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Simone Hochgreb

@simonehochgreb.bsky.social
559 followers 812 following 1.2K posts

Day job doing experiments with lasers, hydrogen, aerosols @ U Cambridge. Interested in too many other distracting things: energy, economics, the future of humanity. Posts little, reads lots.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Simone Hochgreb
Haydon @haydonmp.bsky.social · 13h
Given the economist editor the other day that blocked me because I got him to admit his whole refugee policy was just racism with extra steps I can see why The Home Office is interested in their coverage nowadays.
mediadirectory.economist.com
Henry Curr - Economist
Henry Curr currently runs The Economist’s finance & economics, business and science coverage as the acting head of the business affairs department. Henry Curr has led The Economist’s economics coverag...
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Jacob Öberg @profjacob.bsky.social · 16h
🚨🚨 @coe.int of Europe said yesterday that the #US formally notified it that it would leave the Group of States against Corruption, or #GRECO. Only two other countries have left GRECO before — #Russia and #Belarus. The fall of the #US on the world scene is striking. apnews.com/article/trum...
apnews.com
US withdraws from European anti-corruption panel in latest shift away from global groups
The Trump administration has withdrawn the United States from a top European anti-corruption watchdog.
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Simone Hochgreb @simonehochgreb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Astoundingly good. Some wowzers that I had not heard. Careful how you pronounce 'cheese', fellow immigrants.
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Frédéric Moreau @goodclimate.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is very, very good.
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 28/09/2026
‘What underlies the sense of affront is the assumption that the “people of England” are, as it were, a settled question, that the days of large-scale movements belong to the past, or ought to.’ Ferdinand Mount on immigration and emigration in the English imagination. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Ferdinand Mount · Modest and Misunderstood: Wretched Strangers
In the great immigration panics of today, sympathy is focused on the home team. We are the ones who are being hurt. It...
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In Otter News @in-otter-news.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
After a long day at the aquarium, the otters help tidy their toys away. Payment is made promptly and entirely in ice cubes.
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Dean Baker @deanbaker13.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Elon Musk is shutting down the Catholic Bishops in Brazil account on X to help the right-wing win the election there paydayreport.com/x-blocks-acc...
paydayreport.com
X Blocks Account of National Conference of Bishops of Brasil As Catholics Back Lula
Polls show Catholics backing Lula as the church denounces foreign interference.
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Duncan Jones @manmademoon.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Mild consideration & curiosity might lead one to think that putting Peter Thiel at the heart of 🇬🇧’s NHS and military logistics might not be prudent…
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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The United Kingdom does not have a functioning Office of Communications. Broadcast media in Britain are at this point wholly unregulated.
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Mediaite @mediaite.com · 26/09/2026
Social Media Shutdown: Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok Reportedly Rejecting Ads for Four-Hour Long Elon Musk Documentary
dlvr.it
Social Media Shutdown: Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok Reportedly Rejecting Ads for Four-Hour Long Elon Musk Documentary
YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, along with X, have reportedly rejected ads for Alex Gibney's four-hour long look at Musk. The post Social Media Shutdown: Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok Reportedly Rejecting Ads for Four-Hour Long Elon Musk Documentary first appeared on Mediaite.
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Luke LeBrun @lukelebrun.ca · 26/09/2026
Tech companies suddenly decide they can, in fact, moderate content on their platforms after all
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Ben McKenna @benmckenna.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
If you've not noticed it already you're living in the Martin Neimoller poem. Speak out, whatever you are not.
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Solomon @solomonrmissouri.com · 24/09/2026
lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
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En Buen Ora @enbuenora.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is a fantastic brief essay in how news media & pundits turn upside down who is who is being punished for speaking freely--in the case of Kraft, Macklemore, & Sheeran--when rich elites want things to go one way, but unruly peasant masses refuse to go along. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/se...
lrb.co.uk
Lorna Finlayson | Public Positions
In much of the coverage of the Ed Sheeran-Macklemore debacle, the reality of the incident is turned on its head, as...
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John Reed @johnreedwrites.ft.com · 23/09/2026
Yowza! Talk about a revolving door... "Three of Britain’s top corruption prosecutors started working for Alejandro Betancourt, the Venezuelan billionaire who recently signed a major oil deal with Donald Trump." as.ft.com/r/63d4da3b-2...
as.ft.com
Top UK graft prosecutors joined Trump’s Venezuela oil baron during Swiss probe
Alejandro Betancourt was previously wanted by authorities in Switzerland as part of a money-laundering investigation
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Daniel McElroy @danielmcelroy0.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
We’re just in a position where the far right are trying to murder people on the streets or at sea and the government have had almost nothing to say about it. It’s all on fucking video you can watch them do it!
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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
BBC report fails to mention "Tommo" slashing a dinghy (!) Not beating the Reform Party propaganda allegations www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Migrants taken to Dover after more than 30 hours at sea
Protesters gathered in Gosport after initial reports the small boat would be brought further west.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 22/09/2026
huh, this piece nailed the AI bros like a decade ago
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Mark O’Neill 🐻 @radiobeartime.com · 22/09/2026
The BBC are such dupes. Always surprised by the wallet inspector. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos to mothball three major chemical sites in Hull
The wholesale price of natural gas has almost doubled in the UK and Europe since July.
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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 22/09/2026
Does the UK do enough to guard against corruption in public life? Here's what @csc-barrington.bsky.social, author of 'Corrupted Kingdom', said at an IfG event last week. Hear the full conversation: 📺🎧https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/does-uk-do-enough-against-corruption-public-life
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Willard Foxton @willardfoxton.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I think it's absolutely mad that today there's a *national news story* about 400 oil platform workers losing their jobs, and the government being blamed. 25% of the UK TV industry lost their jobs in the last 4 years and we never hear a peep about it! Some jobs are 'real jobs' I guess.
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Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Nick Candy and Holly Valance. Britain’s most expensive house. A £265m sale. Usual consequence: £32m of stamp duty. But five small flats were included in the sale. By an extraordinary happy accident, that cut the tax by £18.5m. The curious sale of Nick Candy’s mansion A 🧵:
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Chris Boyd @paperghost.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
there is no sensible reason why a 5 year spouse visa cost us a little over fourteen grand. none whatsoever. and that's before you break it down to the addition of renewals every 30 months, the health surcharge, the endless price hikes, the final kick in the teeth for ILR (three grand! to settle!)
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Chris Cook @chriscook.news · 21/09/2026
A big new story from us: a big new leak means that we can put numbers on the scale of A7 -- the Kremlin's huge money-laundering machine. $6.9bn laundered through the international banking system via SWIFT, with $1.1bn sent to StanChart alone. www.ft.com/content/3848...
ft.com
Kremlin-backed forgery scheme moved $6.9bn through global banks
FT finds thousands of Russian payments handled by Standard Chartered, Citigroup and other international groups in vast leak from inside fintech A7
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Richard Corbett CBE @richardcorbett.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Just 4 months after the local elections, Reform UK (RefUK) have lost 158 of their local councillors: -55 resigned -42 went Independent -28 defected -24 were kicked out -5 lost their seats -2 disqualified -2 suspended. Appalling record - and a waste of taxpayers’ money!
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Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“I am not done with her”. The language of a gangster. It’s a disgrace. Our legal system facilitates it, and the Government won’t act.
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Prof Dynarski @dynarski.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Wtf www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
Meta bans ads for Virginia Woolf play in Spain because they relate to feminism
Meta tells theatre that Facebook and Instagram filter out ads mentioning ‘social topics’ such as civil rights or feminism
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Michelle says: Be kind. Always. ❤️ @snarkysillysad.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Amazing plays in an amputee football league in Poland: #AGoodPlace Source: www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsi...
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
All of this would not be happening had Britain (a) remained, (b) exited to a Norway-type position.
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Lisa O’Carroll @lisaocarroll.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Swedes still deporting pre Brexit residents Brits, despite prospective new government promises new laws to give them a second chance. I met this man hours after he was deported - he was distraught to say the least www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
‘I have nothing in the UK at all’: British man torn from his Swedish wife and home
Charles lands at Heathrow with just two bags and nowhere to go as a result of Brexit and Stockholm’s hardline immigration position
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Gàidheal Gèidh @grumps2772.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
🧵 Laura Kuenssberg’s hand-wringing over billionaire Jim Ratcliffe leaving the UK missed the real story. Ratcliffe heavily championed Brexit, promising Britain would thrive. But the moment it actually happened in 2020, he fled to Monaco—saving himself an estimated £4bn in tax. 📉
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Stephen Kinsella @stephenstroud.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Also there's no evidence they are leaving in any numbers. According to Sunday Times Rich List there were 156 billionaires in the UK in 2025, 157 in 2026. Most of this debate is based on false narratives pushed by the usual suspects and swallowed by the usual journalists. @patmillsuk.bsky.social
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Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Laura Kuenssberg asks if it bothers Labour's Bridget Phillipson that people who create jobs and pay a lot of tax, citing, Jim Ratcliffe, move abroad - except, that's not the full story. My View: Did you know companies owned by Jim Ratcliffe have received public support worth around £630 million?
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
How the BBC’s latest platforming of the bigoted views of the anti-migrant billionaire tax exile Jim Ratcliffe is the sign of a national broadcaster that is increasingly losing its way www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/how-the-bb...
adambienkov.co.uk
How the BBC Mainstreams the Right’s Anti-Migrant, Anti-British Agenda
The BBC’s platforming of the bigoted views of billionaire tax exile Jim Ratcliffe is just the latest sign of a national broadcaster that has lost its way
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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Cautionary tale: I "checked" important fact w two AI systems: Name of political figure in a photo. —Gemini was absolutely 100% certain in its answer, on triple-check. And was 100% wrong. —Claude said it couldn't be sure. I checked w event organizers and got the name. Mistrust. And verify.
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Dee Lomas @deelomas.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I bring worse news. That poor woman who lives in Piddington & who @vicderbyshire.bsky.social interviewed after that ridiculous election has had her address leaked to Tommy Robinson & the Pink Ladies & she’s been doxxed by both of them. Wtaf is going on. These people all need to be proscribed now.
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Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Note that the BBC fails to point out that immigration has dropped considerably, or to obtain a quote from someone from a different perspective
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Simone Hochgreb @simonehochgreb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Excellent article. Contains this gem:
Upton draws inspiration from Britain’s long history of technological innovation. Britain’s gift to the world was to show how it was possible to separate commerce from politics during the Industrial Revolution, boosting living standards. “It was the only place to have got a durable decoupling of money and power,” he says.

His biggest worry today is that money and power are re-coupling as technology captures politics.
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Simone Hochgreb @simonehochgreb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Excellent article. Contains this gem:
Upton draws inspiration from Britain’s long history of technological innovation. Britain’s gift to the world was to show how it was possible to separate commerce from politics during the Industrial Revolution, boosting living standards. “It was the only place to have got a durable decoupling of money and power,” he says.

His biggest worry today is that money and power are re-coupling as technology captures politics.
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FT Weekend @ftweekend.com · 18/09/2026
Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton: ‘I’m an omni-geek’ ft.trib.al/EOqjIFW
ft.trib.al
Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton: ‘I’m an omni-geek’
The British tech leader on coding as the modern form of literacy, his scepticism of AI evangelists — and why ‘the p(doom) is probably Russia’
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Jay El @bluedog01.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This is justice in America under Republicans.
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I would love to ask a prominent BBC journalist to give me an example of an illegitimate concern. Is seems to me that it has become a question not of fact, logic, or ethics but of volume. If a big enough proportion of a village was anxious about Bigfoot or Chemtrails, BBC would cover it in a way...
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Sinan Kose @thesinankose.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Genuinely: where is the Prime Minister? Critical infrastructure has been occupied by a fascist paramilitary, volunteers who save people's lives have been threatened and it seems to have gone unremarked upon.
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Friend shared this video of a man unveiling the library he hid when he fled Damascus in 2011. It’s incredible
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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 17/09/2026
The word "fascist" comes from the Latin *fasces*, a bundle of sticks; the symbology here is that a single twig is weak and brittle, but bundled together, many twigs are strong. It's a sound political theory, because in politics, coalitions are everything: pluralistic.net/2025/01/06/h...
A robotic claw grips a bundle of arrows; in the background are the pink folds of a human brain.
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Nicolas Hénin @nicolashenin.net · 17/09/2026
Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!
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Jemima Kelly @jemima.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Wow, how gross and nasty. This is the kind of behaviour that makes me feel he will never actually get to be PM. Lack of empathy is surely not a vote-winner
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Pete Fraser @petefrasermusic.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
In the movie version of this, after Piddington runs out of food water and money as a result of leaving the UK, the residents apply for asylum and end up housed in a military base, with HILARIOUS consequences. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Piddington in Oxfordshire votes to leave UK over asylum plans
Piddington residents voted over proposals to house up to 1,256 male asylum seekers nearby
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Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Amanda is doing reporting that almost nobody else is, as a freelancer without the support of a big publication behind her. Read her stuff
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