Thomas Jones
@moonjets.bsky.social
I work @lrb.co.uk, most of my opinions are other people’s
Pinned
Thomas Jones
@moonjets.bsky.social
· Sep 1
Thomas Jones · Lunch with Mussolini: Ferrari Speeds Ahead
I’d been told in no uncertain terms at the ‘technical briefing’, even if you think you’re a good driver, even if...
www.lrb.co.uk
By his own account Ferrari met Mussolini once, on 9 April 1924. He was asked to lead the motorcade escorting the prime minister from Modena to Sassuolo for lunch. Ferrari drove so fast that Mussolini couldn’t keep up and nearly skidded off the road. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Thomas Jones
Trump and his outriders are intentionally trying to destroy even the idea of truth
Trational media strictures - reporting he said, she said; not reporting more ‘extreme’ claims by those not in power - plays right into this
It’s a playbook, and it’s already in U.K. (cf Farage’s Dulwich racism)
Trational media strictures - reporting he said, she said; not reporting more ‘extreme’ claims by those not in power - plays right into this
It’s a playbook, and it’s already in U.K. (cf Farage’s Dulwich racism)
January 25, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Trump and his outriders are intentionally trying to destroy even the idea of truth
Trational media strictures - reporting he said, she said; not reporting more ‘extreme’ claims by those not in power - plays right into this
It’s a playbook, and it’s already in U.K. (cf Farage’s Dulwich racism)
Trational media strictures - reporting he said, she said; not reporting more ‘extreme’ claims by those not in power - plays right into this
It’s a playbook, and it’s already in U.K. (cf Farage’s Dulwich racism)
Reposted by Thomas Jones
Shooting mothers, nurses, while arresting priests and toddlers - this is what comes of that. Their terror campaign is completely backfiring on them. People aren't backing down, they're just getting enraged and radicalised.
YouGov is out with a new poll after ICE killed another person in Minnesota today. Abolishing ICE is now +5 among all adults, and **+12 among independents**
substack.com/@gelliottmor...
substack.com/@gelliottmor...
January 25, 2026 at 7:46 AM
Shooting mothers, nurses, while arresting priests and toddlers - this is what comes of that. Their terror campaign is completely backfiring on them. People aren't backing down, they're just getting enraged and radicalised.
Reposted by Thomas Jones
Worth remembering that they all lied in their original reports because they had no idea Holliday was filming them
The Rodney King video is one of the most important moments in American history because it showed people, particularly comfortable white people, irrefutable evidence that marginalized people’s stories of how police behaved - which were never believed - were in fact true.
Imagine how much they’d be lying about what happened without all the videos showing it from multiple angles.
January 24, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Worth remembering that they all lied in their original reports because they had no idea Holliday was filming them
Reposted by Thomas Jones
On the podcast, Thomas Meaney joins @moonjets.bsky.social to discuss William F. Buckley’s life and legacy: his proselytising for segregation at home and imperialism abroad, and how he laid the groundwork for Trump’s path to the White House.
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
Buckley, MAGA’s Patron Saint
Podcast Episode · The LRB Podcast · 21/01/2026 · 48m
podcasts.apple.com
January 22, 2026 at 12:50 PM
On the podcast, Thomas Meaney joins @moonjets.bsky.social to discuss William F. Buckley’s life and legacy: his proselytising for segregation at home and imperialism abroad, and how he laid the groundwork for Trump’s path to the White House.
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
Reposted by Thomas Jones
Mafia goon: Nice house you got here...it'd be a shame if something happened to it
Media outlets: Mafia goon rules out use of force. Expresses regret at the mere thought of it
Media outlets: Mafia goon rules out use of force. Expresses regret at the mere thought of it
January 21, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Mafia goon: Nice house you got here...it'd be a shame if something happened to it
Media outlets: Mafia goon rules out use of force. Expresses regret at the mere thought of it
Media outlets: Mafia goon rules out use of force. Expresses regret at the mere thought of it
Reposted by Thomas Jones
Fifteen of these countries—Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Iran, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, and Haiti—have qualified for the 2026 World Cup
January 14, 2026 at 7:36 PM
Fifteen of these countries—Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Iran, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, and Haiti—have qualified for the 2026 World Cup
Reposted by Thomas Jones
It seems that AI might really unleash a productivity and innovation revolution in the UK if we use it this way: we identify everyone who thinks it's a good idea to rely on AI, and fire them immediately.
January 14, 2026 at 10:58 AM
It seems that AI might really unleash a productivity and innovation revolution in the UK if we use it this way: we identify everyone who thinks it's a good idea to rely on AI, and fire them immediately.
Reposted by Thomas Jones
There are no rules, they don’t actually care about respect, decorum, bipartisanship or debate, and only pretend to do so to browbeat you into submission. Nothing is going to change until more people realise that and respond accordingly; including to the media and politicians who have failed them.
January 9, 2026 at 12:25 PM
There are no rules, they don’t actually care about respect, decorum, bipartisanship or debate, and only pretend to do so to browbeat you into submission. Nothing is going to change until more people realise that and respond accordingly; including to the media and politicians who have failed them.
Reposted by Thomas Jones
Of all the flimsy rationalisations for continuing to use a nonconsensual image generation application as a core comms channel, this is the flimsiest.
X is very, very obviously algorithmically skewed to bury fact-based research, and boost the fever swamp brain worms of Muskian stressheads
X is very, very obviously algorithmically skewed to bury fact-based research, and boost the fever swamp brain worms of Muskian stressheads
January 9, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Of all the flimsy rationalisations for continuing to use a nonconsensual image generation application as a core comms channel, this is the flimsiest.
X is very, very obviously algorithmically skewed to bury fact-based research, and boost the fever swamp brain worms of Muskian stressheads
X is very, very obviously algorithmically skewed to bury fact-based research, and boost the fever swamp brain worms of Muskian stressheads
What was your #childhoodcinema
The ABC in Basingstoke, long since demolished: Snow White, ET, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future… I think Young Einstein might have been the last (and least good) movie I saw there.
The ABC in Basingstoke, long since demolished: Snow White, ET, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future… I think Young Einstein might have been the last (and least good) movie I saw there.
January 9, 2026 at 1:08 PM
What was your #childhoodcinema
The ABC in Basingstoke, long since demolished: Snow White, ET, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future… I think Young Einstein might have been the last (and least good) movie I saw there.
The ABC in Basingstoke, long since demolished: Snow White, ET, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future… I think Young Einstein might have been the last (and least good) movie I saw there.
Reposted by Thomas Jones
I'm glad to see this pressure on Google and Apple. If any other company was running an active CSAM generator in public you better believe it would have been removed from their app stores by now www.wired.com/story/x-grok...
Why Are Grok and X Still Available in App Stores?
Elon Musk’s chatbot has been used to generate thousands of sexualized images of adults and apparent minors. Apple and Google have removed other “nudify” apps—but continue to host X and Grok.
www.wired.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:58 PM
I'm glad to see this pressure on Google and Apple. If any other company was running an active CSAM generator in public you better believe it would have been removed from their app stores by now www.wired.com/story/x-grok...
Reposted by Thomas Jones
If a website appeared overnight that gave hundreds of millions of users the opportunity to create CSAM you'd expect governments to shut it down quickly, so the question is why X gets a pass when it's done just that?
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
AI chatbot Grok used to create child sexual abuse imagery, watchdog says
Internet Watch Foundation warns Elon Musk-owned AI risks bringing sexualised imagery of children into the mainstream
www.theguardian.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:08 AM
If a website appeared overnight that gave hundreds of millions of users the opportunity to create CSAM you'd expect governments to shut it down quickly, so the question is why X gets a pass when it's done just that?
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Thomas Jones
Elon Musk's AI chatbot is churning out non-consensual sexual deepfakes every minute. Meanwhile the Australian government continues to pay the company millions, writes Cam Wilson.
The Australian government is spending millions supporting Elon Musk's deepfake porn factory, X
www.crikey.com.au
January 9, 2026 at 4:06 AM
Elon Musk's AI chatbot is churning out non-consensual sexual deepfakes every minute. Meanwhile the Australian government continues to pay the company millions, writes Cam Wilson.
David Bowie would have been 79 today. Here’s something I wrote about him back when he was 65. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3...
Thomas Jones · So Ordinary, So Glamorous: Eternal Bowie
The cliché is to call Bowie a chameleon, but he was more like the very hungry caterpillar, munching his way through...
www.lrb.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 1:41 PM
David Bowie would have been 79 today. Here’s something I wrote about him back when he was 65. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3...
Reposted by Thomas Jones
jfc
Musk’s xAI raises $20bn in funding round that doubles valuation ft.trib.al/7vTt0ZB
Musk’s xAI raises $20bn in funding round that doubles valuation
Announcement comes as scrutiny of chatbot mounts after it created sexualised images of minors
ft.trib.al
January 6, 2026 at 9:57 PM
jfc
Reposted by Thomas Jones
British media and political elite just utterly degraded, unbelievable. It's not even like he's an interesting thinker, his only claim to fame is just that he's an edgelord fascist for irony poisoned chuds. Of course they're too cowardly to uphold quality filters that'd keep him out, of course.
Just the BBC, the national broadcaster, mainstreaming a fascist blogger. I guess this is normal now.
January 6, 2026 at 6:23 PM
British media and political elite just utterly degraded, unbelievable. It's not even like he's an interesting thinker, his only claim to fame is just that he's an edgelord fascist for irony poisoned chuds. Of course they're too cowardly to uphold quality filters that'd keep him out, of course.
Isn't this a bit like calling on Pablo Escobar's Medellín cartel to urgently deal with its submarines being used to smuggle cocaine
'Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has called on Elon Musk's X to urgently deal with its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok being used to create non-consensual sexualised deepfake images of women and girls.'
It's not clear from the report if she posted this on X....
It's not clear from the report if she posted this on X....
Government demands Musk's X deals with 'appalling' Grok AI
Grok is being used to digitally remove women's clothing - something victims describe as
www.bbc.co.uk
January 6, 2026 at 3:28 PM
Isn't this a bit like calling on Pablo Escobar's Medellín cartel to urgently deal with its submarines being used to smuggle cocaine
Reposted by Thomas Jones
'Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has called on Elon Musk's X to urgently deal with its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok being used to create non-consensual sexualised deepfake images of women and girls.'
It's not clear from the report if she posted this on X....
It's not clear from the report if she posted this on X....
Government demands Musk's X deals with 'appalling' Grok AI
Grok is being used to digitally remove women's clothing - something victims describe as
www.bbc.co.uk
January 6, 2026 at 3:19 PM
'Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has called on Elon Musk's X to urgently deal with its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok being used to create non-consensual sexualised deepfake images of women and girls.'
It's not clear from the report if she posted this on X....
It's not clear from the report if she posted this on X....
Reposted by Thomas Jones
From our Close Readings podcast series ‘The Man Behind the Curtain’: novelist Tom McCarthy joins @moonjets.bsky.social to discuss the machinery – narrative, theoretical, economic and literal (those windmills) – which underpins Cervantes’ ‘Don Quixote’. Listen free:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
January 6, 2026 at 8:01 AM
From our Close Readings podcast series ‘The Man Behind the Curtain’: novelist Tom McCarthy joins @moonjets.bsky.social to discuss the machinery – narrative, theoretical, economic and literal (those windmills) – which underpins Cervantes’ ‘Don Quixote’. Listen free:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Reposted by Thomas Jones
stealing resources isn't solely about using them, especially when talking about global markets. depriving others of resources and controlling markets is what capitalists do. also, companies sometimes lie (shocker) about value in order to be in a better bargaining position, so fuck their sentiments.
The amount of “this is clearly about oil” posting across all platforms as story after story comes out where the oil industry is saying that the oil isn’t worth extracting is making me feel a little insane
January 4, 2026 at 4:58 PM
stealing resources isn't solely about using them, especially when talking about global markets. depriving others of resources and controlling markets is what capitalists do. also, companies sometimes lie (shocker) about value in order to be in a better bargaining position, so fuck their sentiments.
Reposted by Thomas Jones
So clever of US, UK and European universities, with ample encouragement from their governments, to have been closing down Area Studies, History, Languages and Politics & International Relations programmes, so clearly irrelevant to the world in the second half of the 21st century.
A key question is ‘whether Trump’s appetite for military adventurism will continue to spread. He has advertised designs on Canada, Panama, Greenland and the Gaza Strip. On Saturday, he implied Mexico was also in his sights’
Quick insight from @edwardluce.bsky.social
as.ft.com/r/f047cbcd-9...
Quick insight from @edwardluce.bsky.social
as.ft.com/r/f047cbcd-9...
Trump now owns Venezuela
[FREE TO READ] The US president has a growing appetite for military adventure
as.ft.com
January 4, 2026 at 11:52 AM
So clever of US, UK and European universities, with ample encouragement from their governments, to have been closing down Area Studies, History, Languages and Politics & International Relations programmes, so clearly irrelevant to the world in the second half of the 21st century.
Reposted by Thomas Jones
European leaders' statements:
"Well yes, Maduro was a dictator" (which makes them sound gullible, as if that was the reason, while Trump himself already talks about the oil), followed by
"International law should be respected" (which sounds hollow when not mentioning the evident breach).
"Well yes, Maduro was a dictator" (which makes them sound gullible, as if that was the reason, while Trump himself already talks about the oil), followed by
"International law should be respected" (which sounds hollow when not mentioning the evident breach).
January 3, 2026 at 3:22 PM
European leaders' statements:
"Well yes, Maduro was a dictator" (which makes them sound gullible, as if that was the reason, while Trump himself already talks about the oil), followed by
"International law should be respected" (which sounds hollow when not mentioning the evident breach).
"Well yes, Maduro was a dictator" (which makes them sound gullible, as if that was the reason, while Trump himself already talks about the oil), followed by
"International law should be respected" (which sounds hollow when not mentioning the evident breach).
Reposted by Thomas Jones
I'm confused: Was this about arresting and prosecuting a corrupt despotic dictator responsible for murderous drug trafficking and narco-terrorism, or was it about the United States seizing control of a foreign nation's strategic resources? Not to worry, I'm sure the press will find out.
Pete Hegseth, "Finally a Commander and Chief the world respects and Americans deserve"
"President Trump is deadly serious about getting back the oil that was stolen from us"
"This is America first"
"This is peace through strength"
"President Trump is deadly serious about getting back the oil that was stolen from us"
"This is America first"
"This is peace through strength"
January 3, 2026 at 5:42 PM
I'm confused: Was this about arresting and prosecuting a corrupt despotic dictator responsible for murderous drug trafficking and narco-terrorism, or was it about the United States seizing control of a foreign nation's strategic resources? Not to worry, I'm sure the press will find out.