Daniel Read
@danielread.bsky.social
Gentilhomme cambrioleur Professor of Behavioural Science, University of Warwick. Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uhMoc_8AAAAJ&hl=en Strategic Information Network: https://sites.google.com/view/strategicinf
What an excellent business model: "The gang recruits teenagers to carry out the attacks for cash, but it almost never has to pay out as they often get caught." www.bbc.com/news/article...
Foxtrot Network: The shadowy gang recruiting teen killers across Europe
The Foxtrot Network is thought to be responsible for about 35 murders in Europe, and uses violence-as-a-service tactics.
bbc.com
If we want novels to be written by humans in a human-like way we will have to make writing a spectator sport, like chess. I think some novelists will soon sell themselves on guaranteed authenticity, demonstrated by having written the book in a public place or a log cabin without internet access.
Dr Kat Day (she/her) 🌖@chronicleflask.katday.com · 4d agoThis is a peculiar story. The publisher says: “The book was stunningly good, everyone fell in love with it.” And, they “did not run the manuscript through any AI-recognition software,” but after a meeting, "aspects of [the author’s] story changed.” The author… (1/2)
✅ Touring Clacton ✅ Visiting local businesses ✅ Listening to constituents’ concerns ✅ Hi-vis vest Make your Vote Count! #VoteBinface #Clacton
It's a point I've been trying to make for a long time: there is no good way to meet even 10% of current demand for animal products. They trash the living world, whichever way you do it. If you want to reduce your impact, switch to a plant-based diet. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Organic eggs have worse impact on climate than eggs from caged chickens
Adopting organic free-range model in UK could lead to greenhouse emissions equivalent to 2,316,000 tonnes of CO2, study suggests
theguardian.com
The coin flip. If we were to use that to explain wealth inequality we would not go far wrong.
What song the Syrens sang, or what name Achilles assumed when he hid himself among women, though puzzling questions, are not beyond all conjecture.
If you need a classroom example of the finding that bronze recipients are happier than silver ones, look no further than this. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
Highlights - France v England World Cup 2026 - 18 of July
Bukayo Saka scores a hat-trick as England beat France 6-4 in a thriller to record their best men's World Cup finish since 1966.
bbc.co.uk
All these people complaining about this but I don't see the problem. Reciprocity. That is what the make the world work.
World Cup 2026: Balogun available for USA v Belgium after Spain play Portugal
Folarin Balogun to play for USA against Belgium as Lamine Yamal's Spain play Cristiano Ronaldo & Portugal at the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
bbc.co.uk
BBC lead story is another one about asylum seekers. This story does not appear.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · last mo.Starmer’s goodbye gift to Britain: a US pharma deal that could be more lethal than Covid | Aditya Chakrabortty
Starmer’s goodbye gift to Britain: a US pharma deal that could be more lethal than Covid | Aditya Chakrabortty
Starmer’s goodbye gift to Britain: a US pharma deal that could be more lethal than Covid | Aditya Chakrabortty
The deal on medicine imports will cost the NHS billions and take funding away from doctors, nurses, cancer scans and the rest, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty
theguardian.com
Few people understand the scope of the powers UK governments have granted themselves, to criminalise us as terrorists for expressing an opinion. Fewer still understand how illiberal the Court of Appeal judgement is. But @davidallengreen.bsky.social does.🧵 www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
What the Palestine Action appeal decision tells us about terrorism law
An already broad law is now matched with broad ministerial powers
prospectmagazine.co.uk
We can only hope this terrible decision will be reversed.
You may not sympathise with the Elbit four’s methods. But you should be outraged by their treatment under the law | Geoffrey Robertson
The jurors who found the pro-Palestine activists guilty of criminal damage had no idea their verdict would be treated as a verdict on terrorism, says Geoffrey Robertson KC
theguardian.com
Both the government and the Court of Appeal now treat protesters as terrorists and terrorists as protesters. It's hard to accept that a "Labour" government is imposing rightwing authoritarianism on the UK, but please read this column to see what's happening.+🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Belfast riots, Palestine Action protests. What is terrorism now – and why the hypocrisy? | George Monbiot
The right is obsessed with ‘two-tier policing’. This is indeed a two-tier government – but the real victims are progressives, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
theguardian.com
It is a great privilege to have come second in the ballot for Private Member’s Bills. After giving the matter a great deal of thought, I will be reintroducing the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. You can read my full statement on this here or on my website: buff.ly/I78DfUX
"I believe it undermines public trust in our democracy more widely if we cannot deliver on a measure that is supported by a very large majority of voters in all parts of the country.” www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Assisted dying bill set to return to the Commons
Labour MP Lauren Edwards to use private members bill to put issue before MPs again
theguardian.com
I expect governments realise that acting against Musk is now like declaring war on a small but powerful country. He is simply too big to treat like a regular citizen. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Elon Musk’s X not facing action from UK government over posts inciting violence in Belfast
Any official reprimand will come from regulator Ofcom, but not for at least two months
theguardian.com
Pope Leo at Sagrada Familia: “We cannot believe in Jesus and make war. We cannot believe in Jesus and kill the innocent. We cannot believe in Jesus and abandon those who suffer, those who weep, those who flee from misery.”
I think every politician who proposes to ban anything on the internet for teens should be required to propose, as an alternate, a free and accessible and all weather space for teens to hang out in their own hometown
The list of purchases Peter Murrell made with the embezzled money is quite ludicrous and quite sad. I am sure there will be a comic film made about it pretty soon.
How Peter Murrell covered up his embezzlement of SNP funds
For the first time we hear how Peter Murrell, the estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon, used SNP funds to illicitly purchase more than 1,000 items
bbc.co.uk
Decades ago, I supported mandatory helmet laws for people riding bikes. Then I was convinced by evidence and the bigger picture that such laws are actually counter-productive in many ways. This NZ article explains some. I support helmets, but not mandatory helmet laws. Build safe infrastructure.
David Seymour was right to question our compulsory helmet laws
There’s little evidence our mandatory cycle laws improve overall safety, and quite a bit of evidence suggesting they’re doing more harm than good.
thespinoff.co.nz
These kinds of errors are like human biases, revealing something about how LLMs "represent" the world. Evidently not as we do.
Rafe Meager (they/them)@economeager.bsky.social · 2mo agoi always check these when i see them, this one is reall!
“I do not have endless time to wait for politics to catch up. For people like me, this is about whether we get any say over how our lives end and how much suffering we are expected to endure." Hannah Slater, who has terminal breast cancer, is urging MPs to bring back the assisted dying bill.
System 1 and System 2: "He also told the jury that “part of him” had wanted to kill Watkins, while another part had not. “Sometimes what your heart wants is not what your brain wants,” he said."
Jury discharged at trial of men accused of murdering child abuser Ian Watkins
Judge says it is ‘disappointing’ there will have to be retrial of prisoners accused over Lostprophets singer’s death
theguardian.com
We hate to ask, but our animal sanctuary is struggling under the weight of huge vet bills & hay deliveries If you feel able to help us in anyway, we’d be so grateful Rising costs mean things are really tough We’d be so thankful for any help: gofund.me/f75e616d7 #animalsanctuary #rescueanimals
If you ever needed evidence that people are not Bayesians, you need only observe that people were confused by this. Cheap talk does not confuse rational minds.
NPR@npr.org · 3mo agoPresident Trump's announcement stirred confusion in Europe following weeks of changing statements from his administration about reducing the American military footprint in Europe. n.pr/43mB6AC
