John Lappin
@johnlappin.bsky.social
970 followers 1.9K following 1.7K posts
Journalist, financial, mostly I have opinions on many things.
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johnlappin.bsky.social
Perhaps Conservatism wasn't Adenauer, De Gaulle or Ike. They were outliers from a very specific post war time. 1920s/30s version as the norm? Uniquely vulnerable to non-democratic forces.
I mean good god. Look at the UK version now.
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watershedlab.bsky.social
When buying beer and wine for a glaciology conference you need to get the appropriate stuff. I don’t make the rules. 🧪⚒️❄️
Cans of “fjord” beer Bottles of “moraine” wine
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kenwhite.bsky.social
Should the New York Times be sold to Pennysaver and its editors sent to work in Amazon warehouses? It depends on who you ask.
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astrokatie.com
I also appreciated this sign in the Globe gift shop ⚔️🚫
A sign that says “No Sword-Fighting in the Shop” next to a display of toy swords
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nickreeves.bsky.social
Farage, Arron Banks, and convicted Russian asset Nathan Gill have all parroted the Russian lie that NATO and EU expansion provoked Putin into invading Ukraine.

That's a lie for a Western audience. Putin is much more honest about Russia's imperialist motives when he's speaking to a Russian audience.
popovaprof.bsky.social
Pu spells out Ru's imperialist motivations for the war. He calls the conquest a long-held dream and historical destiny.

He beclowns those who insist NATO expansion caused the war. Let's see if anyone from the Mearsheimer fan club admits the claim has been falsified.
www.kremlin.ru/events/presi...
Обращение по случаю Дня воссоединения ДНР, ЛНР, Запорожской и Херсонской областей с Россией
www.kremlin.ru
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goodclimate.bsky.social
Summer 1924. A British-registered floating pub appears 15 miles from the US coast. It's a hit with thirsty prohibition-era yacht owners.
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robfordmancs.bsky.social
Among the many possibilities for the next few years, the scenario of swapping one pair of dominant parties (Lab and Con) for another (Reform and LD) is intriguing, under-discussed and, in English elections, not entirely implausible either (several county councils made this leap in May)
electionmaps.uk
Aggregate Result of the 122 Council By-Elections (for 125 Seats) since the 2025 Local Elections:

RFM: 47 (+40)
LDM: 32 (+10)
CON: 13 (-15)
LAB: 12 (-30)
GRN: 11 (+3)
Ind: 5 (-4)
Local: 3 (-3)
SNP: 1 (-1)
PLC: 1 (=)

Explore: electionmaps.uk/byelections-...
johnlappin.bsky.social
4. A general sense of ease and openness to others and ideas amid the permanent population
I am not saying that is easily measured.
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davidcorn.bsky.social
A classic case of irresponsible both-sidesism from the NYT. The story is that Trump and MAGA propagandists are lying about Portland to incite a conflict, not that there are different views of the matter.
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johnthejack.bsky.social
New approach is gaining attention: replacement of the damaged dopamine circuits with “living implants”. The first prototypes have been created, made from lab-grown brain cells, and modified so that they can be controlled electronically
(£) www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
By @rhysblakely.bsky.social
Inside the British bet on a ‘live implant’ cure for Parkinson’s
Government-backed scientists are making implants from lab-grown brain cells that could one day replace damaged circuits in patients with Parkinson’s disease
www.thetimes.com
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realcaptainhaddock.bsky.social
Thiel saying the quiet bit out loud
ebharrington.bsky.social
What Thiel is saying about tax havens = what Altman is saying about copyright:

"I can't be rich unless you let me steal from you."

This is how Broligarchs differ from oligarchs of yore: the latter tried to hide their thievery; the Broligarchs trumpet their entitlement to steal as a natural right.
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darren.africandefence.net
So I don't expect a significant diplomatic impact from this. If it had been a system that fell under the Wassenaar dual-use system & hadn't been properly tracked it would be a different story.

But many Western commercial parts are in Russian drones.

www.bbc.com/news/article...
British parts found in Russian drones, Zelesnky says
The Ukrainian leader says British-made microcomputers were used in weapons launched at Ukraine this weekend.
www.bbc.com
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ianboudreau.com
It simply should not be possible for the president to repeatedly claim that a major city is burning without a wall of live standups happening in that city clearly demonstrating that it is not
ianboudreau.com
American broadcast journalism has utterly failed and is a dead industry, there's nothing left worth saving
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katie0martin.ft.com
applications are still open if you are interested in working with me and @robarmstrong.bsky.social on the Unhedged newsletter

main task is to try and make me look clever and to compensate for my woeful inability to make nice charts

job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/financialtim...
Unhedged Reporter
London
job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io
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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?
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tonytassell.bsky.social
This must be one of the great gigs for a journalist interested in markets, data and economics. There can't be many better colleagues to work alongside than Katie and Rob
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leithmotive.bsky.social
Just bizarre not only that they're dismantling the most fundamental parts of the state infrastructure necessary for civilisation, healthcare is usually the first thing built and the last destroyed, but that nobody is capable of stopping them.
sherylnyt.bsky.social
BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:
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chadstanton.blacksky.app
Now that we’re out of the dreaded Woke Times billionaires are requesting federal troops to occupy cities they dislike for aesthetic reasons after hiring a private police force.
nycsouthpaw.bsky.social
What an emblem of the billionaire class—descending on a peaceful city in a private jet on the horn to NYT asking for the place to be invaded by federal authorities because the rent-a-cops you employ for a week to harass a few junkies outside the convention center cost too much.
Mr. Benioff spoke as his annual Dreamforce conference is set to begin Tuesday in downtown San Francisco, bringing 50,000 visitors to the city. He is scheduled to deliver a keynote address about the benefits of "agentic enterprise," a business model in which humans and artificial intelligence bots work together.
Speaking by telephone from his private plane en route to San Francisco, he lamented that he has to pay for nundreds of off-duty law enforcement officers to help patrol the convention area and said that San Francisco needed to "re-fund" the police.
The city never actually "defunded" its police force, and San Francisco's violent crime rates are below those in many other U.S. cities.
But San Francisco has struggled to recruit and keep officers, and it still has problems with lower-level crimes and open-air drug use, especially in neighborhoods like the Tenderloin near City Hall. It has about 1,500 police officers, and Mr. Benioff says it ne → another thousand.
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jamestplunkett.bsky.social
Are there any live proposals to get DSIT (and/or CLG?) to create a Civic Tech Fund? An initiative to support the UK’s civic tech movement (pro-social platforms like Library of Things, Olio, Park Run, etc) and shared infrastructure for community organising. 1/n
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ronfilipkowski.bsky.social
Mr. Secretary, the president is on the phone. He sounds very angry and he keeps calling you Lil Marco.
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whysharksmatter.bsky.social
Today, @cms.int officially declared the Slender-billed Curlew extinct. These animals were once wide-ranging through Europe, Africa, and Asia, and now they're gone. 🧪🌍

www.cms.int/news/slender...
www.cms.int
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bgrueskin.bsky.social
While you’re at it, give Scott Baio an Oscar for best actor
atrupar.com
Rep. Buddy Carter: "Donald Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. That's why I'm introducing a resolution today that will honor him with the Nobel Peace Prize."

(It doesn't work like that lol)