Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
@rbarretttaylor.bsky.social
Turing Institute Research Fellow. PhD critical of targeting processes, intelligence production and the software they rely on from Sussex University. Bowel cancer survivor. All views my own.
Pinned
The reductive nature of military process - Digital War
Modern warfare is a reductive pursuit shaped by digital technologies that promise an idealised, precise conflict. Martial cultures aspire to hyper-surveillance systems driven by advanced technologies ...
doi.org
I finally have a peer-reviewed publication to my name! I'd appreciate it if you all would be kind enough to read and share. I'm trying to comment on the reductive nature of the 'apex' form of techno-process driven war that seems to be the limit of martial imagination.
doi.org/10.1057/s429...
doi.org/10.1057/s429...
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The cross-partisan delegitimation of human rights in Britain by Labour and Tory and then Reform has been an absolute disaster and handed an open goal to the far right.
The transphobes at the top of the “Labour” Party are, more than most, responsible for making Reform’s rights-stripping agenda possible.
Keir Starmer,
Wes Streeting,
Shabana Mahmoud,
Bridget Philippson,
Yvette Cooper
and all those who failed to speak up against Labour’s transphobia.
Keir Starmer,
Wes Streeting,
Shabana Mahmoud,
Bridget Philippson,
Yvette Cooper
and all those who failed to speak up against Labour’s transphobia.
February 19, 2026 at 10:04 AM
👇
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
Guy who filmed that RFK Kid Rock video 👖🥛
February 19, 2026 at 9:23 AM
Guy who filmed that RFK Kid Rock video 👖🥛
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
a thing we know, or think we know, is that the US is pretty good at fighting modern wars.
we really do not know much about how good China is at fighting wars and- critically- neither does China
we really do not know much about how good China is at fighting wars and- critically- neither does China
Ehhh, China would destroy the US in a war now. We’d run out of ships in a month and missiles in 3. A soft, anti-intellectual, consumerist populace is not equipped to fight China.
February 18, 2026 at 7:43 PM
a thing we know, or think we know, is that the US is pretty good at fighting modern wars.
we really do not know much about how good China is at fighting wars and- critically- neither does China
we really do not know much about how good China is at fighting wars and- critically- neither does China
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
"We can only pity the officer who imbibes purely these pedantic platitudes and must face an opponent whose thinking has been whetted by critical analysis of actual strategic problems."
From my latest: open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
From my latest: open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
Clausewitz on the Very Bad Ideas to Reform the War Colleges
An Opportunity to Expose Errors and Discuss How One Can Gain Experience From Books
open.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 7:39 PM
"We can only pity the officer who imbibes purely these pedantic platitudes and must face an opponent whose thinking has been whetted by critical analysis of actual strategic problems."
From my latest: open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
From my latest: open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
[to the tune of Love Shack] Blood Work
February 18, 2026 at 6:43 PM
[to the tune of Love Shack] Blood Work
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
A great power model anchored on the era when the US was at the height of its dominance in the 1980s and 1990s is also not intellectually structured to cope with the geopolitical consequences of EU integration
This should be a surprise to no-one, but there was shock across the Atlantic when Europe moved both to act collectively against the US's Greenland threat, forcing the US to back off, and towards China. It's as if the Trump admin don't understand how power works in international politics.
February 18, 2026 at 1:13 PM
A great power model anchored on the era when the US was at the height of its dominance in the 1980s and 1990s is also not intellectually structured to cope with the geopolitical consequences of EU integration
I’m sorry an AI driven productivity boom in what?
📊 The Fed Minutes drop today — and markets want to know if policymakers see an AI‑driven productivity boom coming. We break down what’s at stake on Reuters Morning Bid reut.rs/3Mk4DX3
Changing of Lagarde
Christine Lagarde is reportedly considering an early exit as president of the European Central Bank.
reut.rs
February 18, 2026 at 11:38 AM
I’m sorry an AI driven productivity boom in what?
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
People talk about this stuff in terms of how much it'll suck for gaming and I hate to inform you how many MRI machines, X-Rays, all sorts of other vital machinery are just a Windows IoT Edition PC in a beige plastic box with a big magnet/accelerator/whatever attached.
WD and Seagate confirm: Hard drives for 2026 sold out
WD and Seagate confirm: Hard drives for 2026 sold out
Hyperscalers are tearing hard drives out of the hands of manufacturers. Prices are therefore also rising for SSDs.
www.heise.de
February 17, 2026 at 9:12 PM
People talk about this stuff in terms of how much it'll suck for gaming and I hate to inform you how many MRI machines, X-Rays, all sorts of other vital machinery are just a Windows IoT Edition PC in a beige plastic box with a big magnet/accelerator/whatever attached.
Slow off the mark but this is excellent. What we think of as norms of violence production are not really norms, and the ongoing reconfiguration of the state relationship with violence is changing those norms again.
BLOOD WORK / EPISODE 19
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE w/ PATRICK WYMAN
@patrickwyman.bsky.social
Prompted by a meditation on mercenaries, Gregk consults the henchest man in history to discuss ancient means of violence work and whether our current conjuncture is really a rupture or a return to form.
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE w/ PATRICK WYMAN
@patrickwyman.bsky.social
Prompted by a meditation on mercenaries, Gregk consults the henchest man in history to discuss ancient means of violence work and whether our current conjuncture is really a rupture or a return to form.
A History of Violence w/ Patrick Wyman | Blood Work
Get more from Blood Work on Patreon
www.patreon.com
February 17, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Slow off the mark but this is excellent. What we think of as norms of violence production are not really norms, and the ongoing reconfiguration of the state relationship with violence is changing those norms again.
That the banking sector is taking this sort of threat seriously should be a wake up call for defence @warmatters.bsky.social
An age of insecurity reflected in so many stories today... sometimes tipping over into fear... starting with a story that I first heard last year, fears for other economies if a Trump administration tampered with payment systems... www.theguardian.com/business/202...
UK bank bosses plan to set up Visa and Mastercard alternative amid Trump fears
Exclusive: First meeting to be held over domestic payments system aimed at reducing reliance on US networks
www.theguardian.com
February 17, 2026 at 7:58 AM
That the banking sector is taking this sort of threat seriously should be a wake up call for defence @warmatters.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
It's also just not evident based. For all the evidence Cass had tried to amass, this speculation that kids who might have ceased being trans are being frozen in time rather than helped to develop their growing minds, identity and agency by exploring and expressing it actively has zero evidence.
Pure moral panic. How, precisely, would a child who experiments with a different haircut or pronouns get “locked in” to a trans identity?
The parents who had no problem letting her identify as trans suddenly restrict her from identifying as cis? It makes no sense.
The parents who had no problem letting her identify as trans suddenly restrict her from identifying as cis? It makes no sense.
"if they socially transition too early we think they can get locked onto a trajectory that may not have been the correct natural trajectory for them"
Direct quote.
Direct quote.
February 16, 2026 at 5:01 PM
It's also just not evident based. For all the evidence Cass had tried to amass, this speculation that kids who might have ceased being trans are being frozen in time rather than helped to develop their growing minds, identity and agency by exploring and expressing it actively has zero evidence.
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
This is how you live a life
February 17, 2026 at 2:32 AM
This is how you live a life
Add that to the list of things to worry about when driving
A Haaretz investigation has found that at least three Israeli cyber companies are currently operating in #CARINT; one has developed an "offensive" tool that can potentially tap into your 🚗car's microphones and cameras.
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
February 17, 2026 at 6:36 AM
Add that to the list of things to worry about when driving
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
It’s kinda funny how these guys really want safe spaces, sounds kinda woke if you ask me
February 16, 2026 at 5:06 PM
It’s kinda funny how these guys really want safe spaces, sounds kinda woke if you ask me
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
It doesn't matter if decades of attempting to pray or torture the gay out of people didn't work - surely this is completely different and on the right side of history
Hilary Cass here arguing for children to be prevented from being known by a preferred name or getting a haircut in case it encourages them to continue later in life to transition.
Hilary Cass acts like gender variant children should have the transness hazed out of them.
Hilary Cass acts like gender variant children should have the transness hazed out of them.
February 16, 2026 at 6:21 PM
It doesn't matter if decades of attempting to pray or torture the gay out of people didn't work - surely this is completely different and on the right side of history
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
It's galling to contemplate but I really think you have to admit that Musk buying X was an unqualified victory. It can't be exaggerated just how much prominent journalists, pundits, business type, etc. mistake the vibe on X for "how the country is feeling."
February 15, 2026 at 8:50 PM
It's galling to contemplate but I really think you have to admit that Musk buying X was an unqualified victory. It can't be exaggerated just how much prominent journalists, pundits, business type, etc. mistake the vibe on X for "how the country is feeling."
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
One of the most bizarre things you'll see on a policy level in London is watching influential British figures flaunting myths of UK geopolitical power to EU or US counterparts that are in reality falling apart due to lack of funding and focus
And another bites the dust?
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Guardian view on the BBC World Service: this is London calling | Editorial
Editorial: With just seven weeks before its funding runs out, the UK’s greatest cultural asset and most trusted international news organisation must be supported
www.theguardian.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:22 PM
One of the most bizarre things you'll see on a policy level in London is watching influential British figures flaunting myths of UK geopolitical power to EU or US counterparts that are in reality falling apart due to lack of funding and focus
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
I suspect I may have some opinions to share about this next book I’m reading.
February 14, 2026 at 3:38 PM
I suspect I may have some opinions to share about this next book I’m reading.
If this is really about ISIS (which of course it isn’t) he’s not going to be any safer anywhere else is he? What a stupid narrative. Also he remains a massive pillock.
Fighting age man flees his homeland to seek asylum on overcrowded island.
February 14, 2026 at 12:55 PM
If this is really about ISIS (which of course it isn’t) he’s not going to be any safer anywhere else is he? What a stupid narrative. Also he remains a massive pillock.
Does anyone really still think that conscription is NOT going to be part of the future British Army?
February 14, 2026 at 12:51 PM
Does anyone really still think that conscription is NOT going to be part of the future British Army?
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
“All providers go through a rigorous, competitive procurement process in line with Government legislation”
Except when it is the MOD and they don’t go to competition and Palantir secured a £240m tender.
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Except when it is the MOD and they don’t go to competition and Palantir secured a £240m tender.
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
NHS deal with AI firm Palantir called into question after officials’ concerns revealed
Exclusive: in 2025 briefing to Wes Streeting, officials warned reputation of tech firm behind US ICE operations would hinder rollout of data system in UK
www.theguardian.com
February 14, 2026 at 11:49 AM
“All providers go through a rigorous, competitive procurement process in line with Government legislation”
Except when it is the MOD and they don’t go to competition and Palantir secured a £240m tender.
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Except when it is the MOD and they don’t go to competition and Palantir secured a £240m tender.
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Reposted by Dr Rupert Barrett-Taylor
Totally. If there’s one lesson of recent times, it might be that rushed appointments come back to bite you.
A govt which was serious would not rush to make any such significant appointment, without thorough due diligence.
Antonia Romeo is the wrong choice for Cabinet secretary. A government which was serious about improving its performance would not select her.
iandunt.substack.com/p/how-one-hi...
iandunt.substack.com/p/how-one-hi...
February 14, 2026 at 9:57 AM
Totally. If there’s one lesson of recent times, it might be that rushed appointments come back to bite you.