Sam Jeffers

Iran could target the UK with some really persuasive political ads and swing May's local elections decisively in favour of those unwilling to play "fix the potholes".

This 7 in 10 number sounds... really wrong?

Maybe I read the wrong news and watch too little TV, but disintermediation + the fact Iran is closed has really screwed the American ability to control the narrative.

(I knew Sarah a bit when she played, also brilliantly, for Hot Chip. Amazing musician having a magical career).

A proper drumkit. None of that modern rubbish.

Disappointed that Sarah, who plays brilliant drums for Harry Styles, no longer uses the beautiful gold 60s Hayman kit. We are no longer kit buddies.

Open and shut harassment case. Repeated action, obvious organisation. Arrest em all. Every time.

Still half the price of the stuff in Europe (diesel about to tip over €2/l in Ireland, which is approaching $9/gallon)

Of course, but doesn't stop em doing it!

Since Chomsky was outed as part of the Epstein class, the concept of "manufacturing consent" has become too toxic for the US to attempt.

Seems to me that everyone is kinda waiting for the midterms and hoping for the right result.

Wrexham Vs Chelsea, aka "American football".

I will root around and see if there's anything to read.

Yes, it's widespread and tacitly accepted. It'd surely be a nightmare if the law was fully enforced?

Well, one part is they are "pro law and order" and mass surveillance + AI means a lot more law is actually enforced. But how does that sit vs individual freedom?

The best airport

Someone smart should interview Farage (or Badenoch) and start with this, rather than immigration etc.

E.g. I cannot even begin to imagine Farage thinking clearly about this stuff. Yet it's possible he will be PM in an absolutely key period for this technology (if it even vaguely happens the way the boosters imagine).

Traditional centre right politics needs a position, and I'm not sure they can really reach one, because "necessary checks and balances" so conflicts with their idea of mostly untrammelled private enterprise (which is where AI is rn).

I'm quite interested in what "limited government" conservatives think about AI. On one hand, "AI agents" would make gov cheap to run, which they would appear to like. But the temptation to have a lot of them would mean "much more government" overall.

One reason you might expect more is the internet blackout in Iran, so motivated people might want to fill that "gap". But I don't think we're seeing that either (as you say though, in the absence of actually being able to quantify any of this).

Bonfire of the Tomineys.

So yep, I'm voting Ryanair at the next election.

Making a travel insurance claim. Ryanair automatically produces a "did not travel" letter for £0 within 24hrs. The NHS has been unable to write a "yes, this person was sick and couldn't travel" letter within four months, and wants to charge £201 for it. One is a loved national institution...

As a benchmark of how newspaper values have fallen, this is slightly less in cash terms than was offered for it in 2004. Should be a bit over £1bn.

I think Betfair has had "markets for everything" for... 15+ years?

After 90 minutes waiting on hold to talk to someone at an NHS doctor's surgery to follow up on a four month old request for a letter to support a travel insurance claim, I am told that they charge £201 per person for such a thing.

The UK has declining healthy life expectancy, of which obesity is a big part, though there are currently massively over-priced drugs which have the capacity to reverse that if only they were cheaper. Seems like a case for "Fuck Patents".

In every Republican presidency of my lifetime there's been a recession and a new war in the Middle East.

Our current stage, of gambling companies only being allowed to market their "responsible gaming" and "take a time out" tools, is particularly ridiculous.

The stages of this the UK has been through, while still somehow allowing massive legalised gambling on every street corner... (I do feel like the US really thinks its special here, as opposed to a massive latecomer in a FAFO situation).