Les von Darrow
@lesvondarrow.bsky.social
"We pretend to work, they pretend to pay us."
Reposted by Les von Darrow
Striking a boat full of unarmed civilians is murder. The first strike was murder. The followup strike was also murder.
We're not at war. It's not a "war crime". Everyone involved, including the POTUS, SecDef, the Admiral who relayed it and the person who pressed the button needs to be on trial.
We're not at war. It's not a "war crime". Everyone involved, including the POTUS, SecDef, the Admiral who relayed it and the person who pressed the button needs to be on trial.
December 3, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Striking a boat full of unarmed civilians is murder. The first strike was murder. The followup strike was also murder.
We're not at war. It's not a "war crime". Everyone involved, including the POTUS, SecDef, the Admiral who relayed it and the person who pressed the button needs to be on trial.
We're not at war. It's not a "war crime". Everyone involved, including the POTUS, SecDef, the Admiral who relayed it and the person who pressed the button needs to be on trial.
Reposted by Les von Darrow
Say what you like about the National Trust: they look after their members.
National Trust launches fundraiser to help buy land around Cerne Giant
National Trust launches fundraiser to help buy land around Cerne Giant
Deal expected to pave way for further scientific study, boost conservation and open up access to Dorset chalk figure
The mystery of when, how and – perhaps most importantly – why a giant naked figure was carved into a dizzyingly steep hillside in the English West Country has been a source of wonder and intrigue for centuries.
Future generations may come closer to solving the puzzle of the Cerne Giant after the National Trust stepped in to buy 340 acres of land around the 55-metre (180ft) figure. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Say what you like about the National Trust: they look after their members.
Reposted by Les von Darrow
Only wire service journalists will comprehend the full horror contained in these two minutes.
December 1, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Only wire service journalists will comprehend the full horror contained in these two minutes.
Reposted by Les von Darrow
Structurally it's also interesting that, as the leak report also notes, the OBR has all these responsibilities but is about the scale of a small to medium-sized business, with a budget of £6.4mn and a team of 52 people, only six in what you'd call 'operations'. Not extending to a full IT department.
December 1, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Structurally it's also interesting that, as the leak report also notes, the OBR has all these responsibilities but is about the scale of a small to medium-sized business, with a budget of £6.4mn and a team of 52 people, only six in what you'd call 'operations'. Not extending to a full IT department.
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. But then God felt bored so He created Your Party so God could have a bit of a laugh.
Zarah Sultana boycotts first day of Your Party conference over 'witch hunt' expulsions
Zarah Sultana boycotts first day of Your Party conference over 'witch hunt' expulsions
Zarah Sultana has boycotted day one of the Your Party Conference over the expulsion of members of left-wing groups.
news.sky.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:39 PM
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. But then God felt bored so He created Your Party so God could have a bit of a laugh.
Reposted by Les von Darrow
a lot of words, none of them denying that Hegseth gave an order to kill helpless people who were stranded at sea after he blew up their boats
November 29, 2025 at 12:47 AM
a lot of words, none of them denying that Hegseth gave an order to kill helpless people who were stranded at sea after he blew up their boats
Me to middle child after getting home: Ok, your wet socks need to go in the laundry. Where are your socks?
Middle child: They’re in your hood.
Me: What?
Middle child removes a pair of wet socks from my hoodie hood.
Middle child: They’re in your hood.
Me: What?
Middle child removes a pair of wet socks from my hoodie hood.
a man with a mustache is saying that he is not even mad
ALT: a man with a mustache is saying that he is not even mad
media.tenor.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Me to middle child after getting home: Ok, your wet socks need to go in the laundry. Where are your socks?
Middle child: They’re in your hood.
Me: What?
Middle child removes a pair of wet socks from my hoodie hood.
Middle child: They’re in your hood.
Me: What?
Middle child removes a pair of wet socks from my hoodie hood.
Reposted by Les von Darrow
The guy shot two random people with a gun, I don't think you can say he wasn't assimilating into our culture
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 3:23 PM
The guy shot two random people with a gun, I don't think you can say he wasn't assimilating into our culture
Reposted by Les von Darrow
JK Rowling got a full *decade* of press as a martyr for being "cancelled" (declared passe by people online) and meanwhile nobody considers it very interesting that a prominent left wing author is basically banned from entering or publishing in the United Kingdom for her politics
so this is like, one of the biggest free speech infringements by a western democracy in our lifetimes right?
November 28, 2025 at 12:22 AM
JK Rowling got a full *decade* of press as a martyr for being "cancelled" (declared passe by people online) and meanwhile nobody considers it very interesting that a prominent left wing author is basically banned from entering or publishing in the United Kingdom for her politics
Not so bad. I was expecting four MPs and six factions.
November 28, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Not so bad. I was expecting four MPs and six factions.
Reposted by Les von Darrow
I think when this era is all said and done, what the history books are gonna show is that a stunning amount of elites gave themselves irreparable brain damage via the internet
November 27, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I think when this era is all said and done, what the history books are gonna show is that a stunning amount of elites gave themselves irreparable brain damage via the internet
Reposted by Les von Darrow
Die Hard is indeed a Christmas movie, but It’s a Wonderful Life is a Financial Stability movie and A Christmas Story is a film about Reflationary Military Keynesianism.
December 21, 2024 at 5:42 PM
Die Hard is indeed a Christmas movie, but It’s a Wonderful Life is a Financial Stability movie and A Christmas Story is a film about Reflationary Military Keynesianism.
Reposted by Les von Darrow
Reposted by Les von Darrow
Today's migration stats illustrate the migration doom loop in action...
(from my presentation at the IMF last week)
(from my presentation at the IMF last week)
November 27, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Today's migration stats illustrate the migration doom loop in action...
(from my presentation at the IMF last week)
(from my presentation at the IMF last week)
Reposted by Les von Darrow
Reposted by Les von Darrow
Incredible to think it’s nearly nine years since Arsenal lost 10-2 to Bayern. I went to both of those legs, the team & indeed the whole club were a mess. Everything was futile, joyless & shallow. Fans ran on to the pitch to protest against the owners (rightly).
Arteta’s turnaround is miraculous.
Arteta’s turnaround is miraculous.
November 27, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Incredible to think it’s nearly nine years since Arsenal lost 10-2 to Bayern. I went to both of those legs, the team & indeed the whole club were a mess. Everything was futile, joyless & shallow. Fans ran on to the pitch to protest against the owners (rightly).
Arteta’s turnaround is miraculous.
Arteta’s turnaround is miraculous.
These are just incredible stats
40% possession leading to 2.72 xG and 8 big chances.
Right now there’s no way we can’t play.
Right now there’s no way we can’t play.
November 26, 2025 at 9:58 PM
These are just incredible stats
Reposted by Les von Darrow
the genAI bubble relies on you conflating the genuinely tremendous potential of using machine learning for e.g. image recognition in radiotherapy, protein folding, simulations in power systems etc with the child abuse image generators and schizophrenic delusions generators
People on BlueSky: AI is useless! A stochastic parrot!
Mathematicians/biologists/physicists: It is already helping us do frontier technical research and in some cases solve open problems arxiv.org/pdf/2511.16072
(There are of course, as always, many caveats, but the paper is genuinely remarkable)
Mathematicians/biologists/physicists: It is already helping us do frontier technical research and in some cases solve open problems arxiv.org/pdf/2511.16072
(There are of course, as always, many caveats, but the paper is genuinely remarkable)
arxiv.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:11 PM
the genAI bubble relies on you conflating the genuinely tremendous potential of using machine learning for e.g. image recognition in radiotherapy, protein folding, simulations in power systems etc with the child abuse image generators and schizophrenic delusions generators
Counterpoint: the forecasts will definitely be wrong one way or another. A surefire way to increase the chance they will be wrong on the downside rather than the upside is to frontload a bunch of fiscal consolidation. Upside surprise to the forecasts and you can take away some of that pain.
The government’s spending plans are “25-27: spending increases, 27-29: paaaain” which, uh…the election is 2028-9!
November 26, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Counterpoint: the forecasts will definitely be wrong one way or another. A surefire way to increase the chance they will be wrong on the downside rather than the upside is to frontload a bunch of fiscal consolidation. Upside surprise to the forecasts and you can take away some of that pain.
Reposted by Les von Darrow
Full endorsement of this take from an FX guy. Stablecoins are best thought of as derivatives on the dollar with massive embedded counterparty risk. I don't understand why the US policy establishment thinks these things will play a big role outside cross-border payments in developing countries.
So currencies. Much medium of exchange. Very store of value.
Stablecoins are no more a replacement for dollars than Mexican or Argentine pesos were a replacement for dollars in the 1980s or 1990s. They're the equivalent of a fixed exchange rate peg with ever-present credibility/reserves questions.
Stablecoins are no more a replacement for dollars than Mexican or Argentine pesos were a replacement for dollars in the 1980s or 1990s. They're the equivalent of a fixed exchange rate peg with ever-present credibility/reserves questions.
November 26, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Full endorsement of this take from an FX guy. Stablecoins are best thought of as derivatives on the dollar with massive embedded counterparty risk. I don't understand why the US policy establishment thinks these things will play a big role outside cross-border payments in developing countries.
Reposted by Les von Darrow
'bRiTaIn NeEdS An ImF bAiLoUt' latest
U.K 30 YEAR GILT YIELD DOWN 9.8 BPS TO 5.23%, IN BIGGEST ONE DAY FALL SINCE APRIL
November 26, 2025 at 4:17 PM
'bRiTaIn NeEdS An ImF bAiLoUt' latest
Reposted by Les von Darrow
This is the type of hater energy that will fuel us in the years ahead.
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 1:42 PM
This is the type of hater energy that will fuel us in the years ahead.
Reposted by Les von Darrow
If this had been a set of company results, pretty much the entire investor relations department would have been fined out banned from the industry by now. I know it isn't a set of a company results, but it actually is possible to do these things without leaking
lol here’s the full OBR book someone pressed publish early here’s the budget obr.uk/docs/dlm_upl...
obr.uk
November 26, 2025 at 11:58 AM
If this had been a set of company results, pretty much the entire investor relations department would have been fined out banned from the industry by now. I know it isn't a set of a company results, but it actually is possible to do these things without leaking
Reposted by Les von Darrow
Kash Patel: Liverpool
Zohran Mamdani: Arsenal
Nuff said.
Zohran Mamdani: Arsenal
Nuff said.
This modern adaptation is a little bit on the nose now
November 26, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Kash Patel: Liverpool
Zohran Mamdani: Arsenal
Nuff said.
Zohran Mamdani: Arsenal
Nuff said.
Reposted by Les von Darrow
In the early 80s, millions of people who'd risked their lives to defeat Hitler, and lost friends and family in the struggle, were still around.
Farage has been spitting on them his whole life.
Farage has been spitting on them his whole life.
Just for context, in the early 80s, saying stuff like ‘Hitler was right’ wasn’t the kind of eye-roll stuff you see on a daily basis online (and in mainstream US politics) today, it was a kind of terrorist level of political extremist view.
new allegation concerning Farage’s behaviour when he was 18 years old
November 26, 2025 at 10:12 AM
In the early 80s, millions of people who'd risked their lives to defeat Hitler, and lost friends and family in the struggle, were still around.
Farage has been spitting on them his whole life.
Farage has been spitting on them his whole life.