"We absolutely need to stop the boats,” Polanski said, “but let’s stop the boats by offering safe and legal routes to asylum and not having people clinging on to dinghies for dear life.* www.newstatesman.com/politics/gre...

Migrants already carry out work for their communities, it’s called ‘having a fucking job’ and it’s mandatory because we aren’t eligible for benefits

Absolutely beyond parody that Dave Chappelle is headlining a comedy show for Saudi royalty after what, a decade of whining about cancel culture

You can't joke about anything anymore. Because you signed a multi figure contract with the Saudi government that said they wouldn't pay you if you did.

Millions of people worldwide are estimated to be living with cardiac #LongCovid. Hidden heart damage which can manifest with symptoms like "hest pain, irregular heartbeat, breathlessness, and debilitating fatigue that can persist for years." scienceblog.com/hidden-heart...

Again I get this but if you come to areas like mine that’s exactly what it is being used for, that’s what it means right now, and no amount of waving it with good vibes is going to change that

HOW GOOD IS THIS This is how you speak truth to power and use your privilege.

Scrapping People, Culture, and Environment from the REF makes *total sense* in a sector intent on literally firing swathes of academics and professional services staff thus ruining research culture and trashing the higher education environment!

Sadly, you can't magically determine "quality" so easily in advance - and it does nobody ANY favours for UUK to sow the idea that "hobbyist" research happens in UK universities. Bah.

Gary’s tirelessly spoken up for the people of Gaza, asylum seekers, migrants & against racism.Many in the media and beyond have tried to turn him into a hate figure. They assumed they were on the right side of those issues.Tonight the public voted him Best Presenter ending Ant & Dec’s 23 yr record.

Crisis at England universities created by successive govts. Freeze on student fees Real cuts in govt grants Harder to enrol foreign students Home student numbers falling £267bn student debt Real wage cuts 40% of universities in trouble. Local economies decline with university decline

“As a disabled writer, it is clear to me there is a specific problem not just with counterfactual content being presented as truth, but counterfactual information about illness being presented as credible health advice.” Worth reading lithub.com/nature-is-no...

He was very good in person with his trans fans too. Growing up going to SF cons, I met many trans people before I even knew what trans meant. I gave my parents very little they needed to accept in their child, so they had lots left over for everyone else. 😉 www.thepinknews.com/2021/08/06/t...

A very timely petition for one of my old universities. A great place under threat

As a cis woman chess player fuck this

"The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality." - James Baldwin

I've made a new list on @bookshop.org of books that explore nature / walking / the outdoors by disabled, neurodivergent and chronically ill writers - Nature Beyond Cure - aka our own narratives are messy and complex. Do share! #BookSky #DisabledWriters uk.bookshop.org/lists/nature...?

Hungary banned anything that “promotes homosexuality,” which means Pride. However, today over 500,000 people in Budapest told the government to fuck off. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️The ugly toad Orban tried to forbid the gay pride parade in Budapest only to provoke a beautiful Streisand effect! #pride #budapest #resist #lgbtq+ #loveislove

Congrats to Viktor Orbán on personally scoring one of the biggest middle fingers of all time

Who were Ireland queer revolutionaries #speirgorm #pride2025 www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Abolish the Home Office:

Day 3 of strike action at Bournemouth University. Staff are striking to defend jobs, courses and the future of their university. ✊ Show your support and solidarity with a repost to spread the word!

This week’s #CookbookCorner stars the vital Boustany: A Celebration of Vegetables from my Palestine by Sami Tamimi. Read more about it, then get his recipe for Crushed Broad Beans with Goat’s Cheese & Preserved Lemon Salsa right here! www.nigella.com/cookbook-cor...

This Friday 20 June I’ll be running a FREE workshop on using dreams to kickstart your creative writing with Dr Rebecca Mills at Bournemouth Central Library - a few tickets still left at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dreamingwr..., come and join us!

People, seriously, will you PLEASE knock it off with the AI/LLM usage. You are causing actual droughts, and for what? Bullshit and slop. It’s embarrassing. You are embarrassing.

Solid picket turnout today @bournemouthuni.bsky.social #stopthecuts #listentostaff #highered #bournemouth @ucu.org.uk #ucu

'In a wide-ranging report analysing the benefits and threats posed by AI to the UK’s film, TV, video game and visual special effects industries, the BFI also raises fears that automation will eliminate the entry-level jobs that bring in the next generation of workers.' 1/2

Absolutely horrifying. Palestinians gunned down while trying to access food. Leaders across the world have a duty to speak out against these continuing atrocities. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Silence the war planes forever. Let us all hear the birds instead 🤍🕊 @nikitagill.bsky.social ✨️

"For too long, the system has worked on the basis that it should penalise and deter migrants rather than provide support. The Windrush scandal, the shameful ‘Go Home Vans’ and the ‘hostile environment’ policies are all examples of this" - Keir Starmer, 2020

Time to shamelessly promote this new #comicsstudies collection ‘Horror and Comics’ - edited by me, @barbarachamberlin.bsky.social and @komkunyosying - and packed with #horror themed goodness and looking at a global selection of comics! Due to be published by university of wales press next month.

Gosh, if only he knew someone in government who could do something about it.

Wholeheartedly, fuck you, Nick.

New COVID variant, sigh. And if NB.1.8.1 is in the US, the Netherlands and France then it'll be in the UK too. Now is a really good time to do things like wearing the best mask you can afford, testing before meeting up unmasked, opening windows and filtering air. www.cbsnews.com/news/us-repo...

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS ‘#Rivals in Context’ Special Issue of the Journal of Popular Television Edited by Joanne Ella Parsons and Julie Ripley #Bonkbuster

GOOD NEWS! Moderna’s combination COVID/influenza vaccine candidate mRNA-1083 has OUTPERFORMED the current standalone vaccines for BOTH viruses in a large (8000+) Phase III trial. A combination vaccine would make it easier for people to get vaccinated against COVID and influenza at the same time. 🧪🧵⬇️

From a survey of 57 universities by Universities UK: - 50% have cut courses - 25% have made compulsory redundancies - 20% have cut spending on research - 18% have cut staff time on research - 15% have cut student bursaries or hardship funds From last repost.

The current UK government wants to 'turbocharge' AI with new purpose-built data centres in this country (there are already 153 data centres here). Meanwhile United Utilities just asked us to start considering our water usage because reservoirs are more than 20% lower than this time last year.

A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope

Myths are stories about people who become too big for their lives temporarily, so that they crash into other lives or brush against gods. In crisis their souls are visible. Anne Carson, Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides

I don't 'refuse to use' AI, I just don't use AI; in the same way that I don't shoplift, or plagiarise other people's books - it requires no effort of will, it's just not something I would think of doing

If you're a grad student or an undergrad interested in research I need to you listen to me very carefully. You cannot learn to write good research papers if you do not read good research papers. Stop asking LLMs to summarize papers for you.

Someone just say immigration is good actually! Higher Education is good actually! Paying higher tax is good actually!

Thursday is normally my first year introduction to archaeology class, which I absolutely love teaching, but instead i’ll be on the picket line with my UEA @uea-ucu.bsky.social colleagues, fighting compulsory redundancies. Please follow our branch account for more info!

I was involved in writing this. Please read, sign if relevant and share. Not In Our Name.

1. Because this issue is critical, but has received remarkably little coverage, here's a thread pulling out the key themes from my article yesterday, on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which puts decades of environmental protections to the torch. 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...