The state of British academia: my partner was made redundant from one uni after 14 (14)yrs on fixed-term contracts, & has now begun a short-term fixed contract at another that is threatening to put all (all) its academic staff at risk of redundancy in a “fire & rehire” www.ucu.org.uk/article/1445...
Keir Starmer has been mocked for choosing to have his photograph taken with a 'weapon of mass destruction rather than stand beside Anas Sarwar' during a fleeting trip to Scotland.
Known from 2020. Nothing in the last 6 years has been normal. It was normalised. Failing to protect ourselves isn’t normal. Ignoring the precautionary principle with red flags like this, isn’t normal. We should never have been told to catch this virus, not ever.
studyfinds.com/children-wit...
Register to vote by midnight on Monday. www.gov.uk/register-to-vote. Let's demand better. On May 7th vote Scottish Greens.
Your landlord is voting.
Your boss is voting.
Make sure you vote as well.
No matter where you live in Scotland, you can vote Scottish Greens on the peach ballot paper.
👉 www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.
Reminder that severe acute infections and deaths have not been the main issue with COVID for several years. The issue remains repeated infections and long-term consequences.
The health secretary wants to keep us in the dark about Palantir’s systems for handling sensitive health records.
So we’re taking legal action with Democracy for Sale to fight back:
https://goodlaw.social/249f
“40% of the undergraduate students reported brain fog due to COVID-19… 37% of the undergraduates exhibited impaired cognition up to 17 months post-infection.”
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Poignant read 👇
"The acute illness early in the pandemic was bad. That’s just the tip of the iceberg of suffering and death. Most of that still lies ahead and most people don’t seem to understand it or choose to ignore facing that reality..."
A phrase to send chills up & down a historian's spine: “cognitive surrender.”
Covid was airborne in February 2020 and remains airborne now in 2026!
"mental illness used to be the ups and downs of life"
No, mental illness used to be your mum taking to her bed for 20 years with what were euphemistically called "nerves".
Say his name: journalist Mohammad Al-Sayed, killed last night in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in Gaza. While the number of journalists killed by US-Israel in Palestine, Iran and Lebanon approaches 300 (and is happening daily again), we must not lose out humanity. We must remember each one.
Say his name: journalist Mohammad Al-Sayed, killed last night in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in Gaza.
While the number of journalists killed by US-Israel in Palestine, Iran and Lebanon approaches 300 (and is happening daily again), we must not lose out humanity. We must remember each one.
Dear Wes Streeting, thank you for behaving as if you were Scotland’s colonial viceroy. Every condescending sneer from you, every imperious command, gets me what I want: one step closer to independence
My column on Streeting’s refusal to ever grant another referendum
In @heraldscotland.bsky.social
you may think im being hyperbolic but here's how the european union characterise the 'gender critical' movement.
it's only in the uk that they get away with claiming that they're feminists and @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social and @darrenpjones.bsky.social falsely claim trans and women's rights conflict.
UK people, Sudanese students have set up a petition to Parliament for reinstating their educational visas.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...
Starring role is arguably the 'Defiant Dresser' (and her tragically awful parents, whom I've just realised have similar vibes to the fictional mother and father in Victoria Wood's 'Swimming the Channel' sketch).
Film poster showing illustrations of the two lead actresses on a deep pink background
THE CHILDREN’S HOUR (William Wyler, 1961, rewatch). A powerful, heartfelt film in which the depiction of homosexuality is very much a product of conservative societal attitudes at the time. Audrey Hepburn is magnificent as Karen - assured, humane and beautifully poised. (1/3) #FilmSky #1961Club
@regretteruane.bsky.social You've probably seen this already, but I came across it randomly and thought of you! www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxmr...
(CW: brief appearance by M*rgaret Th*tcher, albeit discussing her clothes).
Economist: Hospitals are stuck in a deadly doom loop They never recovered from covid-19 With a picture of an ER sign that says Emergency
You can say that again. Feels like you’re in a deadly doom loop every time you’re the only masked person at the hospital or a health facility. (By the way, they’re not going to recover from Covid-19 until they wake up and put on %*^$ing masks. It’s not rocket science.)
Agree about the trauma, but it can't be a hangover when people are still being disabled by long Covid & dying of the acute virus & its downstream organ/cardio damage.
We're still drunk
If you're sick of water companies being allowed to pump s**t into our rivers with no accountability:
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...
That's a solidarity 'like', not an actual one. FFS. So sorry, and raging for you and your colleagues.
“Our findings suggest that COVID-19 may do more than cause acute illness—it may also create biological conditions in the lung that could contribute to increased cancer risk over time. Understanding these pathways is critical as we continue to study the long-term health impacts of the virus.”
✨I could not be more excited to see what arrived in the post today. Not only because it is good to see 2 chapters reach the light of day, but because of the immense scholarship that has gone into this enterprise, with 69 scholars &2 vols my hat goes off to @ilikeoldbooks.bsky.social & other editors✨
2 books on a windowsill. Volume 1 (parts 1 & 2) of the History of the Book in Scotland.
Phot of first page of chapter in History of the Book in Scotland vol. 1: Kate Ash-Irisarri, ‘The Manuscripts of Walter Bower’s Scotichronicon’.
So pleased to see this out in the world! 2 volumes, over 60 contributors (incl. a small one by me) - a huge achievement for the four editors congratulations to @ilikeoldbooks.bsky.social et al for getting this over the line!
In France, legislation came into effect recently for all car parks that have over 80 spaces to be covered with solar panels. Estimated to add around 11GW of renewable energy capacity to the national grid. Why not do likewise in Scotland? Braehead, Silverburn, Glasgow Fort etc.
Here you go, America. You were looking for a new model of masculinity I think.
Woman in white and gold, red and black gown with long, curly red hair, little green slippers, lies back on a chair, a parrot perches, wings out on her hand, she is in a Moroccan style room with a small table with tea beside here, tiles, red rug, hookah, painting.
‘She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person who kept a parrot.’ ~ Mark Twain 🦜 #BookWormSat
🖼️ The Lady of the Tooti-Nameh or The Legend of the Parrot, Valentine Cameron Prinsep, c.1865.
Six months of an ineffective #ceasefire have left 733 people dead and 1,913 injured in #Gaza.
Doctors Without Borders calls on world leaders to protect civilians, restore dignified living conditions and allow humanitarian aid to reach those who need it.