In politics as in science, Occham's Razor holds true -- even if this excellent article challenges and then refines it: "To paraphrase Einstein, we should try to make things as simple as possible, but no simpler."

Friedrich Hayek explains MAGA: "Much of our occasional impetuous desire to smash the whole entangling machinery of civilisation is due to the inability of man to understand what he is doing."

If this intends to make it legally compulsory for every adult in Derry to carry something called a "Brit Card", then I'm willing to offer some high-paid consultancy on why this plan might be flawed.

Buckle up everybody -- we could be heading for another spot of turbulence. And get the sick bags ready.

#booksky 📚

Could really do with an explainer from the Reply All podcast rn. The kind that it used to make before it turned out to be toxic. 😔

I do love getting old books out of the library. Here a spiffy undergrad, circa 1980, says what they really think of Hayek's (admittedly cranky) idea for democratic representation.

Guys, I know we fret a lot over AI here. But sometimes we get reminders of how dumb it is. And we should laugh and worry less.

A beautiful thought for nihilists: Bees make the most wonderful honey from the nectar of fire weed -- which proliferates on ground recently cleared by flame. #CheerfulNihilism

I gotta say I'm getting sick to the back teeth of hearing about POTUS on BlueSky. But my lord there are some funny humdingers going around tonight....

i'm afraid donald trump is in a classic Death Becomes Her situation. he drank isabella rosellini's eternal life potion 20 years ago but he's fallen down so many staircases that the seams holding his torso together keep melting under studio lighting conditions. he's very much alive if in total agony

I can

Wicklow Wolf x Gubeen Farmhouse, Mór Bier (6% ABV) 7/10 This “big beer” packs a punch. The marketing says it contains “aromas of dark bread, caramel and subtle dried fruit”. And yeah, you can taste most of these. I love everything Gubeen so I'm biased. This beer lives up to most of my hype. #BeerSky

"In the broader history of warfare", though, this does make sense. Albeit in a sinister way. The history of warfare is the history of distancing the killer from the victim. The makers of arrows would have marketed in the same way to governments; as would the Scotsman who invented the cannon.

"Deploy millions of weapons without risking millions of lives"? Military AI companies sell fantasies. The reality: more violence, more instability. Don’t fall for the hype. 📖 Our latest Substack: stopkillerrobots.substack.com/p/dont-belie... ✏️ @elkeschwarz.bsky.social

Let’s be honest here: they were hoping the anti-refugee protests turned ugly because then there would be sexy telegenic violence. The reason that the progressive protests aren’t news is because they don’t. Which shows the warped priorities of our tv news coverage and is not a great signal to send.

I'm often criticised for being too strict at gigs. But here's a picture of a woman at a Father John Misty gig looking up "Father John Misty" on AI while Father John Misty is introducing a song about the effects of capitalism on mental health.

On a post-war Ukraine: "Endorsing the principle that invasions can legally change the borders of countries puts in jeopardy the international order that was built after 1945."

August is holiday season. On 12th August 1839 the Chartists declared a Grand National Holiday to bring down capitalism. It did happen, unfortunately it didnt work kmflett.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/a...

That's the problem with anarchy: too many rules.

Episode 12 of The Missives tells the story of the Irish Revolution, 1916-1923, and asks, “How do revolutions lead to the wrong republics?” Text and audio versions are available here. Pushed for time? Here’s a TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) [1/18]

The fact that this work by Jenny Saville has been flagged as "Adult Content" is bound to make her laugh.

Maybe? I wrote a review essay assessing a recent argument for a kind of democratic localism and don't really find it all that persuasive. More generally, I'm just trying to think through the analysis of the moment & its challenge; so, diagnosis, but not prescription yet. bsky.app/profile/kjep...

I'd make some comment about how it looks like your grandpa's golf club just travelled to the Middle East if these people weren't so powerful.

US Ambassador Huckabee arrives in Gaza.

I NEED to tell you the story of Tae Heung “William” Kim. He's a graduate student at Texas A&M where he's working on a vaccine for Lyme disease. He's a *legal permanent resident* of the United States. And he's been in ICE detention for 12 days & counting, transferred Tuesday to South Texas.

I'm mightily doubtful that this is true, based on what we've learned about BP's U-turn and the continued sales of petro-powered cars.

I don't think I quite qualify for the famous Instagram page "Hot Dudes Reading". But my wife still digs me sitting down with a book in random places. Here I'm taking a break on a hot day in a tiny French hamlet (Saint-Siffret). #BookSky 📚 #PhilSky

Still not as bad as Microsoft Teams

New post just out: "Britain isn't broken" We have our problems but the doomerism is getting out of hand. I look at the real picture on crime, migration, social cohesion and the economy - rather than the dsyoptian fantasies of the radical right. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...

This is a great article. Wish there were more like it, but one of our core problems is that you don’t get published with a thesis/headline that says, "Things not quite as terrible as they seem".

My *other* holiday reading is incredibly insightful but very tough -- like wading through molasses. It's a little bit easier in an old medieval garden with dappled sunlight. #BookSky 📚 #PhilSky

I'm about halfway through my holiday read, Andrew O'Hagan's "Caledonian Road". Very redolent of Tom Wolfe's "A Man in Full": both are sprawling novels about rich people who slowly fall from grace. Very slowly. Another 300 pages to go... #booksky 📚

Today I made a pilgrimage to the grave of a personal hero. In lieu of praying (for he was an atheist) I gazed at the pens, cigarettes and thank-you cards left by other acolytes. I fixated on a bright insect flying away. I went home and wrote about him. #PhilSky

Can attest that this dilemma is real. #booksky 📚

Rousseau wrote of the Pont du Gard, "One asks oneself what force has transported these enormous stones so far [...] and what brought together the arms of so many thousands of men in a place where none of them live." The answer: Rome, under the orders of Agrippa, in 40AD. And it still stands.

This is for anyone who likes, when they're working, the kind of ambient music that's a cut above New World and Spotify algorithms. (I'm looking at you @seanlclancy.bsky.social )

It's that time of year! If you are a new PhD student in philosophy starting this fall, please let me know to add you to the starter pack! Alternatively, add the starter pack to get some fresh perspectives. :-)

They're deliberately dodging accountability. On the surface, it's probably argued that anonymising ICE attorneys in records (and ICE agents with ubiquitous masks) protests them from retaliation. But underneath it's an implicit admission that they're "the bad guys".

It's always difficult to tell, with all the media we are offered, what is important enough to be considered "history". The conversations in this article will almost certainly pass that test.

Dot Brew Cold IPA (4%APV) Imagine my delight on finding this in my fridge on this punishingly hot day. This so-called “IPA” is much closer to a lager, and is packaged as such. It’s light and inoffensive – which uncharacteristically is exactly what I need today. 7/10 (6 on a normal day) #BeerSky

Lessons in Trumpian politics: *Announce tarriffs* in haste, delay at your leisure *Consider sanctions on Russia, perhaps indefinitely We should countenance a world where neither happens. #PolSky

There's a bit of a constitutional kerfuffle over here in Ireland and it centers on who our "rulers" are. This word irks me. Immensely. I know it's being used in a legal manner. But for a person who spoils his own votes [see my 1st Missive] it's extremely jarring to think of my elected "rulers".

Well the RELAXATOR is at least a damn sight healthier than most of my attempts hitherto to instantly shut the world out.

This account is either (a) an exercise in spamming or (b) a nascent third party even more nefarious than the standard fare. I looked at their website and still can't figure it out. Either way, watch out.

For an anti-establishment president, this guy seems to be playing things very by-the-book. Drain the swamp but pay your staffers $200,000. Give the finger to international trade but keep delaying it, and delaying it.

A hell of an editorial snafu in the print version of the @financialtimes.com (1st image) which i just had to check in the online version (2nd image). #PalestineAction

Is it a bad day to talk about this artwork? (Victor Lindt, 'USA', 1971)