The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it is still shaping policy. So were we all wrong to leave?

Don't feel stupid, but also, if someone helpfully tells you "that's fake," the correct response is "oh shit, let me delete this" not doubling down and disabling comments.

Getting international troops into Gaza as soon as possible is the only thing that *may* provide security for Palestinians in Gaza from Israel soon resuming attacks and later relaunching a genocidal onslaught.

If she’s in hiding in Venezuela then she may send someone to pick it up for her, and the obvious choice is the man she has dedicated the award to. So I think there’s now a decent chance Trump gets to have his Nobel Peace Prize moment. Maybe that was the idea!

Nobel laureates get to take guests to the big party in Oslo, btw bsky.app/profile/leah...

Machado issues her first statement since being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and makes a thinly-veiled appeal to Trump for US intervention in Venezuela:

WHO’S THE BEST HENRY VIII?

V funchat with @sixteenthcgirl.bsky.social @alexvont.bsky.social & @drjoannepaul.bsky.social

Watch on History Hit TV or listen here👇

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I’m happy to see the awful Venezuelan regime being criticized but if “this is an award for an entire movement” (as the committee said), why give it to one specific person? And one with dubious friends and positions? Nobel Prize has been given to groups and movements before. Peace offer to Trump?

Breaking news: María Corina Machado has been awarded the prize for ‘keeping the flame of democracy burning amidst a growing darkness’ . The win dashes the hopes of US President Donald Trump. on.ft.com/4ocHAKY

the world: idk about this AI slop. we should maybe not do that

the sweatiest guy you've ever seen: you don't understand. it's inevitable. it's coming to kill us. we have to make more

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

Yes, that’s also my experience – I’ve had it several times since 2020 and, while I’ve been very lucky to avoid the awful long-term effects some people have had, it’s been much more disruptive and lingering than a conventional cold. Hence why I would rather reduce my risk.

Oh I’m sorry if that was stressful! I just thought it was a really good thread. I don’t think a reply-guy describes someone who contributes positively to the discussion with interesting, relevant, well-referenced points!

Whew yes the Pope! It still pleasantly surprises me whenever a church leader says something that actually sounds like Christian values

I took this picture of Olga and László in London in 2018. Congrats to Krasznahorkai and his translators, including George Szirtes and @ottiliemulzet.bsky.social, and long live a Central Europe free of dictators (foreign and domestic) and full of magnificent minds like these!

That’s exactly how I feel. I don’t teach undergraduates any longer, but I often lead workshops etc with different groups of people, so I’m always encountering new bugs. I have a lot of work travel and fixed deadlines over the next few months so, if I can reduce my risk of illness, that’s worth it.

Yes - I normally do both at once but this time the GP surgery offered me flu but not Covid (seems to be happening to a lot of people on this thread). So I took the free flu one and paid for Covid a week later. I have a hurty arm this morning, but no serious symptoms.

🚨NEW EPISODE🚨
Viceroy City – Why governing Gaza could be beyond Tony Blair. @alexvont.bsky.social takes us on a tour of the inglorious history of viceregal rule 👉 linktr.ee/bunker_pod

#tonyblair #gaza #bunker

There’s a search tool to find pharmacies offering it on the NHS website. The first one I went into didn’t offer a private option, but the second one did. Boots also offer it nationwide in many branches, though it’s slightly more expensive. www.nhs.uk/nhs-services...

To be fair, I don’t know what their cost price is! It may well be more expensive than the NHS’s. Seems to be pretty standard that most places charge £85-£100 for the covid vaccine. Boots is more expensive than my local pharmacy at £98, though you’d think a big chain might have greater buying power.

I don’t know! You’ll have to ask someone who works in that sector. I’m just a member of the public who wanted a vaccine.

Portland is ... right there. It's a real place. People live in it. People can go look at it. You could call someone there right now.

It counts as private healthcare, so they can charge what they like. Pharmacies are adding a markup to the cost price for their service just as they would for shampoo or perfume, or for a private prescription.

Of course, individuals may well have different rationales for assessing their own risk – I explained mine in the first post of this thread. And as @stevensenior.bsky.social also notes, it would be better if the private jabs were cheaper, so more people could opt in. A private flu jab is under £20.