Wishing you all a glorious Christmas!

Everybody knows about Betteridge's Law, but it's not often observed that its existence is tacit proof that the media routinely report lies.

Btw, if you want to donate to me, please do, two weeks till shift one and have a bit left to raise www.justgiving.com/page/lina-s-...

when someone tells me not to use em dashes because AI uses em dashes

The first one I can distinctly remember is the Challenger space shuttle blowing up. As for big events that happened earlier, I'm unsure whether or not I remember them when they first happened.

Laughing at a face mask being advertised as made of "breathable material." Yes, I hope so

Hell yeah! New mediaeval podcast just dropped.

Whenever I see Chuck Schumer trending I always know it's something good.

I know I shouldn't brag but I made an absolutely kickass lasagne tonight.

Finished the Rugby half marathon in 1:41:06 by my watch. I wanted to do under 1:45 so I'm super happy with that. Was quite hilly too, although the weather was very good 😊

I just can't fathom why hermit crabs evolved. Like, you're a crustacean, but unlike every other crustacean, you have to sort out your shell for yourself

Joking aside, I always find it a bit jarring to be reminded Ukip still exists, since they came to be so completely associated with Farage.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to have noticed that the people saying that the ECHR "needs to be updated" are never, ever, specific about what rights they think need to be dropped, modified, or (ha!) added.

To Transylvania

It's clear evidence that our political class spends an unhealthy amount of time on Twitter, that they follow events in America far too closely, and it has gradually cooked all their brains.

One of the lesser known Carry On films

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but don't call me a centrist.

Congratulations @zackpolanski.bsky.social, first encouraging thing to happen in British politics for years 🙌

Whatever good was done by Tony Blair's government was clearly done despite these people not because of them.

US liberals really need to face this. Even *if* a result is permitted to go against Trump, do you think he will accept it? He already showed us in 2020 that he will not. He was only stopped then because Republicans—Mike Pence in particular—refused to play ball. Think they will again? I don't.

Slightly diminish a band: The Off-white Stripes

Is this the same UK government that says it is going all in on AI?

Twenty years ago, I read the parable of the Banker and the Fisherman, while illustrated the stupidity of making money for money's sake. But we can see that things have got even worse since then.

Not the first time this has happened. I've been watching long enough to remember Congress voting for the USA PATRIOT act without any of them knowing most of what was in it.

Oh yes please do this, I can't wait to find out what would be in the Democrats' version of Project 2025

New video by @hoots.bsky.social !

More than a few pro-Brexit politicians and commentators had spent decades dining out on lies about supposed barmy Brussels regulations, and when leaving suddenly became a real prospect, they had to double down because their only alternative was admitting they'd been bullshitting all this time.

I mean, obviously. If Air Force One was merely a large business jet, the US government could easily have replaced the existing planes already.

This is why the backlash to the initial Covid response has been so fierce. Because for 50 years the elite have been trying to sever our social bonds, force us to think of ourselves as isolated individuals with no responsibilities to each other. But the pandemic showed the instinct is still there.

Laughing at the instructions for my new barbecue which caution not to operate it under the influence of alcohol. Buddy, I got some news for you

-you're masc-aligned means you get ostracized and looked down on. People don't go "Oh this person is interesting I wonder what their deal is", they go "this guy's weird, he's probably a creep", there's an unspoken understanding that men are closed off and cold, and showing emotion is a red flag.

Basically this argument boils down to, "we should be able to do whatever we like, because we are big and you are tiny."

I trust technological change that comes from the ground up, through engineers applying it to their work and refining it so it becomes generally useful. Traditionally, engineers chafe at being unable to persuade management to let them use the latest tech. This is an inversion of the natural order.

Morning team, what new dumb shit happened while I was asleep?

I've seen a few threads on things Trump 2 has shown us we were wrong about, and one of mine is this: Actually, a lot of rich people are motivated as much by social stratification as they are seeing Number Go Up — if not more. Guys like Elon Musk would rather rule in hell than be equal in heaven.

Great new video by @hoots.bsky.social, she explains many things that have long bothered me about new age and wellness stuff, much better than I could have expressed it, plus other things besides: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc3d...

FFS, they were just waiting for permission weren't they, and now they think they've got it 😡 www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Getting followed by a lot of bots today. Wait till they find out how uninteresting I am

@sarahmiam.bsky.social Merry Christmas Sarah! 👋

Also buttons that disappear after you've moved away from them

me: *signing to chimp* chimp: *signs back* reporter: how long did it take him to learn that? chimp: years

I must remember to do some www.theguardian.com/science/2024...

This stack of sugar in Sainsbury's was giving me considerable anxiety today

If there's a way to automate this I'd love to know.

At some point soon I'm going to have to make the effort to look up on Bluesky everyone I follow on Twitter, if they're here, but I'm really not looking forward to that.

Everyone thinks Elon bought Twitter with a plan in mind, and forgets that he had to be forced to buy it. There was no plan. He announced he wanted to buy it as a joke, then tried to wriggle out of it, and Twitter sued to make him follow through.

How's this for a weird flex: I haven't danced quickstep in 15 years. I was very surprised yesterday when put on the spot to find I could still remember how to do a basic, lockstep, AND a pivot turn well enough that my partner could follow me.

Look, the BlueSky logo is too similar to the FreeAgent logo, so every time I try to come here I end up looking at my accounts. Somebody needs to fix this