Matthew Cole
@mattcole.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Technology, Work and Employment at the University of Sussex. Heterodox Marxist - Les dés sont pipés! mattcole.work
It's absolutely astonishing how irresponsible the current UK AI strategy is. Ministers have not carried out an environmental assessment and data centres don't even have to report water consumption, despite using using about 1.9bn litres a year. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Greens call for temporary ban on new data centres
Zack Polanski wants stricter rules to limit the use of water and energy by data centres for AI.
bbc.co.uk
Astonishing that there are still liberals out there willing to defend Zionism!
What should we do about AI? Destroy it. A ‘slowdown’ is not enough. This technology needs to be razed to the ground. tribunemag.co.uk/2026/09/dest...
Have seen this Nature piece about the effects of X's algorithm mentioned again and it bears repeating; exposure to a right wing algorithm makes you - measurably and predictably - more right wing, even after you stop using it. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The political effects of X’s feed algorithm - Nature
Among users initially on a chronological feed, 7 weeks of exposure to X’s algorithmic feed in 2023 shifted political attitudes and account-following behaviour in a more conservative direction compared...
nature.com
What else? The one glaring omission from the chancellor’s speech is demand. If households don’t have money to spend, then businesses cannot thrive. This is something the government can address...
Our view: The chancellor is right to say that the UK needs more investment across the country. But for too long we have relied on markets and foreign investors to take the lead, resulting in value being extracted from, rather than invested in, our economy... www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c6...
Healey pledges growth but acknowledges high government borrowing costs in first speech as chancellor
John Healey says the UK economy is "turning a corner" as he announces a £150m fund for fast-growing firms in the north of England.
bbc.co.uk
'The number of students taking A-level music is at a record low: under 5,000, a drop of nearly half from 15 years ago....Music GCSE entries have also fallen. It has the widest attainment gap for disadvantaged students of any subject.'
The Guardian view on music and drama education: reversing elitism starts at school | Editorial
Editorial: The number of students taking creative subjects at A-level and GCSE is at a record low. The arts must not become the preserve of the most privileged
theguardian.com
all solidarity to the lovely people at the Baffler union, who've offered me a platform time and again to write about the catastrophe that is the modern workplace
Baffler United@bafflerunited.bsky.social · last mo.Later this month, we’ll mark one year since we first sat down at the bargaining table with management. We’d like to share an update on how things are going (1/4):
It’s important to be clear that the truth value of a subject does not become debatable just because somebody wants to debate. Ether. Wandering wombs. Devils in red heads, the cursed left handed. Flat earth. Phrenology. Humors. Race science. “Debate me bro!” It’s fine for the answer to be: no.
Genuine Londoners know best currency in city, not money, but kindness. After both appearing in a #BBC news article on subject this morning www.bbc.co.uk/news/article.... Visited #LaLaBooks & got myself free copy of the book Unpaid by @mattcole.bsky.social. #LetsGuide #UniquelyLondon #ALondonersLife4
New study finds that the rapid growth of electric vehicles in China has prevented over 300,000 premature deaths. Conversely -- and this is just math -- everything done to prevent the rise of EVs in the US leads to more preventable deaths of Americans. It's not an academic debate.
Reduced urban air pollution and mortality from the transition to new energy vehicles in China - Nature Health
Using satellite data and interpretable machine learning, the widespread adoption of new energy vehicles was shown to reduce particulate matter particles with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less and carbon mo...
nature.com
Academics that publish in their own crank journals claims that vitamin C will cure cancer are dangerous to the public; but ‘race scientists’ are far worse, since their work is propaganda designed to provide the patina of justification for subjugating and harming *billions of non-white people*
universities are not run by leftist profs they are run by corporate profiteer board members siphoning public $$ to tech partnerships "An Inside Higher Ed analysis of SEC filings turned up dozens of presidents paid handsomely for sitting on corporate boards." www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...
For the latest BREAK–DOWN podcast, i interviewed Guillaume Long about Latin America's rightward shift and the long history of US imperialism in the region –– and what all this means for the climate movement there and globally
The BREAK—DOWN@the-breakdown.bsky.social · last mo.The 'Pink Tide' had a deep impact on the US foreign policy apparatus. On our latest episode of The BREAK–DOWN, we're joined by Guillaume Long, from the Center for Economic and Policy Research www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H5e...
BBC invited Palestinian writer, researcher and analyst Muhammad Shehada on to talk about Israel’s decision to investigate the killing of Hind Rajab. Below is Muhammad’s account of what happened next. Full disclosure: I know him years and he’s a regular on the pod. So naturally I believe him 100%.
After Ben-Gvir called to kill 40 Palestinians daily, pro-Israel groups & officials insist he doesn’t represent Israel. But he’s the head of Israeli national security. And he’s had the job since 2022 (minus two months). And, in fact, between October 2023 - 2025, Israel killed 92 Palestinians daily.
Pro-Israel Groups Want You to Believe That Israel’s National Security Minister… Doesn’t Represent Israel
Parts of the pro-Israel lobby are calling for the far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir to be ousted from government, after he called for the mass murder of Palestinians. So what will they do when he isn’t?
zeteo.com
#WolffBites: Californians vs extreme wealth on this November's ballot: a one-off 5% tax on personal wealth over $1 billion. One billionaire, Google's Sergey Brin, spent over $100 million get defeat the tax. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Guardian view on global inequality: extreme wealth threatens democracy | Editorial
Editorial: New York mayor Zohran Mamdani shows Britain’s Andy Burnham that confronting billionaires need not mean the end of cooperation with Donald Trump
theguardian.com
BREAKING: Jury refuses to convict in second Filton trial After more than 38 hours of deliberation, the jury refused to convict Madeleine Norman, Hannah Davidson, Teuta Hoxha, Ola Alexandra Herbich, Ian Sanders, William Plastow and Yulia Brigadirova of all charges against them.
We do not build the reservoirs needed to store the rain that falls here. We do not build strategic food reserves needed to maintain provision in hard times. We failed to build effective stores of PPE, to protect us in pandemics. This country has long been governed by people who do not prepare.
Meanwhile in the USA, lynchings are on the rise once more.
MeidasTouch@meidastouch.com · 2mo agoA young mother of four was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi. Now a local council member is calling for a federal investigation into Tasia Fortune’s death. Her case comes as questions still surround the death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells. Suri Crowe reports.
Bubble goes pop next year unless the the bail out happens or everyone magically decides (or is forced) to pay through the nose for a service they didn’t want that also doesn’t work properly.
"X is driving engagement by making users fight in the replies." #confirnationofwhatweallsuspected www.404media.co/xs-algorithm...
X's Algorithm Feeds Off Ragebait and Impacts Democrats More, Study Finds
X is driving engagement by making users fight in the replies.
404media.co
"Mamdani’s public grocery sector plan is among the most compelling innovations in a food supply that is increasingly consolidated, expensive, corrupt, and lately, downright dangerous." Available in EN, ES, FR and IT. buff.ly/DasPVk1
Zohran Mamdani’s Public Grocery Plan Is a Serious One
A grocery industry expert argues that as our food supply becomes increasingly consolidated, expensive, and even dangerous, socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s publicly subsidized grocery plan takes bold…
progressive.international
Who could have predicted this?
Tara Lai Quinlan@quinlantl.bsky.social · 2mo agoTexas Tech is using AI to ferret out books & other materials that touch on topics like sexual orientation & gender identity. Professors describe the effort as a dystopian academic nightmare where ideologues are wielding technology to sideline subject-matter experts. | www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/u...
What the actual fuck is the government doing
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2mo agoWater companies in England and Wales explore ‘surge pricing’ bills during drought
Solidarity with the @rmtunion.bsky.social members at East Midlands Railway striking over rail safety, particularly concerns over the new Class 810 fleet, which the union has said has been operating with a number of faults. Every worker has the right to work in safe and comfortable conditions.
RMT Union@rmtunion.bsky.social · 2mo agoRMT strike action over safety at East Midlands Railway RMT members working at East Midlands Railway (EMR) plan to take strike action on Saturday, August 1, and the following two Saturdays over growing safety concerns following the roll out of the 810 fleet. rmtunion.org/4fNq6mU
