Mary Madden

Like a lot of things rich guys believe and fund, the AI consciousness thing is in part driven by a desire to abscond from the responsibility of what they've made. It also explains why so many of them think we're in a simulation. Doesn't matter if everybody died if we're all just 1s and 0s baby!

Labour politics and governance blighted by those with a tendency to go gaga in the presence of wealthy men

We don’t talk enough about how morally depraved the tech industry turned out to be. Every single ounce of their self-regarding statements of values was an outright lie.

"Resurrection Men at Work"

New signage opposite the Ramshorn Kirkyard.

End the sewage pollution scandal We're sick of it. Sick of the lies, sick of the greed, and sick of a system rigged against us. This is a scandal and this dirty business must end. For more than 30 years water companies have put corpo...

Did you watch Dirty Business? I can't believe how much water companies have gotten away with. They're putting profit before public health - it’s a scandal and the Government MUST take action! Sick of sewage? Add your name to the petition today: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/en...

Email Ofwat - the public have said NO to illegal sewage until 2040

No more Dirty Business ! The public, MPs and Environmental Groups have said NO to 14 years of illegal Thames Water sewage pollution. Email Ofwat now, so that they can't ignore us @weownit.org.uk weownit.org.uk/act-now/emai...

How Palantir captured the Ministry of Defence Insufficient details about the US data intelligence company’s recent contract have been made public

www.ft.com/content/5207...
Where is the 'public involvement' or public accountability in political class decisions to embed Palantir in crucial UK defence and health systems?

@namwalien.bsky.social

Some of how Toni Morrison shaped the way I think: 'Necessary narratives Toni Morrison and literary identities' eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/84...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

‘She dared to be difficult’: How Toni Morrison shaped the way we think The Beloved author’s refusal to conform made her a hero to many – and the only black female writer to have won a Nobel prize in literature

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...
Difference is difficult, beautiful, and crucial. 'Word work us sublime... because it is generative; it makes meaning that secures our difference'

Inside the Manchester Victoria pigeon massacre ‘It’s a bit much, innit?’

manchestermill.co.uk/inside-the-m...
Great little article on pigeons at rail stations

BREAKING: government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action under terrorism law ruled UNLAWFUL

This matters for everyone.

For years, the right to protest has been under sustained and deliberate attack.

Thousands of people have been arrested for something that should have never been a crime.

Stop Palantir taking over our public services! Our public services aren’t for a secretive profit-hungry US tech firm. Sign the petition to tell the Government to scrap all contracts with secretive US tech firm Palantir.

Our public services aren’t for a secretive profit-hungry US tech firm. Sign the petition to tell the Government to scrap all contracts with secretive US tech firm Palantir. you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...

Now closing on 99,000 signatures! Keep going!

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

Italian voice actor Carlo Bononi was the voice of all of the characters on Pingu. A trained clown by trade, he used a theater technique called grammelot, which consists of "speaking" in a mix of babbled gibberish noises. He improvised all the voices live and unscripted.

Like Tr*mp, there are no consequences for venality.

Sunset over the sea on Holy Island Lindisfarne

Lindisfarne Holy Island Northumberland

[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.] JANET: Ugh... LIZ: What's up? JANET: I am so bored of cooking peas! LIZ: Have you tried... AI peas? JANET: AI peas? LIZ: They're peas with AI! [Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI]. LIZ: Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas JANET: What LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines] Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas? [Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it] LIZ: Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine [Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas] LIZ: With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas! JANET: What LIZ: Shut up LIZ: Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow From opening the bag of peas to boiling the peas to eating the peas To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means. JANET: Is it really necessary to- LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]: THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET [Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan: AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas. [Ends]

Every ad now

Cartoon of an angry-looking man with thin legs standing ankle deep in water, holding a daggers in front of his nose so it looks like a beak. Caption: We can be herons Just for one day Yes, he looks a bit like a heron.

Trump may be the beginning of the end for ‘enshittification’ – this is our chance to make tech good again | Cory Doctorow The US president is weaponising tech, but his tariffs and Brexit provide a surprising opportunity to gain back digital control of our lives, says science fiction author, activist and journalist Cory D...

Trump may be the beginning of the end for ‘enshittification’ – this is our chance to make tech good again | Cory Doctorow www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A frame from The Trial by Orson Welles

A frame from The Trial by Orson Welles

A frame from The Trial by Orson Welles

A frame from The Trial by Orson Welles

The last time I saw The Trial by Orson Welles it was on VHS; the teenage me probably taped a late-night TV broadcast of a cropped, substandard print.
I saw it again last night. Wow. Every frame is a work of art, not least due to cinematographer Edmond Richard.
Here's a short 🧵of frames.
#cinema

The top 10% of richest Americans own 87% of stocks.

The top 1% alone own roughly half of all stocks.

It's worth pointing out once again that the stock market is not the economy.

We asked comedian @michaelspicer.bsky.social to respond to the opinion "Working with organised crime to improve health: a modest proposal" from our #BMJChristmas Issue 2025.

Read the opinion here: www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Egon Schiele's "Autumn Sun," from his collection, captures the stark beauty of bare trees set against a pale, atmospheric background. The painting evokes a sense of melancholy and introspection, characteristic of Schiele's exploration of form and emotion.

Autumn Sun, 1912
https://botfrens.com/collections/88/contents/25195

@aha-uk.bsky.social

doi.org/10.3310/GJJM...

The importance and challenge of seeing #alcohol as a health harming drug in the health system

Highlighting alcohol use in medication appointments with clinical pharmacists: the CHAMP-1 mixed methods research programme

French poster for THE HAUNTING (1963)

Directed by Robert Wise

Starring Julie Harris - BOTD in 1925

Does the 5 year clock on our mission to make real change in the (roiling cauldron of under-resourced, constantly re-disorganised, political football) NHS Start from now or two years ago?

A record?

www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/pgfar/GJJM1624
Highlighting alcohol use in medication appointments with clinical pharmacists: the CHAMP-1 mixed methods research programme.
Finally published 2 years after it was submitted.