Open Letter to every Edinburgh City Councillor ... Oppose AI Data Centres In Edinburgh bellacaledonia.org.uk/.../oppose-a...
Kevin Williamson
@kevwilliamson.bsky.social
Writer, author, poetry, editor, publisher. Founder of Rebel Inc. Co-founder of Bella Caledonia. Co-founder of Neu! Reekie! Co-founder of Push The Boat Out international poetry festival. MDANT. Love poetry, books, chess, volcanoes, Hibs. Citizen of Leith
Haven't been on here for ages but felt a need to share this email I've written to Edinburgh City Councillors who are going to take a momentous decision tomorrow on AI Data Centres which could have long term consequences for everyone in Edinburgh/Scotland. bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/02/03/o...
bellacaledonia.org.uk
Science Fiction/Speculative Fiction/Futurist Fiction is 100x better than Crime Fiction/Crime Noir as a genre. Much more interesting and imaginative. Yay or nay?
This story is shockingly stupid even for @nytimes.com —where they always promote AI. Take this insanity: “Asking help from a chatbot,you’re going to get empathy,”Ms. Rowe said, “but you’re not going to get help.” You’re going to get EMPATHY? It’s a f*cking machine. It’s mimicking “empathy”.
Jorie Graham@joriegraham.bsky.social · 11mo agoJust 2 days to go until my first Robert Burns Not In My Name show. The show this Monday is sold out but there are still some tickets left for the show on Mon 18th August (see link below). Be nice to see any of you there.
Kevin Williamson@kevwilliamson.bsky.social · last yr.ROBERT BURNS NOT IN MY NAME Heads up to say I'm gonna perform Robert Burns Not In My Name at Leith Depot for 2 nights only. Mon 11th + Mon 18th Aug at 7.30pm. Burns as you've never heard him before. With films by Alastair Cook. You're all welcome. Details: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/robert-bur...
If Adolf Hitler flew in today They'd send a limousine anyway
Judi Dench in Reykjavik 🌋 icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/20...
Highest sulfur pollution in Reykjavík since start of volcanic unrest
Monitoring stations in the capital area have this morning recorded the highest levels of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) since volcanic activity began on the Reykjanes Peninsula. According to the City of R...
icelandmonitor.mbl.is
This morning I've mostly been thinking about tech unicorns in the UK (168 of them all valued at £1bn+) and the 3,700 AI companies in the UK (valued at £72bn in 2024). And, Who is asking the difficult eco/energy Qs about scaling up data centres to host all this? www.business.gov.uk/campaign/gro...
Artificial Intelligence
business.gov.uk
This morning I've been mainly thinking about BLOBS deep in our planet's lower mantle and their relationship to mantle plumes and volcanic eruptions #volcano 🌋 dailygalaxy.com/2025/07/expl...
Scientists Discover the Explosive Power of Earth's Mysterious BLOBS – Is an Eruption Coming?
What if deadly volcanic eruptions are caused by structures deep inside Earth?
dailygalaxy.com
Remember that grief metafiction published in The Guardian on 12 Mar which Sam Altman claimed was written by AI? What happened to this amazing literary software? Also, where was the transparency of the prompt sheets used? Also, if I need stardust to throw in investors eyes where can I get some?
Kevin Williamson@kevwilliamson.bsky.social · last yr.Sam Altman of Open AI recently produced an AI rabbit out a hat. A metafiction on grief - published in The Guardian - that he claims was written by an as yet unreleased and unnamed creative writing AI program. Despite all the hype has anyone confirmed the authenticity of its AI authorship...
A few weeks ago I was in Hamburg and went to see an Ian Hamilton Findlay exhibition inspired by the French Revolution #BastilleDay 🇫🇷
Not so much a State of the Nation address but a state of the nations summary. Well worth a read. #wherearewenow
Mike Small@bellacaledonia.bsky.social · last yr.Britain is an altered state, altered out of all recognition, even in the past ten years. The question for political movements in Scotland seeking transformative change is how do we respond and adjust to these profound changes bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/07/14/l...
Ahead of the expected proscription of Palestine Action - the first time a protest group has been legally redefined as terrorist - I went through the Hansard of the 2000 Act they're being banned under. Turns out MPs were assured the law wouldn't be applied this way. Thread 🧵🔽
Q. Which country has the most active volcanoes? A. USA with 165 active volcanoes, 42 of which have erupted since 1950. #volcanostats 🌋 www.teawamutunews.nz/2025/07/how-...
How the US tops volcano list - Te Awamutu News
Last week, I covered how volcanically active Indonesia is, noting that it ranks fourth globally for the number of active volcanoes. So, let’s talk about who comes in at number one. That title goes to....
teawamutunews.nz
Robert Burns: Not In My Name 11 & 18 Aug, Edinburgh – tickets from £9.38 Showcasing the radical subversive poetry of Robert Burns: the stuff he couldn’t put his name to during his lifetime. A performance by @kevwilliamson.bsky.social with films by Alastair Cook www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/robert-bur...
ROBERT BURNS: NOT IN MY NAME
A performance by Kevin Williamson with films by Alastair Cook
eventbrite.co.uk
ROBERT BURNS NOT IN MY NAME Heads up to say I'm gonna perform Robert Burns Not In My Name at Leith Depot for 2 nights only. Mon 11th + Mon 18th Aug at 7.30pm. Burns as you've never heard him before. With films by Alastair Cook. You're all welcome. Details: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/robert-bur...
ROBERT BURNS: NOT IN MY NAME
A performance by Kevin Williamson with films by Alastair Cook
eventbrite.co.uk
Welcome back! Edinburgh has missed you. Delighted to see my favourite indy cinema reopen. 🎬
Filmhouse Edinburgh@filmhouseedinburgh.bsky.social · last yr.Our doors are OPEN! 🚪🎉🍾💖
Respect to Palestinian Action for taking nonviolent direct action against the British military. Starmer & his Govt are 100% complicit in this genocide yet their only response seems to be to double down on Israeli terrorism. Never thought I'd despise a British PM more than Thatcher but here we are.
Gonna say something obvious to most: real masculinity defends the defenseless, punches up not down, has compassion, and fights only on behalf of others to battle injustice or evil. It doesn’t just lift weights and tweet in all caps and listen to Rogan and grow a beard to feel accepted by other men
Earthquake swarm at Italy’s Campi Flegrei supervolcano sparks eruption fears trans: Mibbes aye mibbes naw. news.az/news/earthqu...
news.az
Watched Episode 7 of #TheLastofUs last night and thought wow. Cliff hanger. Cant wait to find out what happens next week. Only to find out that was end of Season 2. Season 3 not till 2027. WTAF? No consideration for Gen Short Attention Span. Also world could end before that in AI-Eco apocalypse.
a woman is smiling with the words i 'm not in the mood for this behind her
ALT: a woman is smiling with the words i 'm not in the mood for this behind her
media.tenor.com
Issue 12 of The Poets' Republic has arrived. As a lifelong hater of fluffy puffs this snippet from Hugh McMillan's article makes me feel seen. Bless you Shug.
MAN V MACHINE Learning to distinguish between AI writing & human writing is easy enough. AI has its digital fingerprints & a generic gooey blandness to it 🤮 and worse, erodes users of literacy skills & critical thinking/analytical skills. This post was human generated. www.earth.com/news/man-vs-...
Man vs. machine: Why students still write better than AI
Essays written by ChatGPT or other AI tools feel distant and lack literacy. Researchers see AI as only a tutor, not a substitute for humans.
earth.com
Like the USA, England has never faced up honestly to its colonialist past, its history of Slavery & Empire, nor acknowledged the psychological legacy of racism/racial superiority this leaves deeply embedded in its culture, which is easily triggered by current events. Then along comes Reform Party..
Duolingo only takes you so far. I know how to say hallo in German. I know how to order food and drink. I know how to ask if someone reads books. Should cover most bases. I'm almost ready for a trip to Deutschland and full linguistic immersion. "Ich heiße Kevin. Ich kann nur ein bisschen Deutsch." ✔️
Never buy a book from Amazon. Never promote a book on Amazon. No exceptions. 🚫
Dave Infante@dinfontay.com · last yr.Man, this is a pretty fucking gross move from Amazon, huh? Good on @bookshop.org for not mincing words, though:
Today is Shakespeare's birthday and these are some words he invented: Eyeball, courtship, blushing, kissing, hint, bedroom, hurry, undress, exposure, majestic, arouse, excitement, bump, push, obscene, yelping, varied, generous, tranquil, dawn, unpregnant, gossip. You're welcome!
a black and white portrait of martin droeshout with a collar
ALT: a black and white portrait of martin droeshout with a collar
media.tenor.com