Starmer should immediately & unequivocally ban access to British airspace to US warplanes. The UK should not be accomplice to a US President who is threatening more war crimes. Period.

had I been born ~50 hours later, I’d be looking at another 9% higher marginal rate of taxation on my income for another decade or two 💸

Yesterday I filmed several baby birds walking across a street directly at my camera and asked Bluesky to suggest music Several dozen folks did Some even dubbed music over the original clip. I haven't been able to get this out of my head. So I give you A Bluesky exclusive: Reservoir Ducks 🐣 🪶

“There are as many as 400 water desalination plants across the Gulf, and if they come to be viewed as legitimate targets, a drinking water crisis of unimaginable proportions could face the region within days.”

#HelloSpring 😍

‘It could be that everybody considered the interspecies matings as gross – or attractive,” he said. “But it seems that one direction was viewed as better, or less worse, than the other.”’ Isn’t there another explanation? I.e., rape? Or am I drawing the wrong conclusion here?

“Like the original … performances in which men played all the roles, the [RSC] is to stage a female-free As You Like It ...” “Female-free”? Is this the best locution you could find? Do you consider the language you choose to use? And btw, men didn’t “play all the roles”. Women were played by boys.

We all need such indicators of positive futures.

Vile vile vile vile vile

Because of this story I can never give signed books to charity and if I buy one which turns out to have an inscription I feel bad for the signatory

‘Those damned stares a woman of my generation has always had to contend with, … that make you hesitate in the morning between trousers and a dress, that follow you or ignore you , … that are supposed to tell you who you are, what you’re worth, and then abandon you as you grow older.”

Deborah Cameron obituary: linguist, feminist and firebrand www.thetimes.com/article/a042...

Just beyond parody at this point

‘“Plague on all their houses” cynicism has to be fought for another reason too: because it is the seedbed for Reform UK and Nigel Farage. The only way they can prevail is if the British electorate decides that all politics, and all politicians, are rotten to the core.’

On 1 May 1517, xenophobic mobs, riled up by preachers who were in turn pressured by wealthy broker John Lincoln, rioted in London. They claimed that foreigners were stealing their jobs and welfare. Thomas More, then under-sheriff of London, tried to stop the mob with an empassioned speech.

Now tell me again how much it's okay that English Lit has collapsed at A-Level and in our universities.

What Britons really think of student loans ‘Most people think the top rates of interest are too high, while 44 per cent think debts should be written off, new polling finds.’ #ForgiveStudentDebt www.thetimes.com/article/8e22...

Marginal tax rates for graduates with student loans – add interest and another 6% for postgrads. £25,000: 37% £50,270: 51% £100,000: 71%

Everyone should support this campaign as a start in righting the wrongs of the horrible student debt my generation has visted on the young www.rethinkrepayment.com

Or how about this headline — “American citizen arrested without cause after exercising his Constitutional rights.” Very important that government propaganda not become the default framing.

This is absolutely shocking. Something has to be done about this appalling situation in which so many now find themselves. The government needs to act

Reminder that, as of the latest reports, Liam Ramos is still in prison in Texas - now for 5 days. His parents are legal asylum seekers with no criminal record.

This is (1) disgraceful at a moment of national danger, (2) laughably unserious and (3) deeply unwise when the President is obviously becoming incapacitated and the most unpopular person in the whole UK. Utterly disqualifying.

#sunset #photography

'At the University of Buckingham, 52 per cent of students achieved firsts in 2023-24 – compared with just 17 per cent in 2010-11. According to the OfS, 73 per cent of these grades are unexplained by modelling – the highest of all universities in the data.' No one can imagine how this has happened.

Sector colleagues and friends with kids all whispering about just how low the A-Level grade offers are from 'prestigious' UK universities. It's crazy stuff - surely it'll destroy the perceived value of A-Levels entirely over time.

Any comment @scaramucci.bsky.social ?

Yes, hello? I don’t think 2026 is working properly. I’d like to cancel my free 5 day trial please.

Temperatures have dropped. For anyone sleeping rough, this can be fatal. Alert Streetlink now👉 orlo.uk/AboiG if you see anyone sleeping rough who might be in need of support, and Streetlink will help get them out of the cold.

Looking for a low-cost open goal to advance Labour's battle against misogyny? Why not a government pledge to leave Musk's platforms by the end of the month, in response to Grok and X's disgraceful and persistent contributions to the problem? @torstenbell.bsky.social

What the KENNEDY Center used to be… Remember that time Aretha Franklin performed at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors, paying tribute to Carole King, who co-wrote “You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman,” and it brought a tear to Obama’s eye and everyone to their feet? And Carole King’s reaction. Wow.

'Using a content analysis of 391 editions and 1,885 panellist appearances, this study finds that the programme takes a transactional approach to constructing a balance of views, relying on a relatively small number of heavily featured guests.' 1/2

“We should … remember that the small seeds of large issues find space to … flourish wherever prejudice, discrimination, victimisation and persecution are permitted to go unchallenged.” Moving, courageous & articulate explanation from Chloë Deakin here about why we should speak out against injustice.

Old Ladybird books updated. ‘Daddy learns to get involved' (1964 and 1974) Artist: Harry Wingfield

Who took photos like this one? They are so posed, so constructed to look ‘natural’. Who took it? And why? #Epstein

Force the government to meet with the Palestine Action hunger strikers NOW goodlaw.social/8f6640

‘Palestine Action hunger strikers “set to die unless minister acts”’ David Lammy needs to step in now.

British Academy's pioneering 'cold spots' work now replicated by HESA. 'University "cold spots" are developing in some parts of the country, new data analysis suggests, with courses in some subjects no longer available to students in certain regions.' 1/2

The kind .. you find … in a second hand store

What’s in a name? I should’ve called this article ‘Othello’s African Mother, or, The “Wonder in the Handkerchief”’. Not just’ The “Wonder” in the Handkerchief‘. Missed a trick there. #Shakespeare

An extraordinary article

This is the most alarming story I’ve read today. Giving up the fight before it’s started

#FoxOfTheDay @chrisgpackham.bsky.social @cubotanicgarden.bsky.social

When is *a ceasefire* not a ceasefire at all? When it is a Trump- Netanyahu one

Lots of good advice to the Beeb here.

"The first sighting of a pine marten in Studland, Dorset, in more than a century!" swanage.news/rare-and-end...

'Many of the campaigners and organisers giving speeches at the march said they felt the recent rise of the far right had led to people feeling “more confident” in racially abusing women – and men – on the streets.'

Working on my sunburst skills.