David Bartram
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dbartram.bsky.social
David Bartram
@dbartram.bsky.social

Sociologist. Interests: inequalities, happiness, migration, & causal identification. Editor-in-chief of @socialindicators.bsky.social. PhD UW-Madison. AI-free teaching & research since 1998. Posts are personal.

https://davidvbartram.wordpress.com .. more

Political science 32%
Sociology 27%
Peter Etedgui, a Jewish former classmate of Nigel Farage, says he is angered by Reform leader claiming his recollection of racist bullying is untrue. Two former classmates bsck Etedgui's challenge to Farage's (partial) denial among 20 who recalled Farage's conduct then
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Nigel Farage's racism denials are dishonest, says ex-classmate
Peter Ettedgui tells the BBC Nigel Farage targeted antisemitic abuse at him when they were teenagers.
www.bbc.com

In what other country* would we see news stories about the risk of collapse of 𝗱𝗼𝘇𝗲𝗻𝘀 of universities?

And all for the sake of pretending to "cut immigration", something that has already happened in large measure.

Insanity.

*Leaving aside the USA, naturally

www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Fifty higher education providers at risk of exiting market in England, MPs told
Regulator says 24 are at more immediate risk and may have to stop degree courses within next 12 months
www.theguardian.com

I visited the SD zoo in ~1992. A strong memory involves observation of two tortoises having sex. (How? very slowly....) Perhaps one of them was Gramma.

I watched Gramma having sex.
When you draw a platoon leader like Hegseth, it’s your worst nightmare. You just ride it out until he’s gone and gets replaced by someone who isn’t a complete jackass. Only a fool like Trump would put one of them in charge of the entire defense department.
"A system built on specialisation, efficiency", that right there is the death knell for the current university system in the UK, if (big if) government pushes it through. They actively don't want HE to grow, they will intervene, apparently, to help it shrink.

per this morning's education committee.
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.

They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
The Polish prime minister reacts
Do I understand correctly that there is now a dispute within the administration about whether this "peace plan" was written by Russians or Americans?

Whether it's mainly climate change is not clear -- I've read stuff pointing to mismanagement & corruption.

I've got no expertise on it; it's just something I've read.

www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/i...
Taps run dry as water crisis forces Iran to consider evacuating its capital
A prolonged drought along with years of overconsumption, an inefficient agricultural sector and mismanagement have led to the problem, analysts say.
www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by David Bartram

The Jews are just kindling for the fires of the Apocalypse, in the eyes of the Evangelicals.

I mean, maybe he's in the files?

You know your union branch is in good shape if the mere *threat* of strike is sufficient to achieve your goals.

If you have to actually go on strike, you've probably already lost.

(congrats @lancasterucu.bsky.social!)

Reposted by David Bartram

The President of the United States just called for Democratic members of Congress to be executed. "HANG THEM", he posted.

If you're a person of influence in this country and you haven't picked a side, maybe now would be the time to pick a fucking side.

As many others have suggested: there's a market niche here for universities (or programs).

"We don't use AI at all, come study with us and you'll really learn to think for yourself, and you'll have an edge over the schlubs who do it the 'new' way."

Someone at Uni Staffordshire apparently thinks they've found some magic beans, and are currently hoping to reap a pile of ££.

I expect they'll get a crop of something else entirely.

Possibly a future that entails their own "retraining" and career change.

www.theguardian.com/education/20...
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent
www.theguardian.com

And I remember thinking – so if the teacher is the same sex as the student and they’re both heterosexual, the teaching relationship doesn’t work??

bizarre conversation...

I recall a conversation, decades ago, where a prof suggested that teaching is erotically charged; it’s what helps motivate the student to strive.

So, what’s bad about sleeping with the student is that it “discharges” the sexual energy and thus demotivates.

THAT was the problem, not anything else.

I don't see how Labour expects to get *my* vote while seeking votes of people who would want THIS.

I'm a practical person; I don't normally vote for (smaller) parties that can't possibly win.

But I will not vote for this (nor the rest of what's now coming out).

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Asylum seekers’ jewellery could be seized to pay for processing costs, says Home Office minister
Idea borrowed from Denmark is latest attempt to reduce number of people seeking asylum in UK
www.theguardian.com
Imagine having a thumping majority in parliament and deciding to use it for something as squalid as this.
Someone should ask Starmer and Mahmood whether they think the Kindertransport, for example, should have been a return ticket. Whether Alf Dubs, rather than becoming a Labour MP and now Lord, ought to have been sent back with his family to Czechoslovakia once it was liberated from German rule.
This contribution to the volume of human misery is yet another policy from Labour based on a false premise, in this case that refugees are overly attracted to Britain. It will increase bureaucratic limbo, thus making worse the problem of "cohesion" it purports to solve.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
This contribution to the volume of human misery is yet another policy from Labour based on a false premise, in this case that refugees are overly attracted to Britain. It will increase bureaucratic limbo, thus making worse the problem of "cohesion" it purports to solve.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
“Housing shortage – Jews to blame," letter sticker, German Reich, 1938

zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context

Maybe they’ll come to enjoy the experience of having a spine. Could come in handy.

Reposted by David Bartram

BBC apologises to Trump over Panorama edit but refuses to pay compensation
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC apologises to Trump over Panorama edit but refuses to pay compensation
Lawyers for the US president have threatened to sue the corporation for $1bn (£759m).
www.bbc.com

I'm going to have to look at that sandwich picture again, am I not...

Reposted by David Bartram

“In one of the messages, Mr. Epstein flatly asserted that Mr. Trump “knew about the girls,” many of whom were later found by investigators to have been underage.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...
Epstein Alleged in Emails That Trump Knew of His Conduct
www.nytimes.com
ITV unmasks a neo-Nazi activist in Britain who gave Buckingham Palace tours by day and organized within international fascist movements by night.

“When confronted by ITV News on a suburban street in west London, Gravill froze. ‘Oh f***,’ he muttered.”

www.itv.com/news/2025-11...
www.itv.com