Yeeesh.

Just answering questions.

I have sent this email to my Director of Comms at KCL and would encourage others to do likewise.

Err...

The thing about Mamdani is that as well as having appealing policies, he’s actually just a very likeable guy. Comes across as very genuine and real but with charisma and the ability to communicate.

Good old Thames Water. No water in Oxford yesterday. Burst pipe. So they repair it, and in so doing so, they damage a valve. And then another valve...

Russian agents paid a group of UK criminals to set warehouses filled with supplies for Ukraine on fire Their next mission was to kidnap a Putin critic and burn down his Michelin-starred restaurant, but their efforts to "move clean" failed and they were caught in time www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/w...

I've obtained a trove of leaked documents about today's federal crackdown on Los Angeles' MacArthur Park. One revelation is its codename: "Operation Excalibur"

🧐

Obviously Ken Livingstone has a… checkered… reputation but fucking hell this was a great speech. youtu.be/vEBAVUCX0j4?...

Interesting example of where policy intention does not translate to practice. Despite the ban on single use vapes, people are using reusable versions once and throwing away. FT found many shops don’t stock reusable cartridges at all on.ft.com/3Gbz8vg

Absolutely incredible graphic from 1880 tracing the history of political parties in the United States.

Decked by the @financialtimes.com

Tony Blair’s staff took part in ‘Gaza Riviera’ project with BCG https://on.ft.com/40Akc0s

Breaking news: Boston Consulting Group modelled the costs of 'relocating' Palestinians from Gaza and entered into a multimillion-dollar contract to help launch a new aid scheme for the shattered enclave https://on.ft.com/3TrfEpn

Despite all the aggressive hostile propaganda, the UK remains one of the most diverse and inclusive places in the world. This is the lived experience of so many. We should be proud of this spirit. We should celebrate it. We should definitely guard and protect it.

I've already "Well actually"ed Kate about 1976 this morning, so I'll spare her yet another reply, but... This is a great demo from @edhawkins.org to show how although 1976 was really hot in the UK & northern France, it wasn't in the rest of the world. Unlike more recent years.

Agentic AI meets the Principal Agent problem.

Chief exec of Hitachi Energy tells FT that 'no other industry would be allowed as volatile use of power as the AI sector'. Governments' bromance with the tech bros plays out unimpeded against this backdrop. With a sharing link for 3 non-subscribers: on.ft.com/3IdDJha

BREAKING: The U.S. Supreme Court holds that a district court cannot enforce its remedy order providing due process to the 8 people the Trump admin sent out of the U.S. (who are now in Djibouti) in violation of the injunction in the third country removals case, which the Supreme Court later stayed.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Palantir top of this list within a few years... www.cnbc.com/2025/07/03/w...

Feeling Left out

"The problem with AI isn't that it can do your job. It can't. The problem with AI is that your MBA-brained boss's boss doesn't know how your job works and thinks AI can do your job at fractions of a penny on the dollar, and hears the siren song of 'maximize shareholder value'." MBA-brain is real.

But these Neighbourhood centres will be funded how? Apparently there is new £10 million for capital. If we charitably assume just 5 neighbourhood centres per ICS, then that is 42x5. 210: so that’s £48,000 per centre. Good luck with that. Might buy a portacabin.

Stereotypical.

It was* nice when it lasted. * n't

Aberdeen Group axes research charity abrdn Financial Fairness Trust board and chief executive with no notice bit.ly/4l8YQQh some suggest it did not like its progressive ideas such as limiting tax relief on pensions contributions and bias towards lower income households

Indeed.

This could get interesting (Musk v Trump, Round 2).

Would like to think the UK would do the same. www.france24.com/en/video/202...

Appalled to read this. A critical funder of UK social and fiscal policy research has just been summarily dumped, along with its key staff and trustees. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump is coming for Musk again: “Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.” “Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”

100% - this is also why media outlets like the BBC who ought to know better should stop describing him as an ‘academic’ - he hasn’t been one for some time and by doing so they apply a veneer of intellectual authority to his rantings which they do not deserve

Ben Habib's launch has now been welcomed by Elon Musk - the owner of Twitter/X., who is the world's richest man, but among the most unpopular people in the world for the British public

Karoline Leavitt indicates the administration is open to a denaturalization-oriented investigation against Zohran Mamdani

Can media (especially the BBC) stop presenting Goodwin as an impartial academic to audiences. He is not. He is an activist and has been for some time.

'denaturalisation'

Queen's College is proposing to alter its war memorial to include the names of alumni who fell in the First World War fighting on the German side – following a precedent set by New College almost 100 years ago. Five names will be carved in situ by a memorial mason.

Well. It happened. Today we were told that our NASA proposal was selected, but they can’t fund it due to the budget cuts. Nothing like getting a congratulations and we’re sorry in the same email. Only 4 proposals were selected in the call out of >120. Please excuse me as I go throw things.

This sentence, typed in her dissent, should scare the living fuck out of everyone in this country. "This Supreme Court is an existential threat to the rule of law." – Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Professional job, this (although am seriously considering it with EV Aircon) youtu.be/Q5JQySb9_FY?...

I wish Prime Ministers would sometimes say (eg about goings-on at festivals) “I don’t know, I’m too busy”

I just received a contract on Docusign for review and signing, and it offered to give me an AI-generated summary that I could read instead to save time. That's AN AI-GENERATED SUMMARY ***OF A CONTRACT***, in case you need to let that sink in.

In today’s episode of What Are They Thinking: “If you don’t see a hurricane coming… does it really exist?” 🚨 The Dept of Defense is shutting down its weather satellite program. No more data. No more updates. Meteorologists are scrambling—and we’re heading into peak storm season. Brilliant timing.

I’m observing with concern how displaying even the slightest critical stance towards wide AI adoption in academia is being labelled as being ‘in denial’ and by backwardness.

And as I’ve said repeatedly, it was a major reason why U.K. performed so badly in the pandemic ukpandemicethics.org/blog/martin-...

Very good question. @lucindahiam.bsky.social @dannydorling.bsky.social & I have been writing about it for years academic.oup.com/bmb/article-...

It's incredible that neither the president nor VP was here. The politicization of all facets of American life is coming from the White House. No other American president would have failed to pay their respects. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...