Satir Change Model

How to survive your first incident response

If you have ever tried to set up a Security Incident Response Team (SIRT) function in a small organisation, you will know that it is not about security, incidents, or even teams. It is about humans behaving badly under stress. Enter the Satir Change Model, a tool from family therapy that has no right working in cyberse…

October 16, 2025 · 6 min
A futuristic building in the shape of a data stack, with each layer representing a halted phase of AI development: machine learning, neural networks, general intelligence. Each level more incomplete than the last. Signs of abandonment, cranes frozen mid-air, architectural plans strewn across a cracked smart glass wall. Above, a billboard shows a serene Earth with the slogan: “We chose balance.

The Great Pullback (best case)

It is fashionable to believe that technological progress is inevitable, and that artificial intelligence will, barring catastrophe, continue its relentless march forward. But there is a future, quietly lurking just beyond the smug grins of Silicon Valley keynote speeches, where AI does not progress much further at all.…

July 21, 2025 · 4 min

Turbulent coexistence (likely case)

Elijah never quite knew how to answer the question, “So, what do you do?” He could say AI liaison, but that sounded pompous and vaguely sinister. He could say digital compliance coordinator, but even his mother snorted at that one. In truth, he spent most of his days arguing with regulatory software about whether the h…

July 21, 2025 · 4 min
A woman at a supermarket checkout looks confused as the screen reads “PURCHASE BLOCKED: DIETARY POLICY.” Behind her, other shoppers face similar digital payment refusals for reasons like age restriction, carbon limit, and social credit, highlighting a dystopian scenario of programmable money control.

Digital currencies and their discontents

Digital currencies promise a brave new world of financial innovation. But let us not get carried away with the techno-optimism. These things are not just magic internet money, they come with a tangled web of risks, from eye-watering scams to dystopian surveillance features. Especially when central banks start sniffing …

July 11, 2025 · 8 min

The calculated chaos behind Israel's strike on Iran

Why did Israel really attack Iran? Analysis with wit and additional perspectives by PR included. Israel’s recent strikes on Iran mark a dramatic escalation in a decades-long shadow war that has finally emerged from the shadows, rather like a pensioner suddenly taking up parkour. The reasons behind this attack weave tog…

June 13, 2025 · 8 min

Israel’s far-right coalition and its consequences

Meet the key players Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, now in his sixth term, is a master of political survival. His current tenure is propped up by far-right allies, a necessity given his ongoing corruption trials (fraud, bribery, and breach of trust). His primary objectives are maintaining …

June 3, 2025 · 4 min

Russia’s youth exodus and the Kremlin’s desperate crackdown

Note: All personal names have been anonymised unless the individual has a verifiable public presence and wishes to be visible. I choose to run risks; I will not make that choice for others. He was 21 and already battling high blood pressure. His doctors confirmed it. His exemption papers were in order. But that didn’t …

June 3, 2025 · 6 min

The delusion of a peaceful modern europe

The received wisdom, trotted out at Davos panels, EU Commission summits, and in the more sentimental columns of the Financial Times, is that Europe, having learned its lessons from two world wars, has spent the past eight decades basking in a glow of enlightened tranquillity. No more trenches, no more blitzes. Just a p…

May 27, 2025 · 6 min

Europe Inc. I. How neoliberal policies deepened economic inequality in Europe

Neoliberalism crept into Europe wearing a sharp suit and talking about efficiency. It promised a leaner, meaner state, less red tape, more growth, and a brighter future. What it delivered was stagnant wages, crumbling services, and Jeff Bezos in a rocket. For Europe, the cost has been clear: growing inequality, weakene…

May 13, 2025 · 5 min
The game is rigged

Europe Inc. II. Corporate hijacking of democracy and policy

European democracy, once sold to us as government for the people, increasingly resembles government for the shareholders. The slogans haven’t changed, “freedom”, “fairness”, “choice”, but behind the scenes, the boardroom has quietly replaced the ballot box as the place where real decisions are made. It’s not that polit…

May 12, 2025 · 6 min

Europe Inc. III. The real motives behind Europe’s war economy push

When European leaders speak of “security”, it’s worth asking: security for whom, exactly? Not for the millions navigating crumbling health systems or housing crises. Not for those struggling to afford heating or fresh food. No, the current drive to rearm Europe has little to do with public safety and far more to do wit…

May 11, 2025 · 5 min

Europe Inc. IV. Resistance and alternatives: reclaiming democracy

For decades, European politics has resembled a Punch and Judy show, only with fewer laughs and more austerity. On one side, the market-worshipping neoliberals clutching their spreadsheets and “fiscal responsibility.” On the other, vaguely embarrassed centrists who occasionally tut at inequality but still vote for trade…

May 10, 2025 · 5 min