Dan Olner

Policy fellow @Y_PERN_ @SouthYorksMCA Data scientist / geospatial+economics / climate / political economy / sci-fi author @[email protected]

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

@elonmusk "Why do people not like me? Also, I think people who disagree with me are being controlled by a mind virus." Hmmmm.

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

#FreeSpeech absolutism in action again huh? Does he believe this, or is it just to keep idiots like me engaged...?

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

@60Minutes 60 Minutes are the biggest liars in the world! They engaged in deliberate deception to interfere with the last election.

They deserve a long prison sentence.

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

One of world's richest men continually punches poor people, blames the poor people for being punched. This guy's just a really shit Batman.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

At this point, I am 100% certain that the magnitude of the fraud in federal entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Disability, etc) exceeds the combined sum of every private scam you’ve ever heard by FAR.

It’s not even close.

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

@SecRubio

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

It's that free speech absolutism in action again.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Defund Wikipedia until balance is restored!

[Jimmy Wales @jimmy_wales]

I think Elon is unhappy that Wikipedia is not for sale. I hope his campaign to defund us results in lots of donations from people who care about the truth. If Elon wanted to help, he'd be encouraging kind and thoughtful intellectual people he agrees with to engage.

https://t.co/RU9YwbvqOI

[George Monbiot @GeorgeMonbiot]

This is my farewell post. I am not deleting this account, as I don’t want to lose the archive, and I don’t want my name taken by imposters. But, for as long as Musk owns the platform, I’ll no longer use it. I’m now posting at https://t.co/0iVBaQEKGy.

Since Elon Musk bought this site, he has transformed it from one on which millions could converse as equals into his personal megaphone. Now the world’s richest man uses it to wage his class war, transferring blame for the ills of capitalism onto vulnerable minorities, boosting the grimmest and most antisocial accounts while suppressing the humane voices with whom he disagrees.

He has used X not only to subvert the election for the US presidency, but to create a role for himself in US politics which, though he has never stood for election and would not be eligible, grants him immense power over the citizens of that nation. This site has been used as a tool to help replace democracy with oligarchy.

Musk claimed, on purchasing the platform, to be a “free speech absolutist”. He is in fact a prolific censor, suspending dissenting accounts and using lawsuits to shut down free speech, while employing an algorithm to increase the reach of his own posts 1,000-fold. He cannot abide a level playing field.

He has permitted or encouraged the growth of a ghost army of bots and trolls to degrade the experience of all who disagree with him. Their task is not just to abuse opponents but, perhaps more importantly, to drown intelligent conversation with a tsunami of stupidity. They respond to data with denial, expertise with execration, insight with insult, humour with hatred and thinking with thuggery. They suck the meaning out of everything. The stupidity trends in one direction: in the service of economic power. It is a weapon used to suppress the possibility of a better world.

Many years ago, when I lived in Brazil, I learnt that the military dictatorship had actively sought to suppress educational levels in schools, as it saw a well-informed population as a political threat. A confused, distracted and ignorant population is easy to manipulate. Now this counter-educational model is being rolled out worldwide, and Elon Musk is its primary sponsor.

I stayed here long after I first considered leaving, as I believed it was wrong to cede the ground to an oligarch and his minions. But I came to see that those of us who do not subscribe to Musk’s grim project are being used as groundbait: stimulating the feeding frenzy of 15-minute, 24-hour hate that now powers this platform. We can no longer build anything of value here. Brute force – the unmediated power of money – has beaten humanity, intelligence, humour and democracy.

On Bluesky I can be the person I want to be, a better person than I am on X, where it is almost impossible not to get dragged into the mud. I feel I can be understood because I am not confronting a deliberate effort to misunderstand me. So I can speak more quietly.

There is no guarantee that Bluesky will not also one day be monetised by its owners or captured by self-serving billionaires. But for now it remains a place in which interesting and enjoyable conversations can be had, kindness can be shown to strangers and a better world can be imagined. I hope to see you there.

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

@ThierryAaron come back over to bluesky, it's getting going there!

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

Bluesky is getting good / hitting critical mass / isn't a right-wing binfire. Randomly picking on 1 or 2 people to pester and come join us there. @profrichharris @robinlovelace go to https://t.co/cG3w22XLY3 / use firefox or chrome plugin "skyfollower" to grab people from here.

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

Ooo look, a post by me over on bluesky with a lovely map of all businesses in #SouthYorkshire present in the FAME database. You'll have to go there to see it... https://t.co/t6VJ6nBY92

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

@EdConwaySky @nytimes From the article: "Britain has turned itself into a test case 4 what happens when you take an industrial economy and rapidly wind down use of fossil fuels. Already, there are consequences: higher power costs and a shrinking manufacturing base." Didn't that happen *b4* wind down?

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

@D_Blanchflower @ProfSteveKeen @RichardJMurphy I was under the impression that investment policy was based on their being a plausible public/private crowding-in ratio of 1:2.5 or 1:3 (see Labour manifesto & other sources). If they're cutting, doesn't seem to be due to zero sum investment thinking...?

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

In a fantasy world, a global group inc. govt funding would buy X back, put into a trust, recruit back staff who used to nip viral awfulness off. Used to be good here. E.g. useful in emergencies / breaking news due to proper-blue-tick reporting. Heartbreaking what it's become. 2/2

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

"This is for [organisations] who are thinking: enough is enough, we need to become ex-X" or "How to leave the hellscape formerly known as Twitter." 1/2 https://t.co/w04ZuwgvL0

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

@Dorianlynskey Tho actually, Trump v Clinton, it wasn't that close. She won popular vote by 2.1ppt, Biden by 4.4ppt.

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

@Dorianlynskey Been mulling if there's somehow still an underlying reason that Trump v Clinton / Biden / Harris *still* ends up producing what you'd expect if Hotelling model holds. Appears utterly unlike tacking to the centre, but 50/50 split KEEPS on happening! https://t.co/3xvAcZZPzA

[Dan Olner @DanOlner]

Aaaaaargh. Also... aaaaaaaaargh.

[Dr. Aaron Thierry @ThierryAaron]

For the 8.2% who didn't answer 'Doubled', I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

📈

#USA
#Petrostate
#ClimateEmergency

[Robin Lovelace @robinlovelace]

1/12 Exciting news: I have been appointed Professor of Transport Data Science @ITSLeeds Absolutely stoked, honoured and inspired. A small change in job title but a big step in my career 🎉🙏🚀

[CAPITAL&CENTRIC @CapitalCentric]

We've got the green light to get cracking at Cannon Brewery! 🟢💪⁠
⁠
Our masterplan includes restoring the heritage buildings & creating a new community with 500 homes, workspace & hang out spots.⁠
⁠
Read more https://t.co/X3YGInfQpH
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@southyorksmca @sheffcouncil