3+ weeks on from the "end a civilization" threat, not a lot that's changed, and Trump himself said yesterday it'll be a deal or "bomb the hell out of them." Blockade is suffocating Iran's economy, yes. But most of what's in this thread, including the danger of a cornered, angry, Trump, remains.

15 years ago today, Kate and William killed Osama Bin Laden at their wedding.

okay but if Bowie dying is what sent us into this spiral how do you explain the world before Bowie was born

Along with wildly violating both domestic & international law, & threatening the global economy, this war is a massive threat to US national & transatlantic security. The GOP, in its current form, simply cannot be allowed anywhere near foreign & security policy until it is reformed root & branch.

The Child, who hates swearing, has started saying “mother NATURE” when she means “mother FUCKER”, and that delights me.

"No one could stop the US raiding modern shipping, but it doesn't because it knows it benefits far more from unmolested maritime trade than any potential piracy spoils", used to be my go-to example illustrating how international law works. Will need to update with a "fucking idiot" caveat.

I had been a UK resident for 14 years when I took out my postgrad loan. I pay around £20k in tax per year (nearly double the amount of said loan) and I’m the mother of a British citizen. But apparently, I’m also a sponger.

I dunno, living behind a brick wall in somebody's basement sounds kind of relaxing.

I think about this all the time.

Orban was pretty load-bearing for the global right wing media ecosystem huh

I feel I need to tap the sign: ----------------------------------- - SINCE AT LEAST AS FAR BACK - AS 2013, IT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED - THAT TURING'S 'IMITATION GAME' - IS BETTER THOUGHT OF AS A TEST - OF HUMAN CREDULOUSNESS THAN - ONE OF MACHINE CONSCIOUSNESS. -----------------------------------

It is no surprise that Dawkins treats AI as he would a "very intelligent friend." The man equates "agrees with me" and "is smart," and that means that he's right in the LLM's core target audience.

In totally unsurprising news, Richard Dawkins is developing AI psychosis. Paywall bypass: archive.is/6RdK9

AI psychosis is just “I really think the stripper likes me” for guys who don’t leave their house

Starting to see Gen-X “drink from the hose” posts about millennials. No.

One of my favorite Oscar Wilde anecdotes is that he once did a reading and Q&A in a mine. With miners. Like down a mineshaft. He had this crazy idea that everybody of every occupation deserved and could benefit from art and information

Happy first of May, all.

Iran could do what now? www.wsj.com/world/middle...

So much unimaginable harm being done in YOUR name, America. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

TECH BRUNCHLORDS: we believe AI has successfully achieved human-level cognition NEUROLOGISTS: okay so your brain is like, imagine if there was a kind of pudding that sang two bars from Semi-Charmed Life whenever somebody nearby was baking cookies, right? we don’t know why it does that

Nothing like a 40-minute medical appointment for blowing a three-hour hole in your day.

Some useful public speaking tips from Freud here.

thank you, europeans, for constantly underestimating what a hellscape the US is

This is not the main point, but I think "absolute unit" would be a fine translation for the monstrous boar in Herodotos 1.36.2, ὑὸς χρῆμα γίνεται μέγα, "in Mysian Olympos there arose a big thing of pig"

A blessed Beltane to you all! May your summer be full of warmth and growth and may you be fairly compensated for your labour. Up the May!

clicked on one (1) astrology link a relative sent me and now I am being followed around the web by targeted ads asking me to take a test for borderline personality disorder how did the ad servers know I was a scorpio? spooky.

THE UNION JACK IS UPSIDE DOWN

Got up early in hopes of catching this photo before work this morning. There's only a few days each year where it's cool enough in the morning to make this shot possible. Thankfully, today was one of those days! #wildlife #birds

jan6 jackson

Speaking as a historian, just wanna add that we are almost certainly going to receive an Era Name that none of us wants or expects

I can’t afford the fancy AI apps so instead I’ve fallen in love with Google Authenticator

the WORST Rhythm Nation-era Janet costume ever

When someone asks a question at the end of a work meeting

trying to play peekaboo with my child but he's a European diplomat: me: where'd daddy go? baby: we must articulate a post-daddy vision of strategic autonomy me: peekaboo! baby: my historic relationship with my father is stable despite recent troubles

The single most important thing to understand about tech futurism is that, when Anthropic’s predictions turn out to be wrong, they don’t have to give the money back.

So that’s everyone with a mortgage and credit cards now paying more than they would have been because of Trump.

Wodehouse: Wooster: "What ho, Jeeves. This giant worm on Piccadilly is a rum chap, I say." Jeeve: "I believe it is called shai halud, sir" Wooster: "Well, be that as it is, does it have to block the Criterion like that?"

Okay one thing Harry Potter did get 100% right is UK private school staff of a certain age having a war crime or two on their dossier

Albert Finney had such a good time making Miller’s Crossing that he turned up on his day off to appear in drag when Gabriel Byrne bursts into the ladies room.

Could they not push it up to, like, the start of June? I have a thing I'd like to get out of.

New recession indicator: I used to have to set a calendar alert for the day summer camp slots opened up, otherwise everything would fill up before I could get my kids in. This year I was a week late and 3/4 of the slots were still open.

“Asked on Wednesday morning what he would say to Charles if they were to spend time together beyond the ceremony, Mamdani said: ‘If I was to speak to the king separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond.’” [cue dhol, cue elephants]

This is a terrific cookbook that has helped The Child expand the variety of what she eats. It's also helped her better articulate what she doesn't like and why. If your kid is also autistic, give it a go.

To celebrate #AutismAcceptanceMonth, buy my book! Buy it for your friends and family with Autistic children. Buy it for your Autistic friends. Request it from your local library. Leave a positive review! Write a gushing critical review in a major publication! Get a COLOR TASTE TEXTURE tat!

We keep hearing about non-invasive tests for endo. I hope one finally comes good. I am lucky that I've only needed one surgery, but now that I'm in my late 40s it's kind of having an extinction burst, which is resulting in a constant battle with anemia. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

he's on the roof again

honestly the only Millennial / Gen Z dividing point that matters to me is this: do you remember how things were pre-9/11? and, crucially, how everyone lost their minds on and after 9/11? If so, you're a millennial or older.

write one about cocaine and he'd smile even more

Sigmund Freud read your essay about cigarettes and is smiling