Yes, they smile as they destroy lives, empty people’s bank accounts and break up families. They do it in such a joyful way. 🙄

And they say satire's dead. 😂 "Far from the outdated stereotypes, today’s bookmakers are lively community hubs. During the festive season especially, betting shops take on a special atmosphere filled with excitement, companionship and familiar routine that many people look forward to each year."

Bet365 CEO collects £280m (£104m salary + £176m dividend), pre-tax profits down from £627m to £349m. CEO collected around £2.67bn over the last decade. Gambling industry recently opposed increase in tax. Public purse bears the cost of gambling addiction.

Christmas Eve is the day booksellers do 99% of the emotional and intellectual labor for the panicked men who come into the bookstore to buy a last minute gift for their loved one who, "likes books." You're welcome.

Come on journos. Please can one of you make this your Christmas gift to all of the decent people? I will contribute $20.

There is no escape on #PoisonedPlanet. "Nation with clean water can still be exposed to high levels of PFAS through the seafood it imports ... researchers argue that a unified global strategy is needed to protect #publichealth." #PFAS phys.org/news/2025-12...

I see there’s a post about microplastics going around with a photo of drinking straws, so here is my semi-regular reminder that the 3 biggest sources of microplastics are tires (45%), synthetic clothing particles (35%) and paint (~10%). Lay article attached:

James Cameron: "I have an idea for a movie the message of which is that colonialism could have been thwarted if natives just let well meaning white people appropriate their culture, bang their women, and lead them into battle." Studio: "Here's a trillion dollars so you can make it seven times."

A coda to this is that the UK is pretty unusual in that we don’t tax winnings on the Lottery or game shows. John Carpenter (the first winner of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire) worked at the IRS and didn’t give his job up because after tax he got about $600k which is nice but not life-changing.

"It was not Hitler or Himmler who abducted me, beat me and shot my family. It was the shoemaker, the milkman, the neighbor, who received a uniform and then believed they were the master race." Karl Stojka, Auschwitz survivor

It's an early Christmas present to see this from UK govt advisors: The unique problem of indoor air is now widely recognised as something that can and should, be solved. That matters for all of us. 👇 go.corsirosenthalfoundation.org.uk/sM8OYmK #CleanAir ##CleanTheAirWeShare

free speech news

I see the concerted far right anti-trans propaganda campaign perpetrated by the British mainstream media over the past 10 years has worked to sway public opinion. This just shows how gullible the British public are. Just so people know, Trans people aren't your enemy. Billionaires are.

We really are a nation that loves animals and hates children. These figures are so shameful (via @natacha.bsky.social).

Discworld QOTD, from Snuff "You should look for those who can’t believe that the law would ever catch them, who believe that they act out of a right that the rest of us do not have. The job of the officer of the law is to let them know that they are wrong!"

The judge should be sanctioned for this. Courts are for testimony of people with personal experience or expertise pertinent to the case. Putting the tech aside, this was like allowing someone to read an essay that was fictively composed by the victim. That would never be allowed.

HEY SURVIVORS !! HEY ATTENTION TO ME beloveds you do not have to read or witness all of this . You do not have to re traumatize You don’t owe nobody nothing

Yet strangely enthusiastic about the unelected, unaccountable, anti-woke elites telling the British people what they should or should not think about immigration - day in, day out, obsessively.

Matthew Bowles works for the IEA. Funded by the fossil fuel industry, gambling and tobacco. Times up. Merry Christmas! Join.greenparty.org.uk

He's a Christian like I'm a poorly baked lemon curd pie circling Pluto

Can you imagine if we were as strict on MPs expenses and billionaires tax avoidance as we were on Disabled People? The money would be raining down.

hey did you guys know mussolini likely assassinated himself? someone show this to that person from yesterday who said historians would be idiots for not using AI for all their research

Even in these times of rapidly shifting norms, there was something shocking about the recent Home Office change in internal guidance, slipped in without the need for legislative scrutiny, to deny British citizenship to anyone arriving in the UK “in an unauthorised manner”;

Social media posts claim 2.4m households have cancelled the BBC licence fee since 2020. We’ve found no evidence to support this figure, which the BBC doesn’t recognise. The number of licences in force fell by around 1.5m between 2020/21 and 2024/25.

Horizon Europe: England/UK is also part of it. Australia is in talks to become an Associate Member Let's keep science strong and alive.

No joke: The ill-considered, lightning fast adoption of these faulty technologies across different sectors of society is nothing less than a mass cult conversion. It's the Kool Aid at scale, and we're treating it like a nice calming cup of green tea

This is the official “Who did I miss off?” #sgtpepper2025 thread. I started the update with all the obvious ones last night but I’m sure there’s a few I’ve missed. Replying does not guarantee inclusion and please try not to come across as aggressive or entitled xxx

No!! JUST NO!!! This is a cover no one wants or needs, so stop it #totp

A generous and charming portrait of London full of festive c 2005 vibes.

And we go back, almost full circle, to 2016 and Boaty McBoatface. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The climate crisis is accelerating - 2025 looks set to become UK’s hottest year on record. Good to see focus on importance of resilience on #r4today- pls take a moment to sign petition calling on Govt to introduce a fully funded national climate adaptation plan petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

Find out if your local NHS Trust is using the software and say no to Palantir 👇 goodlaw.social/658abc

This time two years ago, we found out that Palantir was paying a PR firm to recruit influencers to attack us 🤯 https://goodlawproject.org/pr-firm-topham-guerin-tories-and-palantir-offers-to-pay-influencers-attacks-twitter-x/

Good grief: a genuine, senior Reform candidate saying we should force Jews and Muslims to commit blasphamy to 'prove their sincerity to Christians'. This is just straight up racism and the fact Reform can't disown him says everything.

This

Good demonstration of why Google AI overview should not be trusted. According to this, Chris Rea had fairly robust opinions on the "business implications" of Brexit. But it's confusing singer Chris Rea with a completely different person.

People are SO sick and dejected by cruelty, greed, corruption and crime being celebrated, rewarded, normalised or ignored while decency, tolerance, kindness and compassion are ignored, scorned, spurned...

Well, it's been a good year for agricultural accountants and lawyers, so this hasn't all been a *total* waste of time.

And now for some great news. New Murderbot book coming. Thank you Martha Wells (@marthawells.com)!!! www.amazon.com/dp/B0FMSC5S4...

This reminds me the main reason Maureen Dowd came to despise Hillary Clinton almost immediately upon her arrival in DC is that Hillary did not invite Dowd to a party.

Celebrating the semiquincentennial of our country but sure "we" were there 300 years ago.

It was hard to convince Americans torture is wrong as a moral principle during Bush's term, and that was with the debate about whether torture makes us safer. I'm afraid for a portion of Trump's base, that calculation matters less. Idea of torturing undocumented immigrants may even bring pleasure.

In 2016 a weasel fell into the Large Hadron Collider and took it offline. There's a theory that we got blasted into the Bad Timeline because of that, and honestly it explains more than I'm comfortable with.

This one is from a friend: she had to break it to an Australian ancestor-hunter that his convict ancestor had been transported for… bestiality.

All the Odyssey movie “inaccurate” versus “who cares” arguments are both fun and exhausting. But the trailer shows them rowing a clinker built Viking ship. That is like depicting Columbus crossing the Atlantic in a Chinese junk.

Labour not understanding the basics again... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Well, happy anniversary to one of the finest of festive exchanges

Abolish the gambling industry

Lilac sky and my favourite lane. Taken a while before sunrise in Glastonbury.