#132 At The Speed of Light by @comrademorden.bsky.social Simon Morden is a rocket scientist. Literally. And this novella, which I am rereading in anticipation of the publication of the follow-up, The History Of The World (www.newconpress.co.uk/info/book.as...), shows that knowledge brilliantly. /1

*clears throat* Here we go. If you like your sf hard and your history warped, then I have just the book for you. www.newconpress.co.uk/info/book.as...

A 12-foot statue of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein frolicking and holding hands appeared on the National Mall in Washington, DC on Tuesday, September 23. A plaque under the statue states that it has been erected “In Honor of Friendship Month."

"I had not touched a cat in 15 years when an orange kitten wandered over to sit with me in the grass one day. I was left without adequate words to describe that experience. It reminded me I am alive. It instilled in me a raw, unbridled happiness that I had never felt before, not even as a child."

I know I’m naive but it is pretty wild that the president of the United States just publicly declares he and the military killed some guys on a boat, multiple times, and the entirety of Congress doesn’t immediately hit a giant red IMPEACH button

Appalled to see this image of Donald Trump and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein projected onto Windsor Castle. Please... for the love of all that is good, do not share it on all your social media channels... because it simply wouldn't be done to remind the world of the association

The idea of replacing Starmer is just utter nonsense. He's just won an election with a huge majority. It would look foolhardy, sel-obssessed, chaotic, insane: classic Tory bollocks.

What GROK has to say about violence

Never forget

Reader reviews "Brilliant, just brilliant" "You won't be able to put it down" "An astounding first novel" "The tension was almost unbearable." "Brilliant from the first page" "Superb" "Fabulous" "Unputdownable" "A perfect book" ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Amazon) www.amazon.co.uk/Babys-Breath...

That Pritzker press conference was... surreal, and I think marks a significant moment of escalation in the constitutional omni-crisis. This was the governor of a state saying plainly the Union itself is being torn apart and his state is being militarily invaded by an authoritarian regime.

Gary Lineker is up for "Presenter of the Year" at this year's National TV Awards. I can imagine that if he won it would "ruffle a few feathers". It's alright, you can skip past Mrs Brown's Boys. You know you want to. Vote here. nationaltvawards.com/vote

Police have named 42 year old Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tiny Tommeh as a person of interest in relation to this crime contrary to the Highways Act 1980.

💯

Buy it, it's bloody good.

"I have a deeply intuitive practice of mark-making" Translation: I draw what I feel like drawing. Sometimes I make squiggles. Behold, the honest artist statement artologica.substack.com/p/the-honest...

It occurs to me that this Supreme Court has now granted Donald Trump more powers over government than George III had in 1776

Education. Healthcare. You get those two things right, everything else follows.

One for fellow Brits: The Vicar of Maud'Dibney

@qntm.org, just discovered Ra, a few chapters in now, and it's extraordinarily good. Thank you for writing something to surprise a jaded 60 year old reader. Elements of Harkaway in the way it keeps surprising me.

9 years since the Brexit referendum disaster and the public is clear they're sick of Brexit Rejoin 56% Stay out 34% 10% DK

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

Authoritarian Top Trumps

Are you sure it was politics? Nothing to do with the fact that they're both insufferably self-serving, morally bankrupt sacks of misappropriated blood and organs who finally managed to grasp enough awareness to recognise it in each other? No? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

IF IT AIN’T FDIC INSURED, DON’T MAKE IT YOUR PRIMARY BANK THE FDIC EXISTS TO PROTECT CUSTOMERS FROM BANKS GOING UNDER. PRIOR TO THE FDIC, IF A BANK WENT UNDER, YOUR MONEY WENT WITH IT.

Happy 12 Years of Oh Joy Sex Toy! Join our Birthday Pledge Drive for bonus comics and to keep the site afloat for the rest of the year because- real talk- we're looking at reducing our comic production/wrapping up around the end of the year. www.patreon.com/OhJoySexToy

The people who peddle this “Laptop Class vs. Working Class” nonsense faux class analysis are always either profoundly unserious or profoundly dishonest. A real class analysis starts with capital—who owns it, who profits, and who is forced to labor under what conditions and why.

The orange felon’s vendetta against Harvard in just one photo.

Exciting and practical house designs coming out of Scandinavia

Say it with your chest.

TANK vs TESLA "We've crushed fascism before and we'll crush it again" - ⁠WW2 veteran Ken, 98, in the tank

I think I would have been about 5 when I first became conscious of the Second World War. That would have been 25 years after VE day. The war was somehow everywhere and nowhere. It was everywhere because it suffused the culture. My friends and I watched war films and read war comics /1

FUN FACT: Since 2019, Nigel Farage's Reform has taken more than £2.3 MILLION from oil and gas interests - making up an astonishing 92% of the party's donations. Reform are NOT for ordinary people. They're in the pockets of the big oil lobby.

… Oh that’s cold

A well-oiled machine 🫠

The reality 👇

Here's the secret of "university indoctrination." Professors aren't doing it. Your little darlings are finally meeting a diverse group of people and realising that the stereotypes you've been feeding them are closed-minded garbage.

The protests are not for Trump to see, they are so you can all see each other and grow. It's not the protest itself that tyrants are afraid of, but the networks and community you can grow from them. Your strength is your unity and that's why the enemy thrives by demoralizing and dividing you. #3E

Just watched a program on sky arts (I think) about form and his world building. There was a scene cut, with transition showing a lovely picture of what I think was @wulfhelm.bsky.social's hat.

STOP what you are doing, find some headphones or a secluded location, and watch this. I am crying with laughter and admiration at an idea seen through to its (nearly) bitter end. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD3Q... Sound--as they say--on.

Rotten policies, rotten government, rotten president.

Every time a Labour MP is asked about Brexit, they trot out the same line; “We are not rejoining the EU” and the journalist accepts the answer and moves on. I suggest they respond with “Why? The majority of people are now in favour of rejoining so what is the problem?” I genuinely want to know.

The British automotive industry contributes £22bn to the UK economy. The creative industries contribute £124bn. Fucksake. Stop AI copyright theft.