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• Post #3014729

  As Nesrine Malik argues, whatever other problems there are with AI & its associated technologies, in the end one of its most corrosive aspects may be its destruction of trust in what people write; the widening suspicion that AI has been used to write all sorts of things (previously penned/typed by humans) is leading to a decline in trust in communication more generally.... with who knows what long-term consequences? #AI #communication #books #media https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr...

• Post #2743484

  The Mayor of London's Office has blocked the Metropolitan Police's procurement of Palantir software to aid investigation(s).... partly due to concerns about the standing of Palantir & partly as the Mayor's office believes that the Met have colluded with Palantir to avoid a clear open procurement process. The Met call the intervention 'disappointing', many others will see this a judicious & sensible. #London #Palantir #politics h/t FT

• Post #2732945

  The truism 'justice delayed is justice denied' is becoming an ever wider depiction of how the legal system works across England & Wales. So news that workers & employers are waiting up to five years for an employment tribunal on claims for unfair dismissal is both no surprise & a confirmation of the shocking state of the legal system. Respect for the rule of law depends on it efficacy in actually delivering judgements - no wonder its being lost! #RuleOfLaw #politics http...

• Post #2646420

  You'll have seen quite a lot of commentary that the yield profile of UK public debt is rising swiftly making the UK an outlier in the wider context of states raising loans through the bond markets. However, Daire MacFadden (FT) argues if you *combine* yields with swap rates (which indicate market player's assessment of future currency & interest rate moves) what you see is the UK is back in the pack alongside other countries public debt. So, the UK's public debt...

• Post #2646419

  Meanwhile in music.... in a time when music streaming & normal record company double dealing have depressed the income from recording for many musicians, large scale touring has become one solution to making money from music.... There have always been acts whose live profile was better/higher than their recorded one, but now BIIRD are joining the small/select group of musicians who have made their reputation (and income) entirely on the basis of playing live. #music https://www.bbc.co...

• Post #2646418

  This weekend is demonstrating an unwavering truth of political reporting... Media commenters & analysts decry the chaotic psychodrama of leadership challenges & churn in the top job (with tales of its negative impact on UK politics & economics and the UK's international standing)... yet; they find it hard to hide their glee at filling their papers (and online presence) with speculation, profiles of possible contenders & argument(s) around 'new st...

• Post #2646416

  David Lloyd Owen (water policy consultant) says: 'You can classify the water companies into four groups: worst by a country mile are those owned by private equity, the not-for-profit companies are quite weak, the public limited companies are second best – but, intriguingly, the best are Wessex & Northumbria, which are owned by foreign companies that run utilities themselves'! Yet more evidence the UK's real problem is its dysfunctional culture of management? #w...

• Post #2646415

  When Yvette Cooper rejected legal advice & wrote a column criticising Palestine Action, while activists were being tried, did she (as the defence alleged) interfere with the judicial process making a fair trial more difficult or as the Judge concluded only risk 'causing some prejudice to these proceedings, but that is different from deliberately flouting a reporting restriction order'? I think the defence was right; it was an attempt to prejudice the trial! #politics...

• Post #2646414

  Here are The Bear's musings on Saturday's Unite the Kingdom rally, in which he suggests it was all a bit sad (a damp squib), perhaps not quite the nationalistic uprising promised by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon & his associates.... the Bear suggests: 'The whole rally felt less like a protest & more like a networking event themed around “How to be Racist Online and Earn Money!' So, does the Americanisation of the Far Right preface its failure or its re...

• Post #2646413

  Whatever you think about the levels of profitability in the UK's economy, one thing is clear voters are vastly over-estimating how much firms make in profits.... but perhaps most telling (in this misunderstanding of what is going on) is the apparent perception that the NHS makes a profit (although there is a chance respondents didn't properly understand the Q.?). (And of course this was carried out by the right wing Inst. for Economic Affairs, no doubt to prove a point!) #econo...

• Post #2581393

  For those wondering why many of the dire warnings about the impact of the Court of the Tangerine Tyrant on the US economy do not seem to have come to pass, Jeffrey Frankel suggests 3 things: a. US economic data is a mess right now so we cannot be sure what's happening; b. Many of Trump's tariffs have been delayed a number of times... and; c. effects takes me time to work through, and so thinking the waring were wrong is premature! time will tell! #Trump #economics https://www.thegu...

• Post #2559339

  As John Naughton warns (in parallel to many warnings here too), we are way too dependent on US technologies , although as he observes: 'Unwinding this dependency will be very difficult. But it has to be done'! In this the Tangerine Tyrant's actions (alongside those of the TechBroligarchy) have been indicative of the trouble we could be in. Up until now we have been too inattentive to the trap into which we have willingly walked. #technology #politics https://observ...

• Post #2557671

  If the rich are the most dangerous minority, it also needs to be said (as Steve Keen does) that: 'The most dangerous sincere believers on this planet are not religious extremists, but mainstream economists. They will destroy capitalism, precisely because they falsely believe that it is indestructible'! However, for those of us brought up on Karl Marx, the idea that capitalism has within it the seed(s) of its own destruction (here in the guise of economists) is hardly news........

• Post #2543724

  @tomgauld.bsky.social sums up my life concisely.... wherever I am, you can bet a book is not far away & soon I'll be reading it! #books @books

• Post #2520722

  Allianz Insurance seems to coordinating with the Govt. to harass Palestine activists; in parallel with a trial for criminal damage to the firms offices, Allianz is also suing the activists concerned for compensation for 'anxiety, distress & intimidation' experienced by their employees... The problem is the activists (who are representing themselves) claim this may reveal their defence strategy in their other case thereby undermining their ability to gain a fair trial.......

• Post #2520721

  The UK's political & social-economic elites are more often educated at private school than the rest of the population.... Given, the problems the UK finds itself in (and the demand for 'change') perhaps we might wonder whether the underlying issue isn't productivity or management but rather the educational background of our political & business classes? Perhaps that's what needs to change? #politics #inequality #education For more data...

• Post #2520719

  The Tangerine Tyrant's economic & benefits 'policy' is a classic example of one segment of capital being privileged over others.... By reducing both food stamps & the US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) those firms whose key business is selling food to the poor have seen a swift decline in demand; which might lead one to the conclusion that such benefits rather than being aimed at the poor were actually corporate subsidies for food retail...

• Post #2520718

  As @sjwrenlewis concludes, because the Right spends most of its time lying to the voting public, the UK's political environment has become more 'dumb': 'When key political actors are constantly lying and getting away with it, it becomes harder for the rest to tell difficult truths, or indeed to hold any kind of serious political conversation. When one side is telling voters they can always eat cake, it becomes hard to say that cake is off the menu'! #pol...

• Post #2520717

  @ReggieHere sums up our political predicament concisely: 'The offering from Labour & the LibDems doesn't challenge the status quo and only keeps the country 'Farage-ready' rather than adopting a path to progressive improvement'. And therein lies a large part of the problem for those of us wanting some radical change in the UK's political economy #politics

• Post #2520714

  While the mainstream media has been working to down play it, it seems the Fascist Frog *will* be investigated by the parliamentary standards commissioner for not declaring a £5mn gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne in the run-up to the 2024 general election. The maximum sanction if found in breach of Parliamentary standards is, of course, suspension & a possible by-election in Clacton. But, of course, there's many a slip twixt cup & lip.... #NigelFarage #...

• Post #2520713

  So, the HMRC has concluded there was no malice or intent in Angela Rayner's mistaken lower payment of stamp duty (and as a result no attempted tax avoidance). As such she is now free to enter the fray around the leadership of the Labour Party. For those who think a female leader from the broad left might be the answer to the party's travails this may be good news... or it may end up being another case of a women being 'allowed' to take on a hopeless case? #poli...

• Post #2516979

  Once again disabled people are being hounded for money; local councils whose rising home care charges have driven clients into debt are seeking to recover monies that people do not have. Behind it all lies funding cuts to local government & the logic of (continued) austerity. Its difficult to see any social justification for bankrupting the disabled, but that's effectively what we have come to; brutal & callous presented as budget sustainability! #disabled #politics...

• Post #2514998

  We're not having a #generalstrike (yet) but Wednesday (1st Feb) is a major strike day with co-ordinated action across a number of sectors so (as I've said before): Don't get frustrated when your journey to work, or your day's activities are disrupted by the #strikes. The #strikers have not taken the decision lightly & have been driven to this after protracted period of trying to negotiate with their employers; the employers (& Govt.) are the p...

• Post #2513533

  John Kampfner, suggests politicians fail to really deal with problems because: 'They worry about the markets (with reason); they fret about conventional media & social media (with less reason). They wait for bad things to happen, trying to anticipate what their critics might say of them in case they put a foot out of line. It’s a self-fulfilling spiral'! There's more to it than this, but this seem to capture an important aspect of our political problem(s)! #pol...

• Post #2503218

  Keir Starmer vs. Wes Streeting is about as politically interesting as two bald men fighting over a comb.... its a classic bit of change but no change, and suggests the Labour Party is clueless about why people are abandoning them. Then the (more interesting) Q. is how would Andy Burnham vs. Wes Streeting play out, if Streeting gets past an increasingly truculent Starmer? Or perhaps Burnham wouldn't have the appetite for a second leadership challenge in this Parliament? #politics #Labo...

• Post #2486243

  Bruce MaKinnon sums up the Court of the Tangerine Tyrant's tariff policy.... Just brilliant! #USPol #politics #Tariffs h/t @Milnoc

• Post #2449822

  How worried is the Govt. that Palestine Action protestors have the sympathy of juries? enough to hide from the jury the fact that they would e sentenced not as criminals (having been convicted of criminal damage) but rather as terrorists. At best, its a grossly unjust manipulation of procedure, and at worst brings the justice system into disrepute as juries are being lied to (albeit by omission). This Govt.'s 'respect' for the rule of law seems ever weaker! #politics https://www...

• Post #2445909

  Good morning This is the clearest graphic on global temperature rises I have ever seen - made by Ed Hawkins (U Reading). Might not telll you anything you don't know but its clarity focusses the mind. #ClimateChange #environment

• Post #2405183

  The media seems relatively uninterested in the £5m in crypto-currency given to the Facist Frog, but a lot more interested in the council tax affairs of Zack Polanski. On one level this is a metric of how seriously the Right take the threat from Polanski & the Green Party of England & Wales.... on another level, given what happened to Jeremy Corbyn at the hands of an antagonistic media, we might have hoped he would have put his own house (boat) in order ahead of the game? #Green...

• Post #2399742

  More on the shape of the support for the Green Party of England & Wales in Thursday local elections; they performed best in areas with lots of renters (which may be at least partly coterminous with the age profile posted about earlier today/yesterday). #greens #politics #renting #housing