Tom
@tomrees.eurosky.social
Blogging the slow rehabilitation of the abandoned allotment we just took on. Also, random likes and rebleets of politics, science, climate, computing, and history. Trying to be pleasant.
New from me: Until recently, the gap between comfortably-off and just-getting-started could plausibly be crossed in a decade or two of hard work. Growth in asset prices means that’s no longer true: even a lifetime of striving doesn’t offer a realistic prospect of feeling you’ve “made it”.
@vc40ladybirds.bsky.social do you know what these are. Not ladybirds, as I first thought!
Tom@tomrees.eurosky.social · 2w agoWhat are these bugs on my french beans? Any ideas? #allotment
I've just signed "Kopparberg, stop advertising on Rupert Murdoch’s Talk Radio" - Will you support the campaign too? actionstorm.org/petitions/ko... @StopFundingHate
actionstorm.org
After years in endless meetings at work talking about it, my other half has only gone and done it. She's picked the low hanging fruit.
Good news on this: www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...
Big tech platforms will have to ban scam ads under UK plans to tackle fraud
Range of potential measures announced by Ofcom include reducing risk of accounts being hijacked for scams
theguardian.com
Tom@tomrees.eurosky.social · last mo.It seems incredible that companies can sell media space to organise crime and not face any consequences.
Did you know that charities working to challenge racism, support refugees & promote human rights increasingly face large-scale online abuse & threats? What this report - quite strikingly - omits to mention is that such abuse often follows hostile UK media attacks /1 news.sky.com/story/staff-...
Staff at 'thousands of charities' threatened and intimidated for 'doing their jobs'
The Charity Commission surveyed nearly 3,000 charity trustees, and over a quarter said they had been affected by a "challenging social environment"
news.sky.com
This is actually a beautiful experience. Avoid if you don't like AI, but if your curious about either AI or poetry, you should try.
Ethan Mollick@emollick.bsky.social · 4w agoThis is lovely. I had a fun conversation about vastness with a virtual William Sieghart which led to a beautiful reading of Keat's Endymion, and one about landscapes of memory and led to a reading of Hopkin's Windhover. We need more beautiful, humane demonstrations of AI. odepoetry.ai
A miracle on the courgette front. They kept rotting, but a bit of research suggested calcium deficiency, perhaps made worse by planting them where the brambles had been rotting down over winter. I ground up and spread a chalk pebble from the beach, and a week later they are looking magnificent
Moved my compost bins to their final position at the end of the allotment
My first potatoes. Thought there was going to be nothing down there, given how sickly the plants look. Then these beauties appeared. #allotment
The treatment of this woman is absolutely outrageous and one of the most egregious corporate violations of free speech I've seen. I have just bought the book as a fuck you to Facebook. It's available here uk.bookshop.org/p/books/care...
Careless People: A story of where I used to work
The number one global bestseller and Book of the Year 2025 for Audible, The Times, Cosmopolitan, The Economist and more.‘Amazing: of all the books in all the world Mr Free Speech Zuckerberg wants to b...
uk.bookshop.org
The News Agents@thenewsagents.co.uk · last mo.“They’ve silenced her. “This is an attempt to punish someone who spoke the truth.” The "bizarre" moment @maitlis.bsky.social is forced to ask Facebook whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams to leave the studio.
‘Am I losing this battle? Yes’: Martin Lewis on the online scams that steal his identity – and others’ life savings
‘Am I losing this battle? Yes’: Martin Lewis on the online scams that steal his identity – and others’ life savings
Trusted by millions, the finance expert has seen his name and face used to mis-sell a string of fake investments. And yet, he says, it would be ‘very simple’ for the government to stop them
theguardian.com
It's a sad indictment of our country that we can't keep hold of even good PMs for more than a year. www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...
The rise and fall of Keir Starmer: where did it all go wrong?
PM’s demise after landslide victory two years ago points to an increasingly volatile and impatient electorate
theguardian.com
Today, we celebrate 180 years of preserving and sharing Sussex’s heritage. 🎉 Founded in Lewes on 18 June 1846, we've spent nearly two centuries caring for historic places, collections and archaeological sites across the county. Read more: sussexpast.co.uk/180-years-ce...
180 Years of The Sussex Archaeological Society - Sussex Past
Celebrating and sharing the heritage of Sussex since 1846 This year marks a remarkable milestone for The Sussex Archaeological Society as we celebrate our 180th anniversary. Founded on 18 June 1846 in...
sussexpast.co.uk
Tech billionaires are getting richer while we pay the price for the real-world harm their platforms cause. The "neutral host" loophole lets them off the hook for pushing dangerous content. MPs are demanding emergency laws to make them pay. Add your name: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...
Sign the urgent petition
Tech billionaires shouldn't get to hide behind a legal loophole while their algorithms push dangerous content for profit. MPs are demanding emergency laws to finally make them liable for the harm they...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Something is hitting my first earlies. AI reckons it's magnesium deficiency and/or blight. #allotment
I thought this headline ("Ötzi the Iceman used to make sourdough") was saying that, when he was alive Otzi the Iceman made sourdough. The actual story is somewhat different... www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
'It was very very good': Ötzi the Iceman's body is covered in ancient yeast — and scientists just used it to make a sourdough
A new study cultivated four strains of cold-adapted yeasts that had colonized Ötzi's body shortly after his death 5,300 years ago in the Alps.
livescience.com
📰 #Finance "What happens when one of the leading figures behind Reform UK's rise is pressed on climate science — and threatens to walk out of the interview? This week on Bloomberg Green's Zero podcast, host Akshat Rathi sat down with Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice for a long and…"
Reform UK's Deputy Leader in 'Heated' Exchange on Climate Science
bloomberg.com
Supporters of electoral reform have so many times seen Labour figures dally with talk of PR for the House of Commons, with piles of talk and speeches but so little action at the crunch, that it's natural to be sceptical of Andy Burnham's comments. But notable that he also frames PR as an economic...
The weather has finally broken here, so I took the chance to plant out a few lettuces I had lying around. Yes, they are mixed in randomly with some tomatoes and a lone French bean, thanks for asking. Behind I've sown carrots in the middle of more French beans. #allotment
Cleared the brambles and junk from the top corner of the #allotment, carried another 160l of water, harvested some peas. Time for a beer before watering the garden! Also...
Tomatoes are in! The only #allotment task I could be bothered to do today, but they were starting to suffer in their little pots.
