Seems obvious that JD Vance or a close aide is a key anonymous source for this NY Times story. Vance apparently wants NYT to help him create the impression he's blameless in the war. Note that NYT does not say Vance declined comment. Surely he was contacted, considering the story is all about him.

Behind the Scenes, Vance Gathered Unvarnished Views of the Iran War (Gift Article)

Vice President JD Vance received sobering assessments about the war that did not line up with what he, President Trump and other top administration officials were saying publicly.

nytimes.com

Three senior Reform figures were involved in those Channel 4 revelations we saw last night. Two have been kicked out. The third is Nigel Farage. Farage should be suspended while this matter is investigated. He has very serious questions to answer.

Buckingham Palace band playing 9 to 5 for Dolly Parton

I cannot contain the white hot rage I feel right now listening to these lies so all I will say is F*CK THIS ADMINISTRATION. Signed, a medical historian.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.

Trump: "Decades ago, children received only a small fraction of the vaccines required today. In those times, people were much healthier and of course the high rates of autism now observed did not exist. There's a reason for such epidemic rates of autism."

'Mummy, where do the facts come from?' 'Ssssh, darling, it's better not to ask'

Aparna Nair@disabilitystor1.bsky.social · last mo.

"History involves sorting and organizing hundreds of thousands of facts" I remain astounded by how loud and wrong people are about what history actually is.

Thank you to all who attended today's meeting on the 'Crisis in UK HE: the Future for History'. Very valuable proposals in difficult times for history in HE / UK HE more widely. We've also a new guide bit.ly/4z1fAjO listing 100+ UK #history societies & networks supporting historians #Skystorians

Lucy Delap@lucydelap.bsky.social · last mo.

Great discussion at the 'crisis in UK history' meeting hosted by @ihr.bsky.social, @royalhistsoc.org, @histassoc.bsky.social and History UK. Horror stories of closures and redundancies, balanced by new resources. Check out for ex. the new Independent Historians Network independenthistorians.org

Oh, I love dumpy little transporters like this feller. BBC News - 1950s Bristol Freighter Type 170 to be restored - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

1950s Bristol Freighter Type 170 to be restored

The Bristol Freighter Type 170 is believed to be the last remaining aircraft of its kind in Europe.

bbc.co.uk

Interesting, though unsurprising

Today is the anniversary of Mussolini's fall from power in 1943. In Emilia-Romagna it is a custom for people to meet up & eat 'pastasciutta antifascista' in memory of the Cervi family, who instigated this tradition. Read the tragic story of this extraordinary family in the thread linked below.

Pastasciutta antifascista - Wikipedia

it.wikipedia.org

Nicholas Whithorn@nickwhithorn.bsky.social · 2y ago

At dawn on 28 December 1943, the 7 Cervi brothers, Gelindo (42), Antenore (37), Aldo (34), Ferdinando (32), Agostino (27), Ovidio (25) & Ettore (22), are executed by an Italian fascist firing squad in Reggio Emilia for their partisan activities [Thread] >> 1

This is brilliant! ❤️🙌

Tim Bale@timbale.bsky.social · 2mo ago

OMG I could spend weeks and months here!

But... surely the UK is a war zone under Sharia law, full of no-go areas run by grooming gangs and nobody can wear a watch or carry a phone in public..?

‘If voters think I’m a crook, they can get rid of me’ say Farage after stopping a process that would have better informed the voters.

The 83rd anniversary of Mussolini's first fall from power is as good an excuse as any to draw attention to the wonderful resources dealing with the impact on civilians of the subsequent German occupation. Please have a look at www.straginazifasciste.it?lang=en and www.ns-taeter-italien.org/en/.

'The Historian's Craft & Practice: new writing on history teaching and historical research' bit.ly/45l8I2M Selected recent articles from the Society's journal, 'Transactions', on the practice of pedagogy and research. All content available Open Access. New article submissions invited #Skystorians

The Historian's Craft and Practice: new writing on history teaching and historical research - RHS

The Society's academic journal, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, publishes a wide range of content from historians of all disciplinary backgrounds and career stages, worldwide. This inclu...

bit.ly

If you come to Palermo combine a visit to the 'Museo del Presente' dedicated to Falcone & Borsellino with one to their former offices at Palermo courthouse. Everything has been preserved as it was in 1992 (visits with guide, only in Italian, on Monday to Friday mornings. Advance booking essential).

Visite al Museo Falcone Borsellino - Progetto Legalità

Le visite al Museo, normalmente aperto da lunedì a venerdì nelle mattine, sono gratuite.Gli spazi del museo hanno una capienza […]

progettolegalita.it

Nicholas Whithorn@nickwhithorn.bsky.social · 2mo ago

From today the Fiat Croma in which Giovanni Falcone and Francesca Morvillo were travelling on 23rd May 1992, when they were killed by a mafia bomb attack, will be permanently on display at the 'Museo del Presente ' in Palermo.

come work with us! we are nerds but we are fun!!! www.lawfaremedia.org/article/come...

Come Work With Us—As Our New Associate Editor!

The Lawfare Institute—publisher of information and insight at the intersection of national security, law and policy—seeks a motivated full-time associate editor based in Washington, D.C.

lawfaremedia.org

The illegal, unethical, a-strategic US boat bombing campaign continues, failing to achieve its stated goal of countering drug trafficking. Just as many critics said at the start. It’s just murderous. As if killing to kill, to make the killers feel big, and to undermine law and ethics, is the point.

Prem Thakker ツ@premthakker.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New: Officials say intel confirms that Trump’s boat strikes aren’t achieving the purported goal of stopping the flow of drugs. Top WH & Pentagon officials know this. And that apparently hasn’t changed a thing — as sources say Trump is now exploring an *expansion* of operations. @swin24.bsky.social

British Library's EThOS platform for its online database of 650,000 doctoral theses back online. Hooray!

EThOS records restored

We are pleased to share that EThOS (E-Theses Online Service) is now available again following restoration work after the cyber-attack.

bl.uk

Ahead of England v Norway in the World Cup, enjoy this classic from my old pal Patrick Kidd in The Times

EThOS platform restored! 'Following restoration work, all metadata records previously available on EThOS have now been restored, along with an additional 14,000 records added since the service was taken offline' - more to come https://www.bl.uk/stories/news/ethos-records-restored

EThOS records restored

We are pleased to share that EThOS (E-Theses Online Service) is now available again following restoration work after the cyber-attack.

bl.uk

Absolutely, definitely, not “the Establishment”…

It is pure coincidence that I resigned just before the story broke about the police investigating a £500,000 donation from the mother George Cottrell, the convicted fraudster who bankrolled me.

Of interest to UK university #Skystorians: Royal Historical Society open online meeting on 'The crisis in UK higher education: The future for History'. 4 August 2-4 pm.

The Crisis in UK HE: the Future for History

An open meeting for historians in UK higher education on what is needed to best support and protect the profession and discipline.

eventbrite.co.uk

It's worth stressing that we have rules around political funding to protect our entire democracy. The voters of one constituency might be fine with their MP breaking those rules. But they can't release their MP from them, because a single MP on the take is a danger to the whole system.

Robert Hutton@roberthutton.co.uk · 2mo ago

Calling a by-election over the sovereign right of every MP to take secret gifts from a convicted criminal. What a time to be alive.

Calling a by-election over the sovereign right of every MP to take secret gifts from a convicted criminal. What a time to be alive.

Nothing says 'man of the people' quite like a politician calling a by-election at public expense on the issue of whether or not he should have the right to secretly take donations from Thai-based crypto billionaires and a convicted fraudster

Farage chooses to fight a by-election because, like so many far-right agitators (Salvini springs to mind), campaigning is the only thing he is good at with ample opportunity to milk media attention. As always, it is easier to produce propaganda than to take responsibility and govern.

Bologna opens a new library containing more than 32,000 books from Umberto Eco's private study - arranged exactly as he left them - a decade after his death.

Umberto Eco library opens in Bologna, 10 years after his death

The University of Bologna has opened a new public library housing the personal book collection of writer Umberto Eco, a decade after his death.

wantedinmilan.com

Le Guin on the idea that there is a secret to getting good at writing.