I hereby declare this a Top Fact.

I periodically note this: I am a computer storage professional (I've somehow managed to work on filesystems most of my career), and I am willing to offer free advice to individuals about backups. There's a popular equation we like to use: 3 - 2 - 1:

Whenever I'm like "active & public transport are underfunded to the detriment mainly of poor people" people are like "how are you going to fund it?" but when it's subsidising driving (already far more heavily subsidised, with massive negative externalities) it's "we can't expect poor people to pay."

Appreciation for everyone on my timeline today who is making me feel like some sort of hero just for having made it through Ulysses.

Hello Labour MPs Nice to see some of you condemning the Far Right march happening in London. But what are you going to do about your own party’s vociferous embrace of anti-immigrant language & policies and its pushing through of ever crueller and more openly racist legislation?

Angel’s Bone by ENO is on again tomorrow at Aviva Studios and if there is anything you can possibly do to get there, I implore you to do so. It’s the most extraordinary piece of art I’ve seen in a number of years (and I do get out a bit).

There is a light that never goes out: After a grim chaotic week, there is now a glimmer of hope iandunt.substack.com/p/there-is-a...

Above all, the next leader MUST be willing to work with other parties to stop Reform/stop UK heading down the US’s MAGA path. We absolutely can’t keep limping on in this current manner.

Pascal’s Miliband: might as well believe in him just to be on the safe side

So you get strange app programmed by non-programmers, strange music made by non-musicians, strange art made by non-artists. Strange writing written by non-writers. “You don’t need knowledge, or skills, or practice, or even a basic respect for the medium you wish to create in! Just new tools!” 12/

That is the kind of discussions I expected in the 110 Format group, yes.

By 2020, Ipsos report that 3% of people agreed that "to be truly British, you have to be white" with 93% disagreeing. Agreement/disagreement had been 10% to 82% in 2006 But many of the 3% who think this can believe it is a majority view in society, reinforced by social media cues in recent years.

Who could possibly have predicted that this sort of thing might be a problem

Oh no! If I’d realised I would have worn my Margaret Calvert t-shirt.

It will be a week of taking apart govt policies as the cause of Labour's woes One they should leave alone? Oil & gas. It might make people feel nice that security lies in the North Sea, but the numbers on production or tax don't stack up www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno... @ippr.org

today in ‘bad person does good thing’ news

I am reminded of Elmer the elephant by the Birmingham political map of 2026 though the quite positive patchwork of harmony message of that storybook may be challenging to emulate in city local politics

Meanwhile, here's a good idea for those now under the Reform jackboot.

What’s Martin Bell doing these days?

Shadow Cabinet 😎 (admittedly on easy mode)

You Loved the Hydrogen Ladder (I know, Version 6.0 is long overdue!), meet the Electrification Staircase. Electrify Everything is dead; long live Electrify Almost Everything. And here's the road map. mliebreich.substack.com/p/the-electr...

I spent way too long this weekend correlating 81 census variables with local election results, so you don't have to. Enjoy! datawrapper.dwcdn.net/QQQ3D/7/

At some point on my lifetime we might get a government which recognises that having an entire tier of elected institutions which are just powerless complaints departments for a failing social care system is not a healthy or sensible state of affairs.

Can't prove this but maybe the reason for Attenborough's longevity is that whenever Paddington arrives to shepherd his soul on, he fends him off with his powers of nature narration. "The perplexed ursine psychopomp withdraws, his hunt unsuccessful. Perhaps a 1970s bass player will make easier prey."

Respect to council officers on Monday, explaining that the council can't spend cycle lane money on potholes, there is no asylum seeker budget, and free parking means more cuts on top of the already slated cuts.

Don't put bloody Farage on the radio. This wasn't a vote for him, no matter what the nitwits think. Put the councillors on. Quiz THEM. And weep when you realise they are now in charge of multi-million pound budgets and crucial services without having a fucking scooby about any of it.

PSA: there is currently a shop in Rusholme entirely dedicated to the sale of pomegranates

The electorate is polarised and attempts to triangulate via immigration haven't worked; the attempt to keep the US onside has lost votes; the red lines have restricted economic policies that might change outcomes. RIP MacSweeneyism.

The whole thing about pencils being erasable is wild anyway. The ballot box is sealed at the close of the poll. It's not opened again until in front of 100s of people at the count, including people from the parties as witnesses. There is absolutely no chance for anyone to tamper

Every General Election, Panini should bring out a parliament sticker album.

What happens if you make owning and/or using micromobility a massive ballache? People get back in their cars & cause far greater risk to others than they were on their bike/scooter. So in your pursuit of reducing the risk from micromobility, you've increased overall net risk. Good job.

thread

Be vigilant about the new PayPal pending charge scam. Unfortunately, the scammers have exploited PayPal's procedures so that the email itself comes from PayPal. Don't call the number - double check your account. H/T @aliascelli.bsky.social www.tedcromwell.com/blog/that-pe...

V amused by ‘Low hoops to which boats are tied (8)’

oh for a TV show called "THAT'S STUPID", where i was the host

I wrote this almost exactly a year ago. I think there has been more internal recognition of these problems in the run up to this set of locals than last, but the possibility that that good sense goes out the window in post poll chaos and recrimination is worrying. labourlist.org/2025/04/loca...

ews.kylemcdonald.net New WH pizza tracker has dropped ;)

Long bit of a stretch here: Does anyone here in Greater London own an original copy of the first (Sept 1991) issue of the "Big Issue" ?

why breed dogs with jaws large enough to tear through Flesh, when you could breed dogs with minds large enougj to tear through Fallacy.....

Most Reform-leaning councillor names: - Barry - Thomas - Adrian Most Labour: - Angela - Laura - Dave Most Conservative: - Roger - Phil - Nick Most Lib Dem: - Tim - Sam - Richard Most Green: - Jonathan - Ben - Kate

The Home Secretary and other government ministers need to learn to love, or at least engage & persuade, Labour and potential Labour voters for the party to rebuild its appeal back towards a third of the public, not a sixth bsky.app/profile/sund...

Another socially harmful computational decision maker/AI. The onus should be on those using the algorithm to show it is fair and best practice, not on its victims

First Bluesky post to break 100 likes. Apparently the secret is to post a picture of an old camera.

You "fix" immigration by putting a stop to this relentless narrative that it's something to be fixed. It's a demonstrable net positive.

"Once immigration is fixed" is a very revealing phrase. It shows what a lot of Labour MPs (and the government) think of us. We are a problem to be solved, not members of the community like everyone else. And our lives must be made harder to satisfy some mythical Red Wall voters.

Analogue is back, baby

INTRIGUING CHEESE SCIENCE

It's funny how people imagine that supermarkets are raking in obscene profits when in Europe you're lucky to have a 1% profit margin.

Anyway if you get how important it is that people feel a sense of ownership and agency over a society-wide mission to prevent planetary system collapse, and have positive ways to take action, do please chuck my excellent former colleagues a few quid if you can 🙏 donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...