Excited to be soft-launching a new online essay series for @the-breakdown.bsky.social - (re)reading radical thinkers for the climate crisis. First up is Casey A. Williams on Stuart Hall and his analytical power for climate strategy today. www.break-down.org/reading-stua...

really awesome episode

People who rarely interact with anyone even resembling an average skilled worker claim some bullshit

As a neuroscientist, I’d suggest there is a profound disconnect between what *some* computer scientists think is representative of “intelligence”, cognitive ability, or descriptions of consciousness from some in AI work. LLMs are not how neural systems process information, nor how brains function.

Top 10% by income now getting half of all consumption

the password to the louvre surveillance server was "louvre" www.thesocialpost.it/2025/11/02/f...

At some point it has to become clear that this tech exists is to create a more toxic society and enrich its owners. These uses are not aberrations but rather the entire purpose.

From “don’t be evil” to abetting a genocide for profit: that’s what it means to be “googley” today.

High street slot machine shops, owned by Merkur, are paying their staff bonuses linked to how much gamblers lose. Companies chase profits by spreading misery, exploiting vulnerable people Gambling Commission must shut down these parasites.

A billion dollars is the socio-political equivalent of a loose nuke, and we should work as ruthlessly and diligently to prevent the acquisition of the former as we do the latter.

This whole section really.

CHATGPT: I understand where you're coming from. You worked really hard to get here, and now it's time to enjoy the fruit of your labors. ISILDUR: So I should keep it? Elrond says I shouldn't CHATGPT: The ring is precious. Sometimes friends don't have your best interests at heart. ISILDUR: true

This is the point I am constantly repeating, and that AI booster seek to obscure; every single “ability” demonstrated by an LLM is there because humans already put enough examples of it online.

I have a new piece on the politics of discounting in the latest @nybooks.com, hopefully of interest to some. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Athletic Club Bilbao hosted Palestinian refugees at San Mames Stadium in a moving tribute followed by a standing ovation.

such a good episode

This sweeping discussion is focused on the US, but there's so much that's directly relevant to the UK's dysfunctional political economy. Covers so much ill have to listen twice I think.

NEW: UK asked Apple to backdoor iCloud encryption. Backdoors create a massive target for hackers & criminal groups. Dictators will inevitably demand that Apple do the same for them. 1/ www.ft.com/content/d101...

If you work for the Labour Party and have just enough of a human soul left in you to be embarrassed by this then you should simply quit your job and state publicly your reasons for doing so rather than engaging in anonymous but salaried whinging about how people - rightly! - do not like you anymore

They started talking about mortality at one point and it was GOOD for the energy in the booth.

Italy was on strike in solidarity with Palestinians last Monday. Hundreds of thousands demonstrated blocking roads, ports & railway stations. In Rome, many drivers found themselves stuck in traffic — & were happy about it, saluting demonstrators & condemning Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.

A BBC investigation finds asylum seekers trapped in dilapidated hotels, spending years in administrative limbo, indebted to criminal gangs and yes, moved arbitrarily so that they have to take taxis across the country for routine GP appointments. Government response? Stop the taxis.

🔴 NEW: Larry Ellison’s £257m bet on Tony Blair Our investigation with @lighthousereports.com reveals how the Tony Blair Institute has been accused of pushing the interests of tech tycoon Ellison — Trump’s “CEO of everything” — and his company Oracle democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-the...

Far right discourse is already the norm in the UK. Here is Nick Robinson trying to find a middle ground with people who have called for the death of asylum seekers while making no mention - not once - of the 1000 or so people arrested for supporting Palestine Action. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Good chance of Israel being suspended from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) this week. This move would have devastating implications for Israeli football, and would be the most significant move of cultural sanction against Israel in decades.

Chiefs have lost 3 games in past 18 seasons when allowing fewer than 220 yards: 20-17 vs Eagles, today 20-14 vs #Raiders, Christmas 2023 13-10 vs Raiders, 9/20/2009

Israel’s three largest arms corporations, which all supply the Israeli military, have been allowed by the UK government to exhibit at the DSEI London arms fair in September: 🇮🇱 Elbit Systems 🇮🇱 Israel Aerospace Industries 🇮🇱 Rafael caat.org.uk/data/arms-fa...

I dug into the Israeli entities that have received EU funding. Here’s what I found - www.irishtimes.com/world/middle...

There are two basic facts that are essential to understanding global climate policy: 1) The preferred geopolitical weapon of the modern US empire has been the imposition of energy starvation. 2) The primary strategic vulnerability of China is that they are reliant upon energy imports.

It’s so fucked that we have normalised this notion that the people bringing you your food are so apparently unpalatable that they cannot even be allowed to step a toe into the establishment you’ve ordered from in case a Proper Person is inconvenienced or alarmed by their presence

BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen has confirmed that the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City has been killed.

Southern Water applies for permission to draw water from rare chalk stream. Macquarie controlled company loses 91m litres of water per day to leaks. No new reservoirs built since 1989. Dumped sewage for 300,000 hours into rivers. Customer bills up 47% this year. End fleecing. Nationalise water.

Channeling my anger at how colonialism & imperialism in understood in Economics (exemplified by Nievas and Piketty's recent paper) into a 4500 word long essay 🤓 (Thanks @ineteconomics.bsky.social!)

It’s actually fucking offensive how cheap these people are. OBVIOUSLY they shouldn’t be meeting business twats for cosy chats at all but if you’re going to allow people to lobby you in this seedy way- make them fucking pay properly! You are literally the government!

Trans people poured their hearts into this consultation. The EHRC won't even bother to read them.

bsky.app/profile/york... Thanks to the Bylines Network. Please repost this where appropriate.

i think the big middle event between george floyd protests and covid that accelerated this hard right turn in elite circles was tech employees using slack to stage walk-outs and force concessions from management. tech bosses got a first whiff of organized labor's power and started reading mein kampf

At the San Fermín festival in Pamplona, Spain: “stop the genocide, free Palestine” www.instagram.com/reel/DLxZ2pD...

Labour MPs *should* be worried about this, but they should also not be surprised. Every single one of the government’s policies is poorly articulated nonsense, dribbled out by people who are dangerously out of their depth & making life-ruining decisions about things they don’t understand

Note No.10 is starting work on its new narrative: “We can’t stop the two child limit ‘cos they made us u-turn on disability benefits.” Child poverty v disability poverty is not a contest. Labour is responsible for its choices and solutions - not disabled people. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

What's the problem with Nievas & Piketty's understanding of unequal exchange, colonialism and, implicitly, imperialism? I break down their theory & empirics here in this podcast, and lay out what gets lost when you focus on flows over social relations. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsIK...

I wrote a thing - What the ‘controversy’ over Bob Vylan at Glastonbury reveals about the British mediascape today Spoilers: it ain’t good shado-mag.com/articles/opi...

Italy court sends 11 executives at a chemical plant to jail terms of up to 17 years for polluting water, a total of more than 141 years. Puts UK to shame. UK buries corporate crimes - water, Post Office, Grenfell, infected blood, bank frauds. Govts/Regulators serve corporations, not people.

Venn diagram

Remembering this great tweet on the Summer Solstice