Bertha Mason
@thornfieldhall.bsky.social
1.1K followers 2.1K following 3.1K posts
Firestarter Maker of poor pottery Creator of disappointing dinners Hoarder of unfinished craft projects Lefty, wokey, inclusivey Sunny South East London
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Reposted by Bertha Mason
timleunig.bsky.social
Outstanding from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com - the best way to get a job is to get a degree. You will almost almost always earn more as well.
benansell.bsky.social
Really interesting article from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com but especially intriguing to me is the number of comments below that are essentially 'OK the data don't agree with my hunch but here's an unrelated statement that proves that I'm right about AI, the death of higher education, etc'
What the graduate unemployment story gets wrong
People with a degree are faring better, not worse than their non-graduate counterparts
www.ft.com
thornfieldhall.bsky.social
This photo has such a Schindler's List feel to it. Suffer the little children...
Reposted by Bertha Mason
annedenoon.bsky.social
Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita (1886-1968)
etching, from "A Book of Cats," 1929/30
Sold at Bonhams, 2018
#Caturday 🎨
Black and white etching of a sleeping cat by Foujita, 1929.
thornfieldhall.bsky.social
I love this! I bought it, with a couple of others, for my husband's birthday. I can't wait for him to see them.
Reposted by Bertha Mason
thornfieldhall.bsky.social
Maybe, following the Observer's reporting today, Farage will remember who has been giving Reform previously undeclared donations using cryptocurrency, too?
thornfieldhall.bsky.social
What five events defined your childhood?

JFK getting shot.
Dr Who launching with William Hartnell.
Marion Coakes on Stroller winning at Hickstead.
The Monkees on TV.
Three Day Week and board games & ouija by candlelight...brilliant!
paulbernal.bsky.social
What five events defined your childhood?

The first moon landing
Thatcher stealing my milk
Vietnam war
Star Wars
The Clash
topsyscatmum.bsky.social
What five events defined your childhood?

Poll tax riots
Brixton riots
Fall of the Berlin wall
Sex Pistols
Jaws/Grease/Poltergeist
thornfieldhall.bsky.social
Not really surprising that the political party benefitting from secret crypto donations is Reform. I wonder who it came from...and what country...and why they would seek to use such an opaque method of donating?
catneilan.bsky.social
Exc: The Electoral Commission has been given early notice of the UK's first ever crypto donation

The has been "made, but not declared", to a party understood to be Reform

Reform spox said: "All donations above the reporting limit will be disclosed in the usual way"

share.google/VvtjBjEjEjRa...
Calls for transparency on political funding after first c...
Electoral Commission notified of financial contribution, which is rumoured to have been handed to Reform UK
share.google
Reposted by Bertha Mason
curlewaction.bsky.social
Today (date), the Slender-billed Curlew was declared extinct. The first bird extinction on mainland Europe in 500 years — on our watch. Extinction is final. No going back. Think about that.
Reposted by Bertha Mason
sundersays.bsky.social
Having illustrated the problem of X ignoring its legal duties, I want to build an effective coalition for intervention. If you are or know people on X receiving racist abuse, rape threats, I would welcome receipts of one rejected attempt to report to the platform an indefensible case
sundersays.bsky.social
Thanks for this kind note. I hope to do something useful with this by Nov/Dec (new Ofcom powers, new EHRC chair). I'd like more women + ethnic minorities to go through (futile) process of reporting shocking stuff (eg rape threats, p-word, n-word) & share receipts with me of one egregious example
thornfieldhall.bsky.social
How much are we really losing? Revolut's big money is Lithuania; Utopia owns his £30mn house; Quantum Light is registered George Town & Tortola. What is the real financial loss to the country? Was he really paying all his dues anyway?
thornfieldhall.bsky.social
Agree with that. These flats are not rented out. They just sit as investments. The purchases do nothing but enrich the overseas investors.
thornfieldhall.bsky.social
In 2022, Norway increased its wealth tax to 1.1%. The gains far exceeded the losses from any m/billionaires moving. The high tax Scandinavian counties have very high % of m/billionaires - the taxes are not deterrent.
Chart showing how Norway increased its tax takes with the increase in wealth tax.
thornfieldhall.bsky.social
We have friends in a beautiful & very expensive block near us, which is like a ghost building. Much of it has been bought by (mostly) Chinese investors and dozens of flats sit empty. Overseas investors and their shell companies should be discouraged with punitive taxes. Stop making homes investments
thornfieldhall.bsky.social
You should be very proud of yourself, Ben. You have had a difficult time, with a lot of challenges, but you have grown into a very nice young man. That counts for a lot.
Reposted by Bertha Mason
rolandmcs.bsky.social
This strikes me as a pretty major Brexit shift from Starmer.

Perhaps the beginning of 'Brexit is sh1t and has caused real economic damage'.
thornfieldhall.bsky.social
Why is Boris Johnson never held to account? We know he is a liar, dishonest and completely unethical, based on his past behaviour, but he carries on behaving like that because he gets away with it. He is still enriching himself by breaking the rules . www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Boris Johnson breached rules designed to stop abuse of contacts made in public office, watchdog finds
Johnson found to have breached rules after refusing to answer specific questions about allegations published by the Guardian
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Bertha Mason
chrischirp.bsky.social
After a long pause, I've just done another England Covid & NHS update as we head into the autumn/winter season.

TLDR: we're in a significant Covid wave now, the NHS is stretched, get boosted if you're eligible.

christinapagel.substack.com/p/england-is...
England is now experiencing a significant Covid wave, after 10 months of relative quiet
The latest Covid situation in England and a look at where NHS services are as we head into winter
christinapagel.substack.com
thornfieldhall.bsky.social
I feel you have just dissed my entire childhood, but this made me roar with laughter all the same.
Reposted by Bertha Mason
donmoyn.bsky.social
Immigrant Nobel Prize winners exiting the United States
florianscheuer.bsky.social
I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

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