. The article was one entry among many in the Boles Blogs Network, which at its peak ran fourteen blogs across a range of subjects. One of those fourteen was called Panopticonic.
Panopticonic was the blog where I wrote about surveillance, inspection, the legacy of Bentham’s prison design, and the spreading logic of watching as governance. The writing accumulated across years, and in October 2008 I registered two domains: CarceralNation.com and Panopticonic.com. Registering those names was the moment the concept took a shape I could hold. The articles continued. The Panopticonic archives were collected into the first volume of Best of Boles Blogs alongside material from WordPunk, Memeingful, and Celebrity Semiotic. Through all of it, the question never changed: what happens when a society that calls itself free organizes its civic life around the assumption that everyone is being watched?
That question has been running underneath this blog for twenty years. Carceral Nation: How the Prison Escaped Its Walls and Made a Panopticonic Society is the book that question became. It is available now from David Boles Books in paperback, Kindle, and as a free PDF download.
From Blog to Book
The difference between writing about surveillance on a blog and writing a book about surveillance is the difference between accumulating observations and constructing an argument. The blog posts were reactions: a new camera program in New York, a data-sharing agreement between a police department and a tech company, a court ruling on warrantless cell phone tracking. Each post identified a piece of the architecture. The book assembles the pieces into a single structure and asks what the completed building looks like.
The answer required going back further than I had gone on the blog. Carceral Nation begins in the 1680s, with colonial lantern laws that required enslaved people to carry lit candles after dark so that white citizens could see them coming. Forced visibility. The first American surveillance technology was fire in a Black hand. From there, the principle of compulsory visibility moves through Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon and Michel Foucault’s theoretical expansion of the panoptic principle, then forward through the fingerprint registry, the Cold War intelligence apparatus, the post-September 11 mass surveillance state, the commercial data economy, and the neighborhood platforms where your neighbors now report your movements to one another.
What the Blog Could Not Say
Twenty years of blog posts taught me the facts. The book taught me something about myself that the blog format never forced me to confront. During the three years I spent writing Carceral Nation, I changed my own behavior. I became more careful about what I searched. I reconsidered certain article topics for Prairie Voice because I wondered whether the research trail itself might attract attention. I paused before typing phrases into search engines that, in a different political climate, might be unremarkable but that in 2025 felt like they carried weight. I caught myself performing exactly the self-censorship the book describes, and I kept writing anyway, because documenting the condition seemed more important than pretending I was exempt from it.
Bentham called the panoptic principle “a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind.” He was describing a building. What we have built is a condition in which the writer researching the surveillance state modifies his own research behavior because of the surveillance state. The book is its own evidence. I am its own case study.
The Word “Panopticonic”
The subtitle uses a word I need to account for: “panopticonic.” The adjective “panoptic,” meaning all-seeing, has existed since Bentham. “Panopticonic” appeared once in the prior record, a 1959 Time piece using it casually to describe the audience’s experience of watching prison life through cinema. The word was never developed, defined, or repeated. Carceral Nation reclaims it and gives it a specific definition: a panopticonic society is one in which the panoptic principle has escaped the institutional settings Foucault described and has become the organizing logic of civic life itself. A panopticonic society is one in which the panoptic principle has escaped the institutional settings Foucault described and has become the organizing logic of civic life itself. Prison logic has dissolved into the society. Guard towers have been replaced by smartphones, doorbell cameras, and algorithmic risk scores. The walls came down, and the logic walked out through the gap.
Connecting the Constellation
Readers of this blog will find threads connecting Carceral Nation to work published across the Boles web constellation over the past year. The Human Meme podcast episode “The Pause Before You Speak” examines how the surveillance condition reshapes consciousness, building on the earlier episode “Pause Before the Lie” to explore what happens when self-censorship becomes continuous rather than momentary. Prairie Voice published “The Watcher on the County Road,” investigating how Flock Safety cameras, school surveillance systems, and correctional culture have wired rural America into the same panopticonic infrastructure the book describes at the national level. The book has also been developed through the same production pipeline we have refined across across The Broadway Machine, The Counterfeit Bargain, and The Human Universal Beautiful: manuscript through multiple editorial passes, KDP paperback interior with embedded DejaVu Serif typography, wraparound cover, Kindle edition, and web PDF for free download.
The cover design deserves a word. The front panel shows a red brick wall with an irregular breach revealing a surveillance camera lens behind the bricks. Falling bricks cascade around the title text. The image is the argument in visual form: the prison wall has been broken from behind, and what looks out through the gap is an eye that records everything it sees. The brick pattern continues across the spine and back cover as a single continuous wall, because the surveillance infrastructure does not recognize the boundaries between public, private, and personal.
Getting Carceral Nation
Carceral Nation: How the Prison Escaped Its Walls and Made a Panopticonic Society by David Boles is published by David Boles Books Writing & Publishing, New York City. 2026.
Kindle ebook: $9.95 Paperback: $19.95 Free PDF: BolesBooks.com
The book is also available on Amazon.
#atlanta #bolesBooks #books #carceralNation #davidBolesBlogs #lens #panopticonic #prison #soceity #surveillance #watching -
Carceral Nation: Twenty Years from Blog Post to Book
In December 2006, I published an article on this blog about mass incarceration, racial disparities in the American prison system, and a concept I was trying to name: the carceral citizen, the person whose freedom exists in a state of permanent conditional revocation. The article was one entry among many in the Boles Blogs Network, which at its peak ran fourteen blogs across a range of subjects. One of those fourteen was called Panopticonic.
Panopticonic was the blog where I wrote about surveillance, inspection, the legacy of Bentham’s prison design, and the spreading logic of watching as governance. The writing accumulated across years, and in October 2008 I registered two domains: CarceralNation.com and Panopticonic.com. Registering those names was the moment the concept took a shape I could hold. The articles continued. The Panopticonic archives were collected into the first volume of Best of Boles Blogs alongside material from WordPunk, Memeingful, and Celebrity Semiotic. Through all of it, the question never changed: what happens when a society that calls itself free organizes its civic life around the assumption that everyone is being watched?
That question has been running underneath this blog for twenty years. Carceral Nation: How the Prison Escaped Its Walls and Made a Panopticonic Society is the book that question became. It is available now from David Boles Books in paperback, Kindle, and as a free PDF download.
From Blog to Book
The difference between writing about surveillance on a blog and writing a book about surveillance is the difference between accumulating observations and constructing an argument. The blog posts were reactions: a new camera program in New York, a data-sharing agreement between a police department and a tech company, a court ruling on warrantless cell phone tracking. Each post identified a piece of the architecture. The book assembles the pieces into a single structure and asks what the completed building looks like.
The answer required going back further than I had gone on the blog. Carceral Nation begins in the 1680s, with colonial lantern laws that required enslaved people to carry lit candles after dark so that white citizens could see them coming. Forced visibility. The first American surveillance technology was fire in a Black hand. From there, the principle of compulsory visibility moves through Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon and Michel Foucault’s theoretical expansion of the panoptic principle, then forward through the fingerprint registry, the Cold War intelligence apparatus, the post-September 11 mass surveillance state, the commercial data economy, and the neighborhood platforms where your neighbors now report your movements to one another.
What the Blog Could Not Say
Twenty years of blog posts taught me the facts. The book taught me something about myself that the blog format never forced me to confront. During the three years I spent writing Carceral Nation, I changed my own behavior. I became more careful about what I searched. I reconsidered certain article topics for Prairie Voice because I wondered whether the research trail itself might attract attention. I paused before typing phrases into search engines that, in a different political climate, might be unremarkable but that in 2025 felt like they carried weight. I caught myself performing exactly the self-censorship the book describes, and I kept writing anyway, because documenting the condition seemed more important than pretending I was exempt from it.
Bentham called the panoptic principle “a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind.” He was describing a building. What we have built is a condition in which the writer researching the surveillance state modifies his own research behavior because of the surveillance state. The book is its own evidence. I am its own case study.
The Word “Panopticonic”
The subtitle uses a word I need to account for: “panopticonic.” The adjective “panoptic,” meaning all-seeing, has existed since Bentham. “Panopticonic” appeared once in the prior record, a 1959 Time piece using it casually to describe the audience’s experience of watching prison life through cinema. The word was never developed, defined, or repeated. Carceral Nation reclaims it and gives it a specific definition: a panopticonic society is one in which the panoptic principle has escaped the institutional settings Foucault described and has become the organizing logic of civic life itself. A panopticonic society is one in which the panoptic principle has escaped the institutional settings Foucault described and has become the organizing logic of civic life itself. Prison logic has dissolved into the society. Guard towers have been replaced by smartphones, doorbell cameras, and algorithmic risk scores. The walls came down, and the logic walked out through the gap.
Connecting the Constellation
Readers of this blog will find threads connecting Carceral Nation to work published across the Boles web constellation over the past year. The Human Meme podcast episode “The Pause Before You Speak” examines how the surveillance condition reshapes consciousness, building on the earlier episode “Pause Before the Lie” to explore what happens when self-censorship becomes continuous rather than momentary. Prairie Voice published “The Watcher on the County Road,” investigating how Flock Safety cameras, school surveillance systems, and correctional culture have wired rural America into the same panopticonic infrastructure the book describes at the national level. The book has also been developed through the same production pipeline we have refined across across The Broadway Machine, The Counterfeit Bargain, and The Human Universal Beautiful: manuscript through multiple editorial passes, KDP paperback interior with embedded DejaVu Serif typography, wraparound cover, Kindle edition, and web PDF for free download.
The cover design deserves a word. The front panel shows a red brick wall with an irregular breach revealing a surveillance camera lens behind the bricks. Falling bricks cascade around the title text. The image is the argument in visual form: the prison wall has been broken from behind, and what looks out through the gap is an eye that records everything it sees. The brick pattern continues across the spine and back cover as a single continuous wall, because the surveillance infrastructure does not recognize the boundaries between public, private, and personal.
Getting Carceral Nation
Carceral Nation: How the Prison Escaped Its Walls and Made a Panopticonic Society by David Boles is published by David Boles Books Writing & Publishing, New York City. 2026.
Kindle ebook: $9.95 Paperback: $19.95 Free PDF: BolesBooks.com
The book is also available on Amazon.
#atlanta #bolesBooks #books #carceralNation #davidBolesBlogs #lens #panopticonic #prison #soceity #surveillance #watching -
I think of this song when I have to go to that #Techno #Spy #Panopticon #Supermarket. Every time.
🧑🎤 #ElektronikGirlEpic / #EGE / #Woolies / #OzMusic <https://youtube.com/watch?v=FeZsdP2trO0>
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Who Are These Clowns and Where Did They Put My Flesh Stapler? The AMG Staff Pick Their Top Ten(ish) of 2025 By Steel DruhmListurnalia is now upon us once again! If you are not ready to be assailed by non-stop lists and bad opinions for the next week and change, I suggest you get fooking ready! Listurnalia cannot be stopped, nor contained. It can only be tolerated and endured!
More than any year in recent history, 2025 saw more seasoned staffers step away from writing duties due to time constraints and life changes. To compensate for the loss of these slackwagoning quitters and shirkers, we added a gaggle of fresh new voices. This made for a bittersweet time around these parts as long-time friends departed and a bunch of untested, unknowns rose through the brutal n00b gauntlet to seize the means of promo production. These greenhorn neophytes have created great havoc at AMG HQ with their terrible taste, inability to follow directions, and steadfast refusal to ignore deathcore.
We’ve been here before, though, and we always straighten out the newbie upstarts. The daily beatings, deprivations, and absence of positive reinforcement will wear them down, and if not, we have plenty of space in the rotpit out back. This is, and will ever be, the AMG modality.
2026 will be an interesting year as the new crew members are shepherded by the olde while everyone is crushed beneath the iron heel of AMG management. Who will make it to 2027? Who will be sold off to Metal Wani for a box of bananas and Gorilla Glue? Place your bets in the official AMG Survival Pool!
As you read the Top Ten(ish) lists below, remember, reading our content is free, but you get what you pay for.
Grymm
#10. Venomous Echoes // Dysmor
#9. Blut Aus Nord // Ethereal Horizons
#8. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
#7. Structure // Heritage
#6. Lorna Shore // I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me
#5. Sigh // I Saw The World’s End – Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV
#4. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
#3. Am I In Trouble? // Spectrum
#2. Dax Riggs // 7 Songs for Spiders
#1. Paradise Lost // Ascension – I fully expected Paradise Lost to come out with quality music, which has been mostly par for the course in their storied almost-40-year career, and no one could blame them if they decided to coast along on their legendary sound. Instead, Ascension sees them giving a masterclass in songcraft and atmosphere, showing everyone, everywhere, how it’s done. With Black Sabbath now officially put to rest, Anathema long gone, and whatever the fuck is happening within My Dying Bride these days, somebody has to fly the British Doom flag high and proud, and Paradise Lost have done a bang-up job of doing so.Personal Highlight o’ the Year: Seeing Acid Bath live. I may or may not have cried during “Venus Blue,” and no, I don’t fucking care. 19-Year-Old me was pleased as punch that 48-Year-Old me got to see a legendary band (and one of his personal favorites) come back from tragedy to pay tribute to their fallen bassist and friend, Audie Pitre, by giving it another long-awaited go.
Disappointment(s) o’ the Year:
- Losing so many influential heroes (RIP Ozzy Osbourne, Ace Frehley, and Tomas Lindberg, among too many others)
- My health: I was hoping to be a lot more active this year, but early on, I needed to, in the immortal words of David Lynch, “fix (my) heart or die.”1 Thankfully, after surgery, I feel a million times better, so you should see a lot more of me in 2026. You have been warned.
Song o’ the Year:
- Paradise Lost // “Salvation”
El Cuervo
#ish. Astronoid // Stargod
#10. Ollie Wride // The Pressure Point
#9. Kauan // Wayhome
#8. Zéro Absolu // La Saignée
#7. Mutagenic Host // The Diseased Machine
#6. Asira // As Ink in Water
#5. Bruit // The Age of Ephemerality
#4. Saor // Amidst the Ruins
#3. The Midnight // Syndicate
#2. Steven Wilson // The Overview
#1. Messa // The Spin – In a year replete with comfort picks—progressive rock, synthwave, and death metal abound—how is that Italy’s enigmatic, inscrutable Messa forged my Album o’ the Year? The Spin doesn’t take the trouble to make itself easily approachable. Doom, prog, and post influences circle around velvety melodies that sometimes sound like deliberate songs, and sometimes like jazz improvisation. But it’s these very qualities that belie its subtle allure; only with repetition and attention does The Spin shine. Messa gradually reveals rhythmic motifs, instrumental nuances, and rich compositions that enhance my life on so many days. “The Dress,” especially, is stunning. And though the record’s loungey whimsy defies metal conventions, each track prizes genuine grit through its top-drawer guitar riffs. With the devotion it demands, no record from 2025 was more rewarding than The Spin.Honorable Mentions:
- Décryptal – Simulacre
- An Abstract Illusion – The Sleeping City
- Puteraeon – Mountains of Madness
- Hasard – Abgnose
Song o’ the Year:
- Ambush – “Maskirovka”
GardensTale
#ish. Structure // Heritage
#10. In Mourning //The Immortal
#9. Flummox // Southern Progress
#8. Der Weg Einer Freiheit // Innern
#7. Nephylim // Circuition
#6. Besna // Krásno
#5. Messa // The Spin
#4. Labyrinthus Stellarum // Rift in Reality
#3. Gazpacho // Magic 8 Ball
#2. Dormant Ordeal// Tooth & Nail
#1. Moron Police // Pachinko — I was a little nervous when I first read about the length and ambition behind Pachinko, especially in the context of the incredible and very concise A Boat on the Sea. I’ve never been this happy to be this wrong. Nothing in the last decade has overtaken my life as much as Pachinko has, and I’m listening to it yet again as I write this, and will probably restart it once it finishes. Pachinko has a lot in common with Everything Everywhere All At Once, one of my all-time favorite films, as a treatise on the chaos of life and the importance of friends and family. It treats its philosophy of silliness very seriously, laughing in the face of darkness in such a beautiful and inspiring way; it brightens my life every time I hear it. And it does all that in tribute to a dear friend who was gone too soon and too suddenly, and no other eulogistic album has let me feel like its subject’s soul touched mine. An astounding monument to friendship on top of an incredibly accomplished hour of music. Pachinko is a miracle.Honorable Mentions:
- Hangover in Minsk // Party is Over
- 1914 // Viribus Unitis
- Bianca // Bianca
- Fange // Purulences
- An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
- Blindfolded // What Seeps Through Threads
Song o’ the Year:
- Moron Police – “Giving up the Ghost”
Non-metal Albums of the Year:
- Lorde // Virgin
- Jonathan Hultén // Eyes of the Living Night
- Shayfer James // Summoning
Mark Z.
#ish. Malefic Throne // The Conquering Darkness
#10. Urn // Demon Steel
#9. Teitanblood // From the Visceral Abyss
#8. Shed the Skin // The Carnage Cast Shadows
#7. Guts // Nightmare Fuel
#6. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
#5. Perdition Temple // Malign Apotheosis
#4. Paradise Lost // Ascension
#3. Revocation // New Gods, New Masters
#2. Death Yell // Demons of Lust
#1. Abominator // The Fire Brethren – It took me a few years after hearing this Australian duo’s last album, 2015’s Evil Proclaimed, to realize I was wrong about them. Their raw and relentless black-death metal wasn’t just good, it was fucking awesome. With their long-awaited sixth album, The Fire Brethren, Abominator has conjured flames that reach higher than ever. As always, the enraged rasps, scorching riffs, and endlessly pummeling rhythms are like plumes of hellfire shot directly into your ear canals. But amidst the bludgeoning is some genuinely great songwriting, with deep-cutting hooks (“The Templar’s Curse,” “Underworld Vociferations”), flashes of melody (“Progenitors of the Insurrection of Satan”), thrashy breaks (“Sulphur from the Heavens”), and just enough variety to keep everything hitting as hard as possible. It’s not for everyone, but for those into Angelcorpse and other music of that sort, The Fire Brethren is the type of album you just can’t get enough of.Honorable Mention:
- Blasphamagoatachrist // Bestial Abominator
Song (Title) o’ the Year:
- Omegavortex – “Dystopian Worldrape”
Song o’ the Year:
- Fugitive – “Spheres of Virulence”
Carcharodon
#ish. Dax Riggs // 7 Songs for Spiders
#10. Novarupta // Astral Sands
#9. Atlantic // Timeworn
#8. Structure // Heritage
#7. Agriculture // The Spiritual Sound
#6. Igorr // Amen
#5. Messa // The Spin
#4. Abigail Williams // A Void Within Existence
#3. Cave Sermon // Fragile Wings
#2. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
#1. Grima // Nightside – In each of 2019, 2021, and 2022, Grima released an album and, in each of those years, I listed said album (#5, HM, and #10). But this year, the year in which I have listened to the least metal and, of course, written the least since I started here in 2018, is also the year that Grima got everything dialled in to just what I want from a Grima album. On Nightside, the duo struck the perfect balance between the traditional influences of 2019’s Will of the Primordial and the propulsive, frozen atmosphere of Frostbitten (2022). The combination gives Nightside an almost hypnotic and weirdly tranquil flow, offset by Vilhelm’s rasping vocals, which remain among the best in the BM game. Every time I come back to this record, and the title track in particular, it’s even better than I remember it being, and I always end up spinning three or more times back-to-back. An album that can keep playing that trick deserves its #1 spot in my book.Honorable Mentions:
- An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
- Gorycz // Zasypia
- Psychonaut // World Maker
- Wardruna // Birna
Songs o’ the Year:
- Messa – “Fire on the Roof”
- Novarupta – “Now Here We Are (At the Inevitable End)”
Mysticus Hugebeard
#10. Orbit Culture // Death Above Life
#9. An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
#8. Qrixkuor // The Womb of the World
#7. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
#6. Panopticon // Laurentian Blue
#5. Blackbraid // Blackbraid III
#4. Arkhaaik // Uihtis
#3. Kauan // Wayhome
#2. Wardruna // Birna
#1. Thumos // The Trial of Socrates – I recall groggily stumbling upon Thumos’ The Trial of Socrates at work one early morning, and I’m not sure if I’ve grown attached to it or it’s grown attached to me. It looms in my periphery, routinely interrupting my listening schedule for just one more spin. This gargantuan dive into ancient Greek philosophy and justice is melodically rich, laden with atmosphere, and fiercely intelligent. I love how this album stimulates my curiosity. I pore over The Trial of Socrates like a madman, piecing the puzzle together with feverish glee but never quite feeling finished, because every re-listen yields new shapes, new colors, new ideas. It eggs me on to research various topics on ancient Greek history or philosophy, and even made for an unlikely study partner during my long preparations for the German A1 exam. I always feel smarter by the end of it—hubris, I’m sure, but The Trial of Socrates genuinely sparks my imagination in ways few albums do. Time to go listen to “The Phædo” for the zillionth time.Honorable Mentions:
- Night Flight Orchestra // Give Us The Moon
- Mutagenic Host // The Diseased Machine
Songs o’ the Year:
- Disarmonia Mundi – “Outcast”
The Dormant Stranger by Disarmonia Mundi
- Jamie Page & Marcy Nabors – “Do No Harm (Ventricular Mix)”
Do No Harm by Jamie Paige, Marcy Nabors, & Penny Parker
- Thumos – “The Phædo”
The Trial of Socrates by Thumos
Disappointment(s) o’ the year:
- The dissolution of Ante-Inferno: After Death’s Soliloquy topped my list last year, I was genuinely gutted to see Ante-Inferno’s post that they were no more. Still, I shall not weep but rather smile that they happened, because Ante-Inferno was a rare breed of genuinely moving black metal. Just that one album rooted itself so deeply within me, and I will be listening for a long time.
- Arno Menses leaving Subsignal: Man, fuck. Fuck. Remember my nuclear-grade glaze of Subsignal, where I might as well have said Menses’ voice single-handedly justified the entire existence of music? How could I not break down in heaving sobs in the middle of this Denny’s when I heard that Menses and Subsignal have parted ways? It sucks, I tell ya. I will still listen to what Subsignal puts out in the future, because Markus Steffen is a talented musician, but it’s going to be a huge adjustment since Menses is nigh irreplaceable.
Samguineous Maximus
#ish. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
#10. Primitive Man // Observance
#9. Motherless // Do You Feel Safe?
#8. Deafheaven // Lonely People with Power
#7. Weeping Sores // The Convalescence Agonies
#6. Between the Buried and Me // The Blue Nowhere
#5. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
#4. 1914 // Viribus Unitis
#3. Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl
#2. Crippling Alcoholism // Bible Songs II
#1. Yellow Eyes // Confusion Gate – Yellow Eyes are one of the best black metal bands in the game, and Confusion Gate is their most impressive work to date. It sees the band return to a more traditional atmospheric sound, but with the lessons learned from their explorations of dissonance and ambience. The result is a kaleidoscopic blend of gorgeous melodies, haunting riffs, and a pervasive sense of pathos that only the best art can achieve. Confusion Gate feels like communing with nature from the top of a wintry peak, embodying both impossible grandeur and awesome terror. This is a record that bypasses the analytical reviewer’s brain and just hits me right in the feeling. It offers a unique catharsis in a year where I truly needed it.Honorable Mentions
- Flummox // Southern Progress
- Hexrot // Formless Ruin of Oblivion
- Ava Mendoza/Gabby fluke-Mogal/Carolina Pérez // Mama Killa
- Strigiform // Aconite
Song o’ the Year:
- Crippling Alcoholism – “Ladies Night”
Spicie Forrest
#ish. Cryptopsy // An Insatiable Violence
#10. Crimson Shadows // Whispers of War
#9. Oromet // The Sinking Isle
#8. -ii- // Apostles of the Flesh
#7. Suncraft // Welcome to the Coven
#6. Suncraft // Profanation of the Adamic Covenant
#5. Chestcrush // ΨΥΧΟΒΓΑΛΤΗΣ
#4. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
#3. Qrixkuor // The Womb of the World
#2. Primitive Man // Observance
#1. Wytch Hazel // V: Lamentations – I know, I’m surprised too. But the bottom line is that I’ve been listening to V: Lamentations front to back at least once a week since it released on the most American of holidays, July 4th. For Steel, Wytch Hazel’s latest didn’t have the same staying power as previous efforts, but Lamentations is the first to truly resonate with me. Though musically consistent with their Wishbone Ash-meets-Eagles style, vocalist Colin Hendra brings a new sense of passion to the record, and the interplay between instruments, vocals, and lyrics hits me like a lightning bolt. Very possibly inspired by the core Christian tenet laid out in Romans 6:23-24,2 Lamentations is a masterful portrayal of what it means to perpetually fail, to know you’ll never be good enough, and in the face of a salvation that renders all efforts, deeds, and accomplishments worthless, to keep striving toward the impossible anyway. Even for godless sinners like me, Lamentations is a beautiful reminder that purpose is found in hardship, that the journey is the goal, and that falling down is merely an opportunity to stand up again.Honorable Mentions:
- Proscription // Desolate Divine
- Apocalypse Orchestra // A Plague upon Thee
- Messa // The Spin
- Bloodywood // Nu Delhi
- Pedestal for Leviathan // Enter: Vampyric Manifestation
Song o’ the Year:
- Yellowcard – “honestly i”
Grin Reaper
(ish) Sallow Moth // Mossbane Lantern
#10. Turian // Blood Quantum Blues
#9. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
#8. Lychgate // Precipice
#7. An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
#6. Thron // Vurias
#5. Structure // Heritage
#4. Species // Changelings
#3. Havukruunu // Tavastland
#2. Aephanemer // Utopie
#1. 1914 // Viribus Unitis – I didn’t know Viribus Unitis would be my top album of the year the first time I listened to it, but I knew it would list. 1914’s naked emotion and rousing story of a Ukrainian soldier’s survival through World War I, reconciliation with his family, and inescapable return to war remains as gripping and bittersweet now as it did the first time I heard it. Across adrenaline-fueled riffing, oppressive marches, and somber dirges, 1914 never relents on musical or lyrical weight. Though Viribus Unitis was released late in the year, it quickly became the standard I used to appraise albums while going through listing season. 1914 paints war-torn life with savage grace, supplying devastating melody and grueling crawls that elevate the album to such heights that I’m genuinely moved each time I get to the end. Viribus Unitis is bleak, raw, and human, but for all that, I’m never deterred from listening. Ultimately, 1914 clutches the threads of hope and weaves an aural tapestry that brings tragedy and triumph to life, cementing Viribus Unitis as my undisputed top album of 2025.
Honorable Mentions:- Walg // V
- Moron Police // Pachinko
- Defigurement // Endbryo
- Ültra Raptör // Fossilized
- Igorrr // Amen
Songs o’ the Year:
- Aephanemer – “Le Cimetière Marin”
- 1914 – “1918 Pt. III: ADE (A Duty to Escape)”
Andy-War-Hall
#ish: Dragon Skull // Chaos Fire Vengeance
#10: Changeling // Changeling
#9: Steel Arctus // Dreamruler
#8: Abigail Williams //A Void Within Existence
#7: Petrified Giant // Endless Ark
#6: Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
#5: Structure // Heritage
#4: Lipoma // No Cure for the Sick
#3: Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl
#2: Hexrot // Formless Ruin of Oblivion
#1: 1914 // Viribus Unitis – Immersion defines great music and art for me. It is almost unfortunate how good 1914 are in this facet of their music. Their ability to transport the listener to the battlefield in all its violence, both carnal and psychological, is stupefying. The utter dehumanizing hatred with “1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl),” the ravenous bloodlust of “1917 (The Isonzo Front),” the hellish wails haunting “1918 Pt. 1 (WIA – Wounded in Action):” all portrayed vividly through 1914’s brilliantly caustic and composed musicianship and deeply personal lyricism. When Dmytro Ternushchak bellows “For three days / The Russians attacked / And accomplished nothing but / 40,000 dead pigs” [“1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl)”], it’s all you need to get into his character’s violent headspace. When 1914 mournfully sing in Ukrainian “Це моя земля”3 [1915 (Easter Battle for the Zwinin Ridge)], you grasp how someone could put their life on the line for kin and country. When our soldier sings “My little girl reached out to me / But duty calls” [1919 (The Home Where I Died)]… well, shit, your heart just has to break, right? 1914 don’t play “history metal.” Viribus Unitis is as present and relevant as you can get.Honorable Mentions:
- Fell Omen // Caelid Dog Summer
- Ophelion // The Jaunt
- Coroner // Dissonance Theory
- Starscourge // Conqueror of the Stars – Betwixt Sundered Seraphim, the Lands Between Bleed
Song o’ the Year:
- Fell Omen – “The Fire is Still Warm”
Lavender Larcenist
#ish Spiritbox // Tsunami Sea
#10. Sold Soul // Just Like That, I Disappear Entirely
#9. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
#8. Dying Wish // Flesh Stays Together
#7. Grima // Nightside
#6. Aversed // Erasure of Color
#5. Deafheaven // Lonely People With Power
#4. Ghost Bath // Rose Thorn Necklace
#3. Changeling // Changeling
#2. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
#1. Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl – Sometimes you listen to music, and you feel like it gets you. Camgirl was exactly that type of album, and it probably doesn’t say anything good about me. Ever since Crippling Alcoholism’s latest graced my ears and I shared it with my partner, we have been singing “I fucking hate the way I look, yeah I look like a fat fucking scumbag” way too often and mumbling “Mr. Ran away, ran away from family” every chance we get. The album is dripping with the atmosphere of neon-lit back rooms, seedy interactions, and terrible decision-making. It feels like a lens into the lives of those society has left behind, and I can’t help but feel a connection. The self-destructive nihilism, drugged-out sex, and abrupt violence that is all too common in those on the margins of life is something I think more and more we can all relate to, and Camgirl is the art that mirrors society back to us. As a result, it is an album that is just as ugly as it is terrifying and beautiful.
Honorable Mentions:- Shadow of Intent // Imperium Delirium
- Pupil Slicer // Fleshwork
- 1914 // Viribus Unitis
Song o’ the Year:
- Crippling Alcoholism – “bedrot”
Creeping Ivy
#ish. Nite // Cult of the Serpent Sun
#10. Blackbraid // Blackbraid III
#9. Flummox // Southern Progress
#8. 1914 // Viribus Unitis
#7. Cave Sermon // Fragile Wings
#6. Saor // Amidst the Ruins
#5. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
#4. Phantom Spell // Heather & Hearth
#3. Coroner // Dissonance Theory
#2. Messa // The Spin
#1. Havukruunu // Tavastland – On their Bandcamp page, Havukruunu explain the concept of their fourth LP: ‘Tavastland tells how in 1237 the Tavastians rose in rebellion against the church of Christ and drove the popes naked into the frost to die.’ Sounds like the metal album of 2025 to me! But I didn’t crown Tavastland for its lyrics that I can’t understand. As Dr. A.N. Grier has been exhorting for a decade, Havukruunu stands as a model of Viking black metal consistency, having dropped only very good-to-great albums since 2015. Tavastland isn’t a radical improvement over 2020’s Uinuous syömein sota, but it’s an (arguably excellent) improvement nonetheless, making it Havukruunu’s finest work yet. Yes, these fiery Finns forge sounds reminiscent of Bathory and Immortal, but Tavastland seized my attention for its adventurous prog sensibilities. Some of this can be attributed to the return of Hümo, whose bass rattles like the four strings of Geddy Lee. But the prog is deep in the album craft, from the overture-style modulations of opener “Kuolematon laulunhenki” to the extended guitar wankery of closer “De miseriis fennorum.” Now if only I can learn Finnish, I’ll be able to appreciate the killer anti-popery narrative while headbanging to my Record o’ 2025.Honorable Mentions:
- Am I in Trouble? // Spectrum
- Blut Aus Nord // Ethereal Horizons
- In Mourning // The Immortal
- Oromet // The Sinking Isle
- Wyatt E. // Zamāru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1
Song o’ the Year:
- Phantom Spell – “The Autumn Citadel”
Baguette of Bodom
#ish. In the Woods… // Otra
#10. Species // Changelings
#9. Dragon Skull // Chaos Fire Vengeance
#8. A-Z // A2Z²
#7. Apocalypse Orchestra // A Plague upon Thee
#6. Amorphis // Borderland
#5. Dolmen Gate // Echoes of Ancient Tales
#4. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
#3. Amalekim // Shir Hashirim
#2. Suotana // Ounas II
#1. Buried Realm // The Dormant Darkness – Melodic tech death? Symphonic power metal? Who knows! Much like my 2025 in general, The Dormant Darkness has a bit of everything in one gigantic clusterfuck. The great news is, neither I nor the album crumbled under all that weight. In a year full of odd twists and turns, my list became more varied and unusual than ever. Buried Realm took this variety and gave me everything I like about metal in one dense package: blazing speeds, soaring guitars, majestic vocals, and relentless fury. It’s also inexplicably well-produced for how many layers there are to deal with. While 2025 was not a particularly star-studded release year—especially compared to most of the 2020s so far—it threw plenty of fun curveballs at me, and The Dormant Darkness exemplifies this with its Xothian fusion of metal subgenres in one big Ophidian I blender ov shred. I would also like to request several Christian Älvestam features on every album, please.Honorable Mentions:
- Victim of Fire // The Old Lie
- Dawn of Solace // Affliction Vortex
- Dynazty // Game of Faces
- Coroner // Dissonance Theory
- Hooded Menace // Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration
Song o’ the Year:
- Dragon Skull – “Blood and Souls”
Chaos Fire Vengeance by Dragon Skull
#1914 #2025 #AZ #AbigailWilliams #Abominator #Aephanemer #Agriculture #AmIInTrouble #Amalekim #Ambush #Amorphis #AnAbstractIllusion #ApocalypseOrchestra #Arkhaaik #Asira #Astronoid #Atlantic #AvaMendozaGabbyFlukeMogalCarolinaPérez #Aversed #Besna #BetweenTheBuriedAndMe #Bianca #Blackbraid #Blasphamagoatachrist #Blindfolded #BlogLists #Bloodywood #BlutAusNord #Bruit #BuriedRealm #CalvaLouise #CaveSermon #Changeling #Chestcrush #Coroner #CrimsonShadows #CripplingAlcoholism #DawnOfSolace #DaxRiggs #Deafheaven #DeathYell #Décryptal #Defigurement #DerWegEinerFreiheit #DolmenGate #DormantOrdeal #DragonSkull #DyingWish #Dynazty #Fange #FellOmen #Flummox #Gazpacho #GhostBath #Gorycz #Grima #Guts #HangoverInMinsk #Hasard #Havukruunu #Hexrot #HoodedMenace #Igorr #Igorrr #II #ImperialTriumphant #JonathanHultén #Kauan #LabyrinthusStellarum #Lipoma #Lists #Lorde #LornaShore #Lychgate #MaleficThrone #Messa #MoronPolice #Motherless #MutagenicHost #Nephylim #NightFlightOrchestra #Nite #Novarupta #OllieWride #Ophelion #OrbitCulture #Oromet #Panopticon #ParadiseLost #PedestalForLeviathan #PerditionTemple #PetrifiedGiant #PhantomSpell #PrimitiveMan #Proscription #Psychonaut #PupilSlicer #Puteraeon #Qrixkuor #Revocation #SallowMoth #Saor #ShadowOfIntent #ShayferJames #ShedTheSkin #Sigh #SoldSoul #Species #Spiritbox #Starscourge #SteelArctus #StevenWilson #Strigiform #Structure #Suncraft #Suotana #Teitanblood #TheAMGStaffPickTheirTopTenIshOf2025 #TheMidnight #Thron #Thumos #Turian #ÜltraRaptör #Urn #VenomousEchoes #VictimOfFire #Walg #Wardruna #WeepingSores #WyattE #WytchHazel #YellowEyes #Yellowcard #ZéroAbsolu -
파놉티콘 (Panopticon) (2023) [13 min] by Hyemin Woo | #Korea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6UUO1_x57w
#2D #2DAnimation #3D #3DAnimation #AnimatedShort #AnimatedShortOfTheDay #Animation #Panopticon #ChungKang #Prison #Escape #Escaping
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Everybody hates #robocalls. But, despite tech reporting being willing to give the #FCC leeway, this new measure is not to stop robocalls, it won’t do a damn thing to stop robocalls. What it does is make burner phones illegal.
Burners are an integral part of many social justice actions. Protestors use them to record #ICE and other #cops. We include them in “Go Bags” to let abused women and children escape. They allow for anonymity.
They are a thorn in the side of the panopticon, and they are moving to eliminate them.
Stock up kids.
https://mashable.com/article/fcc-proposes-to-battle-spam-calls-at-the-expense-of-privacy-protections
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Everybody hates #robocalls. But, despite tech reporting being willing to give the #FCC leeway, this new measure is not to stop robocalls, it won’t do a damn thing to stop robocalls. What it does is make burner phones illegal.
Burners are an integral part of many social justice actions. Protestors use them to record #ICE and other #cops. We include them in “Go Bags” to let abused women and children escape. They allow for anonymity.
They are a thorn in the side of the panopticon, and they are moving to eliminate them.
Stock up kids.
https://mashable.com/article/fcc-proposes-to-battle-spam-calls-at-the-expense-of-privacy-protections
-
Everybody hates #robocalls. But, despite tech reporting being willing to give the #FCC leeway, this new measure is not to stop robocalls, it won’t do a damn thing to stop robocalls. What it does is make burner phones illegal.
Burners are an integral part of many social justice actions. Protestors use them to record #ICE and other #cops. We include them in “Go Bags” to let abused women and children escape. They allow for anonymity.
They are a thorn in the side of the panopticon, and they are moving to eliminate them.
Stock up kids.
https://mashable.com/article/fcc-proposes-to-battle-spam-calls-at-the-expense-of-privacy-protections
-
Everybody hates #robocalls. But, despite tech reporting being willing to give the #FCC leeway, this new measure is not to stop robocalls, it won’t do a damn thing to stop robocalls. What it does is make burner phones illegal.
Burners are an integral part of many social justice actions. Protestors use them to record #ICE and other #cops. We include them in “Go Bags” to let abused women and children escape. They allow for anonymity.
They are a thorn in the side of the panopticon, and they are moving to eliminate them.
Stock up kids.
https://mashable.com/article/fcc-proposes-to-battle-spam-calls-at-the-expense-of-privacy-protections
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CW: Panopticon of world wide AI surveillance
Palantir was not conceived as a commercial tech product—it was born from the wreckage of a failed government surveillance program. Created by Peter Thiel and Alex Karp as the private successor to DARPA’s Total Information Awareness initiative, Palantir’s mission from the outset was to fuse mass surveillance, artificial intelligence, and predictive analytics into a tool for pre-crime governance. Its first and only client for years was the CIA, which deeply shaped the company's development and embedded it into the heart of U.S. intelligence infrastructure.
What emerged was a privatized version of the Panopticon, capable of predictive policing, pandemic modeling, and mass behavioral surveillance. From wastewater analytics during COVID to nationwide intelligence contracts, Palantir is now central to how the U.S. government processes and weaponizes information. But its roots reach even deeper, linking to PROMIS software, Iran-Contra operatives like John Poindexter, and shadowy data systems like Main Core—allegedly a secret list of Americans flagged for detention during “national emergencies.” These systems were not dismantled; they were privatized, insulated from oversight, and embedded across both government and corporate surveillance architectures.
Palantir’s rise is mirrored by other Thiel-backed ventures like Clearview AI and Facebook—technologies spun out of military research, marketed as innovation, and normalized into everyday life. As Whitney Webb reveals, we are already living within a surveillance state designed decades ago, now managed not by public institutions but by unaccountable corporations with intelligence roots and global reach.
#palantir #darpa #clearview #cia #peter_thiel #AISurveillance #uspol -
Onchocerciasis Esophagogastroduodenoscopy – Fugue Gnawed from the Scabbed God Cerebrum Review By Kenstrosity
Hot on the heels of my first encounter with Alice Simard’s work (Luminesce), another notch in her roster dropped into my unsuspecting lap. Canadian brutal slam/goregrind trio Onchocerciasis Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (henceforth referred to simply as OE) spawned seven years ago from a mire of gore, and Fugue Gnawed from the Scabbed God Cerebrum marks their second full expulsion. Mere seconds after slamming that play button, viscous fluids so voluminous as to mismatch the mass of the entities that expel them flood the entirety of my being, overflowing gushingly into the surrounding environs with destructive force. The general public gazes upon this outlandishly fecund release with equal parts disgust and fascination. Despite the grotesque nature of it all, though, I can’t in good conscience call the experience unpleasurable. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Brutal in the same inhuman way as known slammers Epicardiectomy and Organectomy, absurd as a lot of material coming out of the Indonesian and Chinese scenes are, and irreverently creative enough to recall the novel songwriting of Wormhole, Artificial Brain, Unhuman, and Unfathomable Ruination, OE’s style is often a delight and moreso a challenge. Alice (who is here credited under guitars, songwriting, and drum programming), Jesse Agiomamitis (vocals, lyrics1), and the mysterious The Popu (drum programming, guitars, lyrics, songwriting, synth, vocals) shine as a collaborative team, delivering a deceptively wide variety to what is typically an extremely limited stylistic palette. All 33 minutes of Fugue fall neatly in the brutal slamgrind niche, but it’s undeniably one of the wildest executions of the style. That unhinged spirit affords the ballistic percussion a sense of immediate danger that belies its impossible technicality, the monstrously toilet-tastic vocals a sense of vibrant dynamics they absolutely should not have, and the multifaceted guitar work a kaleidoscopic personality that colors the entire record in vivid detail.
Fugue Gnawed from the Scabbed God Cerebrum by Onchocerciasis Esophagogastroduodenoscopy
However, and perhaps even as a consequence of these aforementioned traits, Fugue is a trial in music appreciation. Not for the faint of heart or the frail of ear, Fugue seems to wholly reject the idea of memorability as a virtue. Certainly, in its first half, before “Gutted & Corpsed” shocks me with an almost beautiful shift from relentless assault to thoughtful transitions and subversive intricacies, Fugue is hell-bent on punishing any listener that comes close. Gnashing with serrated teeth crowding a jaw capable of crushing diamond like Nerds candy, “Conquering Divinity” through “Entombed Within the Infinite Panopticon” bullies anyone that approaches with endless slam riffs (but fast), violent scrapes (“The Fallen Lament, Paralytikus Ascends”), fucked-up lead guitar atmospheres (“Severing What Makes Me Human,” “Apotheotic Apotemnophilia”), machine-gun blasts and double-bass abuse (“Entombed Within the Inifinite Panopticon”), and unreal spans of sustained phlegmy gutturals (name a song, any song). The addition of eerie bongs and bells adds to the sinister nature of these initial songs, but only minimally aids their memorability. Yet, they are all counterintuitively enjoyable in the same manner as discovering your first kink.
Thankfully, that first prolonged salvo of abject violence only takes 13 minutes, at which time Fugue shifts. It’s hard to expect creativity and thoughtful detailing to come into play with this kind of extreme fringe music. Undeterred by that reality, OE start integrating more purposeful dissonant flourishes, effervescent leads bordering against—but never quite crossing into—melody, and a downright airy atmosphere that together recall 50% Wormhole, 50% Afterbirth (“Heaven’s Empty Halls”). More Wormhole-isms abound in conjunction with Epicardiectomy madness and Artificial Brain-ed atmosphere as “Hurt Beyond Healing” and “Forged in the Blackest Reaches of Blasphemy” pair high-detail phrasing with terrifying brutalizations. While still escaping the realm of immediacy, memorability, or accessibility, Fugue’s second act shows OE’s greater range as songwriters in such a way as to compel me to revisit with great anticipation, enthusiastic for the deeper details I might uncover.
While far from easy to love, for any number of reasons all associated with the extreme nature of its composition and its over-the-top execution, Fugue Gnawed from the Scabbed God Cerebrum is an album of rare quality in the scene of disgusting, inhuman music. Many will balk at its cartoonish gurgle vox, its total lack of subtlety in the first phase, and the relentlessness of its dense and complex instrumentation. Those who weather that storm will discover something a bit more substantial underneath. I didn’t expect to find that substance myself, but here I am. Join me, if you think you can handle it!
Rating: Good!
#2026 #30 #Afterbirth #Apr26 #ArtificialBrain #BrutalDeathMetal #CanadianMetal #Epicardiectomy #FugueGnawedFromTheScabbedGodCerebrum #Goregrind #Luminesce #OnchocerciasisEsophagogastroduodenoscopy #Organectomy #Review #Reviews #Slam #StillbirthRecords #TechnicalDeathMetal #UnfathomableRuination #Unhuman #Wormhole
DR: 42 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Stillbirth Records
Websites: officialonchocerciasis.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/OnchoOfficial
Releases Worldwide: April 3rd, 2026 -
Panopticon - Set Hjemsøkte Hjertet
https://thetruepanopticon.bandcamp.com/album/det-hjems-kte-hjertet
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Gaza futura tra annientamento e colonialismo ipertecnologico
Il Board of Peace e la pianificazione alternativa di Gaza Phoenix.
img generata da IA – dominio pubblico
di S. Simoncini
«Raptores orbis, postquam cuncta vastantibus defuere terrae mare scrutantur si locupes hostis est avari, si pauper ambitiosi, quos non oriens, non occidens satiaverit; soli omnium opes atque inopiam pari adfectu concupiscunt. Auferre, trucidare, rapere falsis nominibus imperium,
atque ubi solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant.Predatori del mondo intero, adesso che mancano terre alla vostra sete di totale devastazione andate a frugare anche il mare, avidi se il nemico è ricco, arroganti se è povero, gente che né l’Oriente né l’Occidente possono saziare, solo voi bramate possedere con pari smania ricchezza e miseria. Rubano, massacrano, rapinano e con falso nome lo chiamano impero. Rubano, massacrano, rapinano e con falso nome lo chiamano nuovo ordine, infine dove fanno il deserto dicono, che è la pace»
Publio Cornelio Tacito, De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae, cit. in Vite perdite, di Daniele Sepe, cantato da Zulù dei 99 Posse.
La pace come continuazione della guerra con altri mezzi
La parola pace a Gaza, oggi, evoca più un dispositivo di governance che un valore universale. È un lessico che dichiara di chiudere la guerra mentre ne valorizza e riorganizza gli esiti: amministrare le rovine, governare i flussi, stabilire chi conta e chi no, decidere quali vite sono “ricostruibili” e quali restano eccedenze. In questa torsione autoritaria e affarista, la pace si avvicina a una parafrasi rovesciata di Clausewitz: non più la “guerra” come continuazione della politica con altri mezzi, ma la “pace” come continuazione della guerra con altri mezzi. Mezzi finanziari, normativi, infrastrutturali. Mezzi, sempre più spesso, digitali.
È in questo quadro che il Board of Peace appare, al tempo stesso, come male minore e come aberrazione. Male minore perché, nella narrazione dominante, rappresenterebbe un argine a una prospettiva ancora peggiore: l’ipotesi di un ritorno all’occupazione militare totale, fino a scenari di annessione e di espulsione, sostenuti dall’estrema destra di governo israeliana, e in particolare da figure come Bezalel Smotrich, che in Cisgiordania spingono apertamente verso un salto di qualità del colonialismo di insediamento. Ma anche aberrazione, perché la sua architettura somiglia a un “gran consiglio” di potenze e interessi che si colloca al di sopra dei vincoli dell’ONU, del diritto internazionale e del controllo democratico.
Questa ambivalenza produce un’immagine inquietante: il futuro di Gaza, in quanto laboratorio di una nuova governance globale, sembra schiacciato tra due forme di negazione. Da un lato, una pace commissariale, trumpiana, che promette ricostruzione e stabilità mentre ridisegna d’imperio governance e territorio; dall’altro, una traiettoria apertamente espulsiva, che non ha bisogno di ricostruire perché punta a trasformare Gaza in un problema di sicurezza permanente, da gestire militarmente e, se possibile, da svuotare.
Eppure, proprio quando tutto sembra chiuso in questa tenaglia, emergono segnali che incrinano il fatalismo. La Global Sumud Flotilla, con la sua logica di intervento civile transnazionale, ha mostrato che iniziative non governative possono spostare l’attenzione pubblica, aumentare il costo politico di certe scelte e produrre – anche indirettamente – nuove finestre di possibilità. Non si tratta di mitizzare una flotilla come se fosse una leva risolutiva, ma di riconoscere una dinamica: quando gli assetti politici globali si ripiegano in forme di governamentalità autoritaria, la pressione esterna può imporre una soglia, interrompere un’accelerazione e rendere praticabile forme di resistenza che prima apparivano impossibili. In quel senso, si può sostenere che la flottiglia abbia contribuito a “raffreddare” per un tratto la traiettoria più apertamente genocidaria su cui era lanciato il governo israeliano, facilitando un cessate il fuoco fragile e, con esso, l’emersione del Board of Peace. Ma la stessa logica potrebbe riattivarsi: la flottiglia non come evento, bensì come infrastruttura politica dinamica e capace di rimettere in tensione gli equilibri.
Questa è la premessa da cui conviene partire. Perché il vero punto, oggi, non è scegliere tra due mali. È capire se esistano alternative reali che non siano né la pace come gestione coloniale né la guerra come occupazione permanente. Alternative che non nascono nei palazzi, ma dentro reti municipali, comunità professionali palestinesi, solidarietà transnazionali, università, organizzazioni civiche. Alternative che, proprio perché non occupano il centro della scena, possono crescere inaspettatamente.
Pace come stato d’eccezione: il Board of Peace
Il Board of Peace viene presentato come un dispositivo “post-bellico”: una cabina di regia capace di tenere insieme cessate il fuoco, sicurezza, ricostruzione e rilancio economico. Il suo linguaggio è quello dell’efficienza e della stabilizzazione: coordinare fondi, mobilitare una forza internazionale, addestrare polizie, garantire che i flussi di aiuti non alimentino nuovi conflitti. A prima vista, sembra una risposta pragmatica al collasso.
Ma l’elemento rivelatore è proprio la sua forma istituzionale. Molte analisi hanno sottolineato un dettaglio tutt’altro che marginale: la carta fondativa del Board non menziona Gaza, pur essendo Gaza la sua principale arena. Questo significa che l’iniziativa si pensa come modello replicabile, un dispositivo che può essere esteso ad altre crisi, sottraendo spazio e centralità alle sedi multilaterali tradizionali. È il motivo per cui, fin dall’inizio, l’accusa ricorrente non è solo quella di “colonialismo economico”, ma di aggressione all’architettura del diritto internazionale: un organismo che tende a rendere opzionale il perimetro ONU.
Il Board, inoltre, non opera da solo. Intorno ad esso si costruisce un ecosistema di organismi “satellite” – comitati esecutivi, autorità tecniche, forze di stabilizzazione – che possono diventare la vera infrastruttura del day after. In quella cornice, la linea tra coordinamento e sostituzione si assottiglia: non si tratta solo di distribuire fondi, ma di disegnare un sistema di governo territoriale. E qui si pone la domanda cruciale: chi parla per Gaza? Quali garanzie impediscono che la ricostruzione diventi una tecnologia di rimozione – delle persone, della memoria, dei diritti – sotto il linguaggio neutro della “rinascita”? La domanda diventa ancora più tagliente se si guarda alla composizione del Board: non è un consesso neutrale di mediatori, ma un’alleanza di governi e leader con interessi convergenti. Vi siede, innanzitutto, il governo israeliano – mentre Israele è parte in un procedimento davanti alla Corte Internazionale di Giustizia con l’accusa di genocidio, e i suoi rappresentanti sono accusati di crimini di guerra dalla Corte penale internazionale – e, più in generale, un insieme di attori politici e finanziari che trattano la “pace” come piattaforma di governo regionale e stratosferici investimenti. A questo si aggiunge un dato politico che in Europa è passato quasi sotto traccia: tra i Paesi dell’UE, solo Ungheria e Bulgaria hanno formalmente aderito, mentre altri governi – come Italia e Grecia – hanno partecipato come osservatori. Il segnale è chiaro: l’attrazione esercitata dal Board non passa tanto da una legittimazione multilaterale, quanto dalla promessa di un modello di gestione extra-ONU, compatibile con culture di governo illiberali e con una ricostruzione intesa come grande operazione geopolitica e finanziaria e, potenzialmente, come sperimentazione di una nuova forma di colonialismo ipertecnologico.
Fig. 1: Jared Kushner, “inviato speciale” per la pace nominato da Trump e membro del Consiglio direttivo del Board of Peace
Il peggio del peggio: sabotaggio e ipotesi di occupazione permanente
Se il Board of Peace appare come un male minore, è perché l’ipotesi alternativa è drammaticamente cupa e, a tratti, esplicita: una strategia che lavora per rendere il “day after” impraticabile, così da trasformare il caos in argomento per la permanenza militare. In questo senso, le ricostruzioni giornalistiche di +972 Magazine sulla vicenda della National Civic Assembly for Gaza (NCAG) sono istruttive.
Secondo l’inchiesta, l’NCAG – un organismo civico-tecnico pensato per preparare una transizione amministrativa – sarebbe stato svuotato attraverso una combinazione di condizioni impossibili: restrizioni sull’impiego di personale (né Hamas né Autorità Palestinese), assenza di staff operativo, ostacoli all’ingresso a Gaza, fino all’erosione sistematica di qualunque capacità di governo sul terreno. La conseguenza è un paradosso funzionale: si sostiene che “non esiste un’autorità palestinese credibile”, mentre si impedisce la costruzione di qualunque embrione di governance. È un meccanismo classico della governance coloniale: creare il vuoto e poi dichiarare che il vuoto rende necessaria l’amministrazione dall’esterno.
È qui che entra in scena l’ultra-destra di governo. Non serve immaginare un complotto: basta osservare l’allineamento tra sabotaggio politico e agenda territoriale. In Cisgiordania, misure amministrative recenti si configurano senza ombra di dubbio come leve di annessione de facto. Smotrich, che non nasconde l’obiettivo di imporre “sovranità” su territori occupati, incarna l’idea che la questione palestinese possa essere risolta non con negoziati, ma con un salto di regime territoriale: consolidare controllo, frammentare diritti, rendere irreversibile il fatto compiuto.
La domanda allora diventa inevitabile: se questo è il laboratorio in Cisgiordania, perché Gaza dovrebbe essere diversa? In un territorio devastato, con archivi distrutti, popolazione sfollata e proprietà difficili da documentare, la gestione dei registri – terra, residenza, identità – può diventare una leva demografica. Non serve una deportazione dichiarata: può bastare un insieme di regole che renda impossibile tornare, ricostruire, registrare, ottenere permessi. È il punto in cui la pianificazione e la ricostruzione diventano strumenti per la realizzazione di un regime coloniale.
Infrastrutture e digitale: quando il “futuro” diventa un automatismo macchinico
Dentro questa contesa, le infrastrutture non sono un capitolo tecnico: sono la sostanza della politica. Porto e aeroporto non sono solo opere; sono accessi, sovranità, economia, possibilità di vita. Acqua, energia e fognature non sono solo reti; sono dipendenze, vulnerabilità, capacità di resistere a blocchi e interruzioni. In una Striscia sottoposta per anni a restrizioni e assedi, la ricostruzione delle reti è anche ricostruzione del diritto a esistere.
E poi c’è la dimensione digitale, che spesso arriva travestita da neutralità: tracciabilità degli aiuti, identità digitali, piattaforme per l’erogazione dei servizi, sistemi di pagamento, registri elettronici di proprietà e residenza, strumenti di sorveglianza “intelligente” per la sicurezza. In una lettura tendenziosa, tutto questo riduce corruzione e inefficienza. In una lettura realistica, in un contesto militarizzato, può diventare un panopticon umanitario: ricevi aiuti se sei registrato; ti muovi se il tuo profilo è “abilitato”; ricostruisci se la tua proprietà è riconosciuta da un registro controllato da altri.
Il Board of Peace, nella sua retorica di modernizzazione, accarezza un immaginario futuristico: nuove città, industria high-tech, grandi infrastrutture logistiche, waterfront “rinato”. Ma questo immaginario tende a trattare Gaza come tabula rasa: un suolo “libero” da riprogettare, più che un tessuto sociale da ricucire. La tecnologia, in questo scenario, diventa un dispositivo coloniale, un colonialismo ipertecnologico appunto, fondato sul controllo automatico capillare della circolazione di merci e persone. Perché le infrastrutture – fisiche e digitali – non servono soltanto a far funzionare una città: regolano la circolazione di merci e valute, decidono chi accede a che cosa e a quali condizioni, definiscono e registrano interazioni, e così finiscono per plasmare la futura società di Gaza. La domanda, allora, non è tanto quale futuro avrà Gaza, ma quale futuro per il mondo si stia preparando e testando a Gaza.
Fig. 2: La “vision” di Gaza futura secondo i “palazzinari” Trump e Kushner
Le invisibili alternative dal basso: Gaza Phoenix contro la tenaglia coloniale
Ed è qui che la questione cambia segno. Se si accetta la narrazione secondo cui le opzioni sono solo due – Board o occupazione – allora la partita della ricostruzione è già stata perduta. Ma se si riconosce che esistono processi alternativi, la domanda diventa: come farli emergere e crescere?
La Global Sumud Flotilla, per quanto eterogenea, ha mostrato una possibilità: una mobilitazione transnazionale, non governativa, capace di imporre ai potenti un costo reputazionale e politico, di produrre attenzione e di smascherare la “normalizzazione” del genocidio. È la stessa logica che può sostenere un’alternativa di ricostruzione: non un progetto imperiale condito dagli spiriti animali del capitalismo distopico e dispotico trumpiano, ma una combinazione di municipalità, diaspora professionale, università, organizzazioni civiche, alleanze internazionali orientate ai diritti. A questo punto, l’alternativa finora rimasta sullo sfondo può essere nominata. Esiste un framework che prova a tradurre questa grammatica in pianificazione: Gaza Phoenix1.
Gaza Phoenix nasce precisamente come risposta al rischio di una ricostruzione coloniale. Il suo punto di partenza è tanto semplice quanto politicamente esplosivo: Gaza non è ground zero. Non è uno spazio vuoto da riempire, ma un territorio con memoria, reti sociali, pratiche quotidiane, asset spaziali sopravvissuti. Di conseguenza, rifiuta l’idea della grande sostituzione edilizia e propone un approccio multiscalare e a timeline integrate: emergenza, stabilizzazione, ricostruzione e sviluppo sono fasi intrecciate, non blocchi separati.
Dal punto di vista urbanistico, l’elemento più interessante è la capacità di trasformare vincoli in criteri: infrastrutture decentralizzate e ridondanti, capacità di sopravvivenza civile, riuso delle macerie come materia prima, hub circolari come pezzi di economia locale, non come dispositivi tecnici isolati. Sul piano territoriale, il framework lavora su una lettura chiara della geografia di Gaza: asse urbanizzato longitudinale, costa come spazio pubblico e economia del mare, interno verde come sicurezza alimentare ed energia rinnovabile, e il Wadi Gaza come infrastruttura ecologica e sociale. Da qui nasce l’idea della Blue & Green Spine, che prova a tenere insieme resilienza climatica e ricostruzione sociale.
Due aspetti, in particolare, parlano direttamente al nodo della sovranità. Il primo è l’attenzione esplicita alla proprietà e alla prevenzione dell’appropriazione massiva sotto il pretesto della ricostruzione: Gaza Phoenix si definisce property-rights-aware e tratta i diritti fondiari diffusi come infrastruttura politica. Il secondo è l’uso del digitale come infrastruttura civica: archivi pubblici e servizi, e-learning e università connesse, strumenti per le imprese locali, accesso a sistemi bancari e monetari digitali per famiglie e amministrazioni. Il digitale non come recinto securitario, ma come infrastruttura collaborativa che integra energie civiche e istituzioni.
Una caratteristica fondamentale e poco evidenziata è che Gaza Phoenix non è solo “un piano di esperti”. È un processo che si appoggia a una struttura municipale – l’Unione delle Municipalità di Gaza – e che prova a costruire una comunità internazionale di supporto senza sostituirsi ai soggetti locali. In questo quadro si collocano iniziative come la giornata di studi ospitata dal Politecnico di Bari con Regione Puglia, costruita attorno al piano come punto di inizio di un processo endogeno e come piattaforma di vera cooperazione internazionale2.
Questa impostazione ha un pregio evidente ma purtroppo non scontato: evita il riflesso automatico dell’eccezione. Non assume che la guerra abbia azzerato tutto, ma cerca di mettere in sicurezza ciò che resta – reti sociali, istituzioni, pratiche – e di trasformare la ricostruzione in un processo di riparazione, non in una sostituzione.
Fig. 3: Il masterplan di Gaza Phoenix
Giustizia tra memoria e ricostruzione: quali risorse, processi e strumenti possono favorire una rinascita dal basso di Gaza
Resta quindi apertissimo il nodo più controverso: la relazione tra ricostruzione e giustizia. La domanda “Israele deve pagare?” non è solo morale: è giuridica e politica. Nel diritto internazionale, la riparazione per atti illeciti e danni di guerra è un principio consolidato; non coincide automaticamente con un meccanismo praticabile, ma stabilisce un orizzonte di responsabilità. Nel caso palestinese, inoltre, la questione delle riparazioni è intrecciata al riconoscimento dell’illegalità dell’occupazione e delle politiche di annessione che non riguardano solo Gaza.
Una ricostruzione finanziata esclusivamente da donatori esterni, senza un meccanismo di responsabilità e senza tutela dei diritti, rischia di produrre una distorsione strutturale e inaccettabile: le vittime pagano due volte. Prima con la distruzione, poi con la dipendenza. E i responsabili della distruzione non pagano nulla. Per questo la ricostruzione non può essere trattata come “piano infrastrutturale” separato dai processi di giustizia: gli stessi strumenti tecnici – censimenti, registri, valutazioni danni – possono essere catturati e trasformati in leve di controllo. Altrimenti può essere considerata un compimento del piano genocidario.
Fig. 4. La stima dei danni provocati da Israele secondo Gaza Phoenix
Da qui nasce un’ipotesi che si vuole lanciare con questo articolo, che solo a prima vista sembra collaterale: costruire un museo immateriale del genocidio, della distruzione e della ricostruzione, come infrastruttura di memoria pubblica e come dispositivo di giustizia. Non un memoriale simbolico, ma una piattaforma capace di connettere prova, racconto e progetto: immagini satellitari, mappature dei danni, ricostruzioni 3D, testimonianze, timeline, stratificazione dei luoghi cancellati.
Forensic Architecture3, con le sue metodologie di investigazione spaziale e visiva, potrebbe contribuire a costruire un archivio interoperabile che funzioni anche come contro-infrastruttura politica. Non serve soltanto a ricordare: serve a rendere discutibile e contestabile qualunque narrazione che trasformi Gaza in un terreno neutro di investimento. In un’epoca in cui la ricostruzione tende a essere raccontata come “ripartenza”, un museo immateriale può impedire che la modernizzazione venga usata per rimuovere il crimine e per cancellare la storia.
La contrapposizione tra Board of Peace e Gaza Phoenix non è una disputa tra “piano grande” e “piano locale”. È una disputa tra due teorie della pace. La prima immagina la pace come governo coloniale tecnocratico: sicurezza, controllo dei flussi, investimenti, grandi infrastrutture e una governance eccezionale che riduce la società a oggetto di gestione. La seconda immagina la pace come ricostruzione di capacità collettive: proprietà protetta, municipalità rafforzate, infrastrutture resilienti, digitale come servizio pubblico, memoria come diritto.
Se la comunità internazionale vuole davvero sostenere un’alternativa, non basta mettere fondi “per la ricostruzione”. Deve scegliere come quei fondi vengono governati, quali principi li vincolano, quali istituzioni locali vengono riconosciute, e quali infrastrutture – materiali e immateriali – rendono possibile una sovranità civile e democratica. In questo quadro si profila, all’orizzonte, una nuova missione della Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF): non solo come gesto di rottura capace di riaprire lo spazio politico, ma come possibile piattaforma di continuità tra pressione civile transnazionale e proposta istituzionale dal basso. Se la sua “infrastruttura di terra” – reti logistiche, comunicative, legali e di advocacy – decidesse di assumere Gaza Phoenix e un museo immateriale del genocidio e della ricostruzione come architrave propositiva, la Flotilla andrebbe oltre il punto di rottura della visibilità politica e diventerebbe niente di meno di un vettore di un modello alternativo di governo mondiale.
Resta però il problema politico più difficile: una ricostruzione che sia il più possibile democratica e disarmata, capace di trascendere Hamas senza imporre strutture esogene. È qui che l’ONU torna a essere non un simbolo, ma una questione di metodo: perché, se si rifiuta sia l’amministrazione extra-ONU del Board of Peace sia l’orizzonte espulsivo del governo israeliano, serve un dispositivo di transizione che tenga insieme legittimità, inclusione e sicurezza senza trasformarsi in un protettorato. La storia recente offre esperienze, controverse ma istruttive, di state building e amministrazioni transitorie in cui la comunità internazionale ha cercato di accompagnare processi politici interni – dal Sud Africa, con la centralità della legittimazione popolare e della ricomposizione istituzionale, fino alla Bosnia, dove la pace ha assunto la forma di un compromesso fortemente internazionalizzato e non privo di effetti collaterali. Gaza, oggi, è davanti a un bivio simile: senza una cornice multilaterale credibile e senza un processo politico che non sia “per delega”, anche la migliore infrastruttura materiale rischia di produrre soltanto governabilità coloniale; mentre l’alternativa che vale la pena sostenere è quella che trasforma la ricostruzione in un percorso di sovranità civile dal basso, incentrata su giustizia e memoria.
2 https://www.poliba.it/it/ateneo/day-reconstruction-gaza
3 https://forensic-architecture.org/
#boardOfPeace #gaza #GazaPhoenix #genocidio #guerra #impero #investimenti #sumud #trump -
I had to make sure that the evidence was on the peertube, but Larry Ellison spilled the beans. They want the panopticon & the whole "gen-AI" congame was a cover for that.
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“When I was in justice, my ultimate vision for that part of the criminal justice system was to achieve, by means of AI and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with his Panopticon. That is that the eyes of the state can be on you at all times.”
– Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary of the UK
(For those of you not in the UK, these are the so-called “centrists.”)
Via @fkamiah17
#panopticon #fascism #Labour #UK #ukPol #ShabanaMahmood #JeremyBentham #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou
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“When I was in justice, my ultimate vision for that part of the criminal justice system was to achieve, by means of AI and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with his Panopticon. That is that the eyes of the state can be on you at all times.”
– Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary of the UK
(For those of you not in the UK, these are the so-called “centrists.”)
Via @fkamiah17
#panopticon #fascism #Labour #UK #ukPol #ShabanaMahmood #JeremyBentham #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou
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“When I was in justice, my ultimate vision for that part of the criminal justice system was to achieve, by means of AI and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with his Panopticon. That is that the eyes of the state can be on you at all times.”
– Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary of the UK
(For those of you not in the UK, these are the so-called “centrists.”)
Via @fkamiah17
#panopticon #fascism #Labour #UK #ukPol #ShabanaMahmood #JeremyBentham #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou
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“When I was in justice, my ultimate vision for that part of the criminal justice system was to achieve, by means of AI and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with his Panopticon. That is that the eyes of the state can be on you at all times.”
– Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary of the UK
(For those of you not in the UK, these are the so-called “centrists.”)
Via @fkamiah17
#panopticon #fascism #Labour #UK #ukPol #ShabanaMahmood #JeremyBentham #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou
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REVEALED: THE “BALLROOM” AND “RADICAL LEFTISM” PSYOPS ARE COVER FOR A “STARGATE COMMAND” UNDERGROUND DATA CENTER & PALANTIR-STYLE MASS SURVEILLANCE STATE — Sam Parker
#espionage #infiltration #information #speculation #technology #totalitarianismTHE BALLROOM
Trump is building a 90,000 square foot ballroom with a 1,000 person capacity. Hardly adequate for the White House Correspondents Dinner which was attended by 2,600 people. But we’re told that we need the ballroom in order to host events like the WHCD in the future. Bullsh*t.COST & LOCATION
The cost has ballooned to over $300-$400 million. We’re told it’s being privately funded and being sold on that as being a good thing that won’t cost the taxpayers. Here’s the reality: private funding means no congressional oversight or appropriations, no budget hearings, no public scrutiny.Furthermore, when infrastructure is part of the Executive Office of the President at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, it can be CLASSIFIED under “executive privilege.” The entire executive branch will be able to run this data center without oversight or checks & balances.
…LEAD ARCHITECT
Shalom Baranes, a jewish immigrant to the US via the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), has been appointed architect. Previously, Baranes was the architect for the post-911 hardening & rebuilding of a little building called the Pentagon. SCIFs, bomb-proofing, compartmentalization, etc.—the whole 9 yards. Baranes has no expertise designing ballrooms, that I could find. But he did help renovate one at the National Red Cross Headquarters once. Besides his renovation of Pentagon Wedges 2-5, he’s also done the U.S. Treasury Building modernization, and the Department of the Interior Headquarters & GSA National Headquarters renovations. It seems his talents center around building secure federal infrastructure, not event halls.…CONCLUSION
They’re building a Stargate Command bunker under the ballroom, and they need us to buy the ballroom narrative bullsh*t in order to gin up public support to ram this through against the opposition it’s currently facing.This facility will most likely be the nerve center hub of the new “national security” Palantir spy infrastructure and digital control grid panopticon. In short, an essential facility to continue helping to enslave us, and putting any oversight by WE THE PEOPLE beyond our control. For israel’s benefit, and the jewish global empire-national security state blob.
I don’t think so. I’m America First & Only, and israel/ballroom LAST.
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I suppose it's been long enough to confess that I WENT TO THIS CONCERT! My first time at Madison Square Garden. Wow, what a panopticon. But, fun was had.
Shout out to the woman who yawns. She's not me (couldn't afford those seats) but she could have been.
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Oh, good: Discord's age verification rollout has ties to Palantir co-founder and panopticon architect Peter Thiel
Discord is "experimenting" with an age authentication vendor whose major investors include Thiel's Founders Fund.
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The case for ‘lying flat’ (躺平)? 🤔
🇨🇳 CCP's subjects are working their asses off — building their own prison. Think about it.
The never-elected #dictatorship is nothing without its voiceless and rightless 'masses' as a labour force.
Now with the added pervasive #surveillance panopticon — achieved with foreign inventions and technology — those subjects have practically zero chance of ever organizing functional resistance against their armed overlords.
💡️ The only ways of *not collaborating* with their repressors are either 1) fleeing into exile or... 2) "lying flat" (躺平).
That is, doing the absolute minimum to survive without participating in any productive pursuits aiding the regime.
A (far) more dangerous option would, of course, be working to instill the #UnitedNations enshrined civil liberties which the CCP consider as its existential threat...
#CCP #PRC #china #chinese #Hongkong #Hongkongers #Tibet #Tibetans #EastTurkistan #Uighurs #Mongolia #democracy #humanrights #躺平 #lyingflat
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#ColumbiaUniversity Bent Over Backward to Appease #RightWing, #ProIsrael Attacks — And #Trump Still Cut #FederalFunding
Instead of #outrage, the school’s interim president responded to the cuts by vowing to continue its misguided crackdown.
by Natasha Lennard, March 8 2025
"Columbia University could hardly have been more draconian in the last year and a half since students began speaking out against Israel’s assault on #Gaza.
In early November 2023, four months before the Columbia #GazaSolidarity encampment even began, the university banned its chapters of #StudentsForJusticeInPalestine and #JewishVoiceForPeace. A few hundred students from the groups had had the audacity to walk out from classes and hold a “die-in” protest on campus — some of the most widely celebrated nonviolent protest tactics available."The crackdown was just getting started.
Since then, the university has ordered police raids on campus three times, leading to the arrests of over 100 students. Last week, the school expelled four students, three from #BarnardCollege one from Columbia. Many dozens of students have faced discipline and suspensions for participating in pro-Palestine protests and speech.
"Professors have been slandered before Congress, censured, removed from positions, and reportedly pushed into retirement over their support for Palestine and criticism of Israel. The campus has been essentially locked down for almost a year.
"Again and again, Columbia has shown a willingness to throw #students, #faculty, #FreeSpeech, and academic freedom under the bus in acquiescence to a #RightWing, #ProIsrael narrative that treats support for Palestinians as an affront to Jewish safety.
"For all Columbia’s #appeasement, President Donald Trump’s Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism announced last week that it would cancel $400 million in #FederalGrants and contracts to the university.
"'Columbia has worked overtime to appease,' wrote Layla, a student at Columbia’s School of Social Work, who asked to withhold her last name having faced doxxing attacks and harassment from Zionist groups. 'Students are miserable. Campus is a #panopticon. And their funding was still cut.'
"The Trump administration can be expected to use its perverted conception of antisemitism to further its explicit plans to decimate, #corporatize, and #ReWhiten #HigherEducation. The shame here lies with university leaderships — at Columbia and schools nationwide — that have failed to stand up for their purported missions of #CriticalThinking and #AcademicFreedom. Instead, they have put some of their most vulnerable community members, particularly international students and students of color, at risk.
"There is no appeasing a political force like the #TrumpianRight, intent on a program of destruction. And there is no appeasing a nationalist #Zionist worldview that, defying reason, sees #antisemitism in every call for #Palestinian freedom. Columbia is proof of the failure of caving in; the administration has offered up a platter of repression for more than a year and is still slated to lose $400 million."
Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2025/03/08/columbia-trump-funding-gaza-israel/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/jrNva
#Fascism #Appeasement #FreePalestine #Gaza #RightToProtest #Censorship #Fascism #ICE #ACAB #Authoritarianism #USPol #FreeSpeech -
La cupa leggenda di Abashiri, carcere costruito sui gelidi confini del Giappone settentrionale
https://www.jacoporanieri.com/blog/?p=43179#luoghi #strutture #storia #meiji #giappone #oriente #asia #prigionieri #guardie #architettura #panopticon #musei #visite #viaggi #puntidiriferimento #dal mondo #Hokkaido #novecento #società #crimini #punizioni #lavori #infrastrutture
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Today's Flickr photo with the most hits: the singing Ringing Tree - one of the county's Panopticons. This particular one sits on Crown Point, on the moors above Burnley. When the winds stirs, the tree sings and eerie song to listeners.
#SingingRingingTree #panopticon #burnley #lancashire #sculpture #NoiseMaker
