This seems exactly the correct level of batshit, in the circumstances.

Can't help feeling that the whole "why do people hate Labour so much?" thing is often dramatically overthought. "People didn't hate the Tories this much!" No, that's probably true, because... /1

That seems like a bargain for looking like a Temu Roy Orbison and everyone thinking you're a sex pest.

He's right. Read it.

To be fair to Trump, what he actually said* was: "There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!" And he's delivered on that! He didn't specify who - 5D chess, losers! Honestly, people are cross when politicians lie, cross when they don't lie... * see www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Lee Dixon accusing other teams of making it difficult for England. How dare they!? Apparently the reason why it's a bit scrappy. At some point, if every opponent you play makes it a bit scrappy, you might have to consider that it's a you thing.

We're going to try and Arsenal our way through this tournament aren't we? It would be typical of England to make winning the World Cup unwatchable.

Croatia demonstrating the value of the seemingly novel "pick out a teammate in/around the box" there, which we can only hope England have a go at copying.

It takes a lot of bravery and commitment to continue intricately playing out from the back and across the penalty area when you're clearly absolutely hopeless at actually doing it. At this point with England you have to assume it's "a bit", that might be hilarious later.

To all other Labour politicians out there - look, it IS possible to say this, to stand up for what you believe in, to stand up for decency and compassion. If you're not standing up and saying it, that is a choice. Those who hate kindness aren't going to vote for you anyway. Speak up.

I was born and grew up in South Shields in the ‘80s and ‘90s. My paternal grandfather was a miner. I never met him though. He died when my dad was 12 from Black Lung, unable to breathe from hardened, blackened lungs filled with coal dust. My grandma got £12 life insurance. 1/

Just read a book which has sold millions and been seen as some kind of life changing/affirming essential, and which was even recommended to me by a counsellor, way back. Can't remember the last time a book made me this angry... intensely and fundamentally trivial to the point of irresponsibility.

Watching Labour MPs try to identify their platonic ideal of a Labour voter in the face of all available evidence, it's hard not to conclude that it's basically a chimaera of Bert from Mary Poppins and the re-animated corpse of Fred Dibnah, and sod anyone who isn't at least 20% soot by volume.

So, basically, back to where we were before Trump unilaterally attacked another country, but at a vast human and economic cost to even begin to regain what we had already? Sure, congratulations, USA, but if you feel the need for any more "diplomacy", could you keep it amongst yourselves?

But that is exactly how the suffragettes operated. With a nationwide organisation of sleeper cells of arsonists and bombers. I’m gratefully people have reached out and referenced my work today. I remain (I believe) the only academic expert on the terrorism of the suffragettes. Links below:

"linked to" makes it sound a bit like he's the mastermind behind this - although I guess it would at least be something he's properly engaged with. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

A generation of children confined to exclusively posting on LinkedIn, humbled to share that they have been recognised as thought leaders in vertically integrating your mom's supply chain.

Has anyone got a readable link/summary for the ridiculous social media curfew foreshadowing in The Times? I feel like if you're going to trail/leak policy instead of being upfront, you should at least do it somewhere free to read...

So, Streeting is making the case for capitalism, eh? [0] (About time someone stood up for it; those poor, downtrodden capitalists... /s) Ignoring whether it's good or not, though, would it work? I'm not convinced... Quick 🧵 then. /1 [0]: www.ft.com/content/83d1...

Devastating, as @hannahfearn.bsky.social says. However, one line jumped out at me, from someone genuinely sympathetic: "He says the education system needs to equip young people to be “much more versatile and chameleon-like” to adapt to the unpredictability of the future." Quick 🧵... /1

So, perhaps a strongly worded letter from the regulator in a couple of months then. Ofcom is clearly not fit for purpose, but in what way is this not a police matter? We've had high-profile prosecutions for inciting violence online - in what way does this not qualify? Even just to send a message?

Migrant homes and businesses being set alight by “protestors” in Belfast tonight. Musk has helped start another pogrom in the U.K. Yet still our Gvt won’t leave X.

Some more thoughts sparked by the Children and Digital Safety announcements and debates yesterday: www.patreon.com/posts/160600... (Free, no sign-up, etc.)

From yesterday on the government's idiocy on nudity detection, etc. (Trying out Patreon - it's free though, no sign ups, etc.)

On today's disturbing government announcements on children and online safety... (I'm trying Patreon out for an experiment - it's free, though, and I've no aims to change that.) www.patreon.com/posts/160555...

Our statement on the UK gov't's demand that all content on all devices sold or used in the UK be scanned, on the presumption of nudity, using a dystopian combination of age verification & content scanning. This proposal will not safeguard children. It endangers us all. signal.org/blog/pdfs/20...

"Britain will become the first country in the world where it is impossible for children to take, share or view naked pictures on their devices, the government says" ...from a BBC live feed. Right then. First of all: No, it won't. There is no technological way to stop this. 🧵 /1

Hire people to tutor kids on free school meals, hire people to support their parents with child care, with job finding/training, with (unnecessary) adulting tasks. Pay them enough that they can do these things well & happily. Create jobs, care, and human networks & relationships.

Is it too much to expect from a government that they're not the kind of people who'd buy Magic Beans? It seems like such a low bar, and yet they are clearly repeatedly taken in by the first silver-tongued lobbyist who manages to corner a minister at a drinks reception.

An AI job-finding tool from the government, eh? Jesus wept. No amount of polishing your CV or chatting with a sycophantic AI coach is going to help you find a job that doesn't exist. Stop victim-blaming! People are not out of work because they can't find the right CV template in Word.

I suspect that today is about to be a very frustrating and annoying one from the perspective of tech literate discussion on online harms. Counting down to Keir Starmer spouting some unachievable and illiberal tech fantasy in 3, 2, ...

Really, really good piece on the dual tragedies of both the case itself and the immediate pivot to using it to incite racist violence. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

If you're the policing minister, and you're asked on national TV if we have a two-tier policing system, the first word out of your mouth should be "No". You can waffle after that, and yes, every awful incident should lead to an investigation to learn from it, but anything else gives racists space.

This is absolutely appalling. Everyone even tangentially connected with this should be deeply ashamed, and everyone in this country should be horrified that we've allowed this kind of profound moral failure to take root.

Definitely up for the space race between... <squints> Liberia and... Communistova? Huh.

With apologies to all those hoping for a usable Torment Nexus, but... E. M. Forster: Please find attached my novella warning of technology becoming a dangerously fallible yet controlling force beyond understanding. C21 AI Researchers: Good news! We're making good progress on The Machine from...

Every summer I repost this article on how to spot drowning. Please read it and pass on. In the last few years I’ve had SIX messages from people who saved a kid’s life after clicking on the link from my feed. slate.com/technology/2...

The glee with which the transphobic lobby is celebrating this says everything. Nasty, spiteful, and hateful. Shame on anyone bullying this most bullied of communities. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Imagine this hateful bullshit with any other minority as the target. What shall we segregate next? Whites only toilets? Christian changing rooms? We don't - or should not - base law on prejudice and ignorance. There is no end to that dismal path.

this is unworkably insane as well as morally repellent, and still isn't going to win the government any points at all from the people who are now going to tour the country waging lawfare against any organisations that look like they might be treating trans people with dignity

1/ I'd love to see some research on whether companies ever pass on things like temporary cuts in VAT, and to what extent. There is little incentive to do so if others aren't (and plenty of incentive to increase your margins for a while) - definitely a game theory aspect in there.

If the answer isn't "sand", then someone's going to have some explaining to do. (Snark aside, this looks like some awesome tech - various forms of storage are the perfect complement to intermittent renewables)

Just committed a possible crime against fusion cuisine, and made Japanese Currywurst. Yes, it's exactly what you'd imagine, down to the pickled ginger and crispy onion. It's wrong and delicious, but I feel like I should be apologising directly to Tokyo and Berlin.

Reform could do the funniest possible thing in Makerfield and stand Matt Goodwin again. Make him a kind of Sisyphean party mascot, wheeled out for high-profile by-elections to get his arse ceremonially handed to him in full public view. He's presumably up for anything with the Hungarian money gone.

Children deserve to be safe online. But the sort of mandatory device-scanning software to block nudes, like SafeToNet, that Jess Philips raises in her resignation would undermine everyone's privacy and security. ORG supports measures that empower users and improve safety without mass surveillance.

you only have a short while, make your fall worth it (we all fall) @jayhulmepoet.bsky.social

Your one stop - one hour - shop to hear from the experts what happened at the local elections, and what it means ukandeu.ac.uk/events/ukice...

1/ Whenever I comment on some Labour (un)popularity aspect on here, and try to make a case that it's not just messaging (you don't need to tell happy people they're happy, you don't need to tell people you're doing a good job if...), I get the same kind of pushback every time. So, quick 🧵 ...

So, the first stage in the big new Starmer plan to "break with the status quo once and for all" - making a clean break with the past, in essence - is... new jobs for the cabinet of '97? The bold new direction is a New Labour Nostalgia Reunion Tour? Why stop there? Heseltine's probably up for it.

The last line is the most important line in this, by a long way.