I think the best way to experience the Odyssey is to take a bus/taxi to a remote cinema and then run back home at night (just shy of 10 miles in my case). Extra points if doing so without navigation and you don't quite know the way. Had a bit of fun on the way ...
If/when we have an H5N1 pandemic, there will very likely be a lot of preventable child deaths because people have been deluded by these revisionist right-wing lunatics and will insist schools must be open no matter what.
Prof Christina Pagel@chrischirp.bsky.social · 5d agoKeeping schools open is a goal not a policy. A blanket "never close schools" is a bad lesson. I suggest these: 1. Do not prejudge next pandemic which will be a different virus and could have very different age profile of who it attacks 9/12
Yesterday I learned that during appeasement French journalists mockingly called Chamberlain Monseur J'aime Berlin, which is exceptional work. Well done France.
The trillionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX and a major media org is posting about how we need to expel all non-white people from their countries and kill the people who oppose this. And it’s just…fine? People will still show up to work for him?
Re the Tate brothers, the Secretary of State (Rubio) must approve all extraditions from the US. The court merely certifies whether they are 'extraditable'. www.congress.gov/crs-product/... If Trump says 'no' (still my guess despite protestations), it won't happen.
congress.gov
Have you noticed an opaqueness to the blue sky this morning? Wildfire smoke from North America is drifting south across the UK, meaning the clear skies may not be as blue as you might expect 🌤️
Worrth remembering that Andy Burnham has a long record of being anti-immigration. He's kept Shabana Mahmood in place because he agrees with her
Spain and Iran the only two teams who have not lost a single game at the World Cup. Says a lot about Iran, actually.
As he was being arrested, Tate tried to pass his phone to his security, but failed. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkgY...
@jonnyb69.bsky.social · 3w agoHanded off his phone to his security very fast, who promptly disposed of it on the floor. Agent was quick enough to pick it up though... Wonder what could be on it 🤔 Ultimately however 🍊🤡 will block this. Will be interesting to see the reaction of Burnham and whoever the Foreign Secretary is...
More people need to know about the Sea Peoples and Late Bronze Age collapse - the period when the Iliad and the Odyssey are set. And the role of Cornish tin in powering the Late Bronze Age empires of the eastern Mediterranean. www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Cornish tin was sold all over Europe 3,000 years ago, say archaeologists
British team says new study ‘radically transforms’ understanding of bronze age trade networks
theguardian.com
M@0xcd16.bsky.social · 3w agoEgyptian records of the Sea Peoples (a maritime coalition that invaded Egypt during that period) mention the Ekwesh and the Denyen, who are tentatively identified with Homer's Achai(w)oí and Danaoí. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Peo...
The replies to this are full of people who vehemently disagree. One can argue about 'pretty' - eye of the beholder and all that - but it certainly isn't 'natural'. Prior to the arrival of agriculture, most of Britain was covered by woodland and now it isn't, QED. 1/5
Anon Opin@anonopin.bsky.social · 3w agoBritish countryside is shit. Is just an industrial estate for growing food. It may be necessary but it's not remotely natural or pretty.
Incidentally if anyone would like to hear the Homeric epics in Ancient Greek, our former Prime Minister is available. (And if you're outside the UK and promise to keep him away from us for a while, we'd be happy to cover the travel costs.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzJQ...
Boris Johnson recites extracts of "The Iliad" in Greek
YouTube video by J IAT
youtube.com
Jack Grimes@jackapedia.design · 3w agoFurious that Chris Nolan would disregard historical accuracy in adapting The Odyssey by making a "movie" with "cameras" instead of memorizing the entire story and then going on a nationwide tour to sing it to us while tripping on ergotized barley
FIFA is a supra-national institution, $3m to fight them could be fun?
Anne Applebaum@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 3w agoThe State Department has just put out a tender, offering funding of up to $3 million to European organizations who want to fight against "Supra-national institutions" - presumably the EU - and governments who seek to regulate the internet and end Western Civilization. www.state.gov/drl-nofo-dev...
🚨 The MHCLG remediation programme has been downgraded from AMBER to RED. Successful delivery now "appears to be unachievable". Two years in govt & Labour is going backwards. Hundreds of thousands remain trapped in unsafe homes. And they call this change? www.constructionnews.co.uk/buildings/bu...
Cladding remediation programme 'appears to be unachievable', NISTA says
The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) has downgraded the government's cladding remediation programme to a red rating,
constructionnews.co.uk
A black labrador had to be rescued from the UK’s highest mountain after falling seriously ill when she ate cannabis, her owner has said. https://cnn.it/4eZIYPt
Reform and their supporters now trying to reframe all journalistic scrutiny of them as being dangerous political attacks, bordering on terrorism. A preview of what we could expect from a Reform government
Speaking as someone who swam about 1400 metres (0.87 miles) in a river yesterday and is now fearing for his life, I wholeheartedly support this Binface policy. (I'm fine so far - but I was *extremely* careful to keep my head above the water and not ingest any of it.) bsky.app/profile/cjte...
Chris Terry-Enescu@cjterry.bsky.social · 4w agoHearing @danwaterfield.bsky.social getting ready to endorse Binface after seeing this element of his platform
I find it uncomfortable and insidious that police statements now begin with a suspect's colour, nationality and origins to appease a tiny minority of thick fucking racists and stop them torching hotels
Why are some of Britain’s most controversial Reform-linked figures all operating out of a grubby office in Montenegro? Sign up for the openDemocracy weekly newsletter to stay informed on all our latest reporting – it's free ⤵️ www.opendemocracy.net/sign-weekly-...
“It’s relatively simple,” said one Nato diplomat. “Trump likes winners. And Ukraine, recently, has started winning.” How Trump’s Ukraine shift steadied nervous Nato allies, and a summit that threatened new acrimony among allies ended with free guns and “love in the room” as.ft.com/r/59831802-b...
Donald Trump’s surprise Ukraine shift steadies nervous Nato allies
A summit that threatened new acrimony among the allies ended with free guns and ‘love in the room’
as.ft.com
"If he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I wont stop him." <stop stop he's dead gif>
Colombia v Switzerland being referred to as Charlie v The Chocolate Factory.
Re the upcoming Mexico v England World Cup tie at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City (at 2240m / 7220 ft above sea level)
@roblotsanumbers.bsky.social · last mo.They have been beaten twice in 89 home fixtures and that includes beating the 1999 Brazil side in the confederations cup. A high altitude home stadium confers an advantage and anyone that beats them there has done extremely well.
