newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 9hYour post today. "My taxable income last year was $42K Australian (29K USD) and I could donate $6K to charities that help the poor in Africa - you can too!"??? Also today "my gross salary is $120K" How come you only pay tax on 25% of your salary? 110
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 15hThe (wrongly admired) philosopher Peter Singer is on record: "in specific hypothetical scenarios, an adult chimpanzee could have a greater right to life than a newborn human infant." Endless references easily found. That is where utilitarianism takes you. 110
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 12/10/2026At that point we must part company. No third party, however well meaning or well informed, should have the last word in such matters. Most women have some sense and education. "Society" must put up with the rest. 100
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 12/10/2026FWIW I would advise against it. You are better placed than most to warn it's a likely blind alley. But abortion and contraception have to be matters of choice, anyone seeking to impose this is clutching a live rail and deserves the consequences. 100
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 12/10/2026Certainly I would welcome restrictions on advertising "Have a perfect baby" etc. I don't think we should ever sanction putative mothers. We might reasonably impose "eugenic" acceptance criteria for would – be sperm donors. Hard to specify what, or choose who gets to enforce. 100
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 12/10/2026Seems to have changed since I last saw it. Each person has two sets of feet! 😀 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 12/10/2026Without making allegations about other individuals one could reasonably remind people of this: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.comReform UK’s former Wales leader jailed for taking bribes for pro-Russia speechesPolice say Nathan Gill received at least £30,000 while he was an MEP, from Oleg Voloshyn, an alleged Russian asset 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 12/10/2026Inclined to agree but if we publish evidence the next question, is "How did you obtain it?" Then we may compromise our security by revealing sources. 200
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 12/10/2026What we can and should do is attack charlatans. 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 12/10/2026No woman has an abortion/discards an embryo for a reason trivial to her. But if she would not give birth to a daughter, let alone a child with a disability, great or small, who has the right to deny her? A supportive environment and better education may have a rôle, but we can't impose our will. 200
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 10/10/2026I had hoped to find it was named after another Trump but no... brilliantmaps.com/trump-ottawa/brilliantmaps.comWhy Does Canada's Capital City of Ottawa Have a Street Named After President Donald Trump? - Brilliant MapsAlthough it's hard to believe given President Trump's stance towards Canada in his second term, Ottawa really does have a Trump Avenue. 010
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 08/10/2026The Turks had him over a barrel - or was that a different diogenes?! 010
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Megali idea again? Didn't work well last time. I don't suppose he also wants more sacred bands? 010
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 08/10/2026This is dismal. Not creative. Wastes your time. Lacking creativity — has at least the saving grace that it omits the em dash. It is alleged by some that inserting typos and gramatical errors stops essays being flagged as AI. If true, the perpetrators of such marking should be fired. 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Might it be possible to impose a 10 year term limit for Supreme Court appointments? You would lose all three Bush appointments but keep the Obama and Biden appointments. You would also lose Gorsuch and Kavanagh within two years. 010
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 03/10/2026If he resigned because of this he deserves a small amount of credit for it. In an ideal world the Governor should also resign. This is on him. 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 02/10/2026You remind me of the Brazilian who proudly proclaimed that his country had as many white citizens as did Argentina. Nothing to be gained from further discussion. 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Correcting for relative population growth/decline we get GDP per head growth from 2016 to 2026: UK + 5.8% Italy +13.2% Italian population down by 2%, GDP per head up a lot. Il sorpasso! 100
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 02/10/2026People on death row usually got there as the last in a series of reckless behaviours, which very often included drug abuse, trashing their veins. Leaving aside the question of whether the death penalty is ever justified, drug injection is a very stupid method. 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 01/10/2026But you do need to take account of population changes to get GDP per head. 100
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Italian population has fallen by 2%, ours has grown by 7%. 101
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Not GDP per head. Our population has grown much faster than Germany or France since Brexit. Research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, estimates that Brexit has left GDP per capita roughly 6% to 8% lower than a synthetic counterfactual baseline where the UK stayed in the EU. 300
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 30/09/2026If there is one lesson to be learned it is never to have referendums on anything except Scots/Welsh/NI independence once in a generation. If there is one thing that would spur me to campaign for Labour it would be a manifesto pledge to rejoin EU. But I won't hold my breath. 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 28/09/2026From Wikipedia: Renate Neufeld had catastrophic consequences from steroids, not knowing what they were. When she stopped taking them "the secret police took me at 7am and questioned me about my refusal to take pills prescribed by the trainer." Advocates call this "being kind". 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 28/09/2026In the 1970s/80s East German female athletes were doped with testosterone with spectacular benefits to their performance but disastrous long term consequences. Yet other women never expected to compete against men who simply declared themselves female. But now? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_...en.wikipedia.orgDoping in East Germany - Wikipedia 200
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I cannot find the reference but a student at Cambridge exercised his right for the examiner to bring him a glass of beer during the exam. He got his beer but was threatened with being failed for not wearing silver buckles on his shoes. 111
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Not my achievement but someone reported a library stock shortage in this undistinguished Essex town under the headline "Book Lack in Ongar". 130
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 24/09/2026So far as I can see (not very far) this had a bearing on the distribution of trace gases in the upper atmosphere. 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Yes, the guy who worked on this spent the rest of his life trying to show that his detectors worked. His failure to do so was not the result of any lack of honesty or diligence. The signals he sought were too weak for his detectors to work. Lots of good scientists go up blind alleys. 010
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 24/09/2026So far as I can see the claims to objectivity have been robustly tested and found to be correct. But if you have references to post 2018 research that says otherwise, do let us know. I fear some people are emotionally invested in the idea that science cannot be objective. 100
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Thats a bit strong! I think that some signals were thought by critics in Denmark to be misinterpreted noise, but further work in Canada showed the critics to be mistaken. Far more than can be summarised here. Large claims require strong evidence, this rightly challenged and found to be correct. 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I had a classmate who went in for gravity wave research. Published lots of papers with lots of references, impenetrable to me. He did 25 hours per week of homework Monday to Friday and pottered in his home lab at weekends. Yes he was bright but the work ethic was what distinguised him. 110
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 23/09/2026And this weeks winner for a weird Y axis scale is... 001
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 22/09/2026It is so much fun watching Americans displaying the Bend Sinister on their ties — Hegseth, I am looking at you! Far be it from me to attempt to explain this. I just enjoy seeing it. 030
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 22/09/2026The people who sell energy deals are all essentially bookmakers are they not? 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 22/09/2026I can't see all of them but of those I can, I have read four. I read Spycatcher (not a good book, but still, principles...) I paid £30 for a greetings card and was given the book, at a time when its sale was banned in England. 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Another meeting of scant importance is the Apocryphal (?) meeting between P Dirac and EM Forster at some Cambridge dinner. Both famously shy. Dirac attempted conversation by asking Forster "What happened at the Marabar caves?" After prolonged thought Forster replied "I don't know." 100
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I am pleased for both parties. As a Brit I feel embarassed. 120
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 16/09/2026newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 2m This shamelessly stolen from David Aaronovitch: "why doesn’t [Macklemore] just organise a Concert for Gaza? Because people at concerts don’t always want to act as a conscripted army of supporters" Says it all.newtyke.bsky.socialnewtyke.bsky.socialThis profile requires authentication to view. 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 14/09/2026A famous Lenin dictum is "Who/whom?" The party faithful had to be the people doing things, not the people to whom things were done. I think it means you have to crush your enemies in a zero sum game. 030
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Quite sure you are right. If it were only the computer companies we could avoid investing in them (or cash out now if already invested). But whole economies might collapse. 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 14/09/2026The acceptable risk of a single failure resulting in a fatal airliner crash is generally reckoned to be one in 10^(9) flights. Never mind AI, teenagers idly poking around have been known to cost companies $100millions. 100
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Recklessly mucking about with viruses can do this, no AI needed. Dr Fauci accused (wrongly and maliciously) of just this. Alcubierre drive requires resources on improbable scale and hard to see how AI would help. 000
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 14/09/2026I am prepared to be corrected. But I think a suitably authorised person can scram shut a reactor instantaneously by throwing a master switch which results in the control rods falling under gravity and shutting down at once. Should override everything, but revenue lost would be big disincentive. 100
newtyke.bsky.social @newtyke.bsky.social · 13/09/2026In a spirit of sheer randomness I offer the attached definition of "Wolf Tone" which of course is entirely unrelated. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_toneen.wikipedia.orgWolf tone - Wikipedia 110
