@jay_peper I have essays to mark, so at the very least I’ll finally get to see the bottom of my ironing basket.

@davidallengreen The thing that really worries me about this is that, to my mind, the only way in which they can feel this secure about their ”absolute immunity” and their being under his protection, is for them to genuinely believe that there will never be anybody else in power again.

And that is a scary thought because it means that a lot of thugs equipped with heavy armoury now have a vested interest in making it so.

Wie man Menschen das Böllern abgewöhnt 😂

@Natasha_Jay The Heaviside Layer 😂

@pluralistic Given all that, I also think there is no need for a pile-on in the comments section with regard to the lack of awareness or even inferred antisemitism of the original poster, who may very well just be a product of their own environment in need of more information. Maybe look for more generous interpretations of others’ behaviour first, peeps.

It’s also this kind of dismissive treatment of each other that keeps progressive movements divided and ineffective.

@pluralistic Given the location of CCC,I imagine many others had that same reaction, so I think it’s good that you clarify the images’ origin because many people may not be aware and flex towards what they know or think they know.

This particularly as they may also not know that you’re a Jew yourself. Jewish presence has been so thoroughly eradicated from German public life that there is still correspondingly very low sensitivity for that, I think.

@pluralistic Not to detract from your original point, but just to say that German schooling is designed to highly sensitise people to “Jud Suess” type imagery, which - given that it was mostly created during the same period you refer to - looks incredibly similar in style. So, while I fully accept your argument for using the images you use, as a German, I nevertheless emotionally flinch every time you do and have to remind myself.

@ilumium Indeed. I dare no longer travel to the US for fear they may actually let me in. What then? My entire self image will collapse.

Prediction for 2026: There will still be more than enough people and organizations that will not jump on the fascism bandwagon and more than enough people who urgently need allies against it. There will be even more silence. Because of fear, because of despair. And it will be even more important to keep breaking that silence, to show and to understand that we are not alone. When times are getting darker, we need to bring brighter torches.

@GeofCox @ChrisMayLA6 Trust me, I know, given that I moved here 30 years ago from another country, only to find that “International news” started on page 34 of the Guardian. But the focus was also interesting. There was more about Commonwealth countries than Europe and more of US news than the rest put together. And while I appreciate the language argument, my strong sense is that it was mainly influenced by an orientation towards power - up and down.

@GeofCox @ChrisMayLA6 Languages can be learned, but the willingness to learn them is dependent on a willingness to engage with countries that speak them. That latter willingness - as Brexit has ultimately proved - has been almost entirely absent since the mid naughties. The UK lives in the delusion that if it can no longer be the one that bosses everyone around, it can at least be their second. What else is all that nonsense about the “special relationship” about?

@ChrisMayLA6 Our political class likes to snuggle up to the biggest bully in the playground. Maybe because the UK once was the biggest bully in the playground.

@evacide Most of Britain was like that about Thatcher, and when she eventually went, we managed to get “Ding Dong The Witch is Dead” to No. 1 of the iTunes charts (yes, I bought it. No, I will not be apologising for it).

I recommend that you also start coordinating on what your soundtrack will be now. It’s so much better as a communal experience.

I do a “reflective GenAI” exercise as a formative assessment on one of my courses, where students are to feed an essay question to a GenAI system of their choice and then evaluate its quality and accuracy, and I swear these systems are getting dumber. Last year, I was still quite impressed by their ability to structure and to include at least some valid academic references(albeit truncated).

This year about 80% of all footnotes were hallucinations.

Can this ”Martin Bieker” person, who apparently co-writes academic articles with all the Good and the Great in Data Protection Law and whom I can’t find on Google Scholar, LinkedIn or my University Library database please step forward and identify himself? One GenAI generated essay cited him twice in 1500 words. I want to meet the man!

@davidallengreen Saw this and thought of you 😂

Where is your annual post?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRw674rkyLk/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Because too many people in the UK let him get away with using the Cass Review to take away puberty blockers from trans kids (it's NOT complex how it works folks)

#trans #adhd #uk #ukpol #ukpolitics

After the last few years, I would not have thought that the guys at FIFA could sink any lower, but hey, look! They found a way to dig a tunnel to the centre of the Earth 🤮

@mattblaze I still think the Waste Incineration Plant in Vienna (which also supplies heat to the city) is the undisputed winner in the beautification stakes with its Hundertwasser design.

But I agree that the stark, often brutalist architecture of power plants has its own beauty. I love Torness Power Station on the beautiful East Coast of Scotland and Dungeness, down in the South, particularly when viewed from Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage garden. Both give quite an eery vibe