Sameen

mashallah he is gone, to celebrate I've made the piece I wrote last year about arguably the most embarrassing project I've ever worked on free to read: youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/so-about-t...

To paraphrase Nemik, "Car culture requires constant effort."

Right that the prime minister has resigned. His successor, Keir Starmer, has a very difficult inheritance.

The Home Office now describes asylum seekers as "illegal immigrants [living in hotels]" with no reference to the reason that these people are in government-funded accommodation is that this government has taken & will process the asylum claim from them in 98-99% of cases of unauthorised entry.

I do not understand how anyone could ever expect me to vote for this. Nothing they can do tweaking worker rights or who owns trains can ever make up for this

Just because good news is worth celebrating:

There is now a Prep medication that is an *every six month* injection.

HIV has, effectively, a vaccination.

‘In the end, you feel blank’: India’s female workers watching hours of abusive content to train AI Women in rural communities describe trauma of moderating violent and pornographic content for global tech companies

‘In the end, you feel blank’: India’s female workers watching hours of abusive content to train AI

we gotta open the schools…or close down the schools. not sure. yikes

If I'm interpreting this figure correctly, it means no global temperature day in either 2024 or 2025 was cooler than the 1991-2020 mean. It's almost like something has changed.

Spoke with a PI whose postdoc is trapped abroad because of social media vetting. It appears the postdoc missed disclosing one account and it's unclear if they can come back… ever.

This is the country we live in now.

Deadline for paper/panel submission for the 1st ever @isanet.bsky.social conference in South Asia coming up soon (Feb 16)! More on the conference 👇

trump creating the incentive and permission structure for democrats to do insane 2010-era gerrymandering of their own may turn out to be one of the biggest self-owns of all time. dems are now pretty likely to emerge with an advantage from the 2025-26 redistricting wars

The Board of Governors decided, unilaterally, that no published textbook in the field of sociology could be used in compliance with the law for an Intro to Sociology class. None. Victor: There's not a single existing textbook on the market that could be used that would qualify under state law? Zachary: Correct. Victor: I'm sorry, that's kind of funny. Like, the absurdity of not a single sociology textbook getting past the censors. I mean, it makes me kind of proud of our colleagues, but...

I do want to shout-out my fellow sociologists, who have collectively created a discipline so woke that not a single one of our introductory textbooks can make it past Florida's censors.

Great work everyone.

You Know, You Can Just Say "Patriarchy" These analyses of the Epstein case are... missing something.

Lord forgive me, but it's time to go back to the old me: Trying to get dudes on the Internet to say "patriarchy" about the Epstein files:

New data shows surge in trans kids’ suicides following healthcare rollbacks | Good Law Project A freedom of information request by Good Law Project has found that deaths by suicide of trans young people under 18 surged following the withdrawal of gender-affirming healthcare

One of the wickedest things Wes Streeting has ever done is push politically convenient falsehoods about suicide rates amongst young trans people. We have new data from the National Child Mortality Database that exposes the truth he tried to cover up.

This is horrendous…

This New Hotel Reservation Scam Is Fooling People Who Use Sites Like Booking.com If you've booked a hotel through a platform like Booking.com or Expedia, beware any communication that directs you to confirm your payment details to hold your reservation.

A scammer just tried exactly this on me via WhatsApp. Glad I saw a post here recently outlining the scam - it would be very easy to fall for. The “hotel” account had an unconvincing name, but they had my name, number & reservation dates. lifehacker.com/money/hotel-...

‘I’ve lost my friends’: advocacy groups warn Australia’s social media ban risks isolating kids with disabilities Despite the ban’s aim to protect young people, experts are concerned that those in marginalised communities or living with disabilities could lose vital support networks

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The impacts of locking under 16 yos from their social media networks are now beginning to bite for those young people who relied on them for social connection

Over 2 million people in the UK are on visas with a path to settlement. (They don't all want to stay in the UK). The final reforms could well affect around 1.25m - 1.5m people currently here. (University of Oxford analysis of Home Office data)
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/co...

As someone who is in an academic department that is positively pullulating with global talent, I would just like to note the gratuitous, excessive emotional and financial stress and strain suffered by talented globals in the context of swingeing visa regimes and hostile environments.

Beavers to be released in South West England in coming weeks Natural England has approved the release of beavers at two projects in South West England.

Release the Beavers www.gov.uk/government/n...

Peter Mandelson issues secret notice demanding press leave him alone – read in full LATE on Friday evening, this notice was circulated from representatives of Peter Mandelson, via press regulator IPSO and the Press Association news…

BREAKING: Peter Mandelson just sent this secret notice to all UK media, demanding they leave him alone.

He uses IPSO clauses designed to support grieving families in a bid to stop scrutiny of his relationship with Epstein

We have published it in full.

www.thenational.scot/news/2583451...

Over the past two weeks I've begun to realize that rich people only started funding chatbots once they could no longer email Jeffrey Epstein

At the same time that Epstein was having these warm exchanges with famous and powerful friends, he was, of course, also continuing his predation on women and girls. The newly-released documents contain numerous examples of him soliciting nude photos from very young women; one declines because she still lives with her parents. Another declines his repeated requests to meet up, explaining that her virginity is important to her and clearly understanding what he had in mind. A third woman complains that she developed a painful vaginal infection following one of their meetings; Epstein responds only by asking if she’s gone on birth control yet.

Sorry to spotlight this very grim and graphic part but, again: meteor

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's favourability with Labour members in Survation's tracking fell 32 points between Sept 2025 and Nov 2025 (net +20 to net -6). She was a fairly popular member of this government as Justice Secretary: her asylum + settlement reforms are unpopular with Labour members

The Migration of Trust As measles returns and senators debate vaccines, a deeper problem is coming into focus: science has never been stronger, yet trust in the institutions that produce it has never been more fragile.

The Migration of Trust
As measles returns and senators debate vaccines, a deeper problem is coming into focus: science has never been stronger, yet trust in the institutions that produce it has never been more fragile.
Read & subscribe: www.celinegounder.com/p/public-hea...

Magdalen launches Sir Guenter Treitel Scholarships.

Each year, three Sir Guenter Treitel Scholars will be provided with full funding (fees and maintenance) to study the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at Magdalen College.

Read more: www.magd.ox.ac.uk/news/magdale...

If Reform win the next election, Labour have already put in place a solid framework for them to execute their most wild and dystopian fantasies about ICE-style enforcement, scrapping legal protections prohibiting torture and imposing indefinite detention without trial.