gummitch (aka gummitch_uk)

UK Recession of 1991-92 - Economics Help Graphs and data illustrating recession of 1991-92. Causes of recession (housing bubble burst, high interest rates). Impact on economy and unemployment. How it ended

I remember a colleague in the late 1980s telling me I should get on the property ladder asap, by any means necessary. I didn't, fortunately, because shortly after...
www.economicshelp.org/macroeconomi...

I did my own commentary on the Olympics live on Twitch in 2021 and within two hours of starting with a grand total of about 100 viewers my stream was cancelled after a complaint by the IOC, I had received a legal warning and was banned from streaming for 72 hours.

I do love that the trend in the UK, specifically, is young men rapidly swung left from 2010 onwards, it’s just that young women swung left even more rapidly

Wait, you have multiple klaxons? (Nothing wrong with that, everybody's got to have a hobby.)

Kindness will save us all.

The back of an electric guitar that says chinga la Migra

The back of Tom Morello's guitar ahead of Bernie Sanders speaking in Los Angeles for the California Billionaires tax.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski says 'trans rights are human rights' in Attitude 101 Trailblazer speech Revealed as Attitude’s Trailblazer of the Year 2026, Polanski opened his speech at the Rosewood London event.

Closing his speech, Polanski urged unity across LGBTQ+ communities and issued a warning to politicians
www.attitude.co.uk/news/zack-po...

seems worth reupping

*Always* good advice.

Allow me to be another astonished person saying "Oh my god, it works": Oh my god, it works

So, the US govt approach is:
*We are going to scan tourists social media accounts and deny visas because of content we dislike, like mocking Trump
and
*We are going to allow foreigners a work-around to consume social media content their governments have banned, including hate speech

So Bree hinted at this story a few days ago, but I want to circle back now that I have permission to share it.

WHISTLES OUT: A WHISTLE CREW MYSTERY

The Ceauşescus, too.

(Not a fan of the death penalty, but there are occasions when they absolutely unequivocally deserve it.)

State of impunity: a last legal recourse against war crimes is quietly removed An obscure ruling has been seized on to prevent activists presenting a proper defence in court

State of impunity: a last legal recourse against war crimes is quietly removed
An obscure ruling has been seized on to prevent activists presenting a proper defence in court

westenglandbylines.co.uk/politics/hum...

Seeing the trailer for this was one of the rare occasions when my jaw *literally* dropped. I mean, if the *Coen brothers* can't competently remake an Ealing classic, why would anyone else think they can do better?

'The Telegraph's Phantasm' (Full Digital Version) A graphic artwork titled "The Telegraph's Phantasm" by Marty Davies. The background is a psychedelic, swirling pattern of neon green, purple, and blue. In the center is a stylized logo for "The Telegraph" in a black Gothic font. Surrounding the logo are dozens of small, rectangular boxes, each containing a headline or phrase related to trans people, such as "Trans Fanatics," "Gender Cult," "Trans Extremism," and "Evil Trans Ideology." The boxes are organised in a grid-like "taxonomy" of media headlines.

I studied over 400 hate-ridden headlines from The Telegraph about the Trans+ community and what emerged was a new artwork currently exhibiting in Brixton.

This is ‘The Telegraph’s Phantasm, 2026’

CW: lots of nastiness

YouTube video by New Scientist Ken MacLeod on the life and work of the late sc-fi legend Iain M. Banks

The @newscientist.com Book Club read the #scifi masterpiece THE PLAYER OF GAMES by Iain M. Banks. In this video, Iain’s friend & fellow author @amendlocke.bsky.social discusses Iain’s schooldays, his literary influences, & his idea for a final Culture novel
11/13
💙📚
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7OW...

I do not like cats. Tiffany looked up at the dragon. “Because they betrayed you?” She asked. They betrayed my kind, yes. “I guess that’s a reason to hate them.” Tiffany conceded. The dragon turned its long head, slowly. Tiffany suddenly found herself looking into its cold blue eyes. For a second, she felt a form of temporal vertigo. As if her soul was falling into something deep and ancient. Then, suddenly, it broke her gaze and turned away, laughing. Short bursts of smoke and flame puffed from its nose as its chuckles echoed round the chamber. That’s not what I said, child. “But…” I do not like cats. I do not trust them. That doesn’t mean that I hate them. Like all of us, they have a role to play in maintaining the balance of this world. “Okay,” Tiffany said, “But from my perspective that role mostly seems to be sleeping all day.” And have you ever stopped to ask yourself why?

Tiffany opened her mouth to reply and then paused. It was, she admitted to herself suddenly, a question that had never once crossed her mind. The dragon turned to look at her again, and in an instant it seemed to know what she was thinking. Are you afraid of the dark, girl? Because you should be. Even with your shiny armour, your sharp sword and that little dagger, with a killing edge, that I can tell lies snug against your thigh. Those things will protect you from the dangers of the day. The dragon slid closer to her, bringing its vast head up in line with the ledge on which she was standing. So close now that she could smell the sulphur in every breath it took. Its voice echoed in her mind yet again. The night? The night is different. There are horrors there you cannot possibly comprehend. Things even I would not dare to name. They stay away from me and mine, because they fear our magic. Your kind lack such power. For generations, you were simply prey. Food for those who lurk in the shadows between this world and the next. They would feast on you all again given half a chance. You do not carry a blade sharp enough to deter them. No human ever has. Tiffany stayed silent. For a moment she felt a rising panic, as if the dragon’s words had tapped into a fear buried so deep in her soul that she hadn’t even known it existed. She took a deep breath and forced it back down. The dragon looked at her, and she sensed both amusement and curiosity. Yes. Think, Tiffany. Force yourself to consider, even if only for a second, a question that for millennia your kind have refused to contemplate at all. The chamber echoed with the low rolling sound of the dragon chuckling yet again. If cats sleep so much during the day, then what are they standing watch against all night?

A fun evening's writing.

You should be proud.

Tonight’s dumb napkin cartoon…

You can take the boy out of apartheid...

The amazing thing that’s been revealed about Musk is not that he’s racist and cruel. That’s hardly surprising. It’s that he’s dumb.

Like, if he was put in a room with a random people, he’d be one of the dumber people. He’d be the loudest and most obnoxious and bullying, but one of the dumber.

bsky.app/profile/gumm...

An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me – More Things Have Happened Context: An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about me after I rejected its code, attempting to damage my reputation and shame me into acceptin…

Follow-up post: "...it’s now possible to do targeted harassment, personal information gathering, and blackmail at scale... with zero traceability to find out who is behind the machine."
theshamblog.com/an-ai-agent-...

Oh. My. God.

An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about Scott Shambaugh after he rejected its code submission to matplotlib. This is potentially terrifying for us all.

Bloody hell, a repost to cherish. Thanks Mikey.

not sure I can think of a more profound case of “may her memory be a revolution.”

Yesterday morning kids were sent running from their bus stop in panic because ICE showed up. This guy at today’s ICE Out of Lindenwold protest is a must watch 😭. @maddow.bsky.social

You should watch this even if you haven't seen Megalopolis, it's much more about Coppola than that particular movie. (And also because Mikey is an *excellent* video essayist.)