Lew
@lewsos.bsky.social
Chopper of water, carrier of wood, reader of the fucking article
Reposted by Lew
In a normal government, this results in the resignation of multiple cabinet officials (Transportation, Defense, and Homeland Security), and the closure or (at least!) radical reorg of the cartoonishly incompetent agency at the center of it: CBP.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
February 12, 2026 at 3:18 PM
In a normal government, this results in the resignation of multiple cabinet officials (Transportation, Defense, and Homeland Security), and the closure or (at least!) radical reorg of the cartoonishly incompetent agency at the center of it: CBP.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
Reposted by Lew
No we won't.
They're leaving because there's no market for their skills here. These are functions we are just not going to perform.
They're leaving because there's no market for their skills here. These are functions we are just not going to perform.
We will spend the next 10 years trying to retrain new people because of the numbers of experienced people that have left the country.
Its not just a brain drain.
Re-training costs billions.
Its a finanical disaster.
#nzpol
www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...
Its not just a brain drain.
Re-training costs billions.
Its a finanical disaster.
#nzpol
www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...
Nearly 120,000 Kiwis leave as population growth from immigrants to NZ slows
The difference between the number of people moving to NZ and those leaving for overseas 2025 was the lowest for a year since 2013 (excluding the 2021 pandemic).
www.stuff.co.nz
February 13, 2026 at 1:39 AM
No we won't.
They're leaving because there's no market for their skills here. These are functions we are just not going to perform.
They're leaving because there's no market for their skills here. These are functions we are just not going to perform.
Reposted by Lew
of the likely choices available i don't see us doing much better
anybody currently raging about Newsom needs to be stopped better get on board or I might think your outrage is a tad performative
February 12, 2026 at 10:50 PM
of the likely choices available i don't see us doing much better
Reposted by Lew
I said this to a Samsung guy at a launch a few years ago. I just want a gorgeous screen, leave the UI to Apple et al. Not a smart TV, but a dumb one.
He said it's very hard to market a dumb television because everyone wants a smart one.
We did not reach a consensus on that.
He said it's very hard to market a dumb television because everyone wants a smart one.
We did not reach a consensus on that.
“Samsung’s QD-OLED panel itself is phenomenal, if nothing special in 2026. The problem is the software. I would pay Samsung $100, right now, for this “smart” TV to be as dumb as the ones I grew up with. ”
Why I wish I hadn’t bought my Samsung OLED TV — The Verge
In June 2024, in a dusty TV shop empty of customers save myself, my wife, and my kids, I stared deep into the LG C3 and Samsung S90C. I went back and forth between the two OLED screens for easily 20 m...
apple.news
February 13, 2026 at 12:08 AM
I said this to a Samsung guy at a launch a few years ago. I just want a gorgeous screen, leave the UI to Apple et al. Not a smart TV, but a dumb one.
He said it's very hard to market a dumb television because everyone wants a smart one.
We did not reach a consensus on that.
He said it's very hard to market a dumb television because everyone wants a smart one.
We did not reach a consensus on that.
Frankly just amazed that someone who, as far as people knew even if it was bullshit, added a letter to her name because of numerology made it this far in politics to begin with, but good riddance all the same
February 13, 2026 at 12:35 AM
Frankly just amazed that someone who, as far as people knew even if it was bullshit, added a letter to her name because of numerology made it this far in politics to begin with, but good riddance all the same
Reposted by Lew
Knowledge isn't power. Power is power.
That GoT bit is hack, but it's relevant. It's the thing people who "trust the science" miss.
The science only tangentially matters.
That GoT bit is hack, but it's relevant. It's the thing people who "trust the science" miss.
The science only tangentially matters.
You can't... repeal... a scientific finding. At that point it's just called lying about it.
Breaking News: The Trump administration repealed the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being, meaning that the EPA can no longer regulate them. nyti.ms/4rSszQu
February 13, 2026 at 12:22 AM
Knowledge isn't power. Power is power.
That GoT bit is hack, but it's relevant. It's the thing people who "trust the science" miss.
The science only tangentially matters.
That GoT bit is hack, but it's relevant. It's the thing people who "trust the science" miss.
The science only tangentially matters.
On my shitlist today: funeral streaming service provider that can't get it up
February 13, 2026 at 12:02 AM
On my shitlist today: funeral streaming service provider that can't get it up
Reposted by Lew
My personal favourite Charles Darwin content ever
February 12, 2026 at 10:46 PM
My personal favourite Charles Darwin content ever
In the 90s my wife used to have a t-shirt that read "return to the moon, and don't forget the chicks this time"
I can't find an image of it but I think about it a lot in this age of the dumbest men alive vaunting their ignorance about space and, like, what it takes to create a functional society
I can't find an image of it but I think about it a lot in this age of the dumbest men alive vaunting their ignorance about space and, like, what it takes to create a functional society
February 12, 2026 at 10:23 PM
In the 90s my wife used to have a t-shirt that read "return to the moon, and don't forget the chicks this time"
I can't find an image of it but I think about it a lot in this age of the dumbest men alive vaunting their ignorance about space and, like, what it takes to create a functional society
I can't find an image of it but I think about it a lot in this age of the dumbest men alive vaunting their ignorance about space and, like, what it takes to create a functional society
Reposted by Lew
It’s not a plot hole that Elmo has been 3 years old for 50 years. He was bitten by The Count, willingly. Elmo asked for the Dark Gift
February 12, 2026 at 1:22 PM
It’s not a plot hole that Elmo has been 3 years old for 50 years. He was bitten by The Count, willingly. Elmo asked for the Dark Gift
Reposted by Lew
Has anyone *actually read* Wuthering Heights? Heathcliff & Cathy are umm quite annoying. Particularly Heathcliff.
February 12, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Has anyone *actually read* Wuthering Heights? Heathcliff & Cathy are umm quite annoying. Particularly Heathcliff.
Looking forward to Man United adopting the Athletic Bilbao player development model but even so it wouldn't excuse the racist stupidity that appears characteristic of the vaunted meritocratic class
'The UK has been colonised by immigrants', says INEOS boss and Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe
'The UK has been colonised by immigrants', says INEOS boss and Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Britain has been "colonised" by immigrants, who are draining resources from the state, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of the country's richest and most influential men, has told Sky News.
news.sky.com
February 12, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Looking forward to Man United adopting the Athletic Bilbao player development model but even so it wouldn't excuse the racist stupidity that appears characteristic of the vaunted meritocratic class
Reposted by Lew
I understand the urge to dunk on the less educated, but look at the flipside. The more educated supporters are either:
1) Leveraging their education to rationalize and lie to themselves more effectively, or...
2) are actual fascists.
Being willing to change your mind is not a character flaw.
1) Leveraging their education to rationalize and lie to themselves more effectively, or...
2) are actual fascists.
Being willing to change your mind is not a character flaw.
February 12, 2026 at 7:36 PM
I understand the urge to dunk on the less educated, but look at the flipside. The more educated supporters are either:
1) Leveraging their education to rationalize and lie to themselves more effectively, or...
2) are actual fascists.
Being willing to change your mind is not a character flaw.
1) Leveraging their education to rationalize and lie to themselves more effectively, or...
2) are actual fascists.
Being willing to change your mind is not a character flaw.
Long long thread of comments to this, mainly from assholes who just refuse to take a win
New poll: In 2024, low-engagement voters went for Trump over Harris by 11 percentage points. But now they disapprove of the way he's handling the presidency by 13. They have moved 25 points against Trump — 2x as large as the shift for high-knowledge voters www.gelliottmorris.com/p/trump-lost...
Trump has lost the voters who weren’t paying attention in 2024
The least-engaged Americans have swung 25 points against him since 2024 — about twice the shift among everyone else. Trump has flattened the engagement gap.
www.gelliottmorris.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Long long thread of comments to this, mainly from assholes who just refuse to take a win
Reposted by Lew
New poll: In 2024, low-engagement voters went for Trump over Harris by 11 percentage points. But now they disapprove of the way he's handling the presidency by 13. They have moved 25 points against Trump — 2x as large as the shift for high-knowledge voters www.gelliottmorris.com/p/trump-lost...
Trump has lost the voters who weren’t paying attention in 2024
The least-engaged Americans have swung 25 points against him since 2024 — about twice the shift among everyone else. Trump has flattened the engagement gap.
www.gelliottmorris.com
February 12, 2026 at 1:01 PM
New poll: In 2024, low-engagement voters went for Trump over Harris by 11 percentage points. But now they disapprove of the way he's handling the presidency by 13. They have moved 25 points against Trump — 2x as large as the shift for high-knowledge voters www.gelliottmorris.com/p/trump-lost...
Reposted by Lew
Trying to get out from under a scandal about his racism by posting a pic of himself with a probable child sexual abuser may not have been the smartest move in the circumstances.
February 12, 2026 at 5:16 AM
Trying to get out from under a scandal about his racism by posting a pic of himself with a probable child sexual abuser may not have been the smartest move in the circumstances.
Reposted by Lew
I think it's worth connecting a few dots here; as @henrycooke.bsky.social has covered, Goldsmith's Human Rights Commission appointments were found to have followed such a shoddy process they were unlawful. Now this with the Law Com. Worth looking at some of his other shoulder taps?
February 12, 2026 at 6:57 PM
I think it's worth connecting a few dots here; as @henrycooke.bsky.social has covered, Goldsmith's Human Rights Commission appointments were found to have followed such a shoddy process they were unlawful. Now this with the Law Com. Worth looking at some of his other shoulder taps?
Reposted by Lew
Collins has been done no favours here by Goldsmith. The shoddy process he followed will make it harder for her to credibly do her job. Which is in many ways unfair to her; unlike Goldsmith Collins played with a close to 100% straight bat on judicial appointments in her role as Attorney-General.
'Nakedly political': No rivals considered for Judith Collins' new job
The outgoing minister was the only person considered for Law Commission president - with no recruitment process and no others candidates.
www.rnz.co.nz
February 12, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Collins has been done no favours here by Goldsmith. The shoddy process he followed will make it harder for her to credibly do her job. Which is in many ways unfair to her; unlike Goldsmith Collins played with a close to 100% straight bat on judicial appointments in her role as Attorney-General.
Reposted by Lew
It’s my thesis that things that segmented society responses into individual perspectives and which normalised institutionalised lying, were necessary components of the current global far-right power grab; not LLMs specifically
Perhaps it would have happened with any emerging technology at this point in history. LLMs and their like may not be the perfect vectors for technofascism in their own right, they're just what was fashionable when this all got rolling. Alas, we'll never know.
February 12, 2026 at 3:05 AM
It’s my thesis that things that segmented society responses into individual perspectives and which normalised institutionalised lying, were necessary components of the current global far-right power grab; not LLMs specifically
Reposted by Lew
This website has the juice.
February 11, 2026 at 9:07 PM
This website has the juice.
Reposted by Lew
they fired the OpenAI product policy VP for "sexually discriminating against a male colleague" after she opposed reorienting the product towards porn. having seen precision/recall numbers for large production abuse systems you do not want to tune for precision.
February 12, 2026 at 7:40 AM
they fired the OpenAI product policy VP for "sexually discriminating against a male colleague" after she opposed reorienting the product towards porn. having seen precision/recall numbers for large production abuse systems you do not want to tune for precision.
Reposted by Lew
February 11, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Lew
Reposted by Lew
The recession will be experienced primarily as a series of faux-optimistic, desperation-laden LinkedIn posts until you're the one hitting the post button.
February 12, 2026 at 7:28 AM
The recession will be experienced primarily as a series of faux-optimistic, desperation-laden LinkedIn posts until you're the one hitting the post button.
Reposted by Lew
Given that we still have an 81 on the perceptions of corruption index, there’s still plenty of room to move down!
The Government appointed ex National Party leader Judith Collins to lead the Law Commission without following good practice processes for such roles, writes RNZ acting political editor Craig McCulloch
'Nakedly political': No rivals considered for Judith Collins' new job
newsroom.co.nz
February 12, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Given that we still have an 81 on the perceptions of corruption index, there’s still plenty of room to move down!