Dave Andress
@davidandress.bsky.social
Historian of revolution, pessimistic anarchist. Nobody else wants these views, trust me. 'His real face is a hat' - Fern Riddell.
Reposted by Dave Andress
I’ve got a lot of questions but mainly why are you working out in jeans in a sauna.
February 18, 2026 at 8:37 AM
I’ve got a lot of questions but mainly why are you working out in jeans in a sauna.
Reposted by Dave Andress
Yeah I should really be clear - the Gender Affirmative Model (silent suffix... Of Psychotherapy) is mainly relevant to psychotherapists to get them to stop being transphobic. Whereas it doesn't have much to say about trans healthcare beyond stop controlling and hurting trans people.
Honestly the idea of a gender affirmative model is, in and of itself, a middle ground. The truth is mostly the thing that is handled is transphobia and its effects.
The gender affirmative model, like the Affirmative Model for homosexuality was arrived at when therapists noticed they were doing more harm than good by insisting on driving an agenda of correction rather than following a humanistic patient centred approach.
February 18, 2026 at 8:28 AM
Yeah I should really be clear - the Gender Affirmative Model (silent suffix... Of Psychotherapy) is mainly relevant to psychotherapists to get them to stop being transphobic. Whereas it doesn't have much to say about trans healthcare beyond stop controlling and hurting trans people.
Reposted by Dave Andress
That Goodwin would attract like-minded racists, bigots and neo-Nazi adjacent lowlifes was predictable.
That the BBC, Times, etc would entirely ignore this...was also predictable.
That the BBC, Times, etc would entirely ignore this...was also predictable.
February 17, 2026 at 9:03 PM
That Goodwin would attract like-minded racists, bigots and neo-Nazi adjacent lowlifes was predictable.
That the BBC, Times, etc would entirely ignore this...was also predictable.
That the BBC, Times, etc would entirely ignore this...was also predictable.
Imagine working in an institution so corrupt, so morally bankrupt, that the distinguished status of "emeritus professor" was a shield for sexual abuse.
'In an emergency briefing sent to all members, the University and College Union (UCU) branch at Oxford has warned that the university’s college-based system and use of emeritus professorships may be putting female colleagues at risk.' 1/2
Sexual misconduct at Oxford ‘fuelled by emeritus immunity’
Complex governance arrangements and lack of regulation of emeritus titles putting female colleagues at risk, says UCU report
www.timeshighereducation.com
February 18, 2026 at 8:35 AM
Imagine working in an institution so corrupt, so morally bankrupt, that the distinguished status of "emeritus professor" was a shield for sexual abuse.
Reposted by Dave Andress
This piece from @rpanchasi.bsky.social on the Rainbow Warrior bombing 40 years on is definitely worth your time.
And @rpanchasi.bsky.social on the Rainbow Warrior bombing 40 years on
doi.org/10.1093/fh/c...
🗃️ (6/7)
doi.org/10.1093/fh/c...
🗃️ (6/7)
On ne peut pas couler un arc-en-ciel: the Rainbow Warrior bombing at forty
The French bombing of the Rainbow Warrior on 10 July 1985 in Auckland, New Zealand needs no new introduction because it has already been introduced hundred
doi.org
February 18, 2026 at 8:34 AM
This piece from @rpanchasi.bsky.social on the Rainbow Warrior bombing 40 years on is definitely worth your time.
That is, indeed, what a Voluntary Severance Scheme is.
If only there were more places where that came as a novelty.
If only there were more places where that came as a novelty.
'If they choose to take up the Voluntary Severance Scheme, open to all academic staff in the School of Humanities and the School of Modern Languages, staff essentially make themselves redundant in return for a good pay-out.'
9 months' pay; 3 weeks to decide. 1/3
9 months' pay; 3 weeks to decide. 1/3
University of Bristol asks Humanities and Languages academic staff to voluntarily quit
Certain departments are being run into a ‘managed decline’, says Bristol UCU's co-President, as a new Voluntary Severance Scheme is announced.
epigram.org.uk
February 18, 2026 at 8:34 AM
That is, indeed, what a Voluntary Severance Scheme is.
If only there were more places where that came as a novelty.
If only there were more places where that came as a novelty.
Oops Vietnam.
I know that we don't like to talk very much about how the dismembering of European empires was one of the Americans' war goals in WW2, but it's startling to see the Americans completely forget that as well.
February 18, 2026 at 8:31 AM
Oops Vietnam.
Reposted by Dave Andress
Gosh I hope the techbros aren’t doing this it would be very sad if they started dying prematurely from taking hallucinated medical advice. 😱🤭
Counterpoint:
Don’t upload your medical records to any LLM.
That’s fucking insane.
Don’t upload your medical records to any LLM.
That’s fucking insane.
February 18, 2026 at 8:29 AM
Gosh I hope the techbros aren’t doing this it would be very sad if they started dying prematurely from taking hallucinated medical advice. 😱🤭
OK, yes, but, how will "labour market" data about what graduates from a particular university did in, say, 2026, really help a student planning to graduate in 2032?
Unless you assume that institutions have a fixed quota of jobbiness, and nothing around them ever changes...?
Unless you assume that institutions have a fixed quota of jobbiness, and nothing around them ever changes...?
February 18, 2026 at 8:25 AM
OK, yes, but, how will "labour market" data about what graduates from a particular university did in, say, 2026, really help a student planning to graduate in 2032?
Unless you assume that institutions have a fixed quota of jobbiness, and nothing around them ever changes...?
Unless you assume that institutions have a fixed quota of jobbiness, and nothing around them ever changes...?
War: what is it good for?
UK's BAE Systems posts better-than-expected 12% profit rise reut.rs/3MKTHSp
UK's BAE Systems posts better-than-expected 12% profit rise
BAE Systems , Britain's biggest defence contractor, reported a better-than-expected 12% rise in full-year operating profit to 3.32 billion pounds ($4.5 billion) as global demand swelled its order backlog to a record 83.6 billion pounds.
reut.rs
February 18, 2026 at 8:12 AM
War: what is it good for?
It's as if good wages are part of some kind of reward-scheme for being a Proper Grownup Now, and until you get there, you don't deserve them.
To appease bosses UK govt plan to increase youth minimum wage may be delayed.
Young workers pay full cost of essentials. Their output is not sold at a discount but are denied full minimum wage.
Govt can help. Adopt Scottish policies. Abolish uni fees, provide free bus travel for young people.
Young workers pay full cost of essentials. Their output is not sold at a discount but are denied full minimum wage.
Govt can help. Adopt Scottish policies. Abolish uni fees, provide free bus travel for young people.
Plan to increase youth minimum wage could be delayed
Government sources tell BBC News they could slow down plans to make minimum wage equal across age groups.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 18, 2026 at 8:11 AM
It's as if good wages are part of some kind of reward-scheme for being a Proper Grownup Now, and until you get there, you don't deserve them.
Reposted by Dave Andress
"literally the entire planet's electricity grid is going to convert to solar+battery"
I mean this constructively but I do not think this is a good way of understanding clean tech, because the messier but load-bearing stuff like wind, hydro, grids, demand reduction etc are being forgotten
I mean this constructively but I do not think this is a good way of understanding clean tech, because the messier but load-bearing stuff like wind, hydro, grids, demand reduction etc are being forgotten
The left tried for decades to pass green energy subsidies, passed them, the subsidies worked, and now literally the entire planet's electricity grid is going to convert to solar+battery. It just doesn't feel like "tech" because it mostly produces kinda boring blue collar jobs instead of billionaires
is there a technology that "the left" is excited about?
www.transformernews.ai/p/the-left-i...
www.transformernews.ai/p/the-left-i...
February 18, 2026 at 8:07 AM
"literally the entire planet's electricity grid is going to convert to solar+battery"
I mean this constructively but I do not think this is a good way of understanding clean tech, because the messier but load-bearing stuff like wind, hydro, grids, demand reduction etc are being forgotten
I mean this constructively but I do not think this is a good way of understanding clean tech, because the messier but load-bearing stuff like wind, hydro, grids, demand reduction etc are being forgotten
Reposted by Dave Andress
Always always take these people down to specifics. That's where they consistently fall apart.
"So will it be the same act but with a different label?"
Victoria Derbyshire humiliates Zia Yusuf on Reform UK's plan to scrap the Equalities Act, because, as she reads each of the things from the Equalities act he confirms they'll still be protected 🤷♂️
Victoria Derbyshire humiliates Zia Yusuf on Reform UK's plan to scrap the Equalities Act, because, as she reads each of the things from the Equalities act he confirms they'll still be protected 🤷♂️
February 18, 2026 at 7:15 AM
Always always take these people down to specifics. That's where they consistently fall apart.
Elon Musk & the Prince of Bonesaws paid tens of billions of dollars to turn Twitter into a firehose of fascist disinformation, and they clearly thought it was worth it.
If the right dominates the infosphere, if they can demonize any marginalized population they turn their eye on, then strategizing around *a current snapshot of public opinion* is almost definitionally misguided. They can change that opinion. Dems can't seem to, or won't try. All else is noise.
February 18, 2026 at 8:07 AM
Elon Musk & the Prince of Bonesaws paid tens of billions of dollars to turn Twitter into a firehose of fascist disinformation, and they clearly thought it was worth it.
Reposted by Dave Andress
This whole fight over transgender stuff happening on X is so weird to me. The most notable thing about trans issues in the last 5 years has been the enormous, coordinated anti-trans activism campaign across the right, aided by moral cowards in the center.
But that campaign is *never mentioned*.
But that campaign is *never mentioned*.
February 18, 2026 at 2:40 AM
This whole fight over transgender stuff happening on X is so weird to me. The most notable thing about trans issues in the last 5 years has been the enormous, coordinated anti-trans activism campaign across the right, aided by moral cowards in the center.
But that campaign is *never mentioned*.
But that campaign is *never mentioned*.
Reposted by Dave Andress
A shocking indictment of the intimidation and danger MPs now routinely experience.
The hostility routinely whipped up against "Westminster" and "politicians" has a real human cost.
The hostility routinely whipped up against "Westminster" and "politicians" has a real human cost.
...my team has to spend a reasonable part of their week trying to make sure none of us get murdered.
This also a greater burden for women, MPs of colour, LGBT MPs, so they effectively get less staff time to focus on what actually should matter...
6/?
This also a greater burden for women, MPs of colour, LGBT MPs, so they effectively get less staff time to focus on what actually should matter...
6/?
February 17, 2026 at 10:37 PM
A shocking indictment of the intimidation and danger MPs now routinely experience.
The hostility routinely whipped up against "Westminster" and "politicians" has a real human cost.
The hostility routinely whipped up against "Westminster" and "politicians" has a real human cost.
"Vote Nigel, end up getting a bed-bath from a conscripted teenager".
We told you so.
We told you so.
Training more Britons may not cut net migration or plug skills shortages, study finds
Local workers can be difficult to attract because of poor pay and conditions, say researchers
www.theguardian.com
February 18, 2026 at 8:03 AM
"Vote Nigel, end up getting a bed-bath from a conscripted teenager".
We told you so.
We told you so.
Reposted by Dave Andress
Adam Smith: "He seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chess–board."
Training more Britons may not cut net migration or plug skills shortages, study finds
Local workers can be difficult to attract because of poor pay and conditions, say researchers
www.theguardian.com
February 18, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Adam Smith: "He seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chess–board."
One of the interesting things about the deindustrialising North of England is the ongoing assumption that this never happened before, to anyone, and it's uniquely awful.
But, 200 years ago, competition from the industrialising North deindustrialised Norfolk.
But, 200 years ago, competition from the industrialising North deindustrialised Norfolk.
World History Connected | Vol. 15 No. 1 | Thomas Gidney: The World and a Small Place in England: Norwich's textile industry from the 'Middle Ages' to 'Industrial Revolution'
worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu
February 18, 2026 at 7:59 AM
One of the interesting things about the deindustrialising North of England is the ongoing assumption that this never happened before, to anyone, and it's uniquely awful.
But, 200 years ago, competition from the industrialising North deindustrialised Norfolk.
But, 200 years ago, competition from the industrialising North deindustrialised Norfolk.
Futile, wrong, morally bankrupt, and frankly wicked, at a level devoid of even internal logic, unless you really do start from the premise that harming Other People is a goal in itself.
"I the past three years, a group of Nigerian families has moved into the area. Most are employed as engineers or health and social care workers."
So Govt's main policy offer to this area is to try to kick these people out. Both futile and wrong.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
So Govt's main policy offer to this area is to try to kick these people out. Both futile and wrong.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Inside Horden, the County Durham town failed by politics
In Horden, County Durham, Westminster slogans have long been left unmet as the population has plummeted.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 18, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Futile, wrong, morally bankrupt, and frankly wicked, at a level devoid of even internal logic, unless you really do start from the premise that harming Other People is a goal in itself.
Reposted by Dave Andress
What always strikes me about interviews like the one here with Thiel is that the techbro billionaires’ fantasy world *skips right past* the very real problems faced by humanity now and in the coming decades.
They’re overgrown kids. Self-centred, arrogant kids.
Which is unfair on kids tbh.
They’re overgrown kids. Self-centred, arrogant kids.
Which is unfair on kids tbh.
d) most of these billionaires have taken strong actions in favor of the GOP and in many cases, directly against trans rights.
Thiel is one example. His interviews show how trans peoples' existence and willingness to actually change our bodies — all without eugenics or AI — disrupts their ideology.
Thiel is one example. His interviews show how trans peoples' existence and willingness to actually change our bodies — all without eugenics or AI — disrupts their ideology.
February 18, 2026 at 7:51 AM
What always strikes me about interviews like the one here with Thiel is that the techbro billionaires’ fantasy world *skips right past* the very real problems faced by humanity now and in the coming decades.
They’re overgrown kids. Self-centred, arrogant kids.
Which is unfair on kids tbh.
They’re overgrown kids. Self-centred, arrogant kids.
Which is unfair on kids tbh.
Pretty much anything that isn't controlled by a clique of psychotic billionaires, please...
is there a technology that "the left" is excited about?
www.transformernews.ai/p/the-left-i...
www.transformernews.ai/p/the-left-i...
The left is missing out on AI
As a movement, it has largely refused to engage seriously with AI, ceding debate about a threat and opportunity to the right
www.transformernews.ai
February 18, 2026 at 7:50 AM
Pretty much anything that isn't controlled by a clique of psychotic billionaires, please...
Reposted by Dave Andress
come on he can't look like that. You can't be buying the Pedo Ranch and look like a shaved Grinch who keeps showing up at Cindy Lou Who's place even when it isn't Christmas Eve.
Report: Texas Republican candidate Don Huffines owns Jeffrey Epstein’s Santa Fe ranch
https://heartlandsignal.com/2026/02/17/report-texas-republican-candidate-don-huffines-owns-jeffrey-epsteins-santa-fe-ranch/
https://heartlandsignal.com/2026/02/17/report-texas-republican-candidate-don-huffines-owns-jeffrey-epsteins-santa-fe-ranch/
Report: Texas Republican candidate Don Huffines owns Jeffrey Epstein’s Santa Fe ranch
A new report revealed that Donald Huffines, a Republican running in Texas’ Comptroller of Public Accounts race in 2026, is the owner of deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in Santa F...
heartlandsignal.com
February 17, 2026 at 7:57 PM
come on he can't look like that. You can't be buying the Pedo Ranch and look like a shaved Grinch who keeps showing up at Cindy Lou Who's place even when it isn't Christmas Eve.
Reposted by Dave Andress
“As the airplane took off, Epstein started touching me forcibly in between my legs, and I freaked out. I realized, this is not a modeling opportunity, I've been kidnapped. They whisked me away to the island. I was stuck there. They never arranged any modeling opportunities, I was completely conned."
Epstein survivor tells CBS News how she was trafficked, and assaulted
Juliette Bryant says not long after meeting Jeffrey Epstein, he assaulted her, and she realized, "this is not a modeling opportunity, I've been kidnapped."
www.aol.com
February 17, 2026 at 6:06 PM
“As the airplane took off, Epstein started touching me forcibly in between my legs, and I freaked out. I realized, this is not a modeling opportunity, I've been kidnapped. They whisked me away to the island. I was stuck there. They never arranged any modeling opportunities, I was completely conned."
Reposted by Dave Andress
Fact Check:
Nigel Farage claims the FT ignored the Mandelson-Epstein scandal
it was on the front page for SIX days
(long before he appears to have even noticed it)
Nigel Farage claims the FT ignored the Mandelson-Epstein scandal
it was on the front page for SIX days
(long before he appears to have even noticed it)
February 17, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Fact Check:
Nigel Farage claims the FT ignored the Mandelson-Epstein scandal
it was on the front page for SIX days
(long before he appears to have even noticed it)
Nigel Farage claims the FT ignored the Mandelson-Epstein scandal
it was on the front page for SIX days
(long before he appears to have even noticed it)