The Humble Bumblebee

Prediction is hard. Especially about the future. That Yogi Berra gem proves that you don't have to be a sf writer to get irritated with people insisting that you must know what's going to happen tomorrow, but (as a sf writer), I can tell you that this is one of our main occupational hazards.

Genuinely I don't know that it comes across to people who haven't been here to watch how almost unbelievable this was, just people taking something that looked impossible and dragging it kicking and screaming all the way to inevitability.

Slamming into reverse so fast you can hear the gears crunch

I can’t stress this enough: you cannot understand politics without reading this paragraph about why there’s no such thing as a 1/3rd pound hamburger

In case it still needs saying, the tech-bros do not believe in "free speech". They believe in "power": power to lift themselves above any limits on or consequences for their own speech, and power to determine what speech can be seen or heard by others.

I think this (via James) is absolutely the right framing/narrative. Now obviously if actual proposals don't live up to it then you have every right to criticise. And inevitably they will be problematic in some respects. But I think we should credit Milburn with getting this narrative broadly right

Finding that the evidence supports Lula's claims that Mark Zuckerberg is consciously attempting to rig the Brazilian elections in favor of Bolsonaro, a Brazilian court urgently requires Meta to undo its offending logarithms and insure equal access to Lula. www.nbcnews.com/world/south-...

The decline of Newsnight, at a time when we need detailed and decent investigative and foreign reporting more than ever, is so depressing. Marshall is more than an ex singer. He’s Paul Marshall’s son - of GB News, Unherd, Speccie - & is on ARC Forum advisory board

There will be a lot of equivocating about all the times search warrants have been executed on members of Congress for corruption investigations and the like, and it can't be stressed enough in how many ways HSI raiding Ilhan Omar is extremely not like that.

A cleaner, greener future is possible.

In June this year, I wondered, in my column for EUobserver @euobserver.com, whether the EU would be prepared to call out MAGA Washington’s interference in European politics the same way it rightly called out Moscow’s and Beijing’s interference. euobserver.com/222156/europ... 1/3

From the new Private Eye

I’ve been saying this for some time - the worst thing about our current system, of politics funded by private money - is not the actual influence for cash (real as that can be) but the belief that it is always there. It undermines our democracy. buff.ly/RaMi53H

Pecksniff finds Andy Burnham holding all the cards * Kemi Badenoch’s party resembles a low-battery smoke alarm * Reform’s Norfolk dinner raises questions.

Although it feels like I am shouting into the void about this sometimes, I want to share some further thoughts on the “Zionism is Racism” motion which the Green Party is due to debate in the next 16 hours. Just to address various points which I think people in general should know. A thread:

Several weeks ago, Phil Tippett's legendary animation studio in Berkeley, CA closed. An anonymous hero noticed a folder of CDs. This turned out to be hundreds of unseen hi-res images and videos from Star Wars, Robocop, Jurassic Park, etc. ~90 isos for you to browse: archive.org/details/tipp...

Declassified journalists banned from Labour conference – again. A Trumpian policy started by Keir Starmer. Burnham can't make a fresh start without getting rid of the previous advisers. Democracy means accepting scrutiny, even when it is uncomfortable.

Around 40% of the world's dirty money, proceeds of corruption and crime, is laundered through the UK, its Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. Successive govts promise new laws and enforcement but they make little impact. Why do govts continue to fail? Watch the Minister's reply.

Wey hey!! Two cheers. Hurrah! I’m almost, but not, quite, mildly excited that something might not be ruled out in a few years time. Way to go, Andy. Bold, bravely ambivalent, solidly ambiguous, resolutely vague leadership, at last. 🙄🙄🙄 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

ELECTRIFICATION: Really striking chart showing that three-quarters of final energy demand can now be electrified "economically" (ie at lower lifetime cost) – and 90% electrification is technically possible From the latest @ember-energy.org slidedeck by @kingsmillbond.bsky.social and colleagues

Picked up a copy of "Hyperpolitics" on a whim after seeing it promoted all over the place and I can only conclude that Verso have an amazing marketing department because there's not much substance here and the evidence base is weak.

a great letter in the times today. perhaps worth sharing in these troubled times. #RNLI #heroes

Trump announced 17 MONTHS AGO that everyone was going to get $5,000 checks because of DOGE cuts. You got $0.

150+ organisations are raising the alarm on the horrifying escalation in racist violence and intimidation. We must come together to demand the government takes serious action.

If someone looking to become chief economist of the IMF *hadn't* made any critical remarks about the Trump admin's economic policies, they shouldn't be allowed to become chief economist of the IMF.

This, by www.warringfictions.net is a must-read. On why Keir Starmer's brand of centrism bombed and how Burnham, by remaining in the liberal bloc but also staying within the ‘zone of sensibleness’ and foregrounding economic fairness, might avoid the same fate.

Dancing very very VERY close to saying “OpenAI stole our almost-complete proof of Navier-Stokes from internal access to our ChatGPT sessions because they were desperate to scoop Anthropic” which is absolutely 100% a believable thing OpenAI would do right now cims.nyu.edu/~tristanb/st...

Contractual obligation post I have a book coming out about why your dog is such a weirdo. It has words and pictures. People seem keen. You can read an excerpt and order the ebook. The hardback is coming on 14 Sept. Done. Have a nice weekend russelljonesauthor.com/wolf-excerpt...

"We just don't have British resident donors, British entities, that would support us. That's the grim reality" "There are a lot of people in your position who, for completely understandable reasons, can't declare ... the reality is we can easily get away with it ... [Le Carre]" - James Orr 10m40s

Just copy & share everywhere please. Absolutely thumping.

Pecksniff’s little birds have been singing… * Burnham’s honeymoon hits water, Brexit and disgruntled voters * A prominent Green warns decades of work are at risk * Cleverly points Reform towards Braverman and Jenrick Not forgetting Farage Fest, licencing, lost councillors & "drama queens"...

“This (Just 20 of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation amid drought and wildfires, 12 August) is a shocking revelation from a government that has repeatedly assured us it understands the risk of the breakdown of nature and climate. Clearly not.

Afternoon. [Note the date]

Nathan Sanders and Bruce Schneier say we must distinguish AI's technological problems from its capitalism problems. Developers are solving the first, they argue, while leaving the second to market incentives. Structural reforms will be necessary to steer industry toward the public interest.

Q: Were you prepared for pushback you received, especially from Republicans, framing you as too extreme for Wisconsin? HONG: What's extreme is Rep. Tiffany has voted against interests of Wisconsinites over & over. What's extreme is that he's an election denier & continues to protect pedophiles

🤔 NEW EPISODE 🤔 Welcome to Veto Britain, where any small group can prevent anything (rail links, infrastructure, standing up in pubs) if they’re loud enough. Why do we put up with it? 🤔 Listen – linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnow...

PMQs is barely worth watching, or indeed listening, to these days as there's so much bile and venom spat from, it's fair to say, both sides of the House. Take a look back at when PMQs was most definitely worth tuning in to.. #UKpolitics youtu.be/oRICpv9uUww?...

When two artists paint the same view: Rue de la Chausée à Argenteuil, painted on the same day in 1872 by Claude Monet & Alfred Sisley, friends and founding figures of French Impressionism, who set up their easels side by side en plein air. Private Collection | Musée d’Orsay

American primeval by David Horsey.

My oh my, what a week dear Readers. Chatter down at the Muckrakers has tackled Burnham, Farage, Coogan, & Westminster - all with the usual wit & insight, glass in hand. We see Reform suffer another local setback. Is politics finally moving beyond the No.10 "hard man" culture?

Very brave of the Guardian to publish an expert dissenting view on teen-agers and social media bans. Hope they've alerted security and the post room. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

New post: How Right Wing Populism came easily to the Conservative Party mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2026/07/how-... If support for Reform continues to decline, and the Conservatives overtake it in the polls, right wing populism in the UK will simply have changed the banner under which it marches.