Ask yourself, vegans: Could you get through a whole day without eating really horrible processed meat? I mean, really?

Alexander Glass@alexanderglass.bsky.social · 15h ago

I have one answer.

The City and the City by China Miéville The Alteration by Kingsley Amis Hyperion by Dan Simmons The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley Imperial Earth by Arthur C Clarke (allegedly). And, while deploring Gaiman, I still love most of his output.

BeijingPalmer@beijingpalmer.bsky.social · yesterday

alright let's do real discourse: five books *by bad people* that are still good or great books V.S. Naipaul, A BEND IN THE RIVER Allison Pearson, I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT Kevin Myers, WATCHING THE DOOR Yukio Mishima, CONFESSIONS OF A MASK Neil Gaiman, BRIEF LIVES.

Early COVID mitigations showed us the power of collective action. The environment began to heal. People with disabilities were accommodated. An entire flu strain was eradicated. Folks reconnected with their local communities. We worked together & saved lives.

Well, it's pissing down in Bristol.

Not speaking ill of the dead is how Jimmy Saville got something approaching a state funeral.

From today, EU citizens have a legal right to know when they're talking to a bot or looking at a deepfake, backed by fines of up to €15m. Thanks to Brexit, we're missing out on this protection.

Delighted to discover that my new Holmes book - SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CHRISTMAS MURDERS - will be available in ASDA when it comes out in November.

Yeah, I worry people will say this about me. I can be impatient and grumpy, and I don't like deliberate ignorance or unthinking acceptance of propaganda. I try not to be mean to people who are honestly dim but harmless, and I know I don't always succeed.

Justin Lewis@whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2d ago

One aim in life, although I'll never really know if I'll have achieved it, is to not have anyone at my funeral say 'didn't suffer fools'. I'm happy to suffer the odd fool here and there.

Seeing how celebrity deaths are treated on social media is weirdly sobering. Fortunately most of us won't have posters lining up to call us racist misogynist abusers, but we won't get the "Brought joy to millions, did tons of charity work and were always kind to strangers, 10/10" bit either.

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen to @scifibulletin.bsky.social (the site - not me, quite yet!) @alasdairstuart.com @smartartz.bsky.social @nickjjoy.bsky.social @bigfinish.bsky.social @dannyrobins.bsky.social scifibulletin.com/2026/08/03/f...

Farewell to SFB

This is the news story that I never quite expected to have to write, but here we are. This is the last day of regular updates to Sci-Fi Bulletin. For those who don’t know the history, Sci-Fi Bullet…

scifibulletin.com

more genuinely I do think actually being mean after someone awful dies is a social good, it reminds the living that you might not get karmic punishment in this life or the next, but that people will simply despise you and laugh at you and then forget you

This is why blanket cynicism about politicians favours the worst among them. It’s the enemy of rational scepticism.

Dorian Lynskey@dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 2d ago

According to Luke Tryl on Radio 4 disillusioned Reform voters think Farage is “just the same as the rest” on the corruption front. But he isn’t is he? He’s exponentially worse. And his grifter tendency has been obvious for a very long time.

Hello I have made this due to a mutual having issues with some folks on here forgetting this fact and shouting at him for it. Feel free to use it as a handy PSA x

Today I learned that Disk-winged Bats evolved suction cups for their arms and legs.

During the original Harry Potter boom, some librarians and academics expressed concern about kids wanting to read ONLY that. They were shouted down. "AT LEAST THEY ARE READING, THEY WILL GET A TASTE AND LOVE ALL READING SOON" Three decades on, I think we owe the librarians and academics an apology

That makes sense. Thank you.

j4 @jaffa.bsky.social · 3d ago

I googled for "playing Wembley tonight" & got the answer "Luke Combs". I looked him up on Wikipedia, & it seems he is a country singer: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Co.... Hope this helps.

Seen various women in cowgirl outfits on the Tube today. Is this just fashion, or is there a convention of some kind?

I agree strongly with this -- in that difficult moment, the possibility of collective effort was conceivable. Not everybody felt it, but many did. I think the political class did not like this one bit.

Dave Andress@davidandress.bsky.social · 4d ago

Covid lockdowns demonstrated, in a deeply imperfect way, the possibility of large-scale social solidarity for a higher cause. That is a prime reason why so many powerful people want us to run screaming away from them into the comforting arms of selfish individualist competition.

I know I have quite a small reach on here but is there anyone on here who is a Doctor Who fan based in the South West? I have a lot of old stuff from my childhood and I’m looking to downsize, would like to pass as much of it onto a loving home if possible

Me and @markclapham.bsky.social have been 'curating' our collections (i.e. getting rid of bits that are rubbish) but I *must* know local #DoctorWho fans in need of MOAR STUFF. Especially up Brizzol way?

Daniel Eke@lifeanduniverse.bsky.social · 4d ago

I know I have quite a small reach on here but is there anyone on here who is a Doctor Who fan based in the South West? I have a lot of old stuff from my childhood and I’m looking to downsize, would like to pass as much of it onto a loving home if possible

I absolutely support the principle of paying creators for stuff, but it would be useful if people linking to paywalled content would briefly mention the fact, to save me clicking through, rejecting cookies, dismissing popups, getting a couple of paragraphs in and *then* discovering I can't read it.

Alan Black, Lancing College. Great man, great teacher. I owe him a great deal.

Louie Stowell@louiestowell.bsky.social · 5d ago

Who was YOUR great english teacher (if you had one)? For me it was Hugh Epstein at Richmond college (RUTC). I hope he's well, wherever he is!

4. It's essential for the long-term quality of human life that the majority of humanity take charge of said change, rather than a tiny elite imposing it on the rest of us in their own interests. 5. Our kids are going to have to deal with this if we don't.

Things I currently believe: 1. Human society in some form can easily survive the next 1,000 years. 2. Human society in its current form will not survive the next 50 years. 3. Catastrophic change is therefore inevitable.

News sites that allow you to follow specific journalists should also let you block them.

The point isn't to simply acquit your client, the point is to drag rowling to court, and watch her personally squirm trying to explain that she didn't realize your client was telling the truth or expressing an honest opinion about her, and she didn't file charges in bad faith to avoid conviction.

If you can't do that, if you can't say "no, our researchers and employed experts have a right to express this opinion publicly, which we also think is merited and true, and it's abject nonsense that this could be construed as defamatory", then what good is your organisation?

Amnesty's capitulation is unacceptable, because a human rights NGO is not simply a discount think tank (viz. a double discounted research university). It's part of its job description to specifically leverage its resources to stand its ground against actual and threatened SLAPPs from bad actors!