Ben
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benfields.net
Ben
@benfields.net
640 followers 620 following 1.8K posts
🇺🇸immigrant in LDN
recovering academic
Trying to understand humanity with data, music, libations
Might not be looking in the right places
–
currently: Head of Data @lakaHQ
previously: @bbc @futurelearn @funandplausible

cf https://assemblag.es/@alsothings
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benfields.net
getting this done
grey background. white text reads: "Count of San Diego Registrar of Voters November 4, 2025, Special Election" on the left is the logo of the San Diego registrar of voters
October 24, 2025 at 11:55 AM
benfields.net
The lack of rigour in sourcing is such a poison
Seth Abramson posting that same Gen ai created image that is I guess meant to be of the no kings match as Kara Swisher posted earlier. Text reads 'I have never seen such a perfect image'. Image has a great many imperfections.
October 20, 2025 at 11:08 AM
benfields.net
Alex Hern falls from a horse apparently
October 19, 2025 at 5:55 PM
benfields.net
I'm sure it's not in any way a problem that a "good" "journalist" posted some ai slop photo as though it was march documentation, and this was reskeeted by the march organizers. Not a problem at all.
A screenshot of a skeet posted by Kara Swisher, reskeeted by Indivisible. The text says 'No notes' the image is of four animal inflatables with an American flag in a pose sort of analogous to the famous Iwa Jima flag-raising photo, except many details are just a bit off so the 'photo' is almost certainly AI generated.It also has no alt text or crediting.
October 19, 2025 at 5:48 PM
benfields.net
As they say around these parts no lies detected www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ice...
A screenshot from a McSweeney's article. Black text on a white background. The text reads, "In fact, as ICE expands its operations in cities like LA, Chicago, and Boston, a key part of ICE’s efforts will be setting up random traffic stops and checkpoints throughout the city and making educated guesses about who to detain and who not to detain. These “Guess Stops” will be staffed by special agents known as Guess Stop Officers, or “Guess-Stop-O” for short. The Guess-Stop-O will make crime disappear by making undesirable people disappear."
October 19, 2025 at 1:07 PM
benfields.net
Holy shit the US market is cooked futurism.com/artificial-i...
Screenshot from the linked article. The text reads: "Yet according to recent estimates, generative AI now accounts for roughly 40 percent of the United States’ gross domestic product. In other words, if the AI spending boom falls apart, it could take down the entire economy with it."
October 10, 2025 at 7:28 AM
benfields.net
wtf is this nightmare of a blunt rotation
Screenshot from the reset.news which reads: "the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza. This committee [highlight begins] will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair[highlight ends]. This body will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. This body will call on best"
September 29, 2025 at 6:53 PM
benfields.net
Setting aside the rest of it, just purely for their own political self interest, Labour needs to stop moving towards Reform on immigration www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A screenshot from an article in The Guardian, the text reads: "mainstream parties “get tough” on immigration, and how this affects support for the radical right. We recently studied what happened to people’s assessment of Labour, and their likelihood of voting for the party or Reform, shortly after Starmer gave his island of strangers speech. The speech helpfully coincided with a period when people were answering a survey for the British Election Study, so we gathered responses from people who were interviewed immediately before the speech, and those interviewed immediately after. The results: the speech made Labour and Starmer less popular, especially among Labour’s own voters. It significantly boosted immigration as an issue in people’s minds. There is no evidence it helped to reduce support for Reform, or convince Reform voters that they should vote Labour. Recent research from Persuasion UK, a nonprofit, told much the same story. It found that Labour’s messaging around deportations strengthened the importance of the issue while potentially strengthening Reform. This is hardly unique to Labour. We studied more than 70 different elections that took place in 12 western European countries over several"
September 26, 2025 at 12:54 PM
benfields.net
this is the key table as to what is gated by the permission
A table of network actions that on macOS may require the local network access permission
September 15, 2025 at 10:05 AM
benfields.net
cf.
Screenshot from the groyper Wikipedia page. It reads: "Fuentes's followers began to be known as Groypers beginning in 2019. They are also sometimes called "Nickers".[4][29] In September 2019, Ashley St. Clair, a "brand ambassador" for the conservative student group Turning Point USA, was photographed at an event featuring several allegedly white nationalist and alt-right figures, including Fuentes, Jacob Wohl, and Anthime Gionet, better known as "Baked Alaska". After Right Wing Watch brought the photographs to Turning Point USA's attention, the organization issued a statement that it had severed ties with St. Clair and condemning white nationalism as "abhorrent and un-American".[30][31] At the 2019 Politicon convention, Fuentes tried to access several Turning Point events featuring its founder Charlie Kirk, including a line to take photos with Kirk and Kirk's debate with Kyle Kulinski of The Young Turks."
September 12, 2025 at 3:44 PM
benfields.net
Uuuuuggghhh does this apply to cops too? Think so bsky.app/profile/rose...
A 'thin blue line' US flag patch, commonly associated with fascist and neonazi groups within US police forces
September 12, 2025 at 10:32 AM
benfields.net
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
a movie poster from 'Alien vs Predator' with a headshot of the Predator and the xenomorph alien, along with the text 'Whoever Wins... we lose.'
September 10, 2025 at 4:31 PM
benfields.net
I know everyone has given up on the idea of consequences for Trump, but I feel like this horrendous story needs to be amplified and repeated until it is unavoidable for everyone
Screenshot of a portion of an article from The Atlantic, which reads "Inside the 50th-birthday book for Jeffrey Epstein—a man charged with sex trafficking—is a photo of a massive, novelty sized check, seeming to reference the sale of a human being from one powerful man to another. The man whose supposed signature is on the check is the current president of the United States."
September 10, 2025 at 6:41 AM
benfields.net
Really good to see this written down in a British publication, as someone with a foot on either side of the Atlantic it's been pretty clear www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/709...
A screenshot from an article on Prospect that reads: "This desire to meet the hard right halfway, to find a middle point, is hopelessly exploitable. In an age of radicalisation, you simply get pulled further and further to the right, while tacitly validating those values at every step. Nowhere is this more evident than in the UK press’s fixation on trans people. The Labour government, following the reactionary centrist logic of trying to diffuse an issue by giving policy ground, has allowed itself to be pulled radically to the right on this matter. First, by abandoning its commitment to changing ID laws to make it easier to transition, then by effectively banning puberty blockers following pressure from those opposed to them. Now the UK is on the verge of implementing a bathroom ban mandating that trans people must be excluded from toilets that match their gender identity."
September 4, 2025 at 12:47 PM
benfields.net
but it does suggest that very few active controls are needed to get back to the levels of the 2010s (graph from here: migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...)
Net migration graph from the Oxford migration institute
September 3, 2025 at 4:13 PM
benfields.net
wait what
Screenshot of Spotify's discover weekly playlist, showing a bunch of electronic dance music and the 2004 remaster of Fleetwood Mac's Dreams, which has been circled in yellow for emphasis
August 26, 2025 at 8:25 AM
benfields.net
Bear (yogi)
A screenshot of a skeet from Mar Hicks. There's a manner of death labeller applied that says Bear (Yogi). The skeet itself reads "Haha oh no. What's mine?"
August 11, 2025 at 6:22 AM
benfields.net
A tale of two Britians

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The top of a Guardian article screenshot, the headlines reads "Police arrest 474 people at protest over Palestine Action ban in London" The top of a Guardian Article screenshot, the Headline reads "Far-right protesters clash with police in Nuneaton after rally outside town hall"
August 10, 2025 at 8:39 AM
benfields.net
Wait is he admitting he didn't win in 2020? (From www.theguardian.com/politics/202... )
Screenshot of an excerpt from a Guardian article. It reads: "Trump said he believed there was a new-found respect for him among world leaders, now he had twice won the presidency. “When you do it twice, it’s the big difference. I also think that over the years, they’ve gotten to know me. This is not an easy crowd to break into,” he said. “These are smart people heading up very, very successful … countries, you know, they’re Germany and France, Spain and, yeah, big.” "
July 15, 2025 at 11:44 AM
benfields.net
a skeet from @benfields.net that reads: Counterpoint: Andrew Sullivan has never really shown any solidarity in the fight for civil rights for any group that doesn't include himself, a cis gay white dude. there are 69 likes a tight crop of the interaction stats under a skeet, showing a heart icon then the number 69 "NICE" white text on a bluebackground
June 26, 2025 at 9:36 PM
benfields.net
Does anyone know why Mel Stride has borrowed a child's tie? Surely someone in his position can just get ties in an adult size?
A photo of of two UK politicians, in front of what looks like Downing Street, but it's a very tight shot making the location unclear. On the left is Mel Stride striding, in a navy suit with the light blue tie which is a good 6 cm too short. On right is Kemi Badenoch, wearing a white turtleneck with a reddish orange blazer.
June 5, 2025 at 1:55 PM
benfields.net
Every now and again I am just completely shocked by how casual the racism is in the UK about Mexico. The opening paragraph of this write up in the Guardian on how Yates (Brit) overhauled Del Toro (Mexican) and Carapaz (Ecuadorian) on stage 20 of the Giro www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/j...
White text on a black background. A screenshot of a paragraph from a Guardian article. It reads "The Mexican standoff is a much-loved cinematic device, but the stalemate beloved of western movie script writers has rarely, if ever, decided one of cycling’s Grand Tours. The 2025 Giro d’Italia was the exception, appositely as the biggest loser was an actual Mexican, Isaac del Toro, with the unassuming Lancastrian Simon Yates the two-wheeled equivalent of the bandit who skips off with the loot, while two other bandits – in this case Richard Carapaz and Del Toro – stare each other down waiting for the other man to blink."
June 2, 2025 at 6:33 PM
benfields.net
The late great Scottish comedian Jane Godley holding a sign that reads "Trump is a cunt" just beyond the edge of Trump's golf course in Scotland, during a visit Trump made in his first term
May 31, 2025 at 7:25 PM
benfields.net
I mean that too could be regulated for, inside of copyright law, if we had the imagination/political will. Again, radio: in the US in exchange for that fixed playback license fee, there are a load of rules to restrict context, such as playing no more than 3 songs from the same album in an 3 hours
A screenshot from https://live365.com/broadcaster/broadcast-license-basics#toc-understanding-the-digital-millennium-copyright-act that reads: "For example, under the DMCA, an internet radio station can't play more than three songs from a single album within three hours. Similarly, more than two songs played consecutively from a single album are also not permissible. Moreover, the DMCA limits radio stations to playing a maximum of four songs from a single artist within three hours"
May 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
benfields.net
There's room for everyone! Well except the Boeing Dreamlifter, terrible lines on that one.
A picture of a Boeing Dreamlifter 747-400 LCF with its landing gear out
May 23, 2025 at 9:47 PM