‘First as tragedy, then as farce’ – bombing a girls school followed by this grotesque UN panto. It's a truly grim timeline, friends, but we hope and work for justice.

I have some hot compost news

Wow! Palestine Action win judicial review - Guardian report. This is a *big* legal win. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

The future of the university – AI getting high on its own supply

Ring? Just don’t.

An analysis of systems – patriarchy, billionaire capitalism, violent borders – is rarely popular but exactly right. I’m grateful that an MSP is willing to say this.

Hello, I have a new book out in the spring with Picador and I would love it if you could help me spread the word. IF WE TOLERATE THIS draws on years of work, to help readers understand why British politics is hurtling rightwards and what to do about it. Pre-orders: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/if-w...

Despatches from the biocide aisle in Tesco. 👇

Geographers, in case you missed this detail, Alex Pretti graduated from the Minnesota Geography department in 2011.

The courage of Minnesotans is contagious.

Can’t stop thinking about what we will happen closer get to elections in 2026 - and even more importantly in 2028 - that MAGA will be on course to lose

Arrests calmly ongoing. This is going to take a while. There are a lot of clergy risking arrest.

Gospel / the Gospel was always a threat to the MAGA state. Arresting people singing ‘Down in the River to Pray’ 🎶 will leave a brittle, desperate regime.

I came to Minneapolis to report on what's going on, and one of the main questions I showed up with is "just what is the scale of the resistance?" After all, we're all used to the news calling Portland a "war zone" or whatever when it's just some protests in one part of town.

People can say they didn’t vote for this but people are liars

I have cleaned-up this fascinating autochrome of James Thin (famous for his chain of bookshops), who was born 202 years ago (in Edinburgh on 23rd March 1824), making him (so far as is currently known) the earliest-born person ever to have been photographed in colour. He is seen here in the garden...

Definitely ummm *interesting* to see the postwar global system collapsing on the timeline.

This entire thread is exactly right about what’s happening at Edinburgh.

In fascist messaging, the lie is not supposed to be convincing. It’s that state power is bigger than what you know or saw. The stupidity is the point.

It’s a relief to see some Christian leaders recognise the moment.

Anyways, my ride is here

The immigration doom loop in full swing. Chasing the xenophobes is a doomed strategy both economically *and* politically. (1/3) archive.ph/pyVLg

“Would you mind giving the car a push?”

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.

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...