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Reposted by Luca Tiratelli

Chris Giles @chrisgiles.ft.com · 5h

There is no need for a moral panic about the UK's welfare system.

Far from perfect but recent discourse is nuts

Spending is controlled, not spiralling

Worklessness is near record lows

My column www.ft.com/content/ee67...

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Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.bsky.social · 4h

Sure but isn't global heating a fair price to pay for us to have ChatGPT erotica and other kinds of AI slop to fry our brains while the world burn?

Just asking questions...

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Record leap in CO2 fuels fears of accelerating global heating

CO2 in air hit new high last year, with scientists concerned natural land and ocean carbon sinks are weakening

www.theguardian.com

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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 4h

lol say more?

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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 4h

And to be clear, that super intelligence is, as far as I understand it from their own plans, the only route to profitability for this company

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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 4h

Is "we're going to start making erotica" what you'd announce if, in your heart of hearts, you believed you were running a company that was just about to invent super intelligence capable of solving any problem?

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William Carruthers @williamcarruthers.bsky.social · 1d

And, fwiw, how is the labour market universities’ fault? It isn’t, and it would be very useful if people understood this.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

'A “challenging” graduate labour market in the UK could further erode trust in the higher education sector, with the “bad times” showing little sign of ending.'

All the more reason to have a serious, nationwide discussion of what universities do and what they are for.

Faith in universities ‘at new low’ as graduate jobs dry up

Challenging economic conditions may have led to bump in student recruitment numbers this year but experts fear long-term damage after institutions pegged futures to employability agenda

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Jon Morris @jmorris14.bsky.social · 1d

My thoughts with these sorts of language requirements are:

1. Are such high level language skills necessary for a job? To have a decent livelihood?
2. Do we expect all native speakers to pass it at A level?

Otherwise this again seems like "I don't like hearing people speaking foreign languages".

Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 1d

I have relatives who easily worked and were part of society in English but who were no where closer to an 'A level standard'. Every sentence they said was grammatically incorrect, but also... totally understandable and functional as a means of communication!

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Migrants will be required to pass A Level standard of English

Migrants will be required to pass tough new English language requirements under a law introduced in Parliament today.

www.gov.uk

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Miriam Matthiessen @miriammthsn.bsky.social · 1d

Again, got to be one of the best dig episodes I’ve ever listened to and the bar is *sky* high

Daniel Denvir @danieldenvir.bsky.social · 4d

New @thedigradio.bsky.social: SECOND of two w @melindacooper.bsky.social on Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance. How asset boom and bust drove MAGA’s rise and also revealed powerful monetary tools that could make socialism—that and more www.thedigradio.com/podcast/from...

From Fiscal Austerity to Monetary Abundance w/ Melinda Cooper

Featuring Melinda Cooper on Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance. Balanced budget conservatism and supply side populism engineered a politics of austerity and budget deficit...

www.thedigradio.com

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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 1d

I understand that the only point of these kinds of announcements is the headlines they generate... but still I think this one betrays a bit of a misunderstanding of what language actually is and how it works

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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 1d

I have relatives who easily worked and were part of society in English but who were no where closer to an 'A level standard'. Every sentence they said was grammatically incorrect, but also... totally understandable and functional as a means of communication!

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Migrants will be required to pass A Level standard of English

Migrants will be required to pass tough new English language requirements under a law introduced in Parliament today.

www.gov.uk

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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 1d

"Sapiens" is so normal for the first 70,000 years of human history but then goes absolutely buckwild as soon as it gets to colonialism

Had the Aztecs and Incas shown a bit more interest in the world surrounding them - and had they known what the Spaniards had done to their neighbours - they might have resisted the Spanish conquest more keenly and successfully.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

On the basis of POSIWID then yes the UK government is deliberately shrinking the HE sector. This feels counterintuitive as it is a thing we do very well. I'm not saying it's wrong, but it would be good if they could explain why it's a good idea.

LeithMotive @leithmotive.bsky.social · 2d

This is a deliberate policy choice though. It is the deliberate choice of the government not to increase tuition fees, not to increase core funding and to decrease the number of foreign students. Shrinking the HE sector is the outcome.

Disappointed Optimist @disappoptimism.bsky.social · 2d

If this happened at a steel plant there would be talk of government bail out to secure jobs

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LeithMotive @leithmotive.bsky.social · 2d

This is a deliberate policy choice though. It is the deliberate choice of the government not to increase tuition fees, not to increase core funding and to decrease the number of foreign students. Shrinking the HE sector is the outcome.

Disappointed Optimist @disappoptimism.bsky.social · 2d

If this happened at a steel plant there would be talk of government bail out to secure jobs

LopaLeach @lopa.bsky.social · 4d

Cuts equivalent to 15,000 jobs planned at UK universities – UCU www.timeshighereducation.com/news/cuts-eq...

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Greg Barradale @gregbarradale.bsky.social · 2d

In 2014, Hackney Council sold a property under Right to Buy for £95,050

In 2021, they bought it back off the ex-tenant for £365k

In ~6 yrs, the council lost £269,950 on a single property

It's not an isolated example. @bigissue.com has uncovered 100+ 'Yo-yo Homes'

www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

How ex-council tenants make over £200k selling homes back to councils

Big Issue investigates the Right To Buy properties sold back to councils for massive profits, just years after being bought at a discount.

www.bigissue.com

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C. Buckthorn @cbuckthorn.bsky.social · 3d

This is amazing. I laughed out loud www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

As 32-year-old Rich points out, though, "it's not like using ChatGPT guarantees success".
When he met someone in a bar one Friday night and swapped social media handles, he asked AI what his next move should be.
ChatGPT discerned that sending an initial message on Monday midmorning would set the right pace. "Then it gave me some options for what the message could be," says Rich.
"Keep it light, warm, and low-stakes so it reads as genuine interest without urgency," the bot advised. "Something like: Hey Sarah, still laughing about [tiny shared moment/reference if you've got one] - good to meet you!" Rich went back and forth with ChatGPT until he felt they'd hit upon exactly the right message ("Hey Sarah, it was lovely to meet you") but sadly she never replied, he says. "It's been two weeks now."

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Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 4d

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

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Jamal abu hashem🇵🇸 @jamalzuhir.bsky.social · 4d

Honestly, it’s exhausting that people think Gazans should only ask for help to survive to eat, to stay alive but not to dream, to study, or to rebuild their lives. Wanting education, safety, and a future isn’t greed. It’s being human.

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Doug Henwood @doughenwood.bsky.social · 5d

Nagham Zbeedat in Ha’aretz

For Palestinians, the Relief of the Gaza Cease-fire Belongs to Others - Haaretz Today www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

When I texted a man from Gaza to congratulate him on the cease-fire, he replied, "Congratulations to you. You'll put your mind at peace with our news now!' His words cut through the noise - a reminder that for many Palestinians, even relief has become something that belongs to others.

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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 6d

Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport www.economist.com/internationa...

Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport

Pedal power is booming, spinning up a new culture war

www.economist.com

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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 6d

I hadn‘t heard of them but they seem to be members of the British polling council and the MRS - is there any reason not to trust?

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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 6d

The french subsidise bakeries, we should subsidies pubs

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Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 7d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 7d

If your industry can't afford to pay the people who's labour it relies on, then that's a problem for your industry - not any one else! If you're only profitable when you don't pay workers, then you're not profitable.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 7d

If you want to win over younger voters, telling them they can't go to university is probably not going to help.

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Luca Tiratelli @lucatiratelli.bsky.social · 7d

If you became an oil state without oil, what would you be selling?

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 7d

The UAE is an authoritarian autocracy, a petro-state with no income tax for citizens, to bribe them for the lack of democratic voice or free speech

It is 85% migrant, a segregated society with a ban on integration in principle and practice, few rights, equal opportunities, nor voice for incomers

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