James Chalmers
@jameschalmers.bsky.social
Regius Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow School of Law. Nothing should be inferred from the absence of unnecessary disclaimers on this profile.
So it turns out these owners were just getting ahead of the game.
November 26, 2025 at 2:16 PM
So it turns out these owners were just getting ahead of the game.
I don’t use Amazon that much any more but I recently sent someone a link to a USB charging cable they needed so Amazon reckons I can be drawn back in by the opportunity to build my dream USB cable collection.
November 24, 2025 at 1:59 PM
I don’t use Amazon that much any more but I recently sent someone a link to a USB charging cable they needed so Amazon reckons I can be drawn back in by the opportunity to build my dream USB cable collection.
Decided to test Grok’s sycophancy for Elon Musk by asking it to identify some world records he could break if he put the effort in and honestly this one seems kind of insulting.
November 20, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Decided to test Grok’s sycophancy for Elon Musk by asking it to identify some world records he could break if he put the effort in and honestly this one seems kind of insulting.
Lockdown "might not have been necessary at all" seems like a bold claim but, perhaps more importantly, likely helps ensure that if we *do* need it for a future pandemic we won't get it, because the inquiry said we didn't need it. (The qualifiers "might" and "if we acted earlier" will be forgotten.)
November 20, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Lockdown "might not have been necessary at all" seems like a bold claim but, perhaps more importantly, likely helps ensure that if we *do* need it for a future pandemic we won't get it, because the inquiry said we didn't need it. (The qualifiers "might" and "if we acted earlier" will be forgotten.)
Really not convinced the BBC should be providing blanket anonymity to campaigners who want to stop a school being built because of “concerns about being publicly critical of East Dunbartonshire Council”. It’s a local authority, not the Mafia. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
November 15, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Really not convinced the BBC should be providing blanket anonymity to campaigners who want to stop a school being built because of “concerns about being publicly critical of East Dunbartonshire Council”. It’s a local authority, not the Mafia. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
See also this earlier one:
November 7, 2025 at 11:12 PM
See also this earlier one:
Pleased to see I still have this screenshot of him lambasting MSPs - not, of course, of his own calibre - for voting for a particular bit of legislation before it was gently pointed out to him he’d voted for identical legislation in Westminster himself.
November 7, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Pleased to see I still have this screenshot of him lambasting MSPs - not, of course, of his own calibre - for voting for a particular bit of legislation before it was gently pointed out to him he’d voted for identical legislation in Westminster himself.
Had wondered *why* Starmer sacked Lucy Powell from the cabinet and starting to think this sort of helpful policy intervention, if it mirrors contributions to Cabinet discussions, might provide a clue.
November 7, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Had wondered *why* Starmer sacked Lucy Powell from the cabinet and starting to think this sort of helpful policy intervention, if it mirrors contributions to Cabinet discussions, might provide a clue.
My contrarian view is that I am now *less* sympathetic to Reeves if, rather than just not saying anything, the agent told her they would apply for a licence and it never appeared. (But that is not the same as actually thinking this matters.) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
October 30, 2025 at 11:35 PM
My contrarian view is that I am now *less* sympathetic to Reeves if, rather than just not saying anything, the agent told her they would apply for a licence and it never appeared. (But that is not the same as actually thinking this matters.) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Downloaded a foreign language Oxford Dictionary app which I would have happily paid for but it wants a subscription - claiming the starting price is £260/year! - so instead I have the version full of cheap and tacky ads which I am not sure is what you really want linked to the Oxford brand name.
October 25, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Downloaded a foreign language Oxford Dictionary app which I would have happily paid for but it wants a subscription - claiming the starting price is £260/year! - so instead I have the version full of cheap and tacky ads which I am not sure is what you really want linked to the Oxford brand name.
Thanks MUBI but I had an ok week at work; is everything ok with you?
October 25, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Thanks MUBI but I had an ok week at work; is everything ok with you?
Noticeable that again it’s the Lib Dems providing a response while Labour keep silent.
October 23, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Noticeable that again it’s the Lib Dems providing a response while Labour keep silent.
My notifications remain a chaos of people talking about internet enabled cat feeders which meant I spent longer than I should have looking at this rare quote tweet of something else I posted very confused as to what was going on.
October 20, 2025 at 4:04 PM
My notifications remain a chaos of people talking about internet enabled cat feeders which meant I spent longer than I should have looking at this rare quote tweet of something else I posted very confused as to what was going on.
On the one hand I see where he’s coming from. On the other hand, literally every single bit of commentary I’ve seen on this has been “woo, heist!”
October 20, 2025 at 8:52 AM
On the one hand I see where he’s coming from. On the other hand, literally every single bit of commentary I’ve seen on this has been “woo, heist!”
This remains the funniest way to hear about an internet outage, though.
October 20, 2025 at 8:41 AM
This remains the funniest way to hear about an internet outage, though.
(mournfully) it’s out in November!
October 18, 2025 at 3:08 PM
(mournfully) it’s out in November!
Trying unsuccessfully to find the meme about how the problem with Twitter was people getting shouted at by a thousand people when they only deserved to get shouted at by two or three - maybe the reverse is now true? - and thanks Google, I never knew that.
October 18, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Trying unsuccessfully to find the meme about how the problem with Twitter was people getting shouted at by a thousand people when they only deserved to get shouted at by two or three - maybe the reverse is now true? - and thanks Google, I never knew that.
A lot that could be said about this but if you look on Twitter it’s noticeable that the replies and quote tweets are *overwhelmingly* telling him he shouldn’t have apologised and even attacking him for doing so. That’s the feedback loop certain users are plugged into now, and it has consequences.
October 18, 2025 at 1:34 PM
A lot that could be said about this but if you look on Twitter it’s noticeable that the replies and quote tweets are *overwhelmingly* telling him he shouldn’t have apologised and even attacking him for doing so. That’s the feedback loop certain users are plugged into now, and it has consequences.
Even Phillipson in person has been absurd. “No you can’t elect the person who was a literal cabinet member until a few weeks back, do you want to tear the party in two?”
October 13, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Even Phillipson in person has been absurd. “No you can’t elect the person who was a literal cabinet member until a few weeks back, do you want to tear the party in two?”
The Fahrenheit Thermometer in Gdańsk, in honour of the scale’s inventor, features two important design choices:
- What did Daniel Fahrenheit look like? We don’t know but we’re guessing “ripped”
- look we have to put Celsius on the scale as well or people won’t understand it otherwise
- What did Daniel Fahrenheit look like? We don’t know but we’re guessing “ripped”
- look we have to put Celsius on the scale as well or people won’t understand it otherwise
October 11, 2025 at 12:45 PM
The Fahrenheit Thermometer in Gdańsk, in honour of the scale’s inventor, features two important design choices:
- What did Daniel Fahrenheit look like? We don’t know but we’re guessing “ripped”
- look we have to put Celsius on the scale as well or people won’t understand it otherwise
- What did Daniel Fahrenheit look like? We don’t know but we’re guessing “ripped”
- look we have to put Celsius on the scale as well or people won’t understand it otherwise