James Gillespie
Technology, geopolitics, films / affil. @adamsmith.org @rusi.bsky.social / ex HM Treasury policy wonk / Swiftie
"Liberal cultist"/"MAGA intelligentsia"
"Smug provocateur drunk on his own arguments"
- As James Bond once said of Auric Goldfinger (another gold-obsessed plutocrat who owned golf courses): he's quite mad, you know.
- Reposted by James GillespieThe Nobel Peace Prize becoming so prestigious that wars are fought over a head of state coveting it is some real monkey paw stuff for Alfred Nobel.
- It's an interesting strategic dilemma. Being on the ticket for a party will get you a lot of votes just through brand recognition or unthinking loyalty, but sometimes the party brand can be a drag for particular candidates. You probably need to approach it on a case-by-case basis.
- Extraordinary for an MP to be this blunt about his leader on the floor of the House. Badenoch's authority is draining.
- Roth gets things wrong here. The complaints have not led to the authoritarian push, the failure of universities to seriously address these issues has.
- Repeatedly, liberals have sounded the alarm about Trump, only to keep doing the things which fuel support for him. This is true not just in academia, but in government (see Biden's failure to control immigration) and other institutions.
- This is some God-tier trolling 💀
- Reposted by James GillespieGood lord
- Kneecap going full Karen and threatening to sue people who want them dropped from the Glasto lineup is a very amusing plot twist
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- Reposted by James GillespieTories now in fourth place, via YouGov The first time since the nadir of 2019
- Reposted by James GillespieRemember this one crossing my desk when worked in HMT back in 2019. A good reminder that long term projects are worth investing in as they will payoff some day! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- I’m outraged that Coachella invited Kneecap to perform this year. Their music is fucken shite.
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- Reposted by James GillespieLatest Gallup puts Trump's approval rating at 44% approve, 53% disapprove -- underwater and "well below post-World War II presidential norms," although effectively unchanged from their February/March readings news.gallup.com/poll/659534/...
- Reposted by James GillespieFolding like origami is unquestionably the right move when you have a strong hand but forgot the rules, are holding the cards facing out, handed two to your opponent, lit your pants on fire, called your wife by her sister's name, and just realised raising would require wagering your kidney.
- Reposted by James GillespieConflict with the President does not undermine the Fed's 'integrity'. It is directly foreseen in the strands of legislation limiting Presidential power. What other point would such limits have?
- People were like "meh meh meh, only idiots buy Hawk Tuah coin - I'm smart and invest in the stock market" and now look
- Tell me you don't understand what an administrative stay is without telling me
- X raised equity earlier this month at a $32bn valuation, so clearly the market is a lot closer to what xAI has paid than the "$6 billion at most"
- Reposted by James GillespieUkraine may receive 40,000 Starlink-like terminals from France’s Eutelsat (enough to replace Starlink), — Bloomberg
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- This Trump/Vance-Zelensky press conference is a new low for the Trump administration. It'll play well with MAGA, but the majority of Americans (including Republican voters) support Ukraine. People will watch and cringe at how their president and VP are behaving on the world stage.
- I don't really follow the NFL, so perhaps someone can enlighten me... if Philly win today do they actually get a superb owl? Will it get along with their eagle? I'll see myself out... 🏈🦉🦅
- Reposted by James GillespieAF1 to NAS JRB NOLA a short while ago so Trump can attend Superb Owl. Repositioning of backup. VC-25A 92-9000 #ADFDF9 C-32A 19-0018 #AE4AEC
- Democrats, of course, have made no such suggestion about the current Supreme Court and have accepted its judgments with equanimity and grace 🫠🫠🫠
- Reposted by James GillespieEU courts, tech law Upcoming hearing in EU General Court, March 6th: Zalando is challenging its designation as a "very large online platform" under the Digital Services Act Main arguments of Zalando: eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/L...
- A take to get both sides raging: US aid spending should remain at the current level (0.9% of GDP), but USAID should be brought under the State Department (as the Trump admin is reportedly considering). Aid should be more carefully aligned to geopolitical objectives.
- Reposted by James Gillespiebanning sports gambling is genocide against las vegas
- Reposted by James GillespieThe triple lock is wasteful, outdated and unfair. So why aren’t politicians allowed to say so? Me for @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
- Reposted by James Gillespiethis is a genuinely alarming story via Gabriel Pogrund in Sunday Times: deepfake video seen by two million people online falsely made it look as if a teacher - delivering election leaflets - had made a racist tirade www.thetimes.com/uk/law/artic...
- The influence of Curtis Yarvin is vastly overstated. Talking about him like he's some MAGA guru makes for a nice NYT "democracy is imperilled" piece, but I don't think you can find a single GOP policy that he's inspired.
- The most Yarvin-esque belief held by Republicans is probably the unitary executive theory of presidential power. But this predates Yarvin by, well, decades.
- Reposted by James GillespieIn the vast majority of cases, the use of the term "populism" is either incorrect or incomplete. Let's hope this will improve in 2025.
- Reposted by James Gillespie[sigh] found a new cap
- Reposted by James GillespieHang on. Is Laura Loomer a real person? I thought she was a villain in a Marvel Movie.
- Was wondering what had happened to YK-ATA (which was rumoured to have crashed whilst carrying Assad, before he was revealed to be in Russia). Well, it seems that the plane ended up at Russia's Khmeimim Air Base in Syria. Assad has since confirmed that he left the country via this base.
- The apparent rapid loss of altitude and sharp turns near Homs may have been an illusion caused by GPS jamming.
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- 1450 is the 97th percentile. That's comfortably in UCLA territory, especially as an in state applicant.
- Lmao, Dunt blocked me for this
- Reposted by James Gillespiehehe
- Badenoch's main weakness has always been her judgment. In particular, she picks the wrong fights. She often seems more interested in winning individual arguments, even ones that don't really matter, than winning an election.
- The post wasn't exactly in the Xmas spirit, but are we seriously saying that if you aren't put up in a hotel and don't get your sheets laundered daily then you're not being treated like a human being? The social contract is broken when illegal immigrants get better support than Americans in need.
- Truly unprecedented levels of cope
- There's a case for making Starmer politician of the year, but it's not the fawning nonsense above. He arguably deserves the title simply because he managed to become PM in a landslide win without anyone particularly liking him. He neutralised Labour's weaknesses with dishonesty and blandness.
- I'm not a fan of Nigel Farage, but there's a stronger case for making him politician of the year. Starmer couldn't have achieved his landslide without Reform taking votes from the Tories. And Farage's success has shifted the Overton window, whereas Starmer lacks a clear narrative for his government.
- Reposted by James GillespieNigel Farage forgot that Kemi Badenoch is an expert at looking into websites.
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- Reposted by James GillespieChristmas crackers are really intense this year
- They should make a modern day Scrooge, but in this version he'll be a vegan, card-carrying member of the Green Party and at the end he'll repent by buying a Porsche and adopting the carnivore diet
- Reposted by James GillespieGranted this a cranky old man take, and also granted that the iPhone is in every respect a superior technology, BUT kids these days will never know the Christmas glee of getting a good gadget (Walkmen, Gameboy, pocket translator, etc…)
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- Since I’ve been away, Nationwide have rebranded their logo to Pac-Man eating a house
- Asma al-Assad is reportedly London bound, if a Russian court approves her request to leave the country
- This is still an unconfirmed story at the moment. But as she's a British citizen, the UK is the obvious place for her to go if she doesn't want to stay in Moscow. The possibility of her fleeing to London is something the government will very likely have been planning for.
- Reposted by James Gillespie"Across 25.3 million miles, Waymo was involved in nine property damage claims and two bodily injury claims. The average human driving a similar distance would be expected to have 78 property damage and 26 bodily injury claims, the company says." www.theverge.com/2024/12/19/2...
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- Like, who is saying that, though?🤷♂️
- Reposted by James GillespieReal "Merry Xmas from everyone at Topps Tiles" energy on Harry & Meg's card
