Harmonious Bosch
@ljon.bsky.social
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
The number of people migrating to the UK is down, again.
Lower migration is bad for our economy, especially our already struggling public services. The economy getting worse means politicians scapegoat and blame migrants and refugees even more. It’s a doom loop where we’re all worse off.
Lower migration is bad for our economy, especially our already struggling public services. The economy getting worse means politicians scapegoat and blame migrants and refugees even more. It’s a doom loop where we’re all worse off.
Today's migration stats illustrate the migration doom loop in action...
(from my presentation at the IMF last week)
(from my presentation at the IMF last week)
November 27, 2025 at 12:08 PM
The number of people migrating to the UK is down, again.
Lower migration is bad for our economy, especially our already struggling public services. The economy getting worse means politicians scapegoat and blame migrants and refugees even more. It’s a doom loop where we’re all worse off.
Lower migration is bad for our economy, especially our already struggling public services. The economy getting worse means politicians scapegoat and blame migrants and refugees even more. It’s a doom loop where we’re all worse off.
Oh. I see. How interesting.
November 27, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Oh. I see. How interesting.
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
Could we please stop framing it as the "migration system"?
It's the asylum system that the rules relate to.
We need everyone to know that these new rules are being brought in so that we can be crueler to people who are already going through horrendous torment in their lives.
It's the asylum system that the rules relate to.
We need everyone to know that these new rules are being brought in so that we can be crueler to people who are already going through horrendous torment in their lives.
Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan has defended changes to the migration system, rejecting criticism that the tightening of rules is disproportionally focused on asylum seekers
Minister defends proposed changes to immigration system
Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan has defended changes to the migration system, rejecting criticism that the tightening of rules is disproportionally focused on asylum seekers.
www.rte.ie
November 27, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Could we please stop framing it as the "migration system"?
It's the asylum system that the rules relate to.
We need everyone to know that these new rules are being brought in so that we can be crueler to people who are already going through horrendous torment in their lives.
It's the asylum system that the rules relate to.
We need everyone to know that these new rules are being brought in so that we can be crueler to people who are already going through horrendous torment in their lives.
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
reminder: keir starmer made a deal with murdoch so there would be no press reform during his government.
he did that purely so a bunch of labour dorks could run around screaming 'WE GOT THE SUN ENDORSEMENT!' during the election bcos they all genuinely think it's 1995.
he did that purely so a bunch of labour dorks could run around screaming 'WE GOT THE SUN ENDORSEMENT!' during the election bcos they all genuinely think it's 1995.
It is IMO not possible to operate any kind of meaningful democracy when your national press is a joke and a travesty, but your mileage on that may vary. I think it’s incontestable that it is impossible to govern well and effectively, while being in hock to these pantomime clowns.
November 27, 2025 at 10:01 AM
reminder: keir starmer made a deal with murdoch so there would be no press reform during his government.
he did that purely so a bunch of labour dorks could run around screaming 'WE GOT THE SUN ENDORSEMENT!' during the election bcos they all genuinely think it's 1995.
he did that purely so a bunch of labour dorks could run around screaming 'WE GOT THE SUN ENDORSEMENT!' during the election bcos they all genuinely think it's 1995.
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
There hasn't been a big financial crash in a while, let's scrap regulation. After the next big financial crash: why didn't we have effective regulation? And so the pendulum swings, because when regulation works, we regularly forget why we need it.
A “shift to looser regulation is ‘likely to reduce the resilience of the banking sector to systemic market shocks.’”
A key lesson from 2008 was “heavily indebted banks lacked the equity capital to absorb large losses, leaving regulators [to let] banks fail or bail them out to protect depositors.”
A key lesson from 2008 was “heavily indebted banks lacked the equity capital to absorb large losses, leaving regulators [to let] banks fail or bail them out to protect depositors.”
This seems like an important story.
November 27, 2025 at 9:49 AM
There hasn't been a big financial crash in a while, let's scrap regulation. After the next big financial crash: why didn't we have effective regulation? And so the pendulum swings, because when regulation works, we regularly forget why we need it.
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
I think at this point if you're including Diane Abbott - a woman who has never held government office, has been a backbencher since 2020, and is scarcely a government ally - on your list of political wrongdoers, we all know exactly what your real concerns are
November 26, 2025 at 12:28 PM
I think at this point if you're including Diane Abbott - a woman who has never held government office, has been a backbencher since 2020, and is scarcely a government ally - on your list of political wrongdoers, we all know exactly what your real concerns are
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
Sir.
if you can tell me how to easily disable AI on every device I have, I'd love to hear how
The fact that it's in almost everything *and* also a nightmare to disable is not coincidence.
and I'm tired of being gaslighted about that fact
if you can tell me how to easily disable AI on every device I have, I'd love to hear how
The fact that it's in almost everything *and* also a nightmare to disable is not coincidence.
and I'm tired of being gaslighted about that fact
November 26, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Sir.
if you can tell me how to easily disable AI on every device I have, I'd love to hear how
The fact that it's in almost everything *and* also a nightmare to disable is not coincidence.
and I'm tired of being gaslighted about that fact
if you can tell me how to easily disable AI on every device I have, I'd love to hear how
The fact that it's in almost everything *and* also a nightmare to disable is not coincidence.
and I'm tired of being gaslighted about that fact
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
"We need to have a debate about neutrality"
We're constantly having this debate and you keep losing it
We're constantly having this debate and you keep losing it
November 26, 2025 at 10:13 AM
"We need to have a debate about neutrality"
We're constantly having this debate and you keep losing it
We're constantly having this debate and you keep losing it
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
this is what ten years of obsession with "wokeness" in the media was trying to get to btw bsky.app/profile/mari...
November 25, 2025 at 4:04 PM
this is what ten years of obsession with "wokeness" in the media was trying to get to btw bsky.app/profile/mari...
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
I really don’t think we can overstate the harm that the tech ethos of move fast and break things (followed by the unsaid “and then just move on”) has done beyond tech. Government, ngos, universities, public schools that have invited the folks who think like this in keep ending up gutted
All DOGE accomplished was purging critical government staff, handing private data to outsiders, and sentencing thousands in developing countries to death by gutting USAID.
I don’t say this lightly: if there were any justice in this world, the people responsible for this devastation would be in jail
I don’t say this lightly: if there were any justice in this world, the people responsible for this devastation would be in jail
DOGE 'doesn't exist' with eight months left on its charter
U.S. President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency has disbanded with eight months left to its mandate.
www.cnbc.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:48 PM
I really don’t think we can overstate the harm that the tech ethos of move fast and break things (followed by the unsaid “and then just move on”) has done beyond tech. Government, ngos, universities, public schools that have invited the folks who think like this in keep ending up gutted
Last year this non-existent phenomenon was described as landlords "fleeing the market". Credit where credit's due, someone went to the trouble of flipping through a thesaurus to land on stampeding for the latest version rather than sticking with the tried and tested.
Headline “Stringent new tenancy rules spark ‘stampede’ of landlords from market as fears for renters grow”
Fact “landlords with registered private tenancies increased by 0.24% annually to 104,072 in Q2 2025”-RTB
..landlords sell to other landlords or homeowners www.independent.ie/irish-news/s...
Fact “landlords with registered private tenancies increased by 0.24% annually to 104,072 in Q2 2025”-RTB
..landlords sell to other landlords or homeowners www.independent.ie/irish-news/s...
Stringent new tenancy rules spark ‘stampede’ of landlords from market as fears for renters grow
THE number of landlords leaving the market is accelerating ahead of new tenancy rules, estate agents across the country have told the Sunday Independent.
www.independent.ie
November 25, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Last year this non-existent phenomenon was described as landlords "fleeing the market". Credit where credit's due, someone went to the trouble of flipping through a thesaurus to land on stampeding for the latest version rather than sticking with the tried and tested.
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
I kind of feel like this should be written on a bus.
The UK is losing up to £250m a day in lost tax revenue due to the economic impact of Brexit, House of Commons Library analysis for the Lib Dems suggests.
Brexit has blown a "black hole of [up to] £90 billion a year in the public finances" the party says. Even under lower estimates the hit is ~£65bn
Brexit has blown a "black hole of [up to] £90 billion a year in the public finances" the party says. Even under lower estimates the hit is ~£65bn
November 25, 2025 at 10:58 AM
I kind of feel like this should be written on a bus.
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
Beyond disgusting, and the Indo itself has helped to create the environment where this kid of behaviour is now deemed acceptable. That poor girl - my heart breaks for her. I hope with all my heart that she is well supported and that she stays playing sport.
Genuinely mental story. The obvious intersection of trans panic and deranged sports parents: adults gleefully bullying the shit out of a kid
Looking for answers to ‘case closed’ following troubling events at a girls’ football match in Cavan
On a Friday in August, a WhatsApp message describing troubling events at a girls’ football match began to spread in Cavan GAA circles. It read:
m.independent.ie
November 24, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Beyond disgusting, and the Indo itself has helped to create the environment where this kid of behaviour is now deemed acceptable. That poor girl - my heart breaks for her. I hope with all my heart that she is well supported and that she stays playing sport.
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
UK now at the point where the former Chair of the Racial Equalities Commission is calling for campaigns of terror against people of colour on the streets of the UK
Trevor Philips in the Times, calling for a Trump/Miller-style of random deportations based on skin colour.
archive.ph/RlXPj
archive.ph/RlXPj
November 24, 2025 at 11:05 PM
UK now at the point where the former Chair of the Racial Equalities Commission is calling for campaigns of terror against people of colour on the streets of the UK
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
Platforms like X don’t have a list of algorithms, some of which are ’toxic’ and some of which are ‘nice’. It’s all one system. The profiling and targeting are built in to that system. The overall model is what produces the effect, not some specific toxic algorithms that can be turned off.
"The guidance is not enforceable".
Ofcom is hopelessly out of touch with what is a national emergency.
www.thetimes.com/article/c47a...
Ofcom is hopelessly out of touch with what is a national emergency.
www.thetimes.com/article/c47a...
Ofcom bans social media giants from using ‘toxic’ algorithms
Regulator targets ‘manosphere’ misogyny and hate as seen in content produced by Andrew Tate
www.thetimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Platforms like X don’t have a list of algorithms, some of which are ’toxic’ and some of which are ‘nice’. It’s all one system. The profiling and targeting are built in to that system. The overall model is what produces the effect, not some specific toxic algorithms that can be turned off.
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
In one of her first public actions as the newly elected Uachtarán na hÉireann (president of Ireland) Catherine Connolly has written a public letter of solidarity on Trans Remembrance Day. It is a very promising start.
November 24, 2025 at 8:14 PM
In one of her first public actions as the newly elected Uachtarán na hÉireann (president of Ireland) Catherine Connolly has written a public letter of solidarity on Trans Remembrance Day. It is a very promising start.
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
The Limerick Leader is owned by Malcolm Denmark whose family owns New Cavendish Properties Ltd
Landlords 'stampede' out of rental market ahead of new changes coming next year
Landlords 'stampede' out of rental market ahead of new changes coming next year
The new rules and regulations will not affect tenants that have been in place before March 1 and after that date, they will see a six-year tenancy agreement put in place
Renters could be facing an even more uncertain market in the months ahead of new tenancy rules that are coming into effect
---
www.limerickleader.ie
November 24, 2025 at 11:01 AM
The Limerick Leader is owned by Malcolm Denmark whose family owns New Cavendish Properties Ltd
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
Eventually, long after it is needed and that need is clear to everyone, Ireland will switch to competing with other EU countries to attract migrants to choose it as a destination.
By then, whole generations of then-forgotten politicians will have made careers of poisoning the well of our reputation
By then, whole generations of then-forgotten politicians will have made careers of poisoning the well of our reputation
November 24, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Eventually, long after it is needed and that need is clear to everyone, Ireland will switch to competing with other EU countries to attract migrants to choose it as a destination.
By then, whole generations of then-forgotten politicians will have made careers of poisoning the well of our reputation
By then, whole generations of then-forgotten politicians will have made careers of poisoning the well of our reputation
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
It's also vastly easier and cheaper for media outlets to produce culture war content than policy stuff.
With policy, you have to find actual experts that are available and willing, then pray they're good entertaining communicators.
On culture shit, you start with a talking head and work backwards.
With policy, you have to find actual experts that are available and willing, then pray they're good entertaining communicators.
On culture shit, you start with a talking head and work backwards.
This chart (which applies even more to social media than it did to TV) lives in my head rent free.
Social media enveloping traditional media means everything and everyone is now competing in the entertainment market. Boring stuff like policy that affects millions of lives doesn’t stand a chance.
Social media enveloping traditional media means everything and everyone is now competing in the entertainment market. Boring stuff like policy that affects millions of lives doesn’t stand a chance.
November 23, 2025 at 8:37 PM
It's also vastly easier and cheaper for media outlets to produce culture war content than policy stuff.
With policy, you have to find actual experts that are available and willing, then pray they're good entertaining communicators.
On culture shit, you start with a talking head and work backwards.
With policy, you have to find actual experts that are available and willing, then pray they're good entertaining communicators.
On culture shit, you start with a talking head and work backwards.
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
the Irish political and media class need to seriously reflect on how Progress Ireland could have such a crude and insulting assessment of how easy it is to just flash some cash and get your agenda on the agenda in Irish politics, and how objectively correct that assessment was
John Collison was talking utter garbage and it says so much that so many politicians fell over themselves to fellate him for writing a pack of lies
November 22, 2025 at 3:24 PM
the Irish political and media class need to seriously reflect on how Progress Ireland could have such a crude and insulting assessment of how easy it is to just flash some cash and get your agenda on the agenda in Irish politics, and how objectively correct that assessment was
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
This, in a nutshell, is where we’re at. All the lies, the distraction, NGO-blaming and drive towards even further deregulation is to cover the naked fact that, in Ireland, big polluters pull the strings and our politicians just nod along.
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
A ‘national embarrassment’: Ireland in breach of multiple water quality rules, court finds
European Court of Justice ruling raises questions about Government’s system of water charges
www.irishtimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:22 AM
This, in a nutshell, is where we’re at. All the lies, the distraction, NGO-blaming and drive towards even further deregulation is to cover the naked fact that, in Ireland, big polluters pull the strings and our politicians just nod along.
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
The Irish Times published and lauded John Collison's op-ed, but did they fact-check it?
Andrew Jackson did. Thoroughly.
If you spent time reading the original, you'd want to give time to this counterpoint as well.
Andrew Jackson did. Thoroughly.
If you spent time reading the original, you'd want to give time to this counterpoint as well.
I’ve written something on John Collison’s Op-Ed and environmental democracy
Next time you’re out in Dublin, check if you’re being “socially de-risked” by a friendly face from his think-tank
elajucd.com/2025/11/21/o...
Next time you’re out in Dublin, check if you’re being “socially de-risked” by a friendly face from his think-tank
elajucd.com/2025/11/21/o...
On Environmental Democracy and the Collisons’ “Abundance-Verse”
Andrew Jackson 21 November 2025 I. Introduction A clamour of praise greeted John Collison’s “how to get Ireland moving” Op-Ed following its publication in the Irish Times on 25th October: the Irish…
elajucd.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:28 AM
The Irish Times published and lauded John Collison's op-ed, but did they fact-check it?
Andrew Jackson did. Thoroughly.
If you spent time reading the original, you'd want to give time to this counterpoint as well.
Andrew Jackson did. Thoroughly.
If you spent time reading the original, you'd want to give time to this counterpoint as well.
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
So, below is EU President von der Leyen saying that the EU is "not fighting fossil fuels, only emissions."
And here is the Saudi envoy to COP30 saying exactly the same thing.
I'm telling you: climate politics are unified around the lie that we can keep fossil fuels & still deal w climate anyway.
And here is the Saudi envoy to COP30 saying exactly the same thing.
I'm telling you: climate politics are unified around the lie that we can keep fossil fuels & still deal w climate anyway.
November 21, 2025 at 10:19 PM
So, below is EU President von der Leyen saying that the EU is "not fighting fossil fuels, only emissions."
And here is the Saudi envoy to COP30 saying exactly the same thing.
I'm telling you: climate politics are unified around the lie that we can keep fossil fuels & still deal w climate anyway.
And here is the Saudi envoy to COP30 saying exactly the same thing.
I'm telling you: climate politics are unified around the lie that we can keep fossil fuels & still deal w climate anyway.
Senior state officials characterising ordinary people participating in the planning and justice systems as criminals doesn't seem like a good thing.
“Eoin Dorgan, asst sec at Dept of Public Expenditure Dorgan said Ireland needs to apply Tony Blair’s motto “tough on crime, tough on causes of crime” to the ongoing issue around legal objections”
..citizens ensuring that decisions are lawful are not criminals
www.businesspost.ie/politics/sen...
..citizens ensuring that decisions are lawful are not criminals
www.businesspost.ie/politics/sen...
Senior official says public given too many opportunities to object to infrastructure plans
www.businesspost.ie
November 21, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Senior state officials characterising ordinary people participating in the planning and justice systems as criminals doesn't seem like a good thing.
Reposted by Harmonious Bosch
The EU Court has found that we have failed to even bring in the laws we’d need to comply with our obligations to combat water pollution.
November 20, 2025 at 10:13 AM
The EU Court has found that we have failed to even bring in the laws we’d need to comply with our obligations to combat water pollution.