Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 16m

Half-baked thesis: possibly one reason Republicans are better at messaging than Democrats is that they just have a higher tolerance for saying the same thing over and over and over and over again until every muscle in their face is sick of it. And for saying it like they mean it even when they don't

1 1

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 45m

The only champions of free speech worth taking seriously are those who defend the right to say things they dislike or disagree with.

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 49m

Remember when Republicans got mad that the federal government might be CENSORING political content on social media? Remember when they spent three years holding hearings trying to prove it happened? And threatened to jail anyone involved?

How times change!

Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 2h

Statement from AG Pam Bondi:

1

Reposted by Phil Tinline

Hugh Pemberton @hugh-pemberton.bsky.social · 1h

GWR - please stop running 5 car trains in the rush hour on lines out of London. Or at any time of the day, frankly
@gwr.com

1

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 59m

Such a perfect image of AI: taking a technology that works but is unpardonably old - spectacles - and trying to make it new and better by...blocking the middle of the lens.

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 2h

Today in luxury surveillance.

“They’ll [ai wearables] be embedded in what we already wear: glasses, jewellery, clothing. Fashion will play a critical role in normalizing them.”

Style Meets Surveillance as Agentic AI Redefines Wearables

Are we seeing the rise of smarter accessories—or sleepwalking into a future where data privacy is out of style?

threemagazine.com

1

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 3h

I once temped in a huge US conglomerate's office, which towered between a flyover and a graveyard.

I was working with a small City company which had just been bought and relocated there, one of whose senior people I heard saying:

"There's a lot of bad blood in the air."

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 3h

Love 'cult-de-sac'. Love this kind of thing. One of my favourite examples is 'well, we'll burn that bridge when we come to it', an enjoyably fatalistic mistaken phrase.

Dave H @thinkfoo.uk · 3h

Great article. The Tories need their Kinnock if they are going to get out of the cult-de-sac* they've gone down.

*Auto correct but I kind of liked it.

2 19

Reposted by Phil Tinline

Jacob Ware @jacobware.bsky.social · 4h

A humble question: how many times are we going to enter “a new era/age of political violence” before editors and headline writers realize and accept that domestic terrorism was here all along?

7 29

Reposted by Phil Tinline

David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 9h

Death of Consensus by @philtinline.bsky.social is excellent on 1945 and 1979.

1 1 2

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 7h

Thanks David!

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 19h

I thought about that, but it depends what the goal is. I agree its use can't be eradicated entirely, but making it legally, morally and socially unacceptable would be better than nothing, as with most criminal activity.

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 19h

Everybody involved in the creation of Sora should be ashamed. It should be banned permanently, immediately.

1 1 4

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 20h

One of the hidden costs being a tiny violin.

The Times & Sunday Times @thetimes.com · 1d

Private school can feel like the only option when the state system isn’t meeting your child’s needs, but the financial burden goes far beyond school fees ⬇️

School fees were a shock, then came VAT, uniforms, trips …

www.thetimes.com

5

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 1d

Man furrows brow, shakes head solemnly, like he's struggling with a difficult original thought.

Beat.

Man says the thing people always say about a protest they don't like.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Sean Duffy: "The No Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. This is part of antifa, paid protesters. It begs the question who's funding it."

1

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 1d

😬

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 1d

...might be...may be...could...

Todd Tucker @toddntucker.com · 1d

"A dominant position in A.I. might be, without exaggeration, the biggest prize in the history of capitalism. This has attracted a great deal of competition... The world of A.I. may be growing too big to monitor. No one can afford to slow down."
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...

Opinion | The A.I. Prompt That Could End the World

www.nytimes.com

1

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, and 'romp home' I think

1

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, like people 'hitting out' at each other, or 'enjoying a sex romp'

1 1

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 2d

We shouldn't fall into the trap of the prejudice of low expectations ;-)

2

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 2d

Quite.

1

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 2d

There is no such thing as a "tax raid". Self-respecting reporters do not use propaganda terms.

@bobhudson.bsky.social @bobhudson.bsky.social · 2d

Sounds reasonable to me.

2 5

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 2d

This is exactly right. The idea that the state is irreducibly useless is learned helplessness. The notion that the private sector is a cure-all is marketing. Both are outdated ideology.

Do we want a strong, capable, democratically-run state, or do we want the broligarchs to take it off our hands?

Anthony Painter @anthonypainter.bsky.social · 2d

The conversation I want to hear on state reform is how we develop long term capacity rather than the conversation we have: the state is in the way of the market.

It applies to housing as much as energy and the environment. Just look at retrofitting as a case.

www.sureserve.co.uk/news-and-pro...

Phasing out gas in European social housing - what the UK can learn

www.sureserve.co.uk

1 1 6

Reposted by Phil Tinline

Mark Wallace @wallaceme.bsky.social · 2d

Yes! #makerussiapay www.bbc.com/news/article...

UK ready to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine war effort - BBC News

The UK, France and Germany are "united" in wanting to use the full value of frozen Russian assets to end the war, Sir Keir Starmer said.

www.bbc.com

1 9

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 2d

He was a very serious young man. It's fascinating watching a Tory reason himself into a non-conspiracist fight with finance.

3

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 2d

Oh and if you want to hear a bit of him talking about his early years as a politician, here he is on the Depression in Stockton (2:10):

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

And here on his working class Tory constituents (3:15):
m.youtube.com/watch?v=qkZg...

Archive on 4 - The Thirty Year Itch - BBC Sounds

Phil Tinline explores what the turmoil of the 1970s tells us about British politics today.

www.bbc.co.uk

1

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 2d

Also worth having a look at The Middle Way, obvs.

2 2

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 2d

It's very good! The Richard Thorpe biog is great too.

1 2