Halbert Jones
@halbertjones.bsky.social
Historian of Mexico and US-Latin American relations. A North Carolinian in 🇬🇧. Following US and UK politics, academia and higher education, and UK borders and immigration.
First, “severe [i.e., slightly hot] weather”, now a “supermarket trolley on the track” — a tough day out there on the railways!
A sunny 31C/88F afternoon in the south of England = “severe weather”
Oxford and Cambridge are “linked by easy bus connections”?? The direct bus is no more, and when it ran, it was an endless slog, involving many circuits of the roundabouts of Milton Keynes. (But we’ll probably have a rail link by something like 2040, restoring Victorian levels of connectivity!)
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · last mo.Guest Column by Rick Steves: Cambridge and Oxford have been in a centuries-long competition as England’s top two universities — but I’ve always felt that seeing one is enough. The big question is, which one?
Does the UK media not have this story yet? England-Mexico apparently shifting to a reasonable time of day on Sunday (6pm GMT)?
Cambian el México-Inglaterra a las 12:00 por clima
El partido de México contra Inglaterra de Octavos cambió de horario a las 12:00 del día del domingo
reforma.com
Well, they’ll be pleased they spared themselves a longer stay in my hometown, then, by getting themselves knocked out by Paraguay.
German players found Winston-Salem stay 'mind-numbingly boring,' report says
Some team members apparently found the converted mansion of former R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company CEO Bowman Gray about as snooze-worthy as their uninspired play on the pitch.
journalnow.com
This essay covers some of the same (literal) terrain as Jay Sexton's terrific presidential address at #SHAFR2026 foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/23/a...
From Bloody Kansas to the Rebuilding of Europe
In trying to restore order after World War II, U.S. leaders drew lessons from a dark chapter in their country’s history.
foreignpolicy.com
Hadn’t realized Raleigh was potentially in the frame for an MLB expansion team. Some great baseball history in this piece, too.
The Assembly@theassemblync.bsky.social · 2mo agoFrom 2025: The fast-growing state capital appears to be a good candidate for a Major League Baseball franchise. But even a minor league team has eluded it for more than a half-century. www.theassemblync.com/news/culture...
I can’t read German, but curious this piece on my hometown (Germany’s World Cup base) focuses on Winston-Salem as a tobacco and college basketball town, with a minor league baseball team, not mentioning that Salem (founded by Moravians) was a German-speaking community for much of its first century!
Bradley George@bradleygeorge.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe German public broadcaster’s “Sportschau” has a nice piece on Winston-Salem, home base for the German team during the World Cup.
The German public broadcaster’s “Sportschau” has a nice piece on Winston-Salem, home base for the German team during the World Cup.
DFB im Basiscamp für WM: Winston-Salem - Kleine Stadt mit großen Söhnen
Die deutsche Fußball-Nationalmannschaft kommt heute in ihrem WM-Basiscamp in Winston-Salem an. Die Stadt in North Carolina hat mehrere berühmte Söhne und eine Blaupause für das Empire State Building.
sportschau.de
Thoroughly bizarre to see this framed as a story about an “attempt to revive” what was WH Smith, when every single detail makes it crystal clear that it’s a bunch of vulture capitalists sucking vast amounts of cash out of the company until it collapses. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
How new owner became all powerful in ‘high stakes’ attempt to revive former WH Smith chain
Low-profile Modella has positioned itself as a key creditor, landlord and brand owner to struggling TG Jones as store closures and job cuts loom
theguardian.com
I don’t suppose there’s any point in my playing this game anymore. I’ll never do this well again! www.maptap.gg May 13 100🎯 100🎯 100🎯 100🎯 100🎯 Final score: 1000
🎯MapTap Daily Geography Game
Play MapTap - the daily geography game! Find 5 world locations on a 3D globe with historical stories. Free browser-based daily game for geography lovers.
maptap.gg
In the 1960s, the U.S. created a migration pipeline from Mexico. In the 1970s, Mexico came up with a plan to stop the flow. The U.S. rejected long-term economic partnership in favor of unilateral punishment: zps.la/4sTACxf
Could Mexico and the U.S. Have Solved the Migration Crisis 50 Years Ago?
We often assume that the history of Mexican migration to the United States is a simple story of a “sending state” eager to export its unemployed and a
zps.la
After all the hue & cry about dual nationals caught out by the requirement to enter the UK with a UK passport following the introduction of the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) requirement, note the same thing will happen in reverse with the launch of the EU’s ETIAS system later this year.
European Union - EES / ETIAS
travel-europe.europa.eu
Privitizing the postal service continues to go well for the UK, I see. ( #SaveTheUSPS )
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 5mo agoRoyal Mail criticised for raising stamp prices again despite ‘failing service’
Nice to see my former @raioxford.bsky.social colleague Jay Sexton featured here.
Christopher McKnight Nichols@cmcknichols.bsky.social · 7mo ago@shafrhistorians.bsky.social president Jay Sexton, author of a great book on the subject (I'm assigning an article of his on the topic this semester), and others on the surprising history of the Monroe Doctrine on ... CBS?! 🗃️ youtu.be/3e-VnbRfvt8?...
Sad to see this news. Dan Howe was a longtime Rhodes Professor of American History at Oxford and regularly made return visits to @raioxford.bsky.social during my time there. newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/in-m...
In memoriam: Daniel Walker Howe, 88, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and UCLA professor
His scholarship reshaped how Americans understood the nation’s political, intellectual and religious past.
newsroom.ucla.edu
Well, yes, who *actually* does the bulk of the teaching at a place like Harvard?
Harvard Departments Brace for Teaching Fellow Shortage After Ph.D. Cuts | News | The Harvard Crimson
Harvard’s deep cuts to PhD admissions are on track to leave undergraduate courses short of teaching fellows within two years, a looming squeeze already pushing departments to prepare contingency plans...
thecrimson.com
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
cityam.com
Mexico Versus Nazis is a theme that’s really resonating with me of late
This Mexican WWII poster is some of the hardest shit ever
Interesting about Harvard’s President visiting the UK, but the Crimson has done the weird (American?) thing of conflating the capital with the country: Though the reception with Rhodes Scholars and meetings with Oxford officials apparently took place in Oxford, it’s described as a “London trip”.
Garber Met With Oxford Counterparts, Rhodes Scholars in Unannounced London Trip | News | The Harvard Crimson
Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 traveled across the pond earlier this week for an unannounced trip to London, where he met with the University’s Rhodes Scholars and senior University of Oxford of...
thecrimson.com
A lengthy piece in today’s FT on the Mexican political landscape on.ft.com/4okwcfV How long can Mexico’s president straddle populism and pragmatism?
How long can Mexico’s president straddle populism and pragmatism?
In her first year in office, Claudia Sheinbaum has deftly managed tensions with the US and at home. But the pressure is starting to mount
on.ft.com
People know that buying (or winning) a house in another country doesn’t actually entitle you to move and take up residence there, right? I fear many of the Americans who might think this sounds like a good idea don’t know anything about UK immigration law.
‘A safe haven’: Buckinghamshire man invites Americans to enter house raffle
Man hopes liberal Americans looking to move from Donald Trump’s America will buy tickets
theguardian.com
One of my occasional rants about the UK’s increasingly extortionate international postage rates: After a big hike in April — the point in the year when rate changes are usually made — Royal Mail will next month again raise the price to send a letter or postcard abroad, to £3.40. 1/X
