James Monk
@twoev.bsky.social
Physics, dodge and burn. Wow, this place really is a rip off of twitter - someone's gonna get sued
This is true, but it’s secretly a message about cars in cities
The key point here is "space not designed for it" - people have to move across the space of a pub all the time (staff collecting glasses, people arriving looking for friends, people going to the loos, people carrying drinks) - a huge queue bisecting the pub makes all that harder
One of the realy interesting post-pandemic trends are 'people doing a thing that they clearly can't possibly be enjoying and ignoring everyone else urging them not to'.
February 1, 2026 at 11:21 AM
This is true, but it’s secretly a message about cars in cities
Reposted by James Monk
“Epstein Files dump causes Bitcoin collapse” is a great way to end January 2026.
January 31, 2026 at 6:03 PM
“Epstein Files dump causes Bitcoin collapse” is a great way to end January 2026.
The premier league: this season, teams are focusing on long throws, set pieces and breaking up play. Passing, possession and quick movement are out of fashion, nobody wants the ball
Arsenal fans: this is the highest quality football season ever
(subskeeting obviously)
Arsenal fans: this is the highest quality football season ever
(subskeeting obviously)
January 30, 2026 at 3:57 PM
The premier league: this season, teams are focusing on long throws, set pieces and breaking up play. Passing, possession and quick movement are out of fashion, nobody wants the ball
Arsenal fans: this is the highest quality football season ever
(subskeeting obviously)
Arsenal fans: this is the highest quality football season ever
(subskeeting obviously)
I also happened to hear this and thought I was having a stroke when I heard the music expert refer to him as *The* Aphex Twin
Last item on Today about Aphex Twin outstreaming Taylor Swift tickled me. Nick Robinson introducing it with an incredulous "I've never even heard of Aphex Twin!", and a guest repeatedly referring to 'The Aphex Twin'
Hope he makes a track out of it
Fair play to the Today prog for running it though
Hope he makes a track out of it
Fair play to the Today prog for running it though
January 29, 2026 at 9:44 PM
I also happened to hear this and thought I was having a stroke when I heard the music expert refer to him as *The* Aphex Twin
Not this bullshit again. In years gone past the response would be to activate the Cox and get articles in places like The Sun, but these days it probably has to be some vlogger on tiktok
UK physics research and science facilities face ‘substantial’ cuts.
Major cuts will hit UK science facilities and government research grants for physics and astronomy over the next four years, Research Professional News can reveal.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
Major cuts will hit UK science facilities and government research grants for physics and astronomy over the next four years, Research Professional News can reveal.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
UK physics research and science facilities face ‘substantial’ cuts - Research Professional News
Exclusive: Science and Technology Facilities Council seeks £162m cost savings, with existing projects facing axe
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
January 29, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Not this bullshit again. In years gone past the response would be to activate the Cox and get articles in places like The Sun, but these days it probably has to be some vlogger on tiktok
The real WASPIs - Workers Against Student Payment Interest
“I borrowed in total £55,000…”
“How much do you owe now?"
“£72,000”
@vicderbyshire.bsky.social speaks to Dr Arthur Joustra, a trainee paediatrician, about how his student loan debt has risen since he graduated in 2022 - despite making payments.
#Newsnight
“How much do you owe now?"
“£72,000”
@vicderbyshire.bsky.social speaks to Dr Arthur Joustra, a trainee paediatrician, about how his student loan debt has risen since he graduated in 2022 - despite making payments.
#Newsnight
January 29, 2026 at 2:15 PM
The real WASPIs - Workers Against Student Payment Interest
This is a bit harsh on Mark & Lard
January 27, 2026 at 9:09 AM
This is a bit harsh on Mark & Lard
I remember around 2010 or so, long before the present anti-trans hysteria, I read a piece saying that the far right was deliberately targeting it as a wedge issue to grow+normalise their support. i was doubtful at the time they were that deliberate, or that it could work. Clearly it did
This is exactly the same playbook Graham Linehan uses against trans people, where defending trans rights is cast as defending "rape" and "paedophilia." He uses "rape" and "paedophilia" as punchlines, and, therefore, all of his hate speech and advocation for violence against his enemies is justified.
January 26, 2026 at 11:14 AM
I remember around 2010 or so, long before the present anti-trans hysteria, I read a piece saying that the far right was deliberately targeting it as a wedge issue to grow+normalise their support. i was doubtful at the time they were that deliberate, or that it could work. Clearly it did
The politician who has caused the single biggest improvement in people’s living conditions in recent years is Sadiq Khan, and Burnham should reflect on that before he gives up a large mayorality to chase the PM’s job
January 25, 2026 at 11:03 AM
The politician who has caused the single biggest improvement in people’s living conditions in recent years is Sadiq Khan, and Burnham should reflect on that before he gives up a large mayorality to chase the PM’s job
Took this one last month from Obergurgl looking south towards the Dolomites catching the setting sun
January 22, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Took this one last month from Obergurgl looking south towards the Dolomites catching the setting sun
Reposted by James Monk
not now, Cascadia Subduction Zone
6.1-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Off Oregon Coast, Says GFZ
January 16, 2026 at 3:38 AM
not now, Cascadia Subduction Zone
There is an old joke about life insurance companies - “give us lots of money while you’re alive, and then when you’re dead, we’ll give it back to you.” I think that goes a long way to explaining the hostility - people want to actually live before they get too old to enjoy a generous pension
For what it’s worth, I think the British cross-party policy consensus since 2010 of increasing the generosity of the state pension while also raising future retirement ages in line with life expectancy is right.
January 15, 2026 at 11:15 AM
There is an old joke about life insurance companies - “give us lots of money while you’re alive, and then when you’re dead, we’ll give it back to you.” I think that goes a long way to explaining the hostility - people want to actually live before they get too old to enjoy a generous pension
Surely the easiest thing to do is just to credibly threaten to release the unredacted Epstein files? Do it in segments, escalating each time. Or whatever other dirt there is on the leadership. The US isn’t the only power capable of destabilising a foreign government
If I was advising the EU—and I 100% should be—my advice is that you prepare three sets of sanction packages:
1. Deliberate targeting of personal/corporate assets of Trump, Musk, Andressen, Sacks, etc like they’re Russian oligarchs by doing stuff like seizing Gigafactory Berlin. This gets used first.
1. Deliberate targeting of personal/corporate assets of Trump, Musk, Andressen, Sacks, etc like they’re Russian oligarchs by doing stuff like seizing Gigafactory Berlin. This gets used first.
January 12, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Surely the easiest thing to do is just to credibly threaten to release the unredacted Epstein files? Do it in segments, escalating each time. Or whatever other dirt there is on the leadership. The US isn’t the only power capable of destabilising a foreign government
This is true, but there are governments with literal nuclear deterrents that are too afraid to do their job and ban X for fear of the backlash, so we can hardly expect corporations, even very rich ones, to take the initiative here
Something I think gets missed in all the regulation / legislation / enforcement conversation - and wilfully ignored by the "free speech / what about consenting adults / no censorship" brigade - is that Apple and Google are under no obligation to keep X their app stores if it breaks terms of service!
NEW: Last night, Democratic Senators urged Apple and Google to remove X and Grok from their app stores over sexual deepfakes.
Hours later, X restricted Grok's abilities on the app.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...
Hours later, X restricted Grok's abilities on the app.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...
January 11, 2026 at 5:57 PM
This is true, but there are governments with literal nuclear deterrents that are too afraid to do their job and ban X for fear of the backlash, so we can hardly expect corporations, even very rich ones, to take the initiative here
Reposted by James Monk
Yet another person has DMd me. Sorry. I can see there are messages, but I can't read them because I won't verify my age.
The absurdity that I can't see my DMs here, to protect children online, while Grok is spitting out child sexual abuse images with no restriction, is not lost on me.
The absurdity that I can't see my DMs here, to protect children online, while Grok is spitting out child sexual abuse images with no restriction, is not lost on me.
January 7, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Yet another person has DMd me. Sorry. I can see there are messages, but I can't read them because I won't verify my age.
The absurdity that I can't see my DMs here, to protect children online, while Grok is spitting out child sexual abuse images with no restriction, is not lost on me.
The absurdity that I can't see my DMs here, to protect children online, while Grok is spitting out child sexual abuse images with no restriction, is not lost on me.
Reposted by James Monk
Surely at least one European nation’s intelligence agency has by now obtained the full unredacted Epstein files and can threaten to release them? Hell, the UK could just prosecute the Andrew formerly known as Prince with the same effect
January 7, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Surely at least one European nation’s intelligence agency has by now obtained the full unredacted Epstein files and can threaten to release them? Hell, the UK could just prosecute the Andrew formerly known as Prince with the same effect
Amazed by how low the stakes are here. This regime insider is doing corruption and probably treason, war crimes etc. for a measly $200k
This person went on a buying spree over the past 24 hours. Fresh wallet. Only existed since Dec 27th and has only bet on Venezuela-related markets.
polymarket.com/@0x31a56e9E6...
polymarket.com/@0x31a56e9E6...
January 3, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Amazed by how low the stakes are here. This regime insider is doing corruption and probably treason, war crimes etc. for a measly $200k
The fact that this could reasonably be about either of the main parties and I initially assumed it’s about the Tories, but in fact it’s about Labour, explains a great deal about current politics
The first major political party in the world to, basically, wank itself to death.
January 2, 2026 at 11:03 PM
The fact that this could reasonably be about either of the main parties and I initially assumed it’s about the Tories, but in fact it’s about Labour, explains a great deal about current politics
Christmas was literally cancelled in very recent memory, and the person that did it was that famously woke Boris Johnson
The UK far right is increasingly infiltrating the Anglican church so this is bang on trend.
December 13, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Christmas was literally cancelled in very recent memory, and the person that did it was that famously woke Boris Johnson
Reposted by James Monk
Makes me question how much of the craziness in our politics is just US hegemonic break down. Starmer trying to preserve the old order, but it’s gone. Europe’s version of the Arab Spring is politicians becoming unpopular because they endorse a far right US position
Asked repeatedly about Donald Trump calling Sadiq Khan "disgusting" and suggesting that he was only elected because of immigrants, Keir Starmer's spokesman says only that the PM has a "strong relationship" with the President which has "yielded positive results for this country"
December 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Makes me question how much of the craziness in our politics is just US hegemonic break down. Starmer trying to preserve the old order, but it’s gone. Europe’s version of the Arab Spring is politicians becoming unpopular because they endorse a far right US position
Everyone saying it’s inflation, but we should at least consider the possibility that Starmer not being very good and punching his own base, and that Trump doing mad fash stuff, is simply not popular for good reason. It doesn’t have to be complicated
A thought. In 2022-24 incumbents did terribly everywhere and the most common explanation was voters hating inflation.
Today inflation is much lower. And Merz, Starmer & Trump are all deeply unpopular.
Today inflation is much lower. And Merz, Starmer & Trump are all deeply unpopular.
He's done it! Merz is now less popular than Olaf Scholz at his lowest low.
Nobody could have predicted this, of course. www.n-tv.de/politik/Kanz...
Nobody could have predicted this, of course. www.n-tv.de/politik/Kanz...
December 2, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Everyone saying it’s inflation, but we should at least consider the possibility that Starmer not being very good and punching his own base, and that Trump doing mad fash stuff, is simply not popular for good reason. It doesn’t have to be complicated
The sad thing is that solving this sort of problem algorithmically is quite interesting (np-hard). There’s quite a large literature just on pcb layout, which is basically the same thing. Naturally I’d just solve it with a Monte Carlo and brute force
December 1, 2025 at 11:22 PM
The sad thing is that solving this sort of problem algorithmically is quite interesting (np-hard). There’s quite a large literature just on pcb layout, which is basically the same thing. Naturally I’d just solve it with a Monte Carlo and brute force
Reposted by James Monk
This is my third go at M45 (the Pleiades) this season, because I wasn’t happy with the other two. About half of this was taken in the presence of the 1st quarter moon. #Astronomy #Astrophotography
November 28, 2025 at 3:46 PM
This is my third go at M45 (the Pleiades) this season, because I wasn’t happy with the other two. About half of this was taken in the presence of the 1st quarter moon. #Astronomy #Astrophotography
New discourse just dropped
Median hhld wealth by region:
North East: £179,900
North West: £222,400
Scotland: £239,500
*Checks notes* LONDON(!): £244,800
Yorkshire & Humber: £245,600
W Midlands: £260,800
E Midlands: £261,000
Wales: £266,900
S West: £347,700
E England: £400,700
S East: £489,800
North East: £179,900
North West: £222,400
Scotland: £239,500
*Checks notes* LONDON(!): £244,800
Yorkshire & Humber: £245,600
W Midlands: £260,800
E Midlands: £261,000
Wales: £266,900
S West: £347,700
E England: £400,700
S East: £489,800
November 27, 2025 at 10:10 PM
New discourse just dropped