Alex Walters

AI industry horrified to face largest copyright class action ever certified Copyright class actions could financially ruin AI industry, trade groups say.

Copyright laws have been in existence since the 1700's. Hopefully the courts will set a precedence with this class action suit. Otherwise the livelihoods of not only authors, but artists, photographers and musicians will all be threatened. #Copyright arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

That’s some gathering. Sadly, I was unavailable.

Treasury targeting inheritance tax reforms to help plug UK deficit Exclusive: Chancellor also looking at tweaks to capital gains tax to try to bridge £40bn-plus spending gap before budget

‘Courageous move, Minister’. (Though I think it could be a good one if they get it right). www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Remarkable this. The Conservative party and ConservativeHome letting people who left for Reform back in when they complain that Ant Middleton, of “no-one whose grandparents were immigrants should hold high office” fame was not allowed to become Reform’s mayoral candidate.

Agree. Very like Agatha Christie in that respect (though I think Christie’s a much better writer overall).

Seems so.

I keep seeing media reports and social media posts about Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir being on sale a few days before its official release date. I’ve no views on Sturgeon either way but surely that’s just normal for a high profile publication?

I agree but I don’t think Blyton is crap. She was no-one’s idea of a great writer but she had a particular genius for getting inside the heads and imaginations of children. That’s the main reason why her books have lasted.

The minimum qualifications for joining the MET need looking at…

So basically all of Iceland turned up for Pride in Reykjavik.

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇮🇸

Reeves hopes promise of fairness will cushion potential Budget tax rises People close to the UK chancellor say she has begun drawing up a list of measures she may tighten in the autumn

UK's problems: persistent and stickier inflation than our peers, local government essentially non-existent for most because it is all swallowed up by statutory obligations, much of public realm a mess. Fussing about how you can present tax rises as 'fair' is mad, a fool's errand, won't work.

This is a great example where it feels like the Conservatives at some point just gave up on governing.

⚠️To Whom It May Concern, The occupation is now openly threatening a full-scale invasion of Gaza. For 22 months, the city has been bleeding under relentless bombardment from land, sea, and air. Tens of thousands have been killed, and hundreds of thousands wounded. If this madness does not end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop. Please share this message and tag everyone who has the power to help end this massacre. Silence is complicity.

Heartbreaking. Anas Al-Sharif posted this 1 hour before being assasinated tonight.

“If this madness does not end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased. Please share this message & tag everyone who…has the power to end this massacre. Silence is complicity.”

Al Jazeera condemns Israeli incitement against Gaza reporter Anas al-Sharif Al Jazeera says incitement campaign aims to ‘justify targeting of journalists’ as Israel continues to bombard Gaza.

Al Jazeera from 2 weeks ago…

The Great VAT Panic Or how not to run a campaign

New post just out:

"The Great VAT Panic"

The claims made by the right-wing press about VAT on private school fees were wildly wrong.

Why? What are the lessons about about (how not to) run a lobbying campaign? And what can government learn?

(£/free)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

I wonder if the Mail mention inside which party left jails dangerously full and failed to build any while ramping up sentencing?

Sociopaths outraged at kids being raised not to be sociopaths

Palestine Action protesters arrested by police at London demo Protesters simultaneously unveiled signs with the same message

Arresting Quakers, former Guantanamo inmates, blind disabled activists... This is the largest political mass arrest since the Poll Tax Riots 35 years ago.

A government for nobody, hated by everyone, cowering behind a thin blue line. Pathetic.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This is (literally) sick

I was just about to respond with Empson.

I’m not sure about ‘looking’.

Police arrest 365 people at protest over Palestine Action ban in London Met officers and other UK forces form ‘significant presence’ in largest protest since group was proscribed as terrorist organisation

This is idiotic and unsustainable. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Death of a publishing dream: how the Unbound revolution b... The literary disrupters enjoyed great success with their crowdfunding model, signing authors that other publishers overlooked. And then the money ran out…

Detailed piece on the Unbound shit show.

Any business can fail honestly but multiple serious allegations in the article about author royalties being diverted to running costs, questionable deductions from author royalties, staff pension contributions going missing.

observer.co.uk/news/busines...

Pete Songi on Rachel Reeves’s economic conundrum – cartoon The chancellor faces seemingly impossible fiscal choices following a thinktank’s warning of a £40bn shortfall

Maybe put in a bit of effort or thought? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

YouTube video by midvodian Pete Atkin - Canoe

In memory of Jim Lovell. By Pete Atkin and Clive James. youtu.be/3-4DmylkLrc?...

The bumping elbows thing seemed perfectly reasonable at the time but is indicative of how little we knew.

Indeed! You’ve reminded me I also gave various presentations in Committee Rooms in the House of Commons. Again, to staff rather than MPs. Was once in Portcullis House and the person I was working with said, ‘Don’t look now, but Margaret Thatcher’s right behind you.’

RIP Jim Lovell
‘When I circled the moon and looked back at Earth, my outlook on life and my viewpoint of Earth changed... Earth is a spaceship, just like Apollo & just like Apollo, the crew must learn to live & work together. We must learn to manage the resources of this world with new imagination.’

Possibly delivering a presentation in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament. To parliamentary staff rather than MSPs but even so…

we can sneak around town / hunting working folks down / I hear they got a great benefit plan

join ICE boy ain’t it nice / join ICE take my advice

www.tiktok.com/@jessewelles...