One for the office 😅

Just spoke to my local library - they said they cannot offer extended hours for refuge from the heat as they do not have the funding 😭. Sucks that local councils have to fund this .. where is the Federal Environment minister? They're the ones approving new coal and gas mines.

For many years I lived in an apartment without aircon. My list of places I could go to escape the heat in metro Melbourne

New year, new handle! I finally got around to adjusting my Bluesky handle to use the domain of the LLIRN's website. One of the most recent additions to the site is my project page for my ongoing work on language, asylum and credibility 🤗 I love having one place to collate everything!

Can't remember the post I was quoting, but here's a little thread of Australian women authors to read 🤗

When I explain to people what is involved with writing a successful grant, they simply don’t believe me. I explained it once to a famous person from Pixar, and he looked me square in the eye and said: You mean all the cancer and Alzheimer’s grants work that way? You’ve gotta be &$%#ing kidding me!

THIS ISN’T GETTING ENOUGH ATTENTION. More than 100 immigration judges have been fired nationwide since Trump took office. 21 in San Francisco alone, many without explanation. Why? Because these judges provided due process under US law. The Trump admin doesn’t want hearings or fairness. 1/2

The new hot methologies: Reading old stuff, talking to people, and pondering it all.

Here's my in from Cameron's list ☺️: lawandlanguage.org

Gràcies al suport del @Cultura_gencat, publiquem un manual per entendre i promoure el català com a dret, eina d’empoderament i llengua viva. Pensat per a professionals i voluntariat que treballen amb persones nouvingudes. 👉 empoderamentlinguistic.cat/blog/ #català #ússocial #empoderamentlingüístic

And might as well share this episode, which I contributed to, from 2024. Doing this was a great experience, and lots of fun! Best wishes to the Language On The Move team for 2026! www.languageonthemove.com/multilingual...

Excited to share this wonderful news: the Language on the Move podcast won this year's Talkley award from the @auslingsoc.bsky.social 🤗 If you're looking for something new to listen to in the new year, try it out!

“Algeria's parliament has unanimously passed a law declaring France's colonisation of the North African state a crime, and demanding an apology and reparations.” Colonialism is not an artifact. It still takes shape through global politics today and restitution should be made to address its effects.

"Pressed on whether marketing an addictive AI chatbot to kids is ethical, Hardin shrugged: “I mean sure, but that’s not really our problem. That’s something parents or maybe lawmakers might want to look into.”

I find it incredibly difficult to write about my Jewishness. I didn't want to write this, but I did. We need to re-embrace complexity and nuance in thinking about and discussing the Jewish future.

Happy to have published two out of this year's top ten most read posts on Language on the Move. Listening to all the podcast episodes has also been a highlight of my year. Check them out!

Been seeing a lot of blacked out text recently? Well here's a post that looks similar but shares something altogether different. A poem about language, identity and migration from the @languageonthemove.bsky.social

Christmas Still LIfe, 1908 by German Expressionist painter Gabrielle Münter #womensart

There was no "get a smartphone or you'll be left behind" marketing, because smartphones are actually useful. If your invention is good, you don't have to use that kind of pressure to market it.

Mais Roguet résume très bien la manière dont, en général, les voyages pseudo-exotiques, pseudo « à-la-découverte-d’une-autre-culture » deviennent eux aussi des produits faits sur mesure pour satisfaire le consommateur.

“But it’s also that this land, this beautiful Aboriginal land, was not made to hold such grief. It can, and it does, but it shouldn’t have this burden thrust upon itself.” @jordanas.bsky.social on the logic of violence that permeates Australia.

I did miss out on this (was supposed to present) and am experiencing FOMO! Looking forward to following the work of all the wonderful presenters 🤗

This 'Aussie Christmas tree' photo is doing the rounds again - usually without attribution. It was taken by Layn Simpson of Gympie - in his backyard. An excellent snap. I have an invitation to visit next time I'm in Gympie so I'll look forward to that. You can find Layn on Instagram. Worth a follow.

As a little treat for you, here's an #ArabicBible Advent calendar 🧵. Every day I'll post a verse from the Christmas story from one of the oldest Arabic Gospel lectionaries, Sinai ar. 72, dated 897 CE (and a few other texts in between). [2nd attempt, I won't be offended if you point out my nonsense.]

Excellent reporting from @charliesavage.bsky.social and @julianbarnes.bsky.social starting with the "plain reality" that there was no warship, and no fighting going on, in the Sept. 2 strike, or any of them: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u... 1/2

we've received our 501st submission for 2025 (10 more already than the total received in 2024). Is the increase in submissions driven by GenAI?? It just might be, dear reader...

The UK statistics regulator will remind the Home Secretary they advise "against making definitive comparative statements without presenting the underlying data and methodology" ie: it can undermine public confidence to make assertions that don't mean what they appear to claim

Wow this is quite bad...

Ombudsman is an unnecessarily gendered term in an era where gender neutral should be the norm. As such I propose that we refer to them as "the Ombuddy" (singular) or "Ombuddies" (plural)

🚨🚨 Call for papers!!! 🚨🚨 Together with @jenhendry.bsky.social, I am excited to ask for contributions to a special issue of the Journal of Comparative Law, dedicated to the legacy of the late and wonderful William Twining. Full details to follow:

Always find some great recommendations on the LOTM challenges! Broaden your reading horizons in 2026 👇🏽

I would love to read a study of how our use of language has changed when we talk to customer service now because we know we are talking to a machine

While focus is often solely on asylum, and small boat crossings in particular, it's important to remember that Labour's hostililty against all migrants is harming not only individuals, but the whole country, with an estimated loss of £10.8billion, and zero actual benefits. www.ft.com/content/2b60...

New Home Office impact assessment finds that cutting skilled and social care visas will cost the UK up to £10 billion with a central estimate of -£5.4 billion. It would be good if this got even a fraction of the coverage devoted to the endless debate about boats, flags and Turkish barber shops

Absolutely amazing chart from @peterkellner.bsky.social's piece in @thenewworldmag.bsky.social today: www.thenewworld.co.uk/peter-kellne...

Incredible the difference I'm observing mere hours after the child social media ban. Four boys on my street started a journey from their treehouse to determine who amongst them is Lord of the Flies. Along the way, they're learning about themselves, & the meaning of friendship. Great to see

Thanks, Australian government. Now we're all expected to deliver our ID to random companies on the internet for safe keeping.

No one should be offered death in lieu of treatment. No one should be offered death when they’re asking for help. It’s coercive even if they have the “right” to say no, because if no other treatments are offered they’re going to experience tremendous suffering.

This is a great approach that could really apply to so many different movements or even to life in general

I'm looking forward to talking to @lieven.bsky.social in person next week about his new book, The Language of Memes!

my one very sincere piece of business advice to universities: it takes *a lot* of indignities to kill the goodwill of people who choose to work at universities but managing to do so is not something to be proud of

A huge number of people were deprived of citizenship by the Nazis. Political opponents first, then Jews. Maybe more than 200,000 people in total.

Biggest commitment to a 3 second joke I've ever seen

A man of words made out of words. This printed carmen figuratum, in German Figurengedicht, shows Martin Luther as a figure made out of words. And the words form the three creeds used in the Lutheran tradition: the Nicene Creed, the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed. #earlymodern #bookhistory