Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 1m

#Watercolour sketch with a tiny amount of pencil underdrawing attributed to #WilliamLeightonLeitch (1804-1883).

Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 1m

Victorian #watercolour by #AndrewBrandishHolte (1829-1907)

Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 14m

Annoys me every time I see it: 'While stocks last' or 'While stock lasts' but 'While stock last' is...grrrrr!

A shop window with stickers announcing relocation

Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 10h

It's fascinating seeing other food cultures. I'm watching #Masterchef #NewZealand and learning that (a) everybody forages, (b) everyone's obsessed with goats cheese, (c) every plate is a heavily contested scrum of flavours in a rugby match of ingredients.

Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 18h

Watch the sleight of hand on immigration from the #rightwing.

1. It's not unreasonable to want to some controls on #immigration.

2. It's racist to want to have them based on the colour of someone's skin or to deport people for the same reason.

How often does 1 slide into 2? Every d***ed time.

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 21h

Astonished at the number of 25 year old Henriettas and Ruperts showing history video content on #Instagram, plainly convincing themselves at least they are the next #LucyWorsley.

a group of people walking with the words " we 're historians " on the screen

ALT: a group of people walking with the words " we 're historians " on the screen

media.tenor.com

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 1d

Poster on a British train.

#NewYork, I admire your gumption but 'Everything you love' for most of us doesn't include raiding our phones in case we've said naughty things about an ageing orange blob with a liar reflex.

Brits are not going to the #BigApple until that thing goes.

Train advertisement for tourism in New York

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 1d

Well of course she'd cut university places. She's competing on misery and hate with Farage.

Source: Times Higher Education
search.app/Qk6Ut

Badenoch’s number caps plan would cut 100,000 university places

Tory leader to use conference speech to attack ‘debt trap degrees’ and pledge more money for apprenticeships

search.app

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 1d

Look, #Democrats, if you haven't the gumption to oppose #Trump at least ridicule the bejezus out of the slimeball. Irritate him. Laugh at him. Make jokes. Caricature him. Go to it.

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 2d

Nice to see long queues for #flu jabs in #Wokingham. There are fewer barking mad anti-science conspiracy nutters than the media portrays. #scienceworks.

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 3d

Trying to remember the last act of unselfish pro-social action I saw. And I can't recall one.

#Britain, you've become a petty shallow mess. Nice flags though...

Youre Aware There Are Other People In The World Right GIF

Alt: Youre Aware There Are Other People In The World Right GIF

media.tenor.com

Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 5d

Make all countries' *receipt* of secret information the act that triggers a charge and we stop this pussyfooting around and stop avoiding having to say what we all know, which is that China hoovers up intelligence.

Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 5d

FIRS can still work in that regime, so can NSIA, so can all the rest of the legislation because the transactions in scope are defined, not the nation. The fact China isn't in the enhanced tier for FIRS is only a sign you didn't need tiers in the first place.

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 5d

Decouple the act from the threat. If I pass information marked secret to China, the US or Peru I ought to go to jail, whatever our sotto voce 'threat assessment' says. If I pass non-secret (for example public domain) information to China, US or Peru I ought not to be charged. What's so difficult?

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 5d

Absurd. Update the National Security Act 2023 with a new definition of the crime of espionage as 'activity involving the passing of secret information by any individual to any foreign power'.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Threat assessment of China led to spy case collapse, says CPS

The dropping of charges against two men last month prompted criticism from some ministers and MPs.

www.bbc.com

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 6d

How on earth can protesting be 'un-British'? What, for goodness sake, does that even mean? The man's taken leave of his senses. He's aiming to alienate everyone.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Keir Starmer asks students not to join protests on 7 October

The prime minister says it is "un-British" to hold pro-Palestinian protests on the second anniversary of Hamas's attacks on Israel.

www.bbc.com

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 7d

The rape of the #countryside around #Wokingham continues as councils pursue the all too obvious plan of creating a massive Wokingham - #Bracknell conurbation. Horrid.

Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 8d

The most unnerving thing found lying about in my bathroom this morning...

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 8d

What proportion of #ICE 'agents'(if they are indeed ICE and not #ProudBoys masked up) are female in these videos? Pretty much zero? #ToxicMasculinity field trip.

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 8d

If #Lemsip made #icecream. @benandjerrys.bsky.social, this is a big thumbs down.

Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 12d

'May I introduce you to General Stauffenberg?'

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 12d

Screaming child on my train - high pitched, high volume - and the parents are making zero effort to stop it. I sense they don't know how...

a young boy is laughing with his mouth open in a striped shirt .

ALT: a young boy is laughing with his mouth open in a striped shirt .

media.tenor.com

1

Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 12d

All people normally hear from politicians are promises, 'commitments' (if I could wave my wand, anyone saying 'We are committed to...' would automatically disappear into the ether) and talking points.

*Doing* needs to win back ground from *griping* (a la Farage) - so...*do*! An orgy of *doing*!

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 12d

The number of suggestions following in the comments on this show that @martinlewis.moneysavingexpert.com is absolutely on the money (excuse the pun) here. Small is beautiful - and, given #Starmer finds it difficult to do *anything* without annoying lots of people he can't afford to upset, sensible.

Martin Lewis @martinlewis.moneysavingexpert.com · 12d

The govt should find 100 small things that piss people off & fix em, such as…

Ta to Politico for the vid, at its Labour fringe event, I explained that as big changes take time, govts should also have a team focused on small winnable change.

What little fixes'd you want?

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Mark Gray @markgray.bsky.social · 13d

Certifiably insane. We all have to buy US chairs now?

Look, I know he'll back down, forget, change it to 'tariffs on Sweden only' or go off on another mad 'invade X!' rant, but #America, you gave us this idiot. It's your job to get rid of him.

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