Liam Shields

Reform UK are seeking to fob off blame for their illegal leaflet on a printer error. That won’t stand up with the police - responsibility for making sure the law is followed lies with the party commissioning and distributing the leaflets.

The dark night of liberalism - The Tablet Be careful what you wish for. A generation ago, it seemed unlikely that academic theology could ever have much influence on politics. Then one form of

www.thetablet.co.uk/features/the...

A great discussion of @pjthinker.bsky.social and @mattsleat.bsky.social in @thetablet.bsky.social - perceptive, and challenging. Thanks to Theo Hobson. @lsegovernment.bsky.social @politybooks.bsky.social

Of self-driving cars, and the non-existence of jaywalking Also this week: the unexpected indeterminacy of rivers; and a barcode map of the UK.

"But surely the biggest issue is we simply have a different legal relationship with our streets from that of almost any major US city. It’s not so much that jaywalking is legal here, as that it’s an entirely non-existent concept."

UBI fans must remember a job is about more than the money The value of work often gets left out of discussions about AI

My column today: on why if AI creates a world where almost everyone has to live off UBI, we should throw away the machine instead:

Defence policy falters when given the wrong prompt If the UK can no longer soothe the US with its pledges, it should refocus on what spending targets are actually for

Today's newsletter: the one silver lining in a very dark cloud is that we should move away from our input target of 'we will spend 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035' to a capability target for defence:

Up the toffees

Better late than never—happy birthday, John!

More at philosophytalk.org/shows/philos....

#PhilSky #philosophy #work #job #retirement

Multiple maps of Africa showing 2025, 2030 and 2040 and the cost-competitiveness of BEG-SOG (solar-powered EVs) vs internal combustion engines, by country. In 2025, ICE is still cheaper but already in 2030 in some vehicle types and countries, BEG-SOG is cheaper. By 2040, latter is cheaper everywhere, by as much as 20%.

Electric vehicles with off-grid solar are competitive with or cheaper than old style petrol/gaslone vehicles in many African countries before 2030; and cheaper in all countries by 2040 - often by a wide margin. That's even allowing for (high) financing costs. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Call for Submissions: Res Publica Postgraduate Essay Prize

Papers may be in any area of moral, legal, social or political philosophy. The submission deadline for the Prize is 30 April 2026.

More info: link.springer.com/journal/1115...

Breaking bread with the enemy - Nuffield Foundation

A few years ago I came across the great adventurer Daryl Davis, who still fascinates me today. When I was invited to be part of a book on public philosophy, I knew this was my chance to start sharing his story.
www.nuffieldfoundation.org/evidence-and...

Very hard to follow the African Cup of Nations on BBC website. The Senegal game is on right now and there's no mention of it in the sport or football tabs

There is an odd irony in censoring the teaching of Plato in order (checks notes) to protect western civilization from tenured radicals.

Waiting for the Out review – totally magnificent TV about philosophy in prison Dennis Kelly’s brilliant drama about a teacher in prison is moving, gripping and almost painfully vulnerable – plus the main character decimates everyone at a middle-class dinner party. What more coul...

This drama which explores philosophy in prison looks excellent
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

‘Oh my gosh, they’re all from London and Cambridge’: York University’s northerners fight back Lucy Morville, from Burnley, thought most students would be from the north and felt ‘culture shock’ surrounded by southerners

‘Oh my gosh, they’re all from London and Cambridge’: York University’s northerners fight back. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Times comment article byline: Paul Ovenden Headline: Alaa Abd el-Fattah has shown the supremacy of the Stakeholder State Strapline: My time working in No 10 showed me how much time and energy is sapped by people obsessed with fringe issues. It doesn't have to be this way

Just like the Tories, Labour's centrist hacks think themselves omniscient and infallible - they cannot fail, they can only be failed. So when they do fail, they blame everyone else.

We saw it with the Tories, and it's already started from the Starmerites with this idiotic dreck: archive.ph/rHoXA

Some people are recommending using AI for the first draft or first response in customer service. The rationale: this saves the most labour.

But the tendency of this Gen of LLMs to go widely off piste is a greater risk at the start. But saving large amounts of routine labour looks less likely.

If this claim is true he could certainly benefit from the publicity. I don’t recall hearing of him before.

2026 will present challenges and set backs. Wishing you perspective and resilience for those hard times, and gratitude to appreciate the good times ahead.

At the start of 2025 I set myself a cycling target of 2000km. But in early February I broke my thumb and didn't cycle again until May. Today and yesterday I cycled a total of 101km to meet that goal.

Up Les Lions de la Teranga!!!

YouTube video by Screenwriting In LA Walton Goggins Advice For Actors #waltongoggins #acting #cinemas #filmmaking #motivation

A student asked me this recently. It took me a week to reply and all I could do was share a clip about acting: youtube.com/shorts/elCo9...

I read the literature and surrender myself to a set of imaginary circumstances. If I'm lucky, and I'm always lucky, I have an idea about how it can be improved.

Topics Please see below for a non-exhaustive list of suggested topics; we particularly welcome contributions that make contact with this year's conference theme: Ground Truth and Validity. While the notion of measurement validity is comparatively familiar, ground truth may need more of an introduction. The concept of ground truth has origins in remote sensing, where it is used to contrast the outcomes of a near or ground level measurement with outcomes of a remotely sensed measurement. From these origins, the concept has now moved to a wider use, particularly in machine learning contexts, where it denotes data assumed to be true, which can then be used to calibrate and validate machine learning data. The time seems ripe for a more careful investigation from a measurement perspective of the concept of ground truth-both in its original understanding and in its more metaphorical use. Measurement and Simulation • Connections between measuring and simulating • Can simulation substitute for measurement? Measurement and Data Science

Measurement and Data Science • Measurement and data quality • Measurement and data analysis • Measurement and Al Models in Measurement • The role of models in measurement • The role of models in justifying measurement results • Models, intersubjectivity, objectivity, validation Models of Measurement • The general structure of the measurement process • The structure of measurement in social and human sciences • Transduction and calibration in measurement • History of the conception of the structure of measurement History, Philosophy and Sociology of Measurement

The structure of measurement in social and human sciences • Transduction and calibration in measurement • History of the conception of the structure of measurement History, Philosophy and Sociology of Measurement • Exploration across sciences with diverse philosophical perspectives • New quantification and measurement approaches • Epistemological and metaphysical approaches to measurement Measurement Applications and their conceptual foundations in any area of science • Life & Health Sciences

CFP: Society for the Study of Measurement will be held at the University of Edinburgh
June 22-25, 2026. Submit proposals for papers, symposia, & poster on any topics in the theory, history, philosophy, & application of measurement by January 15, 2026 app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/80364...
#HPS

Merry Christmas everyone

Healthcare systems must balance climate responsibility with patient care. A new paper suggests using sufficientarianism to set emissions limits, ensuring everyone has “enough” health care. Explore this ethical approach to sustainable health: tinyurl.com/2k7xrsz4 #ClimateJustice #HealthEquity

I think you are right

Social Media and a Carefree Childhood In November last year, the Australian government passed a law banning under-16s from using social media. It’s the first attempt globally to restrict children’s social media use. Speaking on ABC Inside...

Try this www.publicethics.org/post/social-...

Social Media and a Carefree Childhood In November last year, the Australian government passed a law banning under-16s from using social media. It’s the first attempt globally to restrict children’s social media use. Speaking on ABC Inside...

www.publicethics.org/post/social-...

Try this

Here are some thoughts that Laura Ferracioli (Sydney) and I had on the argument for a social media ban in Australia.

Same applies to the UK

publicethics.org/post/social-me…

Prospect article text: McSweeney realised the 2006 campaign needed to move on from Labour’s past. He focused on life at street-level: bins, blinking lights, repairs. He personally reported burnt-out cars to the police. He also wasn’t above the dark arts. Organisers in Clapham told residents the coalition was closing the local swimming baths. In fairness, they were closed—but for refurbishment.

"dark arts" - or as normal people call it, "lying"