So the UK Government will have an enquiry into ‘grooming gangs’ but not into CASM produced and circulated on an industrial scale? Labour does not believe in *anything*.

This is incredibly grim, but it will keep happening unless knowledge workers organise.

No one should be posting on that site. It isn't complicated.

Has Britain’s standing in the world ever been lower than this?

This week’s ingredients: * water * coffee grounds * neighbour’s pet bedstraw * shredded Christmas wreath * kitchen and food waste * manuscript drafts

The BBC keeps calling the imperialist actions of the US 'unprecedented'; I wonder if they know anything about the history of Latin America in the last 200 years or so.

At least one pair now in Duddingston, Edinburgh.

Last of this year’s light from a cherished Edinburgh view.

Forty years ago, in late December 1985, The Bangles released Manic Monday, written by Prince under the pseudonym ‘Christopher’. Treat yourself 🎧

Welcome to The Future

Some of these redactions are almost like modern art

It's the scales that will make this an iconic photograph.

Mind-blowing how little impact the spycops scandal has had on public life despite the courage of these women. 139 undercover cops spied on antifascist and other activists. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

No idea what is and isn’t beyond the pale any longer

At last, some properly rigorous reporting on the vampiric management consulting behind proposed cuts at Edinburgh Uni. Grab some garlic, read and weep.

I have ‘reformed evangelical Christians’ on my timeline preaching daily about the sanctity of life and they’ll say nothing about one of their own doing murder out in the open.

It is literally baked in to C of E liturgy 🤷‍♂️ “He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.”

You’d hope that some local politicians or church leaders might show some basic leadership on this issue … anyone?

"A 10:1 pay ratio between the highest and lowest-paid staff is the bare minimum that we need. It would ensure that bosses can only raise their own salaries by also improving the salaries of their lowest paid staff too" greens.scot/news/greens-...

I know you’re all wondering if my compost is still cooking in this frost and the answer is yes, it is – 70°C / 160°F – thanks for asking.

This guy. Stirs up local ‘fear for the safety of … wives and children’ because of people fleeing persecution and terror. Now it’s: my racism can’t be racism because no one is less racist than me. 🚮

It’s like Polanski has broken a spell. This is great if you care about human dignity and wellbeing but definitely threatening to those in power. All strength to him.

It’s like Polanski has broken a spell. This is great if you care about human dignity and wellbeing but definitely threatening to those in power. All strength to him.

If Edinburgh Uni, with no operational deficit, gets to sack 1800 people, imagine what this will signal to more fiscally challenged Scottish universities? MSPs need to realise that this is more than a local crisis – we need urgent public scrutiny of Edinburgh’s governance.

Covid prevents me from being on the picket line but solidarity to everyone there. An isolated management, censured by its own academic senate, seeks to literally decimate its own staff. Oh, and it has the third largest uni endowment in the UK.

I’ve just made the mistake of flicking through the House of Bruar catalogue while suffering a Covid fever. What in the name of Atholl is going on?👇

The thing about architectural conservation is that it’s supposed to transcend the question ‘DO WE LIKE THIS?’. It’s meant to be about preserving characteristic exemplars of style. Is there another large exposed aggregate panel building in Scotland? I can’t think of any.

This is as bad as anything proposed by Reform. Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Evening folks, I'd love some help with this pic. Forget the people, can anyone identify the plants? Is this a potato crop, partially coming into flower on the left? Or are these wild flowers? Context: this is a coastal plain at the village of Inver, Easter Ross, 1915, south of the Morrich More.

Important amendments from @ariane-burgess.bsky.social and Mercedes Villalba being voted on in Parliament tonight. They would ensure public oversight over significant land transfers and set a presumed limit on landownership at 500ha unless owned for wider public benefit. Much needed interventions

It's been a few years since I've seen the remnants of the 1788 Portobello harbour exposed. As you'd expect, there's an interesting thread on this export infrastructure of pottery and bricks by @threadinburgh.scot: threadinburgh.scot/2022/09/30/t...

Working with students at 40 George Square today and och it’s not a bad view at all.

It’s surely the other side of his gold fixation – for Freud, gold and shit are close correlates. Even by the standards of this Presidency, it does seem historically remarkable and troubling.

This is a crucial point And why the ‘stay on X/Twitter so you don’t cede the public square’ is such a nonsense argument It isn’t Hyde Park, it’s a billionaire controlled algorithm *designed* to spread far right ideologies

Edinburgh needs this!

Winter Well is on air BBC Radio 4 this week. An audio guide to thriving in winter, with advice from medics, artists, poets and future-gazers on simple but effective ways to bring light into your life during the darkest part of the year. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... @hesterparr.bsky.social

Why people don't trust mainstream politics is a mystery...

If university marketing had any guts they’d use this as a recruitment tool and watch their applications soar.

I’ve started a new method of composting, and it’s … quite hot. Consistently over 70° and today over 80°C (176F). I have to fork it over daily + adding ~15kg of coffee grounds every week.

What should happen: National revulsion, hounded out of public life What will happen: New set design for Sky News as three very, very right wing parties fight out The Deportation Election

The improvised response at 2:08 is remarkable. No one in the political life of the UK is anywhere near as impressive as this … or as threatening.

Hard not to sound like a Prevent referral but … it seems important that Labour are not allowed to go down this road.

Israeli forces have intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla so now would be a good time to pressure your government to hold Israel to account and ensure everybody's safe return. Kieran Andrieu is one of my oldest friends and I'm worried about him. youtube.com/shorts/HiiJn...

Sad to discover a new writer through their passing. It’s only a 3 minute read but Kaleb Horton’s last blog says a lot. kalebhorton.ghost.io/2025-so-far/

joining the war on autism on the side of autism

Just to illustrate how much worse it's got, I have received more abuse over the past year and a bit - including death threats and a large volume of antisemitism - for what I write than in the previous 15 years of covering migration and the far right put together.

Solidarity to these colleagues. Will professional bodies like AAG or RGS speak up, even if universities bend the knee?

There should be a name for days when you can hear both house martins and pink-footed geese.

Wow, that Ta-Nehisi Coates essay: “If you would look away from the words of Charlie Kirk, from what else would you look away?”

Absolutely agree with this. I know many folk have already been doing anti-fascist organising but this needs to be *everyone out*: workers, trade unions, students, religious & community groups... The crisis is now. 🚨