Computer…give me your best midcentury polling stations

"The banishment of death as spectacle from everyday life was one of our species’ greatest civilising achievements. We should feel gloomy about its re-emergence." www.thetimes.co.uk/comment/colu...

This is a terrible and deliberately divisive piece of reporting by the Times. Somewhere near the bottom of the article, they admit that actually Muslims prioritise the cost of living above Gaza. It's not even close - cost of living was prioritised by 50%, Gaza by 25% www.thetimes.com/article/5c7c...

Yeah. I fear the Manchester Combined Authority is a catastrophic success in that the peculiar circumstances of Greater Manchester's councils having such effective working relationships, lumbered it and the rest of the country with a model that just won't work well in normal circumstances.

Incredible chart (from otherwise depressing news story about bad advice being given to new parents) showing how cot deaths fell by 50% in the first year after the 'Back to Sleep' campaign was launched, and have continued to fall since. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Today’s newsletter: the United Kingdom doesn’t have the antiracism movement that its politicians, or much of the British Jewish community, thinks it does:

Elliot Rodger killed more men than women, but nobody doubts that he was motivated by misogyny. Equally, the fact that the London attacker stabbed a Muslim acquaintance first doesn't make his principle motivation not anti-Semitic, given that he was *actively looking for Jewish people to kill.*.

Interesting read

This is an astonishingly successful public policy reform, and so heartening. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Really looking forward to this event and to presenting some of my work alongside the very brilliant @anastruillou.bsky.social and @maayana.bsky.social !!

BEATS BLACKPOOL BUT NOT RHYL.

Is there a single slackliner who can actually *do* it

Posting this on the Finchley synagogue (very near us) Important to share, I think. bsky.app/profile/adsq...

those world cup halftime show acts in full: - the village people stapled together to form a megazord - zoe bread - sex mp’s sex dungeon - worse bunny - peter mandelson’s wig - strait of hormuz lost cruise ship - tom skinner, gyrating - pompompurin - david owen outta nowhere

Had a couple of days back in Bristol and spent a while looking at the replacement of the Colston window in St. Mary Redcliffe church which I think is beautiful

Was in the magistrates yday: two phone thieves having an initial hearing for offences dating back to August 2024. Trial won’t be until summer. I think there genuinely is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a long way off & Gov has also watered down opportunities to tackle this properly

Thought this was an interesting little chunk. The people running this government have forgotten how to make a sincere argument for what they are doing.

“…in the end, I think we have to approach human rights issues with certain principles. We have to say something is right, and we stick by what is right” www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Am smoking a cigar. Have another cigar when this is finished.

All excellent! La Grazia in particular was really fascinating — love Paolo Sorrentino

WECA….more like the West of England Chud Authority

FT Exclusive: The idea for a pause in fighting, under which Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, originated from Donald Trump's team, even as the US president escalated threats against the Islamic republic. ft.trib.al/WzzTmSO

(Crab cognitive behavioral therapy enjoyer) Think positively. she is probably climbing for a reason. Maybe she's late for a job interview. Maybe her wife is giving birth Me: I'm da king of da bucket

My steak too juicy. My lobster too buttery. My dryer filter too full of lint

Great charity shop find for today of all days

Today the two-child limit is gone. Parents have told us what this will mean for their kids: - A first-ever birthday party for a 10-year-old - Better quality food - Clothes that aren't completely worn out - Going on the school trip without getting into debt - A new mattress - Swimming lessons

This sort of facile populism is really damaging to trust in politics. Most British MPs are highly attuned to the cost of living crisis and challenges faced by their constituents.

Has anyone ever tried to retrieve something from Lost & Found at JFK airport? Left a very beloved jumper on a plane and the airline is directing me there but I’m a little pessimistic about my chances of success

that Love Actually scene is such bullshit. I’ve been in the airport half an hour and I’ve already seen enough people to last me a lifetime. Sick of it

Of course no one from *checks notes* Sudan or Afghanistan could be in genuine danger.

Use of force against women in English prisons more than doubled from 2021/2022 to 2024/2025.⁠ ⁠ Women are being handcuffed, restrained or subjected to “pain-inducing techniques”. Force has even occured against pregnant women and during hospital examinations ⤵️⁠ www.opendemocracy.net/en/handcuffs...

"History has lied to you". No it hasn't, and it's really sad that a university is using this framing. Historians debate evidence - often, as here, quite fragmentary. They question received ideas, test new theories, correct mistakes. That's the joy of history. But it doesn't mean others "lied". /

Once again I beg local parties not to confuse *loud* with *popular*

It’s Kingston Town - UB40 weather

Huge escalation for UK school library censorship. Nearly 200 books targeted in one school, with the excuse of “safeguarding”. A librarian has lost her job & can never work in schools again. The fate of the books remains to be seen. @indexoncensorship.org www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/03/scho...

BBC World Service to get extra £11m a year in deal ending funding uncertainty

More often than I would expect & always at c 22:50 R3’s Night Tracks plays either Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis or An Ending (Ascent) and I get very convinced I’m being Communicated To by my radio

They said it would take 193 years to clean London’s air. We did it in nine. 💨 London has now met legal limits for nitrogen dioxide air pollution.

When I was at 6th form we got a Men B vax as part of a medical trial which was aiming to make the case for rolling out the vaccine amongst students. You can’t protect people against everything but seeing this it strikes me as a terrible shame that (despite a successful trial) this didn’t then happen

Saying ‘bring back my tabs’ in a Ru Paul voice whenever I open my laptop

the new ayatollah won’t see your posts about how he’s either severely injured or dead but all your friends who haven’t been seen in public in ages will

The duvet cover in the washing machine is hungry…it must feed

Love Charles Causley

A v good thread on the manosphere and crisis of misogyny among young men. Is it worse than ever, or is it just the latest manifestation of a long-running issue?

‘Gender critical’ transphobes, Ex-EHRC Chair Kishwer Falkner, and Sharron Davies both hate other people having bodily autonomy - They’re now trying to stop people getting abortion pills by post! So much for pretending to care about women & girls! 🤷🏼‍♀️😖

This is the best lede I've seen in a tech story in...years? There should be an award just for ledes.

Asking for some Jaffa Cakes & a can of Fanta from the shop, call that the Orange Order

and how exactly is the Blue Labour approach going for the Labour Party