Reposted by Dave
If there's one lesson I think we can draw from stuff like this it's that "optics" are a lie. Power will spin fascist cranks as just normal academics who've been unfairly persecuted and peace activists as terrorists if it suits its purposes.
I know we're all focusing on the chat gpt thing but this is an absolutely insane way for the observer and also glinner to refer to an ecofacsist who believes that trans people were invented by jews to eliminate humanity and that mass bombing campaigns should happen for the enviroment.
November 28, 2025 at 3:58 PM
If there's one lesson I think we can draw from stuff like this it's that "optics" are a lie. Power will spin fascist cranks as just normal academics who've been unfairly persecuted and peace activists as terrorists if it suits its purposes.
Reposted by Dave
"I myself have publicly advocated the use of direct action, including property sabotage, in the cause of climate justice. It stands to reason that I should support the same range of tactics in the effort to prevent genocide."
Sally Rooney books may be withdrawn from UK sale over Palestine Action ban, court told
Rooney has said she intended to use royalties from her work "to go on supporting Palestine Action."
www.bbc.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:09 PM
"I myself have publicly advocated the use of direct action, including property sabotage, in the cause of climate justice. It stands to reason that I should support the same range of tactics in the effort to prevent genocide."
Reposted by Dave
to conflate two points i feel are relevant: Grenfell is in the constituency with the most amount of properties subject to the ~mansion tax~ in the country bsky.app/profile/dann...
You'll be extremely unsurprised to see that the vast majority of the tax comes from London/Southeast
Shoutout to Poole - the only exception actually visible on this chart (the interactive version on the website reveals all the details when you touch/move the mouse over)
Shoutout to Poole - the only exception actually visible on this chart (the interactive version on the website reveals all the details when you touch/move the mouse over)
November 28, 2025 at 10:32 AM
to conflate two points i feel are relevant: Grenfell is in the constituency with the most amount of properties subject to the ~mansion tax~ in the country bsky.app/profile/dann...
Keep drama students out of politics.
Not long until the Green Party's production of a Christmas Carol!
Follow the link to the Crowdfunder and here's some exclusive BTS footage:
Follow the link to the Crowdfunder and here's some exclusive BTS footage:
Hope is here.
Help us beat Reform in May. Donate today ⤵️
Help us beat Reform in May. Donate today ⤵️
November 28, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Keep drama students out of politics.
Reposted by Dave
The UK strategy on migration is no more sophisticated than "big number bad! make number smaller!"
This would be chronically lazy even if the thing being counted were something unequivocally bad like lung cancer deaths.
This would be chronically lazy even if the thing being counted were something unequivocally bad like lung cancer deaths.
Net migration has fallen again to 204,000, the lowest level since 2021 and is forecast to continue falling over the coming years.
Not that you would know it from the endless coverage of Britain's supposed "immigration crisis"
Not that you would know it from the endless coverage of Britain's supposed "immigration crisis"
November 27, 2025 at 3:23 PM
The UK strategy on migration is no more sophisticated than "big number bad! make number smaller!"
This would be chronically lazy even if the thing being counted were something unequivocally bad like lung cancer deaths.
This would be chronically lazy even if the thing being counted were something unequivocally bad like lung cancer deaths.
This really feels like a stitch up.
Removal of judge in Palestine Action ban legal challenge ‘deeply concerning’... so it looks like the classic British establishment stitch-up is underway. "This raises serious questions around the lack of impartiality and transparency in our judicial system" www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Removal of judge in Palestine Action ban legal challenge ‘deeply concerning’
Unusual last-minute change means panel of three will now hear case rather than Mr Justice Chamberlain
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:00 AM
This really feels like a stitch up.
Reposted by Dave
Six months ago, Labour was spending every shred of political capital - up to and including suspending seven of its own MPs - to maintain the two child benefit cap.
Now, they're describing it's abolition as an overriding moral imperative.
Cynical, untrustworthy twisters.
Now, they're describing it's abolition as an overriding moral imperative.
Cynical, untrustworthy twisters.
November 26, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Six months ago, Labour was spending every shred of political capital - up to and including suspending seven of its own MPs - to maintain the two child benefit cap.
Now, they're describing it's abolition as an overriding moral imperative.
Cynical, untrustworthy twisters.
Now, they're describing it's abolition as an overriding moral imperative.
Cynical, untrustworthy twisters.
Reposted by Dave
This conundrum comes like a week after "only babies question the value of NATO, why are you showing me a photo of trump?"
When the system collapses, what you (belligerently) call political common sense will evaporate.
When the system collapses, what you (belligerently) call political common sense will evaporate.
We're at a point where reducing prosecutions and incarceration isn't a principled leftist stance, it's the only pragmatic way to keep the system functioning at all. This is an unpalatable reality for carceral ideologues so they have to grope around for magical fixes.
this ongoing crisis of the carceral state is such an infuriatingly blatant opportunity for a public conversation that the carceral state absolutely cannot permit to happen
November 26, 2025 at 12:23 PM
This conundrum comes like a week after "only babies question the value of NATO, why are you showing me a photo of trump?"
When the system collapses, what you (belligerently) call political common sense will evaporate.
When the system collapses, what you (belligerently) call political common sense will evaporate.
This feels like another example of the dynamic where AI is able to do this because we have already spent years getting ourselves used to wading through human generated 'slop' - unrigorous, low-quality, formulaic, largely unaccountable content (see also: memes, workplace emails, journalism).
November 26, 2025 at 12:37 PM
This feels like another example of the dynamic where AI is able to do this because we have already spent years getting ourselves used to wading through human generated 'slop' - unrigorous, low-quality, formulaic, largely unaccountable content (see also: memes, workplace emails, journalism).
I do not believe that justice exists as a metaphysical absolute that society has to try to live up to. I think justice is an ideology and, like all ideologies, it is a way of rationalising the material conditions of life imposed on us.
November 26, 2025 at 12:03 PM
I do not believe that justice exists as a metaphysical absolute that society has to try to live up to. I think justice is an ideology and, like all ideologies, it is a way of rationalising the material conditions of life imposed on us.
We're at a point where reducing prosecutions and incarceration isn't a principled leftist stance, it's the only pragmatic way to keep the system functioning at all. This is an unpalatable reality for carceral ideologues so they have to grope around for magical fixes.
this ongoing crisis of the carceral state is such an infuriatingly blatant opportunity for a public conversation that the carceral state absolutely cannot permit to happen
November 26, 2025 at 11:50 AM
We're at a point where reducing prosecutions and incarceration isn't a principled leftist stance, it's the only pragmatic way to keep the system functioning at all. This is an unpalatable reality for carceral ideologues so they have to grope around for magical fixes.
This is it: if the state is incapable of pursuing its prosecutions it can just drop them.
also while I argued the other day that the whole triable either way thing was a shitty loop hole that needed fixing because the cost of it is being passed on to all of us needlessly.
The so-called "back log" could be cleared over night if the prosecution just.... didn't pursue it?
The so-called "back log" could be cleared over night if the prosecution just.... didn't pursue it?
November 26, 2025 at 11:18 AM
This is it: if the state is incapable of pursuing its prosecutions it can just drop them.
People on the left should not celebrate vile reactionaries on the rare moments you happen to agree with them about something.
More importantly, no one on the left should be agreeing with these reactionary narratives about the urgent defense of "Western civilization".
More importantly, no one on the left should be agreeing with these reactionary narratives about the urgent defense of "Western civilization".
Called it
November 26, 2025 at 9:34 AM
People on the left should not celebrate vile reactionaries on the rare moments you happen to agree with them about something.
More importantly, no one on the left should be agreeing with these reactionary narratives about the urgent defense of "Western civilization".
More importantly, no one on the left should be agreeing with these reactionary narratives about the urgent defense of "Western civilization".
Reposted by Dave
literally; outside of actually classified narcotics like cocaine and mdma
There is absolutely no medication/drug which is treated anywhere near like this. And this is before we even get to the fact that it's only banned SPECIFICALLY for trans youth.
cis youth? can still get it.
There is absolutely no medication/drug which is treated anywhere near like this. And this is before we even get to the fact that it's only banned SPECIFICALLY for trans youth.
cis youth? can still get it.
November 25, 2025 at 9:16 AM
literally; outside of actually classified narcotics like cocaine and mdma
There is absolutely no medication/drug which is treated anywhere near like this. And this is before we even get to the fact that it's only banned SPECIFICALLY for trans youth.
cis youth? can still get it.
There is absolutely no medication/drug which is treated anywhere near like this. And this is before we even get to the fact that it's only banned SPECIFICALLY for trans youth.
cis youth? can still get it.
Reposted by Dave
you can name basically any healthcare at all. ones with obvious known dangers, ones with lesser known dangers. From radiation being shot directly into your eyes to botulinum toxin injected into your lips. they're all available both on NHS or via private.
But not hormone blockers if you're trans.
But not hormone blockers if you're trans.
November 25, 2025 at 9:08 AM
you can name basically any healthcare at all. ones with obvious known dangers, ones with lesser known dangers. From radiation being shot directly into your eyes to botulinum toxin injected into your lips. they're all available both on NHS or via private.
But not hormone blockers if you're trans.
But not hormone blockers if you're trans.
Being a tech journalist really distorts your impressions of what archetypical human behaviours are.
Archetypal example is “capitalism ground me down so I quit my job and set up a small business so that I’m my own boss”. You didn’t dislike capitalism! You disliked authority!
November 24, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Being a tech journalist really distorts your impressions of what archetypical human behaviours are.
Uh...huh? And we're saying that Taylorism is a program of coordinating efforts to ensure a better outcome for all, are we? Is that... Is that what we're going with?
“Capitalism forces you to wake up at 7am against your body’s natural rhythms” no that’s Taylorism and if you don’t like living in a society that coordinates effort to ensure a better outcome for all then I don’t think you’ll love the alternatives
November 24, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Uh...huh? And we're saying that Taylorism is a program of coordinating efforts to ensure a better outcome for all, are we? Is that... Is that what we're going with?
Reposted by Dave
Lumping them together as “AI” gives readers the impression that a single class of tool is discerning novel protein structures, teasing subtle patterns out of mountains of LHC data, writing a student’s History 101 paper, and arguing a ketamine-addled billionaire could post up Shaq in his prime. No.
November 22, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Lumping them together as “AI” gives readers the impression that a single class of tool is discerning novel protein structures, teasing subtle patterns out of mountains of LHC data, writing a student’s History 101 paper, and arguing a ketamine-addled billionaire could post up Shaq in his prime. No.
Reposted by Dave
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
Dunno about Mamdani but everything is so clearly just a game to Trump. And not even one he's particularly invested in playing.
Q: “Are you affirming you think Trump is a fascist?”
TRUMP: “That’s ok, you can just say yes.”
ZOHRAN: “Ok. Yes.”
TRUMP: “That’s ok, you can just say yes.”
ZOHRAN: “Ok. Yes.”
November 21, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Dunno about Mamdani but everything is so clearly just a game to Trump. And not even one he's particularly invested in playing.
Reposted by Dave
TRUMP [after spending 5 minutes with Zohran]: surplus value, it’s a very wonderful thing, very wonderful, and they’re stealing it. Can you believe that?
We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to
We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 PM
TRUMP [after spending 5 minutes with Zohran]: surplus value, it’s a very wonderful thing, very wonderful, and they’re stealing it. Can you believe that?
We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to
We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to
Reposted by Dave
Trans people have exhaustively detailed the links between the anti-trans and anti-abortion movements, we warned that transphobia was a wedge issue for the religious right to roll back women's rights, only for us to be ignored, and of course UK TERFs are setting their sights on abortion.
Kathleen Stock has written an article against "abortion permissiveness". She claims abortion requires "justification" saying the state should limit "unacceptable decision-making" by women about their own bodies.
This is who anti-trans activists proclaim as the feminist thought leaders of our time.
This is who anti-trans activists proclaim as the feminist thought leaders of our time.
November 21, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Trans people have exhaustively detailed the links between the anti-trans and anti-abortion movements, we warned that transphobia was a wedge issue for the religious right to roll back women's rights, only for us to be ignored, and of course UK TERFs are setting their sights on abortion.
Reposted by Dave
the idea that any form of racism might be based on some legitimate grievance is poisonous, and the idea it can be defeated by addressing it on that basis is ridiculous bsky.app/profile/sund...
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood made more explicit her argument that when ethnic minorities face racism, "we have no choice but to ask: what is the cause of our division"
Her answer is the level of net migration, 2019-23 causes racism. (She on Monday said it was caused by the scale of asylum)
Her answer is the level of net migration, 2019-23 causes racism. (She on Monday said it was caused by the scale of asylum)
November 21, 2025 at 6:11 PM
the idea that any form of racism might be based on some legitimate grievance is poisonous, and the idea it can be defeated by addressing it on that basis is ridiculous bsky.app/profile/sund...
The modern concept of inalienable human rights has, in practice, always been a mechanism for US global hegemony and here it is in absurdly heightened form.
US says countries with DEI policies as infringing human rights
US says countries with DEI policies as infringing human rights
US officials say the rules will stop "destructive ideologies" but others argue it is redefining human rights principles for Trump's goals
www.bbc.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:24 AM
The modern concept of inalienable human rights has, in practice, always been a mechanism for US global hegemony and here it is in absurdly heightened form.
Reposted by Dave
And remember.
The tech that is producing that Grok tweet is propping up maybe 1/3rd of the stock market.
I'm sure nothing bad will happen.
The tech that is producing that Grok tweet is propping up maybe 1/3rd of the stock market.
I'm sure nothing bad will happen.
November 20, 2025 at 9:26 PM
And remember.
The tech that is producing that Grok tweet is propping up maybe 1/3rd of the stock market.
I'm sure nothing bad will happen.
The tech that is producing that Grok tweet is propping up maybe 1/3rd of the stock market.
I'm sure nothing bad will happen.