Owen Michael
@owenwmichael.bsky.social
2.3K followers 2.4K following 6.9K posts
Welsh and European. Biromantic Asexual. @UKLabour, @unisontheunion, and @thefabians. Data person and all round geek. He/him/o
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Owen Michael
beijingpalmer.bsky.social
I love guys who are just blithely confident in their ignorance, they read like one statement on a tankie forum four years ago and now they think they know everything about one of the most involved conflicts in human history.
telesjr.bsky.social
The US never fought to end fascism anywhere. They joined the war because Japan forced their hand, and they saw a great way to make money. After the USSR pretty much had pushed Germany out of eastern Europe and they knew the nazis were going to lose, they jumped in.
Reposted by Owen Michael
deargodwhatnow.bsky.social
I do think there should be a conversation about how the media picks up passionate young people, gives them a spotlight and lots of abuse, and then throws them away when no longer useful
joxley.jmoxley.co.uk
When I was involved in uni Cons stuff, the BBC were sniffing around for what became a documentary "Young, Bright and on the Right". The only people who had the self-awareness to not come off terribly also had the awareness to know they would get stitched up, so only the weirdest got involved.
bagpuss.org
The photography in this article really feels like The Times are deliberately setting these people up for ridicule. (You can read it without visiting The Times here archive.ph/KZZC1)
Reposted by Owen Michael
tznkai.bsky.social
I say this as an introvert, when world events make introverts relieved that's a very bad sign
aubreygilleran.bsky.social
Relatedly, I recall a lot of "the joy of canceling plans" jokes and memes from the 2010s and now folks are talking about a loneliness epidemic, and, well...
aubreygilleran.bsky.social
People will scoff at virtue signaling and then wonder why today’s billionaires don’t build museums, libraries, hospitals, and universities like Gilded Age ones did.
Reposted by Owen Michael
dov.bsky.social
performative maduroism from Yanks is genuinely the most pathetic form of attempting to purge your own sins. there is no way you are all venezuela experts, you live in a country that does not read books
Reposted by Owen Michael
aubreygilleran.bsky.social
The embedded meme is also crazy because María Corina Machado is, uh, not blonde? Or German?
owenwmichael.bsky.social
AIUI Argentine citizens with German names are straight up more likely to be Jewish than descended from Nazi officials
owenwmichael.bsky.social
I mean, with what (not many) cases of long term empty homes in places people might want to live, when councils have tried to do something about them it's often been a PR nightmare for them, this would be that on steroids
Reposted by Owen Michael
youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com
something quite brain-melting about the hard right's position apparently now being "we hate all Muslims and distrust Muslim states, aside from that one Muslim place that still has slavery because that sounds fun"
Reposted by Owen Michael
jonnelledge.bsky.social
also - one last datapoint before I take HS for his morning walk. I posted the column on X, too. it has sunk without trace because it has a link in it. even ignoring the owner and the politics, that was a good reason to stop feeding the beast.
Reposted by Owen Michael
benansell.bsky.social
What with all this the UK should emulate Dubai stuff, following hot on the heels of Singapore model, are there any other niche authoritarian city states we could go for? Brunei? Machiavelli’s Florence? Ancient Sparta?
owenwmichael.bsky.social
Titanic sank into the depths, Britannic joined her too
Through the wars, Olympic kept on sailing sure and true.....
nameshiv.bsky.social
If you want proof that people are incapable of learning here is your reminder that Titanic had a sister ship called the Brittanic that was pressed into service as a hospital ship during WW1 and was so successful that they called her unsinkable and then she sank on the next voyage
Reposted by Owen Michael
seed-corn-thoughts.bsky.social
This is basically magical thinking. It is the thought process of a small, frightened child who just wants mommy to make the pain stop and is getting angry that she can't.
The issue is that this is a grown adult, not a small child, and also when the Democrats do things it's never good enough.
Reposted by Owen Michael
andrewhickey.500songs.com
If I were a billionaire terrified of the Antichrist, I would simply not spend a decade pumping huge sums of money into the Antichrist's "think tank" and paying him to write Harry Potter fanfic.
Reposted by Owen Michael
andrewhickey.500songs.com
The hilarious thing here is that the only reason anyone is even aware of Yudkowsky's existence is Thiel funding him so heavily for so long.
peark.es
I couldn't believe this but it's true, Thiel can't decide whether the antichrist is Greta or Big Yud. Positively reeling.
(Washington Post) -- Tech billionaire Peter Thiel recently warned that Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and critics of technology or artificial intelligence are "legionnaires of the Antichrist" in private lectures on Christianity that connected government oversight of Silicon Valley to an apocalyptic future, according to recordings reviewed by The Washington Post.
In the four, roughly two-hour lectures, which began last month and culminated Monday at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Thiel laid out his religious views to a sold-out audience told to keep the contents "off-the-record," according to an event listing. He argued that those who propose limits on technology development not only hinder business but threaten to usher in the destruction of the United States and an era of global totalitarian rule, according to the recordings.
"In the 17th, 18th century, the Antichrist would have been a Dr. Strangelove, a scientist who did all this sort of evil crazy science," Thiel said in his Sept. 15 opening talk, according to the recordings. "In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to stop all science. It's someone like Greta or Eliezer," he said, referring to Thunberg and Eliezer Yudkowsky, a prominent critic of the tech industry's approach to AI.
Reposted by Owen Michael
mconcagh.bsky.social
I think it’s notable that over the last few years the committee have given it to notable dissidents and activists over world leaders and already powerful and influential organizations
Reposted by Owen Michael
heartinamber.bsky.social
I think a committee of five dour Norwegian conservatives and centrists probably just (correctly) think Nicolas Maduro is a dictator tbh
Reposted by Owen Michael
gabyhinsliff.bsky.social
For the love of God just tell Trump the Nobel Peace Prize is only ever awarded to people who have left office, ideally midterm and in a hurry, why are we wasting this golden opportunity
Reposted by Owen Michael
jacobtlevy.bsky.social
Machado is a good choice. She'll be controversial because she's in the fight, not above it. That makes this prize continuous with the 2021-3 streak of honoring opposition figures and dissidents rather than do-gooder organizations or already-powerful officials.
owenwmichael.bsky.social
Tbh it would explain a lot about Nordic model (in that sense) advocacy in general if they genuinely believe illegally buying sex is impossible
Reposted by Owen Michael
lines.snail.skin
I don't really understand how someone can be this... I mean. My goodness.
afaulds.bsky.social
"How would the punters get to them?" absolutely entering my political meme lexicon, thanks Ash
Section of an interview - a real interview in a real paper - with Ash Regan MSP

Asked about concerns her bill could drive prostitution to an unregulated and underground system, Ms Regan said: "There is no basis for any of those assertions.

"If you even think for one second, you cannot possibly drive prostitution underground.

"If you had a lot of women in underground cellars with a locked door, how would the punters get to them?"

The Herald clarified that the point being made was that if someone wants to buy sex, they would simply do so illegally.

Asked if that made sense, Ms Regan said: "No. It does not really make sense whatsoever."
owenwmichael.bsky.social
I think enough people in Labour are very firmly attached to not having elections simultaneously being /wrong/ that I'd be surprised
owenwmichael.bsky.social
Though I suppose Lutherans having priests tends to go along with lowercase episcopalianism?
owenwmichael.bsky.social
I remember someone I know going "stop changing denominations mid sentence!" when a Swede referred to speaking in tongues calling for a priest
owenwmichael.bsky.social
.....but yeah it's silly when you get down to it and anyone making a big issues of it as a principle is doing as you say.
owenwmichael.bsky.social
Tbf I'm guessing a lot of those who started not using it probably were ex Catholic priests and monks themselves and the Bible does warn (in Greek) against hieres which you can't really translate any other way .....