STEM departments in elite universities should ditch "holistic" admissions, require tougher math tests than the SAT's in applications (or other evidence of extraordinary ability), and admit strictly from the top down by test score. STEM talent is too precious to waste.

Mill on the importance of neutrality in examining and marking students on contested topics and ensuring those who hold unorthodox views are not penalised. Amazing how much ahead of his time Mill was.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, "The Counterweight handbook" by Helen Pluckrose is a gem. Woke may (or may not) have reached an inflection point, but the insights here remain vital for anyone who goes to a workplace, school or university.

Yesterday in the Lords during a discussion on the riots, I pointed out that there have been far too many threats of more clampdowns and laws on XYZ, all justified by the riots. So I asked if the minister had ANY worries AT ALL over state-backed censorship? The response seemed to

Yes. 👇

Important thread on the Freedom of Speech Act, whose commencement the government has stopped, and ongoing legal efforts by The Free Speech Union to rescue it.

This mindset is as alien to me as it is frustrating. Situation: some libertarians want to live in line with their ideals. They go to immense trouble to buy some virtually unused plots of land, put in years of effort with the government of a developing country to get permission

Good to see Jacqui Smith reiterate the importance of free speech. But the concerns about HEFOSA are misplaced. It is to quote Akua Reindorf KC "a free speech charter and a serious and nuanced piece of human rights legislation" & will make things better. thxnews.com/2024/09/04/jac…

Giving kids more independence seems to be a powerful treatment for anxiety. Try the Let Grow Experience, in your family or better yet your kids' schools. letgrow.org/program/experi… Let Grow thecoddlingmovie.com/p/independence…

Good. There is no First Amendment exception for "hate speech" and "misinformation." Requiring private companies to report how they respond to constitutionally protected speech is viewpoint discrimination — it chills, burdens, and compels speech.

People can mean different things by the word "liberalism". Even philosophical liberalism comes in various flavours, from "thin" to "thick". But one of the best passages on the core/thin essence of liberalism is by Don Boudreax from March 2009. cafehayek.com/2009/03/i-am-a…

Moving epigraph in Desmond Shum’s Red Roulette: an jnsider’s story of wealth, power, corruption and vengeance in today’s China.

Very important thread about a deeply questionable line of argument coming from UUK about HEFOSA.

wow x.com/g__j/status/18…

Indeed. Is it too much to hope that one of the Tories who "get it" will some day, if part of a future government, repeal or at the very least restrict the scope of S 5 of the Public Order Act, Sec 1 of the Malicious Comms Act and Sec 127(1) of the Comms Act?

When I was growing up in India, anything that was perceived as anti-India or anti-traditional values or anti-"religious sentiments" faced calls for ban. Fragile, defensive, anti-knowledge, anti-freedom. It radicalised me towards a pro free-speech stance pretty early in life

It is astonishing that this interview with Bridget Phillipson on her first two months in office has absolutely nothing about the most significant thing she has done so far in this role. Her extraordinary and ghastly decision to stop the commencement of the HEFOSA on July 26.