Owen Blacker
@owen.blacker.me.uk
Queer political geek; proud social justice warrior, proud trans ally. Queering Wikipedia as chair of @wmlgbt.org; trustee @fasttrackcymru.bsky.social. ex-ORG & mySociety. Dysgwr. My opinions, not my employer’s. he/him
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owen.blacker.me.uk
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Pinned
Owen Blacker
@owen.blacker.me.uk
· Jun 13
I am beyond proud to be able to share that I am 11th on this year’s Pinc List from the Western Mail and Wales Online, recognising LGBT+ people across Wales doing our bit to make the world a better place.
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...
Happy Pride everyone! Balchder hapus i bawb!
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...
Happy Pride everyone! Balchder hapus i bawb!
Reposted by Owen Blacker
I feel this way, but about shouting about the neoreactionaries 15 years ago.
Just absolutely wild to see so many people discovering the massive influence of the rationalists in real time and say things like "I wish I could unlearn what I've learned in the last 24 hours."
I, and others, have been researching these people for YEARS.
There is so much I wish I could unlearn.
I, and others, have been researching these people for YEARS.
There is so much I wish I could unlearn.
September 17, 2026 at 1:09 PM
I feel this way, but about shouting about the neoreactionaries 15 years ago.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
I would like media to care more about the reality that tech tycoons want to kill people than what they’re imagining about AI wanting to kill people. We have multi-millionaires (with support from billionaires!) calling for ethnic cleansing, a thing that has happened in living memory. Not theoretical!
September 17, 2026 at 12:53 PM
I would like media to care more about the reality that tech tycoons want to kill people than what they’re imagining about AI wanting to kill people. We have multi-millionaires (with support from billionaires!) calling for ethnic cleansing, a thing that has happened in living memory. Not theoretical!
Reposted by Owen Blacker
This is such a clear example of a phenomenon where people think everyone online is talking *at* an object, rather than talking *to* a person. Someone asked a perfectly normal question, got an interesting (and thorough!) response, and all the replies can only frame it as “he got destroyed!” No…?
am I the only one who doesn't understand everyone else's reactions to this interaction? dude is literally asking a question and the entire app has decided that questions can only ever be asked in bad faith so he has been "destroyed", like why
Not only did I meet Robert Kraft, I worked for him.
His kid Jonathan asked me to “remove the black music” from my gameday playlist in ‘94 & I refused so they fired me. I was the cheerleader director at the time. 
I sued them for wrongful termination and won.
So yes, I know that motherfucker. 
His kid Jonathan asked me to “remove the black music” from my gameday playlist in ‘94 & I refused so they fired me. I was the cheerleader director at the time. 
I sued them for wrongful termination and won.
So yes, I know that motherfucker. 
September 17, 2026 at 12:49 PM
This is such a clear example of a phenomenon where people think everyone online is talking *at* an object, rather than talking *to* a person. Someone asked a perfectly normal question, got an interesting (and thorough!) response, and all the replies can only frame it as “he got destroyed!” No…?
Reposted by Owen Blacker
we invented a thing called social media that everyone has apparently collectively decided is only used by antisocials for antisocial purposes
September 17, 2026 at 12:33 PM
we invented a thing called social media that everyone has apparently collectively decided is only used by antisocials for antisocial purposes
Reposted by Owen Blacker
am I the only one who doesn't understand everyone else's reactions to this interaction? dude is literally asking a question and the entire app has decided that questions can only ever be asked in bad faith so he has been "destroyed", like why
Not only did I meet Robert Kraft, I worked for him.
His kid Jonathan asked me to “remove the black music” from my gameday playlist in ‘94 & I refused so they fired me. I was the cheerleader director at the time. 
I sued them for wrongful termination and won.
So yes, I know that motherfucker. 
His kid Jonathan asked me to “remove the black music” from my gameday playlist in ‘94 & I refused so they fired me. I was the cheerleader director at the time. 
I sued them for wrongful termination and won.
So yes, I know that motherfucker. 
Did you ever meet Bob Kraft?
September 17, 2026 at 12:33 PM
am I the only one who doesn't understand everyone else's reactions to this interaction? dude is literally asking a question and the entire app has decided that questions can only ever be asked in bad faith so he has been "destroyed", like why
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Same as Kemi Badenoch to the Tories she repeats far-right talking points with added “as a Black woman”
He’s a cult hero to racists because he’s a nasty brown guy saying the bigoted things they want to say with impunity, protected by his melanin.
No more, no less.
No more, no less.
September 17, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Same as Kemi Badenoch to the Tories she repeats far-right talking points with added “as a Black woman”
Reposted by Owen Blacker
I mean this sincerely: people have to start making them. And then sending the videos to media outlets, who are lazy and need b-roll.
Sweet Lord, is this getting bad...
$4.44 Unleaded.
$6.40 Diesel.
Where are all the republicans who were putting out daily
"Gas is too expensive" videos when it was $3.20 a gallon under Biden? gasprices.aaa.com
$4.44 Unleaded.
$6.40 Diesel.
Where are all the republicans who were putting out daily
"Gas is too expensive" videos when it was $3.20 a gallon under Biden? gasprices.aaa.com
AAA Fuel Prices
Today’s AAA National Average $4.4386
gasprices.aaa.com
September 17, 2026 at 12:40 PM
I mean this sincerely: people have to start making them. And then sending the videos to media outlets, who are lazy and need b-roll.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Human rights experts commissioned by the U.N. say they have found "reasonable grounds" to believe the U.S. committed war crimes in Iran, including a strike on a school in the southern city of Minab. n.pr/4Ak7inF
U.N.-backed experts cite possible U.S. war crimes in Iran, including a school attack
Human rights experts commissioned by the U.N. say they have found "reasonable grounds" to believe the U.S. committed war crimes in Iran, including a strike on a school in the southern city of Minab.
n.pr
September 17, 2026 at 12:43 PM
Human rights experts commissioned by the U.N. say they have found "reasonable grounds" to believe the U.S. committed war crimes in Iran, including a strike on a school in the southern city of Minab. n.pr/4Ak7inF
Israel weaponises (Israeli-built) AI for West Bank demolitions
AI tools push forced evictions of Palestinians, automating demolitions in occupied territories under Israeli control.
www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/...
AI tools push forced evictions of Palestinians, automating demolitions in occupied territories under Israeli control.
www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/...
Israel weaponises AI for West Bank demolitions
AI tools push forced evictions of Palestinians, automating demolitions in occupied territories under Israeli control.
www.aljazeera.com
September 17, 2026 at 12:53 PM
Israel weaponises (Israeli-built) AI for West Bank demolitions
AI tools push forced evictions of Palestinians, automating demolitions in occupied territories under Israeli control.
www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/...
AI tools push forced evictions of Palestinians, automating demolitions in occupied territories under Israeli control.
www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/...
Reposted by Owen Blacker
They had already tied themselves in frightful knots over balance, being the nation's public broadcaster, before Brexit, and then that starkly accentuated it. It seems the natural consequence of attempting to represent everyone instead of openly biased media outlets.
September 17, 2026 at 12:35 PM
They had already tied themselves in frightful knots over balance, being the nation's public broadcaster, before Brexit, and then that starkly accentuated it. It seems the natural consequence of attempting to represent everyone instead of openly biased media outlets.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
... believed disinformation, it was somehow disrespectful not to give it equal billing with real information. Instead of redoubling efforts to educate, they decided it was easier to entertain. They pretend their job is to just take the pulse, because it's easier than trying to save the patient. END
September 17, 2026 at 12:15 PM
... believed disinformation, it was somehow disrespectful not to give it equal billing with real information. Instead of redoubling efforts to educate, they decided it was easier to entertain. They pretend their job is to just take the pulse, because it's easier than trying to save the patient. END
Reposted by Owen Blacker
... to spread panic by doing pieces based on the premise that "yes, most UK spiders are deadly" or "all clowns are, in fact, serial killers" or "don't call it a phobia; buttons are very frightening!" The BBC lost its reporting sea-legs with Brexit. It cracked into accepting that, if enough people...
September 17, 2026 at 12:15 PM
... to spread panic by doing pieces based on the premise that "yes, most UK spiders are deadly" or "all clowns are, in fact, serial killers" or "don't call it a phobia; buttons are very frightening!" The BBC lost its reporting sea-legs with Brexit. It cracked into accepting that, if enough people...
Reposted by Owen Blacker
... mutually exclsusive? There is a name for being genuinely worried that foreign, dark-skinned people are dangerous. In fact, all phobias are genuinely felt. It's part of the challenge. But "genuine" does not equal "legitimate". And it just does not seem a great strategy for a state broadcaster...
September 17, 2026 at 12:15 PM
... mutually exclsusive? There is a name for being genuinely worried that foreign, dark-skinned people are dangerous. In fact, all phobias are genuinely felt. It's part of the challenge. But "genuine" does not equal "legitimate". And it just does not seem a great strategy for a state broadcaster...
Reposted by Owen Blacker
... attempt to report any of the facts around this. The underlying assumption that asylum seekers are disproportionately dangerous criminals was simply treated as fact. With even Victoria Derbyshire asserting "these people are genuinely worried; they are not far right". But are those two things...
September 17, 2026 at 12:15 PM
... attempt to report any of the facts around this. The underlying assumption that asylum seekers are disproportionately dangerous criminals was simply treated as fact. With even Victoria Derbyshire asserting "these people are genuinely worried; they are not far right". But are those two things...
Reposted by Owen Blacker
... that asserted the BBC's agnosticism on whether those things are real and people should be afraid of them. We are living The Age of Argumentum ad Populum, because nobody is prepared to say "you are wrong" to a large enough group. During this entire Piddington episode, I did not see a single...
September 17, 2026 at 12:15 PM
... that asserted the BBC's agnosticism on whether those things are real and people should be afraid of them. We are living The Age of Argumentum ad Populum, because nobody is prepared to say "you are wrong" to a large enough group. During this entire Piddington episode, I did not see a single...
Reposted by Owen Blacker
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...
September 17, 2026 at 12:15 PM
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...
Reposted by Owen Blacker
people think it's SO easy to be a film critic but so few seem to know that it's an extremely complicated process that often involves watching at least one movie
skipped a pretty key step in the movie review process here
September 17, 2026 at 2:26 AM
people think it's SO easy to be a film critic but so few seem to know that it's an extremely complicated process that often involves watching at least one movie
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Yeah, Churchill *celebrated* the fact that the British booj didn't need fascism, because
[they had managed to suppress socialism well enough that it was not a threat to them].
[they had managed to suppress socialism well enough that it was not a threat to them].
September 17, 2026 at 12:01 PM
Yeah, Churchill *celebrated* the fact that the British booj didn't need fascism, because
[they had managed to suppress socialism well enough that it was not a threat to them].
[they had managed to suppress socialism well enough that it was not a threat to them].
Reposted by Owen Blacker
the ai ceos calling for a slowdown because of agi is like when your friend who's really into conspiracy theories is like "and that's why the ruling elite is beholden to epstein" but then before you can agree, they add, "because of satanic rituals"
September 17, 2026 at 8:18 AM
the ai ceos calling for a slowdown because of agi is like when your friend who's really into conspiracy theories is like "and that's why the ruling elite is beholden to epstein" but then before you can agree, they add, "because of satanic rituals"
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Once again, the median pay for an adjunct professor in the United States of America is $3,500 per course. Not per month, per course.
Oh. That's a heck of a subsidy.
September 17, 2026 at 2:18 AM
Once again, the median pay for an adjunct professor in the United States of America is $3,500 per course. Not per month, per course.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
a person who divines that "they're all in it for themselves" or "they don't care about us" or even that there is a vague, broad conspiracy of elites to enrich and empower themselves behind a sham democracy is probably more right than a Bsky nerd who can name all the shadow cabinet.
September 17, 2026 at 12:37 PM
a person who divines that "they're all in it for themselves" or "they don't care about us" or even that there is a vague, broad conspiracy of elites to enrich and empower themselves behind a sham democracy is probably more right than a Bsky nerd who can name all the shadow cabinet.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Like seriously, if you want a better world, if you want the society you live in not to be horrible *for you* then just saying "voters are stupid" and throwing up your hands without then looking to address the structural factors that lead to voters being mislead you're just capitulating.
September 17, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Like seriously, if you want a better world, if you want the society you live in not to be horrible *for you* then just saying "voters are stupid" and throwing up your hands without then looking to address the structural factors that lead to voters being mislead you're just capitulating.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Mel Blanc screams are like Greek fire, we lost the technology to make sounds like this
September 17, 2026 at 2:10 AM
Mel Blanc screams are like Greek fire, we lost the technology to make sounds like this
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Iirc the Telegraph had a full page at the start of the week celebrating the right winning.
Off today so haven't seen the papers
Off today so haven't seen the papers
It was confirmed yesterday that the centre left coalition won the election in Sweden
As predicted, with the far right performing poorly, coverage has almost entirely vanished from international media
As predicted, with the far right performing poorly, coverage has almost entirely vanished from international media
You may be relieved but spare a thought for so many editors in the mainstream media who were hoping to run hyping headlines about the far right winning in Sweden
As always when SD is hyped and ends up crashing, I expect Swedish politics will drop off the radar as it's no longer sexy enough
As always when SD is hyped and ends up crashing, I expect Swedish politics will drop off the radar as it's no longer sexy enough
September 17, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Iirc the Telegraph had a full page at the start of the week celebrating the right winning.
Off today so haven't seen the papers
Off today so haven't seen the papers
Reposted by Owen Blacker
It was confirmed yesterday that the centre left coalition won the election in Sweden
As predicted, with the far right performing poorly, coverage has almost entirely vanished from international media
As predicted, with the far right performing poorly, coverage has almost entirely vanished from international media
You may be relieved but spare a thought for so many editors in the mainstream media who were hoping to run hyping headlines about the far right winning in Sweden
As always when SD is hyped and ends up crashing, I expect Swedish politics will drop off the radar as it's no longer sexy enough
As always when SD is hyped and ends up crashing, I expect Swedish politics will drop off the radar as it's no longer sexy enough
Sweden, Novus exit poll:
Seat projection national parliament
S-S&D: 101 (-6)
SD-ECR: 66 (-7)
M-EPP: 62 (-6)
C-RE: 32 (+8)
MP-G/EFA: 25 (+7)
V-LEFT: 24
KD-EPP: 21 (+2)
L-RE: 18 (+2)
+/- vs. Last election result
➤ europeelects.eu/sweden
Seat projection national parliament
S-S&D: 101 (-6)
SD-ECR: 66 (-7)
M-EPP: 62 (-6)
C-RE: 32 (+8)
MP-G/EFA: 25 (+7)
V-LEFT: 24
KD-EPP: 21 (+2)
L-RE: 18 (+2)
+/- vs. Last election result
➤ europeelects.eu/sweden
September 17, 2026 at 10:02 AM
It was confirmed yesterday that the centre left coalition won the election in Sweden
As predicted, with the far right performing poorly, coverage has almost entirely vanished from international media
As predicted, with the far right performing poorly, coverage has almost entirely vanished from international media