Glad for all the romantasy readers who're living in their golden age but when will fiction drenched in unsentimental cynicism starring women who give no fucks be on trend again (asking for myself and my career)

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez: “Here in Spain, we are approving and advancing a process to regularise half a million immigrants.

“And I want to say to the Right and the Far Right who oppose this: Spain is the daughter of migration and will not become the mother of xenophobia.”

a screenshot of the "New Bestsellers" list from Substack, with Andrew Tate in the #1 position

Hey, look at Substack promoting Andrew Tate as the #1 new bestseller. The company's amoral leadership & backers will platform anyone, even ludicrously toxic rapists & human traffickers.

Spencer Allan Brooks @SpencerSays Substack confirms to me it is hosting its third annual "new media party" at the Renwick Gallery during WHCD weekend. They confirm that streamer and "looksmaxxing" influencer Clavicular will be in attendance, "along with many others." Substack tells me: "This invite-only gathering will bring together an ideologically diverse mix of Substack writers, journalists, politicos, elected officials, and the thinkers and tastemakers shaping today's cultural conversation. The event is a chance to celebrate the independent voices reshaping how Washington consumes and understands the news — and a reflection of the fact that some of the most influential people in media and culture are now building their audiences outside of legacy institutions."

lmaooo have fun

‼️🇭🇺🇪🇺 Here is a potted timeline thread marking some of the key milestones that built Prime Minister Viktor Orban's illiberal democracy in Hungary over his 16 years in power. His tenure looks likely to end tomorrow. The table stakes for Hungary and Europe could not be higher 1/

Spurious Home Office decisions rejecting student visas are threatening universities' ability to enrol young people from abroad, it is claimed. New rules come into effect in June that will punish universities if more than 4 per cent of study visas are rejected by the Home Office. However, the changes coincide with a marked increase in the numbers of visas being refused by the Home Office on spurious and inaccurate grounds, according to research by universities that has been shared with The Times. Neither students nor universities are able to challenge the decisions, which are often taken months after a university has accepted the applicant and in some cases just days before they are due to start studying.

UKVI carries out discretionary "credibility interviews" to ascertain that a student's intentions to study here are genuine. In another interview, when asked why they had chosen to apply to their chosen institution, the applicant said they had considered several factors, including the university's ranking, employability support, student satisfaction while also noting that it was an ancient institution and cited the year it was founded. The UKVI rejected the application, explaining that they were not satisfied the applicant was genuine given they had quoted the wrong founding year. The university subsequently confirmed that the applicant had provided the correct year and the UKVI caseworker was incorrect, but the decision could not be reconsidered.

In another case a foreign student was rejected from obtaining a visa to study at the University of East Anglia due to a dispute over whether the university was in Norfolk. The applicant asserted correctly that it was, but the UKVI caseworker appeared to confuse Norfolk with Norwich, which is the capital of the county, and rejected the application - believing the applicant was wrong.

In another credibility interview the applicant was asked to describe some of the taught modules they would be studying as part of their degree. The applicant explained that they had been offered a place to study a PhD in biomedical engineering which was fully research-based so did not have any taught modules. Despite this, the UKVI refusal letter stated that they were not satisfied on the basis that their answers were "vague and generic" and had failed to explain the taught modules they would be studying.

It is almost, almost, impressive just how Labour have taken the massively dysfunctional and incompetent Home Office and managed by dint of policies and rhetoric to make it even more dysfunctional and incompetent. It is a true testament to how hostile they are to migrants.

archive.today/07Hdr

It's pretty common to hear that a series about magic "feels magical," but Witch Hat Atelier's wonderful treatment of everyday details, textures and motions really makes you buy into that idea. It's lovely. I wrote about it here: www.crunchyroll.com/news/feature...

A series of three tweets: Rabbi Akiva Weisinger @MisfitTorah 1) For those wondering why I, an Orthodox Rabbi, am outraged by the Texas trans law, aren't I supposed to stand up for Torah Values or whatever A thread: 2) I don't like it when kids kill themselves. 3) End of thread.

Just going to leave this here.

thebookseller ig account saying NEWS: some editors uploading confidential manuscripts to ChatGPT to read quickly, agent claims

the guardian: I wrote a novel using AI. Writers must accept artificial intelligence – but we are as valuable as ever | Stephen Marche

the walrus bsky account: Authors are using AI. Publishers know it. And now, says publishing consultant Thad McIlroy, authors are being forced to lie about it. One cancelled horror novel didn’t just end a career—it exposed an industry-wide reckoning.

idk guys when i see a lot of similar headlines insisting that editors & authors are all already embracing AI, i don't assume these things are true. i assume there are a lot of very rich people with an unpopular product pushing a particular narrative in my industry!

‘I still think it’s one of the great films of all time’: All the President’s Men turns 50 In April 1976, the flawless Watergate film premiered in Washington – cast members and reporters share their memories of ‘the granddaddy of journalism movies’

A great article about possibly my favourite film - which premiered fifty years ago, yesterday.

Screenshot of Times piece with headline "Millions to be denied hospital referrals in drive to cut waiting lists."

🧵/ The NHS is about to undergo one of the most radical – and scandalous - changes in its history.

From 1st April (the public are the fools in this), GPs will be contractually obliged to seek remote “advice & guidance” from hospital clinicians, making it even harder to see an NHS specialist.

Disabled benefit claimants face lower payments if conditions not deemed lifelong, charities say Forthcoming rules mean debilitating conditions may not meet strict ‘severe and lifelong’ eligibility criteria, say disabled people’s organisations

Hundreds of thousands of disabled people will have their benefit almost halved if the government assesses their condition might one day improve. Charities warn the move could cause large-scale hardship, including “destitution.”

My report in tomorrow’s Guardian: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

@attie.ai, for those who wanna press the funny buttons too

There is no ethical consumption of HBO’s Harry Potter series You can’t without supporting Rowling’s transphobic bigotry.

There is no ethical consumption of HBO’s Harry Potter series

wouldn't it be funny if EVERYONE blocked this Attie AI account @ bsky.app/profile/atti... before they could do anything with it

For whoever needs to hear this I'm the only Jewish person to lead a political party - third largest in the country.

The Daily Mail have been & always will be my enemy - they historically supported fascists & continue to do so.

I'll take no lectures from them on Antisemitism.

Look, I moderated a Harry Potter Livejournal community. I wrote a lot of Harry Potter fanfic (including a story about a major character being trans). I met a lot of my best friends because of Harry Potter. If I can give that shit up because the author is ACTIVELY WORKING TO KILL PEOPLE, so can you.

So, a reason I keep sharing alterna-reads to HP is bc I'm not talking to superfan adults, I'm talking to parents/teachers/librarians who are making book purchasing choices for kids -- I really think it's a needed step in killing the cyclical support this series gets

What absolute fucking idiots lol. Good for them.

Wikipedia Bans AI-Generated Content “In recent months, more and more administrative reports centered on LLM-related issues, and editors were being overwhelmed.”

NEW: Wikipedia has banned AI-generated content.

91 Percent Human: The Shy Girl AI Scandal When I was nineteen, I wrote a poem about flowers that never blossomed.

Real life horror: the deeply disturbing story of how a Black woman’s self-published debut novel was piled on by the Internet (and dumped post-signing by a major publisher) based not on her own text, but on a pirated edition rewritten by #AI
thedreydossier.substack.com/p/91-percent...

if you watch or support this you're a bad person btw. i'm not arguing with you about it either

it’s not hyperbole, JKR literally said support for HP is support for her transphobia

and she uses the money she makes from it to TRY TO TAKE OUR RIGHTS AWAY

if you watch that show please don’t ever speak to me again

trans lives are more important than your fandom of a terrible human’s IP

look at this baby beaver and feel better briefly

(@ wildheartrescue on TT)

Excerpt from the article: "The question here is not really one of whether such prayer is in fact an attempt to “dominate” – or the more obvious explanation, that during Ramadan one breaks ones’ fast by eating very briefly just before and then more properly after the evening Maghrib prayer (yes, like our own Maariv prayer). Rather it is about whether one has the right to publicly express their religious identity in this country. In this specific instance, an event to mark a key event in the Islamic calendar had been openly and legally booked for Trafalgar Square. Muslims present had every right to pray as a part of that."

The Jewish News, which I am proud to work for as Deputy Editor, has published an editorial on this week's Iftar prayers in Trafalgar Square

www.jewishnews.co.uk/voice-of-the...

Fantastic news in the UK today - the government has apparently ditched its plan to force creatives to 'opt out' if they don't want AI companies training on their life's work.

www.thetimes.com/uk/technolog...

🧵 1/4

one thing I'm not gonna do is tell you, a stranger in my signing line, if my book is appropriate for your 13yo. baby i was reading kushiel's dart at 13 i am not the one to ask

Human artists, use only once piece to convince people to follow you!

Promo image for Louis Theroux Inside The Manosphere

Look, I’m glad Theroux covered this.

But it IS depressing that quite a number of people I know irl are suddenly just now starting to believe there’s an issue with these influencers & their messaging. Despite women saying it for years.

Apparently all it took was for a man to make a doc about it 🙄