Proposal 1 is to not nominate a candidate. This is going to confuse councillors, as no will mean yes and yes will mean no. They are simple folk.

I wish it was more complicated but: Elon won. Pundits, journalists and political elites uses Twitter to gauge popular discourse and identify stories, which was workable so long as it was moderated. He seized control, completely altered its normal mode, but none of them adapted.

All 'rights' for 'citizens'(Subjects?), in the UK can be removed by one Act of Parliament, as can all restrictions on the use of these ID's, as for trusting State, let's see Debate on Hillsborough law (especially in Lords), current lead time for State to admit fault 30yrs+ (Post Office/Orgreave etc)

There *are* good things about digital ID, but as an enforcement mechanism for immigration, as something that can be *demanded* rather than something you can use to enforce your rights, it’s a recipe for a whole range of disasters. 10/10

Then, I’ve heard it said ‘but they have all this information anyway, why not put it in one place’? Why not? Because you don’t want to make it easier to oppress and control than you should. Grit in the wheels is a protection. 9/10

Next, I’ve heard people say ‘don’t put X data on the card’. Sorry, that’s not how it works. The card is a link to data, so it can be used to link to *any* data. Things can be added at any time. It’s not about what’s on the card. That means religion, sexuality, biological sex, parentage etc 7/10

Further, do not assume that digital ID, particularly with biometrics, is impossible to fake. It isn’t. And, as for the previous point, it will be trusted and relied upon more than other forms of ID, meaning that fakes become much more valuable. Bigger markets in fake IDs. 6/10

Next, do not assume ‘digital’ means error-free - rather, it means that people in enforcement will assume there are no errors. ‘Computer says no’. This is a patten repeated again and again. 5/10

That in itself is a recipe for discrimination, intimidation and worse. Remember who will be enforcing this, and their record on racism, bias, unfairness and incompetence. This last part matters, because if enforcement is biased, then errors will also be biased. 4/10

Having said that, who will *in practice* be asked for them, if ‘immigration enforcement’ is the purpose for which they will be used? People who ‘look like’ or ‘sound like’ they might be here illegally. That is, black or brown people, people with ‘foreign accents’ or foreign names. 3/10

They can’t be just for ‘immigrants/asylum seekers/refugees’. They have to be for everyone, or else anyone asked for one can just say ‘I’m a Brit, I don’t have one. This is a scheme which means we *all* have to have ID cards, and carry them in case we’re asked for them. 2/10

A short thread on digital ID (cards) just to bear in mind. There are a few myths that I keep hearing about this idea that need clarifying/debunking. 1/10

Please, No Second Troy.

I never claimed this, just for the record

The key to keeping public discourse at a high level is to take a leaf from the Edwardians, with their love of decorum.

I beg of you, please, do not make me have to defend Bill Maher from government censorship

Dua Lipa fires manager after his attempt to stop pro-Palestinian rappers Kneecap from Glastonbury. telegrafi.com/en/Dua-Lipa-...

… Wut?

I swear, every time I wear this pullover, I end up looking like I’m starring in a Hallmark movie.

I'll note lots of people said having Gardai escort drivelling lunatics into libraries in order to perform book inspections to make sure they weren't too gay would not placate them but radicalize them even more. And here we are.

Ireland 2018, repealers reg called out the fash - y'know, the lads who attacked us on street stalls, threatened us with knives, attempted to smash our property - to be told we were 'overdramatic', 'hysterical' and 'extreme'. Same lads now inciting violence against LGBT+ folk & visible minorities.

This defence policy push has been a long time coming from Micheál Martin. This is from a few years ago:

Bread and circuses, but older.

It is 1986 and I have just completed my primary school’s introduction to metaphysics.

Notes from my diary from 1998 when I briefly was a programmer for a cinema, using the power of fax.

On the Edge.

Maybe I’ll just walk.

The key to keeping public discourse at a high level is to take a leaf from the Edwardians, with their love of decorum.

I can never get enough of a European-style Arcade.

If you're not totally aware of how bots try to sway minds, here's a good example.

Media execs have fallen prey to a propaganda and harassment campaign that has completely divorced them from what people actually want right now. Both their insular information environments (group chats, podcasts) and ambient noise (Twitter reactionaries) have put them in a very stupid bubble.

This does not look like “impartiality”. It looks like propaganda. www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/how...

“Israel has arrested Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov after condemning his country's actions in Gaza during a concert in London. "Stop the genocide. It's destroying everything. Stop it now."” (The BBC had cut his #Proms plea from the live broadcast.)

The "perfect, universal enforcement of rules to govern our public speech and our private communications" was a "terrifying concept" in 2017 and is utterly chilling in 2025. Look around you and think about who will set those rules, and who will enforce them. 10/

Dentists HATE him! Local man is a stupid annoying shithead. Everyone hates him

I have not read the decision in Case T‑553/23 - Philippe Latombe v European Commission, as the ECJ has yet to release an English or Spanish version. Meanwhile, the CJEU has provided an English summary here: curia.europa.eu/juris/docume...

You: clean energy policy should only aim to exactly internalize the marginal damages of the social cost of carbon using hyperbolic discounting across a range of time preferences. Me: we’re gonna built party lakes with tiki bars powered by geothermal energy.

This year’s cake request was heavily geography themed.

You know what didn’t happen? Pundits going on Gab, Parler, Gettr, or Truth Social to repeatedly say “no one cares about this site, you’re in a bubble, you forfeited your influence, things are awesome on the site you don’t use anymore, so awesome that I come here to tell you you’re dumb unlike me.”

I don’t think Ben realises how funny this quote is

People share way too much info anyway; I know it's really easy to do! But to do it about your kids is ill judged. Of course Meta and similar tech companies will exploit that data. They will send photos of your teen daughter to middle aged men to drive growth. They know what they're doing.

“No you see, I have a letter showing that these were the orders I was only Following!”

I fear they have reached their target market

This is a really tasty quick dinner.

Excellent piece on basic income for the arts by Mick Gallen. One of the most talented and hardest working artists I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Amazing to read what the scheme did for him. www.thejournal.ie/readme/opini...

I fucken knew it

Drifting like a thin cloud through my own brain, waiting to find out if anything snags my attention so I write a Gist on it.

Glasgow, never change!

Here, take a look: Now, do we think the U.K. is going to fuck up implementation of a digital ID by getting weird about brown people (and, whooo boy, trans people?) You betcha! But is this a Starmer vision moment? Nope. Just more administrative running-behind commission.europa.eu/strategy-and...