George MacKerron
@jawj.prof
Associate Prof in Economics: environmental, spatial, behavioural, wellbeing (Mappiness project). Coder. Parent. School governor. Bass 1. http://mackerron.com
Reposted by George MacKerron
Robbie Gibb was appointed to the BBC Board by Boris Johnson, was an editorial advisor for GB News, and worked as Theresa May's Director of Comms.
He is not impartial or neutral. The government should remove him from the Board immediately to protect the BBC's independence.
He is not impartial or neutral. The government should remove him from the Board immediately to protect the BBC's independence.
November 11, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Robbie Gibb was appointed to the BBC Board by Boris Johnson, was an editorial advisor for GB News, and worked as Theresa May's Director of Comms.
He is not impartial or neutral. The government should remove him from the Board immediately to protect the BBC's independence.
He is not impartial or neutral. The government should remove him from the Board immediately to protect the BBC's independence.
Reposted by George MacKerron
"Seizing Brexit opportunities to deregulate" was mostly unspecified magic fairy pixie bullshit then, and it's not going to get any more realistic in the hands of a bunch of Reform clowns who don't know how anything works, don't care to learn and disdain anyone that might.
November 8, 2025 at 9:18 AM
"Seizing Brexit opportunities to deregulate" was mostly unspecified magic fairy pixie bullshit then, and it's not going to get any more realistic in the hands of a bunch of Reform clowns who don't know how anything works, don't care to learn and disdain anyone that might.
Reposted by George MacKerron
Belgian AI scientists resist the use of AI in academia apache.be/2025/10/24/b... • I shared the Dutch version yesterday and was thinking that it would be wothy of a translation so I could share it with my colleagues. Of course @apache.be read my mind. It's a good piece I think.
Belgian AI scientists resist the use of AI in academia
Several AI scientists have published an open letter calling for a ban on AI use by students.
apache.be
October 24, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Belgian AI scientists resist the use of AI in academia apache.be/2025/10/24/b... • I shared the Dutch version yesterday and was thinking that it would be wothy of a translation so I could share it with my colleagues. Of course @apache.be read my mind. It's a good piece I think.
Reposted by George MacKerron
‘Study after study shows that students want to develop these critical thinking skills, are not lazy, and large numbers of them would be in favor of banning ChatGPT and similar tools in universities’, says @olivia.science www.ru.nl/en/research/...
‘Opposing the inevitability of AI at universities is possible and necessary’ | Radboud University
Since the widespread release of ChatGPT in December of 2022, AI has taken over much of the world by storm – including academia. Most of this happened with very little pushback, despite a myriad of iss...
www.ru.nl
November 1, 2025 at 10:26 PM
‘Study after study shows that students want to develop these critical thinking skills, are not lazy, and large numbers of them would be in favor of banning ChatGPT and similar tools in universities’, says @olivia.science www.ru.nl/en/research/...
Reposted by George MacKerron
In discussing this idea (running for VP) I've pointed out before it's not really the live issue anyway, because that's not how he'd do it. He wants to just straight-up run again himself. It's not going to be some technicality loophole where he runs a stand-in replacement.
Q: One theory on how you might try to serve a 3rd term is that you could run at the vice president
TRUMP: Yeah, I'd be allowed to do that. But I would rule that out because it's too cute.
TRUMP: Yeah, I'd be allowed to do that. But I would rule that out because it's too cute.
October 27, 2025 at 6:57 PM
In discussing this idea (running for VP) I've pointed out before it's not really the live issue anyway, because that's not how he'd do it. He wants to just straight-up run again himself. It's not going to be some technicality loophole where he runs a stand-in replacement.
Reposted by George MacKerron
Trump Defends Demolition Of Yggdrasil, Ancient Tree Of Life https://theonion.com/trump-defends-demolition-of-yggdrasil-ancient-tree-of-life/
October 27, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Trump Defends Demolition Of Yggdrasil, Ancient Tree Of Life https://theonion.com/trump-defends-demolition-of-yggdrasil-ancient-tree-of-life/
This is just ridiculous — and by teaching us that waste and environmental protection laws are stupid, a great big own goal by everyone concerned.
Next up: £150 fines for littering when a tiny piece of lint falls from your pocket as you take out your keys.
Next up: £150 fines for littering when a tiny piece of lint falls from your pocket as you take out your keys.
London woman ‘shocked’ by £150 fine for pouring coffee down street drain
London woman ‘shocked’ by £150 fine for pouring coffee down street drain
Burcu Yesilyurt handed fixed-penalty notice by enforcement officers near Richmond station
A woman from west London said she was “shocked” after being fined £150 for pouring the dregs of her morning coffee down a street drain as she waited for a bus.
Burcu Yesilyurt said she believed she was doing the right thing by emptying her reusable cup before getting on a bus to work. But moments later, she was confronted by three enforcement officers near Richmond station and handed a fixed-penalty notice. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
October 22, 2025 at 5:53 PM
This is just ridiculous — and by teaching us that waste and environmental protection laws are stupid, a great big own goal by everyone concerned.
Next up: £150 fines for littering when a tiny piece of lint falls from your pocket as you take out your keys.
Next up: £150 fines for littering when a tiny piece of lint falls from your pocket as you take out your keys.
Reposted by George MacKerron
This is an *incredibly* good idea.
If I were running Labour comms I would commission an app called 'Will the Tories/Reform deport you?' then let the reactions on TikTok and Instagram do their work.
October 22, 2025 at 12:12 PM
This is an *incredibly* good idea.
Reposted by George MacKerron
I just cannot take this shit seriously. If you're a senior Labour figure and think that the party's stance is cowardly but are too afraid to put your name on the record saying it YOU ARE A COWARD.
Senior Labour figures have expressed dismay at the Party's "cowardly" and "incompetent" response to Tory shadow minister Katie Lam calling for legal migrants to "go home".
"What’s the point of us saying we’re anti-racist when we fail to call out racism," said one MP.
"What’s the point of us saying we’re anti-racist when we fail to call out racism," said one MP.
Exclusive: Labour Anger Erupts Over Party's Response To Katie Lam Immigration Row
"What’s the point of us saying we’re anti-racist when we fail to call out racism," said one MP.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
October 22, 2025 at 9:17 AM
I just cannot take this shit seriously. If you're a senior Labour figure and think that the party's stance is cowardly but are too afraid to put your name on the record saying it YOU ARE A COWARD.
Reposted by George MacKerron
It's a very similar dynamic to the rise of Trumpism. Nobody on the right speaking up or saying anything, as the individual incentive was to keep your head down – but the collective cowardice ending up somewhere really bad.
October 22, 2025 at 10:04 AM
It's a very similar dynamic to the rise of Trumpism. Nobody on the right speaking up or saying anything, as the individual incentive was to keep your head down – but the collective cowardice ending up somewhere really bad.
Reposted by George MacKerron
I sat in the British Library reading League of Empire Loyalists, BNP & National Front literature for my book and even they claimed to promote *voluntary* repatriation. Forcible deportation was always the ghost behind those ideas, but it’s amazing that UK politicians don’t even bother to hide it.
To be clear: deportations to increase cultural homogeneity is the text book definition of ethnic cleansing. Demands that come even close to this are so far outside any democratic norm and the rule of law. What has happened to a country when this is not condemned in the strongest possible terms?
October 22, 2025 at 8:37 AM
I sat in the British Library reading League of Empire Loyalists, BNP & National Front literature for my book and even they claimed to promote *voluntary* repatriation. Forcible deportation was always the ghost behind those ideas, but it’s amazing that UK politicians don’t even bother to hide it.
Reposted by George MacKerron
Graduate seminar did a deep dive on Thomas Paine’s Common Sense yesterday. At the line, “in America the law is king,” they (14 students from 6 countries) burst out laughing. I've been doing this for 35 years and this is the first time that was a laugh line.
October 22, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Graduate seminar did a deep dive on Thomas Paine’s Common Sense yesterday. At the line, “in America the law is king,” they (14 students from 6 countries) burst out laughing. I've been doing this for 35 years and this is the first time that was a laugh line.
Reposted by George MacKerron
Even just the threat of this becoming policy is going to damage the economy; Why make an investment whose returns depend on this not happening?
October 22, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Even just the threat of this becoming policy is going to damage the economy; Why make an investment whose returns depend on this not happening?
Reposted by George MacKerron
Via Press Gazette: "The Daily Star’s livestream of the Liz Truss lettuce has been acquired by the British Film Institute’s National Archive for a collection of significant pieces of online video. The BFI’s curator said it was “a seminal moment in British political history”"
October 21, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Via Press Gazette: "The Daily Star’s livestream of the Liz Truss lettuce has been acquired by the British Film Institute’s National Archive for a collection of significant pieces of online video. The BFI’s curator said it was “a seminal moment in British political history”"
Reposted by George MacKerron
Strongly recommended reading, applicable beyond the US. A GOP fundraiser explains the personal considerations that kept him working long after he knew he was harming his country. "I’m fully aware that any excuses at this point won’t justify why I stayed so long" www.thebulwark.com/p/my-last-da...
My Last Day as an Accomplice of the Republican Party
Why I’m leaving the GOP and why I’m urging my former colleagues to do the same.
www.thebulwark.com
October 20, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Strongly recommended reading, applicable beyond the US. A GOP fundraiser explains the personal considerations that kept him working long after he knew he was harming his country. "I’m fully aware that any excuses at this point won’t justify why I stayed so long" www.thebulwark.com/p/my-last-da...
Reposted by George MacKerron
The regret numbers on Brexit rise in the same way Trump’s approval numbers drop.
There is an existential need to improve the standard & quality of public debate; a plague on everyone’s house right now.
‘Fuck Around and Find Out’ is proving a flawed approach to running the world.
There is an existential need to improve the standard & quality of public debate; a plague on everyone’s house right now.
‘Fuck Around and Find Out’ is proving a flawed approach to running the world.
October 20, 2025 at 8:30 AM
The regret numbers on Brexit rise in the same way Trump’s approval numbers drop.
There is an existential need to improve the standard & quality of public debate; a plague on everyone’s house right now.
‘Fuck Around and Find Out’ is proving a flawed approach to running the world.
There is an existential need to improve the standard & quality of public debate; a plague on everyone’s house right now.
‘Fuck Around and Find Out’ is proving a flawed approach to running the world.
Reposted by George MacKerron
Jews in Manchester should not be attacked because of political animus against Israel.
No one should have to shut up about civilians killed in Gaza, because an antisemitic murderer in Manchester. It doesn't make sense.
No one should have to shut up about civilians killed in Gaza, because an antisemitic murderer in Manchester. It doesn't make sense.
October 2, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Jews in Manchester should not be attacked because of political animus against Israel.
No one should have to shut up about civilians killed in Gaza, because an antisemitic murderer in Manchester. It doesn't make sense.
No one should have to shut up about civilians killed in Gaza, because an antisemitic murderer in Manchester. It doesn't make sense.
Because what voters really want is an unliveable world where Government can abuse their human rights with impunity. Isn’t it obvious?
October 2, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Because what voters really want is an unliveable world where Government can abuse their human rights with impunity. Isn’t it obvious?
Reposted by George MacKerron
There is a key moral distinction between immigration policy on new arrivals, no matter how draconian, and on people who have already been granted status, on set conditions. It is about being a country that keeps its word. If we're not that, we might as well fucking give up now.
September 29, 2025 at 6:15 PM
There is a key moral distinction between immigration policy on new arrivals, no matter how draconian, and on people who have already been granted status, on set conditions. It is about being a country that keeps its word. If we're not that, we might as well fucking give up now.
Reposted by George MacKerron
"But what can we do more?" ask UK pundits
Despite the various rhetorical dramas, the UK continues to maintain almost entirely normal relations with Netanyahu's government. Real measures are long overdue.
For some ideas, see below
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Despite the various rhetorical dramas, the UK continues to maintain almost entirely normal relations with Netanyahu's government. Real measures are long overdue.
For some ideas, see below
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Myanmar sanctions: guidance
www.gov.uk
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
"But what can we do more?" ask UK pundits
Despite the various rhetorical dramas, the UK continues to maintain almost entirely normal relations with Netanyahu's government. Real measures are long overdue.
For some ideas, see below
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Despite the various rhetorical dramas, the UK continues to maintain almost entirely normal relations with Netanyahu's government. Real measures are long overdue.
For some ideas, see below
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by George MacKerron
“The University of California will survive federal funding cuts if it must... It will not survive the sacrifice of our institutional autonomy, academic freedom, or civil rights on the altar of a specious claim to be ‘combatting antisemitism.’” jweekly.com/2025/09/24/j...
Jewish faculty to UC: Don’t negotiate with Trump
More than 200 Jewish faculty across the UC system sign a letter expressing alarm that leaders have allegedly begun negotiating a settlement.
jweekly.com
September 25, 2025 at 1:53 AM
“The University of California will survive federal funding cuts if it must... It will not survive the sacrifice of our institutional autonomy, academic freedom, or civil rights on the altar of a specious claim to be ‘combatting antisemitism.’” jweekly.com/2025/09/24/j...
Reposted by George MacKerron
A Israeli academic asked his followers on X which sanction would really convince ordinary Israelis that they are isolated internationally.
"Expulsion from football tournaments" was the most popular answer, followed by "ending visa-free travel to Europe"
"Expulsion from football tournaments" was the most popular answer, followed by "ending visa-free travel to Europe"
September 25, 2025 at 10:28 PM
A Israeli academic asked his followers on X which sanction would really convince ordinary Israelis that they are isolated internationally.
"Expulsion from football tournaments" was the most popular answer, followed by "ending visa-free travel to Europe"
"Expulsion from football tournaments" was the most popular answer, followed by "ending visa-free travel to Europe"
Reposted by George MacKerron
Yep, that's great. Just fantastic. We were told that Starmer would lay out the patriotic case for diversity today. What we got was an article in the Telegraph, behind a paywall, about how the left failed to tackle immigration and now we all have to have ID cards www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09...
Access Restricted
www.telegraph.co.uk
September 26, 2025 at 6:03 AM
Yep, that's great. Just fantastic. We were told that Starmer would lay out the patriotic case for diversity today. What we got was an article in the Telegraph, behind a paywall, about how the left failed to tackle immigration and now we all have to have ID cards www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09...
Also: how the identity of the one doing the reporting is just wholly irrelevant. (It sounds like something Olly came up with in the back of a car in The Thick of It, except significantly dumber).
Cannot stress enough how it is already possible to report potholes www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Public backs ‘super ID card’ which could be used to report potholes
Ministers have recently said they are considering introducing a form of digital ID for adults in Britain
www.independent.co.uk
September 25, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Also: how the identity of the one doing the reporting is just wholly irrelevant. (It sounds like something Olly came up with in the back of a car in The Thick of It, except significantly dumber).
Extremely recommended: this video explains how modern (EUV) computer chips are made. Unbelievable complexity and precision. www.youtube.com/watch?v=B248...
How are Billions of Nanoscopic Transistors Made into a Microchip? EUV Photolithography 🛠️⚙️🤯
YouTube video by Branch Education
www.youtube.com
September 25, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Extremely recommended: this video explains how modern (EUV) computer chips are made. Unbelievable complexity and precision. www.youtube.com/watch?v=B248...