Iain Alexander
@iaingalexander.bsky.social
That’s actually the plot of Hotel California by the Eagles. Where have you been, Clive?
Reposted by Iain Alexander
I put together a list of peer-reviewed critiques of The Cass Review, which itself was not peer-reviewed. The media completely ignores these. I’ve been in academia since 1999 & never seen anything as widely criticized as Cass.
It is a media/propaganda event, not an academic/scientific one.
It is a media/propaganda event, not an academic/scientific one.
Peer-reviewed critiques of The Cass Review
(In chronological order of publication) Horton, C (2024) The Cass Review: Cis-supremacy in the UK’s approach to healthcare for trans childre...
uncommon-scents.blogspot.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:21 AM
I put together a list of peer-reviewed critiques of The Cass Review, which itself was not peer-reviewed. The media completely ignores these. I’ve been in academia since 1999 & never seen anything as widely criticized as Cass.
It is a media/propaganda event, not an academic/scientific one.
It is a media/propaganda event, not an academic/scientific one.
Reposted by Iain Alexander
What I remember is being told, at great length and maximum pomposity, that Mandelson was the perfect choice for US Ambassador under Trump because he was just as much of a shady bastard as Trump, and would be able to talk on his wavelength, by many of the people now acting brand new about all this.
Peston here, pretending not to know Mandelson had been advising Sir Kier since the late 2010s. the media class determined to help Sir Kier cut Mandelson loose to obscure their own malfeasance.
February 3, 2026 at 7:03 PM
What I remember is being told, at great length and maximum pomposity, that Mandelson was the perfect choice for US Ambassador under Trump because he was just as much of a shady bastard as Trump, and would be able to talk on his wavelength, by many of the people now acting brand new about all this.
Reposted by Iain Alexander
Reminder that "jaywalking" was literally made up by american car manufacturers to shift the blame for accidents from drivers to pedestrians. "Jay" was a slang term meaning "idiot" or "rube".
“Jaywalking is permitted in London. In 1966, the police tried to crack down on it, but gave up after three months.”
People walk and cycle on roads by right, people drive under licence.
Jaywalking is not a thing in English law and Waymo must not change that.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
People walk and cycle on roads by right, people drive under licence.
Jaywalking is not a thing in English law and Waymo must not change that.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Self-driving taxis are coming to London – should we be worried? | Jack Stilgoe
Waymo’s cars were first rolled out in San Francisco, but the English capital’s old roads, pelican crossings and jaywalkers may pose issues for AI, says science and technology professor Jack Stilgoe
www.theguardian.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:21 PM
Reminder that "jaywalking" was literally made up by american car manufacturers to shift the blame for accidents from drivers to pedestrians. "Jay" was a slang term meaning "idiot" or "rube".
Yeah, only one video, don’t know a whole heap about her, but this is weak stuff.
Rebuilding community is fine as far as it goes, but more ambition please. Mobilise people to demand better, not to do things themselves and provide cover for those who should be responsible.
Rebuilding community is fine as far as it goes, but more ambition please. Mobilise people to demand better, not to do things themselves and provide cover for those who should be responsible.
I couldn't hate this more. The idea that we 'get our country back' or fix the state by volunteering to do the things the state should provide is braindead liberal nonsense.
Does she really think this will hit with Reform voters? It's just about dumb liberals smelling their own farts.
Does she really think this will hit with Reform voters? It's just about dumb liberals smelling their own farts.
January 30, 2026 at 11:44 PM
Yeah, only one video, don’t know a whole heap about her, but this is weak stuff.
Rebuilding community is fine as far as it goes, but more ambition please. Mobilise people to demand better, not to do things themselves and provide cover for those who should be responsible.
Rebuilding community is fine as far as it goes, but more ambition please. Mobilise people to demand better, not to do things themselves and provide cover for those who should be responsible.
Reposted by Iain Alexander
Excited for this new AI movie about the founding of Aamereedd.
January 29, 2026 at 11:14 PM
Excited for this new AI movie about the founding of Aamereedd.
Reposted by Iain Alexander
January 29, 2026 at 8:49 PM
Fucking business Joe 90 here static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/i...
January 29, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Fucking business Joe 90 here static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/i...
Big test here of whether BlueSky is watching this utter bilge
Due to budget cuts, Tim doesn’t get a camera crew with him while he’s out on the tasks, so he’s got to record it all himself on those outrageous specs #TheApprentice
January 29, 2026 at 9:06 PM
Big test here of whether BlueSky is watching this utter bilge
Due to budget cuts, Tim doesn’t get a camera crew with him while he’s out on the tasks, so he’s got to record it all himself on those outrageous specs #TheApprentice
January 29, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Due to budget cuts, Tim doesn’t get a camera crew with him while he’s out on the tasks, so he’s got to record it all himself on those outrageous specs #TheApprentice
Reposted by Iain Alexander
Either you're happy for people to be killed and injured to save you a couple of minutes on your journey, or you're not. The evidence that LTNs and 20mph zones save lives is overwhelming.
January 29, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Either you're happy for people to be killed and injured to save you a couple of minutes on your journey, or you're not. The evidence that LTNs and 20mph zones save lives is overwhelming.
Reposted by Iain Alexander
This situation did not fall upon Britain out of a clear blue sky, it was willed into being over at least seven years of very hard graft by important people across multiple organisations. Do none of them now have anything to say about it beyond it all being a bit tricky?
January 29, 2026 at 3:08 PM
This situation did not fall upon Britain out of a clear blue sky, it was willed into being over at least seven years of very hard graft by important people across multiple organisations. Do none of them now have anything to say about it beyond it all being a bit tricky?
Reposted by Iain Alexander
Private Eye have, incidentally, never apologized to anywhere near the extent necessary for their role in promoting this.
I don't exaggerate when I say that Andrew Wakefield should be tried for mass murder. We'll never know how many people have died or will die as a direct result of his fraudulent study.
This is the large domino, with the small domino being some random quack in the UK in 1998 trying to undermine the existing MMR vaccine so his business partner can swoop in with his own. Instead he lost his work credentials and now kids are dying needlessly all over the world, so great job everyone.
January 28, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Private Eye have, incidentally, never apologized to anywhere near the extent necessary for their role in promoting this.
Reposted by Iain Alexander
One more thing. The main drive to ban social media for under-16s comes from a fear of regulating it properly *for adults*. That's a fear of the tech-bros and their power. Governments are more willing to regulate kids than techbros.
January 28, 2026 at 4:28 PM
One more thing. The main drive to ban social media for under-16s comes from a fear of regulating it properly *for adults*. That's a fear of the tech-bros and their power. Governments are more willing to regulate kids than techbros.
Succinct and spot-on from @paulbernal.bsky.social.
Related: the sort of low-quality debate we see around this topic is exactly why, while having enormous sympathy for people suffering grief and trauma, we shouldn’t let their interpretation of their experience fundamentally shape policy discussion!
Related: the sort of low-quality debate we see around this topic is exactly why, while having enormous sympathy for people suffering grief and trauma, we shouldn’t let their interpretation of their experience fundamentally shape policy discussion!
January 28, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Succinct and spot-on from @paulbernal.bsky.social.
Related: the sort of low-quality debate we see around this topic is exactly why, while having enormous sympathy for people suffering grief and trauma, we shouldn’t let their interpretation of their experience fundamentally shape policy discussion!
Related: the sort of low-quality debate we see around this topic is exactly why, while having enormous sympathy for people suffering grief and trauma, we shouldn’t let their interpretation of their experience fundamentally shape policy discussion!
Reposted by Iain Alexander
there is a post from the US gov 'department of war' on here that includes video of them actually murdering people and threatening to murder more people & it's been up since november
Yeah. The Bluesky app has a zero tolerance policy towards wishing death on people.
January 27, 2026 at 10:31 PM
there is a post from the US gov 'department of war' on here that includes video of them actually murdering people and threatening to murder more people & it's been up since november
To add to the below, Ben Smoke over on X has produced the attached articulate thread.
Karen Pollock invokes the sanctity of Holocaust Memorial Day while directly contradicting the HMD organisation’s own statement of the purpose of the day.
She is not fit for purpose.
Karen Pollock invokes the sanctity of Holocaust Memorial Day while directly contradicting the HMD organisation’s own statement of the purpose of the day.
She is not fit for purpose.
January 28, 2026 at 7:42 AM
To add to the below, Ben Smoke over on X has produced the attached articulate thread.
Karen Pollock invokes the sanctity of Holocaust Memorial Day while directly contradicting the HMD organisation’s own statement of the purpose of the day.
She is not fit for purpose.
Karen Pollock invokes the sanctity of Holocaust Memorial Day while directly contradicting the HMD organisation’s own statement of the purpose of the day.
She is not fit for purpose.
Reposted by Iain Alexander
I don't know guys, I suspect the best way to honor holocaust victims and safeguard its historical memory may not be to split hairs about which victims count in order to downwardly revise the death count by millions of people. Sounds kind of obscene, actually. Just my opinion though.
January 28, 2026 at 4:57 AM
I don't know guys, I suspect the best way to honor holocaust victims and safeguard its historical memory may not be to split hairs about which victims count in order to downwardly revise the death count by millions of people. Sounds kind of obscene, actually. Just my opinion though.
Reposted by Iain Alexander
In 1933, two months after the Enabling Act, one of very first Nazi state book burnings and pogroms was the Institute for Sexual Science, the world’s first clinic offering gender affirming surgery.
So, Karen Pollock CBE, I mean this in the most insulting way possible: You are a shanda far die goyim.
So, Karen Pollock CBE, I mean this in the most insulting way possible: You are a shanda far die goyim.
January 28, 2026 at 1:14 AM
In 1933, two months after the Enabling Act, one of very first Nazi state book burnings and pogroms was the Institute for Sexual Science, the world’s first clinic offering gender affirming surgery.
So, Karen Pollock CBE, I mean this in the most insulting way possible: You are a shanda far die goyim.
So, Karen Pollock CBE, I mean this in the most insulting way possible: You are a shanda far die goyim.
Reposted by Iain Alexander
however, sadly, the paper pitches this as a "trust issue" but people are right now to trust this stuff! Also complete failure to recognise that tools need to be worthy of trust, not that people should give their trust more freely
January 28, 2026 at 6:49 AM
however, sadly, the paper pitches this as a "trust issue" but people are right now to trust this stuff! Also complete failure to recognise that tools need to be worthy of trust, not that people should give their trust more freely
Reposted by Iain Alexander
Sorry if you’re a liberal and pay attention to any politics or news then it’s actually impossible to stay in a bubble. Every single media ecosystem is centre to hard right in the UK and the US. There are no “safe spaces” anymore
January 27, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Sorry if you’re a liberal and pay attention to any politics or news then it’s actually impossible to stay in a bubble. Every single media ecosystem is centre to hard right in the UK and the US. There are no “safe spaces” anymore
Reposted by Iain Alexander
I consume so many podcasts, films, and TV shows, and read so much journalism, but am shamefully poor at actually picking up, let alone completing, the many books I buy with the best of intentions.
Decided this is the year to deliberately carve out time and do something about that…
Decided this is the year to deliberately carve out time and do something about that…
January 26, 2026 at 1:31 PM
I consume so many podcasts, films, and TV shows, and read so much journalism, but am shamefully poor at actually picking up, let alone completing, the many books I buy with the best of intentions.
Decided this is the year to deliberately carve out time and do something about that…
Decided this is the year to deliberately carve out time and do something about that…
Reposted by Iain Alexander
We're absolutely not mad about people "changing their opinions". We're mad that people continue to profit from their supposedly excellent analytical skills whilst steadfastly refusing to develop any sense of what the fundamental flaws in their thinking might be.
January 26, 2026 at 11:27 AM
We're absolutely not mad about people "changing their opinions". We're mad that people continue to profit from their supposedly excellent analytical skills whilst steadfastly refusing to develop any sense of what the fundamental flaws in their thinking might be.
Reposted by Iain Alexander
This really sounds fine in the abstract. But the specific people "changing their mind" that we're mad about earn enormous salaries on the basis of their opinions, and none are considering why or how they were wrong, and barely even conceding they that they were.
Bluesky idea: if people who didn't agree with you change their opinions so that they do agree with you, why not be happy that you are making progress - rather than complaining that they are "only just catching up"?
January 26, 2026 at 11:25 AM
This really sounds fine in the abstract. But the specific people "changing their mind" that we're mad about earn enormous salaries on the basis of their opinions, and none are considering why or how they were wrong, and barely even conceding they that they were.
Once again, louder for the hard of thinking: BBC News is long past fit for purpose.
Glue factory, now.
Glue factory, now.
BBC Verify have *finally*, at 13:56 - almost a full 9 hours after their first reports - posted an analysis of the widely available video footage.
Yet their summary continues to “both sides” the event, repeating Trump Admin lines without summarising outcome of the Verify analysis
Yet their summary continues to “both sides” the event, repeating Trump Admin lines without summarising outcome of the Verify analysis
January 25, 2026 at 8:51 PM
Once again, louder for the hard of thinking: BBC News is long past fit for purpose.
Glue factory, now.
Glue factory, now.