Talking to pro “free speech” UK right-wingers who admired Orban I have often referred to this detail - which I still find astonishing.
(From @iandunt.bsky.social’s How To Be A Liberal)
I love the original West Side Story film (1961), especially the opening scenes.
But the more years that pass the clearer it is that the Spielberg version (2021) is the better movie.
i know writers who use AI and they're not writers
Getting the stickers ready for when the Bayeux Tapestry comes to London this summer.
This is brilliant on the disappearance of the cultural "middle" - in film, food and work.
readfoundobject.substack.com/p/they-kille...
Happy Slapping comes to the Netherlands 12 years later...
Got a suprise email today confirming a petition I signed 5 YEARS AGO against a road widening that would destroy beautiful parkland in Utrecht... helped the campaign succeed.
One of the campaigners was Dutch actress Carice van Houten. Her magic probs helped more than the petition.
This reminds me of my favourite description of dealing with university academics (by an academic):
“Not so much herding cats but herding kittens with flick-knives.”
Now you know how I fell about ALL THE SPORT.
That same quote was being parroted this week by [checks notes] Susan Hall, the Conservatives' last candidate to be Mayor Of London. Just astonishing.
I enjoyed Louis Theroux's delve into the Manosphere, but I have the niggling sense that the whole panic around it is a bit of a fantasma.
The prevalence of misogyny among young men is no higher now than in 2015. The worst you can say is it's stopped shrinking.
What am I missing here?
“U are wiv de anglers now” made me cackle.
Also the cadence of that message shows Goodwin is blatantly using AI to churn out this crap.
In turn, @mikeysmith.com has used AI to parody Goodwin's laziness beautifully over in the other place.
ICYMI: The Teacher Development Trust is to become part of the Chartered College of Teaching, the professional development charity has announced
schoolsweek.co.uk/teacher-development-trus...
Excited that the Teacher Development Trust is to become part of the Chartered College of Teaching. As a trustee of TDT I'm very glad the trust has found such a perfect home to continue its legacy.
www.tes.com/magazine/new...
I thought it was a fake / right-wing joke when I first heard it mentioned.
But that’s his actual TikTok account. It has millions of followers.
I think he definitely does.
But not sure the comms team properly thought through:
- the tone
- the Dire Straits / Strait of Hormuz pun
- our military action being “money for nothing”
- the fact this song has the same homophobic slur problem now as Fairytale of New York.
I'd somehow missed that Keir Starmer had uploaded a Trump-style war bravado Tiktok about the UK's response to Iran - soundtracked to "Money for nothing" by Dire Straits.
What the actual hell?
www.tiktok.com/@keirstarmer...
Obviously it enfuriates me that a large part of the British public imagine there is an above board "process" for genuine refugees from Iran, Eritrea and most other countries to get to the UK that doesn't involve sneaking in or landing under false pretences, when that is the only legal way for them.
Probs not the right poll, but I was struck by one last year that showed that among the anti-immigrant voting group who wanted "large numbers of migrants who came to the UK in recent years to leave" - 60% still didn't support getting rid of refugees who had "followed the correct legal process"
South London friends have been telling me about their frustration at the Red vs Blue “school wars” - the huge time wasted by schools and clubs, plus the fear caused to their kids over online bollocks.
@londoncentric.media’s reporting is, as always, top class.
open.substack.com/pub/londonce...
I love the story of the palace's previous owner Luisa Casati, a countess who "astonished society by parading with a pair of leashed cheetahs and wearing live snakes as jewellery".
She was interred in London with her Pekinese dogs.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luisa_C...
In the 2024 general election, Democracy Volunteers found that 49% of those causing “family voting” were… women.
They should urgently release their stats on that for last night’s by-election as many groups are leaping to assumptions.
Kurt Vonnegut stop being so applicable to all time periods of American life, you can’t do that Kurt Vonnegut, your insights are too evergreen Kurt Vonnegut
Not for the first time I’m reminded of the line about how the British treat class the way Americans treat nationality - like the people whose families have been American for 5 generations telling everyone that they’re “Irish”.
They might be on the nose but I’ve found myself listening a lot to the terrific protest songs of @earthtoeve.bsky.social - especially “No Kings”, “Threat Level Orange” and the excoriating “Have you heard the news today?”
Like this Lisa Nandy line from her interview with @theguardian.com.
The Ring surveillance story is bigger in the US than UK.
But Apple fans who went with Aqara doorbells instead because they worked with Apple Home may still feel a bit smug.
(Until the inevitable 2027 story about how their doors are being monitored by the Chinese government instead)
Macbeth: SHIT
Q: What connects Darth Vader (18), Luke Skywalker (4), Han Solo (3), R2D2 (2), Princess Leia (1) and Boba Fett (1)?
A: It’s how often they are named in the #Epstein Files.