It's only Wednesday, and yet, amidst all the commentariat and academic controversies so far this week, I've just seen a thread with a lot of people talking about something none of them understand, and I had to breathe hard to avoid a 'mitchell and webb cheese argument' moment.

Bit redundant when everyone is being fired (sorry taking "voluntary" severance) but I wonder if there's room for reflection on people going from PhD to Prof in 6 or 7 years. I don't know how that's enough time to learn how to do anything or demonstrate you can.

[Clarence Darrow- not Mark Twain- quote here]

Long covid is disputed "at best" but something that happened 5-6 years ago definitely has ruined kids' entire lives is a fact. Social media really shows how wafer-thin commentariat knowledge really is. Rhetorical skill and galaxy-sized egos still allow for stellar careers though.

On a podcast, chatting to another journalist, who's nodding along, you are not "asking questions"- there's no-one there who can answer them in any manner. You're spouting off for provocation. This is the modern day commentariat model, regardless of ideological position.

And of course he doubled down, with even greater certainty from his position of absolutely no relevant expertise whatsoever.

Oh look, a member of the commentariat talking bollocks. What a surprise.

The News Agents@thenewsagents.co.uk · 5d ago

“I’m glad we live in a country that is deferential to expertise - but at times in the pandemic, that did go too far.” “I’m not sure school closures were a price worth paying.” Lewis on how ‘legitimate questions’ have emerged - and should be asked - about how we handled Covid.

The thing about local visitor taxes is that countries that have these have places people actively want to go to.

Quite disappointed at how few people didn't still have their copy of The Odyssey from their GCSE Classical Civilization days. After the embarrassment of not still having their copy of The Federalist Papers from A Level politics when Hamilton came out, you'd think people would have learned.

I laughed

Ah yes, so it's forget about university, get yourself in the arms factories kids. And if you've made the mistake of having had an HE career, so sorry, but it's the arms factory for you too.

Bridget Phillipson, reflecting on her years spent standing idly by while UK higher education crumbled into the abyss and tens of thousands of university workers implored her to do something, literally anything, to save their jobs: BUT WHAT ABOUT ME THO www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

‘It hurts to lose a job you love’: Starmer loyalist Bridget Phillipson fights on despite cabinet demotion

Exclusive: The former education secretary on her new role as Labour chair and continuing as the minister for women and equalities

theguardian.com

It's all because politicians are annoyed about how long they have to wait, and how much it costs, for the little people to come and redevelop their garden/fit their air con/build their conservatory etc.

Nyika@puzzledbyadream.bsky.social · last wk.

Not keen on this. My parents were not overly enthusiastic initially about me going to university. If this had been in place, I would have been STRONGLY discouraged from going to university. And university was the making of me. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

FFS Burnham. The contempt for knowledge and expertise unless it's something with a fucking tool in hand is staggering.

Rachel Coldicutt@rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · last wk.

So one of the problems of announcing policies via social video is that you end up saying stuff like this

I don't know how often they did it but didn't they have characters leave Coronation Street- forever- by having them move to, like, Sheffield? Also, aren't we famously in a constant debate over whose is the shittiest town? It's all very 'local shop for local people'.

I wonder if they will change the Forces' recruitment ads? Recent Navy ones do that "Born in X, Made by the Navy" thing. They don't align with this "born in the heat sink of the data centre, work in the heat sink of the data centre" provincialism that's being talked about today.

Politicians hate universities because they're bitter about meeting genuinely clever people at them. They love the idea of trades/apprentices because they need their little people to fit their A/C, redo their kitchen/garden etc. They want to be the Lords in Downton and the rest of us in Service.

What a bizarre timeline we're in.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2w ago

‘Really inappropriate’: teachers decry plan for humanoid robot in New York high school

A rare peek behind the curtain of PR-media relations. #MS2001

Chaminda Jayanetti@cjayanetti.bsky.social · 2w ago

Hilarious that lobbyists tried to bribe @peteapps.bsky.social of all people to write articles criticising post-Grenfell building safety rules That would be the Peter Apps who literally wrote the book on pre-Grenfell building safety failures (and would never agree to this sort of thing anyway)

There will soon be (if not already somewhere), genAI "people" who will be vox popped by journos (themselves potentially also genAI) without anyone actually checking. Why does no-one realise that the worst thing is this all shows those philosophes might have been right! Simulacra all the way down.

Legal C@legalclaret.bsky.social · 2w ago

This disingenuous commentary doesn’t help anyone. Frauds start unravelling pretty quickly. That you apparently cannot afford to put your oven or treat yourself is quickly undermined by the question “so why are you spending £50 per week on petrol?” Then, it turns out, she has an agent and /1

'orderly market exit'. They want some to fail, and hang the consequences.

Andrew McGettigan@amcgettigan.bsky.social · 2w ago

government has responded to the Education Committee's report on insolvency. this is apparently the position on a university failing - Jacqui Smith is continuing as HE minister ...

Oh, for the sake of all fuck. Smith still in the Destroying HE post.

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 2w ago

Over a dozen ministers retain their previous roles - including Stephen Timms on welfare, Sarah Sackman KC MP at Justice, Sarah Jones in the Home Office, Georgia Gould and Baroness [Jacqui] Smith at education, Luke Pollard and Vernon Coaker at Defence. www.gov.uk/government/n...

An unprecedented act of mass theft marketed as “progress”, made possible by corruption and stupidity #auspol

AI companies 'stole' Australian culture, news bosses say

The heads of the ABC, SBS, Nine and News Corp say AI companies should strike licensing deals rather than freely train on Australian news, warning journalism is a public good that must be protected.

abc.net.au

No word on the new Minister for Destroying Higher Education is there?

Of all the things I post, one thing that weirdly got a ton of pushback was when I criticized ai companies for destroying books.

Emanuel Maiberg@emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social · 2w ago

companies are sourcing millions of printed books for AI labs that scan them for training data, then destroy them. printed books are more valuable because they're free of AI slop, and AI labs know destroying them is an "optics problem." www.404media.co/ai-companies...

Not sure why they've done another series of The Undeclared War. Watching the first series again, and it's very flat, in terms of pacing and performances.

That's not the voice he's actually going to use in the film is it? He sounds like a character from Allo Allo.

Chagos with Ed Milliband! [Am I doing this right?]

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 2w ago

Ed Miliband is foreign sec

I've just realised who Burnham, in that awkward looking suit, reminded me of. Mr Benn.

Mr Benn 80s Cartoon Disc

Alt: Mr Benn 80s Cartoon Disc

static.klipy.com

I just wonder if we might get better governments if they consisted of people who don't have extraordinary levels of misplaced pride and a bizarre understanding of what constitutes achievement.