Having said it was okay for Bonehill-Paine to be a councillor because it was just bins, instead of dropping him, Badenoch has given him an advisory role – *after* Jewish groups refused to meet with him? Does she just never want this story to end, or....what.

#ourworldiswonderful; I leave you tonight with a shot of a small pool that leads to a small waterfall as the brook flows through the Forest of Dean. It's generally a peaceful spot, because it's not easy to access.

As the EHRC Code of Practice comes into force, we’ve compiled a new Oxford toilet guide highlighting unisex/gender-neutral provision. 38 facilities across the city for when you need to go. Read it here: oxfordclarion.uk/oxford-publi...

Oxford public toilets: Where to go when you need to go

We are all the Clarion – and, sometimes, we all need the loo. And especially if you're pregnant, have an unreliable postnatal pelvic floor, are looking after children, or just need to spend a penny wi...

oxfordclarion.uk

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Review: Garnethill by Denise Mina | Scottish Crime Fiction

Maureen O’Donnell has been out drinking with her friend, Leslie, and stumbles home so drunk that she simply goes straight to her bedroom and falls into bed. Next morning she discovers the body of h…

wp.me

*NEW BLOG POST* Today on #damppebbles I am sharing this week's #TopTenTuesday post. The theme for this week is 𝚃𝙴𝙽 𝙲𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂 𝙸 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙵𝚁𝙰𝙼𝙴 𝙰𝚂 𝙰𝚁𝚃𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙺 🎨📚🖼️ Check out my list here... ➡️ buff.ly/J0lEqGB #BookSky #skybrarians #books #top10 #list #bookrecommendation #bookish #whattoread

Read it here if you haven't yet. Today is the very best day of all days to read it for the first time. short-stories.co/@raybradbury...

There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury

The voice-clock sang, breakfast was ejected, but no doors slammed. The garage chimed and lifted its door to reveal the waiting car. The house sat alone in a city of rubble and…

short-stories.co

Adam Rawnsley@arawnsley.bsky.social · yesterday

Today, August 4, 2026, is the setting of Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” about a fully automated house continuing on after the family who lived there and the world around it died in a nuclear blast.

A lot of people today talking about an awful person who died but i want to make everyone aware of a good person who died: Northern Irish comedian Jimmy Cricket, who you should all look up if you don’t know. 10/10 all around wife guy, dad, granddad, and just a generally solid person

Mooching on Streetview and looking round the unexceptional town where I grew up. The cinema where I saw the original Star Wars has been demolished. I did some digging. The cinema opened in 1939. So in 1977 it had only been there 38 years. That is now 49 years ago. I feel old.

Rod Liddle was a stone-cold arsehole who actually said in a national newspaper that he couldn't be a teacher because he would inevitably try and shag the kids Apparently his editor has said, 'he challenged conventional thinking' If you mean 'was wrong in every conceivable way' then, yes

Claudia Severa (born 11 September in the first century) was a literate Roman woman, the wife of Aelius Brocchus, commander of an unidentified fort near Vindolanda fort in northern England. #CelebratingWomen

IT'S WEEK TWO OF THE #SkelfsSummerReadAlong!😱☀️🪦 This week we're reading #TheBigChill by @dougjohnstone.bsky.social, book TWO in the ICONIC #TheSkelfs series😍 If you'd like to join the read-along, comment '🪦' to join the chat and gain access to the ebooks! Don't miss #SkelfsSummer!😎

Also there is a new Mythago Wood tribute anthology that current appears to be UK only. I need to get it though blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro... Stories by @aptshadow.bsky.social @silvanhistorian.bsky.social @sennydreadful.bsky.social @mytholder.bsky.social @rjbarker.bsky.social and many more

Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology

Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology

blackwells.co.uk

Joachim Boaz@joachimboaz.bsky.social · 3d ago

Robert Holdstock (1948-2009) was born on this day. Bibliography: www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.c... L, Peter Goodfellow, 1986; R, Carl Lundgren, 1982 #scifi #sciencefiction #fantasy

I’d love to read a history of the BBC, through the medium of its evolving schedules, looking at how they changed, maybe diving into some individual changes & some of the people behind them - origins of popular programmes, cancellations etc. does this exist? If not can someone please write it?

Let me get this straight: From Sweden, via Finnic, come words for the Rus and Russia. The Mongols turn the Russian term into Oros, to avoid initial /r/. Mandarin Chinese gains this as 俄羅斯 (Éluósī), 俄 for short. Then, due to the Vietnamese reading of the character 俄, 'Russia' in Vietnamese is Nga.

It being a Lammas night, I was reading Burns' Corn Rigs and realised I didn't know where the -ley in barley comes from. Turns out the Old English for barley is bærlīċ 'barley-like'. Are there other examples of x-like becoming the word for x?

I wish some science fiction writer would write a series like Asimov's Foundation series, but about an organization that seeks out triage ethics, lifeboat ethics, and trolley problems and eliminates them with good engineering and rational design.

Explaining to my wife my strongly held viewpoint that recaps for TV programmes should be composed of excerpts presented in the exact same order as the actual shown episodes, not recut out of sequence into their own mini drama, which is confusing. She wasn’t very impressed.

Sigh. probably about time i did a pod episode on why the SS really weren't all that. who wants in as the guest historian for that one?

The Crusader Project@crusaderproject.bsky.social · 3d ago

Re-enactors again not beating the allegations. Market Harborough at War today, apparently. @waitmanwbeorn.com @alanallport.bsky.social @garius.bsky.social @andraswf.bsky.social

2 August 1936 | An Italian Jewish boy, Guido Foa, was born in Turin. He was deported to #Auschwitz and murdered in a gas chamber.

"but no-one had ever even heard of autism before vaccines...etc" 14th century priest Opicino Canistris presented without further comment...

After much introspection, I’ve come to believe that my purpose in life is to convert as many people as possible to the Oxford comma.

Nothing quite encompasses the rancid stench of English neoliberalism like having to sit on the floor because the 3-hour train journey you’ve paid over £200 for has been oversold, and the guard reminding those who have no seats that, despite first class being empty, you will be fined if you sit there

It’s Saturday and I’m on holiday but as it’s you here is this week’s Wombling Along! Reviews a d other things to enjoy with a nice cuppa! www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/7/...

Wombling Along — Runalong The Shelves

Helloooo! I am halfway through our holiday in Scilly and it’s been a really lovely break should getting rest, switching off and yes I have apparently got my reading back on. I’m not going to do any...

runalongtheshelves.net

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is sending a team to Suffolk to help respond to a major wildfire incident. One fire engine, crewed by four firefighters, and one 4x4 vehicle crewed by two firefighters are being sent to assist Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service in responding to the incident.

How will they do this when Argos is now just a far corner of Sainsbury’s?

Unofficial BBCNews (UK) Bot@bbcnews-uk-rss.bsky.social · 6d ago

Sainsbury's to sell Argos for £120m

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Orenda Books@orendabooks.bsky.social · last wk.

🚨OH #SKELFAHOLICS🚨 Excited for #GhostNotes💛? Looking for a playlist that will make you feel like you're right there with the Skelf woman? You should listen to the BRAND NEW #Playlist by the man himself, @dougjohnstone.bsky.social, available on #spotify! STREAM NOW! 🔗https://tinyurl.com/yx938tt7

I love capturing those moments where London Underground trains line up perfectly with station posters. With a little patience and a bit of luck, you can end up with some wonderfully amusing and unexpected shots.

Dog Ranger Skye surveys her patch. 📍Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland 📷 Katherine Medway #WorldRangerDay

Hello! Does anyone know a good resource for Irish poetry by women, particularly in Irish?

You know what can get in the bin? People doing boot camp exercise classes in the park in groups of about thirty, getting in everyone else’s way while some pseudo-military twat barks orders at them and blows a whistle