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svarabhakti.bsky.social
Simon
@svarabhakti.bsky.social
13 followers 18 following 6 posts
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Reposted by Simon
deelomas.bsky.social
The reform party nativity scene.

No unmarried mothers. No Middle Eastern people. No refugees. No people seeking emergency accommodation.

And not a wise fvcking man in sight…
October 26, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Simon
bmhughes.bsky.social
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
December 1, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Reposted by Simon
dieworkwear.bsky.social
crazy

IG em_clarkson
November 14, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Reposted by Simon
janinegibson.ft.com
Good morning and welcome to this giftlink thread of Weekend FT highlights. Get 'em while they're hot, try not to complain when they're gone!
First up Yuval Noah Harari writes the Weekend Essay on the generosity and compromises needed for peace on.ft.com/4ovGWcb
Yuval Noah Harari: Only generosity can secure peace between Israelis and Palestinians
[FREE TO READ] Both sides must abandon false moral certainties and oversimplified historical narratives if the cycle of violence is to be broken
on.ft.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Reposted by Simon
aiyanaish.bsky.social
I was laid off from Teen Vogue this week, alongside multiple other phenomenal team members.

At our Summit, I was asked how it felt to be 1 of 2 Black women left and what that meant for representation. Now, there are no Black women at Teen Vogue and that is incredibly painful to think about.
November 3, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Reposted by Simon
lexmcmenamin.com
thank you for all the support; the statement from our union is now live here with some more reporting.

now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
November 3, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Reposted by Simon
zoejardiniere.bsky.social
Ok. They’ve pissed me off.

I’m back to tell you 3 things about ID cards:

1. Migrants ALREADY HAVE biometric ID cards & govts have been trying to digitise them for years w repeated fuckups & failures causing complete chaos - they don’t work, you do not want that system for you.
September 26, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Reposted by Simon
zoejardiniere.bsky.social
I wouldn’t have thought many Labour MPs came into politics to strip the rights of torture survivors to be reunited with the spouses & children.

They need to take a long hard look in the mirror & ask whether Starmer, Cooper & Reeves are really the leadership their careers should be remembered with.
September 1, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Reposted by Simon
coldwarsteve.bsky.social
May 6, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by Simon
scotnational.bsky.social
Watch as an activist is arrested in Glasgow for displaying a sign reading 'genocide in Palestine, time to take action'

'We're not terrorists', he said as he was taken away by police
July 18, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Reposted by Simon
phillm.bsky.social
Remember how they lied about Brexit? Unsurprisingly, they're lying about ECHR too.
Don't give up your rights!! 👇
zoejardiniere.bsky.social Zoe Gardner @zoejardiniere.bsky.social · Jun 7
Should we follow Putin out of the ECHR?

Or is it just another Brexit where we give up our rights in the vain pursuit of making migrants disappear?
June 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Simon
thelittlesaint.bsky.social
Please, for the love of anything decent in this world, take 2mins to listen to Zoe lay it out real simple! 👇🏼 #Immigration is NOT a dirty word, it is NOT about people in boats, it is NOT about #asylum hotels, it’s about SO much more. Please listen to her, she IS the adult in the room talking. 👇🏼👇🏼
zoejardiniere.bsky.social Zoe Gardner @zoejardiniere.bsky.social · May 22
The ultimate irony of halving net immigration numbers:

You can do it without reducing small boats crossings at all!!

This is Nigel Farage’s immigration doom-loop & Starmer is up to his neck in the death trap like the Tories before him 🤦‍♀️
May 22, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Simon
rescuecaptain.bsky.social
#maddow
Science break.
This kayaker gets approached by an otter every time he visits a lake. The otter was orphaned after the mother was in an accident, and the man helped it throughout it's rehabilitation process to later release it back into the wild. Volume up.🔊
February 25, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Reposted by Simon
amyhoy.bsky.social
guess where they got their weird trade deficit math from?

i went to the pit for y'all and brought back the screenshots with alt text
chatgpt log: What would be an easy way to calculate the tariffs that should be imposed on other countries so that the US is on even-playing fields when it comes to trade deficit? Set minimum at 10%. Reasoned about trade tariffs and deficits for 10 seconds v A straightforward (if naïve) method is to set the tariff rate for each trading partner equal to the percentage share of the trade deficit relative to that country's total imports-always no less than 10%. In formula form: Tariff Rate (%) = max(10, (Trade Deficit ÷ Total Imports) * 100) For example, if the US runs a $20 billion deficit on $100 billion worth of imports from a country, the calculated rate is (20/100)×100 = 20%. If the deficit were only 5%, you'd still impose a 10% floor. This method ignores the intricate dynamics of international trade-such as elasticities, retaliatory measures, and supply chain nuances-but it provides a blunt, proportional rule to "level the playing field." One might implement it in Python like so: [code] Gemini answer: Okay, let's break down the idea of using tariffs to achieve an "even playing field" defined as eliminating the US trade deficit. While the goal of balancing trade is understandable, devising an "easy way" to calculate tariffs to achieve this is extremely complex, and most economists would argue it's not feasible or desirable for several reasons. However, let's outline a highly simplified conceptual approach based only on the numbers, ignoring the vast real-world complexities and consequences: Simplified (and Problematic) Calculation Idea: 1. Identify the Bilateral Deficit: Determine the trade deficit the US has with a specific country (Country X). Deficit_X = Value of Imports from X - Value of • Exports to X 2. Target Reduction: The goal is to reduce imports from Country X (or increase their cost to US buyers) by the amount of the deficit, so that the value effectively balances out. 3. Calculate Required Tariff (Ignoring Economics): • If you assume, very unrealistically, that a tariff directly reduces the value of imports by a corresponding percentage (which it doesn't - it increases the price), you could try: Required Reduction % = Deficit_X / Value of • Imports from X Claude: What would be an easy way to calculate the tariffs that should be imposed on other countries so that the US is on even-playing fields when it comes to trade deficit? Set minimum at 10%. To calculate tariffs that could theoretically level the playing field for trade deficits, I'd suggest a straightforward approach based on the trade imbalance percentage: 1. Calculate the bilateral trade deficit with each trading partner: Trade Deficit - US Imports from Country - US Exports to Country 2. Express this as a percentage of total bilateral trade: Deficit Percentage - (Trade Deficit / Total Bilateral Trade) × 100 3. Apply a tariff rate that corresponds to this percentage, with your minimum 10% floor: Tariff Rate = max(Deficit Percentage, 10%) This creates a proportional response where countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher tariffs. For example: • If Country A has a 25% trade surplus with the US (meaning the US has a 25% deficit), apply a 25% tariff • If Country B has a 5% trade surplus with the US, apply the minimum 10% tariff This method is relatively simple to calculate and directly ties tariff levels to trade imbalances. However, I should note that economists generally caution that trade deficits alone don't necessarily indicate unfair trade practices, and tariffs can have complex economic consequences including increased consumer prices and potential retaliation. Would you like me to elaborate on any part of this approach or discuss potential refinements to make it more sophisticated? Grok: the deficit. The deficit as a percentage of total trade is $295B/$582B = 50.69%. Using the formula Tariff% = 10% + (Deficit% × Scaling Factor), we choose a scaling factor of 50 for illustration: • Tariff = 10% + (50.69% × 50) = 10% + 25.345% = 35.345%, rounded to 35.3%. This means a 35.3% tariff on Chinese goods could be proposed to offset the imbalance, aiming to reduce imports and encourage domestic production or exports. Extending to Other Countries To provide a broader view, here's a table of top US trading partners with 2024 deficits, using data from The Motley Fool and similar calculations (assuming scaling factor of 50 for consistency): [data table headings] Country Deficit (USD Billion) Total Trade (USD Billion) Deficit % Calculate d Tariff % China -295 582 50.69% 35.3% Mexico -172 840 20.48% 20.2% Vietnam -123 (Data incomplet e, estimate) ~30% 25.0% Ireland -87 (Data incomplet e, estimate) ~25% 22.5% Germany -85 (Data incomplete estimate) ~20% 20.0%
April 3, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Reposted by Simon
davidzipper.bsky.social
Next year, the EU will require cars to have buttons & dials -- not just touchscreens -- to get a top safety rating.

This is a great move. Drivers can fiddle with knobs & buttons without taking their eyes off the road, but they can't do that with touchscreens.

(Even better: Tesla will hate this)
Cars will need fewer screens and more buttons to earn five-star safety rating in Europe
Euro NCAP will release new testing guidelines in 2026.
www.theverge.com
February 27, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Simon
blackazizanansi.blacksky.app
@dansup.bsky.social , who is the founder of pixelfed, sent this letter to Mark Zuckerberg/Meta regarding their blocking of links to Pixelfed.
Dear Mark, I hope this finds you well. I noticed something interesting today - it seems Instagram is blocking links to my little open-source project. You know, the one that lets people share photos without harvesting their personal data or forcing algorithmic feeds on them. I have to admit, I'm flattered. Who would've thought a small team of volunteers could build something that would catch your attention? We're just trying to give people a choice in how they share their memories online. No VCs, no surveillance capitalism, just code and community. Remember when Facebook started? It was about connecting people, not maximizing engagement metrics. Our project might be tiny compared to Instagram, but we're staying true to that original spirit of social media - giving people control over their online presence without turning them into products. You could've ignored us. Instead, by blocking our links, you've given us the best endorsement we could ask for. You've confirmed what we've been saying all along - that big tech is more interested in protecting their walled gardens than fostering genuine innovation. Every time you block a link to our platform, you remind people why we built it in the first place. Your action tells them there are alternatives worth exploring, ones that respect their privacy and agency. So thank you, Mark. You've turned our little project into a symbol of resistance against digital monopolies.
January 18, 2025 at 2:10 PM
svarabhakti.bsky.social
Stop using #Brave Browser
www.spacebar.news/stop-using-b...
December 2, 2024 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Simon
wildjustice.bsky.social
Good afternoon.

We've launched another petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting.

Please sign & share!

@chrisgpackham.bsky.social @markavery.bsky.social @ruthtingay.bsky.social

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...
Petition: Ban driven grouse shooting
Chris Packham, Ruth Tingay and Mark Avery (Wild Justice) believe that driven grouse shooting is bad for people, the environment and wildlife. People; we think grouse shooting is economically insignifi...
petition.parliament.uk
November 22, 2024 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Simon
triketora.com
if you are doing this, consider also parking your original handle so someone else can’t take it and impersonate you. eg i just registered @triketora.bsky.social again. impersonation issues are gonna be messy for a while until bluesky figures out a trusted verification scheme
November 25, 2024 at 3:34 PM