Péter Magyar just ended Viktor Orbán’s 16-year grip on power and immediately exposed how the regime was using taxpayer money to fund Trump’s CPAC events. The "Strongman" era is ending. Watch the moment the propaganda machine was dismantled: www.dworkinsubstack.com/p/arrest-war...

The folklore of Hookland swerved 1920s Flower Fairy propaganda. Its depictions of Faeries retains a dark power, a sense of them as engines of fear, engines of sublime terror. The Queen of the Winter Court may be winged, but she carries a string of decapitated heads. – Dr. M. Benn

Reuters is revealing the extent of their coordination with the Trump administration, of their relationships in Greenland, and of the deep animosity their actions have sparked on the island reut.rs/4cOxYmC 6/6

In December 2025, Jørgen Boassen, the most prominent face of the MAGA movement in Greenland, confronted Per Berthelsen, a 76-year-old parliamentarian and founder of the island’s governing party, outside of a restaurant reut.rs/4cOxYmC 1/6

last night, before the bsky outage began, I got to this point in the Mac emulator building...

No idea why this hasn't worked on the 1st post. It's all about FP4+ this week & the fantastic community on Bluesky #fp4party. (Thanks to @paulasmith.co.uk) These are our 5 favourites who will all receive some goodies www.ilfordphoto.com/friday-favou... Image @analoguelass.bsky.social

No takers for TVCA top posts Tees Valley Mayor Lord Ben Houchen can’t find anyone suitable to take on the top legal and finance jobs at his beleaguered Combined Authority northeastbylines.co.uk/news/politic...

This week, for the first time, @ukparliament electronic voting system failed, leaving MPs staring at screens with 'unable to contact module' nessage or the Microsoft window of doom. Thanks to the Clerks we quickly went back to paper but I want to find out exactly what went wrong!

Today, we wrote to Nigel Farage following a string of stories in recent weeks exposing Reform candidates pushing Covid and vaccine conspiracy theories. We are calling on him to remove any candidate found to have promoted these views. 1/7 🧵

I remember the day in 2020 when I saw Tolkien describing *exactly* what I was doing. And why it was bad for me.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i... This week I talk about Talking Classics (on Instant Classics). Next week it’s Grayson Perry on why he hates classical civilisation!

The new version of the Shady Characters blog is now up! It's been a long time coming, but I'm finally happy (and by "finally" I mean "after four long years") with how it looks and works. A few details at shadycharacters.co.u....

@joshuarozenberg.bsky.social The Master of the Rolls was not saying lawyers would be unnecessary in the future. “But lawyers will need to adapt to the changing expectations of young people brought up with the ability to find out anything on their screens” rozenberg.substack.com/p/lawyers-to...

Rachel Reeves warns other budgets may be cut to lift defence spending. Hitting the old, sick, disabled, public services doesn't produce a resilient society. How many will die? Govt created £895bn QE to rescue banks, why not the same to rebuild society? 2010-2025: HMRC didn't collect £500bn tax.

Perhaps the darkest argument I’ve heard in favour of writing with AI is that there’s no point writing without it; we’ll all be consuming so much AI-generated content unwittingly that it will re-programme our writing styles and thought patterns. Humans who write without AI will sound like AI anyway.

Tees Valley Mayor Lord Ben Houchen can’t find anyone suitable to take on the top legal and finance jobs at his beleaguered Combined Authority (TVCA) and is having to keep the current interim appointees in place until at least September | Peter Morris

Corporate Welfare In the last 3 yrs UK Govt gave £100bn subsidy to banks in the form of interest on central reserves. Practice started in 2009 after govt created QE. It was supposed to compensate for ultra low interest rates. EU mostly stopped such payments in 2023 What would you do with £100bn?

I now see what happened with the Mandelson vetting. Ollie Robbins treated it as a normal ambassadorial appointment, where he had sole discretion on vetting. In fact, he should have treated it as the equivalent of a Ministerial appointment, where the PM would expect to be told of any issues. 1/

Bluesky under attack. (Maybe you noticed that Thursday.) "Bluesky’s website and app are still struggling on Friday after experiencing service interruptions that chief operating officer Rose Wang attributed to an ongoing cyberattack." techcrunch.com/2026/04/17/i...

#filmsky Dawn of the Dead Theatrical Cut (1978) Very different approach to zombie films focusing on the psychological impact rather than the shock value. Love watching older films spotting how it influenced other media. Liked slower pace and build up. Good cast of chars. Want to see the remake.

#filmsky Exit 8 (2025) Great film that explores being trapped by our decisions. Smooth camera work beautifully hides the edges keeping a smooth loop between areas. Loved the story structure and how it moves between the chars. Translates the feeling of learning by trying well for the MC and viewer.

Anti-migrant streamers and 'auditors' who generate millions of views on Youtube, while posing as ‘citizen journalists’, have a record of abusive behaviour towards women and sexual offences, a Byline Times investigation reveals bylinetimes.com/2026/04/17/t...

📢 This week, i'm joined by @mikkibrock.bsky.social to talk about Elizabeth I's "magician", alchemist and all-round strange person, Dr John Dee - who talked to angels, demons and might well have invented the British Empire! 🗃 🎧 ⬇️ #history podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

The health secretary wants to keep us in the dark about Palantir’s systems for handling sensitive health records. So we’re taking legal action with Democracy for Sale to fight back: https://goodlaw.social/249f

In the UK we call them lifts but in the US they call them elevators, because we’re raised differently.

People that can't believe a Prime Minister didn't have all the facts have not seen Yes Minister or The Thick of it.

What do you get when you mix a spoilt brat of a sore looser with megalomania and way too much power? THIS 👇👇👇 www.thedailybeast.com/trump-yanks-...

The super-rich are not worried about their car dying, or if they can afford daycare, how to feed a family & clothe growing children. They don't consider skipping a medication b/c of its cost. But the rich want to feel oppressed, so they pretend slightly higher taxes is life or death. How dare they

U.S. troops don’t fight wars “in the name of Jesus Christ.” They serve the Constitution. At least, that’s the idea.

JD Vance is lecturing the Pope on Catholicism and Pierre Poilievre is lecturing Mark Carney on economics and RFK Jr is lecturing scientists about vaccines and Donald Trump is lecturing the world on tariffs and Pete Hegseth is quoting Pulp Fiction and thinking it’s the Bible

Andy Osborn has been convicted of making a defamatory statement about a Conservative politician, and will now have to step down as a councillor leftfootforward.org/2026/04/refo...

Thread: 1/4 The usual siren voices are giving us Maginot Line thinking for a blitzkrieg world Hybrid warfare - the kind we actually face - works by exploiting inequality, division and social breakdown. Disinformation finds purchase in communities that feel abandoned.

www.euronews.com/2026/04/11/t... interesting #windpower #energy #bird

cowsay

@traceynormanauthor.bsky.social any news on when ‘In the Footsteps of the Invisible Witch’ might be published?

@folklorelibrary.bsky.social small nerdy point - why is your web site domain name folklorelibrary.com and not .org ? It seems to me that .org would fit better - see guidelines www.networksolutions.com/blog/what-is... but there may have been some reason for choosing .com I haven't thought of.

New feature alert! TinyCat libraries can now enable a Restrict Catalog Access mode. If enabled, all visitors need to enter their credentials to view or search your catalog. #BookSky #libraries #💙📚

A rare opportunity to hear my online talk on Alan Garner & Archaeology on Saturday 18 April. Come and find out what happened when I descended into West Mine (pictured). This will be a fundraiser for the Folklore Library and Archive. More info & tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-th...

I spent time in the pub. It wasn't wasted. I was surrounded by stories. Enfolded by new mutations of folklore, drinking with those who chart the movements of ghosts in the neighbourhood. I know the George used to be called a gin palace, but it's really a drunken library. – #MattAdams, 1982

Church in Wales Governing Body votes to make permanent provision for same-sex blessings lawandreligionuk.com/2026/04/16/a...

A shocking new poll result: Many Americans somehow don't have a favorite dinosaur. And only 6% give the correct answer (triceratops). Check out YouGov's new polling on Americans and dinosaurs: yougovamerica.substack.com/p/whats-your...

Corporate Welfare Drax claimed £999m subsidy for burning trees in 2025 to produce electricity. £8.7bn since 2012, more to come. Its electricity is the most expensive. Company made operating profit of £947m in 2025. Biggest single polluter in the UK.

More energy intensive UK businesses to get govt help. £600m subsidy will be paid out of taxation, won't make a dent in energy company profits. Everyone deserves lower energy bills. Ending profiteering is the only sustainable policy. Nationalise energy.

Energy companies made £125bn profit from UK operations for 2020-25, fueling inflation, poverty. They get subsidies. During high winds, turbines are turned-off because the UK does not have adequate energy transmission and storage. Profits will rise from Iran war. Nationalize energy.

$30m an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers, extra $234bn by end of 2026 It is Trump's way of rewarding his backers. Corporations always profit from war whilst household/Govt budgets are decimated. Govts must levy windfall taxes.

Yes but I want to know what the 'revolting offenses chiefly accompanied by some element of magic' are, don't do this to me!

Into The Valley. 13°C. Gorse in flower.