Ben Evans

Same as it ever was.

One of my favourite sides of politics/media.

OK, the Gorton and Denton by-election, I have some thoughts!

Let's take a look at some of the FACTS and burst a few of the more ridiculous takes doing the rounds

But first up, can we acknowledge just what bad losers Reform are?!🤣

Right, let's get started...

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Some of those are absolutely gorgeous!

Turns out I still need to cut like 10 slides from this presentation.

Seems I had rather more thoughts about AI impacts to development practice than I thought.

What's your estimate of 5-10 years based on? Physical spare parts? What about the software, and access to positioning systems, etc?

So is it to be: 1.) another US-dependent solution, more in hock than Trident is ; 2.) keeping the existing system running at vast cost (& the knowledge that it would only keep working for a few months at best if the US stopped co-operating) or 3.) Start effectively from scratch at eye-watering cost?

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

pencil drawing of a wild windswept figure on a small bit of rock in a wild sea. They hold a charmed bit of driftwood.

and a Salt Hag of @hookland.bsky.social .
If you have not yet visited the county you may very well discover (as I have) that it was home all along.

Two cities in Israel, bomb shelter comparison

By the way when you see reports about how Israelis are going to bomb shelters, you should keep in mind that the vast majority of Palestinian *citizens* of Israel (in the 1948 territories, not the oPT) do not have a single bomb shelter nearby due to the apartheid system Israel has implemented.

Jayme Lawson from Sinners hit the nail on the head and said how I felt with the whole BAFTAs situation.

lmao this thread

Most people's reaction to Hannah Spencer is:
- She seems nice
- She is talking sense
- A plumber? Cool
- Nice coat / hair / dog

Columnists and politicians telling us that she's some radical left fanatic honestly makes them sound like they're frothing at the mouth. Arses out all over the place.

Her look just screams: "Even the Emperor's Inquisitors need middle management."

In order to understand UK politics in 2026 you must realise that a plumber & plasterer doesn't represent the interests of the working class because she is left-wing but a wealthy broadcaster & former academic does represent the interests of the working class because he is right-wing. Hope this helps

The cat, or the poop?

Social media created this nonsense idea that not exposing yourself to hatred is isolationist. Choosing to not spend your free time with bigots isn’t living in a bubble. I don’t need to know what’s going on at X. I won’t be smarter or more knowledgeable or empathic by being there. Neither will you.

Brand new sentence: "This is one of those rare days on which I regret that Vidkun Quisling died without offspring".

I have no Middle East expertise, AMA

There's something faintly ominous about an email from the big cat sanctuary with the subject line: "Give her a Mother's Day she'll never forget".

Are they going to arrange for her to meet with an accident as she passes the leopard enclosure or something?

Every couple weeks in the British press: "is thinking bourgeois? Are experts an elite wielding their power over those who have the privilege not to care or know about anything? Is integrating a range of voices from different cultural & experience backgrounds the ruling class imposing on the people?

Nasty bug

A view of a road running around a bend in some wooded mountains. There is a sign reading FLOWERY TWATS in the foreground

I'm not sure that making soup counts as "meaningful action" right now, but it's what I feel up to, and it isn't paralysis.

The only thing it feels worthwhile for me to say right now is pay attention to whether your feelings & the information you’re absorbing are paralyzing you or prompting you to meaningful action, whatever that is. Paralysis helps no one but the enemy.

Bluesky gets to now answer fun moderation questions like: do you ban US government officials who authorize the illegal murder of children?

Israel, immediately after vaporizing a bunch of little girls:

At least two of the main OSS tools for Java (DataDog and New Relic, the latter being my fault) have support for it.

Part of the issue is "where do you draw the line between looking at a single JVM vs a fully productionized Observability solution?" There is ongoing work...

And, while they have a problem with some high-profile LD TERFs, they are not the majority and they don't have policy control, unlike in Lab/Con/etc.

If they take advantage of Tory-Reform splits to gain seats (e.g place like Cornwall or Devon) then that's fine AFAIK. Having grown up down there I know that they will make a positive contribution to local way more than Con/Ref would & those are not winnable seats for GPEW at a GE.