Ian M
@ianm70.bsky.social
computer geek, book person, Tolkien nerd, history researcher, science, occasional politics. He/Him.
Discworld quote, from The Shepherd's Crown: "FOR I CAN SEE THE BALANCE AND YOU HAVE LEFT THE WORLD MUCH BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT, AND IF YOU ASK ME, said Death, NOBODY COULD DO ANY BETTER THAN THAT…" For Dolly...
Dolly Parton Wink
Alt: Dolly Parton Wink
static.klipy.com
You can donate to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library here donate.imaginationlibrary.com
Home
Make a donation and support Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in communities around the world and help put more books into the hands of more children.
donate.imaginationlibrary.com
We've been getting a lot of questions about how the Internet Archive digitizes books. The short answer: page by page, by hand. You may remember our viral 2021 video of Eliza Zhang scanning a book. That's still how we do it. Meet Eliza, and learn how we scan books: blog.archive.org/2021/02/09/m...
Dolly Parton gone. Apart from her music, I remember her literacy campaign imaginationlibrary.com/letter-from-... #Booksky #Books #Literacy
Letter From Dolly - Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
Dolly Parton shares how her dad inspired her to start her Imagination Library which today sends over one million free books to children each month.
imaginationlibrary.com
Dolly Parton was the antithesis of the hate & division we see in the world today. She knew who she was & never made herself smaller to fit in - an extraordinary trait for any woman, but especially one born in 1946. Thanks for the big hair and the even bigger heart. We love you, Dolly. ❤️
Sing Dance
Alt: Dolly singing and dancing and winking
static.klipy.com
I really feel like people would be less shocked by corporations if they understood that the corporation exists to make money, and that's true when they're with you and against you. The infamous Pepsi protest commercial is maybe the funniest version of this.
And at the same time as it's becoming harder and harder to pay cash for parking, there are also numerous reports of online payment scams e.g. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Newcastle couple lose £370 in Whitley Bay QR code parking scam
Jess Hagan and partner Jake Freeman say they are shocked at how convincing the scam was.
bbc.co.uk
For anyone interested in the full context, I wrote a report on the Irish situation two years ago - researchrepository.ucd.ie/server/api/c... (p86 onwards).
POLITICO Europe@politico.eu · 2d agoAn obscure 400-year-old Irish law is holding back collective legal action against Big Tech firms in Europe.
PHOTO OF THE DAY: Alfred Hitchcock’s wife, Alma, shows off the wax head of her husband she kept in the fridge. 📷 Philippe Halsman (1974).
Canada announces retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion worth of US goods, unveils support measures reut.rs/4cEGQe8
Canada announces retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion worth of US goods, unveils support measures
Canada on Tuesday announced retaliatory tariffs on C$27.6 billion ($19.94 billion) worth of United States goods, matching dollar-for-dollar new duties imposed by Washington, and unveiled financial support for Canadian businesses and workers caught in the escalating trade war.
reut.rs
Your regular reminder that almost everything Trump is getting away with is not because of presidential strength, but because of congressional weakness and judicial deference. The constitutional tools are already there to fix this, but those who can fix it are refusing to do so.
Almost three-quarters of England is now in drought conditions, resulting in restrictions on water use in many areas and severe wildfires – here's how it's affecting farming, wildlife and trees
How bad is the UK drought and how long will it continue? | New Scientist
Almost three-quarters of England is now in drought conditions, resulting in restrictions on water use in many areas and severe wildfires – here's how it's affecting farming, wildlife and trees
newscientist.com
Ensemble 84's adaptation of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is scheduled for October www.ensemble84.com/the-ragged-t... #Theatre #Play
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists — Ensemble ‘84
ensemble84.com
How many councillors has Reform UK lost since the May 2026 elections? www.markpack.org.uk/176783/how-m... #ReformUK
How many councillors has Reform UK lost since the May 2026 elections?
A list of all the Reform local authority councillors elected on or after 7 May 2026 who the party has already shed.
markpack.org.uk
In July 2026, median pay of a UK employee was £31,704, take home £26,346. Single person needs to earn £30,500 a year to reach a minimum standard of living. A couple with 2 children needs £74,000. 25.3m Britons live below minimum standard. 1% have more wealth than 70% of the population combined.
Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK - Office for National Statistics
Monthly estimates of payrolled employees and their pay from HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) data.
ons.gov.uk
For #TolkienTrewsday theme of the Silmarils, I wrote about how a sacred weapon featured in Pararaton, a semi-legendary chronicle of Javanese monarchs, shows a unique parallel with the nature of the Silmarils. #TolkienTuesday #Tolkien #Silmarillion putri2wotan.wordpress.com/2020/12/24/g...
Greed and Blood: Powerful Objects in The Silmarillion and Javanese Book of Monarchs
The Silmarillion and Javanese book of monarchs found parallels in powerful, hallowed objects that caused trails of tragedies and bloodlust.
putri2wotan.wordpress.com
Ian Catchpole, who represents Sedgefield on Durham County Council has resigned from Reform UK to become an independent councillor | Peter Sagar
Another Reform councillor resigns from the party
Ian Catchpole, who represents Sedgefield on Durham County Council has resigned from Reform UK to become an independent councillor
northeastbylines.co.uk
When Ronald Hutton describes it as "The best overall view of the subject currently available, written by its most dynamic partnership of scholars", who are we to argue? 🤣 FOLKLORE is out in paperback this September @manchesterup.bsky.social: manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526180407/
Another edition of the all things Tolkienian newsletter, the Roving Ranger, has just been sent to its subscribers. Including: More Tolkien & Homer; Kansas City Trivia; environmentalism in Middle-earth, Tolkien's imaginary time, the David Best archive and more... steady.page/en/thetolkie...
The One hundred and ninety-seventh Roving Ranger
The Roving Ranger #197 brings you all the interesting things Tolkienian of the last week and the weeks upcoming, curated by the Tolkienist.
steady.page
UK household energy debts hit £6bn, expected to hit £7bn by the end of the year Energy companies making record profits. Disposable incomes eroded, leaving less for essentials. 120,000 people a year die in fuel poverty. Can't rebuild economy on poverty. End profiteering. Nationalise energy.
Households in Great Britain ‘could owe energy suppliers £7bn by end of year’
After higher prices for winter kick in, energy debt unpaid for more than 30 days likely to rise, says Energy UK
theguardian.com
For @yawning-angel.bsky.social, I put googly eyes on the St Anthony calendar until I run out of year, 2026.
I'm pretty staid with my use of blackberries in cooking but I've pushed the boat out by making some blackberry ketchup/bbq sauce (I put ketchup on the labels because ketchup is a good word. Ketchup). I followed the recipe by 'Foraged by Fern' with a bit of artistic license for missing ingredients.
25 August 1872 | A Czech Jew, Arnošt Weissbarth, was born in Bílé Podolí. A doctor. Deported to #Auschwitz from #Theresienstadt ghetto on 15 May 1944. He was registered in 'Theresienstadt family camp’ in Birkenau. He did not survive.
"But the Silmarils in the crown on Morgoth's head blasted forth suddenly with a radiance of white flame" Always found this image of Morgoth quite disconcerting Great bit of art of Luthien as Thuringwethil before Morgoth by Lidia Postma @timbolton.bsky.social #TolkienTrewsday #Silmarillion #Tolkien
🧙♂️ #TolkienTrewsday 📆 Week 183 (25/08/26): “Amon Hen Art Challenge Week 4: Silmarils” The final week of the Amon Hen Art Challenge. #TolkienTuesday #Tolkien #AmonHen #ArtChallenge
The Guardian looks ahead to the biggest books of the Autumn including a return to the world of John le Carré’s Circus in the latest by Nick Harkaway, The Taper Man. www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...
From Booker-listed Marlon James to a memoir by Michael Douglas – the biggest books this autumn
Midlife meditations from Barbara Kingsolver; musical portraits by Jonathan Coe and Yiyun Li; plus memoirs from Dustin Hoffman and Judi Dench – all among the coming season’s highlights
theguardian.com
If you listened to the BBC, you’d think it was an iconic raptor on the brink of extinction. It’s just a feathery dumb-fuck destined for ecology’s dustbin. fleetstreetfox.substack.com/p/the-montag...
