In my local ward (and many others, I suspect), one candidate didn't bother to provide a photo or any text. The other did, but it was so confusing to read and didn't feel like anyone else had even checked it. It just doesn't feel like this should be the hard bit.

Me: (Smart, looking at the most devastating evidence imaginable that my smart plan is an incredible, historic disaster) I was even more right than I suspected

You don't get to say things like this and then ask why I, an immigrant, and all of my loved ones who don't see me as a problem to be solved, won't vote for you.

Me, sowing an electoral system so I can get a constitution-amending supermajority on a smaller share of the vote: Haha fuck yeah!!! Yes!! Me, reaping an electoral system where they can get a constitution-amending supermajority on a smaller share of the vote: Well this fucking sucks. What the fuck.

Loving how every news app tells me five hours in advance that they have a live thread on the launch, but then expect me to just continually follow it so don't tell me when the launch is actually about to happen. 🙃

Do NOT get introspective.

Taking the Bentham line to Lancaster via Clapham. The Settle & Carlisle shares the route, but while it is very beautiful, I find this route a lot more utilitarian.

@standupmaths.bsky.social Fun question for you, inspired by a flight I'm booked on (Air India 314): Using flight numbers, how many digits of pi can you tick off by taking back-to-back flights with no more than 24 hours layover between them?

A fascinating bit of convergent evolution that the McSweeney-Starmer project has basically ended up leaving Labour in the same position as its Western European peers…as a result of deliberate, wholly avoidable choices.

The thing that would be terrifying me, were I the Labour party, is that it is not clear which, if any, part of its coalition no longer has somewhere else to go.

Legit funny that the current Labour leadership have managed to lose a by-election AND strengthen the leadership challenge of their big internal rival in one syper combo move. Top strategery lads. AA+ would strategery again. Still, i'm sure one more pivot to the right will do it. 👍👍🙄😆

Starmer — a prosecutor with a huge majority, coming in after years of sleaze and mendacity — could have weaponised the corruption of his opponents to incredible advantage. Instead he will be ruined by the living avatar of corruption in his own party. To not see that coming is a serious skill issue.

I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!

This mendacious drivel should be a resigning issue, for both the author and anyone who thought it was right to publish it

Speeding discourse is one of the quickest ways to see that many, many folks on the left also have a bit of a libertarian in them There is no coherent argument against aggressive and heavily enforced vehicular safety regulations that doesn’t boil down to “nuh-uh, you can’t tell me what to do”

The one thing I think we can learn from Cass is we need to make this controversial AF before it is published, because once it is published and they give the author a peerage, it will be considered unbelievably rude to criticise him or the report.

So this British review into whether too many people are getting ADHD and autism diagnoses will be led by a psychoanalyst who thinks everything is about attachment and trauma, and his deputy will be a guy who thinks ME/CFS is primarily a mental health problem.

So much of our politics revolves around catering to the emotions of people who become furious when someone else isn't suffering as much as they think they should

and again - literally just the hobby horse of some random anonymous Twitter accounts, enraging how quickly they managed to turn their horrid posting into actual government policy and rhetoric

"Drivers say" what kind of attribution is that?!!

The Andrew Formerly Known As Prince.

Andrew, or to give him his full title, Andrew.

Another thought on this brilliant story: police orthodoxy in this country is that, best use if straitened resources is to focus on “high impact” crime. Hard to square that with the fact that essentially every serious look into “petty” crime finds it is scarily organised!

That's... certainly a claim. @jon.gruene.social.ap.brid.gy

The idea that the post-war order was created because they thought "everyone would want to be nice to each other" is not something you should be able to utter and still be taken seriously.

I thought I'd take the opportunity to put together a website representation of these new Rail Clocks which launched yesterday. railclock.davwheat.dev Source code (MIT): github.com/davwheat/rai... And, don't worry, it does have the special flourish every 12 hours!

The absolute bloody vandalism of austerity in one chart. Good analysis of the overall picture here.

New DLR train! New DLR train! New DLR train! New DLR train!

Seats on the new NextGen Acela look like alien robots giving a lower back rub and/or needy hug, I saw it and now you will too. (Hitchhiker's vibes.)

My review of The Greatest Gathering.

Every UK petition is like this

since it's the last day of pride month I figured I'd at least make one thing for it... i now unveil to you my greatest invention: color bars pride flag

Hotel in Vietnam. Stood up from the toilet and the edge of the lid of the metal loo roll holder sliced through my elbow. It hadn't seen sandpaper or a file in its life. Hotel cleaner got worried I'd damaged a towel cleaning up the blood, but fortunately realised this probably wasn't worth pushing.

Read the entire thread, but especially take note of this part. The Netherlands closed this loophole and so you now essentially *never* see the kinds of dangerous and illegal "e-bikes" that are very common in the UK.

I read the best-selling book on "overdiagnosis". I was not a fan. There are some really important ideas that don't quite stick the landing, but it gets very culture-war very quickly. A first attempt at YouTube by @ftw.bsky.social and I: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDxV...

Folks, I think we're doomed.

Customer. Journey. Times. Matter. If you don't get that, get out of transport planning.

Touristing in Geneva.

High effort trainspotting.

My brain this week, continually. youtu.be/rdzThMp5lso?...

Wes Streeting is suppressing the publication of a report that would show that what he's doing to trans kids has increased the suicide rate Scandal upon scandal

Honestly, what, actually, is the government’s problem?

Lovely to hear from the Prime Minister that the historical policies which allowed my Mum to remain in the UK after studying here, thus enabling my existence, was a “squalid experiment in open borders”.

Never conclude this Labour Government has hit bottom. It can, and on the evidence it will, get worse.

Political parties banned from Manchester, London, Birmingham and Brighton Prides this year. Statements in the images.

well that would be a turn up for the books

Young man, there's no need to feel down, I said Young man, pick yourself off the ground, I said Young man, 'cause you're in a new town There's no need to be unhappy It's fun to shout at the

This account is now on Bluesky also, before the Doctor Who Series 10 soundtrack release.

Does anyone know of a recent period when inflation was low and we could have built stuff.