Geoffrey Harris

My take on the "what's the point of pointing out facts" argument is
a) *someone* might be influenced
b) the truth has an intrinsic value (and I can't understand why some people think otherwise)
c) yes it's not the only argument
d) it's nihilistic to shrug and make no effort to assert it

This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.

if you watch the tech industry long enough you learn the promised benefits never materialize but the unforeseen harms continue to be perpetuated long after the companies move on to the next big thing yet governments are too worried about scaring away investment to do anything

I'm currently standing on stage every day for a month at #edfringe and pretty much saying this. We have to actively end the bad stuff.

What I don't quite have the time to discuss in detail is that while long-term oil & gas are likely now unprofitable but short-term the volatility keep them going

We have to be purposeful about ending the use of fossil fuels because they’re not going to end themselves anytime soon. While wind and solar are cheaper, they are not as profitable. Therein lies the problem.

Refusing to "trust the experts" is meant to be a brave, responsible position.

But (as Carl explains in the thread) there is too much knowledge in the world. You have to trust *somebody*, much of the time.

If you have no trust in experts, you end up trusting the idiots.

In 2015, global nations pledged to take actions to limit global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F) above the pre-industrial baseline temperature in what has come to be known as the "Paris Agreement." In 2023 and 2024, global temperatures approached or even exceeded that warming target on a temporary basis--an Thoughts from a climate scientist on what it means to exceed the 1.5°C global warming target

I published a video focused on my perspective on the 1.5°C temperature target and what it will mean to exceed it. This monologue is an honest (and unvarnished) scientifically-informed personal reflection, so I hope you'll give it a listen. #ClimateChange www.youtube.com/watc...

Paying attention to public officials and reporting what they say simply because they're public officials is a good journalistic norm that has usually served us well and we need to have abandoned it yesterday

For russia, a treaty isn’t worth the paper it’s signed on. Ever.
Defeat it & drum it out of the civilized world

Russians think Europe needs them, but no one needs them. Sometime soon, China will take back it’s eastern territories and then who will care or help Russians? No one.

Justification of fascists while peaceful protestors against genocide are vilified and incarcerated

Anti-Brexit protests were not as heroically, generously or sympathetically portrayed

And 1000x not, in proportion to the size of the protests

And Remainers, unlike these bigots, had a legitimate complaint.

The difference in coverage amounts to a direct choice about what kind of Britain we want

For me, the BBC’s image choice here is reprehensible…

…it glorifies these thugs who were intimidating refugees - makes them look like they are protesting for some sort of freedom… rather than the targeted harassment of the vulnerable.

This "swarthy foreigners are here to molest you" muck is better suited to the yellowing old copies of Der Stürmer that I glanced over in the Internationales Zeitungsmuseum in Aachen a few years back

Piteous that Britain is descending to this state of scurrilous moral decay and old-school evil

I was left wordless yesterday and generally I still am but one thing that I would like to remark on is that I clenched my fist so hard my fingers cracked when they intercut Western coverage of the "failing counteroffensive" with footage of Ukrainian soldiers fighting valiantly with hope and optimism

The legendary astronaut Jim Lovell (of Apollo 8 & 13) has just died, aged 97. There are only 5 Apollo astronauts still living, only five who have been far enough from home to really see the precious jewel of Earth hanging in space. I wonder whether human eyes will see it again in a their lifetimes.

Appeasement – Part One – The Bitter Cup Origin Story · Episode

Parts one and two of this podcast are well worth a listen.

open.spotify.com/episode/1pfu...

open.spotify.com/episode/4q7H...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the model as "like having a team of PhD-level experts in your pocket”

One of the objections to a wealth tax (that some people seem to think is an absolute killer argument) is that it will force the ultra wealthy to dispose of some assets in order to pay it.
Yes.
That would be just one of many advantages.

Ukraine, its occupied territories and its future Podcast Episode · Behind The Lines with Arthur Snell · 06/08/2025 · 44m

It was my great honour to speak to @drjademcglynn.bsky.social about the latest developments in Ukraine, including the desperate situation in the occupied territories.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...

EXCLUSIVE TO ALL NEWSPAPERS POWDER KEG UK ABOUT TO BLOW UP AS BRITAIN STANDS ON THE BRINK OF THE WHOLE NATION DESCENDING INTO CIVIL WAR by Our Apocalypse Staff HELENA HANDCART THE entire country has turned into a tinderbox, one spark and the whole thing could turn into a raging inferno of hatred and violence. All it needs is one little push - preferably from us - and this once peaceful island will explode. It may not take much, maybe an article with some badly researched facts, maybe some exaggerated and provocative hyperbole, and before we know it there'll be blood on the streets, and flames too, as millions of furious citizens attack each other, the police, and the emergency services, not to mention the armed forces should they tragically be called in to deal with the hate-filled mob rampaging through our cities, towns and villages, armed with burning torches and pitchforks, calling for justice, free speech and the immediate death of everyone they don't like. (Top journalism, Ed). Make no mistake, if Britain even exists by next week, we will run this piece again until someone sparks the tinderbox on the brink of the powderkeg that... (cont. for entire summer).

No one sums up the utter shamelessness of the British press and the ugly politics of Farage quite like Private Eye.

She’s so impressive in holding it together when her anger is palpable (rightly so) 👏 Keep calling it out, Zoe! Solidarity ✊

47% of people think immigration is primarily illegal. There were 4% irregular arrivals in March

New YouGov polling. A monumental failure of our political class to educate, a monumental failure of our media to report fairly, for a generation

Why would a scientist want to stay, and give their endorsement to the country America has insistently chosen to become?

Why give there - the most privileged place in the world, that now freely, needlessly & repeatedly chooses bad over good - rather than somewhere that shares your values?

Every Scientific Empire Comes to an End America’s run as the premiere techno-superpower may be over.

www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Critical read: As noted by a colleague, from the examples in this article, it is amazing how quickly German physics collapsed (and US exploded) after 1934. #academicsky, #neuroskyence , is there time and a route to prevent the collapse of research in the US?

NEW: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal funds.

Then the harassment began.

Pizzas sent to his home in the name of Judge Esther Salas’s murdered son, Daniel.

Six credible threats to his life.

More than 400 “vile” calls to his chambers—including this voicemail:

Journalism has to choose between political neutrality & truth. If it wants to pursue truth, it's not going to be neutral, it's going to end up on the other side from reactionaries, over & over again. That's been the basic problem for decades now & at the very least we should frame it clearly.

I agree with much of what's in this post but nonetheless it kind of irritates me. It is long past time to stop talking about this in abstract, neutral terms, as though simple truth vs. falsehood is the relevant distinction. That just elides the real problem ...

Motherfucking wind farms…

YouTube video by Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys - What are we going to do about the rich? (lyric video)

🤑 Today’s theme song.
🤑 New episode: Time to tax the mega-rich? – How a #WealthTax might work.
🤑 Listen: linktr.ee/bunker_pod

Should the UK tax its vast wealth? As Labour hums and haws, We ask: what would a wealth tax actually look like?

Today, @nndroid.bsky.social is joined by @stephenkinsella.bsky.social of @patrioticmillionaires.org to unpack the case for a wealth tax.

Listen now: linktr.ee/bunker_pod