@bethmacnamara.bsky.social
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Is this what international relations experts mean by ‘strategic ambiguity’?
August 8, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Is this what international relations experts mean by ‘strategic ambiguity’?
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i still can’t believe the Supreme Court ruled that when Parliament passed legalisation with the express intention of codifying trans people’s rights, what it was actually doing was bringing in the most draconian anti-trans legislation in the western world
August 7, 2025 at 10:47 PM
i still can’t believe the Supreme Court ruled that when Parliament passed legalisation with the express intention of codifying trans people’s rights, what it was actually doing was bringing in the most draconian anti-trans legislation in the western world
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in this week's newsletter! a super cheery essay on why I think I'm no longer in denial about AI shafting us all in the media and creative industries: youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/not-half-f...
August 8, 2025 at 8:06 AM
in this week's newsletter! a super cheery essay on why I think I'm no longer in denial about AI shafting us all in the media and creative industries: youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/not-half-f...
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Oh so it does have phd level intelligence
Google Gemini doesn’t appear to be doing too well:
‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’
‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’
Google says it's working on a fix for Gemini's self-loathing 'I am a failure' comments
Google Gemini users said the bot is sharing self-loathing messages while attempting to solve tasks, including "I am a disgrace to this universe."
www.businessinsider.com
August 8, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Oh so it does have phd level intelligence
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I decided I want to go back to not drinking, I use this great app I Am Sober a huge part of which is the community feature where you can make friends and get support and motivation, it’s now unavailable for UK ppl due to the online safety act….in case teenagers are illicitly trying to get sober?
August 8, 2025 at 7:56 AM
I decided I want to go back to not drinking, I use this great app I Am Sober a huge part of which is the community feature where you can make friends and get support and motivation, it’s now unavailable for UK ppl due to the online safety act….in case teenagers are illicitly trying to get sober?
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Interesting that the Times story seems to indicate that the elimination of trans people from public life seems to be a stalking horse for introducing ID cards by the back door by making it possible for pubic bodies to demand birth certificates as evidence of whether you are allowed to use the loo.
August 8, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Interesting that the Times story seems to indicate that the elimination of trans people from public life seems to be a stalking horse for introducing ID cards by the back door by making it possible for pubic bodies to demand birth certificates as evidence of whether you are allowed to use the loo.
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Every time you see a Labour MP heading to the toilet, make sure to intercept them and demand documentary proof that their Supreme Court-undefined "biological sex" matches the socially constructed gender signifiers in the icon on the toilet sign, and then simply refuse to accept any proof they give
🚨 BREAKING | Labour is set to impose a sweeping ban on trans people using any "single-sex space".
In EHRC guidance that Labour is set to approve, trans people will be barred from accessing toilets, gyms and changing rooms that match their gender.
(Source: @TheTimes)
In EHRC guidance that Labour is set to approve, trans people will be barred from accessing toilets, gyms and changing rooms that match their gender.
(Source: @TheTimes)
August 8, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Every time you see a Labour MP heading to the toilet, make sure to intercept them and demand documentary proof that their Supreme Court-undefined "biological sex" matches the socially constructed gender signifiers in the icon on the toilet sign, and then simply refuse to accept any proof they give
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Just taking my birth certificate with me on the big shop in case I need a piss in the Asda customer toilet and the toilet bouncer doesn't like the shape of my skull
Source: archive.ph/taXyE
Service providers will be told to ask for birth certificates and interrogate service users to discover their "biological sex".
The guidance also ban trans men from female toilets on the basis that their presence would cause "alarm or distress".
Service providers will be told to ask for birth certificates and interrogate service users to discover their "biological sex".
The guidance also ban trans men from female toilets on the basis that their presence would cause "alarm or distress".
August 8, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Just taking my birth certificate with me on the big shop in case I need a piss in the Asda customer toilet and the toilet bouncer doesn't like the shape of my skull
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So Trans blokes can't use the men's loos and can't use the women's loos either. Good plan Labour, encourage some al fresco weeing, i'm sure that's a fab idea 🙄
Source: archive.ph/taXyE
Service providers will be told to ask for birth certificates and interrogate service users to discover their "biological sex".
The guidance also ban trans men from female toilets on the basis that their presence would cause "alarm or distress".
Service providers will be told to ask for birth certificates and interrogate service users to discover their "biological sex".
The guidance also ban trans men from female toilets on the basis that their presence would cause "alarm or distress".
August 8, 2025 at 10:33 AM
So Trans blokes can't use the men's loos and can't use the women's loos either. Good plan Labour, encourage some al fresco weeing, i'm sure that's a fab idea 🙄
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For fuck's sake
🚨 BREAKING | Labour is set to impose a sweeping ban on trans people using any "single-sex space".
In EHRC guidance that Labour is set to approve, trans people will be barred from accessing toilets, gyms and changing rooms that match their gender.
(Source: @TheTimes)
In EHRC guidance that Labour is set to approve, trans people will be barred from accessing toilets, gyms and changing rooms that match their gender.
(Source: @TheTimes)
August 7, 2025 at 11:01 PM
For fuck's sake
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I've literally had AI boosters tell me "AI is not biased, you're just bad at prompting" because they don't actually understand how bias works or how an LLM is productized outside of a chatbot.
The scariest thing about this tech isn't when you talk to it. It's when you don't see it at all.
The scariest thing about this tech isn't when you talk to it. It's when you don't see it at all.
June 7, 2025 at 1:50 PM
I've literally had AI boosters tell me "AI is not biased, you're just bad at prompting" because they don't actually understand how bias works or how an LLM is productized outside of a chatbot.
The scariest thing about this tech isn't when you talk to it. It's when you don't see it at all.
The scariest thing about this tech isn't when you talk to it. It's when you don't see it at all.
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"Microsoft is cautiously onboarding Grok 4 following Hitler concerns" is one of these headlines happening a dozen times a day that nobody blinks at which for any science fiction novel, movie, comic book, game etc written at any prior point of history but set in 2025 we'd have said nah too cartoonish
August 7, 2025 at 11:48 PM
"Microsoft is cautiously onboarding Grok 4 following Hitler concerns" is one of these headlines happening a dozen times a day that nobody blinks at which for any science fiction novel, movie, comic book, game etc written at any prior point of history but set in 2025 we'd have said nah too cartoonish
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the model as "like having a team of PhD-level experts in your pocket”
August 8, 2025 at 6:31 AM
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the model as "like having a team of PhD-level experts in your pocket”
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My goto is to ask LLMs how many states have R in their name. They always fail. GPT 5 included Indiana, Illinois, and Texas in its list. It then asked me if I wanted an alphabetical highlighted map. Sure, why not.
August 8, 2025 at 12:40 AM
My goto is to ask LLMs how many states have R in their name. They always fail. GPT 5 included Indiana, Illinois, and Texas in its list. It then asked me if I wanted an alphabetical highlighted map. Sure, why not.
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Local journalism update: this Reach title is trying to cause a run on the banks.
August 6, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Local journalism update: this Reach title is trying to cause a run on the banks.
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This whole story is the perfect summation of the anti-trans panic. A trans person (if they were even trans!) dares to exist in a public setting. A bigot makes an insane complaint. The press and GC public figures loudly portray the trans person as dangerous. And that's the message the public here.
There is such a malicious game of telephone being played with the Telegraph’s M&S ‘trans’ shop assistant story. It’s gone from the anonymous complaint claiming the person was trans because they were tall to versions — notably in The Sun — falsely suggesting the person offered a bra fitting.
August 6, 2025 at 8:53 PM
This whole story is the perfect summation of the anti-trans panic. A trans person (if they were even trans!) dares to exist in a public setting. A bigot makes an insane complaint. The press and GC public figures loudly portray the trans person as dangerous. And that's the message the public here.
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Oh you absolutely useless wankers
August 6, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Oh you absolutely useless wankers
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sorry to say this made me laugh out loud
the one thing we didn't want to happen!
the one thing we didn't want to happen!
Labour homelessness minister Rushanara Ali threw four tenants out of her east London townhouse before relisting the property for £700 a month more in rent, The i Paper can reveal trib.al/E59gUNW
August 6, 2025 at 9:08 PM
sorry to say this made me laugh out loud
the one thing we didn't want to happen!
the one thing we didn't want to happen!
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Absolutely mind-boggling that the UK Govt has *still* not reviewed its use of X
The audio can be heard as "flashes"
Elon Musk's Grok AI is amplifying the conspiracy theory.
The X site continues to present a clear and present danger to the national security of our country, in both its acts and omissions, being a site which amplifies conspiracies & defends unlawful hatred
Elon Musk's Grok AI is amplifying the conspiracy theory.
The X site continues to present a clear and present danger to the national security of our country, in both its acts and omissions, being a site which amplifies conspiracies & defends unlawful hatred
August 6, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Absolutely mind-boggling that the UK Govt has *still* not reviewed its use of X
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Just today I asked a male (!!!!!!) shop assistant in Boots about maternity pads. This level of proposed segregation by sex is truly Victorian in its morality and moral panic.
Legally, there isn't the slightest basis to the complaint, even on the most extreme possible interpretation of the Supreme Court judgement. A shop floor is not a single sex space, regardless of whether they sell bras or not. This is just hatred and spite, unleashed.
The employee asked the girl and her mother if they needed help shopping. That’s it. That’s all. The misinformation, the insinuations (because the facts are inconveniently benign) are EXACTLY what was done to lesbians in the 80s. This is the product of hate and fear, not reality.
August 6, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Just today I asked a male (!!!!!!) shop assistant in Boots about maternity pads. This level of proposed segregation by sex is truly Victorian in its morality and moral panic.
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Legally, there isn't the slightest basis to the complaint, even on the most extreme possible interpretation of the Supreme Court judgement. A shop floor is not a single sex space, regardless of whether they sell bras or not. This is just hatred and spite, unleashed.
The employee asked the girl and her mother if they needed help shopping. That’s it. That’s all. The misinformation, the insinuations (because the facts are inconveniently benign) are EXACTLY what was done to lesbians in the 80s. This is the product of hate and fear, not reality.
August 6, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Legally, there isn't the slightest basis to the complaint, even on the most extreme possible interpretation of the Supreme Court judgement. A shop floor is not a single sex space, regardless of whether they sell bras or not. This is just hatred and spite, unleashed.
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obviously always reread this whenever it pops up but also: never entirely sure what it says about me that it made me really fancy Tom Hollander
Arguably the greatest thing ever committed to print
August 6, 2025 at 8:52 AM
obviously always reread this whenever it pops up but also: never entirely sure what it says about me that it made me really fancy Tom Hollander
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every Democrat in this country should be using every single ounce of their power to loudly and publicly support these Texas politicians like the 10-alarm fire this is
Police State alert:
Texas authorities have called on FBI Director Kash Patel to apprehend Democratic state lawmakers who fled the state to block a gerrymandering vote.
Texas authorities have called on FBI Director Kash Patel to apprehend Democratic state lawmakers who fled the state to block a gerrymandering vote.
August 5, 2025 at 6:06 PM
every Democrat in this country should be using every single ounce of their power to loudly and publicly support these Texas politicians like the 10-alarm fire this is