Adam Jacobs 🇺🇦

Medical statistician. Foodie. Gardener. Cebollista. Political views: reality-based.

Fully paid-up member of the Guardian Reading Tofu Eating Wokerati.

Location: UK
Pronouns: He/Him
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2792-3166
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjacobs2/

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Last Notes

2026-05-19 10:42:35 UTC

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My personal view (and I realise other views are available) is that the Greens and LDs should either not stand candidates at all, or at the very least stand no-hoper candidates and give a tacit nod to their supporters to vote for Burnham.
Yes, there may be some political advantage to making Labour squirm, but I think Burnham winning the election, and potentially then the Labour leadership, would be better for the country than carrying on with Starmer, or, God help us, Streeting.

2026-05-19 10:36:30 UTC

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There's a nice illustration here of just how much of a difference charges can make, even if they look small
https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/are-pension-fees-deflating-your-retirement-savings-aHndy5F1PKbg

2026-05-19 10:32:40 UTC

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Predatory financial practices have a lot to answer for. The amount you pay in charges on pension funds is really quite staggering if you add it all up over the course of a working life, and take into account the growth foregone..
But I'm sure the people who benefit from it will make sure they don't get the blame. If they can't blame it on Boomers, they can always blame it on immigrants. That always works.

2026-05-19 09:15:01 UTC

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It seems that whichever way you look at it, we're storing up a lot of trouble for pensioner poverty down the line.
I guess most of today's retirees are Boomers or older and had final salary pension schemes, but my generation (older Gen X) will be retiring soon, and we mostly didn't have them. Seems to me that the gradual disappearance of final salary schemes is going to make a big difference.

2026-05-19 09:06:44 UTC

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Yes, I believe that's correct. And also, as @npub154p…gwly points out, there's also an assumption there that you've paid off your mortgage by the time you retire. May very well not be true for many of those who have only the state pension.

2026-05-19 09:05:33 UTC

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That's an excellent question. I would imagine that for those with no pension provision other than the state pension, the proportion of those who rent or still owe money on the mortgage would be pretty high, though I'm not aware of any data.

2026-05-19 07:38:08 UTC

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Yes, the minimum one is basically equivalent to just getting the state pension

2026-05-19 07:31:44 UTC

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Are they using the same definition of "comfortable" retirement as this?
Because it's quite a high bar: the income levels there are higher than a lot of working people have.
https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/

2026-05-07 22:03:36 UTC

Gotta admit, when I first saw this sign online I did wonder if it had been photoshopped. But this evening I saw it with my own eyes and I can confirm that it is real.
#Barcelona #Orwell #CCTV
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/116/535/545/501/016/766/original/375561a34d25f553.jpg

2026-04-23 06:22:32 UTC

OK, here's a #TechieQuestion: if I want to sync directories from a Linux server using a Python script, does it make much difference whether I invoke a shell command with rsync from the Python script or use a dedicated Python sync command such as pyrsync?
(Boosts welcome if this isn't your area of expertise)
#python #rsync #linux

2026-04-17 20:52:25 UTC

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Maybe. Heck, I may even get elected if that happens. I'm standing for the Green party in what they call a "non-target" seat, so allegedly I have little chance of actually getting elected.
But it would be kinda fun if I did.

2026-04-17 20:50:01 UTC

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And on a side note, those odds on Reform to get the most seats: WTAF?
This is why we can't have nice things.

2026-04-17 20:49:17 UTC

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Well I guess he may stay on if Labour do really well in the May elections.
Yeah, he's going after the May elections.
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/116/422/007/735/817/506/original/cd865a4cd1f727ec.png

2026-04-17 16:10:37 UTC

Been in meetings for much of the afternoon. Has #Starmer resigned yet?

2026-04-11 20:21:28 UTC

It's already fucked up enough that people can get arrested for sitting quietly and holding a placard, but it's doubly fucked up that you can still be arrested for it even after a court ruled that the government acted unlawfully when they made it illegal to sit quietly and hold a placard.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp38z9lylddo
#PalestineAction #UKPolitics

2026-04-10 06:36:24 UTC

#Melania wants you all to know that she never had anything to do with #Epstein, never been friends with him, never even met the guy. And hasn't even ever met Ghislaine Maxwell.
So please don't boost this photo, as that would make her sad.
#EpsteinFiles #ReleaseTheEpsteinFiles
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/116/379/011/498/459/960/original/125875a44cfaa5dd.png

2026-03-06 15:15:57 UTC

I don't think the UK media have made nearly enough noise about the US Navy sinking an *unarmed* Iranian warship and then, in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions, leaving them to drown.
This is a heinous war crime which the media would be rightly up in arms about if any country that wasn't nominally an "ally" had done it.
https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gcii-1949/article-18/commentary/2017
#IRISDena #IranWar #WarCrimes #GenevaConventions

2026-03-04 14:38:30 UTC

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Yes, and most importantly, they want to show that they are being mean to foreigners

2026-03-04 11:30:09 UTC

I see the government's latest cunning plan in the policy to "stop the small boats" is to close one of the few remaining routes in which people can claim asylum without having to get on a small boat.
Yeah, that ought to work.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2jy74895eo
#Asylum #TheLunaticsHaveTakenOverTheAsylum #SmallBoats #ShabanaMahmood

2026-03-02 09:41:20 UTC

Starmer: We need to learn the lessons from last week's by election. What are the voters telling us?
Advisers: They are upset that we support Israel when they kill people, they are concerned about the cost of living, and they think you're dishonest
Starmer: OK, here's the plan. Let's join in Israel's latest illegal war that will kill people and make everything more expensive, and let's say it's in "self defence".
Advisers: [Scream into the void and run away]
#UKPolitics #IsraelIranWar

2026-02-27 11:02:09 UTC

Anyway, a bad night for Starmer, but cheer up, Keir, it could have been worse. At least you don't have to wake up this morning to find that Andy Burnham is now an MP.
#GortonAndDenton #GortonAndDentonByElection #UKPolitics

2026-02-27 10:59:45 UTC

One thing that makes me very happy about the Gorton & Denton by-election result is it shows that claiming you have to vote tactically for Labour if you want to keep Reform out is bollocks. This was one of the safest Labour seats in the country, and the Greens still won it.
If you want to keep Reform out, then the message is clear: vote Green. That way you even get a party with policies that are different from Reform.
#GortonAndDenton #GortonAndDentonByElection #TacticalVoting #UKPolitics

2026-02-18 12:44:25 UTC

I've had an email from Octopus Energy telling me that because of dramatic falls in wholesale electricity prices, they sadly have no choice but to reluctantly reduce the price they are paying me for the electricity I export from my solar panels.
Weirdly, they seem very much to have the choice not to reduce the price of the electricity that they sell to me.
Isn't it funny how that works?
#Electricity #Octopus #OctopusEnergy #PowerCompanies

2026-02-08 12:21:33 UTC

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If the betting odds are anything to go by, the most likely winner is the Green Party.
The anti-Reform tactical voting choice seems pretty clear: Labour supporters need to lend their votes to the Greens to stop a Reform win.
Or to Reform to stop a Green win, really. Depends on their preferences, which is not so obvious given the current direction of Labour.
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/116/034/971/547/390/443/original/a729b3a3187fde75.png

2026-02-04 14:16:04 UTC

"Palestine Action protesters cleared of Elbit burglary"
Hurrah for jury trials. No wonder the government wants to take them away.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9wxlv99xrjo
#PalestineAction #JuryTrials

2026-01-29 19:00:33 UTC

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That article makes some good points, and there is no doubt Labour face a hostile media, but if we're going to explain why they are so unpopular it's odd that the article doesn't even once mention their support for Israel's genocide in Gaza

2026-01-29 08:49:27 UTC

"Driverless taxis set to launch in UK as soon as September"
I have no doubt that, once the technology is sufficiently mature, driverless cars will be safer than ones driven by humans. Humans cause a lot of crashes.
I am yet to be convinced that the technology will be sufficiently mature by September, but let's see.
I am also bothered by the built-in #DigitalExclusion. How are you supposed to hail a cab if you don't or can't have the app?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czej9n578k9o
#RoboTaxis

2026-01-27 08:28:59 UTC

Thinking of trading in my Skoda Superb PHEV for a fully fledged #EV.
Looking for something similar size and shape: 5 door hatchback with generous boot space but NOT an SUV. Would also consider an estate.
Not going to buy a Tesla, obvs.
Main contenders so far are Polestar 2 or Hyundai Ioniq 5. May also look at Mercedes CLA estate.
Good reliability is a must. Don't want to have to be switching it off and on again every time the software crashes.
Anything else I should look at?
#Cars #EVs

2026-01-21 22:22:14 UTC

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Maybe.
Or maybe it was planned all along as a giant insider trading scam and was never anything to do with Greenland.
https://mas.to/@statsguy/115935386110904004
#note1fa0…h0re

2026-01-21 22:13:21 UTC

I see that #TACO has happened and the stock market losses when tariffs were on the table have been reversed with markets up again.
Just imagine if you knew in advance that there was going to be all this threat of tariffs and markets would fall and then the threat would be lifted and markets would go up again.
If we had investigative journalists they would be looking at who sold stocks a week or so ago and bought stocks yesterday.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cjrzjqg8dlwt?post=asset%3A44739ea8-b1eb-4dc6-8956-511eb087f5b9#post
#InsiderTrading #Greenland #Trump

2026-01-18 20:34:27 UTC

Ah, I see Andrew Rosindell has defected to Reform UK.
He was famously arrested on suspicion of rape (though never actually prosecuted).
I'm sure he'll fit right in.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98jn1wywdyo
#ReformUK #Misogyny

2026-01-15 07:11:56 UTC

You really have to wonder just how damning the evidence in the #EpsteinFiles is against The Rapist, given the extreme lengths he's been going in recent weeks to keep them out of the news cycle.
#Venezuela #Greenland #Iran #ICE #MinneapolisShooting #ReleaseTheEpsteinFiles

2026-01-14 16:16:36 UTC

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I am very grateful for your software, having moved from Dropbox to a hosted Nextcloud solution recently. Since then, I've discovered some of the other things Nextcloud can do for me as well, like Notes as an Evernote replacement and the calendar.
Trying to figure out whether the PhoneTrack integration with NC works as a Google Maps Timeline replacement at the moment. That would also be awesome if I can get it to work.

2026-01-09 14:10:05 UTC

Look, this is really simple. Any politician who still uses Twitter is telling their constituents that they are OK with child sexual abuse.
Any voters who disapprove of child sexual abuse may wish to take note when they next get the chance to vote.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c99kn52nx9do
#Twitter #Grok #CSAM

2026-01-07 14:48:18 UTC

When did you last hear the corporate media mentioning that, despite the promise to do so, the #EpsteinFiles have still not been released in full?
They are so easily distracted, aren't they?
#Venezuela #Greenland #ReleaseTheEpsteinFiles #TurdReich

2026-01-05 14:54:41 UTC

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Oh, they'd only need a medium sized family hatchback for the candidates I've got.
Though to be fair, that does depend on how finely you chop them and how long you put them in the dehydrator first.

2026-01-05 12:29:39 UTC

One of my tech new year's resolutions is to continue the process of cutting US Evil Big Tech out of my life.
I made reasonable progress in 2025: deleted my FB account, moved from Dropbox to Nextcloud, switched my default search engine from Google to Ecosia, moved my Backblaze storage from US to EU servers.
But there is more to do!
At the top of my list is to bin Google Maps Timeline. The trouble is I find it *incredibly* useful.
Anyone know of a non-evil alternative?
#BigTech #GoogleMaps

2026-01-03 09:24:25 UTC

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I really wouldn't like to attempt to figure out which one it is. If I thought markets were rational, I might have a crack at it, but we know they're not.
I imagine economists will still be arguing about which one it actually was 20 years from now.

2025-12-23 11:42:20 UTC

So according to the UK government, Greta Thunberg is now a dangerous terrorist.
I'm beginning to think the UK government may have lost its moral compass.
https://news.sky.com/story/greta-thunberg-arrested-at-a-protest-supporting-palestine-action-hunger-strikers-13486842
#GretaThunberg #PalestineAction #UKPolitics

2025-12-23 09:02:10 UTC

South Cambridgeshire council introduces a 4 day working week, and finds it saves money and improves services.
Central government says "No! Don't do that!"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgl6j8n04eno
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1880251/councils-four-day-week-trial-led-greater-retention-productivity-%E2%80%93-so-wider-public-sector-follow-suit
#Idiocracy #4DayWeek #SouthCambridgeshre #UKPolitics

2025-12-16 09:04:31 UTC

I've had a really weird scam email. It's claiming to be from the UK government (which it clearly isn't) and asking me to renew and update my vehicle tax information.
The weird thing is if I hover over the link, it goes to a gov.uk email address. Also shown as the link in the source code.
How on earth is this scam supposed to work?
#Scams #Cybersecurity
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/115/728/423/008/276/616/original/33dd20b95f7cea71.png
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/115/728/437/991/258/717/original/afcf326fc8906e56.png

2025-12-07 11:48:46 UTC

Anyone know what this is? The person who gave it to me told me it was a bamboo orchid, but I think that's normally a name for Dendrobium nobile, and I'm pretty sure it's not one of those.
Another species of Dendrobium perhaps? Or something completely different?
#Orchids #HousePlants #Gardening #Denrobium
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/115/678/116/594/114/855/original/7e6cb294221e51a3.jpg
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/115/678/116/655/617/974/original/c3155f06cf5bd537.jpg
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/115/678/123/313/773/373/original/d000f8919cbfbd7c.jpg

2025-12-04 12:06:04 UTC

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Yeah, I heard that line too and my initial thought was that it was positively Trumpian.
Absolutely not language any serious politician should be using about serious professionals.

2025-12-04 08:49:30 UTC

Yes, I'm sure the energy grid is badly in need of investment, and it's good that they're getting it.
But it seems very regressive to put the costs of it on energy bills (especially as it's going on the standing charge - not mentioned in the article, but mentioned on Today this morning).
Why not pay for it through general taxation?
Obviously if privatisation actually worked, the energy companies' shareholders would pay for it, but we all know it doesn't.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp84yymxpjno
#Energy

2025-12-02 07:13:40 UTC

When you look at the catastrophic damage that #ClimateChange is *already* causing, and then you look at governments all over the world saying that they want to keep burning fossil fuels for decades to come and making things even worse, the only question I find I can ask is:
"What the absolute fuck is wrong with people?"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g4enlp6kzo
#cop30 #ClimateEmergency #Indonesia #Floods

2025-12-01 14:18:59 UTC

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That would be nice if it actually happens. Though I can't say I'm optimistic.

2025-12-01 14:11:39 UTC

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I'd absolutely love that too, but the problem with FPTP is that large doesn't necessarily mean effective.

2025-12-01 10:35:21 UTC

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I suspect the idea of electoral pacts won't actually happen in practice, but if it does, then maybe that would be a good thing, especially if there are constituencies where the Greens could realistically never win but YP might.
But if so, then YP really need to stop all the Life of Brian routine and start looking like a serious party.

2025-12-01 10:30:30 UTC

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I bet you £100 that, if YP contest the next election in seats where another progressive candidate has a realistic chance of winning the seat, that Reform win the most seats.
Loser to donate the money to a charity of the winner's choice.
Bet is void if YP has gone away by then or don't contest seats that Labour, Greens, SNP, Plaid, or LDs could plausibly win.
Deal?

2025-12-01 08:57:52 UTC

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Then I hope you enjoy the Reform UK government after the next election

2025-12-01 07:38:01 UTC

I really, really wish Your Party would just give up and go home.
We have a good political party on the left of British politics - the Green Party - with plenty of support behind it right now, and anything that splits the left-wing vote only goes to make sure we end up with a Reform UK government at the next election.
Splitting the left is absolutely the last thing we need in our crazy FPTP electoral system.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyx2zjd8qvo
#UKPolitics #YourParty #Corbyn

2025-11-27 21:19:51 UTC

Christ, the US is so far through the looking glass now.
When I joined the Navy one of the first things they taught you was that you must always follow orders given by a superior officer, UNLESS they were illegal orders, in which case you had a duty to refuse to follow them.
https://www.mississippifreepress.org/pentagon-threatens-to-court-martial-us-senator-for-urging-troops-to-uphold-oath-defy-illegal-orders/
#Fascism #TurdReich #NurembergDefence

2025-11-22 15:02:45 UTC

Had the last of this year's home grown tomatoes with lunch today. Quite pleased that they lasted that long. Not sure they've ever made it to November before.
#gardening

2025-11-21 12:29:20 UTC

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It's definitely possible that lockdowns could have been avoided altogether. Japan, which was far better prepared for covid, never had mandatory lockdowns because their other disease control methods worked well.
Whether it would have been realistic to expect those effective public health measures to be implementable in a UK setting is another question.
But if the answer to that is no, the next question should be how we can make it realistic.

2025-11-21 08:47:24 UTC

Listen folks, I know some of you are upset that CEOs of big companies get paid squillions of dollars while the rest of us are worried about our food and electricity bills, but what you have to remember is that these people have unusual and rare talents.
Though apparently these rare talents don't include having even the faintest fucking idea what the customers of their company want.
"Microsoft Exec Asks: Why Aren't More People Impressed With AI?"
https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-exec-asks-why-arent-more-people-impressed-with-ai
#AI

2025-11-20 16:03:01 UTC

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I am very nervous about what this means for my Mum's care home. The place simply couldn't function without immigrants.

2025-11-19 11:48:51 UTC

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It's surely been obvious for some time that Labour's lurch to the far right can never be a successful electoral strategy.
I find it so puzzling why they embrace it so wholeheartedly anyway. They must surely know they're leading their party into oblivion.

2025-11-18 06:52:43 UTC

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Oh yes, very true. I've had ups and downs in my career. I am very aware that the ups were partly my own hard work and partly good luck.
And conversely the downs were partly my poor decisions and partly bad luck.
I like to think of life a like a game of backgammon. There's a lot of skill in it, but there's nothing you can do about it when your opponent rolls that double 6.

2025-11-16 17:40:03 UTC

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Do #Stamer and #Mahmoud seriously think that this policy will mean that the billionaire-controlled, Putin-adjacent media will just say "OK, fair play, Labour are being sufficiently mean to immigrants for our liking, everything is fine"?
No. It ain't going to happen. They will just keep screaming for ever more inhumane and destructive policies.
I am seriously scared by how far Labour are prepared to go down this road.

2025-11-16 17:37:54 UTC

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What scares me about this new asylum policy, quite apart from the fact that it is a terrible abandonment of our moral duty to help those fleeing war, famine, catastrophic climate change etc, and its negative impacts on the UK economy, is that it shows that Labour are going firmly down a road of appeasement towards the far right.
And, as Neville Chamberlain found out, if you start by appeasing the far right, you will NEVER satisfy them. They will ALWAYS come back for more.

2025-11-16 17:34:18 UTC

It's been a while since Labour could reasonably have been considered a party of the left, and I think most of us would have described them as "centre right" since #Starmer took over as leader.
But I think we need to have a conversation about whether the "centre right" label is still appropriate or whether they are really moving more towards the far right.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7970p2wx7ro
#UKPolitics #Asylum #FarRight

2025-11-12 16:24:34 UTC

So in today's episode of "this climate is weird", I harvested some tomatoes in my garden today at about the same time I noticed that my Forsythia has already started flowering.
(I live in the south of England, so both of those things are spectacularly unusual for mid-November)
#Gardening #ClimateChange

2025-11-10 21:19:05 UTC

That's disappointing. I wrote to my Lib Dem MP in Sept about small boat crossings and how the only way to stop them is safe and legal routes to claim asylum.
Got a letter back today saying how they agree small boat crossings are bad but think they can enforce their way out of the problem.
How's that working out for Starmer?
Honestly thought the LDs were more sensible than that. Think I'll be voting Green next time, and to hell with tactical voting.
#UKPolitics #SmallBoats #Asylum

2025-11-10 14:30:35 UTC

Who do you think will get the job as the next BBC Director General?

2025-11-10 10:26:42 UTC

Isn't it funny that no-one at the BBC had to resign when they edited something Corbyn said to the point where they actually changed the entire meaning of what he said.
I wonder what the difference is?
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jan/18/bbc-trust-says-laura-kuenssberg-report-on-jeremy-corbyn-was-inaccurate-labour
#BBC #BBCBias

2025-11-10 07:39:44 UTC

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This whole thing really takes gaslighting to a whole new level.
And if Tim Davie is upset that editing The Rapist's speech is biased, just wait until he finds out about Tory Laura. Or their coverage of Brexit. Or any of the BBC's coverage of Corbyn in the 2019 election.
Or any of these.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1461670X.2017.1389295
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1461670X.2023.2173956
https://www.enhancingimpartiality.com/blog/party-political-coverage
https://cfmm.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CfMM-Report-Final-MEDIA-BIAS-GAZA-2023-24-ePDF.pdf
https://uk.themedialeader.com/cardiff-university-has-settled-the-bbc-bias-argument-once-and-for-all/
#BBC #BBCBias

2025-11-10 07:36:30 UTC

"The BBC had come under fire over a Panorama documentary that was accused of misleadingly editing a speech by Donald Trump to make it look like he was urging people to attack the US Capitol."
Well, I for one am glad the BBC have apologised for this egregious error.
I hope they will be broadcasting the deleted parts of the speech where The Rapist said "Biden won the election fair and square, and we must all accept it gracefully".
Seriously, though, WTAF?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0mx28vlp4wo
#BBC #BBCBias

2025-11-07 07:04:26 UTC

So today is 3 years since I joined Mastodon. Really glad I did, so much nicer than Twitter. I have found a super community here.
To celebrate the occasion, I've made a small donation to @npub19vf…lppg to help with the server costs.
Remember that Mastodon isn't funded by billionaires, and if you have a few pounds/euros/dollars/etc to spare, I'm sure your instance admin would also appreciate a donation. Details of how to donate should be in your instance's "About" page.
#Mastodon

2025-11-06 07:57:09 UTC

Yesterday's news: sickness absence, driven in large part by a surge in mental health issues, is costing the UK economy £212 billion a year.
Today's news: NHS mental health services are closing.
If someone thinks that's going to save money, they are going to be sorely disappointed.
Also, quite apart from the money, it's just utterly cruel on a human level.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gpl150ze4o
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7v80n7mz2jo
#ADHD #MentalHealth #FalseEconomy

2025-11-05 16:38:38 UTC

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There's a more detailed critique here
https://jonworth.eu/when-a-plans-not-a-plan-and-a-revolution-isnt-a-revolution-european-high-speed-rail/

2025-10-31 18:22:50 UTC

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I doubt it would. The Green party has been clearly left of centre since long before YP was even thought of

2025-10-31 16:23:07 UTC

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I was initially sympathetic to the idea of YP, but quite apart from the mess they're making of things, it seems crazy for them to still exist now that the Green Party is really starting to get traction. Splitting the left wing vote is more or less guaranteed to let Reform win the next GE.

2025-10-31 10:51:54 UTC

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I am perfectly willing to believe that Reeves's failure to get a license was not a deliberate decision, but a mistake made in good faith.
But Rayner's failure to pay the correct stamp duty was also not a deliberate decision, but a mistake made in good faith.
So why the different treatment?

2025-10-31 10:28:13 UTC

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You could make exactly the same argument that sickness benefits are not benefits but rather an act of inter-health-status solidarity, or that unemployment benefits are acts of inter-employment-status solidarity.
Would you? And if not, what's different about pensions?

2025-10-31 07:14:50 UTC

Happy Halloween to all those who celebrate, but especially to my fellow statisticians
#Halloween #Statistics
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/115/467/527/654/281/855/original/add56f2113a11bc1.png

2025-10-30 21:33:33 UTC

I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that Rachel Reeves is credulous enough to trust an estate agent given that we already know she believes in trickle-down economics
#RachelReeves #TrickleDownEconomics #UKPolitics

2025-10-22 15:41:25 UTC

So if you're a privatised water company you can pump raw sewage into rivers and nobody does anything about it, but if you're a private citizen you can get fined for pouring coffee down a drain.
Please make it make sense.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg435gg66gpo
#TheLunaticsHaveTakenOverTheAsylum

2025-10-16 09:46:47 UTC

"A major legal claim has been filed in the UK against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, accusing the firm of knowingly selling baby powder contaminated with asbestos"
Only allegations at this stage, we need to wait until the evidence is tested in court.
But if the evidence does stand up in court, I really hope that individual J&J executives will face criminal charges. Really not adequate just to fine the company.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c797wv928g8o

2025-10-14 07:40:11 UTC

"COVID-19 could cost UK £7 billion a year without autumn vaccinations"
Tell me again how we can't vaccinate people under 75 because "it's not cost effective"?
Fun fact 1: most people under the age of 53 haven't had a covid booster since 2021
Fun fact 2: the duration of useful immunity from covid vaccines is a few months
https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/covid-19-could-cost-uk-7-billion-a-year-without-autumn-vaccinations/199754/
#Covid19 #CovidIsNotOver

2025-10-13 07:39:48 UTC

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They have a very narrow perspective in their cost effectiveness analysis. The cost of people taking time off work due to covid is explicitly excluded from the analysis.
Also sickness benefits, and any healthcare costs resulting from long covid.
In other words, pretty much all the things that make covid expensive.
So no wonder they conclude that covid jabs are not cost effective for all but the most vulnerable.
Utterly bonkers, if you ask me.

2025-10-07 08:54:07 UTC

I'll tell you what's un-British, Keir:
Supporting genocide.
I don't care how many Union Jacks you hang behind you when you support it. It's still un-British.
Protesting against genocide, however, that seems to me a pretty British thing to do.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1wgx5v90vyo
#Starmer #Protests #Genocide

2025-10-03 09:32:00 UTC

This is great stuff from Zack Polanski.
It's so refreshing to see a politician challenge the lies of the Tories/Labour/Reform that all our problems are down to immigration.
They are really not. Let's focus on fixing the actual problems, and not on pretending that immigration is the problem.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/03/migration-britain-superpower-labour-green-party
#Polanski #ZackPolanski #VoteGreen #GreenParty #Immigration #UKPolitics

2025-09-29 07:59:16 UTC

Just imagine living in a mature democracy where the government not only recognises that Russians are attempting to interfere in your elections, but they actually take steps to guard against them, and the pro-Russian candidates don't win.
Just imagine.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2rdlj8ejgo
#Moldova #Russia #Brexit #Trump #ReformUK

2025-09-27 20:45:24 UTC

"Antifa, short for "anti-fascist", is a loosely organised movement of primarily far-left activists."
My, how the Overton Window has shifted at the BBC if being anti-fascist now makes you "far left"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cddmn6ge6e2o
#Antifa #MediaBias #BBCBias

2025-09-27 10:24:45 UTC

Fuck you Starmer, these deaths are on you.
You constantly talk about "stopping the boats", but you refuse to do the one thing that would actually stop them.
#SafeAndLegalRoutesNow
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2jg20pdm0o
#Starmer #Asylum #SmallBoats

2025-09-26 09:19:11 UTC

So Starmer wants to spend billions of pounds of your money on a scheme to "stop illegal working" that will take years to implement, be a privacy nightmare, and won't stop illegal working anyway.
Does he realise that there is an alternative way of stopping illegal working that could be done more or less immediately, cost nothing, and is guaranteed to bring illegal working down to zero overnight?
Just make work legal.
#IDCards #UKPolitics #Starmer

2025-09-22 06:11:42 UTC

Good news for people who want to fly more from the south of England in the short term.
Bad news for people who would quite like the south of England still to be above sea level in the medium term.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9v7rz24z23o
#Gatwick #ClimateChange #ClimateEmergency #ClimateCatastrophe

2025-09-07 19:36:32 UTC

So when #Starmer said the other day that he thought that the police shouldn't waste their time arresting people who incite violence against trans people on social media and should concentrate on going after real crime instead, was this the sort of thing he had in mind?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8rvly00440o
#UKPolitics #MakeItMakeSense #PalestineAction

2025-09-05 11:21:34 UTC

Oh, I see Rayner has resigned.
I'm guessing that the report into her conduct wasn't a full-throated exoneration of her behaviour then.
Will be interesting to see what it says when it's published.
But Starmer must be mightily relieved. Saves him having to make a decision about whether to sack her or not. Decisions have never really been his strong suit.
#UKPolitics #Rayner.

2025-09-03 09:04:39 UTC

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Oh, and that's really shitty writing in the article. He wasn't arrested for "making posts about transgender people", he was arrested for making posts *inciting violence* against transgender people.
Big difference.
#Linehan

2025-09-03 09:03:04 UTC

It's a bit rich for Starmer to criticise the police for arresting someone over a tweet. Never forget that the #TwitterJokeTrial continued long beyond the point where any common sense view would have told you the case should have been dropped at the personal insistence of Starmer back when he was DPP.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/graham-lineham-arrest-starmer-police-b2819031.html
#Hypocrisy #Starmer

2025-09-02 06:58:05 UTC

The most shocking thing for me in Starmer's interview was when he unhesitatingly and unambiguously said that he would be unhappy and wouldn't feel safe if he had an asylum hotel on his street.
How TF did we get to a place where a Labour Prime Minister is promoting the narrative that all asylum seekers are dangerous criminals?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8jpj8knvn8o
#Starmer #Racism #Asylum #UKPolitics

2025-09-02 06:16:03 UTC

I know I've said it before, but I think it bears repeating: we could all reliably get same day GP appointments and see hospital consultants within a week by now if the government had put half as much energy into fixing the NHS as they spend being mean to foreigners
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn858lx34vvo
#UKPolitics #Priorities #Immigration #Asylum #NHSCrisis #CreepingFascism

2025-08-31 06:12:38 UTC

If Bad Enoch thinks that leaving North Sea oil in the ground is bad for the economy, wait until she finds out what 4 degrees of global warming will do to the economy.
Honestly, the levels of raw stupidity with some of our politicians are off the charts.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp890n51684o
#BadEnoch #NorthSeaOil #Idiocracy #ClimateChange #ClimateEmergency #ClimateCatastrophe

2025-08-29 10:03:46 UTC

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I'm sure they don't, and that's the whole point. When they slaughter them they'll just say "well we told them to move, it's their responsibility if they didn't".

2025-08-26 11:34:20 UTC

With all this stuff about asylum hotels in the news, you might be interested in what the Green Party have to say about it.
If you are, you'd better follow the link in this toot, because you sure as hell aren't going to hear it from the BBC or other corporate media. Have they even heard of the Green Party?
https://greenparty.org.uk/2025/08/20/asylum-seekers-should-be-to-be-able-to-work-while-application-is-being-decided-say-greens/
#Asylum #BBCBias #MediaBias #GreenParty

2025-08-24 19:45:11 UTC

Just imagine how awesome the NHS would be by now if the Labour government put about half as much energy into fixing it as they're putting into appeasing the far right with their immigration policies
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg4xp4ywk47o
#Immigration #Asylum #Labour #Starmer #YvetteCooper #WesStreeting #NHS #NHSCrisis #FarRight #Appeasement #Fascism

2025-08-20 13:24:16 UTC

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Oh yes indeed. Holiday lets are simultaneously a boon and a curse for rural economies. I'm sure there is scope for improving things there, but definitely no easy answers.

2025-08-20 13:02:25 UTC

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It would certainly reduce the demand greatly. I don't think it would remove it altogether. Imagine someone who's actually quite well off and doesn't need social housing but is just visiting the country (or maybe a different part of the country from where they normally live) for a year or 2 for a temporary job. They probably wouldn't want to buy a home for such a short period.

2025-08-20 12:51:51 UTC

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Yeah, we definitely need more social housing, that's absolutely true.
Though I think there will always be a legitimate role for privately rented houses. But maybe a small role if people who want to buy can afford to and many of the rest can live in social housing?