absent minded academic

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physicist and occasional biped 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

I am the man that makes the bhaji go away

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absent minded academic

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Taniel

We know 550 of 577 districts in France. Left bloc: 188 Macron bloc: 149 RN/far-right bloc: 139 LR/right: 44 Other left: 8 Other right: 16 Others: 6 REMAINS: 27 docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

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absent minded academic

Reply to

Taniel

OH, a big result: Marine Le Pen's *sister* has LOST her bid to join Parliament. She led 40% to 26% in Round 1. Her left opponent won by 0.5%. (Macronist, who came in 3rd, initially said she wouldn't drop out but then changed her mind. Ended up blocking Le Pen.)

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absent minded academic

Let's have an honest conversation about the election result: No party should secure 63.2% of MPs on 33.7% of the popular vote. And that's as true for Labour as it was for the Tories. shorturl.at/Yl3FK

Election 2024: This could be the birth of a powerful new electoral reform movementshorturl.at The election result might be wonderful, but it is not strictly tolerable.

this kind of stuff just rubs me the wrong way, maybe we should wait a few months and see what happens before eulogising our new government?

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absent minded academic

It is not only perfectly normal for a minority community to vote in accordance with what they see as their interests but begrudging them this is, in fact, racism.

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absent minded academic

Obvs calls for PR are going to be loudening given the historic gap between vote share and seats. But from a democratic perspective the more I think about it the more the argument for at least a two-round vote is becoming compelling—voters deserve to know who has a chance before they decide a winner.

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absent minded academic

I'll say more. Labour takes power in a terrible moment (poor growth, public services in terminal crisis, Brexit effects). Voters may get angry and frustrated soon as things deteriorate. Labour comes to power with only 35% of the vote. The risk of a fascist takeover in the next election seems high.

Labour won decisively by playing to 2024 conditions. It shifted to the right, took advantage of Conservative implosion and division. It told its left leaning urban constituency - young voters and ethnic minorities - to get lost, and gambled correctly that losses in urban areas won't matter. 1/

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absent minded academic

Libdems would be at 160 seats if Layla was in charge

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absent minded academic

“Are you still a believer in America? Because at seven, it’s marginal, right?”

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absent minded academic

The Israeli Knesset is set to pass a resolution, with support from a significant part of the opposition voting alongside the ruling government coalition, that will oppose a Palestinian state "of any nature— at any time; under any circumstances" as an "existential threat" to the State of Israel.

עצומת הח"כים נגד מדינה פלסטינית - בכל מצבmobile.mako.co.il 61 חברי כנסת חתמו על ההצעה, שאותה יזמו ליברמן ואלקין מהאופוזיציה, וגם רוטמן ואדלשטיין מהקואליציה - מה שאומר שהיא תאושר עוד לפני הפגרה • "מדינה פלסטינית תהווה סכנה קיומית למדינה, תנציח את הסכסוך ותערער...

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absent minded academic

UK (GB), national parliament election: Europe Elects polling average, 3 July 2024 LAB-S&D: 39% (-5) CON~ECR: 21% (-3) REFORM~NI: 16% (+5) LDEM-RE: 12% (+3) GREENS-G/EFA: 6% SNP-G/EFA: 3% +/- vs. 22 May 2024 (date election called) ➤ europeelects.eu/uk/ #GE2024

why does the UK not have a ballot curing process for postal votes?

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absent minded academic

academic unpaid labor includes reviewing papers.

someone's flying a kite in my local park, don't see that too often

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absent minded academic

Voice of reason at the NYT pearl-clutching roundtable: Bouie: I don’t think one has to excuse or apologize for the president’s poor debate performance to also observe that the hyperventilating panic obscures the extent to which there are serious, perhaps fatal downsides to Biden leaving the race

whenever i see biden talk nowadays i can't help but recall this very funny bill burr bit on 'old man face' youtu.be/jLWWxIxg--E?...

Bill Burr OLD MAN FACE--Complete.MPGyoutu.be Bill Burr Old man Face

i never believed it could happen but the dems just might be able to force biden off the ticket after last nights debate

absolute worst moment of the debate: on the topic of abortion, Trump's weakness + the issue that has propelled Dems to victory across the country... ...and Biden decides to just pivot to a favorite talking point of Trump's, migrant crime? i still can't get over that one. how

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absent minded academic

the bill says that Palestinians will get no aid if they try to report war crimes

Just so disgusted by the (all but 2) Republicans and 62 Democrats (see below) who voted to ban US officials from acknowledging the death toll in Gaza. clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024313

I'd be fine with them if they were more like the french presidential debates. Much longer, say 3 hours, with the candidates seated and with no audience. if we can't do something like that then I agree we shouldn't have televised debates. the current format is actively harmful to the public debate.

I absolutely do not see the value of prime ministerial debates. We only have them because David Cameron is a tiresome public schoolboy debate me type and he thought they’d be to his advantage in 2010, so bullied people into accepting the idea. (He then wimped out of them himself in 2015.)

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absent minded academic

9/10. when people aren't in the picture it is alot harder.

Real or AI is getting harder. (gift link)

A.I. Is Getting Better Fast. Can You Tell What’s Real Now?www.nytimes.com Test your skills in this quiz.

I like rory stewart but his continued insistence that AI will play an important role in any future UK productivity growth is beginning to grate.

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absent minded academic

We really should just call "natural gas" by its actual name: methane. It's a fossil fuel, and burning it adds carbon to the atmosphere. The word "natural" is really unhelpful here, and it needs to go.

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absent minded academic

As strange as this may seem, this now creates the only meaningful chance to stop the war.

Breaking News: Israel’s Supreme Court ruled the military must draft ultra-Orthodox Jews, a decision that could split Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government.

Middle East Crisis: Israel’s Supreme Court Says Ultra-Orthodox Jews Must Be Drafted Into Militarywww.nytimes.com The justices said there was no legal basis for the longstanding exemption from military service. The decision threatens to shake Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government.

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absent minded academic

It’s so cool that cities are like “pweeease only turn your AC on if you’re actively dying and don’t go below 79 🥺🤘🏻💗” while the AI nobody asked for is slurping up the power grid to make 1 image of a girl with 5 tits

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absent minded academic

#Physics Via Massimo @Rainmaker1973 · 10h A brief history of physics ― Zach Weinersmith, Science: Abridged Beyond the Point of Usefulness

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absent minded academic

Kendrick Lamar teaches us that, in public debate, refuting your opponent's arguments point by point is less effective than identifying your opponent's single greatest weakness and maintaining message discipline.

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absent minded academic

My new favourite chart: www.ft.com/content/1cc5...

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absent minded academic

The Federal Trade Commission, of all entities, is out here writing absolute bangers about AI snake oil. www.ftc.gov/business-gui...

My omelette? du fromage.

My petard? Hoisted.