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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields
@avochie.bsky.social
230 followers 81 following 1.1K posts
Practical, evidence-informed conservation in the UK and Zambia, and calcium carbonates without the carbon @longcliffe. Fan of German wirehaired pointers, unlike Kristi Noem.
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 27d
Our algorithm-driven online diet in a nutshell.
mlpoole.bsky.social
ML @mlpoole.bsky.social · 28d
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 22m
Why does it say that access to public paths is shrinking though? This isn't actually true
Reposted by John Shields
alexchurchill.bsky.social
Alex Churchill @alexchurchill.bsky.social · 1h
Because apartheid South Africa really did a fantastic job of spaffing out a functional human being with you, didn’t it? You loathsome bellend.
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 8h
You mischaracterised my comment re book burning, so I would also you not also to misread me ref assessing the dangers of Trump. Stupid and angry is very dangerous, no mistake. But so is indulging in the very same priggish narcissism so amply displayed by Trump et al. Empathy's still important.
avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 8h
Those who just brand their opponents as 'monsters' are committing themselves to a doom spiral of partisan politics in which, for the time being at least, it looks like our side stand to be the losers. Fire your Parthian shots if it makes you feel better, but it likely leads nowhere but down.
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 8h
Really? Every part of it? You sure about that?
avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 8h
Anyone who thinks they don't harbour the hardwired human propensity for tribal fanaticism is kidding themselves.

One can't accuse Trump/his acolytes of lack of empathy & then not attempt to understand their motivations oneself. You can brand them malicious, but I think this demonisation unhelpful.
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 10h
It would be great to know how many in Trump's administration speak foreign languages. Has any of them ever attempted to see the world from another's perspective?
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 10h
The furious desire to burn books lurks latent in all of us. However, the key difference is that some of us actually read them. America elected a man who doesn't read, doesn't like dogs, and doesn't have an ounce of the grace or imagination needed to temper his overwhelming solipsism.
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 10h
'Evil' & 'malice' I think are misplaced & unhelpful; these people clearly believe themselves to be acting for their country's benefit. The issue is rather that they are stupid, ignorant, & angry. So what one is seeing is the unthinking and incompetent application at fever pitch of half-baked ideas.
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 21h
I genuinely think there's a point where even hardened Reform supporters start to realise that we really don't need Nigel Farage peering up the nation's skirts, and that this prurient old man self-appointing to sneak peeks over the country's loo cubicle partitions is, well, getting a little weird.
twlldun.bsky.social
Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 1d
I mean, this is really desperate shit, isn’t it? I am a great deal more woke-sceptic than pretty much all of Bluesky but I honestly can’t be bothered to care about the National Trust putting vegan tampons in the men’s toilets and neither should you
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 21h
Someone should really think of doing an easily-digestible primer on Marxism that we can all listen to
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 23h
If he wants to police the women's lingerie section of a department store, he can. But sooner or later people will notice that he's the weird guy who hangs out policing the women's lingerie section of a department store. And, well, Churchillian it is not.
avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 23h
I get that it's just tribal meat aimed at evoking a tribal reaction, true or not. But he's going to have to be careful. There's a point where one starts to look ridiculous, and the tribal response takes a pause at that absurdity. Policing lavatory vending machines? It's close.
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 23h
... and they progressed the 'concept' and came up with this. Christ what a world. Come friendly bonbs etc
avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 23h
"Wifi" is such an obviously better name.
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 1d
a man in a suit and tie is sitting at a table with a glass of water .
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is sitting at a table with a glass of water .
media.tenor.com
avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 1d
Excellent, intelligent, and humane interview that's worth a weekend watch. Much more about tribalism and our relationship to science than it is about human evolution www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj1Q...
‘Humans are not evolved for modern life’ - evolutionary biologist Ella Al-Shamahi
YouTube video by Channel 4 News
www.youtube.com
avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 1d
"Mad idiot 'sparks debate' about whether the earth is round: the Washington Post investigates."
avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 1d
Why on earth this junkie is given the time of day, is beyond me. One would get more sense out of an addled old alcoholic at a late-night bar, boring desperate patrons either his increasingly senile conspiracism.
avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 1d
It was confused Reform-supporters having to bite off the end of non-vegan tampons that kicked off the great 2026 National Trust Mutiny.
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 1d
It's exhausting isn't it, the desire of some to micromanage absolutely everyone's existence. Is he really suggesting policing the contents of every dispensing machine in every public bathroom in the country? Is that the platform he's standing on?
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 1d
As only someone who obviously survives on burgers clearly always will be. Ignorance is strength!
avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 1d
It is - genuinely - my sincerest wish that he lives long enough to see his legacy trashed, and to understand how much he's been played. Sadly this will have to entail a massive turnaround within the Republican Party within a short space of time.
avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 1d
I suspect that for a while, even in her case, that's been kept as more than a pretence!
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avochie.bsky.social
John Shields @avochie.bsky.social · 1d
Worship, no. But I think it might be worth everyone's while pretending he has clothes for as long as he's in office. We can then hope he lives long enough to see everyone laughing at him afterwards.
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