I hope someone draws this wonderful story about Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the power of the arts to help us see things differently, to the attention of our Education Secretary. Do read it, it will lift your spirits.

My mum's done over 38 years for GirlGuiding. A Queen's Guide, she ran Brownie troupes, was a commissioner, even had her Brownie troupe at her wedding. Tonight, bc of this decision, she has requested immediate removal of her membership because she stands with ALL women and girls, not just cis ones.

Home alone this evening, I am texting a few friends simply to ask how they are. And I feel like a long-dead something emerging from underneath a moss-encrusted stone. I’ve always been bad at keeping in touch, but this is next level…

So this is a bit weird. The Guardian has done a big ‘Who owns the UK media?’ graphic that includes all national titles + Unherd, Statesman etc. But *not* the Observer. 🧐 Cock-up? Or implicit acknowledgment that we still don’t actually know who *does* own the Observer.

Also, passt mal auf: Heißt es in Deutschland ‚Oil of Olaz‘ und in den USA ‚Oil of Olay‘, weil jemand eigentlich eine englische Tastatur erwartet hat und dann eine deutsche bekommen hat? Oder umgekehrt?

Under Mahmood's current proposals, presumably would have been deported to Czechoslovakia in 1945, when it was "safe" again.

Introduce yourself with 5 concerts: Blur (as a support band!), Birmingham uni guild (1990) John Cale, Cologne E-Werk (1991/2) Elastica, Leeds Duchess of York (1994) Travis, Freiburg Platz der Weißen Rose (2003) Karl Bartos (Kraftwerk), Freiburg ZMF (2005)

From the cradle to the … juvenile court. Taking the stairs back down from my gyn-ob practice, I saw this sign on a lower floor.

Please share if you've been MARKED SAFE from Black Friday hyper-consumerism, corporate greed, and marketing propaganda?

"No crack, no smack, no angel dust" the lost verse of thy Only Fools and Horses closing theme music

Introduce yourself with 5 concerts: Blur (as a support band!), Birmingham uni guild (1990) John Cale, Cologne E-Werk (1991/2) Elastica, Leeds Duchess of York (1994) Travis, Freiburg Platz der Weißen Rose (2003) Karl Bartos (Kraftwerk), Freiburg ZMF (2005)

27/11/2025 – Definitely ‘changeable’ when I left LlGC #llgc #nlw #aberystwyth #ceredigion #canolbarthcymru #midwales #cymru #wales

So, my dear German followers...some News "in eigener Sache"! Und bitte nicht schreien, 😚....ich bleibe in London !

As a bass player, I’d just like to clarify that many of us are competent in basic maths.

One of the most beautiful bits of english eccentricity and glorious design is coming back to Sotheby’s and should be bought by a musuem (or me) for THE NATION. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

this is amazing news - the HPV vaccine promises to eliminate cervical cancer in countries where uptake is high.

I shouldn’t, but … LOL!

Yes, I can google this, but I’d like to ask my well-read and discerning peeps here first: Can you recommend any poems or prose fiction that deal with a youngish or middle-aged person grappling with becoming the/a head of their family when the older generation dies or becomes incapacitated?

I said "no" to something yesterday, and again today! (Two different things, I should maybe clarify.) #gettingthere #smallvictories

Life has been very … lifey lately. But I’m showered, with squeaky clean hair, and there’s the prospect of minestrone and then fresh PJs before bed. #SimplePleasures #gratitude

I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities. Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...

I'm also mesmerised by how steady that person's hand is!

A couple of these are a bit too close for comfort. Men - laugh in the presence of your perimenopausal partner at your peril.

The BBC’s own “impartiality briefing” for freelancers included not doing anything to annoy the DM. So - not impartial! Also not great for freedom of speech.

For the Brits in Germany - am testing Wick DayMed, which looks a lot like Lemsip. Similar to the standard Cold & Flu version, but Wick also has Guaifenisin.

Bildergalerie: Das sind die schönsten Weihnachtsmarktpoller Deutschlands www.der-postillon.com/2025/11/poll...

I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

narrator: 50 years ago... me: [nods] in 1945 narrator: in 1975... me: what

Behold! My blanched kale is (almost) ready for the freezer.

😌 Hey @bexxi.bsky.social! You seem to be in a decent mood in your posts. Your sentiment score is 0.11 (slightly positive). Those positive posts are a good look on you. Keep that energy going!

In new ‘why, just why’ English being used in Germany, I give you: Before Christmas Street.

Hi there @sentimentbot.bsky.social

Anyone see a problem here? Speaking as a teacher with a master’s degree, I’m insulted.

oh, that's... that's not... you can't call it that

...honestly...what? ( that slaps ngl)

It's the most wonderful time of the year: Scotland's gritter tracker is back! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️🧊 www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...

Two veteran US Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists watched the BBC Panorama that led to the decapitation of its two leading executives. Their verdicts may surprise you …. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...

will admit i don't fully understand this but POETRY OUTFOXES AI is the best case for preserving English degrees i have ever heard. 'all the teenage girls who were really into Sylvia Plath at one point vs tech bros' is the battle for civilisation we deserve

BREAKING: Former Ukip / Reform MEP Nathan Gill is sentenced to ten and a half years at the Old Bailey on 8 counts of bribery by a Russian agent... MORE SOON

Word of the day is ‘quockerwodger’ (19th century): a puppet politician whose strings are pulled entirely by someone else.

They feck you up your rhyming prompts They mean to and they do They fill you full of all their Caesurae Then add enjambement Just for you But they were fecked up in their turn By weird tech bros in polo necks Who half the time are raving mad And half Nazi Hitlermechs

Got it in one! 😃 #Lingule #1314 "-ngxama": 1/6 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🏆 lingule.xyz

Earlier today, I was notified that someone was at my door. This is who it was:

Herzlich willkommen! Seit Oktober ist Prof. Dr. Birte Christ Professorin für Englische Philologie (Nordamerikanische Literaturwissenschaft) am Englischen Seminar. Im Interview spricht sie u.a. über Forschungsfreiheiten in den Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaften. ufr.link/neuberufen-c...

The Christmas market opened today, and the weather has reacted by sleeting in a clearly joyless, misanthropic manner. 😅

Remarkably simple solution. If you don't want the backing of the far-right for your immigration policy, or to have people point out that you have their backing, don't base your immigration policy on the far-right's rhetoric and ideology. www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/shab...

It’s so cold today that there are teenagers wearing coats.

Sometimes, a front page can sum up quite a lot that’s wrong with the world. Including the paper itself which has been so complicit in getting us to a place where children born to refugees could be deported, Trump celebrates despotic wealth and Boris Johnson’s sister moans about not being rich. Ugh.

Twitter down: Langjähriger Nutzer gezwungen, Wildfremde auf der Straße zu beleidigen www.der-postillon.com/2025/11/twit...