Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 17h

I'm in no doubt about NF's finances. Still recall that farce about anonymous donations they were taking via the website that suddenly dried up when a grown up in charge told them they weren't actually allowed to do that so they were forced to stop.

JohnWest_JAWS @johnwestjaws.bsky.social · 20h

These 2 speeches, which, as Nick points out, on the same day, precede what Gill has pled guilty to by 4 years, are more damning for Farage as they also precede Brexit.

All European secret services would have been alarmed by this & would/should have been investigating.

1/

1 4 6

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 17h

Winning capitalism sends people insane.

1

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 18h

"No, it is the sick users' fault!"

Daily Star news capsule. Headline reads "Sick users abuse Open AI's Sora as Epstein, Stalin and Hitler wrestling go viral"

Reposted by Simon Scott

Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 1d

The thing I'm "stunned" about is why this isn't the biggest domestic news item on every flipping platform

bylinetimes.com/2025/10/11/s...

'Stunned?' Farage's Admission He Knew Nathan Gill but Not His Kremlin Associates Does Not Stand Up to Scrutiny

Insiders have told Byline Times it is 'inconceivable' the Reform Leader did not know about his close aide's pro Russian statements

bylinetimes.com

81 800 1.8K

Reposted by Simon Scott

Joz Norris @joznorris.bsky.social · 2d

Barry & Tony are back for a star studded New Year's Eve * hoedown like no other**

*actually happening the day BEFORE NYE but don't tell Barry, I'm planning the Mother Of All Pranks

**actually it's a bit like the Jools Holland one to be fair

link.dice.fm/rd0621d811f6

Norris & Roberts: Barry & Tony's NYE Hootenanny Tickets | £10 | 30 Dec @ The Bill Murray, London | DICE

After over 254 likes across five sketches, and basically 60 tickets sold at their first ever live show, Joz Norris and John-Luke Roberts have only three real...

link.dice.fm

1 2 4

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 1d

Wondering how Ed Zitron is feeling rn. Lots of mainstream coverage of the AI bubble. By which I mean, lots of mainstream news outlets playing catch up.

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 1d

Ah, NF, going with the old "bad apple" cliché while forgetting what that actually means for the rest of the Reform barrel.

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 1d

Mr Altman said he expected investors would make some bad calls and silly start-ups would walk away with crazy money.

a close up of a man 's face with a blurred background

Alt: a close up of a man 's face with a blurred background

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Simon Scott

Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 3d

Real change in public expenditures on higher education, 2008 to 2023, selected countries that actually publish the damn data. UK is worst here, but note this does not include RAB (projected future loan forgiveness, basically). If RAB is included...UK would still be last.

2 9 17

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 2d

Magnificent.

1

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 2d

Whole thing is upside down - we'll spend a fortune (over budget) to create a thing with little or no purpose, and then it will be down to departments to find deliverable efficiencies, if any. Most of that will involve yet further investment.

1

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 2d

'He signalled Britain could use the technology for services like banking, pointing to New Delhi's scheme as an example, and said ministers must "make the case" for the "huge benefits" the scheme could offer.'

Exactly what happened with Blair's NID proposal. They hid the costs through that.

1 1

Reposted by Simon Scott

HappyToast @happytoast.co.uk · 2d

We're ruining (or improving) Bond posters on @b3ta.com this week

13 47 300

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 2d

Trouble is they *need* it to do other things because then its success doesn't rest on its intended purpose, the effectiveness of which is hugely doubtful.

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 2d

It's astonishing really. "Oh if we're doing this anyway, lets extend it to 13-16 year olds, and use it for accessing services and anything else we can think of."

It's like saying "well, as we're driving to the shops anyway, we might as well fly to Nepal."

1

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 2d

Labour's ID scheme which was suggested to curb employing illegal immigrants already running into function creep.

1

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 2d

A minor slip but "Reform would say" becoming "he would say" acknowledging that Reform is just a loudspeaker for NF.

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 2d

Screaming Dope. Will that do?

1

Reposted by Simon Scott

Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 4d

We have built a society in which people of different skin tones, religious backgrounds & cultures get along, share power, work alongside each other, procreate with each other, recognise the each other’s humanity and democratic rights. It is a STUNNING ACHIEVEMENT OF WORLD HISTORIC PROPORTIONS.

Omar Khan @omaromalleykhan.bsky.social · 5d

I know statistics are poorly understood and are misused. But facts matter

Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them

19 300 1K

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 3d

Trouble is that it seems insanely easy to leverage a sense of injustice re: the monolith (notions of employers of immigrant workers paying tiny wages; govt losing sight of the needs of people) into anger against immigrants.

1

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 3d

I was minded of news media's obsession of talking to brexit-voters about immigration, and so many of them took the line that "immigration was out of hand" (monolith) but that they had nothing against *their* immigrants (the village).

1 1

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 3d

Have had Deep Thoughts following a recent folk festival in a very flaggy town, as to whether folk is rightwing or not. Not, I think. Have thought in terms of the village vs. the monolith, and there being an understanding that immigrants are (paradoxically?) of the village.

1 1

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 3d

Zero out of ten, would try it.

Spoo Keidick @donkeidick.bsky.social · 3d

Good morning! Follow me for more recipes!

1

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 3d

Did he die?

Simon Scott @simonscott1975.bsky.social · 3d

Now AI companies billions of dollars in debt are worming their way into government partnerships because they need the state to be too embarrassed and exposed to let the companies fail, no matter how bad their "solutions" get.

1