Bruce Edmonds

@customersekpys The 4th time I did it, just after I posted, the compensation seemed to go forward

@EdmundCB @narindertweets @andyburnham You are right in the short and, maybe medium term, but in the long run it is certain it is affordable, due to its inevitable growth rate. The question is when we drop it.

@narindertweets @andyburnham Discussions about what we can "afford" when almost none of us know what the government spends its money on in detail are pretty much pointless. We could "afford" Brexit and lots of wasted work on HS2 apparently.

Everyone goes crazy when I say it - but the writings on the wall - the Triple Lock pension is simply unsustainable and must go! @andyburnham has got to have the guts to admit this and abolish it. thetimes.com/article/1d15c2

@JASSSJournal @squazzoni I still want one of those t-shirts!

It looks like our editor @squazzoni took some days off. Don't expect prompt replies in the next couple of days!

@robhawkes Great map. The behaviour of the power-type buttons and the display is odd. One cannot get to a blank map and sometimes clicking on a button brings multiple types into view

It's here! All power assets are now live on my GB Renewables Map ⚡ That's right, it's not just wind farms any more. Now you can see live and historic data for gas power plants, nuclear, grid batteries, biomass, pumped hydro and even a bit of solar. Wind farms are still the default for now, though you can enable as many or as few of the other fuel types and your selection will be remembered when you come back to the website. It's already live so go play for yourself here: renewables-map.robinhawkes.com There are numerous other updates as well: ⛔ Click the plug button to see a curtailment view, now including turn-up and a better visual representation of turn-down and turn-up actions ℹ️ Tooltips include loads more detail about fuel type and balancing actions ☢️ Each fuel type can be toggled using the map buttons 🧠 Map state is remembered when you reload or revisit the website ✨ Lots of new and under construction power assets are now on the map ↕️ Summary of balancing actions at the top of the map 🚦 Grid boundaries and constraints shown using a traffic light system And I'm only getting started! This update was the original goal of creating the map a few years ago. Now it's here I can shift focus to all the other ideas I have for it… Oh, and there's a new feedback button at the top. Please use it to let me know of any issues you find (there will be plenty) or suggestions to help improve this resource for everyone else. I'd also like to thank you for all the support and encouragement as I build this free resource in my free time (yup, this isn't my job). Honestly, it's been an incredible motivator and the discussions over the years have taught me a huge amount that has only made the map better for everyone. Until the next update!

The draft programme for Social Simulation 2026, , 24-28 Aug 2026, Durham, UK: conftool.pro/ssc2026/sessio… #society #simulation #ABM #research #agents #interaction

New RofASSS contribution: "Reciprocity Is Not Governance: a short comment on the social-contract metaphor in peer review" by Hugo Roger Paz #peerreview #norms #governance #contract #journals rofasss.org/2026/07/07/rec…

@HirokiSayama It does go in waves... up then down then up...

Grant rejected This is a tough season

@EdmundCB Add more search terms if too many. There is a nice, old Asimov story about a computer search dating system - as you adjust the number of search terms the number of hits drops from millions to zero with nothing in between.

@BruceEdmonds It is way more discerning than Google but still tends to produce too many hits to be practical (many of which are also of dubious quality.)

There is little point in having free access to journal articles if tools for doing literature reviews like Scopus and Web of Science are only affordable by institutions.

@BobE3042 @OurWorldInData Not true for humans, who are adapted to a particular temperature. Increasing temperatures due to increased CO2 will cause huge disruption (huge numbers refugees, possible wars over changing water resources etc.)

@BruceEdmonds @OurWorldInData There is no such thing as too much CO2 problems in nature. That is an old wives tale. The more CO2 the better for life on Earth. Plants will photosynthesizes as much as it can get. britannica.com/topic/List-of-…

✍️ New article: “How much are people across the world paying for their carbon emissions?” Around 30% of the world’s CO₂ emissions are covered by a carbon price, through either a tax or a trading scheme. But to actually be effective, carbon prices need to be high enough to change consumption patterns, incentivize innovation, or make cleaner alternatives cheaper. When we look at the actual price people are paying for their emissions, we see that it’s often too small to make much difference. First, how much do carbon prices actually change what we pay for energy? At $5 per tonne of CO₂ — typical of many markets — the cost of a liter of petrol rises by less than 1%. That’s nothing compared to the regular ups and downs of oil prices. It’s only at around $100 per tonne, roughly the median estimate of the damage caused by a tonne of CO₂, that prices start to register: a 15% increase on petrol. Only a few countries charge more than $100, and they account for less than 0.5% of global emissions. Most of Europe sits in the $65–90 range, and most carbon markets charge less than $10. 71% of emissions have no price at all.

@BobE3042 @OurWorldInData It is necessary for key processes, but that does not mean the more the better. Too much causes problems.

@OurWorldInData CO2 is the gas of life. The more the better.

@VuralKaptan5 @JulianWaller Russia's invasion of the Crimea 2014

@JulianWaller Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008

Here's a question: when was the last time a great power won a war?

@EdmundCB Or in my case... was dealt with in a hallucination I have about a past paper I wrote :-))

Each thing you write should stand alone or make very clear how it doesn't. I still have a sneaking admiration for the person who tried to bat of my objection by saying "that is dealt with in something I haven't written yet".

@GCSCS_RuG @SherminAmiri Fears about local immigrant majorities are often not based in fact and are strongly influenced by British values after a generation - with second generation being hard to distinguish in terms of attitudes to those things you list. I think these fears are overblown.

@BruceEdmonds @SherminAmiri How to define "identifiably british", and how many generations does it take? Culture is inherently dynamic, and certain cultural achievements, e.g. regarding inclusion, equal rights, free speech deserve protection. Mind local majorities emerge not respecting these achievements.

Na de discussies van de afgelopen dagen over Nederlanderschap, afkomst en wie hier zogenaamd “echt” thuishoort, bleef één uitdrukking telkens terugkomen: “de oorspronkelijke bewoners van dit land”. Het klinkt vanzelfsprekend. Maar wie bedoelen we daar eigenlijk mee? De mensen die hier veertigduizend jaar geleden rondtrokken, in de tijd van de Neanderthalers? De jagers-verzamelaars die na de laatste ijstijd het land weer in bezit namen, toen Nederland langzaam weer groen werd? De groepen die de berkenbossen, zwijnen, oerrunderen en herten volgden? En waren zij dan werkelijk oorspronkelijk, als zij zelf ook weer uit zuidelijker en oostelijker streken kwamen? Of hebben we het over de jagers en vissers van het Mesolithicum, na tienduizend voor Christus? De eerste boeren die rond 5300 v.Chr. vanuit het Donaugebied Zuid-Limburg bereikten? De Swifterbant-mensen, bij wie jagen, vissen, veeteelt en vroege landbouw nog door elkaar liepen? De Trechterbekermensen van de hunebedden? De Bataven, Friezen, Cananefaten, Saksen of Franken? Of beginnen we pas bij de Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden, of bij het Koninkrijk van 1815? En hoe gaan we om met alles wat daarna kwam? Romeinse soldaten en handelaren. Joodse gemeenschappen uit Spanje en Portugal. Hugenoten uit Frankrijk. Duitse kooplieden en arbeiders. Belgische vluchtelingen. Indische Nederlanders, Molukkers, Surinamers, Antillianen. Turkse en Marokkaanse arbeidsmigranten. Vluchtelingen uit Chili, Vietnam, Iran, Irak, Afghanistan, Syrië en Oekraïne. Wanneer wordt iemand in zo’n gelaagde geschiedenis eigenlijk “oorspronkelijk”? Na hoeveel generaties? Na welke taal? Na welke gewoonten en herinneringen? Na welke vermenging met wie er eerder of later kwamen? Wie bepaalt dat? De archeologie? De genetica? De staat? De meerderheid? Het gevoel van herkenning? Of gewoon het moment waarop iemand zegt: hier ligt mijn leven? Ik stel deze vragen omdat “oorspronkelijke bewoners” zo eenvoudig klinkt. Maar zodra je de geschiedenis van dit deltaland erbij haalt, wordt het meteen veel minder eenvoudig.

@RexDouglass Really? My data just shouts incoherently at me, apart from a few discernable "no"s. ;-)

If you torture your data enough it'll tell you whatever you want.

Remember kids - ratios are just two chances to be wrong. Also this kind of normalization on normalization on absurd assumptions is horrific but common.

@JamesBarris1980 @joefrancis505 @nunopgpalma Your view of history more reflects your assumptions than evidence. In particular your distinction between what you call "barbarian" and others. This is more myth than history. I am sorry that no real discussion of history is possible here.

@BruceEdmonds @joefrancis505 @nunopgpalma In the era of Charlemagne there was no absolutism altogether and the Franks were Germanic themselves just like the Norse. Anyway they assimilated into the early medieval galloroman population and the political system of HRE. The Norman invasion was a french project.

Europe's first parliament gathered here, in Léon, in 1188

@JamesBarris1980 @joefrancis505 @nunopgpalma The Vikings invaded Northern France in two waves: 790–930, then 980–1030, bringing with them new ideas, including those of consultative meetings ('things') and jury trials. First English parlaiment 1295 and Magna Carta were informed by these more than the absolutist way in France

@BruceEdmonds @joefrancis505 @nunopgpalma Yeha, like 500 years before the charta magna 🤡😂.

@JamesBarris1980 @joefrancis505 @nunopgpalma The connection is the Normans - who were, of course, vikings.

@BruceEdmonds @joefrancis505 @nunopgpalma It's a french parliament without any connection to Saxon tribal assemblies

@JamesBarris1980 @joefrancis505 @nunopgpalma descended from it and retaining many of its characteristics.

@BruceEdmonds @joefrancis505 @nunopgpalma The British parliament is an iron age Germanic tribal thing? 😂

@JamesBarris1980 @joefrancis505 @nunopgpalma Hmmm "late stage barbarian tribal assembly" describes the UK parliament quite well. Surely, there was not a first, except when we impose over-detailed definitions on a long term evolution of practices

@BruceEdmonds @joefrancis505 @nunopgpalma This was a late stage barbarian tribal assembly, not a parliament