Goddamn this is a good read: “Free movement is a fantastic thing, and we should say it.”

Just vile. “Anyone who has posted a picture of themselves on the internet, regardless of age or gender, is one message to Grok away from being shown wearing a swastika bikini and performing a fascist salute.” It could be you…or me. Is this the “culture” we should permit as a country?

Ah, 7 January – or as it’s otherwise known, 88th anniversary of the time Samuel Beckett was stabbed by a pimp on the streets of Paris in the small hours, causing him to meet his soulmate and giving rise to the phrase (and recipe) ‘assassination custard’ 🧵

Given today’s very exciting news of the discovery of an intact Carnyx (Iron Age war-horn) in Thetford, Norfolk, here’s what they might have sounded like:

We pay £1.5mn a year until 2033 to Prince William, whose Duchy of Cornwall owns the prison, for an unusable empty prison bit.ly/4bje5DV This deal done in 2022 by previous Conservative govt.

Did I mention I ran a pub? I ran a pub (Basically: Landlord did a runner post show weekend, freeholder came in, I was the only person with a degree so they decided that despite me being 21 I was the best person to take over till they found a actual landlord who wasn't a child.) This place

@durotrigesdig.bsky.social, @tessmachling.bsky.social: we've got a new ring tone for you. #Carnyx www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... (1hr 47min 10sec - sound on)

In the UK add that possession of CSAM is a strict liability criminal offence, prison sentence 2-3 years. No proof that you sought the material is required. People can be and have been convicted after receiving unsolicited images. This is a serious risk, using X in the UK now.

“Extraordinary’ Iron Age war trumpet find in Britain may have Boudicca links. Bronze instrument or carnyx dug up in Norfolk in area inhabited by Celtic tribe led by warrior who fought Romans” www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

US threats to annex Greenland following the strikes on Venezuela should be taken seriously. European countries have important leverage and they should be prepared to use it.

"They have declared olive trees independent from their inconvenient roots. So many olive trees, inconvenient olive trees with inconvenient roots in an inconvenient land that was cared for by our inconvenient, non-existent grandparents. Why do they hurt olive trees?" Painfully beautiful 🖋️

Walz is out of Fs: "Not a single Republican supported this, so every Minnesotan from here on, whoever uses this program, there is no bit of thanks that would go to the R legislators who did all they could to stop this ... our schools have money to pay their teachers? I'll take credit for that too."

Ukraine today returned Kyiv's historic, and beautiful, St Nicholas' Cathedral (Kostel Sviatoho Mikolaya) to the Catholic community. It was originally built by Europeans in the 1890s before Moscow's religious repression saw it closed. PM Yuliia Svyrydenko attended the ceremony.

EXCLUSIVE: Labour have been condemned for giving the biggest ever Ministry of Defence contract to IDF-linked tech giant Palantir 🔗 www.thenational.scot/news/2...

Never mind all the charm and talent. That much of Isiah is always onscreen and utterly obvious. Instead, a last word to let everyone know what isn't evidenced on film: He was an even better person than he was an actor; a warm and gracious delight of a man. Goodbye, friend.

“In 2022, drivers aged between 17-24 were involved in 25,698 road accidents, despite representing a far smaller group of licence holders. By contrast, those over 85 years - frequently cited as the highest risk group - were involved in just 979 accidents”

It is equally easy & possible to write, "Trump weighs violating US treaty commitments under the UN and NATO by seizing the sovereign territory of one of our closest allies" You don't have to normalize & sanewash reality. Other purely factually accurate, more serious choices remain readily available.

🚨 A third Labour councillor has joined Southwark Green Party. “The Green Party offers a message of real hope and change.” – Cllr Reginald Popoola Reginald will be a candidate for Rye Lane in the May election.

Protesters have now taken over Abadan Police Station. Police are on the roof, waving in support.

Trump’s designs on Greenland are not about NATO security. America already has all the access it needs for shared security purposes. Like with Venezuela— it is *all* about theft of resources.

Here is the Trump Doctrine, as articulated by Stephen Miller in his truly frightening interview with Jake Tapper this afternoon. It is very much like the doctrine of the dictators we fought and defeated in World War II and of Putin today. It is un-American at its very core.

“They are doing whatever they can now to create as much irreversible [change] as possible throughout the West Bank.” Israel moves to build vast illegal settlement in the heart of the West Bank, designed to “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j... #WestBank

Speaking of records, 16 Russian airports had to be shut overnight because of Ukraine's drones (from 2300-0800 Moscow time) Moscow: Domodedovo + Zhukovsky St Peterburg (Pulkovo) Saratov Volgograd Kaluga Penza Samara Ulyanovsk Kazan Ufa Orenburg Nizhnekamsk Izhevsk Perm Yaroslavl

The main way I can contribute to forging the collective memory of January 6th is through my role as a teacher. After the insurrection, I created the following assignment for my American National Government course to get students to watch one (1) day of the House committee proceedings. (Links below)

European leaders rally behind Greenland as Miller ramps up Trump threats

Read this today ⬇️ www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Clashes at the Grand Bazaar in Tehran where merchants were historically loyal to Khamenei and the regime. #Iran

Trump is incoherently ranting and raving during this speech to House Republicans, who are sitting in silence as his brain flits around wildly

Government demands Musk's X deals with 'appalling' Grok AI deepfakes www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

checking in on the president:

Hartford #VisibilityBrigade POP-UP REMINDER this am!! 5 crusaders on the bridge reminding drivers heading north and south..... Jan 6th was TREASON! An attack on America, domestic terrorism. And my 2 cents, felons pardoned by a felon are still felons. @hcrichardson.bsky.social @maddow.bsky.social

Trump to House Republicans: "Most of you are in this business longer than me. That makes me smarter than you. Because look where I am, right? No it doesn't. But I wish you could explain to me what the hell is going on with the mind of the public because we have the right policy."

Yet another huge contract, awarded without any competitive bidding process, to Wes Streeting's favourite NHS supplier, the Hard Right US surveillance tech specialists Palantir, for military decision making capability.

Things stepping up. ICCL and Digital Rights Ireland have written to the Garda Commissioner calling for an urgent investigation of X.

Former Special Counsel, Jack Smith, explicitly states: "President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy. These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him."

Russia says 129 UAVs were shot down overnight, but there has been a lot of damage caused to the initiators of this war - far more than first realised, with 4🇷🇺 territories suffering Ukraine drone strikes - Yaroslavl, Penza, Bashkortosta + Lipetsk. Let's put some details on this

A Highland village has been hit by a second earthquake in days

No, Kemi Badenoch, the US has not walked away from the World Trade Organization, not even "more or less". It has disrupted dispute settlement and Trump's tariffs violate WTO rules, but the US is active in much of the WTO's regular work and it has paid its contribution to the budget. #BBCR4Today

How to soothe anger that is as fierce as a wild bull, a leaping dog, a lion, and a wolf? In ancient Babylonia, you recited an incantation that empowered you to get rid of it. A bit like today’s practice of affirmations or manifesting. “I have blocked it! “Like a bridge, may I cross over it!”

An incantation to soothe anger from nearly 4 millennia ago for those in need of one. It begins by telling us what anger is and does. “Anger goes like a wild bull, it continually leaps forth like a dog.” Anger is like a lion and a wolf. It is fierce. It runs. It tears at one’s face and stomach.

I was also one of the legal experts but have ended up on the sub editor’s floor.I’d suggest three cumulative reasons… 1. If Parliament had meant that in 1986, it had ample opportunity to make it clear 2. The introduction of ‘clarifying’ Regs suggests they did not then, that power was never there

My fellow bookshelves I am speaking to you today from behind a woman in white who seems to think she was prime minister. As an important piece of furniture, I beg you for you assistance. I would like nice books, read by someone who can read. In a library Can you help?

Hey Bluesky, send us your best ducks (Happy #InternationalUnsolicitedDuckPicDay to all who celebrate)

Four generations of my family have served our country. Service is in my blood. The President wouldn’t know anything about that.

So far we haven't actually killed anyone.

“Prost [an ICC judge] had been added to the United States’ sanctions list, because in 2020 she ruled to authorise an investigation into possible atrocities in Afghanistan, including by US troops.” from @naomiohreally.bsky.social @irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

MILLER: The US is using its military to secure our interests unapologetically in our hemisphere. We're a superpower. It's absurd we'd allow a nation in our backyard to become a supplier of resources to our adversaries TAPPER: Sovereign countries shouldn't be able to do what they want? M: *yells*

TAPPER: Can you rule out the US is going to take Greenland by force? MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO T: So force is on the table? M: Nobody is gonna fight the US militarily over future of Greenland

Protesters in Iran have set fire to a regime seminary in Khorramabad. (New thread)