Disturbing findings from a year-long @thelondonstandard.bsky.social investigation - Magistrates routinely sit in secret to approve utility warrants - They don't even look at most applications - Rule breaches aren't investigated Chief Magistrate looking into this www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/magi...

Empty docks, shuttered courtrooms, missing evidence - The real reasons for London’s crippling court delays My long read for @thelondonstandard.bsky.social www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...

What would really be the implications of taking Santa Claus seriously? It's the time of the year to review the current state of the physics of Santa Claus 1/12

Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later. harpers.org/archive/1941...

Why juries matter Jury trials should not be deleted without properly funding other parts of the criminal justice system By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...

Here is a list of reasons why some of my hearings and trials this year have been delayed and kicked off into the long grass, stuck in our record court backlog. Serious allegations which will now be tried *years* after the event. 🧵👇

white house has joined bluesky click here to block all official us government accounts instantly bsky.app/profile/did:...

Slightly diminish a band Quite Hot Chili Peppers

True Story

This tracks with my gut feeling that AI is the new 3D movies - a fad that the industry is trying to force onto consumers because they’ve already spent vast amounts of money on the underlying tech. There are a few genuinely good/memorable uses (ala Avatar/Gravity) and the rest is forgettable dreck.

We have a copy of this book to give away. To be in with a chance to win, repost this message Sentencing Principles, Procedure and Practice 2025 Winner, randomly chosen, will be announced on 17th January

So... Remember that guy who took Newport Council to court for £600m because he accidentally threw out the hard drive with his bitcoin private key on it? Judge just summarily dismissed his case. And even if you're not a lawyer, the judgement is a pretty fun read... /1

Well, now I have a word for this, at least! 😅

No wonder Musk wants to keep the reasons for the crashes secret despite hundreds of crashes. TESLA suggests the data is proprietary… but this YouTube report suggests that it over relying on cameras rather than eg radar …LIDAR (which is very expensive …but used by other car manufacturers)

In 1582, a papal bull introduced the Gregorian calendar, still used today by most of the world. Because it’s 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, countries introducing it simply skipped a third of October, and if you scroll back far enough in the iPhone calendar app you can see it change

The Hawk Tuah Memecoin Rug Pull Is The Apotheosis Of Bag Culture - defector.com/the-hawk-tua...

Outliving the people whose bylines are on your obituary is an absolutely titanic flex

this is funny as-is but imo way funnier when you see his lawyer

There still ain’t no high like a trial win high. 😁

As if to illustrate the point, I've just had another trial listing for June 2027. Both the weather, and my spirits, are quite gloomy today... 😔

A rare piece and interview from @legalhackette.bsky.social with a well-liked, hugely-respected judge who recently retired. Unrivalled insight into the system as it slowly, but surely, breaks.

Where’s the second dog that says “you should be doing it every day”

Webcam not working today for my prison conference. Fine, just add it to the long, long list of broken things. Same issue later with my CVP hearing. Managed to get through it ok on mic alone, then finished & realised I’d done the whole thing still wearing my wig and robe. To an audience of none. 🤦‍♂️

“From three friends in high places to essentially zero is quite the feat of statecraft.” Ouch. Janah Ganesh in FT today: How Britain squandered the best hand in the world on.ft.com/3AP6eOO

🧵SALT🧵 It's been snowing in the UK and the road gritters are out in force, begging the question: Have you ever wondered where that grit actually COMES from? The answer is more magical, beautiful and fascinating than you probably realised. 1/14

So, uh, unexpected snow day anyone? (In November?!)

Wow, this is so hardcore!

Ahahahaha - looking forward to see what The Onion does with this!

Forget darkest timeline. This is, in fact, the dumbest.

This is indeed quite something.

My friend @iandunt.bsky.social let me borrow his substack to write about the Trumpian Tariffs, their Brexit parallels, and what it all could mean for the UK and the world. Finally, a return on investment for my endless patience teaching him about comic books. iandunt.substack.com/p/guestpost-...

It's Remembrance Day, and I'm invariably reminded of the Blackadder finale, which remains one of the finest pieces of tragicomic commentary on the futility of war (in addition to being one of the all-time great series finales). Good luck everyone. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgyB...

Sunday evening homework club. At least the company is pleasant. =]

Finally deactivated and deleted my Twitter/X account. Long past due, though I'd only kept it open for monitoring purposes through the US election. There's nothing of value there now.

George Conway isn’t pulling any punches here and all of this is true

Eloquently put. Worth a read.

"I think this will go very bad, and the near future will likely be darker than anything most living Americans have ever experienced. I hope I’m wrong, more than I’ve ever hoped to be wrong in my life. I really don’t think I am."

I see I’ve woken up in the darkest timeline again. Ugh…

On excluding AI from Google search...

👋 hello to my new followers from over the weekend. I assume Elon did something else silly to further alienate the dwindling number of decent people left on the hellsite… Anyways, you’ll find the vibe here much improved - I’m certainly not going back. Hope ya’ll have a good week. ✌️

England's criminal courts are in disarray. If you are victim of a crime now, and the police catch the suspect and the CPS charges them, the trial may not take place until 2027. My essay for this weekend's FT on how this happened and what might fix it on.ft.com/401MjpS

This is some top tier trolling of Trump/Musk by the Cards Against Humanity team, lol.

Another Sunday evening wasted prepping for a trial that was then unable to proceed today. No prosecutor, and no spare courtroom. At least this case has been relisted next year, so will only be *checks notes* 4 years old before the trial is heard...

Okay I think you are ready for this BlueSky. Let's talk cheese history. More specifically, Yorkshire Dales cheeses, and how WW2 and rationing almost wiped out cheesemaking in northern Britain. This is the story of the near-death of the world of one of the world's great cheeses: Wensleydale. /1 🧵

Happy #caturday I don’t know what he’s plotting, but it’s definitely something… #proofofcat

Well, it happened. Today I received my first trial listing for 2027. For a 3 day trial, with defendant on bail. What a joke. #thelawisbroken

If you’ve not visited the site before, can I recommend this livecam of a watering hole in the Namib desert? It’s fascinating and hypnotic in equal measure. Currently watching an ostrich and an oryx :-) #nature #Namibia #Africa www.youtube.com/live/ydYDqZQ...