Like a lot of things rich guys believe and fund, the AI consciousness thing is in part driven by a desire to abscond from the responsibility of what they've made. It also explains why so many of them think we're in a simulation. Doesn't matter if everybody died if we're all just 1s and 0s baby!

Labour politics and governance blighted by those with a tendency to go gaga in the presence of wealthy men

We don’t talk enough about how morally depraved the tech industry turned out to be. Every single ounce of their self-regarding statements of values was an outright lie.

New signage opposite the Ramshorn Kirkyard.

Did you watch Dirty Business? I can't believe how much water companies have gotten away with. They're putting profit before public health - it’s a scandal and the Government MUST take action! Sick of sewage? Add your name to the petition today: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/en...

No more Dirty Business ! The public, MPs and Environmental Groups have said NO to 14 years of illegal Thames Water sewage pollution. Email Ofwat now, so that they can't ignore us @weownit.org.uk weownit.org.uk/act-now/emai...

www.ft.com/content/5207... Where is the 'public involvement' or public accountability in political class decisions to embed Palantir in crucial UK defence and health systems?

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f... Difference is difficult, beautiful, and crucial. 'Word work us sublime... because it is generative; it makes meaning that secures our difference'

manchestermill.co.uk/inside-the-m... Great little article on pigeons at rail stations

BREAKING: government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action under terrorism law ruled UNLAWFUL This matters for everyone. For years, the right to protest has been under sustained and deliberate attack. Thousands of people have been arrested for something that should have never been a crime.

Our public services aren’t for a secretive profit-hungry US tech firm. Sign the petition to tell the Government to scrap all contracts with secretive US tech firm Palantir. you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...

Now closing on 99,000 signatures! Keep going! petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

Italian voice actor Carlo Bononi was the voice of all of the characters on Pingu. A trained clown by trade, he used a theater technique called grammelot, which consists of "speaking" in a mix of babbled gibberish noises. He improvised all the voices live and unscripted.

Like Tr*mp, there are no consequences for venality.

Lindisfarne Holy Island Northumberland

Every ad now

Trump may be the beginning of the end for ‘enshittification’ – this is our chance to make tech good again | Cory Doctorow www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The last time I saw The Trial by Orson Welles it was on VHS; the teenage me probably taped a late-night TV broadcast of a cropped, substandard print. I saw it again last night. Wow. Every frame is a work of art, not least due to cinematographer Edmond Richard. Here's a short 🧵of frames. #cinema

The top 10% of richest Americans own 87% of stocks. The top 1% alone own roughly half of all stocks. It's worth pointing out once again that the stock market is not the economy.

We asked comedian @michaelspicer.bsky.social to respond to the opinion "Working with organised crime to improve health: a modest proposal" from our #BMJChristmas Issue 2025. Read the opinion here: www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Autumn Sun, 1912 https://botfrens.com/collections/88/contents/25195

@aha-uk.bsky.social doi.org/10.3310/GJJM... The importance and challenge of seeing #alcohol as a health harming drug in the health system Highlighting alcohol use in medication appointments with clinical pharmacists: the CHAMP-1 mixed methods research programme

French poster for THE HAUNTING (1963) Directed by Robert Wise Starring Julie Harris - BOTD in 1925

www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/pgfar/GJJM1624 Highlighting alcohol use in medication appointments with clinical pharmacists: the CHAMP-1 mixed methods research programme. Finally published 2 years after it was submitted.

Fifteen Years xkcd.com/3172/

Some of you point out that the big players have used various tricks to keep their own $ safe. True. That's why we need to think about how to prosecute them for fraud. Those bubble-inflating claims - AI will cure all disease! end climate change! double lifespans! - are essentially Theranos X 1000.

The ‘Fool's Cap World Map’, from 1590. The print uses a jester's face to display the world map of the time - Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. Currently part of the British Library’s ‘Secret Maps’ exhibition.

‘Too little, too late’: damning report condemns UK’s Covid response

My book with Andy Bartlett - an STS analysis of Bigfooting - is now out and available to order at www.routledge.com/Bigfooters-a... If this is of interest, I would really appreciate it being shared. Thank you.

February 1937 Tory campaign against BBC "bias". To be fair, if Captain Maule Ramsay was leading the charge, "left-wing" probably covered everything up to and including Mussolini...

That final point is absolutely crucial.

Sunflowers, 1911 https://botfrens.com/collections/88/contents/25140

OK hear me out. Celebrity Traitors but with the cast of Slow Horses, all in character.

Did you spot it? This government wants to use a PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP for Neighbourhood Health Centres in its 10 year NHS plan *Even though Private Finance Initiatives mean the NHS paying up to 27 x over for hospitals* Take 1 minute to say no weownit.org.uk/act-now/no-n...

Amazing how things even the National Front and British Movement would not say directly are being normalised while anything deemed 'left' is increasingly denormalised e.g fair wages, human rights, social security, public health, universal healthcare

[THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST] EP.262 - JOHN FOXX #theAdamBuxtonPodcast podcastaddict.com/the-adam-bux... via @PodcastAddict A lovely, interesting conversation. Also enjoyed warm, Chorley tones.

Private equity decimated US hospitals, says Senate report; now targeting the NHS. PE practice, Cut staff/wages, high debt/price, asset-stripping tax abuse, poor service. PE makes millions in the UK from hip/knee/cataract surgery, GP surgeries, care homes, will run new NHS neighbourhood hubs.

Disc with Strings (Moon),1969 by sculptor Barbara Hepworth #womensart

This is bound to be good. Sorry I cant be there

I have signed @weownit.org.uk's petition to block Thames Water's plans to dump sewage in our rivers for the next 15 years. We have until 21st Oct to stop it. Add your name now. weownit.org.uk/act-now/peti...

www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/s... Saw this tonight at York Theatre Royal. Beautifully done. Funny and moving.

The 2024 Little Richard documentary, I Am Everything, is currently streaming on C4 in the UK. Ignore the usual talking heads who appear at the start as this is excellent. Particularly good on the "queer" subculture of the American South. youtu.be/4YC8WUrWtZY?...

Like many Irish folks I’m deeply saddened by the loss of Manchán Magan. The loss of the man himself and the loss of the many beautiful contributions I know he would have made to the world. How lucky we are that he left us with so much of himself, his unique perspective, his curiosity, wonder & awe 🕯️

"We are in nature, and then we are humans in nature connected" Manchán Mangan - may he rest in nature - sad to part with both Jane Goodall and Manchán (far too young) this week - both powerful voices for our human relationship to nature and the environment www.rte.ie/news/2025/10...