If you say ‘Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson’ three times whilst ruffling someone’s hair, they earn the right to smack you in the face.

Helmut Schmidt, mit Helium gefüllt und an einem festen Tau über dem Flughafen schwebend, hätte sämtliche russischen Drohnenangriffe abgewehrt.

Thought for the day: Trans time cannot be subsumed in notions of queer time. Trans time is always at risk of running out - for teenagers, for older trans people. The average waiting time for an appointment at a UK gender clinic is 25 years. When is the 'right time' to transition, asks Gwen:

beautiful

‘Since it wasn’t unlawful in 1899 for Frenchmen to exterminate, mutilate, behead, rape, enslave and dispossess Africans, France is not now liable for those activities.’ Rob Lemkin on the search for reparations for what France did to Niger, from the blog. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/no...

Kurze Zusammenfassung für alle, denen das jetzt etwas viel wird: Die CDU Berlin vergibt willkürlich Gelder für Antisemitismus-Bekämpfung, u.a. an eine Immobilienfirma mit Geschäftsführer Max Mustermann oder auch an die Kollegin des haushaltspolitischen Sprechers im Parteivorstand Lichterfelde. 1/4

Not often we get reviews of translations from Finnish: www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...

Mindestens eines davon bis Mitternacht: - so lange wie möglich nur über Menschen sprechen, die an einer besseren Welt für alle arbeiten - einüben, arme Menschen niemals zu verachten - das schönste Buch im Haus küren - sich bei einem guten Menschen melden - selbst Popcorn machen #MindestensEines

I don't intend to emigrate. My family are here, my friends are here, I love Glasgow, and I'm committed to the fight for liberation. But as a descendent of Jewish refugees, I recognise the signs that I might need to leave the UK for my own safety in coming years if things continue to deteriorate.

This is the interesting and important bit, if you don't want to click on the BBC link. It won't be a surprise to anybody who enjoys paying attention to the motivations behind horrible actions.

Rechte kulturelle Hegemonie droht.

lol

The Curriculum and Assessment review final report was published today by the government. Professor Charles Forsdick, Lead Fellow for Languages at The British Academy, reflects on the review’s implications for UK language education: https://bit.ly/4okpkjf

One week today! Join me for my inaugural lecture on 12th Nov. If you won’t be in Leeds, you can join online (dm me for Teams link)

Trying to make out which protected characteristics Timmy Robinson has. Oh, hang on.

There are ‘culture warriors’ with a populist agenda far removed from people’s lives. There are adult trans people and allies protesting, and you may not like their anger preferring a ‘balanced view’. And then there parents and kids facing mental anguish and risk of suicide.

China academic intimidation claim referred to counter-terrorism police’ That’s quite an escalation probably caused by a combination of a political agenda in the UK and the very poor handling of the issue by Sheffield Hallam University. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Aquiles, Falopio, Broca: las historias ocultas de poder detrás de los nombres de las partes del cuerpo humano www.bbc.com/mundo/articl...

Kein Tag vergeht, ohne dass jemand in Ausbildung, in der Schule, im Beruf – eben jemand, der gut integriert ist, aus dem Beruf, der Ausbildung, der Familie, dem Leben herausgerissen und abgeschoben worden ist. Es ist das servile wie selbstaufgebende Anbiedern eines Systems an seinen braunen Rand.

Kubikki doch kein SPIEGEL-Bestsellerautor. 😢

A film you have seen more than seven times with a GIF:

The sound of violence.

Fun Gus.

Now playing Abbey Road. Must have been at least twenty years since I last listened to it start to finish. I still like the B side’s suite of odd little song ideas most.

What bugs me is that both Tories and Labour look at this and believe they have to move even further to the right. On the other hand: Numerically, a centre-left majority in the popular vote is possible. Who can build such a coalition?

This week on Wonkhe: Changing research funding isn't enough to bring about sector specialisation. James Coe has the politics and DK has the stats in a correlational look at the white paper.

Looking through a glass onion.

1976: When the future sounded like Oxygène: vm.tiktok.com/ZNd3ce5Bt/

This is a good start, but people should also be free to drive on whatever side of the highway feels appropriate to them.

Most popular TV in Finland is Pentulive (puppy live) which lets you watch a litter of puppies and their mum. I have it on and it is adorable. The noises eleven (!) napping puppies make melt my heart.

During tonight’s Trick-or-Treating, our 3-year-old got more and more excited. “More houses! More candy!” Until he suddenly looked to the sky and shouted (verbatim): “Can I eat the moon!?” Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t, little one. Be the cosmic horror you want to see in the world.

Grammatik, so wichtig.

It's time again for another round of 👹 SPOOKY TALMUD 👻 😈 (and other Jewish texts) 😈 featuring Jewish vampires, 🧛‍♀️ ghosts, 👻 demon infestations, 👹 God's magic sword, ⚡and so much more!! 🧟

FDP hat Wissenschaft u auch dem Ministerium erheblichen erheblich geschadet. Wissenschaftler*innen, deren Projekte positiv begutachtet waren, sollten die Gelder entzogen werden, weil polit. Meinung nicht passt Mansour bekommt Geld gegen Rat der Gutachter correctiv.org/aktuelles/in...

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor

Reformationstag in der alten Heimat. Ich erinnere mich daran, dass das kein Feiertag war, aber der Rektor eine Rede hielt. Was er sagte, weiß ich nicht mehr. Wahrscheinlich was über beherzt für eine Überzeugung einzutreten. Und am nächsten Tag hatten wir wieder Ärger wegen der Schülerzeitung.

Which numpty broke my glasses? That’ll be me. 😢

We just published a response to the white paper on post-16 education and skills: englishassociation.ac.uk/the-english-... Let us know what you think! @bobeaglestone.bsky.social

New article alert 🚨 A new article by Emily Fuller has just been published on JPRS. Follow the link to read "Breaking Boundaries through the Body: Love, Monogamy, and Heteropessimism in Fredrik Backman’s Fiction": doi.org/10.70138/LXC... #RomanceResearch

Elon Musk ♥️ ‘Tommy Robinson’

Changing the clock is disruptive nonsense. Cats go hungry at 4pm because their stomach says it’s five. I wake up at 4.30am.

Es reicht jetzt mit Quoten, Cancel Culture und Wokeness, wir sind einfach zu weit gegangen.

NEW: The cleavage shot no UK tabloid will print. If you want to understand how truly ignorant and absent the British media is on Russian interference, read on. A Kremlin spy scandal, a trove of bikini shots....and still nothing but tumbleweed. open.substack.com/pub/broligar...

Any takers today? #zine #writing #poetry #gender

Capitalist realism meets das Führermuseum.

Best advertising from 1660:

An extraordinary visual essay from a city drowning in garbage. www.vice.com/en/article/g...