This is the point though. People don’t drink for a whole load of reasons: religion, health, morality, pregnancy, med interactions, not liking the taste, family history of addiction, not liking who they are when they drink, wanting to be able to drive safely. Bit like AI. Plenty reasons, all valid.

There’s a desperation on the part of AI enthusiasts that those of us who abstain, something that is none of their business and harming no one, should change our minds, stop mentioning the harms, and validate their choices. It’s all rather sad, really.

There’s a post circulating out there today comparing AI refusal to vaccine hesitancy, and that’s obviously bullshit but got me thinking, what is the correct analogy? And it’s teetotalism. All kinds of folk don’t drink for all sorts of reasons. Drinking is socially normalised in many spaces. 1/n

The big problem, the *real* problem, with All This - that is, social media and interacting online and all the rest of it - is that none of us have any filters when it comes to the basic action of typing words on a computer.

Marshall crammed an impressive 25 dodgy claims into just 340 words I ran out of space on the actual newspaper – plus my handwriting isn't the neatest – so I went through the letter point-by-point in the doc attached, which includes receipts/sources 2/2 docs.google.com/document/d/1...

For Trans Day of Visibility, here's Claude Cahun, nonbinary French Jewish artist and anti-fascist activist, sentenced to death for resisting the Nazis. "Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me."

“What is the difference between a mutual defense pact and an agreement to join wars of choice and aggression” might also be good

I watch Star Trek for the space battles - the legal & ethical battles in space about whether Data's a person with rights, that the poor lil fucker seems to have to have about once a series

Discworld QOTD, from Feet of Clay

And now for something very silly.

This being Transgender Day of Visibility, I would like to note for the benefit of those Anglicans who unaccountably not encountered his work, @jayhulmepoet.bsky.social is a fine poet and many of his poems are good Holy Week reading.

So. This is an actual in-use, going-concern paschal candle in one of our churches in the ministry area. They’re getting a new one this year, by God, whether they like it or not. ⚓️

Star Trek figured this out thirty years ago. It's not hard. Even an old, drunk Klingon got it.

I still run into white Boomer men who have been disagreed with publicly for the first time ever and are v indignant about it and it's wild

'Delilah has been elevated to a cherished status in Wales. Shored up by concerns over cancel culture, it endures despite increased awareness of the woman-hating detail of its lyrics and rugby’s associations with domestic violence.' ✍️ Daniel Newman

If you are a trans person, and particularly if you are a trans person going through some of the stressful bits of early transition I can offer this, which may not help much but may help a bit: you will get to a point when it is normal, boring and routine and you have other things to worry about more

This sign raises many questions, which probably should be answered by the sign but aren't

Hi, on this #TDOV, I’m Rachel … the first out trans priest in a senior role in the Church of England. I am also a writer, award-winning poet and theologian, and a broadcaster. Being trans is great, ordinary, and frankly not the most interesting thing about me. I love being me! #TransDayOfVisibility

The rules of a language come from its native speakers, not the other way around, and while native speakers can make mistakes, systematic "errors" mean the model used to describe the language is wrong, not the speaker.

A friend took her toddler to our local church messy play and they made Easter biscuits that included small Jesus figurines. The prominent JESUS IS NOT EDIBLE sign over the craft table unintentionally kicking off the next Christian schism.

It would be helpful if the U.S. government referred to the actual contents of the North Atlantic Treaty.

I did not know about this (and while I would have guessed it might be so at Glasgow, I am naively surprised by ERI).

As a protestant, this feels strange to say, but the point at which an adult convert to Catholicism has been rebuked by two Popes in one year and then goes on to write a memoir called 'Communion' about his faith, they ought to bring excommunication back. This guy is evidently an unrepentant heretic.

Anyone who complains about the singular “they” should be deprived of the use of the singular “you”.

The is no valid way to actually do that. Requiring ID for the most basic of accounts is a security nightmare and I will not stand back while 'won't somebody think of the children' is used to erode my privacy and safety while not even doing what they said it would, and everyone said it wouldn't.

Those countries toying with an Australian-style social media ban, take note. Your motives might be good, but learn from Australia's mistakes.

Embodiment may well have been a mistake. But permanent bipedalism is an unforgivable one.

The planned attacks include: • Taking sick pay, bereavement leave, and pregnancy protections off millions of workers. • Legalising fire-and-rehire and workplace discrimination. • Reintroducing "no-fault" evictions and reducing limits on rent increases.

Farage's Reform has pledged to rip up legal protections for workers and renters - handing power to bad bosses and rogue landlords.

Visibility feels very not needed. I'd rather make trans books visible, especially if they have a trans main character(s)! So drop us your trans book recs! If you're a trans author & or have a trans MC; give us a description, link & graphic of your own books! 🌈📚💙🏳️‍⚧️ Boosts appreciated!

Not gonna lie gang every year trans day of visibility feels more like a cruel joke the onion headlines write themselves really

"What will happen to all the Jews in Israel with a free Palestine?" Well the worst case scenario would probably be that a law is passed saying that they could be hanged for terrorism without a trial. You know, like the one Israel just passed against Palestinians.

After that, the fascist movement completely aligned by a totalitarian myth and strongman will seek to create an enemy abroad to sustain itself. This is when the world will find itself dragged into a war for its existence against a totalitarian state, and extinction becomes quite possible.

The strongest knights went first. Large hands on the hilt, feet firmly planted on the stone, muscles bulging... The sword would not budge. One by one they failed, knights and nobles. They laughed when a maid walked up and patted the stone fondly. "Sweetie, can you please let go for me?" It did.

A dear friend once tried to compare the Jewish affinity for Israel with what he assumed Muslims must feel about Saudi Arabia and I had to break the news that um, it’s not really like that.

Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, tweeted: “The US backed Israel’s Gaza blockade … yet condemns Iran for defending itself in the strait of Hormuz. Double standard: Israel’s crimes are OK while Iran’s defence against aggressors is condemned.” 🇮🇷 Any one care to argue with his analysis?

Canons precentor are like cats in that you can make them happy by giving them an empty box

I think a lot of people are (understandably) baffled by why gas and non-gas electricity prices are so bound up together. It does sound silly when the majority of our energy is increasingly coming from renewables & nuclear. I'll give some pointers in the following posts:

I was going to post that. I HATE when people give these white immigrants who do not integrate with the local culture the lofty title of "ex-pat."

One of the things most people don't realize (although they should, after what happened in 2021) is the degree to which industry now uses bulk transport in place of warehousing. *Everything* in the economy sits on having a steady supply of primary commodities.

For love, for hope, for unity! On Saturday 28 March, a group from our diocese joined thousands of people to proudly support the Together Alliance March in central London against hatred, division and racism.

Three key points we seem to forget: 1. The cost of international bulk shipping has dropped 98% since the 1950s due to containerization. 2. *Everything* got off-shored, for everyone. It's all global supply chains now. Shipped by oil. 3. You can optimize for efficiency or resilience, but not both.

Charities and disabled people’s organisations, including Mind, Scope, MS Soc, Turn2Us and Mencap told the Guardian that a wide range of debilitating conditions may not meet the strict eligibility criteria. This includes MS, learning disabilities, bipolar, Parkinson’s, ME and long Covid. 3/5

Ah, I see we're back to the Corn Laws...

There are no “job creators.” There are employers who begrudgingly tolerate employees because they have no other option. Until they do.

Workers should never forget how quickly and easily the managerial class fell for AI solely because they thought it would replace the workers right away.

We must remember the funniest variant of this, ex-pagan environmentalist turned christofash-ish Paul Kingsnorth, who moved to Ireland and got really into Saints' Wells, but converted to Orthodoxy not Catholicism so he could still be Different and Special

This is one the biggest holes in transphobes "arguments". You think the same docs who tell perimenopausal women to just take ibuprofen are handing out hormones & surgery to kids like Halloween candy? It's just a completely absurd way to think.

For those who don’t know: Palm Sunday celebrates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in advance of his later crucifixion. It marks the beginning of the Holy Week preceding Easter Sunday. Israel forbidding the Latin Patriarch entry into Jerusalem on this day has immense Biblical resonance.

cardinal pizzaballa, i’m sorry i made so many silly little japes and jests about your name during the conclave but i’m glad i got them all out of my system because this is a rather serious moment. israel interfering with access to holy sites isn’t uncommon but this an extreme escalation.