Julie Benson
@julesbenson.bsky.social
Book-lover, cat enthusiast, trying to use my follows here to get a wide, diverse view of the world
Reposted by Julie Benson
It's the latter, but at a much larger scale than you may be thinking. You don't know what questions you can ask until you've spent a lot of time with the sources. But you also don't know which sources are going to be important going in. Archives are not organized in some obvious or transparent way.
December 22, 2025 at 1:56 AM
It's the latter, but at a much larger scale than you may be thinking. You don't know what questions you can ask until you've spent a lot of time with the sources. But you also don't know which sources are going to be important going in. Archives are not organized in some obvious or transparent way.
Reposted by Julie Benson
"Results indicated that LLMs often proposed inferior treatments when patient race was explicitly or implicitly indicated, though diagnostic decisions demonstrated minimal bias."
Racial bias in AI-mediated psychiatric diagnosis and treatment: a qualitative comparison of four large language models - npj Digital Medicine
npj Digital Medicine - Racial bias in AI-mediated psychiatric diagnosis and treatment: a qualitative comparison of four large language models
www.nature.com
December 20, 2025 at 9:24 PM
"Results indicated that LLMs often proposed inferior treatments when patient race was explicitly or implicitly indicated, though diagnostic decisions demonstrated minimal bias."
Reposted by Julie Benson
Every day, and especially today (and yesterday and tomorrow, and so on), trans rights are human rights.
December 18, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Every day, and especially today (and yesterday and tomorrow, and so on), trans rights are human rights.
Reposted by Julie Benson
I'm biased but if this Christmas you are looking for silly, warm, dark, complex novel about an antique dealer who lives with a hyper-intelligent semi-aquatic folkloric creature who loves knitting, might I recommend this?
It's quite weird and not for everyone but some people seem to think it's ok...
It's quite weird and not for everyone but some people seem to think it's ok...
December 18, 2025 at 2:17 PM
I'm biased but if this Christmas you are looking for silly, warm, dark, complex novel about an antique dealer who lives with a hyper-intelligent semi-aquatic folkloric creature who loves knitting, might I recommend this?
It's quite weird and not for everyone but some people seem to think it's ok...
It's quite weird and not for everyone but some people seem to think it's ok...
Reposted by Julie Benson
Mears, Serco, and Clearsprings oversee most asylum accommodation in UK and make huge profits doing so, despite a significant proportion of accommodation being substandard. It isn't people seeking safety costing taxpayers money, it's the firms making profits off of them.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Mears: Life in the asylum hotels generating 'excessive profit'
Asylum accommodation provider Mears has had to return £13.8m to the Home Office after making more profit than its contracts allow.
www.bbc.com
December 16, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Mears, Serco, and Clearsprings oversee most asylum accommodation in UK and make huge profits doing so, despite a significant proportion of accommodation being substandard. It isn't people seeking safety costing taxpayers money, it's the firms making profits off of them.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Julie Benson
apart from the sheer inconceivable horror of the El Fasher massacre and its attendant horrors itself, the thing I'm feeling depressed about is that it probably won't matter.
these were people already on the utmost margins of the global system, who the world has already decided it doesn't care about
these were people already on the utmost margins of the global system, who the world has already decided it doesn't care about
60,000 is the *low end* estimate.
So, El Fasher looks like one of the worst single event atrocities to happen this century so far, but the evidence has come in such a trickle it seems to only now be getting verified
December 13, 2025 at 6:34 AM
apart from the sheer inconceivable horror of the El Fasher massacre and its attendant horrors itself, the thing I'm feeling depressed about is that it probably won't matter.
these were people already on the utmost margins of the global system, who the world has already decided it doesn't care about
these were people already on the utmost margins of the global system, who the world has already decided it doesn't care about
Reposted by Julie Benson
When will this crisis get any attention whatsoever!? A THOUSAND ACADEMIC STAFF AT ONE INSTITUTION SERVED REDUNDANCY RISK NOTICES! And that's not counting what's surely being visited on professional services staff too. This is an economic catastrophe, to say nothing of the intellectual catastrophe!
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
December 11, 2025 at 8:47 PM
When will this crisis get any attention whatsoever!? A THOUSAND ACADEMIC STAFF AT ONE INSTITUTION SERVED REDUNDANCY RISK NOTICES! And that's not counting what's surely being visited on professional services staff too. This is an economic catastrophe, to say nothing of the intellectual catastrophe!
Reposted by Julie Benson
Just for some context - the house mentioned in my post below cost £4,000 to purchase in 1970.
If it had changed in value by inflation, its price now would be £55,000.
Just saying.
If it had changed in value by inflation, its price now would be £55,000.
Just saying.
December 6, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Just for some context - the house mentioned in my post below cost £4,000 to purchase in 1970.
If it had changed in value by inflation, its price now would be £55,000.
Just saying.
If it had changed in value by inflation, its price now would be £55,000.
Just saying.
Reposted by Julie Benson
Without sustained international pressure, we're likely to see people in Gaza living in tent cities for years to come, depending on unreliable supply of international aid, under occasional if not constant bombardments.
December 3, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Without sustained international pressure, we're likely to see people in Gaza living in tent cities for years to come, depending on unreliable supply of international aid, under occasional if not constant bombardments.
Reposted by Julie Benson
I wonder how many crimes trans people ever committed at Women's Institute meetings. I wonder if it was in fact, "none at all." I'd rather suspect, actually, that it was none at all. So sad we have 99 problems and this is where people pour their energy in to. Build more houses, you miserable fucks.
December 3, 2025 at 11:42 AM
I wonder how many crimes trans people ever committed at Women's Institute meetings. I wonder if it was in fact, "none at all." I'd rather suspect, actually, that it was none at all. So sad we have 99 problems and this is where people pour their energy in to. Build more houses, you miserable fucks.
Reposted by Julie Benson
The persistence of Africa’s conflicts has directly contributed to a record 167 million Africans facing acute food insecurity with an estimated 700,000 threatened by famine.
africacenter.org/spo...
africacenter.org/spo...
December 3, 2025 at 12:16 PM
The persistence of Africa’s conflicts has directly contributed to a record 167 million Africans facing acute food insecurity with an estimated 700,000 threatened by famine.
africacenter.org/spo...
africacenter.org/spo...
Reposted by Julie Benson
I would rather have a world where we all trust each other and accept that a few people will take advantage of it than a world where folks have to perform disability constantly in order to get the help they need. Let kids have an extra 30 minutes on the test, jesus fucking christ
December 2, 2025 at 8:32 PM
I would rather have a world where we all trust each other and accept that a few people will take advantage of it than a world where folks have to perform disability constantly in order to get the help they need. Let kids have an extra 30 minutes on the test, jesus fucking christ
Reposted by Julie Benson
Reposted by Julie Benson
i know WHY this is but that just makes it even more of a kick in the pants lmao
November 28, 2025 at 3:28 AM
i know WHY this is but that just makes it even more of a kick in the pants lmao
Reposted by Julie Benson
New UN estimate: The Gazan economy contracted by 87% in 2023-2024 (so the situation is likely worse now). Israel’s military operations had “significantly undermined every pillar of survival”
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Rebuilding ‘human-made abyss’ in Gaza will cost at least $70bn, UN says
Report says Israel’s operations ‘significantly undermined every pillar of survival’ and reduced the economy by 87%
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:08 AM
New UN estimate: The Gazan economy contracted by 87% in 2023-2024 (so the situation is likely worse now). Israel’s military operations had “significantly undermined every pillar of survival”
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Julie Benson
I dunno, buddy, maybe if it didn't encourage young folks to kill themselves, or drink all the potable water, or pollute the Infoverse with fallacies, or add glue to recipes, or be that guy who lies rather than admits a mistake, or, and this is important, buddy, or IF WE WERE GIVEN A FUCKING CHOICE!
Microsoft Exec Asks: Why Aren't More People Impressed With AI?
Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft's head of AI, vents after the company receives backlash for saying 'Windows is evolving into an agentic OS.'
uk.pcmag.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:09 AM
I dunno, buddy, maybe if it didn't encourage young folks to kill themselves, or drink all the potable water, or pollute the Infoverse with fallacies, or add glue to recipes, or be that guy who lies rather than admits a mistake, or, and this is important, buddy, or IF WE WERE GIVEN A FUCKING CHOICE!
Reposted by Julie Benson
And food? I don’t get much food stamps so I save food stamps for emergency things when we run out of food. The amount I get doesn’t even cost one grocery trip. I feed four kids and myself. One of those kids is a teenager. Food goes fast. I try to buy things that will stretch but I also have kids
November 16, 2025 at 4:54 PM
And food? I don’t get much food stamps so I save food stamps for emergency things when we run out of food. The amount I get doesn’t even cost one grocery trip. I feed four kids and myself. One of those kids is a teenager. Food goes fast. I try to buy things that will stretch but I also have kids
Reposted by Julie Benson
It’s not been thought through at all. It’s back of a fag-packet hate stuff, that’s all. Incompetent as well as viciously horrible.
It will also mean people's refugee status will be reviewed every 2 and half years. If this policy was in place now, that would mean the Home Office having at least another 67k decisions to process over the next year (the number of initial decision grants made between April 2023 and March 2024)
Shabana Mahmood has vowed to end Britain’s “golden ticket” for asylum seekers by forcing people arriving illegally to wait 20 years before they can apply for permanent settlement
November 16, 2025 at 8:24 AM
It’s not been thought through at all. It’s back of a fag-packet hate stuff, that’s all. Incompetent as well as viciously horrible.
Reposted by Julie Benson
This is the point. Policy *should not* be adjusted or fine-tuned in response to minor forecasting judgements. Decisions about whether or not to break a prominent manifesto promise *should not* depend on minor forecasting judgements. This stuff matters. We've got to do better than this.
I know it’s always like this. But one striking thing from the budget kite flying and kite pulling back in, is how major policy decisions are constantly being buffeted around by iterative forecast changes.
All feels a bit of a silly way to be making major economic policy & political decisions.
All feels a bit of a silly way to be making major economic policy & political decisions.
November 14, 2025 at 3:23 PM
This is the point. Policy *should not* be adjusted or fine-tuned in response to minor forecasting judgements. Decisions about whether or not to break a prominent manifesto promise *should not* depend on minor forecasting judgements. This stuff matters. We've got to do better than this.
Reposted by Julie Benson
Two years on, Israel’s war in Gaza might be finally drawing to a close. The conflict built an unprecedented arms pipeline from the U.S. to Israel that continues to flow, generating substantial business for big U.S. companies.
www.wsj.com/world/middle...
www.wsj.com/world/middle...
The Gaza War Has Been Big Business for U.S. Companies
The conflict has generated billions of dollars in sales for American firms.
www.wsj.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Two years on, Israel’s war in Gaza might be finally drawing to a close. The conflict built an unprecedented arms pipeline from the U.S. to Israel that continues to flow, generating substantial business for big U.S. companies.
www.wsj.com/world/middle...
www.wsj.com/world/middle...