Richard Appleby
@rmappleby.uk
Ex-IBMer, currently "economically inactive". Interested in science, technology and the environment. Fan of rational thought, citizenship and the common good.
Love that she doesn't understand that the Internet is the physical infrastructure of interconnected computer networks, and everything she's complaining about just runs on top of it. And then bars me from replying to her post. Earns a rare block for being an antisocial social media (ab)user.
Blimey, democracy is really expensive in the USA….
Robert Reich@rbreich.bsky.social · 3d agoCorporate spending on elections has already topped $500 million this year. That's one third of the $1.58 billion in total that corporations have spent since Citizens United in 2010. Hawaii and Montana both have plans to neutralize this disastrous SCOTUS ruling. Other states must get on board.
🧵On @thenewsagents.co.uk yesterday, school closures and the lab leak theory were offered as two examples of legitimate questions that were hard to ask. Both have in fact been asked constantly since 2020. But here's a thread on why I think they were wrong and dangerous on school closures 1/12
I can’t believe that Reform UK turned out to be financed by a bunch of money laundering fronts for Russia. It’s just so unexpected.
Interesting. Perhaps better at subjects with extremely tight rules about what you can and cannot do.
Tim Leunig@timleunig.bsky.social · 4d agoThis is well worth reading, even if (like me) you will have to skip over the technical material. AI and LLMs really do work in maths.
Uh huh. Well, there ain’t no alternative to restricting calories if you want to lose weight. And the people who most need to lose weight are very unlikely to have a biological age less than their chronological age. As usual, life’s a bitch.
New Scientist@newscientist.com · 6d agoIn a small study, restricting calories led to greater weight loss among people with a biological age younger than their chronological age
Yeah, but just look at the percentages. Today’s voters just want more of everything. The ordering is rather immaterial ⬇️
Ipsos in the UK@ipsosintheuk.bsky.social · last wk.With stamp duty, council tax and property in the news - how have Britain's aspirations of home ownership changed? 🏠2026 - 67% aspire to own their own home. 🚗1991 - 37% aspired to own their own home. 👉 https://t.co/7qgcHmwk8I
Reform UK are up to their neck in scandal. Serious new information has come to light, opening up yet more questions about donations made by George Cottrell and his associates. Frankly, it stinks. I've written to the Electoral Commission to draw it to their attention.
Good to know the man in charge of Ford, earning $27.5M last year (up 11%), really has his finger on the pulse. It’s going to be a bloodbath.
Reuters@reuters.com · 7d agoEXCLUSIVE: Ford CEO tells employees Chinese automakers could enter US market in next decade reut.rs/4w21qMC
Always liked what I saw of Walz. Seemed grounded, and pretty normal (well, for a politician!). Even drives a proper classic truck.
Governor Tim Walz@governorwalz.mn.gov · last wk.See you in court, creep.
Dear UK Politicians Could you all grow up and stop reporting each other to the police for trivial nonsense. We would rather they focus on more important matters. Thanks The electorate.
Not surprised; the new R5 is a lovely thing compared to most EVs, and if they made a version that just looks like the R5 Turbo 3E but doesn’t come with the £140k price tag, they’d never keep up with demand…
Reuters@reuters.com · last wk.Renault swings to profit in first half despite intense Chinese competition reut.rs/3S4uVPI
24 hours wedged into an uncomfortable seat, with no room to move around, and the warders, sorry, flight assistants, determined to keep you strapped in. No thanks. Can’t think of anything worse.
The Register@theregister.com · last wk.Airbus keeps an A350 flying for 24 hours
Fake passports. A money laundering conviction. A mystery casino fortune in Montenegro... There's yet more revelations about who Farage chooses to surround himself with. Let’s start with George Cottrell. A man Farage describes as "like a son," and his former chief of staff 👇
lots of reporters suddenly worried about slipping into communism but strangely f*cking quiet about slipping into fascism
I’d say It’s a cracker! … but obviously it’s not. Just an excellent Dad Joke…
Aparna Nair@disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 2w agoA dad joke to usher in the weekend
Only just got to see this. It contains a remarkable graph. Appears that Councils stopped building houses...and basically nobody took their place.
@michael-s-marshall.bsky.social · 3w ago1) Andy Burnham wants to pivot the Affordable Housing Programme away from housing associations towards councils. This FT article highlights several associated challenges. Previous attempts to boost social rented delivery show us that these challenges are real. www.ft.com/content/354e...
This one that I originally saw in the Huffington Post also has the effect on house prices overlaid:
Obviously forgot to pay his tithe to Trump…
Reuters Legal@legal.reuters.com · 2w agoJUST IN: Washington lawyer Tom Goldstein was sentenced to six years in federal prison for tax and financial crimes tied to his side career as a high-stakes poker player, capping a startling chapter for a prominent appellate attorney who has argued major cases before SCOTUS reut.rs/4yzEkiR
![Comic. [Back of car with bumper sticker reading “I forth [red heart emoji]”]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreie63wpgnvtc2bwmewc5o7vjndx7okspndmqn73ifodbzfzvs5nnyi)
