Gareth Potter
@garethpotter.com
I mostly write code. Occasional photographer.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
"RNLI crew members had been forced to take their permits off their cars after their tyres have been repeatedly slashed. Most of them have been pilloried at the school gates or turned away from local pubs. One man who worked in search and rescue had been beaten unconscious and hospitalised"
I have spent weeks shadowing the RNLI and I can tell you, they do it out of nothing more than compassion.
Wrote about the heroes I've met over the years in this free-to-read post.
nicolakelly.substack.com/p/the-rnli-a...
Wrote about the heroes I've met over the years in this free-to-read post.
nicolakelly.substack.com/p/the-rnli-a...
The RNLI aren't traitors; they're heroes
I have spent weeks shadowing lifeboat crews. Here's what they do and what it's like.
nicolakelly.substack.com
September 18, 2026 at 6:45 AM
"RNLI crew members had been forced to take their permits off their cars after their tyres have been repeatedly slashed. Most of them have been pilloried at the school gates or turned away from local pubs. One man who worked in search and rescue had been beaten unconscious and hospitalised"
Reposted by Gareth Potter
This is the part many Americans -- including the Bezosites at the Washington Post -- don't understand. Canadians don't see this just as a Trump thing. It's that America elected him twice, and the second time with an even bigger mandate.
The problem we're addressing is America, not Trump.
The problem we're addressing is America, not Trump.
"Out of spite for President Donald Trump, Carney is accelerating the decoupling of a trade bloc that has generated enormous prosperity for North America." Seriously, Wapo editorial - you're going with Canadian spite? www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | Canada’s great European misadventure
Donald Trump is for now. A Brussels bureaucrat is forever.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 17, 2026 at 2:43 PM
This is the part many Americans -- including the Bezosites at the Washington Post -- don't understand. Canadians don't see this just as a Trump thing. It's that America elected him twice, and the second time with an even bigger mandate.
The problem we're addressing is America, not Trump.
The problem we're addressing is America, not Trump.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!
September 17, 2026 at 7:34 AM
Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Because, a judge quashed Ofcom's attempt to regulate this area, deciding that when the symbol on the top of the screen goes from "GB News" to "GBN" - I kid you not - it ceases to be a news channel and becomes a more loosely regulated current affairs channel. 🤡
www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and...
www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and...
September 17, 2026 at 10:57 AM
Because, a judge quashed Ofcom's attempt to regulate this area, deciding that when the symbol on the top of the screen goes from "GB News" to "GBN" - I kid you not - it ceases to be a news channel and becomes a more loosely regulated current affairs channel. 🤡
www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and...
www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and...
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Don't think we had quite that many in Dorney Lake for London 2012. Fairly sure the assessment for that didn't consider the crocodiles either, so this is consistent with existing policy. www.bbc.com/sport/olympi...
River that is home to 500 crocodiles chosen to host 2032 Olympic rowing and canoe events
A river that is home to about 500 saltwater crocodiles is given the OK to host Olympic and Paralympic rowing and canoeing events at the 2032 Brisbane Games.
www.bbc.com
September 17, 2026 at 10:11 AM
Don't think we had quite that many in Dorney Lake for London 2012. Fairly sure the assessment for that didn't consider the crocodiles either, so this is consistent with existing policy. www.bbc.com/sport/olympi...
Reposted by Gareth Potter
That, and everything he has ever sold has been a scam, and everything he’s ever bought he’s tried to get out of paying for. He cannot imagine an exchange of goods/services for money that doesn’t involve one side of the transaction trying to scam someone
September 16, 2026 at 11:53 PM
That, and everything he has ever sold has been a scam, and everything he’s ever bought he’s tried to get out of paying for. He cannot imagine an exchange of goods/services for money that doesn’t involve one side of the transaction trying to scam someone
Reposted by Gareth Potter
So he saw there was a fire and…called the arsonist?
🚨 Exclusive: The British ambassador requested help from the Trump White House on dealing with the radical right in the UK, PoliticsHome understands https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/uk-seeks-help-trump-white-house-radical-right
UK Seeks Help From Trump White House On Radical Right
Exclusive: The British ambassador requested help from the Trump White House on dealing with the radical right in the UK, PoliticsHome understands.
www.politicshome.com
September 16, 2026 at 7:14 PM
So he saw there was a fire and…called the arsonist?
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Every time I'm on a train and someone is playing music or video out loud on their phone, a strange tension comes over the whole carriage - people look around at each other, wondering if anyone will have the courage to say something, and then when someone does, whether there will be bad reaction
Saw two men - RP accents, early 60s - come close to blows in the cinema last night because one of them told the other to turn their phone off. Something bad and strange is happening in society.
September 16, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Every time I'm on a train and someone is playing music or video out loud on their phone, a strange tension comes over the whole carriage - people look around at each other, wondering if anyone will have the courage to say something, and then when someone does, whether there will be bad reaction
Reposted by Gareth Potter
It’s not an “impossible position”. Sheeran is a very wealthy, successful musician who was asked by a stadium owner to kick a fellow musician off his tour for political reasons. He could choose to kick Macklemore off or to say no thanks, we’ll play elsewhere. www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/new...
Ed Sheeran in an ‘impossible position’ over Macklemore Gaza row, says Lisa Nandy
www.independent.co.uk
September 16, 2026 at 11:55 AM
It’s not an “impossible position”. Sheeran is a very wealthy, successful musician who was asked by a stadium owner to kick a fellow musician off his tour for political reasons. He could choose to kick Macklemore off or to say no thanks, we’ll play elsewhere. www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/new...
Reposted by Gareth Potter
I'm sorry, but what on *Earth* is that quote from Lisa Nandy?
Who does Labour think its voters are?
Does anyone in the party have any kind of theory of how they win the next election that isn't just slammjng the "appease racists" button over and over again until it starts working?
Who does Labour think its voters are?
Does anyone in the party have any kind of theory of how they win the next election that isn't just slammjng the "appease racists" button over and over again until it starts working?
September 16, 2026 at 7:33 AM
I'm sorry, but what on *Earth* is that quote from Lisa Nandy?
Who does Labour think its voters are?
Does anyone in the party have any kind of theory of how they win the next election that isn't just slammjng the "appease racists" button over and over again until it starts working?
Who does Labour think its voters are?
Does anyone in the party have any kind of theory of how they win the next election that isn't just slammjng the "appease racists" button over and over again until it starts working?
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Reposted by Gareth Potter
if you would consult the charts:
September 15, 2026 at 8:20 PM
if you would consult the charts:
Reposted by Gareth Potter
You know things are really, really bad when the Saudis balk.
September 15, 2026 at 9:00 AM
You know things are really, really bad when the Saudis balk.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
disagreeing with Urdu election material is silly. the more interesting question is why Polanski is campaigning in Urdu in a constituency with hardly any Urdu speakers
September 15, 2026 at 9:20 AM
disagreeing with Urdu election material is silly. the more interesting question is why Polanski is campaigning in Urdu in a constituency with hardly any Urdu speakers
Reposted by Gareth Potter
What's fascinating about this is that it's plainly not driven by class *analysis*, but by the personal class insecurity of the people driving it. It's all people who feel guilty about having climbed the ladder, and whose response is that the ladder must go.
So much of what the Labour governments of 2024-? do on schools policy is utterly removed from the reality of what schools policy from 2000 onwards.
Very confused about the government's education policy. Even weirder as loads of Starmer's and now Burnham's cabinet choose to narrate their lives in a recognisably Labour way: education leading to social mobility.
www.thetimes.com/uk/education...
www.thetimes.com/uk/education...
September 14, 2026 at 2:49 PM
What's fascinating about this is that it's plainly not driven by class *analysis*, but by the personal class insecurity of the people driving it. It's all people who feel guilty about having climbed the ladder, and whose response is that the ladder must go.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Elon Musk, on his third trip to a BDSM/fetish industrial techno club in Berlin: "Wait... I didn't know there were GAYS here?!"
September 15, 2026 at 5:18 AM
Elon Musk, on his third trip to a BDSM/fetish industrial techno club in Berlin: "Wait... I didn't know there were GAYS here?!"
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Nothing says “America First” like having Moscow sponsor the open bar.
September 14, 2026 at 12:40 PM
Nothing says “America First” like having Moscow sponsor the open bar.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
I mean fine for now but what if we get another Obama or Clinton, what then?
Trump: "The only control or 'guardrails' that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!"
September 14, 2026 at 2:41 PM
I mean fine for now but what if we get another Obama or Clinton, what then?
Reposted by Gareth Potter
‘What private company or government agency would have funded Einstein's seemingly bonkers ideas about general relativity’?
Good letter in @economist.com from a UK scientist about why discovery research is critical and easy to undervalue
economist.com/letters/2026...
Good letter in @economist.com from a UK scientist about why discovery research is critical and easy to undervalue
economist.com/letters/2026...
September 13, 2026 at 6:42 PM
‘What private company or government agency would have funded Einstein's seemingly bonkers ideas about general relativity’?
Good letter in @economist.com from a UK scientist about why discovery research is critical and easy to undervalue
economist.com/letters/2026...
Good letter in @economist.com from a UK scientist about why discovery research is critical and easy to undervalue
economist.com/letters/2026...
Reposted by Gareth Potter
I did a somewhat deep dive into the recent OpenAI and Anthropic "hacks" for an upcoming interview.
IMO, the AI companies are better off running with the "rogue AI" story because the real story is actually pretty embarrassing.
Like making your Wi-Fi password "wifi" embarrassing. 🧵
IMO, the AI companies are better off running with the "rogue AI" story because the real story is actually pretty embarrassing.
Like making your Wi-Fi password "wifi" embarrassing. 🧵
September 13, 2026 at 1:12 PM
I did a somewhat deep dive into the recent OpenAI and Anthropic "hacks" for an upcoming interview.
IMO, the AI companies are better off running with the "rogue AI" story because the real story is actually pretty embarrassing.
Like making your Wi-Fi password "wifi" embarrassing. 🧵
IMO, the AI companies are better off running with the "rogue AI" story because the real story is actually pretty embarrassing.
Like making your Wi-Fi password "wifi" embarrassing. 🧵
Reposted by Gareth Potter
It is so mentally corrosive to try to ascertain, every day, whether the images I am seeing or the texts I am getting or the phone calls I am receiving are real - produced by a human who is trying to communicate something with me, even indirectly. It makes me feel insane and paranoid all the time
September 14, 2026 at 2:16 AM
It is so mentally corrosive to try to ascertain, every day, whether the images I am seeing or the texts I am getting or the phone calls I am receiving are real - produced by a human who is trying to communicate something with me, even indirectly. It makes me feel insane and paranoid all the time
Reposted by Gareth Potter
I would love to know the inside story of why France is pushing to remove Alisher Usmanov, an Uzbek-born oligarch close to the Kremlin, off EU sanctions list.
It must take a *tremendous* amount of lobbying heft to convince French authorities to be the only ones (with Slovakia) to push for this.
It must take a *tremendous* amount of lobbying heft to convince French authorities to be the only ones (with Slovakia) to push for this.
September 14, 2026 at 6:59 AM
I would love to know the inside story of why France is pushing to remove Alisher Usmanov, an Uzbek-born oligarch close to the Kremlin, off EU sanctions list.
It must take a *tremendous* amount of lobbying heft to convince French authorities to be the only ones (with Slovakia) to push for this.
It must take a *tremendous* amount of lobbying heft to convince French authorities to be the only ones (with Slovakia) to push for this.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
September 13, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Gareth Potter
BOB DYLAN writing in The New York Times on being 80.
We’re so used to Dylan being an enigmatic & elusive trickster that it’s always a delightful surprise when he writes something so personal, heartfelt and wise.
We’re so used to Dylan being an enigmatic & elusive trickster that it’s always a delightful surprise when he writes something so personal, heartfelt and wise.
September 13, 2026 at 10:38 AM
BOB DYLAN writing in The New York Times on being 80.
We’re so used to Dylan being an enigmatic & elusive trickster that it’s always a delightful surprise when he writes something so personal, heartfelt and wise.
We’re so used to Dylan being an enigmatic & elusive trickster that it’s always a delightful surprise when he writes something so personal, heartfelt and wise.