Tom Griffin
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tcgriffin.bsky.social
Tom Griffin
@tcgriffin.bsky.social
1.3K followers 3.9K following 450 posts

Author of State-Private Networks and Intelligence Theory (Routledge 2022). Writing on intelligence history on substack. https://intelligencehistory.substack.com

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Political science 30%
Sociology 27%
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Reposted by Tom Griffin

jorgeliboreiro.bsky.social
Jorge Liboreiro @jorgeliboreiro.bsky.social · 23h
The US State Department has confirmed it will issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the country.

Reposted by Tom Griffin, Christina Pagel, Maria Sobolewska

yairwallach.bsky.social
Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 23h
A few comments on Israel's exit polls.
1. The current government has been defeated, falling from 68 seats to 50. They lost about a quarter of their seats. They have no route to form a similar government.
2. The anti-Netanyahu opposition has 70 seats out of 120 - its highest ever result.

Reposted by Tom Griffin

georgemonbiot.bsky.social
George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 1d
Great work by Guy and others, which mustn't go to waste. Please respond, however briefly, to this consultation, and help end the feudal tradition of secrecy and exclusion. Democracy dies in darkness.
guyshrubsole.bsky.social Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 1d
Could centuries of secrecy about who owns our land soon end?

A new government consultation proposes revealing who owns up to 95% of England and Wales.

To stop this being blocked by big landowners, I need your help to send in supportive evidence. Here’s how:

whoownsengland.org/2026/10/27/c...
Centuries of secrecy about who owns our land could soon end – but only if you can help
Today is a big day for ending centuries of secrecy about who owns our land. The Government has launched a consultation proposing bold measures to open up the Land Registry, the official body that r…
whoownsengland.org

Reposted by Will Jennings, Tim Bale, Tom Griffin , and 3 more

christabelcoops.bsky.social
Christabel Cooper @christabelcoops.bsky.social · 1d
Really worth noting that even in Red Wall constituencies which backed Leave, most *Labour* voters back rejoining the EU. Over 90% of Labour considerers back rejoin - opposition to EU membership is mainly coming from non-Labour voters in these seats.

Was on Times Radio yesterday making this point.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, John Foot, Tom Griffin

pswidlicki.bsky.social
Pawel Swidlicki @pswidlicki.bsky.social · 1d
I think it doesn't reflect well on the BBC that one its leading presenters is allowed to write an 'analysis' for a highly partisan newspaper which includes lines like "Racial minorities, worshipped by white Democrats" www.dailymail.com/news/article...
WEBB: Trump may be routed at polls and I think it could be a calamity
It's relentless and each single insinuation, in spite of all of them being entirely false, might have been enough to see poor James Talarico off. So why is he still ahead in the polls?
www.dailymail.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Tom Griffin, Judith Jesch

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d
This removes from view the subjects most UK undergraduates and taught postgraduates study, subjects that by the government's own data outperform STEM subjects internationally (www.gov.uk/government/p... ) and that top many QS rankings.

Our infrastructure is under attack, if only we could see it.
British Library to burn through reserves to recover from cyber attack
London-based institution faces spending millions of pounds to rebuild most digital services
www.ft.com

Reposted by Simon L. Lewis, Tom Griffin

dougparr.bsky.social
Doug Parr @dougparr.bsky.social · 1d
Three of the 5 splits in the Burnham cabinet identified by the FT political correspondents are to do with climate policy

Rosebank, the electric vehicle mandate, Heathrow airport expansion all pitch traditional industry models against the reality of climate breakdown

www.ft.com/content/b04b...
The five policy splits emerging in Andy Burnham’s cabinet
Prime minister faces many of the same problems that undermined his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer despite a pledge to end factionalism
www.ft.com

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich, Steve Peers, Christopher McCabe , and 2 more

adamrutherford.bsky.social
Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · 1d
Michael Atiyah 🇪🇬: Fields Medal 1966 (also Abel Prize 2004), for K-theory.
Ahmed Zewail 🇪🇬: Nobel for Chemistry 1999, for his work on femtochemistry.
Omar M. Yaghi 🇯🇴: Wolf Prize 2018, Nobel for Chemistry 2025, for his work on reticular chemistry
Naguib Mahfouz 🇪🇬: Nobel for literature 1988
thebulwark.com The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 1d
RFK: "There's five hundred million Arabs in the world. And yet they don't produce science. They don't win the Nobel Prize. They don't win the Fields Prize. They don't win the Wolf Prize. They don't produce literature."

tcgriffin.bsky.social
Tom Griffin @tcgriffin.bsky.social · 2d
A stranded explorer from the Al Gore timeline discovers that Liz Truss is not actually on Mars.

Reposted by Tom Griffin

michaelcaley.bsky.social
Michael Caley @michaelcaley.bsky.social · 2d
it does seem like this moment changed whole election and maybe the modern history of Brazil?

crazy stuff

Reposted by Tom Griffin, Brian Weatherson

dsquareddigest.bsky.social
Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 2d
Important vision stuff from @beenwrekt.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/argmin/p...
The World Is Something We Make
...and we can make a truly open language model.
open.substack.com

Reposted by Tom Griffin

politico.eu
POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 2d
Liz Truss claims the U.K. would have managed successful missions to Mars within years — if only her 49-day premiership hadn’t been cut short.
Liz Truss claims Brits would be on Mars by 2040 if she hadn’t been ousted
Former prime minister dreams of a brighter alternative future.
www.politico.eu

tcgriffin.bsky.social
Tom Griffin @tcgriffin.bsky.social · 2d
Definitely could be more awareness that the limited liability corporation is itself a derogation from the free market, and one that Adam Smith was very wary of.
thomascheney.bsky.social Thomas Cheney @thomascheney.bsky.social · 2d
I do think a 'practical' leftyism could make a bigger thing about the social licence to operate idea - the original idea of corporate personhood was that it was a social contract not a licence to do whatever the hell you wanted, you got limited liability but you had to be a good citizen!
anthonyzach.be Anthony Zacharzewski @anthonyzach.be · 2d
Counterpoint: CEOs should look at their companies as if they needed to provide a service for every citizen, constantly renew their social licence to operate, and plan for the long term wellbeing of the whole country. www.ft.com/content/8255...

Reposted by Tom Griffin

thomascheney.bsky.social
Thomas Cheney @thomascheney.bsky.social · 2d
I do think a 'practical' leftyism could make a bigger thing about the social licence to operate idea - the original idea of corporate personhood was that it was a social contract not a licence to do whatever the hell you wanted, you got limited liability but you had to be a good citizen!
anthonyzach.be Anthony Zacharzewski @anthonyzach.be · 2d
Counterpoint: CEOs should look at their companies as if they needed to provide a service for every citizen, constantly renew their social licence to operate, and plan for the long term wellbeing of the whole country. www.ft.com/content/8255...
Politicians should ‘look at the UK economy as a CEO would’, says Lloyds Bank’s boss
Head of Britain’s biggest lender talks about tax, AI and why the City of London has fallen behind global rivals
www.ft.com

tcgriffin.bsky.social
Tom Griffin @tcgriffin.bsky.social · 2d
Sounds like America First rhetoric from 1940.
sundersays.bsky.social Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 2d
Restore Britain bjg argument on security & defence is to oppose the UK government engaging in 'suicidal provocation of Russia' & so would be largely to blame for a Russian attack "taking up the offer" from "war-mad Fabians and globalists"

Reposted by Tom Griffin

sundersays.bsky.social
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 2d
Restore Britain bjg argument on security & defence is to oppose the UK government engaging in 'suicidal provocation of Russia' & so would be largely to blame for a Russian attack "taking up the offer" from "war-mad Fabians and globalists"

Reposted by Will Jennings, Tom Griffin, Stuart White , and 1 more

tabouchadi.bsky.social
Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 2d
Many comments on the great election victories in Brazil and Serbia state that the authorian right is in decline or that voters have rejected far-right authoritarianism. That is a wrong interpretation of what happened. Progressive movements mobilized and beat the authoritarian right. That's different

Reposted by Tom Griffin, Christina Pagel, Rune Møller Stahl

robertsaunders.bsky.social
Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 2d
💯The case for democracy is not that voters are always right, or wise, or good. It's that they can correct their mistakes.

That's why it's so dangerous to have billionaires controlling the media or regulating the flow of information. It shuts down the immune system of democracy.
robfordmancs.bsky.social Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 2d
I was having conversations with journalists just a few months ago about whether democracy was doomed. Look at this year: Orban defeated. Vukic defeated. Bolsonaro Jr defeated. Trump heading to likely defeat in midterms. That’s the beauty of democracy. Voters can respond. Don’t count it out yet.

Reposted by Tom Griffin

granitegeeknh.bsky.social
Granite Geek NH @granitegeeknh.bsky.social · 2d
This is a non-intuitive thing about electric motors - they do more with the same input compared to motors that burn stuff to keep going, so they need less of an input.
janrosenow.bsky.social Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 3d
NEW BRIGHT SPOTS: Even on 100% gas power, heat pumps cut emissions by ~48% and EVs by about half.

The authors of an “electrification doesn’t cut emissions” paper made a series of compounding mistakes and used misleading assumptions. Here's why.

janrosenow.substack.com/p/heat-pumps...
Heat pumps and EVs cut emissions, even on a gas-only grid
A widely reported paper claimed heat pumps and EVs deliver no carbon savings until the grid is clean. Here's why it's wrong.
janrosenow.substack.com

Reposted by Tom Griffin

nickdickinson.bsky.social
Dr Nick Dickinson @nickdickinson.bsky.social · 2d
If there’s a common lesson in the demise of Orban and Vučić it’s focus on corruption, corruption, corruption. You see it working with Trump, Farage, Erdoğan, and Modi too. It’s lethal to the appeal of populist politics.

Reposted by Tom Griffin

andreinetto.bsky.social
Andrei Netto @andreinetto.bsky.social · 2d
Brazil’s three leading newspapers report that Lula has been re-elected.