Farrah Bostic
@farrahbostic.bsky.social
Founder of The Difference Engine. Researcher, strategist, truth-teller. Host of Cross Tabs. Asking better questions since forever.
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
Swiss politicians filed a criminal complaint with the country’s top prosecutor over a Rolex table clock and an engraved gold bar presented to US President Donald Trump by business executives shortly before he agreed to cut tariffs on the country’s exports. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Rolex, Gold Gifts to Trump Spur Call for Swiss Investigation
Swiss politicians have urged the the country’s top prosecutor to open a criminal investigation into the gifting of a Rolex table clock and an engraved gold bar to US President Donald Trump by business...
www.bloomberg.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Swiss politicians filed a criminal complaint with the country’s top prosecutor over a Rolex table clock and an engraved gold bar presented to US President Donald Trump by business executives shortly before he agreed to cut tariffs on the country’s exports. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Per my earlier post lamenting that US government resignations are thin on the ground, this is an excellent/terrible counterpoint.
There's a difference between symbolic and actual accountability.
There's a difference between symbolic and actual accountability.
Is Richard Hughes 'honourable'? Not a clue. But what I do know is time and time again, someone in the British state fucks up, the head of the organisation quits, and the person who actually fucked up stays in the state and gets promoted.
December 1, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Per my earlier post lamenting that US government resignations are thin on the ground, this is an excellent/terrible counterpoint.
There's a difference between symbolic and actual accountability.
There's a difference between symbolic and actual accountability.
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
The supposed use of AI (a proprietary tool) is for public opinion measurement, and as someone who follows that side of the AI industry closely, I simply do not believe that it can do what it purports to do at least based on the claims here
December 1, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The supposed use of AI (a proprietary tool) is for public opinion measurement, and as someone who follows that side of the AI industry closely, I simply do not believe that it can do what it purports to do at least based on the claims here
Well at least the UK still has some culture of accountability via resignations. Hasn't been a feature of American political culture for basically my whole lifetime.
Should have gone on Wednesday. But wanted to get a few scratches and bites in.
Head of the OBR gone. ~AA
December 1, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Well at least the UK still has some culture of accountability via resignations. Hasn't been a feature of American political culture for basically my whole lifetime.
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
Trump: The stock market is booming! Only I could do this and it’s all because of me!
December 1, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Trump: The stock market is booming! Only I could do this and it’s all because of me!
Playing my fave game while watching the American Revolution docuseries: guessing the voice overs.
I’m pretty good at it! Didn’t pick out Matthew Rhys with the Scottish accent though, and embarrassingly mistook Meryl for Stockard at first before realizing my error.
I’m pretty good at it! Didn’t pick out Matthew Rhys with the Scottish accent though, and embarrassingly mistook Meryl for Stockard at first before realizing my error.
December 1, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Playing my fave game while watching the American Revolution docuseries: guessing the voice overs.
I’m pretty good at it! Didn’t pick out Matthew Rhys with the Scottish accent though, and embarrassingly mistook Meryl for Stockard at first before realizing my error.
I’m pretty good at it! Didn’t pick out Matthew Rhys with the Scottish accent though, and embarrassingly mistook Meryl for Stockard at first before realizing my error.
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
Elite men yearn for the submersibles
Red alert, boys. WSJ says it’s time to start dressing like Steve Zissou.
November 30, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Elite men yearn for the submersibles
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
Strong floor, no ceiling!
Big windows, small walls!
Narrow bedrooms, wide baths!
No couch, all ottomans!
Fluffy carpet, smooth tiles!
Big windows, small walls!
Narrow bedrooms, wide baths!
No couch, all ottomans!
Fluffy carpet, smooth tiles!
November 30, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Strong floor, no ceiling!
Big windows, small walls!
Narrow bedrooms, wide baths!
No couch, all ottomans!
Fluffy carpet, smooth tiles!
Big windows, small walls!
Narrow bedrooms, wide baths!
No couch, all ottomans!
Fluffy carpet, smooth tiles!
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
just a reminder that *lots* of countries have universities, and (to my knowledge) none of them but the U.S. treat their universities as largely minor league sports franchises
LSU is paying its previous football coach over $50 million NOT to coach there while likely guaranteeing Kiffin something approaching double that, all while having an academic hiring freeze and budget cuts across the board. What is the purpose of a university (rhetorical)?
SOURCES: Lane Kiffin is expected to accept LSU's offer to become the Tigers next head coach. Kiffin is set to meet with his Ole Miss team this morning at 9 AM CT. As we reported yesterday morning, LSU has been very confident it was going to land Kiffin. www.nytimes.com/athletic/684...
November 30, 2025 at 5:24 PM
just a reminder that *lots* of countries have universities, and (to my knowledge) none of them but the U.S. treat their universities as largely minor league sports franchises
My dream house would have:
A workshop
A big utility room with a dog grooming sink
A garage (separate from workshop)
Closets
A fully rational circuit panel/wiring
A space for water tanks & so on that is not in my kitchen and doesn’t involve climbing ladders, maybe adjacent to that utility room
A workshop
A big utility room with a dog grooming sink
A garage (separate from workshop)
Closets
A fully rational circuit panel/wiring
A space for water tanks & so on that is not in my kitchen and doesn’t involve climbing ladders, maybe adjacent to that utility room
November 30, 2025 at 6:11 PM
My dream house would have:
A workshop
A big utility room with a dog grooming sink
A garage (separate from workshop)
Closets
A fully rational circuit panel/wiring
A space for water tanks & so on that is not in my kitchen and doesn’t involve climbing ladders, maybe adjacent to that utility room
A workshop
A big utility room with a dog grooming sink
A garage (separate from workshop)
Closets
A fully rational circuit panel/wiring
A space for water tanks & so on that is not in my kitchen and doesn’t involve climbing ladders, maybe adjacent to that utility room
100 PERCENT
just spitballing here: a good slogan for dems in 2026 or 2028 might be BAN SCAMS
November 30, 2025 at 6:06 PM
100 PERCENT
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
The most insidious slight of hand the AI industry has performed is getting everyone to conflate all forms of ML/AI with ChatGPT style LLM-based chatbots. Most people read this headline think “ChatGPT is making weather prediction more accurate.”
This is a legitimate scientific revolution in meteorology.
Also, to be clear, these models are not the AI LLMs that most people are familiar with. They are machine learning algorithms trained on observations (actually reanalysis).
Also, to be clear, these models are not the AI LLMs that most people are familiar with. They are machine learning algorithms trained on observations (actually reanalysis).
Meteorologists are surprised that the weather model that did the best job forecasting hurricanes this year was a new one, introduced by Google. AI may be the beginning of a new era of forecasting. n.pr/49MFa1M
November 30, 2025 at 5:32 PM
The most insidious slight of hand the AI industry has performed is getting everyone to conflate all forms of ML/AI with ChatGPT style LLM-based chatbots. Most people read this headline think “ChatGPT is making weather prediction more accurate.”
Honestly, I’m trying to keep up with the Labour Government and budget and polling in the UK but I feel like someone is going to have to explain to me the freezing of tax thresholds and how this will increase revenue?
November 30, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Honestly, I’m trying to keep up with the Labour Government and budget and polling in the UK but I feel like someone is going to have to explain to me the freezing of tax thresholds and how this will increase revenue?
This is… ahistorical?
Maybe people *thought* the subscription fee would enable an ad free experience, but cable was never intended to be commercial free, and many cable only networks were ad supported from the jump.
The purpose of cable was a clearer signal of existing channels. Which had ads.
Maybe people *thought* the subscription fee would enable an ad free experience, but cable was never intended to be commercial free, and many cable only networks were ad supported from the jump.
The purpose of cable was a clearer signal of existing channels. Which had ads.
I know everyone on this website is 38 years old but some of you must be old enough to remember when one of the pros of paying for cable was that there were no commercials
i’m being radicalized by peacock charging $10.99 per month and having A MILLION COMMERCIALS
November 30, 2025 at 2:58 PM
This is… ahistorical?
Maybe people *thought* the subscription fee would enable an ad free experience, but cable was never intended to be commercial free, and many cable only networks were ad supported from the jump.
The purpose of cable was a clearer signal of existing channels. Which had ads.
Maybe people *thought* the subscription fee would enable an ad free experience, but cable was never intended to be commercial free, and many cable only networks were ad supported from the jump.
The purpose of cable was a clearer signal of existing channels. Which had ads.
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
Republicans in rural Georgia are voting for Democrats for the first time in their lives in order to stop expansion of data centers and escalation of their utility bills, leading to landslide upsets
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
‘The New Price of Eggs.’ The Political Shocks of Data Centers and Electric Bills
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Republicans in rural Georgia are voting for Democrats for the first time in their lives in order to stop expansion of data centers and escalation of their utility bills, leading to landslide upsets
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
Unfortunately, in US journalism it is considered neutral to spread a lie, but it is considered "biased" to call out a lie. So, there is a structural asymmetry that rewards colorful lies with virality.
November 30, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Unfortunately, in US journalism it is considered neutral to spread a lie, but it is considered "biased" to call out a lie. So, there is a structural asymmetry that rewards colorful lies with virality.
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
Ballooning debt to fund AI data centers and political pushback on the utility rate hikes required to power them sure feels like a rock / hard place situation for everyone buying NVIDIA chips by the truckload
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
November 30, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Ballooning debt to fund AI data centers and political pushback on the utility rate hikes required to power them sure feels like a rock / hard place situation for everyone buying NVIDIA chips by the truckload
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
"If only the Tsar knew..."
November 30, 2025 at 6:32 AM
"If only the Tsar knew..."
This is explicitly the position of many in US legacy media although they do also whine about how this is all the audience’s fault! They’d love to inform us if only we weren’t so stupid. Oh well, have some nonsense.
Its like a collective decision has been made that the median person living in the UK is too thick to bother actually informing anymore.
November 30, 2025 at 12:28 PM
This is explicitly the position of many in US legacy media although they do also whine about how this is all the audience’s fault! They’d love to inform us if only we weren’t so stupid. Oh well, have some nonsense.
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
Props to the protestors who the New York Times credits for foiling ICE’s intended raid in Chinatown earlier today.
So many people are showing they know what it means to be New Yorkers!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
So many people are showing they know what it means to be New Yorkers!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
Several Arrested as Protesters Block Federal Agents in Manhattan Garage
www.nytimes.com
November 29, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Props to the protestors who the New York Times credits for foiling ICE’s intended raid in Chinatown earlier today.
So many people are showing they know what it means to be New Yorkers!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
So many people are showing they know what it means to be New Yorkers!
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
Ok so I finally watched The Wolf of Wall Street and I want to offer that my single most important takeaway is that Leo’s skill as a physical comedian may be underappreciated.
November 29, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Ok so I finally watched The Wolf of Wall Street and I want to offer that my single most important takeaway is that Leo’s skill as a physical comedian may be underappreciated.
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
This is one of the most important exposés published in WSJ in several years, and it derives from intercepts and analyses by foreign intelligence services studying the conduct of Trump and his inner team. It's first and foremost a wake up call to the people of the United States.
Make Money Not War: Trump’s Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine
The Kremlin pitched the White House on peace through business. To Europe’s dismay, the president and his envoy are on board.
www.wsj.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:44 PM
This is one of the most important exposés published in WSJ in several years, and it derives from intercepts and analyses by foreign intelligence services studying the conduct of Trump and his inner team. It's first and foremost a wake up call to the people of the United States.
It had to be this, it was always going to be this, and yet - we should all be disgusted
Five-byline alert: 🚨
“.. the full scope of [Witkoff’s talks] went much further, according to people familiar .. They were privately charting a path to bring Russia’s $2 trillion economy in from the cold—with American businesses first in line .. to the dividends. 🇺🇦
www.wsj.com/world/russia...
“.. the full scope of [Witkoff’s talks] went much further, according to people familiar .. They were privately charting a path to bring Russia’s $2 trillion economy in from the cold—with American businesses first in line .. to the dividends. 🇺🇦
www.wsj.com/world/russia...
November 29, 2025 at 12:59 PM
It had to be this, it was always going to be this, and yet - we should all be disgusted
I remember when IoT seemed cool and there was an artist who’d hacked open an Oyster card and had the NFC chip embedded in an acrylic fingernail so she could tap to pay, which I LOVED… and that was before we all came to realize that networked computers were a mistake.
“Integrating NFC chips into biometric wearables” seems more like an Orwellian threat than exciting new must-have tech product.
Today in luxury surveillance.
November 28, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I remember when IoT seemed cool and there was an artist who’d hacked open an Oyster card and had the NFC chip embedded in an acrylic fingernail so she could tap to pay, which I LOVED… and that was before we all came to realize that networked computers were a mistake.
I quit FB in early ‘17, deleted it all.
Then - a dog wandered into my yard. Community groups are wholly owned by FB, so I reopened an account, found the owners, haven’t posted since.
From time to time, friends email bc they think someone might be impersonating me. Nope. It’s just an empty account.
Then - a dog wandered into my yard. Community groups are wholly owned by FB, so I reopened an account, found the owners, haven’t posted since.
From time to time, friends email bc they think someone might be impersonating me. Nope. It’s just an empty account.
Okay, which of you are still using Facebook?
Nearly everyone you know is still using Facebook
And Republicans have taken over X.
buff.ly
November 28, 2025 at 5:50 PM
I quit FB in early ‘17, deleted it all.
Then - a dog wandered into my yard. Community groups are wholly owned by FB, so I reopened an account, found the owners, haven’t posted since.
From time to time, friends email bc they think someone might be impersonating me. Nope. It’s just an empty account.
Then - a dog wandered into my yard. Community groups are wholly owned by FB, so I reopened an account, found the owners, haven’t posted since.
From time to time, friends email bc they think someone might be impersonating me. Nope. It’s just an empty account.