Reposted by Simon R
Reposted by Simon R
4. This is a completely deranged view of human nature, that those who are capable of rigorous scientific and technological work must be pure "truth-seekers" who can't also be moral monsters. All of history tells us that's false. But more than anything else, it's a self-justification...
February 12, 2026 at 9:06 PM
4. This is a completely deranged view of human nature, that those who are capable of rigorous scientific and technological work must be pure "truth-seekers" who can't also be moral monsters. All of history tells us that's false. But more than anything else, it's a self-justification...
Reposted by Simon R
The notion that Rayner or Burnham would represent a change to an "avowedly left wing government" is too ridiculous to take seriously tbh
February 12, 2026 at 3:02 AM
The notion that Rayner or Burnham would represent a change to an "avowedly left wing government" is too ridiculous to take seriously tbh
Reposted by Simon R
Oh god Frost has discovered Ayn Rand. A mediocrity explosion.
February 12, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Oh god Frost has discovered Ayn Rand. A mediocrity explosion.
Reposted by Simon R
Being a precocious smartarse “how are we going to cope with the mass unemployment from the microchip revolution?” was a thing in the early 80s
February 12, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Being a precocious smartarse “how are we going to cope with the mass unemployment from the microchip revolution?” was a thing in the early 80s
Reposted by Simon R
Obviously not, but also really not in Britain www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
February 12, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Obviously not, but also really not in Britain www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Reposted by Simon R
Reposted by Simon R
strong vibes of that time the banks said the metaverse would be a $4 trillion industry
The 'Moon economy' is about to boom. Deutsche Bank thinks this one space stock will benefit
The 'Moon economy' is about to boom. Deutsche Bank thinks this one space stock will benefit
This stock is a play on lunar infrastructure and connectivity, the firm said.
cnb.cx
February 12, 2026 at 4:24 PM
strong vibes of that time the banks said the metaverse would be a $4 trillion industry
Reposted by Simon R
The founding trauma of McSweeneyism is Liz Kendall getting 4.5 per cent in the Labour leadership contest. From which he took that if you at any point try and explain something, or have a honest conversation, or go 'you're wrong', you lose, and that has suffused much of the government.
Notable how little UK Govt, and specifically the health secretary, have to say about this. No sense that they can shape public behaviour. Very passive.
UK has lost its official status as a country that has achieved elimination of measles, as vaccination rates have fallen below the 95% required to achieve herd immunity. So sad, and likely due vaccine misinformation. If you haven't already, get your kids vaccinated ASAP. www.bbc.com/news/article...
February 12, 2026 at 12:04 PM
The founding trauma of McSweeneyism is Liz Kendall getting 4.5 per cent in the Labour leadership contest. From which he took that if you at any point try and explain something, or have a honest conversation, or go 'you're wrong', you lose, and that has suffused much of the government.
Reposted by Simon R
A fascinating politician. Does not do the job, visibly and audibly not interested in the brief…bizarrely aggro about people pointing it out.
Absolutely the correct approach to life. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
February 12, 2026 at 11:18 AM
A fascinating politician. Does not do the job, visibly and audibly not interested in the brief…bizarrely aggro about people pointing it out.
Reposted by Simon R
Anyway, if you didn't read it last year, the Levy clip and @birmingham81.bsky.social both feature in my very long story of Under Mi Sleng Teng for @thequietus.com thequietus.com/opinion-and-...
Like a Human Flood: Attempting to Uncover the Real Sleng Teng Story | The Quietus
Wrongtom undertakes some detective work around the birth of the most famous digital dancehall riddim and discovers something unusual
thequietus.com
February 11, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Anyway, if you didn't read it last year, the Levy clip and @birmingham81.bsky.social both feature in my very long story of Under Mi Sleng Teng for @thequietus.com thequietus.com/opinion-and-...
Reposted by Simon R
Billboard in Dundee. Pic: Alistair Heather
February 11, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Billboard in Dundee. Pic: Alistair Heather
Reposted by Simon R
There are days when I find it hard to square my belief that markets generally work well and are usually an efficient way of allocating resources with, well, *waves at the news*.
AI satellite factory on the moon? Giant space catapult? Self-sustaining city on the moon? A billion daily active users on X?
Elon Musk made all these predictions in an internal meeting with xAI employees last night. We listened in.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/t...
Elon Musk made all these predictions in an internal meeting with xAI employees last night. We listened in.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/t...
Elon Musk Wants to Build an A.I. Satellite Factory on the Moon
www.nytimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:37 PM
There are days when I find it hard to square my belief that markets generally work well and are usually an efficient way of allocating resources with, well, *waves at the news*.
Reposted by Simon R
the rollout of the mRNA vaccines was one of the greatest public health triumphs in history and the end result has been the all-around triumph of the antivax movement and I will never get over it
I genuinely cannot believe the degree to which we are pissing away this generational breakthrough, even given the fuckmuppets who are involved www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
FDA declines to review Moderna's mRNA flu shot
Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Food and Drug Administration has taken an aggressive stance against mRNA technology.
www.nbcnews.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:22 AM
the rollout of the mRNA vaccines was one of the greatest public health triumphs in history and the end result has been the all-around triumph of the antivax movement and I will never get over it
Reposted by Simon R
This is great stuff.
February 11, 2026 at 7:00 PM
This is great stuff.
Reposted by Simon R
if you’re prime minister, it is kind of astonishing to say your legacy will be winning the election. that’s the job interview mate
February 11, 2026 at 7:01 PM
if you’re prime minister, it is kind of astonishing to say your legacy will be winning the election. that’s the job interview mate
Reposted by Simon R
"How powerful is plain text at describing the world, how well-represented is plain text by the existing training corpus, to what extent is that imposed structure effective at guiding a random manifold sampler to the "right" answer, and how is that similar to what humans do?" are very real questions!
February 11, 2026 at 4:52 PM
"How powerful is plain text at describing the world, how well-represented is plain text by the existing training corpus, to what extent is that imposed structure effective at guiding a random manifold sampler to the "right" answer, and how is that similar to what humans do?" are very real questions!
Reposted by Simon R
It’s deeply unsteadily left though - profound distrust of markets in economic/labour policy but acutely shy of incentive skews in tax policy. Spending more on public services, but wilfully insufficient amounts to repair some of the most visible parts. Pro growth in rhetoric, but little in policy.
February 11, 2026 at 11:23 AM
It’s deeply unsteadily left though - profound distrust of markets in economic/labour policy but acutely shy of incentive skews in tax policy. Spending more on public services, but wilfully insufficient amounts to repair some of the most visible parts. Pro growth in rhetoric, but little in policy.
Reposted by Simon R
Reposted by Simon R
Plus on tax, Labour (wrongly) 'ruled out' tax rises pre- election. That's unsustainable, but without a tax raising plan they've reverted to either pre packed Treasury plans (like employer NI) or slightly random ones. Progressive taxation is "left wing", but tax increases per se are not "left wing"
February 10, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Plus on tax, Labour (wrongly) 'ruled out' tax rises pre- election. That's unsustainable, but without a tax raising plan they've reverted to either pre packed Treasury plans (like employer NI) or slightly random ones. Progressive taxation is "left wing", but tax increases per se are not "left wing"
Reposted by Simon R
a society losing the plot in real time
February 10, 2026 at 9:11 PM
a society losing the plot in real time
Reposted by Simon R
People are basically short of money because everything is so madly expensive these days. People are really struggling.
Everything stems from that, including the Right's shameful scapegoating of migrants.
Everything stems from that, including the Right's shameful scapegoating of migrants.
You may not like it, but strip out the hyperbole and abuse and it's quite hard to argue with this Cummings asssessment of the public mood
February 10, 2026 at 7:57 PM
People are basically short of money because everything is so madly expensive these days. People are really struggling.
Everything stems from that, including the Right's shameful scapegoating of migrants.
Everything stems from that, including the Right's shameful scapegoating of migrants.
Reposted by Simon R
Reposted by Simon R
