Dr Simon Ubsdell
@simonubsdell.bsky.social
Still raging about the abject moral abomination of Brexitism. Things I rage about less: Herodotus/5thc Athens, mograph/VFX, music.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Giving Redwood - and all those lying brexity others - peerages is such a betrayal of democracy and our country. Their legacy is disgraceful. And they won’t be held to account for that. It’s a form of political cover-up and denialism that traps us all in their relentless failure.
February 11, 2026 at 9:09 AM
Giving Redwood - and all those lying brexity others - peerages is such a betrayal of democracy and our country. Their legacy is disgraceful. And they won’t be held to account for that. It’s a form of political cover-up and denialism that traps us all in their relentless failure.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
One of the maddest elements of Brexit - and there are *many* - is the rewards that continue to be lavished on the blithering idiots who sold it & continue to be proved wrong about everything every day…
Ex Tory MP John Redwood has been made a peer, as Lord Redwood on 31 January, and was formally introduced in the Lords on Tuesday
February 11, 2026 at 8:34 AM
One of the maddest elements of Brexit - and there are *many* - is the rewards that continue to be lavished on the blithering idiots who sold it & continue to be proved wrong about everything every day…
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
The silence of US elites about this remains stunning & utterly damning.
Elon Musk posted about race almost every day in January
Many social media posts by Tesla CEO on his platform are indiscernible from those of white supremacists, say experts
www.theguardian.com
February 12, 2026 at 8:09 PM
The silence of US elites about this remains stunning & utterly damning.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Right?! I mean. Hasn’t Donald Trump already done that?
February 12, 2026 at 5:27 PM
Right?! I mean. Hasn’t Donald Trump already done that?
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
"I've spent 6 years building an AI startup". That means you have zero credibility as someone able to be objective about this. Bluntly, you're in a bubble at best, a cult at worst. Why should the rest of us listen to you any more than the guy with "the world ends tomorrow" sandwich board?
This post argues AI is having a moment similar to when you heard about some illness in China back in February 2020.
Tech workers just watched AI go from “helpful tool” to “does my job better than I do.” Everyone else is next. Get your financial house in order and lean into what’s hardest to replace
Tech workers just watched AI go from “helpful tool” to “does my job better than I do.” Everyone else is next. Get your financial house in order and lean into what’s hardest to replace
Something Big Is Happening
A personal note for non-tech friends and family on what AI is starting to change.
shumer.dev
February 12, 2026 at 1:56 PM
"I've spent 6 years building an AI startup". That means you have zero credibility as someone able to be objective about this. Bluntly, you're in a bubble at best, a cult at worst. Why should the rest of us listen to you any more than the guy with "the world ends tomorrow" sandwich board?
This is a real fun takedown (with a lot of excellent swearing) of this ridiculous piece of hype that has got everyone absurdly excited.
Made an annotated version of "Something Big Is Coming" for all of you to enjoy. I hate this guy's writing so much
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qw6k5...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qw6k5...
February 12, 2026 at 6:20 PM
This is a real fun takedown (with a lot of excellent swearing) of this ridiculous piece of hype that has got everyone absurdly excited.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Made an annotated version of "Something Big Is Coming" for all of you to enjoy. I hate this guy's writing so much
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qw6k5...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qw6k5...
February 12, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Made an annotated version of "Something Big Is Coming" for all of you to enjoy. I hate this guy's writing so much
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qw6k5...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qw6k5...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Day after Alex Pretti killing I complained to BBC about presentation of White House statements and evidence as equivalent. Duty of balance doesn’t extend to complicity with clear lies, I said. BBC could and should report WH making false statements as a *fact of the story*. Today I got response …
February 12, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Day after Alex Pretti killing I complained to BBC about presentation of White House statements and evidence as equivalent. Duty of balance doesn’t extend to complicity with clear lies, I said. BBC could and should report WH making false statements as a *fact of the story*. Today I got response …
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Peter Mandelson will be stripped of peerage under major new law after Commons recess
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
Peter Mandelson will be stripped of peerage under new law after Commons recess
Lord Mandelson resigned from the House of Lords last week amid the scandal over his ties to the billionaire peadophile Jeffrey Epstein. But the Labour veteran retains his peerage title
www.mirror.co.uk
February 12, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Peter Mandelson will be stripped of peerage under major new law after Commons recess
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
⚡️US military aid to Ukraine dropped 99% in 2025, report finds.
European countries stepped in to fill the gap, increasing military aid to Ukraine by 67% and non-military support by 59% in 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
European countries stepped in to fill the gap, increasing military aid to Ukraine by 67% and non-military support by 59% in 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
US military aid to Ukraine dropped 99% in 2025, report finds
European countries stepped in to fill the gap, increasing military aid to Ukraine by 67% and non-military support by 59% in 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
kyivindependent.com
February 11, 2026 at 8:03 PM
⚡️US military aid to Ukraine dropped 99% in 2025, report finds.
European countries stepped in to fill the gap, increasing military aid to Ukraine by 67% and non-military support by 59% in 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
European countries stepped in to fill the gap, increasing military aid to Ukraine by 67% and non-military support by 59% in 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
You go to a private island and lunch takes no more than an hour?
I guess there's a Pret everywhere these days.
I guess there's a Pret everywhere these days.
February 11, 2026 at 11:48 AM
You go to a private island and lunch takes no more than an hour?
I guess there's a Pret everywhere these days.
I guess there's a Pret everywhere these days.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Trump shows up over a million times in the unredacted Epstein files. And that's the half they released. Imagine what's in the half they didn't release.
That means that the DOJ redacted Trump's name about 950K times in the 3M documents they released. www.axios.com/2026/02/10/t...
That means that the DOJ redacted Trump's name about 950K times in the 3M documents they released. www.axios.com/2026/02/10/t...
Trump is in the unredacted Epstein files "more than a million times," Raskin alleges
One document recounts that Trump said he "never" asked Epstein to leave Mar-a-Lago.
www.axios.com
February 10, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Trump shows up over a million times in the unredacted Epstein files. And that's the half they released. Imagine what's in the half they didn't release.
That means that the DOJ redacted Trump's name about 950K times in the 3M documents they released. www.axios.com/2026/02/10/t...
That means that the DOJ redacted Trump's name about 950K times in the 3M documents they released. www.axios.com/2026/02/10/t...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
I drew a face on a paper plate. Who could even begin to understand how it perceives the world or what it dreams of?
Researchers working with the A.I. system Claude have come to understand that the model’s selfhood, like our own, is a matter of both neurons and narratives. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/kEX1vV
February 11, 2026 at 4:39 AM
I drew a face on a paper plate. Who could even begin to understand how it perceives the world or what it dreams of?
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Imagine being presented with these accounts of stark unfairness and insecurity caused by the earned settlement plans and your response being ‘It is a privilege not a right to settle in the UK and it must be earned’ - the Home Secretary needs to go www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Nurses’ families fear being torn apart in UK immigration crackdown, survey says
Exclusive: Most people in charity’s study say they worry about being separated from relatives under Mahmood plans
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 7:09 AM
Imagine being presented with these accounts of stark unfairness and insecurity caused by the earned settlement plans and your response being ‘It is a privilege not a right to settle in the UK and it must be earned’ - the Home Secretary needs to go www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Now more details in the Epstein files reveal Bannon as part of a successful plot to topple Theresa May with Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees Mogg, here’s an article from the archive about Johnson and Bannon’s collaboration
bylinetimes.com/2023/04/24/b...
bylinetimes.com/2023/04/24/b...
Bannon, Brexit, Johnson and Cambridge Analytica: the Daughter of Time
Peter Jukes reports on more revelations about the transatlantic right-wing network, and why the Government is withholding key information on the former Prime Minister’s role
bylinetimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 5:57 AM
Now more details in the Epstein files reveal Bannon as part of a successful plot to topple Theresa May with Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees Mogg, here’s an article from the archive about Johnson and Bannon’s collaboration
bylinetimes.com/2023/04/24/b...
bylinetimes.com/2023/04/24/b...
“I only took my children and their nannies to Epstein Island for lunch” is the new “Pizza Express, Woking”.
February 10, 2026 at 5:46 PM
“I only took my children and their nannies to Epstein Island for lunch” is the new “Pizza Express, Woking”.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
This is pretty menacing.
Sarah Pochin wrote to Bangor's university student run debating society requesting that she attend to "answer questions from students."
When they said "no" Reform rolled all it's tanks onto the lawns and said they'll cut funding to the entire university if they win.
Sarah Pochin wrote to Bangor's university student run debating society requesting that she attend to "answer questions from students."
When they said "no" Reform rolled all it's tanks onto the lawns and said they'll cut funding to the entire university if they win.
February 10, 2026 at 8:53 AM
This is pretty menacing.
Sarah Pochin wrote to Bangor's university student run debating society requesting that she attend to "answer questions from students."
When they said "no" Reform rolled all it's tanks onto the lawns and said they'll cut funding to the entire university if they win.
Sarah Pochin wrote to Bangor's university student run debating society requesting that she attend to "answer questions from students."
When they said "no" Reform rolled all it's tanks onto the lawns and said they'll cut funding to the entire university if they win.
Cummings has always posed as a sublimely detached analyst with an Olympian overview and an interest only in the reality of things.
When in fact he is one of the most ideologically rabid (and blinkered) commentators we have ever had to endure.
When in fact he is one of the most ideologically rabid (and blinkered) commentators we have ever had to endure.
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 4:56 PM
Cummings has always posed as a sublimely detached analyst with an Olympian overview and an interest only in the reality of things.
When in fact he is one of the most ideologically rabid (and blinkered) commentators we have ever had to endure.
When in fact he is one of the most ideologically rabid (and blinkered) commentators we have ever had to endure.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Yes great, but the last time he said this he followed it up with asylum policies which divided people and played on their sense of grievance. Hopefully the departure of McSweeney means things will be different this time, but I'm sceptical.
Starmer:
"The real fight is not in the Labour Party. It's with the right-wing politics that challenges that. The politics of Reform... Divide, divide, divide. Grievance, grievance, grievance. That will tear our country apart... I will be in that fight as long as I have breath in my body."
"The real fight is not in the Labour Party. It's with the right-wing politics that challenges that. The politics of Reform... Divide, divide, divide. Grievance, grievance, grievance. That will tear our country apart... I will be in that fight as long as I have breath in my body."
February 10, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Yes great, but the last time he said this he followed it up with asylum policies which divided people and played on their sense of grievance. Hopefully the departure of McSweeney means things will be different this time, but I'm sceptical.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
"Europe needs us, & we need Europe".
Please don't let it take that long!
www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/sad...
Please don't let it take that long!
www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/sad...
Sadiq Khan predicts Brexit 'will be reversed in my lifetime'
The London mayor said it was his 'ultimate goal.'
www.thelondoneconomic.com
February 10, 2026 at 7:51 AM
"Europe needs us, & we need Europe".
Please don't let it take that long!
www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/sad...
Please don't let it take that long!
www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/sad...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Europe faces a “geopolitical and geo-economic state of emergency” Macron told us, and will be “swept aside” if it does not reform. After its “Greenland moment”, Europe can’t go on as before. The US is “openly hostile” to Europe and wants it “dismembered”
economist.com/europe/2026/...
economist.com/europe/2026/...
Emmanuel Macron declares a European state of emergency
He urges the EU to move fast or be swept aside
economist.com
February 10, 2026 at 9:19 AM
Europe faces a “geopolitical and geo-economic state of emergency” Macron told us, and will be “swept aside” if it does not reform. After its “Greenland moment”, Europe can’t go on as before. The US is “openly hostile” to Europe and wants it “dismembered”
economist.com/europe/2026/...
economist.com/europe/2026/...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Macron: Europe is now dealing with an “openly hostile” American administration, which wants its “dismemberment”.
economist.com/europe/2026/...
economist.com/europe/2026/...
Emmanuel Macron declares a European state of emergency
He urges the EU to move fast or be swept aside
economist.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:37 AM
Macron: Europe is now dealing with an “openly hostile” American administration, which wants its “dismemberment”.
economist.com/europe/2026/...
economist.com/europe/2026/...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Campbell:
“Because of the nature of our politics, the quality of people going into politics, the nihilism of the mainstream media, the anarchy of social media, with dissonance, hypocrisy, short-termism, naivety, industrialised rage and wilful ignorance off the scale, we are becoming ungovernable“
“Because of the nature of our politics, the quality of people going into politics, the nihilism of the mainstream media, the anarchy of social media, with dissonance, hypocrisy, short-termism, naivety, industrialised rage and wilful ignorance off the scale, we are becoming ungovernable“
February 9, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Campbell:
“Because of the nature of our politics, the quality of people going into politics, the nihilism of the mainstream media, the anarchy of social media, with dissonance, hypocrisy, short-termism, naivety, industrialised rage and wilful ignorance off the scale, we are becoming ungovernable“
“Because of the nature of our politics, the quality of people going into politics, the nihilism of the mainstream media, the anarchy of social media, with dissonance, hypocrisy, short-termism, naivety, industrialised rage and wilful ignorance off the scale, we are becoming ungovernable“
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
context: Labour had previously pledged £3bn for community green energy schemes
www.ft.com/content/4c00...
www.ft.com/content/4c00...
February 10, 2026 at 7:46 AM
context: Labour had previously pledged £3bn for community green energy schemes
www.ft.com/content/4c00...
www.ft.com/content/4c00...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
It's hard to pick the one maddest element of British politics, but the tradition of committee room table-banging noise assessment before a leader is destroyed surely has to be in the running.
February 9, 2026 at 6:09 PM
It's hard to pick the one maddest element of British politics, but the tradition of committee room table-banging noise assessment before a leader is destroyed surely has to be in the running.