pforpapa.bsky.social
@pforpapa.bsky.social
Moved to the country, ate a lot of peaches, moved back. Ex-senior civil servant
First take about Demis stepping back is that it’s not great news for the UK. DeepMind is a far more British company than market forces would have dictated otherwise, in large part due to the specific determination of Demis to ensure it remained that way.
Every single Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota (including Mike Lindell!) makes clear that if Trump tried another Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities, they would support his efforts to brutalize residents
One of my biggest pet peeves is drivers who don’t use their turn signals, which is >80% of them in Hawaiʻi. We need to stop putting the onus on people doing the dying rather than people doing the killing.
@khon2news.bsky.social · 16h agoIn the world of Hawaiʻi’s motorcycles, bicycles, motorbikes, and skateboards, there’s an important rule everyone should remember: Safety comes first. Read more: https://www.khon2.com/local-news/biker-hand-signals-safety/
The wildfires are also being exploited by shooting interests - the Countryside Alliance, grouse moor-owning Viscount Ridley - who are *desperate* to burn moorland & heath more regularly. It suits them to create heather monocultures that support more grouse. The real solution, ofc, is re-wetting.
🧵Right-leaning newspapers are trying to blame Europe's raging wildfires on everything EXCEPT fossil fuels 1. The Wall Street Journal Frontpage story: "Greece fights wildfires as Europe crisis spreads" WSJ editorial: "How green policies fuel fires in Europe"
Folks going to @edfringe.bsky.social looking for something to see alongside morning coffee should book into @4hundredblows.bsky.social’s brilliant spoken word show based on his book The Umbrella Man & Other Stories.The perfect way to start your day www.thespaceuk.com/shows/2026/t... #edinburghfringe
The Umbrella Man: What We Talk About When We Talk About the JFK Assassination (Martin Fitzgerald)
Dallas, 22 November 1963. The main event is supposed to be on Main Street - crowds fifty deep, a blizzard of ticker tape. A few blocks away in Dealey Plaza, the scene is quieter: a handful ...
thespaceuk.com
‘That’s under 10,000.’ ‘That’s almost 10,000.’ Lessons in rhetoric.
There has been little mention of the 72 people who drowned or were crushed trying to reach Ceuta last week. A shocking figure that's been eclipsed by right wing press fear mongering. The incident and how it started is now coming under welcome scrutiny www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
Chaos of border crossing gives way to limbo for Moroccans on Ceuta’s streets
People among the more than 50,000 who entered Spanish enclave this week describe the journey and their prospects
theguardian.com
People are just not ready for the consequences of climate change.
Britain could face food shortages as drought continues, farmers warn
Farmers battle to salvage what they can of their crops as heatwave set to continue
theguardian.com
Huge news in quantum, Illinois. We’ve achieved quantum advantage with IBM and UChicago, marking a new milestone in their partnership. Together, there’s no limit to what we can achieve!
IBM, UChicago demonstrate ‘quantum advantage,’ outperforming traditional computers with a quantum computer
Scientists used a new error correction method to crack a classically intractable problem
news.uchicago.edu
Ukraine intercepted only one ballistic missile last night because the country has run out of missiles for its Patriot systems. In Kyiv, nine people were killed and 30 injured. Every delayed decision eventually arrives in Ukraine in the form of death and destruction.
It is quite strange how little the actual public inquiry we're having into the UK's Covid response - the one that's publishing in-depth reports every few months - factors into the "you're not even allowed to ask these questions" complaints. We are, in fact, officially asking these questions!
🧵On @thenewsagents.co.uk yesterday, school closures and the lab leak theory were offered as two examples of legitimate questions that were hard to ask. Both have in fact been asked constantly since 2020. But here's a thread on why I think they were wrong and dangerous on school closures 1/12
Folks going to @edfringe.bsky.social looking for something to see alongside morning coffee should book into @4hundredblows.bsky.social’s brilliant spoken word show based on his book The Umbrella Man & Other Stories.The perfect way to start your day www.thespaceuk.com/shows/2026/t... #edinburghfringe
The Umbrella Man: What We Talk About When We Talk About the JFK Assassination (Martin Fitzgerald)
Dallas, 22 November 1963. The main event is supposed to be on Main Street - crowds fifty deep, a blizzard of ticker tape. A few blocks away in Dealey Plaza, the scene is quieter: a handful ...
thespaceuk.com
Really interesting and fun conversation about @4hundredblows.bsky.social’s book.
Richard Herring@herring1967.bsky.social · 6d agoA really lively and fun RHLSTP Book Club with Martin Fitzgerald about my favourite book of the year so far "The Umbrella Man" looking at the people who witnessed the JFK assassination shows.acast.com/rhlstp/episo... Clip www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1_q... Buy the book! uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
✅ Touring Clacton ✅ Visiting local businesses ✅ Listening to constituents’ concerns ✅ Hi-vis vest Make your Vote Count! #VoteBinface #Clacton
Oil and gas companies are raking in billions while our countryside burns. Half of England in drought on the same day that Shell reports that its profits have DOUBLED this quarter. Extreme weather like this will only get worse unless we kick our dependence on fossil fuels.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 7d agoMajor incident declared in Suffolk as 90 firefighters tackle wildfire on heathland
Free range chickens love a bit of biodiversity. They'll eat everything! Slow-worms, lizards, mice, grasshoppers - pretty much every kind of insect. I used to keep hens - but no more. Too locally destructive, amongst other reasons.
It's a point I've been trying to make for a long time: there is no good way to meet even 10% of current demand for animal products. They trash the living world, whichever way you do it. If you want to reduce your impact, switch to a plant-based diet. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Organic eggs have worse impact on climate than eggs from caged chickens
Adopting organic free-range model in UK could lead to greenhouse emissions equivalent to 2,316,000 tonnes of CO2, study suggests
theguardian.com
and, if the new OPMC does not want it, we need HMT to step up .. adaptation is an economic (as well as environmental and social issue) - me last month for @financialtimes.com (£) www.ft.com/content/2789...
The UK is forgetting the dull bit of climate change policy
The Treasury needs to take the lead on how we adapt to the heat
ft.com
Britain is in denial on the prisons crisis – essential reading from @davidgauke.bsky.social on how we could run out of places *by November* if Burnham abandons the sentencing reforms. www.arguably.uk/p/britain-is...
Britain is in denial on the prisons crisis
Burnham’s decision to pause early releases is good politics but bad policy
arguably.uk
open.substack.com/pub/mariosri... Tldr; I don't think the 1930s/2010-2020s are exceptional, I think it's 1945-1985 that's weird - that's the period where Authoritarian voters *aren't* voting for Authoritarian parties - which I'd describe as the Surprisingly Long Suppression of the Radical Right.
My Theory of the (Re)Growth of the Radical Right
The Radical Right - aka Extreme Right/Hard Right/Far Right - is a party family that has been studied pretty continuously since 1945[1].
open.substack.com
Hostility isn't working - and everyone can see it. Government after Government has tried making the asylum system crueller, and left it more broken than ever. But there's a better way. With 200+ refugee orgs, we've sent Andy Burnham a blueprint for a system based in both evidence and welcome.
The House of Lords Constitution Committee is starting a wide-ranging inquiry into strengthening our constitutional safeguards - as proposed by (Lord) Peter Hennessy. Look East, look West, and see the urgency. Written evidence requested by 28th of September. committees.parliament.uk/committee/17...
The UK’s constitutional safeguards inquiry launched by Lords Constitution Committee - Committees - UK Parliament
The House of Lords Constitution Committee has today published a call for evidence for its inquiry into the UK’s constitutional safeguards. It is inviting interested individuals and organisations...
committees.parliament.uk
Many animals die in wildfires, some in the flames and smoke, but many more die after the fire is out, due to the loss of habitat and food sources.
Australia's fires 'killed or harmed three billion animals'
The recent bushfires were "one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history", conservationists say.
bbc.com
Oxford Economics on the impact of remaining < net 100k to 2030 on population, GDP and government debt. [It is v little known that the population stability level of net migration is a 100k inflow, not net zero immigration]
Crazy stat "Fraud accounts for 46 per cent of all crime in England and Wales, yet only 2 per cent of resources are dedicated to it, Adams said." it is remarkable how little we seem to do about fraud, from the gazillion little fraudulent motor claims to the big stuff www.ft.com/content/f0f7...
Senior City of London Police officer urges Burnham to be ‘loud’ on fraud
Funding must be made a priority to tackle the UK’s most prevalent crime
ft.com
If only he'd pledged an uncosted £120billion instead
Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 2w agoThis is the equivalent of asking how a £1.5m turnover company is going to pay for £100 of drinks at the Xmas party.
Have the British public always been so self centred? I’m staggered by how many people I’ve seen saying ‘I don’t use buses so what good is that?’ Or ‘pubs aren’t for me so who cares?’ Millions of people do use each and they are both pretty vital for our economy and society
