Andy Fraser

UK Palestine Action ban ruled unlawful, in humiliating blow for ministers Thousands arrested for supporting group since proscription are now in legal limbo as Mahmood says she will appeal

Finally a sane judgement: wearing a tshirt or carrying a sign does not make you a dangerous terrorist. The entire debacle highlights the toxic effects of large donations from pro-Israel groups that distort political judgement (eg Yvette Cooper):

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz takes a shot at Vance at the MSC: “The battle of cultures of MAGA in the US is not ours.

“Freedom of speech here ends where the words spoken are directed against human dignity and our Basic Law.

“We do not believe in tariffs and protectionism, but in free trade.”

After a mad week, Labour is hopefully seeing sense: Starmer needs to stay | Simon Jenkins The only winners from a political coup in Westminster would be Labour’s enemies on the left and right, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins

Starmer gets the Simon Jenkins kiss of death:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Step 1 to reducing cars in Toronto - a silent congestion charge. Anyone is free to drive into Toronto any time any day for free. Since of course you don’t want to be killing people, to drive in Toronto you have to pass a stringent urban emissions test…which bans many big trucks eg F150s. Haha oops.

A lot of what is described as crime is just a framework to Other some people and exert control over them. I know that’s not an original thought n all. But it’s true.

Kenny Harris (American Artist, born 1974)
"Moka with Tiles", 2023.
Oil on Canvas on Panel, 36 × 28 cm.
Private Collection.
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt

Gabbard Whistleblower Complaint Based on Intercepted Conversation About Jared Kushner The substance of the conversation, which covered in part issues related to Iran, isn’t known.

Breaking WSJ:

The highly classified whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is related to a conversation intercepted last spring in which two foreign nationals discussed Jared Kushner, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

RFK Jr. Isn't scared of a germ. He used to snort cocain off of toilet seats.

For no particular reason I'm thinking about the time Bill Clinton admitted he smoked pot once in college and it was a month-long administration paralyzing scandal

Wow that Lollobrigida 5000 was off scale amazing. What a competition!!

Sam Bennett is a horrible goon, absolutely loathe him whoever he skates for. 🤮
Someone has to knock him down for those repeated dirty hits on goalies.

Is this a bid to get rid of Melania?

Really? Caccio e pepe ice cream? I can imagine it.

Greek salad as a sorbet.
Japanese shoyu stock or even just dashi as a sorbet.
Gazpacho sorbet.
Thai fish sauce sorbet.

I want a sorbet making machine thingy.

Has anyone ever made really rich ramen stock…as an ice cream?? What about caccio e pepe icecream???

Both would work I think.

Hot buttered toast with honey…as an icecream flavour.

I hope they repeal gravity cos it’s really getting me down and I’d love to just float about.

Yeah but on the plus side Premier Ford’s personal bank balance is looking FANTASTIC kids, thanks to all those fat fat envelopes stuffed with unmarked $50s!

Ontario not currently on path to balance, financial watchdog finds | Globalnews.ca The FAO found that the provincial government's budget deficit will increase to $11.1 billion in the 2025-26 year, an increase from the previous year.

The fiscally conservative party continues to surprise.

globalnews.ca/news/1166319...

Kontrast mezi zasněženou krajinou a tradiční červenou barvou kostela s horskými štíty v pozadí. Souostroví Lofoty, sever Norska.

BARVY NORSKA…
ze zimní návštěvy souostroví Lofoty na severu Norska 🇧🇻 Zaujal mě kontrast mezi zasněženou krajinou a tradiční červenou barvou kostela…
#lofoty #norsko #zimnilofoty #kostel #bluesky

Columbia Protester in ICE Custody for Nearly a Year Suffers Seizure

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/n...

Submitting to biorxiv is awesome and makes me happy…until…I remember that I then need to do a 12-18month trudge through misery to get the same* study published in a “my folks can get jobs with this” journal

*same = but with 26378484 irrelevant supplemental figures added to appease one reviewer

Apparently it is not obvious to public transit operators that when it’s -10 outside the doors should not stay open when a train is stuck in a station.

I guess my question is not “are LLMs capable of developing morality?” (Obviously not) but “in what sense do humans display any morality or are they just mirrors that reflect what appears to be morality just as LLMs do?”
Are humans more moral than LLMs?

What proportion of humans’ “ethical behaviour” is similar? So instead of thinking “I have an innate moral sense and I will try to do the right thing according to these internal principles” it’s just “apparently people seem to think X is a good action so I will take it and thus simulate morality”?

Singing “things can only get better” as “things could really be better” - could be the new Labour theme tune.

When faced with minor real world tasks that will take about 15mins like sort out car insurance, I am overcome with existential dread and sit paralysed for hours. And repeated “why don’t you just do it?” pokes from the sidelines? Yeah they don’t help. I need daily life but with The Fear.

Single best use for AI - learn that my preferences are to turn off all AI gunk on every application and DO IT FOR ME. Alas that seems to be something AI gunk doesn’t want me to do…

"Remember that product you use every day at work? We removed the most useful features & replaced them with a chatbot you didn't ask for that's wrong a bunch & we've made it unavoidable. We also did this for your search engine, your graphic design app, & for even more inexplicable reasons Adobe PDF"

"Either this will completely destroy all your jobs or it will be an all powerful supersentience and destroy the planet, we don't know which but those are the only two options and we are doing it anyway because it is _i n e v i t a b l e_ oh also it does sex abuse on demand"

If my followers have been inspired by the fierce resistance the Twin Cities has put up to ICE, you should make it a point to take a trip here (April through October 😬), enjoy the wonderful things MN has to offer and support our small businesses. It continues to be a really tough time for them.