Jon Horne
@thejollyboatman.bsky.social
Any of: Boats; Planes; Politics; Climate; Science; the combination, instability, or fixing of all of the above.
Reposted by Jon Horne
Wow, what a story
The US granted visas to Jews but only allowed 30,000 in from Germany a year. You had to wait for your number to come up.
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
January 21, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Wow, what a story
Reposted by Jon Horne
I drop wikipedia a tenner once a year.
It really is the last bastion of the old internet. The pre-evil internet.
It really is the last bastion of the old internet. The pre-evil internet.
wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage
January 15, 2026 at 4:05 PM
I drop wikipedia a tenner once a year.
It really is the last bastion of the old internet. The pre-evil internet.
It really is the last bastion of the old internet. The pre-evil internet.
Reposted by Jon Horne
Something lovely for the weekend!
Beautiful blue glass beads from the late Bronze Age 💙
Ploughed up by a farmer in Denmark in 1885, analysis shows the beads were made in Mesopotamia, pointing to long-distance trade in luxury goods some 3,000 years ago.
📷 National Museum of Denmark
#Archaeology
Beautiful blue glass beads from the late Bronze Age 💙
Ploughed up by a farmer in Denmark in 1885, analysis shows the beads were made in Mesopotamia, pointing to long-distance trade in luxury goods some 3,000 years ago.
📷 National Museum of Denmark
#Archaeology
December 27, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Something lovely for the weekend!
Beautiful blue glass beads from the late Bronze Age 💙
Ploughed up by a farmer in Denmark in 1885, analysis shows the beads were made in Mesopotamia, pointing to long-distance trade in luxury goods some 3,000 years ago.
📷 National Museum of Denmark
#Archaeology
Beautiful blue glass beads from the late Bronze Age 💙
Ploughed up by a farmer in Denmark in 1885, analysis shows the beads were made in Mesopotamia, pointing to long-distance trade in luxury goods some 3,000 years ago.
📷 National Museum of Denmark
#Archaeology
Reposted by Jon Horne
Rightly lots of debates about growth this weekend - rightly because it was low productivity growth that saw wages entirely flatline during the 2010s.
November 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Rightly lots of debates about growth this weekend - rightly because it was low productivity growth that saw wages entirely flatline during the 2010s.
Reposted by Jon Horne
That is a lot of tweets. If you got this far you deserve a prize. Reasonable people will debate this growth strategy. But claiming there isn’t one is lazy nonsense. Higher growth matters because rising living standards are the goal, and higher investment is a key tool.
November 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM
That is a lot of tweets. If you got this far you deserve a prize. Reasonable people will debate this growth strategy. But claiming there isn’t one is lazy nonsense. Higher growth matters because rising living standards are the goal, and higher investment is a key tool.
Reposted by Jon Horne
Possible causes of your problems. It’s a diagram that (sadly) still seems relevant in 2025, so reposting a year and a bit on.
August 25, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Possible causes of your problems. It’s a diagram that (sadly) still seems relevant in 2025, so reposting a year and a bit on.
Reposted by Jon Horne
The horrifying reality of Israeli-back food distribution points. Devastating reporting by Malak A Tantesh and Emma Graham-Harrison
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
‘These are traps set for the people’: the story of a mother shot dead searching for food in Gaza
A family is reeling from the killing of a woman who walked for hours to an Israeli-backed distribution point with her son and daughter
www.theguardian.com
June 7, 2025 at 8:53 AM
The horrifying reality of Israeli-back food distribution points. Devastating reporting by Malak A Tantesh and Emma Graham-Harrison
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
Reposted by Jon Horne
The moment Boris Johnson is told the name of the idiot who actually agreed the Brexit deal.
May 19, 2025 at 7:06 PM
The moment Boris Johnson is told the name of the idiot who actually agreed the Brexit deal.
Proving that you can’t, in fact, lick a badger twice, after all…
May 7, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Proving that you can’t, in fact, lick a badger twice, after all…
Reposted by Jon Horne
I dunno, man, the "you guys are being too mean to the plagiarism machines that stole all your work and were created to try to replace you so rich people don't pay you a tiny fraction of their wealth for it" posters popping up are pretty funny
April 27, 2025 at 3:59 AM
I dunno, man, the "you guys are being too mean to the plagiarism machines that stole all your work and were created to try to replace you so rich people don't pay you a tiny fraction of their wealth for it" posters popping up are pretty funny
Halfway through and loving it. Where are they hiding away the characters like these nowadays??
The Illusionist is now out in paperback! It's the "enthralling", "superbly entertaining", "delightful", and "satisfying" true story of an eccentric genius who made magic into a weapon of war.
April 26, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Halfway through and loving it. Where are they hiding away the characters like these nowadays??
Reposted by Jon Horne
We Now Know How AI ‘Thinks’—and It’s Barely Thinking at All
Maybe you've heard that AIs are "black boxes"
But a growing body of research keeps arriving at the same conclusion: Today's AIs all work in surprisingly similar -- and simplistic -- ways
1/2
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/how-...
Maybe you've heard that AIs are "black boxes"
But a growing body of research keeps arriving at the same conclusion: Today's AIs all work in surprisingly similar -- and simplistic -- ways
1/2
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/how-...
We Now Know How AI ‘Thinks’—and It’s Barely Thinking at All
The vast ‘brains’ of artificial intelligence models can memorize endless lists of rules. That’s useful, but not how humans solve problems.
www.wsj.com
April 26, 2025 at 3:19 PM
We Now Know How AI ‘Thinks’—and It’s Barely Thinking at All
Maybe you've heard that AIs are "black boxes"
But a growing body of research keeps arriving at the same conclusion: Today's AIs all work in surprisingly similar -- and simplistic -- ways
1/2
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/how-...
Maybe you've heard that AIs are "black boxes"
But a growing body of research keeps arriving at the same conclusion: Today's AIs all work in surprisingly similar -- and simplistic -- ways
1/2
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/how-...
Reposted by Jon Horne
The kids use free chatgpt to write the work and then the staff use free studiosity to mark the work absolutely no one gets anything out of it including the companies. I think I'm having an existential breakdown
April 13, 2025 at 9:19 AM
The kids use free chatgpt to write the work and then the staff use free studiosity to mark the work absolutely no one gets anything out of it including the companies. I think I'm having an existential breakdown
Reposted by Jon Horne
Anybody complacent enough to think that the shitshow in the US could not happen here should take a glance at how quickly elements of the media have rushed to excuse proven lawbreaking by a far-right populist and undermine due process.
April 1, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Anybody complacent enough to think that the shitshow in the US could not happen here should take a glance at how quickly elements of the media have rushed to excuse proven lawbreaking by a far-right populist and undermine due process.
Reposted by Jon Horne
Am not currently persuaded that fairly enforcing the law against corrupt politicians heralds the end of democracy, but am impressed by the reaching on display. Solid effort, 9/10 all round.
April 1, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Am not currently persuaded that fairly enforcing the law against corrupt politicians heralds the end of democracy, but am impressed by the reaching on display. Solid effort, 9/10 all round.
Reposted by Jon Horne
Ukraine already produces 55% of its own military equipment, and that's while fighting an invasion.
It's racing towards producing ballistic missiles. It makes 200k+ drones monthly & has the West's most experienced army.
Give Ukraine a few years to fully arm & it will be Europe's security guarantee.
It's racing towards producing ballistic missiles. It makes 200k+ drones monthly & has the West's most experienced army.
Give Ukraine a few years to fully arm & it will be Europe's security guarantee.
March 6, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Ukraine already produces 55% of its own military equipment, and that's while fighting an invasion.
It's racing towards producing ballistic missiles. It makes 200k+ drones monthly & has the West's most experienced army.
Give Ukraine a few years to fully arm & it will be Europe's security guarantee.
It's racing towards producing ballistic missiles. It makes 200k+ drones monthly & has the West's most experienced army.
Give Ukraine a few years to fully arm & it will be Europe's security guarantee.
Reposted by Jon Horne
Decent people thank Ukraine.
February 28, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Decent people thank Ukraine.
Reposted by Jon Horne
So @jennybeatty.bsky.social did some great work pulling together data from multiple sources to answer the question "Does diversity in pilot ranks negatively impact safety". While any partly sane person already knew the answer, her work proves the answer is no.
www.jennybeatty.com/airline-safe...
www.jennybeatty.com/airline-safe...
February 24, 2025 at 7:23 PM
So @jennybeatty.bsky.social did some great work pulling together data from multiple sources to answer the question "Does diversity in pilot ranks negatively impact safety". While any partly sane person already knew the answer, her work proves the answer is no.
www.jennybeatty.com/airline-safe...
www.jennybeatty.com/airline-safe...
Reposted by Jon Horne
My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com
February 10, 2025 at 12:27 PM
My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com
Reposted by Jon Horne
Anyone who happened to know that the White House would announce and then suspend tariffs within 24 hours just made a boatload of money.
February 3, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Anyone who happened to know that the White House would announce and then suspend tariffs within 24 hours just made a boatload of money.
Reposted by Jon Horne
January 23, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Oo, I know this one. The mystery of stagnant productivity and low/slow growth?
Answer is: advent of smartphones!
All that screen time on your phone used to be time you did other stuff. At work, you did work & collaboration. In not-work you did activities & used things that drove economy. Ta-da…!
Answer is: advent of smartphones!
All that screen time on your phone used to be time you did other stuff. At work, you did work & collaboration. In not-work you did activities & used things that drove economy. Ta-da…!
Just wondering if there could be a link between slow growth in UK, France, and Germany? I suppose it could Rachel Reeves tax plans affecting all three, or could it be something like an interlinked global economy in which geography is particularly important...
November 23, 2024 at 10:50 AM
Oo, I know this one. The mystery of stagnant productivity and low/slow growth?
Answer is: advent of smartphones!
All that screen time on your phone used to be time you did other stuff. At work, you did work & collaboration. In not-work you did activities & used things that drove economy. Ta-da…!
Answer is: advent of smartphones!
All that screen time on your phone used to be time you did other stuff. At work, you did work & collaboration. In not-work you did activities & used things that drove economy. Ta-da…!
A tech billionaire, a voting guy, & a migrant lady are sat round a table, with a pile of 12 cookies in the middle.
The billionaire reaches into the middle, scoops up 11 cookies & slides them over into his bag.
He turns to the voter, points at the table & says ‘watch out, she’s after your cookie’.
The billionaire reaches into the middle, scoops up 11 cookies & slides them over into his bag.
He turns to the voter, points at the table & says ‘watch out, she’s after your cookie’.
I think one thing that is hard to address about the rightwing manosphere stuff is that it tells young men that their difficulties are actually all someone else's fault. It's seductive because it means a) you don't have to change or grow and b) you're actually "owed" more than you get in life.
November 8, 2024 at 10:46 PM
A tech billionaire, a voting guy, & a migrant lady are sat round a table, with a pile of 12 cookies in the middle.
The billionaire reaches into the middle, scoops up 11 cookies & slides them over into his bag.
He turns to the voter, points at the table & says ‘watch out, she’s after your cookie’.
The billionaire reaches into the middle, scoops up 11 cookies & slides them over into his bag.
He turns to the voter, points at the table & says ‘watch out, she’s after your cookie’.
Well I reckon Bluesky has definitely reached ‘escape velocity’ as a public square and orbit is now pretty much guaranteed. At least for all the stuff that’s worth discussing. So, cheers! 🍻
October 22, 2024 at 9:41 PM
Well I reckon Bluesky has definitely reached ‘escape velocity’ as a public square and orbit is now pretty much guaranteed. At least for all the stuff that’s worth discussing. So, cheers! 🍻
Reposted by Jon Horne
Absolutely fucking bonkers that a former FBI director publicly declares he believers a major party presidential candidate is an asset of a hostile foreign power and it won't even register as a blip. No media. No movement in the polls. No outrage. Nothing.
Donald Trump a de facto Russian asset, FBI official he fired suggests
Donald Trump a de facto Russian asset, FBI official he fired suggests
Andrew McCabe says Trump-Putin interactions ‘raise questions’, as Harris says Putin would eat Trump ‘for lunch’
www.theguardian.com
September 12, 2024 at 4:40 AM
Absolutely fucking bonkers that a former FBI director publicly declares he believers a major party presidential candidate is an asset of a hostile foreign power and it won't even register as a blip. No media. No movement in the polls. No outrage. Nothing.