All posts tagged: Denouncing

Palantir posts mini-manifesto denouncing inclusivity and ‘regressive’ cultures

Palantir posts mini-manifesto denouncing inclusivity and ‘regressive’ cultures

Published by skeptic

Surveillance and analytics company Palantir recently posted what it called a “brief” 22-point summary of CEO Alexander Karp’s book “The Technological Republic.” Written by Karp and Palantir’s head of corporate affairs Nicholas Zamiska, “The Technological Republic” was published last year and described by its authors as “the beginnings of the articulation of the theory” behind Palantir’s work. (One critic said it was “not a book at all, but a piece of corporate sales material.”) The company’s ideological bent has come under more scrutiny since then, as tech industry figures have debated Palantir’s work with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and as the company has positioned itself as an organization working for the defense of “the West.” In fact, congressional Democrats recently sent a letter to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security demanding more information about how tools built by Palantir and “a range of surveillance companies” are being used in the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation strategy. Palantir’s post doesn’t reference much of that context directly, simply saying that it’s providing the summary “because we …

Yuri Dmitriev, the Russian historian imprisoned for denouncing Kremlin attempts to rewrite history

Yuri Dmitriev, the Russian historian imprisoned for denouncing Kremlin attempts to rewrite history

Published by Sam Flores

The Russian authorities did everything they could to break him, but, at 70 years old, Yuri Dmitriev has not given in. Since May 2022, Dmitriev, a historian specialized in the Soviet-era gulags, has lived the life of a convict in the heart of Mordovia, a stark region located 500 kilometers east of Moscow, dotted with lakes, rivers and prison camps that date back to the Soviet era. Imprisoned since 2016, he is one of the oldest detainees in Russia’s prisons. For 30 years, Dmitriev worked to locate mass graves that prove the Soviet regime’s Stalin-era crimes, horrors that the Kremlin is determined to cover up at all costs. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), one of the KGB’s successors, is suspected of having fabricated a child sexual abuse case against him, both to silence him and to intimidate anyone else who does not conform to the regime’s official historical narrative. According to human rights advocates, he was the victim of a “shameful trial,” and the charges against him were actually a case of kompromat, an …

After Denouncing Tunnel Fits, Kyle Kuzma Has Embraced Minimalism

After Denouncing Tunnel Fits, Kyle Kuzma Has Embraced Minimalism

Published by Jenni Sidey

Kyle Kuzma is a man of many fits. The basketball star has never been afraid of a big sartorial swing, and there are years of NBA tunnel looks to prove it: red leather overalls, giant fur coats, and, of course, the giant pink Raf Simons sweater seen ’round the world. But that was before Kuzma—perhaps one of the league’s most adventurous dressers—essentially announced, in 2024, that he was stepping away from the supercharged pre-game catwalk. His declaration became major news in NBA fashion circles. And sure enough, since then, Kuzma has downshifted into a quieter mode of dressing—albeit one that’s no less intentional, or less packed with high-grade fashion. Over the past 12 months, Kuzma has embraced a more minimalist palette with ease. Relative to his kooky garments of yore, his outfits now read as calm, tonal, and deliberate. He favors monochrome looks and grounded shades: olive, brown, the minimalist classics of black and white. The luxury is still there, just stripped of excess flash. (Don’t worry, though, he still sneaks in splashy moments from …