N.B The government minister who negotiated the deal on behalf of Hungary is now under investigation over alleged misuse of public funds during his time leading the department, adding further significance to questions about the nature of the partnership and the lack of scrutiny it has received.

Byline Times@bylinetimes.bsky.social · 3d ago

🔴 NEW Times Higher Education, Sponsored by Orbán’s Hungary, Failed to Report James Orr Allegations By Samantha Asumadu Read below. ↓

I don't even want this malignant sociopath talking about nuclear strikes on cities, much less having the authority and capacity to personally order them. Which, um, he has.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4d ago

asked about gas prices, Trump says "if you want to see turmoil and a travesty, let them take out a city with a nuclear weapon ... let them hit us with a nuclear weapon"

Tech companies suddenly decide they can, in fact, moderate content on their platforms after all

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 7d ago

Class solidarity.

a point I would really emphasize is that China thinks AI safety is a matter of 'we will fuck you, personally, if you build tools that fuck us*' and the US blathers on about alignment and tries to shunt accountability *us meaning firstly the interests of the CCP first and foremost

‘This is playing into his hands’/‘this will allow him to play the martyr card’/‘this will help with his fundraising’ are all really bad takes. Criminals should be arrested and charged with crimes.

As a general observation, I've never _once_ seen writing with a bracketed sigh that was actually worth reading. It's a surefire sign that the author is performing world-weariness for an actual or imagined audience of folks that completely agree with them rather than engaging.

ddɐ˙ʎʞsʞɔɐlq˙uǝʌs@@sven.blacksky.app · 2w ago

It's sad to see this framing repeated endlessly. Most critics of AI don't deny the 'lived experience' (sigh) of AI users & especially boosters; they denounce the fanaticism, the disregard for hazards, and the perceived lack of a moral compass. This looks to me like guilty feeling rationalization.

We had a fascinating guest post on the Houthis and Hormuz - and how the growing number of maritime chokepoints could cause a major economic crisis. samf.substack.com/p/houthis-ho...

Houthis, Hormuz and the “chokepoint” threat to the global economy

Today and Thursday we have two posts addressing big risks facing the global economy.

samf.substack.com

I do think anyone who wants us to take Elizer Yudkowsky seriously as an authority on AI armageddon should be forced to testify on video that they have read the entirety of his 660,000 word rationalist Harry Potter fan fiction – written aged 30–34 – and still thinks the world needs his take.

A song of the litter tray I've looked at cats from both sides now From up and down and still somehow It's cats' effluvia I recall I really don't know cats at all

It is incredibly important that political violence does not succeed. The far-right mob that shut down Portsmouth wanted this outcome. If the state wishes to avoid more of these actions, it needs to make sure this RNLI branch reopens *immediately*, or as close to that as humanly possible.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2w ago

Lifeboat station in Portsmouth forced to temporarily shut after far-right action

Learning from the financial crisis and the associated crisis of public legitimacy, I do think that in the name of alignment and longtermism, every frontier lab should be nominating three or four members of its steering team to get a really hard kick in the balls, on live TV as part of the debate.

"Report a problem with Laze Simica" says Google Street View. The problem is that some bastard has demolished my childhood home and built a nasty new house there.

Should have guessed that the thing that would eventually kill off the right's interest in grammar schools would be non-white kids doing too well in the 11+.

Anand Menon@anandmenon.bsky.social · 3w ago

That’s selection for ya 😉

The Onion has created a machine that will kill everyone on Earth that is coincidentally running out of money and the only way to slow it down is if my staff and I take a six-week vacation to Cabo San Lucas.

Politicians on the centre-left and centre-right simply don't seem to understand they are in an existential battle for the future of British democracy.

I can now reveal that crypto billionaire Ben Delo—pardoned by Trump after a conviction for anti-money-laundering violations—privately funded the failed libel action brought against me by neo-Nazi conspiracy theorists Nina Power and Daniel Miller to the tune of at least £300,000.

Businesse ydea: Airlyne that doth permit your catte to travel yn carrye-on for free (as long as the catte ys safe and comfortabil)

“Dennis Wheatley? [sucks on cigarette and stares off into the distance] yeah, I knew him. We were all in the same scene at the time. Are you still filming?”

so much for the so-called tolerant left

If you're in government watching criminal-led blackshirt thugs in balaclavas wage war on the RNLI and you're hedging your bets because you're not sure who the majority of the country will side with, why do you even want to be in government? Why would you WANT to lead people you think so little of?

You think you've seen the most extreme level of Nimbyism possible? Think again.

Tom Wilson@feedthedrummer.bsky.social · 3w ago

Facebook continues to be a menace.

And also, of course, and in so many areas of life "people are genuinely scared because it is the job of an Oxbridge graduate living in zone 4 with ambitions to own in zone 2 to scare them"

Also, why is this basically written up as "quirky crowd make an embarrassing mistake" and not "violent racists form mob because Asian people use hotel"?

Will Jennings📉🗳️@drjennings.bsky.social · 3w ago

Surprising this story isn't getting more coverage...

No company (and even more so, no public sector organisation) should ever get into a position like this with any vendor, come on, this is basic

Amy Borrett@amyborrett.ft.com · 4w ago

Britain’s state-owned electricity system operator has awarded Palantir a £21mn contract without inviting rival bids, arguing critical processes are too reliant on its tech to run a competitive procurement process Latest for @financialtimes.com: as.ft.com/r/7fe6c0b7-2...

Writers beware. And if anyone gets one of these about a philosopher, please share. "Dear Plato, I recently came across The Republic..."

The Arthur C. Clarke Award@clarkeaward.bsky.social · 4w ago

Some scams are easier to spot than others. That said, we get these semi-regularly and they are only getting more focused and custom-tailored, so be careful writers! And, no, we didn’t reply, but it was super-tempting.

From his lanyard, it’s clear that the Reform UK member who assaulted two female protestors at the party’s conference is Stephen Cooling of Sutton Coldfield. I assume @westmidlandspolice.bsky.social are on the case? He ought to be easy to find, as he stood for UKIP in the May 2016 local elections.

Lucky they were protesting against climate change!

Were there any clues that Farage was like this? We won't be commenting further while an internal inquiry looks into the matter.

No, William, this is the day when we're talking about *journalists* pretending to be *random posh kids*, not the other way round.

Tim Bale@timbale.bsky.social · 4w ago

This, from William Cash, son of Sir Bill Cash, has allowed me to start the working day with a huge smile on my face. Just glorious. Bravo!

"If there there was a window it was not broken, but it if was broken it was not by Nigel Farage's ball, but if it was his ball he certainly did not kick it, and if he did kick it, it was an accident and he knew nothing about it" said a Reform spokesperson.