Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
What if the rumours are true? Rumours are, often, true. Remember The Necklace
For which the only verification was the person spreading it on PB.
I see some people have forgotten the lessons about Twitter and Lord McAlpine.
There was no real need for anyone to bring it up on here this afternoon. Although it got a substantial reaction so I suppose that could be viewed as a job well done by the poster.
The first person to mention The Rumours today was @darkage
And that is not a criticism of @darkage, he/she was careful not to state any specifics, and The Rumours HAVE been dominating social media for a day or two, so they cannot be entirely ignored. We DO need to be mindful of a very twitchy Establishment, willing to use Plod in quite dubious ways to silence everyone
If only you had a magazine that could publish this story.
But I heard the same bullshit about Lord McAlpine.
There's a version of the rumours which I believe IS likely true, and makes sense, and is - potentially - extremely damaging for the government. But it is NOT the one being casually batted about on Le TwiX
So shut the fuck up about in on here.
I've spoken to OGH and he doesn't want to be sued, so your choice.
Again, I did NOT start this conversation - go check - so I am quite happy for it to end
But you piled on.
So this topic, and any other Twitter rumour topics are banned, if the rules are not adhered to people are getting banned, OGH has enough issues than have to deal with you and others getting him into trouble.
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
What seemed to kick off all the tw@tter stuff is that Farage went on a podcast and said he knows a hell of a lot more about the case than is in the public domain.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
A bit of a mind twister.
I'm not allowed to say pineapple is great on pizza. (TSE rulings #1,#2,#4 through #128...)
Perhaps I'm secretly not allowed to say that walnuts are great on pizza.
I've no strong view as to the truth of either of these things, but I think it's safe to say that the answer to your question is 'no'.
We all have to be extremely careful in what we say about Radiohead as well.
I'm sure @Malmesbury dealt with all that with his expositions on HMS Captain and Covenanter tanks - subtle and well done I felt.
(PS not sure it was Malmesbury)
I'm not sure what my expositions HMS Captain and the Covenanter tanks have to do with Radiohead.
Unless you are referring to my quoting the stages of the project...
1. Enthusiasm 2. Disillusionment 3. Panic 4. Search for the Guilty 5. Punishment of the Innocent* 6. Praise for the uninvolved.
Some say that in Government, there is an additional stage 3 1/2, which is ‘announcing even more money in the hope that will fix the problem’
That is generally considered part of the panic.
Did you know that in the aftermath of HMS Captain sinking, the man who condemned her design as unseaworthy was forced to resign as Chief Constructor for the Royal Navy (Chief designer)?
The man who nearly replaced him, Laird, of the famous ship yard, had been in charge of building HMS Captain, whose misbuilding (massively over weight due to poor yard management) contributed top the disaster....
The Police (like the Post Office, the National Coal Board and even the CofE) are an institution primarily interested in serving and protecting themselves.
I expect that frontline constables, who expose themselves to significant personal risk in dealing with the most troubled parts of our society, often repeatedly, get little support or reward/recognition from their seniors for doing it - so it's no wonder they want to sit in patrol vehicles fining motorists or reprimanding middle-class journalists for juicy tweets instead.
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
Breaking news: President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use a powerful American long-range weapon for limited strikes inside Russia in response to North Korea’s deployment of thousands of troops to aid Moscow’s war effort, according to U.S. officials.
Robert Peston @Peston With the New York Times announcing that Biden is about to give permission for Ukraine to fire ATACMS missiles at Russian and North Korean forces in the Kursk region of Russia, we are waiting at the back of the PM’s plane to find out whether Starmer will give the same permission to Zelenskyy in relation to long-range Storm Shadow missiles that the UK has already given to Kiev (and whether Macron of France will give the green light in relation to France’s equivalent ballistic system).
If Starmer says yes, then I assume Zelenskyy would deploy those British missiles within hours, partly because there are reportedly very few ATACMS missiles already on the ground in Ukraine.
This is arguably the hardest and highest stakes decision that Starmer will have taken since winning the election. It will be seen by Putin as a serious escalation by the UK.
I thought we had already said we would, but the block was USA support services?
Why is Mr Biden limiting it to Kursk, FFS?
Is he? I have seen other suggestions that initial use is likely to be in Kursk, not that it is limited to Kursk.
Maybe it's just ratcheting up the "escalation". Today Kursk, next week Voronezh.
Le Figaro is already reporting the British and French have allowed the use of Stormshadow/SCALP.
I presume something is already flying. And why can't Peston spell Kyiv yet?
Oh I see. That's how I read the wording.
That's what Peston says, clearly, but not other sources. I thought Peston was widely regarded on here as normally being wrong?
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
The reason police knock on doors over tweets is because they're hoping you will incriminate yourself.
EDI "crimes" are easier to clear up and will win you far more brownie points in the force.
The police only enforce the laws they are given, indeed it was Tory governments which passed the Online Safety, Malicious Communications and Public Order Acts that give them powers of arrest over tweets.
Labour did pass the Equality Act under Brown but that is a civil not criminal law
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
Abkhazia still isn't part of Russia. (Even the Russians pretend it is independent)
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Breaking news: President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use a powerful American long-range weapon for limited strikes inside Russia in response to North Korea’s deployment of thousands of troops to aid Moscow’s war effort, according to U.S. officials.
Robert Peston @Peston With the New York Times announcing that Biden is about to give permission for Ukraine to fire ATACMS missiles at Russian and North Korean forces in the Kursk region of Russia, we are waiting at the back of the PM’s plane to find out whether Starmer will give the same permission to Zelenskyy in relation to long-range Storm Shadow missiles that the UK has already given to Kiev (and whether Macron of France will give the green light in relation to France’s equivalent ballistic system).
If Starmer says yes, then I assume Zelenskyy would deploy those British missiles within hours, partly because there are reportedly very few ATACMS missiles already on the ground in Ukraine.
This is arguably the hardest and highest stakes decision that Starmer will have taken since winning the election. It will be seen by Putin as a serious escalation by the UK.
I thought we had already said we would, but the block was USA support services?
Why is Mr Biden limiting it to Kursk, FFS?
Is he? I have seen other suggestions that initial use is likely to be in Kursk, not that it is limited to Kursk.
Maybe it's just ratcheting up the "escalation". Today Kursk, next week Voronezh.
Le Figaro is already reporting the British and French have allowed the use of Stormshadow/SCALP.
I presume something is already flying. And why can't Peston spell Kyiv yet?
Oh I see. That's how I read the wording.
That's what Peston says, clearly, but not other sources. I thought Peston was widely regarded on here as normally being wrong?
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
The reason police knock on doors over tweets is because they're hoping you will incriminate yourself.
EDI "crimes" are easier to clear up and will win you far more brownie points in the force.
The police only enforce the laws they are given, indeed it was Tory governments which passed the Online Safety, Malicious Communications and Public Order Acts that give them powers of arrest over tweets.
Labour did pass the Equality Act under Brown but that is a civil not criminal law
And yet people like you wonder why people like me who voted Tory in 2017 and 2019 couldn't in 2024...
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
I've idly wondered if the competition between twitter/x and 'truth' media might be the tipping factor in Elon and Trump's relationship. They both have quite high stakes riding on their respective platforms.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
The reason police knock on doors over tweets is because they're hoping you will incriminate yourself.
EDI "crimes" are easier to clear up and will win you far more brownie points in the force.
Is that actually true? If that is actually true my despair hardens into anger
When did the British police turn into,..... THIS?
Around 2014 if I had to put a year to when it felt like things changed. It suddenly became much easier to make stats by arresting and charging people based on social media posts where people might unknowingly incriminate themselves in irrefutable writing based on idiotic hate crime legislation enacted by Labour. The Tories had 10 years to roll it back but chose not to. Kemi should incorporate a rolling back of hate crime legislation and enshrining freedom of speech into her early attacks on Labour. She has a fairly strong platform to do it as a black woman to speak about how unjust the idea of hate crime is - murder is murder, what goes through someone's head as they do it doesn't matter.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Nope - Bluesky just has an easy to use Block policy and a lot of people operate a block on first problem basis because life is too short...
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Nope - Bluesky just has an easy to use Block policy and a lot of people operate a block on first problem basis because life is too short...
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
The reason police knock on doors over tweets is because they're hoping you will incriminate yourself.
EDI "crimes" are easier to clear up and will win you far more brownie points in the force.
Is that actually true? If that is actually true my despair hardens into anger
When did the British police turn into,..... THIS?
About 1924?
No. After Macpherson, is my guess
Chasing easy crimes for brownie points has been going on for decades. Source? My father was a plod, then CID. Whether EDI, littering, being Irish, whatever.
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
The reason police knock on doors over tweets is because they're hoping you will incriminate yourself.
EDI "crimes" are easier to clear up and will win you far more brownie points in the force.
Is that actually true? If that is actually true my despair hardens into anger
When did the British police turn into,..... THIS?
It's my perception of what is driving their behaviour.
It's driven by incentives - to progress their careers they need to detect and clear up crime, and they won't want to do the really hard and nasty stuff (who would?) and EDI "crimes" allow you to tell a great story about diversity and inclusion that will help you progress.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Nope - Bluesky just has an easy to use Block policy and a lot of people operate a block on first problem basis because life is too short...
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Nope - Bluesky just has an easy to use Block policy and a lot of people operate a block on first problem basis because life is too short...
Tired of debates, disagreements, or being challenged by "nuance"? Enter CircleJerk, the all-new platform where every take aligns perfectly with your worldview, and every "like" feels like a warm hug from your ideological twin.
Coming soon: the all-new 100% Agree Button: Replacing "like" with "obviously."
Because who needs approval when you already have consensus.
London Euston played host to a limited number of GWR trains today due to engineering works between Paddington and Acton. I successfully caught the 1114 ex-Euston, travelling as far as Swindon, and returning on the 1319 ex-Swindon. Rarely used track this offered, admittedly, wasn't much in terms of mileage, but included the connection from the West Coast Main Line to the North London Line near Willesden, and that from the North London Line to the Great Western near Acton Main Line.
Ticketing-wise, at the Euston ticket machines, had to specify a non-Euston London station to get an open return (London Terminals to Swindon). Trains were busy, but not rammed. Reservations were down on the 1114 due to a 9-car train deputising for a 10-car formation, and the carriage I was in on the 1319 appeared to be the unreserved carriage. Managed to get right-hand, forward-facing window seats on both trains
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Nope - Bluesky just has an easy to use Block policy and a lot of people operate a block on first problem basis because life is too short...
But it is obvs an echo chamber for lefties. Or a place of exile for the same
"I like how Bluesky is becoming the Australian penal colony of social media."
However, that doesn't mean it will fail, as @rcs1000 notes it is genuinely growing, and possibly attaining a critical mass where it will function as a real alternative. But rightwingers will not follow, so that means we will have two sites entirely separate and the social-media bubble effect will get worse. Sad
And when this happens this is generally not good for lefties, as they are constantly surprised when it turns out voters disagree with them, unlike all their friends on lefty social meia
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
I think your second point is why bluesky won't work, you can't just have an arena where everyone agrees with each other all the time. It doesn't generate enough engagement so eventually people will go back to Twitter for the bants and arguments.
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
The reason police knock on doors over tweets is because they're hoping you will incriminate yourself.
EDI "crimes" are easier to clear up and will win you far more brownie points in the force.
Is that actually true? If that is actually true my despair hardens into anger
When did the British police turn into,..... THIS?
Around 2014 if I had to put a year to when it felt like things changed. It suddenly became much easier to make stats by arresting and charging people based on social media posts where people might unknowingly incriminate themselves in irrefutable writing based on idiotic hate crime legislation enacted by Labour. The Tories had 10 years to roll it back but chose not to. Kemi should incorporate a rolling back of hate crime legislation and enshrining freedom of speech into her early attacks on Labour. She has a fairly strong platform to do it as a black woman to speak about how unjust the idea of hate crime is - murder is murder, what goes through someone's head as they do it doesn't matter.
Hate crimes are to do with racially motivated or sexual orientation crimes of violence or rape mainly, Labour passed most of those laws via the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
As I said though it was the Tories who passed laws making offensive social media posts illegal too not Labour
I'm on bluesky. Far fewer bots than twitter. Lots of people I follow saying they get fewer views but more engagement and comments on bluesky. Makes you wonder whether twitter is a bit of a mirage...
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Nope - Bluesky just has an easy to use Block policy and a lot of people operate a block on first problem basis because life is too short...
...to hear contrary opinions?
No doubt that will be the case for some people..
A left Bluesky/right X split would lead to a much lower combined value than a unified service. Plus choosing to use/share links for one would in itself be a signal of which side one is on, which doesn't strike me as a positive development.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Nope - Bluesky just has an easy to use Block policy and a lot of people operate a block on first problem basis because life is too short...
But it is obvs an echo chamber for lefties. Or a place of exile for the same
"I like how Bluesky is becoming the Australian penal colony of social media."
However, that doesn't mean it will fail, as @rcs1000 notes it is genuinely growing, and possibly attaining a critical mass where it will function as a real alternative. But rightwingers will not follow, so that means we will have two sites entirely separate and the social-media bubble effect will get worse. Sad
And when this happens this is generally not good for lefties, as they are constantly surprised when it turns out voters disagree with them, unlike all their friends on lefty social meia
Disagree. I go on bluesky to find intelligent commebtary/expertise. That's all migrated from twitter as far as I see.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
I think your second point is why bluesky won't work, you can't just have an arena where everyone agrees with each other all the time. It doesn't generate enough engagement so eventually people will go back to Twitter for the bants and arguments.
If there is no one to disagree with on Bluesky then the users will turn on each other (this is already being reported) and it will drown in internecine sniping
The other alternative is that a lot of shouty rightwingers WILL migrate to Bluesky just for an argument and then Bluesky will turn into Twitter again, a "hellsite" of loathing. Then at that point maybe all the lefties will move back to Twitter because all the rightwingers have moved to Bluesky leaving Twitter agreeably empty
It's oddly similar to white flight in American cities. First they moved to the suburbs to escape the gunfire, then the gunfire followed so they returned to the deserted town centres, gentrifying the lofts and warehouses
Ooh, I sense a Knapper's Gazette article in the making
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
The reason police knock on doors over tweets is because they're hoping you will incriminate yourself.
EDI "crimes" are easier to clear up and will win you far more brownie points in the force.
The police only enforce the laws they are given, indeed it was Tory governments which passed the Online Safety, Malicious Communications and Public Order Acts that give them powers of arrest over tweets.
Labour did pass the Equality Act under Brown but that is a civil not criminal law
Which is why many of us think the Tories talk right, but act left.
London Euston played host to a limited number of GWR trains today due to engineering works between Paddington and Acton. I successfully caught the 1114 ex-Euston, travelling as far as Swindon, and returning on the 1319 ex-Swindon. Rarely used track this offered, admittedly, wasn't much in terms of mileage, but included the connection from the West Coast Main Line to the North London Line near Willesden, and that from the North London Line to the Great Western near Acton Main Line.
Ticketing-wise, at the Euston ticket machines, had to specify a non-Euston London station to get an open return (London Terminals to Swindon). Trains were busy, but not rammed. Reservations were down on the 1114 due to a 9-car train deputising for a 10-car formation, and the carriage I was in on the 1319 appeared to be the unreserved carriage. Managed to get right-hand, forward-facing window seats on both trains
There used to be a few random trains on the North London Line that stopped at Primrose Hill. When passing through on WCML it looks like the old station is still there. A valuable asset, I'd have thought. Maybe one of the locals should write to their MP?
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
I looked into going into Abkhazia when I visited Georgia last year. It does have a beautiful reputation, though now totally falling apart. It is possible to get a visa to cross from Georgia, and people do, but you couldn’t bring a car across which made it impractical.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Nope - Bluesky just has an easy to use Block policy and a lot of people operate a block on first problem basis because life is too short...
Tired of debates, disagreements, or being challenged by "nuance"? Enter CircleJerk, the all-new platform where every take aligns perfectly with your worldview, and every "like" feels like a warm hug from your ideological twin.
Coming soon: the all-new 100% Agree Button: Replacing "like" with "obviously."
Because who needs approval when you already have consensus.
Very good
I just joined Bluesky to check the landscape*. It APPEARS, at first glance, incredibly dull. A kind of Woke wasteland with the odd tumbleweed of conformist opinion rolling by
Perhaps it will evolve into something better?
*I wonder how much of its "explosive growth" in users is people like me. No real intention of using it, but simply curious to see what it is like
Is everything that we're secretly not allowed to say untrue?
Importantly ETA - I haven't signed the OSA or any NDAs
The OSA applies whether you sign it or not.
If you think something is true, then say it. But if you think rumours on Twitter are likely to be true, maybe you should re-think your epistemology.
I don't think that I'm in any danger of breaching the OSA
But I do believe that I'm currently restricted from saying various things that would have been fine to say about Boris
People can now go to prison for a long time for posting the wrong thing
It's fine for me to say that Boris is serially unfaithful. I am restricted from saying BlancheLivermore is serially unfaithful. That's because one is true and one isn't.
To go to prison, you'd have to be inciting hatred, I think. Comments about an individual would, initially, be libel or slander. If you lost a case and faced a court order, and then breached that, you could go to prison.
But why are you so keen to repeat Twitter rumours?
No, you can now be arrested for false statements made online too thanks to the Online Safety Act 2023
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181 (1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
The reason police knock on doors over tweets is because they're hoping you will incriminate yourself.
EDI "crimes" are easier to clear up and will win you far more brownie points in the force.
The police only enforce the laws they are given, indeed it was Tory governments which passed the Online Safety, Malicious Communications and Public Order Acts that give them powers of arrest over tweets.
Labour did pass the Equality Act under Brown but that is a civil not criminal law
Which is why many of us think the Tories talk right, but act left.
I don't think this is a Left/Right issue. Both the Left and Right have strong statist tendencies and both have a smaller more Libertarian/Old Liberal faction as well. Sadly all the parties in the UK at the moment - including the Lib Dems and Reform - have a seriously bad Statist bent. The only thing that varies is the target.
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
I looked into going into Abkhazia when I visited Georgia last year. It does have a beautiful reputation, though now totally falling apart. It is possible to get a visa to cross from Georgia, and people do, but you couldn’t bring a car across which made it impractical.
I was told that you can get a visa, but don't do it, because it is so dangerous
But that might have been biased Georgians with an agenda?
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Nope - Bluesky just has an easy to use Block policy and a lot of people operate a block on first problem basis because life is too short...
Tired of debates, disagreements, or being challenged by "nuance"? Enter CircleJerk, the all-new platform where every take aligns perfectly with your worldview, and every "like" feels like a warm hug from your ideological twin.
Coming soon: the all-new 100% Agree Button: Replacing "like" with "obviously."
Because who needs approval when you already have consensus.
Very good
I just joined Bluesky to check the landscape*. It APPEARS, at first glance, incredibly dull. A kind of Woke wasteland with the odd tumbleweed of conformist opinion rolling by
Perhaps it will evolve into something better?
*I wonder how much of its "explosive growth" in users is people like me. No real intention of using it, but simply curious to see what it is like
I think there are a lot of people registering as a sort of hedge, in case Twitter becomes totally unusable (which it’s not far off becoming).
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
I think your second point is why bluesky won't work, you can't just have an arena where everyone agrees with each other all the time. It doesn't generate enough engagement so eventually people will go back to Twitter for the bants and arguments.
If there is no one to disagree with on Bluesky then the users will turn on each other (this is already being reported) and it will drown in internecine sniping
The other alternative is that a lot of shouty rightwingers WILL migrate to Bluesky just for an argument and then Bluesky will turn into Twitter again, a "hellsite" of loathing. Then at that point maybe all the lefties will move back to Twitter because all the rightwingers have moved to Bluesky leaving Twitter agreeably empty
It's oddly similar to white flight in American cities. First they moved to the suburbs to escape the gunfire, then the gunfire followed so they returned to the deserted town centres, gentrifying the lofts and warehouses
Ooh, I sense a Knapper's Gazette article in the making
My read of it is that bluesky moderation will always side with the purest party in any dispute so as they start to snipe at each other it begins to represent fewer and fewer people and the people who get banned with slightly less woke views will just go back to Twitter because at least there they can say that certain movies are shit without being attacked or banned.
Martin Lukeman 1-0 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-0 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-1 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-2 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-3 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-4 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-5 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-6 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-7 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-8 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-9 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-10 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-11 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-12 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-13 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-14 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 2-15 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 3-15 Luke Littler Martin Lukeman 3-16 Luke Littler
Luke Littler is now 7/2 for SPotY but imo best to wait to see if he is shortlisted.
I bet he was getting contrary advice as well: that going sooner was better.
I really cannot see a delay as having improved things for the Tories - their problems were far more structural than just people feeling better off or not. The changes there would have been tiny, and would have been dwarfed by the fact that people simply wanted change.
So if he had delayed, we would see a threader with other stories about the contrary advice: that going earlier would have been better,
The Tories were doomed.
edit: and first with an on-topic post!
I think it was pretty mad the Tories went in July rather than October, but I concede there may have been further drip-drip-drip by-elections and defections.
However, I don't think they'd have done worse than 120 seats had they waited another 3 months - and the economy would have certainly improved.
You are wrong.
Firstly, and to be fair to you, it’s hard to compute how having an election was a reset on the mood. Things like record boat crossings, covid reports, murders in kindergarten by terrorist, are a counterfactual how they would have been received by an electorate and played out by fever pitched media on war footing awaiting an imminent General Election. But it’s likely the election and government change a reset button was pressed on mood - meaning Labour didn’t get the degree of flak for these bad news stories Sunak’s government would have done.
To be unfair to you, you should realise the economy didn’t leap into election saving sunlit uplands, it was never going to, and the way people were going to vote the Tories down to 120 MPs was already baked in and decided a long time ago, regardless of little ticks in economic upturn.
Inflation in US is lower on November 1st 2024 was lower, nearly halved from what Trump left Biden, but people didn’t rejoice at that news. To laugh at the highly paid Spad who wrote that memo, if they couldn’t see there would be no second hand punching due to fantastic news in economy, then they shouldn’t have been highly paid in first place. Alternatively they created the memo simply to cover their own professional arse - we shouldn’t listen to it but know they were actually pleased to cash the cheque and move on from a shit hole that theoretically could still be in place this week and everyday since July 4th.
At turn of year it should have been obvious to all political bettors, the election was never going to be this side of the summer recess.
Gentle tip: I don't actually read your posts.
They are a lot of waffle, and an unstructured braindump from your head.
Maybe try brushing up on some basic comprehension skills first, and then I might find you interesting to engage with.
When we are nowt but a service and information economy, when nearly all key manufacturing and agriculture has slipped away to other countries, when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, but no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; and when us voters have lost the ability to set the agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority - there, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, then we will slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness and mob rule - clueless about what to do about any of this.
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
I looked into going into Abkhazia when I visited Georgia last year. It does have a beautiful reputation, though now totally falling apart. It is possible to get a visa to cross from Georgia, and people do, but you couldn’t bring a car across which made it impractical.
I was told that you can get a visa, but don't do it, because it is so dangerous
But that might have been biased Georgians with an agenda?
The FCDO guidance is they recommend not going, but blogs etc seem more positive. A bit like say Mauritania: FCDO says don’t go unless you want to be kidnapped and your throat slit; other sources say go, it’s fascinating and the kidnap risk is only if you’re there long term like an NGO worker.
My friend is going there for a week before meeting two of us in Senegal next month.
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
I looked into going into Abkhazia when I visited Georgia last year. It does have a beautiful reputation, though now totally falling apart. It is possible to get a visa to cross from Georgia, and people do, but you couldn’t bring a car across which made it impractical.
I was told that you can get a visa, but don't do it, because it is so dangerous
But that might have been biased Georgians with an agenda?
The FCDO guidance is they recommend not going, but blogs etc seem more positive. A bit like say Mauritania: FCDO says don’t go unless you want to be kidnapped and your throat slit; other sources say go, it’s fascinating and the kidnap risk is only if you’re there long term like an NGO worker.
My friend is going there for a week before meeting two of us in Senegal next month.
The experience of colleagues who have passed through there for work is far more along the FCDO advice. They say you can go there but you are taking a massive risk.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Nope - Bluesky just has an easy to use Block policy and a lot of people operate a block on first problem basis because life is too short...
Tired of debates, disagreements, or being challenged by "nuance"? Enter CircleJerk, the all-new platform where every take aligns perfectly with your worldview, and every "like" feels like a warm hug from your ideological twin.
Coming soon: the all-new 100% Agree Button: Replacing "like" with "obviously."
Because who needs approval when you already have consensus.
Very good
I just joined Bluesky to check the landscape*. It APPEARS, at first glance, incredibly dull. A kind of Woke wasteland with the odd tumbleweed of conformist opinion rolling by
Perhaps it will evolve into something better?
*I wonder how much of its "explosive growth" in users is people like me. No real intention of using it, but simply curious to see what it is like
I think there are a lot of people registering as a sort of hedge, in case Twitter becomes totally unusable (which it’s not far off becoming).
I don't understand this tedious whining about Twitter, even from a relatively sensible centre-lefty like you
Or rather, I do understand it, but it doesn'r reflect well on lefties. The fact is rightwingers believe in free speech and are happy to accept that this means argument and discord, and it also means you will encounter opinions you do not like, and possibly opinions that outright enrage and offend you. That IS free speech, that is the essence, that is what it means, if it does not mean the freedom to offend and be offended, with divergent opinions, then it is nothing
Lefties are regressing into a childish state where they cannot cope with disagreement or anyone with a differing opinion, and they actively believe many opinions should be outlawed; moreover, virtually any opinion they do not like is "racist" or "transphobic" even if it is about lemon trees, cloudspotting or baseball
Look at that twat @bondegezou on here. He is that kind of pitiful, adolescent lefty, constantly trying to get opinions and opinionators silenced and banned. He IS bluesky
What happened to you guys, over there on the left? You used to ENJOY argument and different opinions, you used to cherish free speech, it was one of your things. Now you want to hide away from anything hurty and you want to silence 90% of voices that dare to disagree
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
I think your second point is why bluesky won't work, you can't just have an arena where everyone agrees with each other all the time. It doesn't generate enough engagement so eventually people will go back to Twitter for the bants and arguments.
If there is nobody to disagree with on Bluesky and nobody left to disagree with on Twix, where will all the argumentative people go?
The fact is rightwingers believe in free speech and are happy to accept that this means argument and discord, and it also means you will encounter opinions you do not like, and possibly opinions that outright enrage and offend you.
Elon mercilessly polices opinion on TwiX he doesn't like
London Euston played host to a limited number of GWR trains today due to engineering works between Paddington and Acton. I successfully caught the 1114 ex-Euston, travelling as far as Swindon, and returning on the 1319 ex-Swindon. Rarely used track this offered, admittedly, wasn't much in terms of mileage, but included the connection from the West Coast Main Line to the North London Line near Willesden, and that from the North London Line to the Great Western near Acton Main Line.
Ticketing-wise, at the Euston ticket machines, had to specify a non-Euston London station to get an open return (London Terminals to Swindon). Trains were busy, but not rammed. Reservations were down on the 1114 due to a 9-car train deputising for a 10-car formation, and the carriage I was in on the 1319 appeared to be the unreserved carriage. Managed to get right-hand, forward-facing window seats on both trains
There used to be a few random trains on the North London Line that stopped at Primrose Hill. When passing through on WCML it looks like the old station is still there. A valuable asset, I'd have thought. Maybe one of the locals should write to their MP?
The station itself closed in 1992, the building is now a restaurant, while the platforms have been taken over by undergrowth. Occasionally, there are London Overground diversions from Stratford to Camden and then through Primrose Hill towards Willesden Junction. I last did the journey in 2022.
My wife has been binge-rewatching To the Manor Born. (in Dura Ace’s absence someone needs to be actively enjoying old British sit coms).
The theme music is what AI would write if instructed to “compose a theme tune to a gentle English sit-com made in the early 1980s featuring Penelope Keith”. It’s remarkable. A pure expression of the genre.
London Euston played host to a limited number of GWR trains today due to engineering works between Paddington and Acton. I successfully caught the 1114 ex-Euston, travelling as far as Swindon, and returning on the 1319 ex-Swindon. Rarely used track this offered, admittedly, wasn't much in terms of mileage, but included the connection from the West Coast Main Line to the North London Line near Willesden, and that from the North London Line to the Great Western near Acton Main Line.
Ticketing-wise, at the Euston ticket machines, had to specify a non-Euston London station to get an open return (London Terminals to Swindon). Trains were busy, but not rammed. Reservations were down on the 1114 due to a 9-car train deputising for a 10-car formation, and the carriage I was in on the 1319 appeared to be the unreserved carriage. Managed to get right-hand, forward-facing window seats on both trains
Were you allowed onto the platform at Euston more than two minutes before departure?
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
I think your second point is why bluesky won't work, you can't just have an arena where everyone agrees with each other all the time. It doesn't generate enough engagement so eventually people will go back to Twitter for the bants and arguments.
If there is nobody to disagree with on Bluesky and nobody left to disagree with on Twix, where will all the argumentative people go?
The place where they won't get banned for arguing?
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
I looked into going into Abkhazia when I visited Georgia last year. It does have a beautiful reputation, though now totally falling apart. It is possible to get a visa to cross from Georgia, and people do, but you couldn’t bring a car across which made it impractical.
I was told that you can get a visa, but don't do it, because it is so dangerous
But that might have been biased Georgians with an agenda?
The FCDO guidance is they recommend not going, but blogs etc seem more positive. A bit like say Mauritania: FCDO says don’t go unless you want to be kidnapped and your throat slit; other sources say go, it’s fascinating and the kidnap risk is only if you’re there long term like an NGO worker.
My friend is going there for a week before meeting two of us in Senegal next month.
The experience of colleagues who have passed through there for work is far more along the FCDO advice. They say you can go there but you are taking a massive risk.
The fact is rightwingers believe in free speech and are happy to accept that this means argument and discord, and it also means you will encounter opinions you do not like, and possibly opinions that outright enrage and offend you.
Elon mercilessly polices opinion on TwiX he doesn't like
He really really doesn't. You can find people on TwiX basically calling for him to be hanged, certainly calling for him to be proescuted or jailed. He doesn't censor them
Occasionally he has little spasms of thin-skinned Aspergery anger and he might pick on one unfortunate Tweeter, but that is rare
He has the power to mute or cancel millions of accounts, he never does this. His belief in free speech is real; at times he is a total wanker. Both these things are true
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Nope - Bluesky just has an easy to use Block policy and a lot of people operate a block on first problem basis because life is too short...
Tired of debates, disagreements, or being challenged by "nuance"? Enter CircleJerk, the all-new platform where every take aligns perfectly with your worldview, and every "like" feels like a warm hug from your ideological twin.
Coming soon: the all-new 100% Agree Button: Replacing "like" with "obviously."
Because who needs approval when you already have consensus.
Very good
I just joined Bluesky to check the landscape*. It APPEARS, at first glance, incredibly dull. A kind of Woke wasteland with the odd tumbleweed of conformist opinion rolling by
Perhaps it will evolve into something better?
*I wonder how much of its "explosive growth" in users is people like me. No real intention of using it, but simply curious to see what it is like
I think there are a lot of people registering as a sort of hedge, in case Twitter becomes totally unusable (which it’s not far off becoming).
I don't understand this tedious whining about Twitter, even from a relatively sensible centre-lefty like you
Or rather, I do understand it, but it doesn'r reflect well on lefties. The fact is rightwingers believe in free speech and are happy to accept that this means argument and discord, and it also means you will encounter opinions you do not like, and possibly opinions that outright enrage and offend you. That IS free speech, that is the essence, that is what it means, if it does not mean the freedom to offend and be offended, with divergent opinions, then it is nothing
Lefties are regressing into a childish state where they cannot cope with disagreement or anyone with a differing opinion, and they actively believe many opinions should be outlawed; moreover, virtually any opinion they do not like is "racist" or "transphobic" even if it is about lemon trees, cloudspotting or baseball
Look at that twat @bondegezou on here. He is that kind of pitiful, adolescent lefty, constantly trying to get opinions and opinionators silenced and banned. He IS bluesky
What happened to you guys, over there on the left? You used to ENJOY argument and different opinions, you used to cherish free speech, it was one of your things. Now you want to hide away from anything hurty and you want to silence 90% of voices that dare to disagree
The issue with Twitter from my perspective is not the politics of the posters - after all it has always been full of blowhard Corbynites and cybernats. No, it’s the artificiality of going on 50% of the content. It’s a bot paradise. That and the promotion on accounts based on them paying for a blue tick.
They could sort it out easily by requiring ID verification.
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
I looked into going into Abkhazia when I visited Georgia last year. It does have a beautiful reputation, though now totally falling apart. It is possible to get a visa to cross from Georgia, and people do, but you couldn’t bring a car across which made it impractical.
I was told that you can get a visa, but don't do it, because it is so dangerous
But that might have been biased Georgians with an agenda?
The FCDO guidance is they recommend not going, but blogs etc seem more positive. A bit like say Mauritania: FCDO says don’t go unless you want to be kidnapped and your throat slit; other sources say go, it’s fascinating and the kidnap risk is only if you’re there long term like an NGO worker.
My friend is going there for a week before meeting two of us in Senegal next month.
The experience of colleagues who have passed through there for work is far more along the FCDO advice. They say you can go there but you are taking a massive risk.
Yes, that's exactly what I heard, and it firmly dissuaded me from going (despite my intense curiosity). Sounds like I was right!
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
I looked into going into Abkhazia when I visited Georgia last year. It does have a beautiful reputation, though now totally falling apart. It is possible to get a visa to cross from Georgia, and people do, but you couldn’t bring a car across which made it impractical.
I was told that you can get a visa, but don't do it, because it is so dangerous
But that might have been biased Georgians with an agenda?
The FCDO guidance is they recommend not going, but blogs etc seem more positive. A bit like say Mauritania: FCDO says don’t go unless you want to be kidnapped and your throat slit; other sources say go, it’s fascinating and the kidnap risk is only if you’re there long term like an NGO worker.
My friend is going there for a week before meeting two of us in Senegal next month.
The experience of colleagues who have passed through there for work is far more along the FCDO advice. They say you can go there but you are taking a massive risk.
Yes, that's exactly what I heard, and it firmly dissuaded me from going (despite my intense curiosity). Sounds like I was right!
I think he was referring to Mauritania, though I stand to be corrected.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
Nope - Bluesky just has an easy to use Block policy and a lot of people operate a block on first problem basis because life is too short...
Tired of debates, disagreements, or being challenged by "nuance"? Enter CircleJerk, the all-new platform where every take aligns perfectly with your worldview, and every "like" feels like a warm hug from your ideological twin.
Coming soon: the all-new 100% Agree Button: Replacing "like" with "obviously."
Because who needs approval when you already have consensus.
Very good
I just joined Bluesky to check the landscape*. It APPEARS, at first glance, incredibly dull. A kind of Woke wasteland with the odd tumbleweed of conformist opinion rolling by
Perhaps it will evolve into something better?
*I wonder how much of its "explosive growth" in users is people like me. No real intention of using it, but simply curious to see what it is like
I think there are a lot of people registering as a sort of hedge, in case Twitter becomes totally unusable (which it’s not far off becoming).
I don't understand this tedious whining about Twitter, even from a relatively sensible centre-lefty like you
Or rather, I do understand it, but it doesn'r reflect well on lefties. The fact is rightwingers believe in free speech and are happy to accept that this means argument and discord, and it also means you will encounter opinions you do not like, and possibly opinions that outright enrage and offend you. That IS free speech, that is the essence, that is what it means, if it does not mean the freedom to offend and be offended, with divergent opinions, then it is nothing
Lefties are regressing into a childish state where they cannot cope with disagreement or anyone with a differing opinion, and they actively believe many opinions should be outlawed; moreover, virtually any opinion they do not like is "racist" or "transphobic" even if it is about lemon trees, cloudspotting or baseball
Look at that twat @bondegezou on here. He is that kind of pitiful, adolescent lefty, constantly trying to get opinions and opinionators silenced and banned. He IS bluesky
What happened to you guys, over there on the left? You used to ENJOY argument and different opinions, you used to cherish free speech, it was one of your things. Now you want to hide away from anything hurty and you want to silence 90% of voices that dare to disagree
The issue with Twitter from my perspective is not the politics of the posters - after all it has always been full of blowhard Corbynites and cybernats. No, it’s the artificiality of going on 50% of the content. It’s a bot paradise. That and the promotion on accounts based on them paying for a blue tick.
They could sort it out easily by requiring ID verification.
Dead Internet Theory is hardly a Twitter-only phenomenon. Look at Facebook!
If and when Bluesky becomes truly popular, it too will be flooded with bots. Inevitable
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
I think your second point is why bluesky won't work, you can't just have an arena where everyone agrees with each other all the time. It doesn't generate enough engagement so eventually people will go back to Twitter for the bants and arguments.
If there is nobody to disagree with on Bluesky and nobody left to disagree with on Twix, where will all the argumentative people go?
The place where they won't get banned for arguing?
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
I think your second point is why bluesky won't work, you can't just have an arena where everyone agrees with each other all the time. It doesn't generate enough engagement so eventually people will go back to Twitter for the bants and arguments.
If there is nobody to disagree with on Bluesky and nobody left to disagree with on Twix, where will all the argumentative people go?
Both Badenoch and Farage now have Bluesky accounts, and Kemi has 3 600 followers in a couple of days.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
So, you're saying it's become like broadcast news in the US, where people only hang out on channels where they will see things they agree with
London Euston played host to a limited number of GWR trains today due to engineering works between Paddington and Acton. I successfully caught the 1114 ex-Euston, travelling as far as Swindon, and returning on the 1319 ex-Swindon. Rarely used track this offered, admittedly, wasn't much in terms of mileage, but included the connection from the West Coast Main Line to the North London Line near Willesden, and that from the North London Line to the Great Western near Acton Main Line.
Ticketing-wise, at the Euston ticket machines, had to specify a non-Euston London station to get an open return (London Terminals to Swindon). Trains were busy, but not rammed. Reservations were down on the 1114 due to a 9-car train deputising for a 10-car formation, and the carriage I was in on the 1319 appeared to be the unreserved carriage. Managed to get right-hand, forward-facing window seats on both trains
Were you allowed onto the platform at Euston more than two minutes before departure?
The 1114 GWR service from Euston to Swansea was already shown as "Boarding" at 1034 when I got to the concourse!
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
So, you're saying it's become like broadcast news in the US, where people only hang out on channels where they will see things they agree with
The fact is rightwingers believe in free speech and are happy to accept that this means argument and discord, and it also means you will encounter opinions you do not like, and possibly opinions that outright enrage and offend you.
Elon mercilessly polices opinion on TwiX he doesn't like
He really really doesn't. You can find people on TwiX basically calling for him to be hanged, certainly calling for him to be proescuted or jailed. He doesn't censor them
Occasionally he has little spasms of thin-skinned Aspergery anger and he might pick on one unfortunate Tweeter, but that is rare
He has the power to mute or cancel millions of accounts, he never does this. His belief in free speech is real; at times he is a total wanker. Both these things are true
He does appear to have manipulated the content people were getting so it became more pro-Trump since about July.
I see even the Elon fangirls are still calling it Twitter.
I am a bit of an Elon fangirl, and I am happy to admit it. I think he is a titanic genius, and history will see him as such
However I am also happy to admit he can be an utter twat, and has some weird ideas - and even some terrible ideas. And one of his most ridiculously silly ideas was rebranding Twitter as "X". What a pointless waste of time and energy for everyone
Phillips P. OBrien @PhillipsPOBrien · 3h It’s taken almost 3 years to make this decision, and hundreds of thousands more dead, and Russia terrorising civilians on a daily basis. It’s the right choice, so needs to be applauded, but oh so late.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
I think your second point is why bluesky won't work, you can't just have an arena where everyone agrees with each other all the time. It doesn't generate enough engagement so eventually people will go back to Twitter for the bants and arguments.
If there is nobody to disagree with on Bluesky and nobody left to disagree with on Twix, where will all the argumentative people go?
Both Badenoch and Farage now have Bluesky accounts, and Kemi has 3 600 followers in a couple of days.
There are now pretty much no social media sites I find appealing.
- TwiX: porn bots, Kremlin propaganda and its traditional ill temper - Bluesky: seems dull - Instagram: cringey vanity and vacuousness - LinkedIn: where do I start - Facebook: the online version of that circular Christmas letter, for OAPs - TikTok: brain rotting mental opioid - Telegram: stinking cesspit that makes X look high brow
Perhaps we have passed peak mass- media. Maybe people will retreat back into special interest forums like this.
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
I looked into going into Abkhazia when I visited Georgia last year. It does have a beautiful reputation, though now totally falling apart. It is possible to get a visa to cross from Georgia, and people do, but you couldn’t bring a car across which made it impractical.
I was told that you can get a visa, but don't do it, because it is so dangerous
But that might have been biased Georgians with an agenda?
The FCDO guidance is they recommend not going, but blogs etc seem more positive. A bit like say Mauritania: FCDO says don’t go unless you want to be kidnapped and your throat slit; other sources say go, it’s fascinating and the kidnap risk is only if you’re there long term like an NGO worker.
My friend is going there for a week before meeting two of us in Senegal next month.
The experience of colleagues who have passed through there for work is far more along the FCDO advice. They say you can go there but you are taking a massive risk.
Yes, that's exactly what I heard, and it firmly dissuaded me from going (despite my intense curiosity). Sounds like I was right!
I think he was referring to Mauritania, though I stand to be corrected.
Ah, OK! Looks like you're right
Personally, I wouldn't risk Mauritania, and I was happy to go to Ukraine during the war, twice. The risk/reward ratio is all wrong. ie Mauritania is not very interesting and is extremely dangerous. Ukraine is amazingly interesting (especially now) and it is quite dangerous, so you need to be careful
I am also looking at a trip to West Africa this winter. Dakar down to Sierra Leone. I feel I should see it at least once in my lifetime, even if it has a bad rep. Where are you going in Senegal and what are you doing, if I may ask?
I don't understand this tedious whining about Twitter, even from a relatively sensible centre-lefty like you
Or rather, I do understand it, but it doesn'r reflect well on lefties. The fact is rightwingers believe in free speech and are happy to accept that this means argument and discord, and it also means you will encounter opinions you do not like, and possibly opinions that outright enrage and offend you. That IS free speech, that is the essence, that is what it means, if it does not mean the freedom to offend and be offended, with divergent opinions, then it is nothing
Lefties are regressing into a childish state where they cannot cope with disagreement or anyone with a differing opinion, and they actively believe many opinions should be outlawed; moreover, virtually any opinion they do not like is "racist" or "transphobic" even if it is about lemon trees, cloudspotting or baseball
Look at that twat @bondegezou on here. He is that kind of pitiful, adolescent lefty, constantly trying to get opinions and opinionators silenced and banned. He IS bluesky
What happened to you guys, over there on the left? You used to ENJOY argument and different opinions, you used to cherish free speech, it was one of your things. Now you want to hide away from anything hurty and you want to silence 90% of voices that dare to disagree
It depends how thick the different sides are. Arguing with an idiot who keeps making the same points isn’t particularly stimulating and rewarding. Arguing with an intelligent and genuinely thought provoking individual who holds a different views to one’s own, is.
A friends child falls into the former category (understandable given her age). I ignore her
My wife has been binge-rewatching To the Manor Born. (in Dura Ace’s absence someone needs to be actively enjoying old British sit coms).
The theme music is what AI would write if instructed to “compose a theme tune to a gentle English sit-com made in the early 1980s featuring Penelope Keith”. It’s remarkable. A pure expression of the genre.
It's OK as a sitcom but a bit wan. It's basically Keith reprising her Margot Leadbetter role in a new scenario, and The Good Life is a more entertaining watch imo.
London Euston played host to a limited number of GWR trains today due to engineering works between Paddington and Acton. I successfully caught the 1114 ex-Euston, travelling as far as Swindon, and returning on the 1319 ex-Swindon. Rarely used track this offered, admittedly, wasn't much in terms of mileage, but included the connection from the West Coast Main Line to the North London Line near Willesden, and that from the North London Line to the Great Western near Acton Main Line.
Ticketing-wise, at the Euston ticket machines, had to specify a non-Euston London station to get an open return (London Terminals to Swindon). Trains were busy, but not rammed. Reservations were down on the 1114 due to a 9-car train deputising for a 10-car formation, and the carriage I was in on the 1319 appeared to be the unreserved carriage. Managed to get right-hand, forward-facing window seats on both trains
Were you allowed onto the platform at Euston more than two minutes before departure?
The 1114 GWR service from Euston to Swansea was already shown as "Boarding" at 1034 when I got to the concourse!
Don’t get me started on notice boards that proudly proclaim that a train has ‘arrived’ when clearly it’s not at the platform yet.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
I think your second point is why bluesky won't work, you can't just have an arena where everyone agrees with each other all the time. It doesn't generate enough engagement so eventually people will go back to Twitter for the bants and arguments.
If there is nobody to disagree with on Bluesky and nobody left to disagree with on Twix, where will all the argumentative people go?
Both Badenoch and Farage now have Bluesky accounts, and Kemi has 3 600 followers in a couple of days.
There are now pretty much no social media sites I find appealing.
- TwiX: porn bots, Kremlin propaganda and its traditional ill temper - Bluesky: seems dull - Instagram: cringey vanity and vacuousness - LinkedIn: where do I start - Facebook: the online version of that circular Christmas letter, for OAPs - TikTok: brain rotting mental opioid - Telegram: stinking cesspit that makes X look high brow
Perhaps we have passed peak mass- media. Maybe people will retreat back into special interest forums like this.
Reddit remains good, and sometimes brilliant. But it is not that "social"
Its my go-to place for news and opinions on several major subjects
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
I looked into going into Abkhazia when I visited Georgia last year. It does have a beautiful reputation, though now totally falling apart. It is possible to get a visa to cross from Georgia, and people do, but you couldn’t bring a car across which made it impractical.
I was told that you can get a visa, but don't do it, because it is so dangerous
But that might have been biased Georgians with an agenda?
The FCDO guidance is they recommend not going, but blogs etc seem more positive. A bit like say Mauritania: FCDO says don’t go unless you want to be kidnapped and your throat slit; other sources say go, it’s fascinating and the kidnap risk is only if you’re there long term like an NGO worker.
My friend is going there for a week before meeting two of us in Senegal next month.
The experience of colleagues who have passed through there for work is far more along the FCDO advice. They say you can go there but you are taking a massive risk.
Yes, that's exactly what I heard, and it firmly dissuaded me from going (despite my intense curiosity). Sounds like I was right!
I think he was referring to Mauritania, though I stand to be corrected.
Ah, OK! Looks like you're right
Personally, I wouldn't risk Mauritania, and I was happy to go to Ukraine during the war, twice. The risk/reward ratio is all wrong. ie Mauritania is not very interesting and is extremely dangerous. Ukraine is amazingly interesting (especially now) and it is quite dangerous, so you need to be careful
I am also looking at a trip to West Africa this winter. Dakar down to Sierra Leone. I feel I should see it at least once in my lifetime, even if it has a bad rep. Where are you going in Senegal and what are you doing, if I may ask?
I’m doing just over a week there. Dakar, then the overnight ferry down to Ziguinchor, couple of nights in inland Casamance at a campement, a quick sojourn at Cap Skirring then an internal flight back up to Dakar for a couple more days.
Guinea Bissau looks quaint though falling apart. Crossing the border was too much of a faff to bother with on our short trip.
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
I think your second point is why bluesky won't work, you can't just have an arena where everyone agrees with each other all the time. It doesn't generate enough engagement so eventually people will go back to Twitter for the bants and arguments.
If there is nobody to disagree with on Bluesky and nobody left to disagree with on Twix, where will all the argumentative people go?
Both Badenoch and Farage now have Bluesky accounts, and Kemi has 3 600 followers in a couple of days.
There are now pretty much no social media sites I find appealing.
- TwiX: porn bots, Kremlin propaganda and its traditional ill temper - Bluesky: seems dull - Instagram: cringey vanity and vacuousness - LinkedIn: where do I start - Facebook: the online version of that circular Christmas letter, for OAPs - TikTok: brain rotting mental opioid - Telegram: stinking cesspit that makes X look high brow
Perhaps we have passed peak mass- media. Maybe people will retreat back into special interest forums like this.
Threads seems to be as if Twitter and LinkedIn had a kid. It's genuinely terrible. I still think Instagram has value for understanding what people under 40 are talking about. If political stories break through there it means it's made the public consciousness because it's such a high bar compared to Twitter or Facebook.
My wife has been binge-rewatching To the Manor Born. (in Dura Ace’s absence someone needs to be actively enjoying old British sit coms).
The theme music is what AI would write if instructed to “compose a theme tune to a gentle English sit-com made in the early 1980s featuring Penelope Keith”. It’s remarkable. A pure expression of the genre.
It's OK as a sitcom but a bit wan. It's basically Keith reprising her Margot Leadbetter role in a new scenario, and The Good Life is a more entertaining watch imo.
I agree, the good life has more properly drawn characters (4 of them). This just has two, though I do think De Vere does a good turn.
I don't understand this tedious whining about Twitter, even from a relatively sensible centre-lefty like you
Or rather, I do understand it, but it doesn'r reflect well on lefties. The fact is rightwingers believe in free speech and are happy to accept that this means argument and discord, and it also means you will encounter opinions you do not like, and possibly opinions that outright enrage and offend you. That IS free speech, that is the essence, that is what it means, if it does not mean the freedom to offend and be offended, with divergent opinions, then it is nothing
Lefties are regressing into a childish state where they cannot cope with disagreement or anyone with a differing opinion, and they actively believe many opinions should be outlawed; moreover, virtually any opinion they do not like is "racist" or "transphobic" even if it is about lemon trees, cloudspotting or baseball
Look at that twat @bondegezou on here. He is that kind of pitiful, adolescent lefty, constantly trying to get opinions and opinionators silenced and banned. He IS bluesky
What happened to you guys, over there on the left? You used to ENJOY argument and different opinions, you used to cherish free speech, it was one of your things. Now you want to hide away from anything hurty and you want to silence 90% of voices that dare to disagree
It depends how thick the different sides are. Arguing with an idiot who keeps making the same points isn’t particularly stimulating and rewarding. Arguing with an intelligent and genuinely thought provoking individual who holds a different views to one’s own, is.
A friends child falls into the former category (understandable given her age). I ignore her
Yes, but a rightwinger simply ignores or mutes a tedious debater, lefties want debaters they dislike silenced, and by law, if necessary
That is a pretty enormous difference
We see it in stats on social attitudes. Rightwingers are happy to interact with or date or fuck or have a pint with lefties, lefties do not offer the same generous sociability to rightwingers. "Never kissed a Tory" is not just a meme, it is a behavioural phenomenon, and it is sad and somewhat pathetic
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
I looked into going into Abkhazia when I visited Georgia last year. It does have a beautiful reputation, though now totally falling apart. It is possible to get a visa to cross from Georgia, and people do, but you couldn’t bring a car across which made it impractical.
I was told that you can get a visa, but don't do it, because it is so dangerous
But that might have been biased Georgians with an agenda?
The FCDO guidance is they recommend not going, but blogs etc seem more positive. A bit like say Mauritania: FCDO says don’t go unless you want to be kidnapped and your throat slit; other sources say go, it’s fascinating and the kidnap risk is only if you’re there long term like an NGO worker.
My friend is going there for a week before meeting two of us in Senegal next month.
The experience of colleagues who have passed through there for work is far more along the FCDO advice. They say you can go there but you are taking a massive risk.
Yes, that's exactly what I heard, and it firmly dissuaded me from going (despite my intense curiosity). Sounds like I was right!
I think he was referring to Mauritania, though I stand to be corrected.
Ah, OK! Looks like you're right
Personally, I wouldn't risk Mauritania, and I was happy to go to Ukraine during the war, twice. The risk/reward ratio is all wrong. ie Mauritania is not very interesting and is extremely dangerous. Ukraine is amazingly interesting (especially now) and it is quite dangerous, so you need to be careful
I am also looking at a trip to West Africa this winter. Dakar down to Sierra Leone. I feel I should see it at least once in my lifetime, even if it has a bad rep. Where are you going in Senegal and what are you doing, if I may ask?
I’m doing just over a week there. Dakar, then the overnight ferry down to Ziguinchor, couple of nights in inland Casamance at a campement, a quick sojourn at Cap Skirring then an internal flight back up to Dakar for a couple more days.
Guinea Bissau looks quaint though falling apart. Crossing the border was too much of a faff to bother with on our short trip.
Thanks! Genuinely helpful. I am putting together a tentative itinerary for early Jan
I want to do five countries in West Africa. Why? Because so far in my life I have visited 95 countries, and I am desperate to reach 100
I know, how childish is that? But that is my thinking. I am like a nervous Test batsman nearing a century. Do I keep nudging singles, or do I swing for a six and reach my ton in one go?
I'm swinging for a six. I'll probably get clean bowled - ie shot - in the Gambia
If the rumour is related to Starmer's legal career I really don't think it means much given cab rank rule
Does anyone have an example of The Truth, on any matter, first being revealed on Twatter?
As opposed to zillions of lies, bullshit, horseshit etc etc?
Yes, plenty
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
Twitter used to be a place where everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, hung out.
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
Yes, I can see that happening, which means both sites will fail as "public squares" - which will be a damn shame, and a further silo-isation of discourse and polarisation of politics
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
I think your second point is why bluesky won't work, you can't just have an arena where everyone agrees with each other all the time. It doesn't generate enough engagement so eventually people will go back to Twitter for the bants and arguments.
If there is nobody to disagree with on Bluesky and nobody left to disagree with on Twix, where will all the argumentative people go?
Both Badenoch and Farage now have Bluesky accounts, and Kemi has 3 600 followers in a couple of days.
There are now pretty much no social media sites I find appealing.
- TwiX: porn bots, Kremlin propaganda and its traditional ill temper - Bluesky: seems dull - Instagram: cringey vanity and vacuousness - LinkedIn: where do I start - Facebook: the online version of that circular Christmas letter, for OAPs - TikTok: brain rotting mental opioid - Telegram: stinking cesspit that makes X look high brow
Perhaps we have passed peak mass- media. Maybe people will retreat back into special interest forums like this.
Reddit remains good, and sometimes brilliant. But it is not that "social"
Its my go-to place for news and opinions on several major subjects
It’s also hopeless at making money. Its P&L is woeful. But that has its upsides for the user.
I don't understand this tedious whining about Twitter, even from a relatively sensible centre-lefty like you
Or rather, I do understand it, but it doesn'r reflect well on lefties. The fact is rightwingers believe in free speech and are happy to accept that this means argument and discord, and it also means you will encounter opinions you do not like, and possibly opinions that outright enrage and offend you. That IS free speech, that is the essence, that is what it means, if it does not mean the freedom to offend and be offended, with divergent opinions, then it is nothing
Lefties are regressing into a childish state where they cannot cope with disagreement or anyone with a differing opinion, and they actively believe many opinions should be outlawed; moreover, virtually any opinion they do not like is "racist" or "transphobic" even if it is about lemon trees, cloudspotting or baseball
Look at that twat @bondegezou on here. He is that kind of pitiful, adolescent lefty, constantly trying to get opinions and opinionators silenced and banned. He IS bluesky
What happened to you guys, over there on the left? You used to ENJOY argument and different opinions, you used to cherish free speech, it was one of your things. Now you want to hide away from anything hurty and you want to silence 90% of voices that dare to disagree
It depends how thick the different sides are. Arguing with an idiot who keeps making the same points isn’t particularly stimulating and rewarding. Arguing with an intelligent and genuinely thought provoking individual who holds a different views to one’s own, is.
A friends child falls into the former category (understandable given her age). I ignore her
Yes, but a rightwinger simply ignores or mutes a tedious debater, lefties want debaters they dislike silenced, and by law, if necessary
That is a pretty enormous difference
We see it in stats on social attitudes. Rightwingers are happy to interact with or date or fuck or have a pint with lefties, lefties do not offer the same generous sociability to rightwingers. "Never kissed a Tory" is not just a meme, it is a behavioural phenomenon, and it is sad and somewhat pathetic
Ana Kasparian of the far left YouTube channel The Young Turks gave a great interview about this. She, during the election, basically came out and said she'd left the Democratic party because the policies were insane wrt crime and women's rights being eroded for blokes on dresses. She said she faced weeks of online abuse, people shouting at her irl while everyone on the right was very welcoming and even though she still disagreed with most of the Trump platform they were happy to have the debate with her and win her over.
The left has become a purity test and fundamentally exclusionary, especially in the US. Starmer mostly prevented that from happening here by adopting all of the cultural positions of the Tories in the year leading up to the election but I think that will be increasingly difficult as the pushback against woke continues and Kemi capitalises on it.
The left liberal from the 70s and 80s is now centre right even though their fundamental views have barely moved since then.
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
I looked into going into Abkhazia when I visited Georgia last year. It does have a beautiful reputation, though now totally falling apart. It is possible to get a visa to cross from Georgia, and people do, but you couldn’t bring a car across which made it impractical.
I was told that you can get a visa, but don't do it, because it is so dangerous
But that might have been biased Georgians with an agenda?
The FCDO guidance is they recommend not going, but blogs etc seem more positive. A bit like say Mauritania: FCDO says don’t go unless you want to be kidnapped and your throat slit; other sources say go, it’s fascinating and the kidnap risk is only if you’re there long term like an NGO worker.
My friend is going there for a week before meeting two of us in Senegal next month.
The experience of colleagues who have passed through there for work is far more along the FCDO advice. They say you can go there but you are taking a massive risk.
Yes, that's exactly what I heard, and it firmly dissuaded me from going (despite my intense curiosity). Sounds like I was right!
I think he was referring to Mauritania, though I stand to be corrected.
Ah, OK! Looks like you're right
Personally, I wouldn't risk Mauritania, and I was happy to go to Ukraine during the war, twice. The risk/reward ratio is all wrong. ie Mauritania is not very interesting and is extremely dangerous. Ukraine is amazingly interesting (especially now) and it is quite dangerous, so you need to be careful
I am also looking at a trip to West Africa this winter. Dakar down to Sierra Leone. I feel I should see it at least once in my lifetime, even if it has a bad rep. Where are you going in Senegal and what are you doing, if I may ask?
I’m doing just over a week there. Dakar, then the overnight ferry down to Ziguinchor, couple of nights in inland Casamance at a campement, a quick sojourn at Cap Skirring then an internal flight back up to Dakar for a couple more days.
Guinea Bissau looks quaint though falling apart. Crossing the border was too much of a faff to bother with on our short trip.
Thanks! Genuinely helpful. I am putting together a tentative itinerary for early Jan
I want to do five countries in West Africa. Why? Because so far in my life I have visited 95 countries, and I am desperate to reach 100
I know, how childish is that? But that is my thinking. I am like a nervous Test batsman nearing a century. Do I keep nudging singles, or do I swing for a six and reach my ton in one go?
I'm swinging for a six. I'll probably get clean bowled - ie shot - in the Gambia
My friend has the same addiction. He had part of his honeymoon in Timor Leste last year and has just done Comoros and Bhutan in a month, such is the determination to tick off the countries.
London Euston played host to a limited number of GWR trains today due to engineering works between Paddington and Acton. I successfully caught the 1114 ex-Euston, travelling as far as Swindon, and returning on the 1319 ex-Swindon. Rarely used track this offered, admittedly, wasn't much in terms of mileage, but included the connection from the West Coast Main Line to the North London Line near Willesden, and that from the North London Line to the Great Western near Acton Main Line.
Ticketing-wise, at the Euston ticket machines, had to specify a non-Euston London station to get an open return (London Terminals to Swindon). Trains were busy, but not rammed. Reservations were down on the 1114 due to a 9-car train deputising for a 10-car formation, and the carriage I was in on the 1319 appeared to be the unreserved carriage. Managed to get right-hand, forward-facing window seats on both trains
Were you allowed onto the platform at Euston more than two minutes before departure?
The 1114 GWR service from Euston to Swansea was already shown as "Boarding" at 1034 when I got to the concourse!
Don’t get me started on notice boards that proudly proclaim that a train has ‘arrived’ when clearly it’s not at the platform yet.
I don't understand this tedious whining about Twitter, even from a relatively sensible centre-lefty like you
Or rather, I do understand it, but it doesn'r reflect well on lefties. The fact is rightwingers believe in free speech and are happy to accept that this means argument and discord, and it also means you will encounter opinions you do not like, and possibly opinions that outright enrage and offend you. That IS free speech, that is the essence, that is what it means, if it does not mean the freedom to offend and be offended, with divergent opinions, then it is nothing
Lefties are regressing into a childish state where they cannot cope with disagreement or anyone with a differing opinion, and they actively believe many opinions should be outlawed; moreover, virtually any opinion they do not like is "racist" or "transphobic" even if it is about lemon trees, cloudspotting or baseball
Look at that twat @bondegezou on here. He is that kind of pitiful, adolescent lefty, constantly trying to get opinions and opinionators silenced and banned. He IS bluesky
What happened to you guys, over there on the left? You used to ENJOY argument and different opinions, you used to cherish free speech, it was one of your things. Now you want to hide away from anything hurty and you want to silence 90% of voices that dare to disagree
It depends how thick the different sides are. Arguing with an idiot who keeps making the same points isn’t particularly stimulating and rewarding. Arguing with an intelligent and genuinely thought provoking individual who holds a different views to one’s own, is.
A friends child falls into the former category (understandable given her age). I ignore her
Yes, but a rightwinger simply ignores or mutes a tedious debater, lefties want debaters they dislike silenced, and by law, if necessary
That is a pretty enormous difference
We see it in stats on social attitudes. Rightwingers are happy to interact with or date or fuck or have a pint with lefties, lefties do not offer the same generous sociability to rightwingers. "Never kissed a Tory" is not just a meme, it is a behavioural phenomenon, and it is sad and somewhat pathetic
Ana Kasparian of the far left YouTube channel The Young Turks gave a great interview about this. She, during the election, basically came out and said she'd left the Democratic party because the policies were insane wrt crime and women's rights being eroded for blokes on dresses. She said she faced weeks of online abuse, people shouting at her irl while everyone on the right was very welcoming and even though she still disagreed with most of the Trump platform they were happy to have the debate with her and win her over.
The left has become a purity test and fundamentally exclusionary, especially in the US. Starmer mostly prevented that from happening here by adopting all of the cultural positions of the Tories in the year leading up to the election but I think that will be increasingly difficult as the pushback against woke continues and Kemi capitalises on it.
The left liberal from the 70s and 80s is now centre right even though their fundamental views have barely moved since then.
Yes. The New Intolerance of the Left is really quite something to behold. Perhaps it was always there, this puritanical, disapproving streak, but for some reason it has suddenly grown cancerously bad in recent years, triggered by social media?
It also helps to explain why the New Left finds common cause with Islamism, when in most regards they seem completely at odds. They do share this one attitude - kill the heretic
Russia is developing a new Black Sea port in occupied Abhkazia. Since it's not sovereign Russian territory I would hope there wouldn't be restrictions on missile attacks there?
We seem to have forgotten that Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008.
I haven't. I went to Georgia 2 years back and yearned to go to Abkhazia, it is meant to be stunningly beautiful, and the reason Georgia is sometimes cited as the *original* Garden of Eden
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
I looked into going into Abkhazia when I visited Georgia last year. It does have a beautiful reputation, though now totally falling apart. It is possible to get a visa to cross from Georgia, and people do, but you couldn’t bring a car across which made it impractical.
I was told that you can get a visa, but don't do it, because it is so dangerous
But that might have been biased Georgians with an agenda?
The FCDO guidance is they recommend not going, but blogs etc seem more positive. A bit like say Mauritania: FCDO says don’t go unless you want to be kidnapped and your throat slit; other sources say go, it’s fascinating and the kidnap risk is only if you’re there long term like an NGO worker.
My friend is going there for a week before meeting two of us in Senegal next month.
The experience of colleagues who have passed through there for work is far more along the FCDO advice. They say you can go there but you are taking a massive risk.
Yes, that's exactly what I heard, and it firmly dissuaded me from going (despite my intense curiosity). Sounds like I was right!
I think he was referring to Mauritania, though I stand to be corrected.
Ah, OK! Looks like you're right
Personally, I wouldn't risk Mauritania, and I was happy to go to Ukraine during the war, twice. The risk/reward ratio is all wrong. ie Mauritania is not very interesting and is extremely dangerous. Ukraine is amazingly interesting (especially now) and it is quite dangerous, so you need to be careful
I am also looking at a trip to West Africa this winter. Dakar down to Sierra Leone. I feel I should see it at least once in my lifetime, even if it has a bad rep. Where are you going in Senegal and what are you doing, if I may ask?
Mauretania, the last country to ban slavery, in 1981!
Comments
So this topic, and any other Twitter rumour topics are banned, if the rules are not adhered to people are getting banned, OGH has enough issues than have to deal with you and others getting him into trouble.
'179 False communications offence
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)the person sends a message (see section 182),
(b)the message conveys information that the person knows to be false,
(c)at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d)the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message.
182Interpretation of sections 179 to 181
(1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 179 to 181, and references in this section to an offence are to an offence under section 179 or 181.
(2)A person “sends a message” if the person—
(a)sends, transmits or publishes a communication (including an oral communication) by electronic means, or
(b)sends, or gives to an individual, a letter or a thing of any other description,
and references to a message are to be read accordingly.'
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/50/section/179
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/50/section/182
Otherwise the wokier powers-that-be would not be so exercised by Musk owning it: a social media site that spunked out nothing but misinformation would be quick disregarded. It would be like Russia Today, and everyone would look at it with skepticism and then probably ignore it entirely
However, the problem with TwiX is that the truth is mixed up with half truths and total lies - and that has always been the case
I expect that frontline constables, who expose themselves to significant personal risk in dealing with the most troubled parts of our society, often repeatedly, get little support or reward/recognition from their seniors for doing it - so it's no wonder they want to sit in patrol vehicles fining motorists or reprimanding middle-class journalists for juicy tweets instead.
But it is strictly off limits, the new frontier is firmly shut, and getting in is highly dangerous if not impossible
EDI "crimes" are easier to clear up and will win you far more brownie points in the force.
When did the British police turn into,..... THIS?
Labour did pass the Equality Act under Brown but that is a civil not criminal law
I think there is a very real chance now that it does end up fragmenting, following what has happened with broadcast and print media. In the last month, Bluesky really seems to have gotten awfully close to breakout.
Now, will it replace Twitter? Nope. But what looks entirely possible i that (for politics) left wingers will be on Bluesky, while right wingers on Twitter.
Twitter could lose its ubiquity.
However Blusky is still quite a long way from breakout and it is now encountering its own problems. The moderation there is as fierce as lefty Twitter back in the day. eg you get instantly silenced if not banned for anything deemed transphobic - say "there are only two genders" and it's bye bye
It's driven by incentives - to progress their careers they need to detect and clear up crime, and they won't want to do the really hard and nasty stuff (who would?) and EDI "crimes" allow you to tell a great story about diversity and inclusion that will help you progress.
This is certainly the case at my firm.
Coming soon: the all-new 100% Agree Button: Replacing "like" with "obviously."
Because who needs approval when you already have consensus.
London Euston played host to a limited number of GWR trains today due to engineering works between Paddington and Acton. I successfully caught the 1114 ex-Euston, travelling as far as Swindon, and returning on the 1319 ex-Swindon. Rarely used track this offered, admittedly, wasn't much in terms of mileage, but included the connection from the West Coast Main Line to the North London Line near Willesden, and that from the North London Line to the Great Western near Acton Main Line.
Ticketing-wise, at the Euston ticket machines, had to specify a non-Euston London station to get an open return (London Terminals to Swindon). Trains were busy, but not rammed. Reservations were down on the 1114 due to a 9-car train deputising for a 10-car formation, and the carriage I was in on the 1319 appeared to be the unreserved carriage. Managed to get right-hand, forward-facing window seats on both trains
"I like how Bluesky is becoming the Australian penal colony of social media."
https://x.com/antoniogm/status/1857992492190412970
However, that doesn't mean it will fail, as @rcs1000 notes it is genuinely growing, and possibly attaining a critical mass where it will function as a real alternative. But rightwingers will not follow, so that means we will have two sites entirely separate and the social-media bubble effect will get worse. Sad
And when this happens this is generally not good for lefties, as they are constantly surprised when it turns out voters disagree with them, unlike all their friends on lefty social meia
As I said though it was the Tories who passed laws making offensive social media posts illegal too not Labour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silencers_(novel)
The other alternative is that a lot of shouty rightwingers WILL migrate to Bluesky just for an argument and then Bluesky will turn into Twitter again, a "hellsite" of loathing. Then at that point maybe all the lefties will move back to Twitter because all the rightwingers have moved to Bluesky leaving Twitter agreeably empty
It's oddly similar to white flight in American cities. First they moved to the suburbs to escape the gunfire, then the gunfire followed so they returned to the deserted town centres, gentrifying the lofts and warehouses
Ooh, I sense a Knapper's Gazette article in the making
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silencer_(film)
I just joined Bluesky to check the landscape*. It APPEARS, at first glance, incredibly dull. A kind of Woke wasteland with the odd tumbleweed of conformist opinion rolling by
Perhaps it will evolve into something better?
*I wonder how much of its "explosive growth" in users is people like me. No real intention of using it, but simply curious to see what it is like
But that might have been biased Georgians with an agenda?
Martin Lukeman 1-0 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-0 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-1 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-2 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-3 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-4 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-5 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-6 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-7 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-8 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-9 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-10 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-11 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-12 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-13 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-14 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 2-15 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 3-15 Luke Littler
Martin Lukeman 3-16 Luke Littler
Luke Littler is now 7/2 for SPotY but imo best to wait to see if he is shortlisted.
If you want me, I’ll be in my sheep shed. 🙋♀️
My friend is going there for a week before meeting two of us in Senegal next month.
Or rather, I do understand it, but it doesn'r reflect well on lefties. The fact is rightwingers believe in free speech and are happy to accept that this means argument and discord, and it also means you will encounter opinions you do not like, and possibly opinions that outright enrage and offend you. That IS free speech, that is the essence, that is what it means, if it does not mean the freedom to offend and be offended, with divergent opinions, then it is nothing
Lefties are regressing into a childish state where they cannot cope with disagreement or anyone with a differing opinion, and they actively believe many opinions should be outlawed; moreover, virtually any opinion they do not like is "racist" or "transphobic" even if it is about lemon trees, cloudspotting or baseball
Look at that twat @bondegezou on here. He is that kind of pitiful, adolescent lefty, constantly trying to get opinions and opinionators silenced and banned. He IS bluesky
What happened to you guys, over there on the left? You used to ENJOY argument and different opinions, you used to cherish free speech, it was one of your things. Now you want to hide away from anything hurty and you want to silence 90% of voices that dare to disagree
The theme music is what AI would write if instructed to “compose a theme tune to a gentle English sit-com made in the early 1980s featuring Penelope Keith”. It’s remarkable. A pure expression of the genre.
Occasionally he has little spasms of thin-skinned Aspergery anger and he might pick on one unfortunate Tweeter, but that is rare
He has the power to mute or cancel millions of accounts, he never does this. His belief in free speech is real; at times he is a total wanker. Both these things are true
They could sort it out easily by requiring ID verification.
If and when Bluesky becomes truly popular, it too will be flooded with bots. Inevitable
https://bsky.app/profile/kemibadenoch.bsky.social/post/3lb5qsva32k2l
So there are people to disagree with.
https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1857736106017439938
However I am also happy to admit he can be an utter twat, and has some weird ideas - and even some terrible ideas. And one of his most ridiculously silly ideas was rebranding Twitter as "X". What a pointless waste of time and energy for everyone
Phillips P. OBrien
@PhillipsPOBrien
·
3h
It’s taken almost 3 years to make this decision, and hundreds of thousands more dead, and Russia terrorising civilians on a daily basis. It’s the right choice, so needs to be applauded, but oh so late.
https://x.com/PhillipsPOBrien
- TwiX: porn bots, Kremlin propaganda and its traditional ill temper
- Bluesky: seems dull
- Instagram: cringey vanity and vacuousness
- LinkedIn: where do I start
- Facebook: the online version of that circular Christmas letter, for OAPs
- TikTok: brain rotting mental opioid
- Telegram: stinking cesspit that makes X look high brow
Perhaps we have passed peak mass- media. Maybe people will retreat back into special interest forums like this.
Personally, I wouldn't risk Mauritania, and I was happy to go to Ukraine during the war, twice. The risk/reward ratio is all wrong. ie Mauritania is not very interesting and is extremely dangerous. Ukraine is amazingly interesting (especially now) and it is quite dangerous, so you need to be careful
I am also looking at a trip to West Africa this winter. Dakar down to Sierra Leone. I feel I should see it at least once in my lifetime, even if it has a bad rep. Where are you going in Senegal and what are you doing, if I may ask?
A friends child falls into the former category (understandable given her age). I ignore her
Its my go-to place for news and opinions on several major subjects
Guinea Bissau looks quaint though falling apart. Crossing the border was too much of a faff to bother with on our short trip.
That is a pretty enormous difference
We see it in stats on social attitudes. Rightwingers are happy to interact with or date or fuck or have a pint with lefties, lefties do not offer the same generous sociability to rightwingers. "Never kissed a Tory" is not just a meme, it is a behavioural phenomenon, and it is sad and somewhat pathetic
I want to do five countries in West Africa. Why? Because so far in my life I have visited 95 countries, and I am desperate to reach 100
I know, how childish is that? But that is my thinking. I am like a nervous Test batsman nearing a century. Do I keep nudging singles, or do I swing for a six and reach my ton in one go?
I'm swinging for a six. I'll probably get clean bowled - ie shot - in the Gambia
The left has become a purity test and fundamentally exclusionary, especially in the US. Starmer mostly prevented that from happening here by adopting all of the cultural positions of the Tories in the year leading up to the election but I think that will be increasingly difficult as the pushback against woke continues and Kemi capitalises on it.
The left liberal from the 70s and 80s is now centre right even though their fundamental views have barely moved since then.
(And that’s why he’s calling in on Mauritania).
It also helps to explain why the New Left finds common cause with Islamism, when in most regards they seem completely at odds. They do share this one attitude - kill the heretic