Dr Simon Ubsdell
@simonubsdell.bsky.social
Still raging about the abject moral abomination of Brexitism. Things I rage about less: Herodotus/5thc Athens, mograph/VFX, music.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Code is a liability (not an asset). Tech bosses don’t understand this. They think AI is great because it produces 10,000 times more code than a programmer, but that just means it’s producing 10,000 times more liabilities. AI is the asbestos we’re shoveling into the walls of our high-tech society
Code is a liability (not an asset)
AI psychosis, tech boss edition.
doctorow.medium.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Code is a liability (not an asset). Tech bosses don’t understand this. They think AI is great because it produces 10,000 times more code than a programmer, but that just means it’s producing 10,000 times more liabilities. AI is the asbestos we’re shoveling into the walls of our high-tech society
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
The threat to shut X in the UK is a threat to the whole far right ecosystem.
They're going to throw everything at stopping it because they know it would cause them almost irreparable damage.
That's not the case for more moderate voices on left and right who have choices..
They're going to throw everything at stopping it because they know it would cause them almost irreparable damage.
That's not the case for more moderate voices on left and right who have choices..
January 10, 2026 at 3:42 PM
The threat to shut X in the UK is a threat to the whole far right ecosystem.
They're going to throw everything at stopping it because they know it would cause them almost irreparable damage.
That's not the case for more moderate voices on left and right who have choices..
They're going to throw everything at stopping it because they know it would cause them almost irreparable damage.
That's not the case for more moderate voices on left and right who have choices..
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
A woman recording an ICE agent tells him "Shame on you."
The agent responds, "Have you all not learned from the past couple of days?"
"Learned what?" she asks
Then he knocks her phone out of her hand
The agent responds, "Have you all not learned from the past couple of days?"
"Learned what?" she asks
Then he knocks her phone out of her hand
January 10, 2026 at 2:52 PM
A woman recording an ICE agent tells him "Shame on you."
The agent responds, "Have you all not learned from the past couple of days?"
"Learned what?" she asks
Then he knocks her phone out of her hand
The agent responds, "Have you all not learned from the past couple of days?"
"Learned what?" she asks
Then he knocks her phone out of her hand
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
@kamalaharris.com told us exactly what would happen.
Kamala Harris at her closing campaign rally:
"Donald Trump intends to use the United States Military against American citizens who simply disagree with him."
"Donald Trump intends to use the United States Military against American citizens who simply disagree with him."
January 10, 2026 at 3:29 PM
@kamalaharris.com told us exactly what would happen.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
How is this still happening?!? bsky.app/profile/pete...
Ah here. The 10 o’clock news on BBV Radio 4 is leading with ‘JD Vance has described a woman shot dead by an ICE officer in Minnesota as a deranged leftist carrying out a terrorist attack’
This is not public service broadcasting
This is not public service broadcasting
So far the BBC’s coverage of the Minnesota killing seems really, really off
Get Verify to verify what happened - NYT, Bellingcat etc already have - and report that
Get Verify to verify what happened - NYT, Bellingcat etc already have - and report that
January 10, 2026 at 8:53 AM
How is this still happening?!? bsky.app/profile/pete...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
The BBC is doing it again. On both the Radio 3 & Radio 6 news it reported Vance's story about that video of Renee Good's murder and denials of it, without telling us the facts. It should have the same approach to weather forecasting: "some say it'll rain, some say it won't. Who can tell, eh?"
January 10, 2026 at 8:48 AM
The BBC is doing it again. On both the Radio 3 & Radio 6 news it reported Vance's story about that video of Renee Good's murder and denials of it, without telling us the facts. It should have the same approach to weather forecasting: "some say it'll rain, some say it won't. Who can tell, eh?"
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Yes, it's become completely normal for this terrible man to say and do terrible things, and the governments of the world just ignore it.
Yesterday Elon Musk retweeted "white solidarity is the only way to survive". In our numb overwhelmed media environment it barely made headlines that the world's richest man endorsed blood-curdling white nationalism. My brief writeup for @religiondispatches.org
religiondispatches.org/elon-musk-ju...
religiondispatches.org/elon-musk-ju...
Elon Musk Just Endorsed Blatant White Nationalism And the Silence is Deafening
On Thursday morning Elon Musk retweeted (with a ‘100%’ endorsement) a post declaring that:
If white men become a minority, we will be slaughtered. Remember, if non-Whites openly hate White men while...
religiondispatches.org
January 10, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Yes, it's become completely normal for this terrible man to say and do terrible things, and the governments of the world just ignore it.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Two-thirds of UK voters wrongly think immigration is rising, poll finds
Two-thirds of UK voters wrongly think immigration is rising, poll finds
Exclusive: Voters say they have little confidence that government can control borders despite sharp falls in net migration
A large majority of UK voters believe immigration is increasing despite sharp falls in the number of people entering the UK, according to exclusive polling shared with the Guardian.
Voters also say they have no confidence in the government’s ability to control the UK’s borders, according to the poll by More in Common. The results will come as a blow to Keir Starmer’s administration, which has taken an increasingly hardline stance on immigration in recent months. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
January 10, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Two-thirds of UK voters wrongly think immigration is rising, poll finds
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
💥🇬🇧💥🇬🇧
This is a prospective REFORM MP.
Both Farage and Badenoch support creating a UK ICE force.
You ask how did the Nazis take over Germany? By dividing the populace, media propaganda and lies.
This is how Trump was elected. We still have a few more years … but I see it creeping into our discourse
This is a prospective REFORM MP.
Both Farage and Badenoch support creating a UK ICE force.
You ask how did the Nazis take over Germany? By dividing the populace, media propaganda and lies.
This is how Trump was elected. We still have a few more years … but I see it creeping into our discourse
January 10, 2026 at 9:24 AM
💥🇬🇧💥🇬🇧
This is a prospective REFORM MP.
Both Farage and Badenoch support creating a UK ICE force.
You ask how did the Nazis take over Germany? By dividing the populace, media propaganda and lies.
This is how Trump was elected. We still have a few more years … but I see it creeping into our discourse
This is a prospective REFORM MP.
Both Farage and Badenoch support creating a UK ICE force.
You ask how did the Nazis take over Germany? By dividing the populace, media propaganda and lies.
This is how Trump was elected. We still have a few more years … but I see it creeping into our discourse
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
I don't much like the title, but the is article very much worth reading.
On organization and cooperation going on in and between blue states, to make federal intervention of many kinds unnecessary.
medium.com/@carmitage/i...
On organization and cooperation going on in and between blue states, to make federal intervention of many kinds unnecessary.
medium.com/@carmitage/i...
It’s Time for Americans to Start Talking About “Soft Secession”
Blue states are finally learning what red states have known all along: you don’t need federal permission to govern.
medium.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:33 AM
I don't much like the title, but the is article very much worth reading.
On organization and cooperation going on in and between blue states, to make federal intervention of many kinds unnecessary.
medium.com/@carmitage/i...
On organization and cooperation going on in and between blue states, to make federal intervention of many kinds unnecessary.
medium.com/@carmitage/i...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
'she laughed at him, and he shot her in the head then called her a bitch - in Trump's America, both sides continue to raise the temperature'
January 10, 2026 at 10:07 AM
'she laughed at him, and he shot her in the head then called her a bitch - in Trump's America, both sides continue to raise the temperature'
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
They absolutely didn't think this through, part XXVI
US oil giant ExxonMobil tells Donald Trump Venezuela is ‘uninvestable’ - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @financialtimes.com
US oil giant ExxonMobil tells Donald Trump Venezuela is ‘uninvestable’ - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @financialtimes.com
US oil giant ExxonMobil tells Donald Trump Venezuela is ‘uninvestable’
Chief executive Darren Woods pushes back against president’s call to rush back into troubled country
giftarticle.ft.com
January 10, 2026 at 7:32 AM
They absolutely didn't think this through, part XXVI
US oil giant ExxonMobil tells Donald Trump Venezuela is ‘uninvestable’ - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @financialtimes.com
US oil giant ExxonMobil tells Donald Trump Venezuela is ‘uninvestable’ - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @financialtimes.com
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Entirely predictable/predicted: I wrote this almost two years ago
"If this government – or the next – does indeed succeed in reducing migration very substantially below projected levels, it will have a large fiscal cost, with consequent impacts for tax and spending."
ukandeu.ac.uk/has-higher-i...
"If this government – or the next – does indeed succeed in reducing migration very substantially below projected levels, it will have a large fiscal cost, with consequent impacts for tax and spending."
ukandeu.ac.uk/has-higher-i...
Has higher immigration saved the Chancellor again? - UK in a changing Europe
Jonathan Portes explores the impact of immigration on the UK economy in light of the Budget and the OBR's analysis.
ukandeu.ac.uk
January 10, 2026 at 3:55 AM
Entirely predictable/predicted: I wrote this almost two years ago
"If this government – or the next – does indeed succeed in reducing migration very substantially below projected levels, it will have a large fiscal cost, with consequent impacts for tax and spending."
ukandeu.ac.uk/has-higher-i...
"If this government – or the next – does indeed succeed in reducing migration very substantially below projected levels, it will have a large fiscal cost, with consequent impacts for tax and spending."
ukandeu.ac.uk/has-higher-i...
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Looks like ICE is now cracking down on … Native Americans.
This letter was just posted by the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North/South Dakota:
“Our Nation is a sovereign government and our members are not immigrants. We are not subject to immigration enforcement on our own lands.”
This letter was just posted by the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North/South Dakota:
“Our Nation is a sovereign government and our members are not immigrants. We are not subject to immigration enforcement on our own lands.”
January 10, 2026 at 12:13 AM
Looks like ICE is now cracking down on … Native Americans.
This letter was just posted by the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North/South Dakota:
“Our Nation is a sovereign government and our members are not immigrants. We are not subject to immigration enforcement on our own lands.”
This letter was just posted by the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North/South Dakota:
“Our Nation is a sovereign government and our members are not immigrants. We are not subject to immigration enforcement on our own lands.”
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Guess what: xAI has done even less to rein in Grok's nasty image generator than headlines suggest.
Turns out not many journalists bothered to do their homework, unlike the Verge, which actually TESTED Grok's restrictions rather than relying on xAI's statement.
Turns out not many journalists bothered to do their homework, unlike the Verge, which actually TESTED Grok's restrictions rather than relying on xAI's statement.
In case you've seen the story about “grok now only generates images for paid users”, it's untrue. Apparently everyone just reported it because… it was what grok told them 🤦🏼
www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
No, Grok hasn’t paywalled its deepfake image feature
X’s sexual deepfake machine is still running, despite Grok saying otherwise.
www.theverge.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Guess what: xAI has done even less to rein in Grok's nasty image generator than headlines suggest.
Turns out not many journalists bothered to do their homework, unlike the Verge, which actually TESTED Grok's restrictions rather than relying on xAI's statement.
Turns out not many journalists bothered to do their homework, unlike the Verge, which actually TESTED Grok's restrictions rather than relying on xAI's statement.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
We evacuated our kids out of Minneapolis this weekend and my spouse reports that as she drove them out of town she saw "multiple freeway exits where people are being pulled over." It feels like the Twin Cities is being subjugated by a hostile occupying force.
January 10, 2026 at 1:47 AM
We evacuated our kids out of Minneapolis this weekend and my spouse reports that as she drove them out of town she saw "multiple freeway exits where people are being pulled over." It feels like the Twin Cities is being subjugated by a hostile occupying force.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
She is aggressively trying to turn the wheel AWAY from the ICE agent. It is her very last action. They provoke her, surround her, then kill her in cold blood. I have barely slept since this happened and I don't think I'll ever stop being angry about this.
i have watched the shooter's video. it's going to make you way the fuck madder.
I have watched the video. I think you probably do not need to watch the video. it shows what you think it's gonna show in terms of lack of justification.
January 9, 2026 at 7:14 PM
She is aggressively trying to turn the wheel AWAY from the ICE agent. It is her very last action. They provoke her, surround her, then kill her in cold blood. I have barely slept since this happened and I don't think I'll ever stop being angry about this.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
"I will not be f*cking gaslit by these people. I will not calm down the rhetoric and tone it down....Jonathan Ross murdered her."
@timmiller.bsky.social on the new footage of the Renee Good shooting:
@timmiller.bsky.social on the new footage of the Renee Good shooting:
January 9, 2026 at 8:12 PM
"I will not be f*cking gaslit by these people. I will not calm down the rhetoric and tone it down....Jonathan Ross murdered her."
@timmiller.bsky.social on the new footage of the Renee Good shooting:
@timmiller.bsky.social on the new footage of the Renee Good shooting:
"I will not be f*cking gaslit by these people. I will not calm down the rhetoric and tone it down....Jonathan Ross murdered her."
@timmiller.bsky.social on the new footage of the Renee Good shooting:
@timmiller.bsky.social on the new footage of the Renee Good shooting:
January 9, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Trump says Venezuela's oil wealth will "go to the United States. Some will go to Venezuela, and some will go to the oil companies."
January 9, 2026 at 8:13 PM
Trump says Venezuela's oil wealth will "go to the United States. Some will go to Venezuela, and some will go to the oil companies."
Misogyny is the oldest and most enduring oppression known to humankind.
No other hatred is more visceral.
No other hatred is more visceral.
If you don’t think misogyny is a huge part of MAGA and Trump ever since Bannon activated the ‘monster energy’ of Gamergate against Hillary Clinton, think again.
As in Putin’s Russia, the desire to dominate, subjugate and kill women is the key psychopathology of Trumpism
As in Putin’s Russia, the desire to dominate, subjugate and kill women is the key psychopathology of Trumpism
January 9, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Misogyny is the oldest and most enduring oppression known to humankind.
No other hatred is more visceral.
No other hatred is more visceral.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
My editorial cartoon for Tuesday's Metro
January 5, 2026 at 2:57 PM
My editorial cartoon for Tuesday's Metro
I guess one way of avoiding the necessity of installing the sort of protection a dictator needs is not to be a dictator in the first place.
And there are savings too.
And there are savings too.
Trump on the ballroom: "It will take care of the inauguration with bulletproof glass, drone-proof ceilings, and everything else unfortunately that today you need."
January 9, 2026 at 8:15 PM
I guess one way of avoiding the necessity of installing the sort of protection a dictator needs is not to be a dictator in the first place.
And there are savings too.
And there are savings too.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
I suppose it will be too much to expect the Vice President to acknowledge that this doesn't look good.
In the video that the shooter took, which I believe was leaked to be exculpatory, he appears to yell “fucking bitch” after he shoots Renee Good.
January 9, 2026 at 7:03 PM
I suppose it will be too much to expect the Vice President to acknowledge that this doesn't look good.
Reposted by Dr Simon Ubsdell
Watching JD Vance since he entered politics has really made me understand the kind of person that led Dante to write about someone so monstrously amoral and treacherous that his soul could fall straight to Hell while still walking around alive and well.
January 9, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Watching JD Vance since he entered politics has really made me understand the kind of person that led Dante to write about someone so monstrously amoral and treacherous that his soul could fall straight to Hell while still walking around alive and well.