This is very good. And reinforces @mrianleslie’s link between reading & ‘cognitive endurance’ - the ability to truly engage with a topic. Reading isn’t just a long-winded way of importing knowledge. AI shortcuts don’t get you to the same place.

Quote of the day: . Salvus Lotus! (Trier conversation manual). Be healthy, have a good wash! . Context: . Etiquette guide found in old Roman capital Trier instructs bathers on appropriate greetings.

Maybe they were tears of joy at rescuing Britain from Kwarteng’s awful threats of tax cuts.

Quote of the day: . Tolle superbiam, divitiae non nocebunt (St. Augustine). Get rid of pride, and riches will do no harm. Context: . Augustine responds to Pelagius' call for rich Christians to renounce their wealth in the late Roman Empire.

Love the characters in @TheRestHistory 's 1921 Irish negotation. Smart, canny, witty. Per Lord Birkenhead's retort: .Judge: I've listened to you for an hour and I'm none wiser. LB: None the wiser, perhaps, but certainly better informed.

Does anyone use customer service chatbots and not immediately type speak to an agent?.

Nice route open for @ChelseaFC now to CWC final. No European teams left on its side of the draw.

Would be entrepreneurs in @business banking on ChatGPT as a co-founder. But human strife has its upsides - namely challenging shit ideas. ChatGPT’s record of sycophancy suggests it will call you a visionary & say the investors are wrong.

Presumably Bob Vylan would approve if Israelis sung this to the Palestinians?.

RT @jenzhuscott: LLM based AIs are only useful in the areas where you are an expert on, because you’d be able to detect/remove the nonsense….

Love this from @matthewsyed on how test cricket thrives despite the allure of so-called attention economy. ‘How I wish for a sea change in attitudes whereby people stop talking about all the things they can’t do…and instead ponder the things they can.’.

Javier Tebas, @LaLiga President, talking piracy in Singapore. It consumes half his time as broadcast rights represent 80% of clubs’ revenue. Stern warning in a place where dodgy boxes are so readily available. Excellently & bilingually moderated by @JohnDykesFC.

.@UKLabour has spent most of the last month deciding when we can kill babies & old people. Doctors are preoccupied with Gaza policy. UK is fortunate that there’s nothing more pressing to get on with.

Keep coming across Otium in Roman reading - essentially productive leisure. What we might call “flow state" today. A great pastime of Cicero’s & how Peter Brown describes Augustine’s retreat in Cassiciacum before he writes the big guns. Feels like a good TikTok antidote.

.@Keir_Starmer now the holds the key to de-escalation over Iran. His calls for restraint & exhausting all legal avenues continue to hold considerable influence over world leaders.

I wrote this in March on MAGA tendencies to conflate realism with relativism. US strikes on Iran show @realDonaldTrump decisively rejecting the latter: pro-Putin, anti-West elements of @TuckerCarlson et al.

Essential listening for anyone who thinks @reformparty_uk will fade. @ZiaYusufUK actually engages with the UK's deep structural issues. Huge contrast with @UKLabour 's focus on the superficial & ephemeral e.g. single-use vapes, Adolescence.

Mornings in Budapest.

What's the argument here? That @elonmusk should give up his fortune and fund the government for a few months? Surely @RoryStewartUK should agree with a bit of fiscal conservatism.

Japan’s fertility rate just fell for the 9th year running. Fewer working-age savers, more retirees. Knock-effect from @business: falling demand for long-dated debt. Japan holds ~12% of foreign-owned US Treasuries. More fuel for @elonmusk & DOGE.