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Created
Thu, 21/08/2025 - 19:01

Nobody needs to be told that Keir Starmer’s father was a ‘toolmaker’. At a conservative count, he’s brought it up around 40 times in speeches, party political broadcasts and softball interviews. Nor do they need to be told that he enjoys watching Arsenal and playing football. These biographical claims have become so familiar that they […]

Created
Thu, 21/08/2025 - 18:00
Mohammed Gharbawi Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have fuelled a lively debate on the feasibility and proximity of artificial general intelligence (AGI). While some experts dismiss the concept of AGI as highly speculative, viewing it primarily through the lens of science fiction (Hanna and Bender (2025)), others assert that its development is not merely … Continue reading The gathering swarm: emergent AGI and the rise of distributed intelligence
Created
Thu, 21/08/2025 - 14:28
Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall has been making the case that the states are critical sites of resistance to Trump’s lawless power grabs on the road to authoritarianism. He was challenged today by a reader who asked him what, specifically, the Blue states can do. Marshall tossed out some ideas: Secure the vote, […]
Created
Thu, 21/08/2025 - 03:00

What he says: Thank god football’s back.

What he means: I miss my friends.

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What he says: Can you believe Travis Kelce is going as late as the seventh round in a lot of leagues?

What he means: I’ve never been more anxious about the passage of time. I graduated from college ten years ago, yet it feels like yesterday, and I fear the next ten years will go by even faster.

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What he says: I know I’m reaching for Lamar Jackson in the first round, but it’s worth it just for the excuse to watch him play every week.

What he means: I want to buy a motorcycle.

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What he says: I’d rather have the tenth pick than the first pick.

Created
Wed, 20/08/2025 - 22:00

PLAYERS: Infertility can be played alone, in a couple, or with a friend who promised that if you were still single at forty, they’d hook you up.

OBJECTIVE: The goal is to strategically bankrupt yourself physically, financially, and emotionally to become a parent. Average playing time is anywhere between two and ten years, but can last even longer, depending on your willingness to be mistaken for grandparents.

HOW TO PLAY: Starting from “Optimism Alley,” players choose one of three paths to begin: IVF Lane, Surrogacy Street, or Adoption Road. Players roll the dice to move down their path, landing on completely random outcomes that either propel them into frightening new stages of anxiety or spiral them backward into psychological and bodily horrors. The first player to outsmart human biology wins. At any time, players can quit and get into beekeeping.