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ithilienorthend.bsky.social
Katy
@ithilienorthend.bsky.social
790 followers 220 following 810 posts
Left-wing, cricket-loving, all-singing-all-dancing zoologist-turned-statistician

Cover alt-text: Scarborough Cricket Ground

https://ashestourist.wordpress.com/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Katy
danwhitehead.net
To give you an idea of how deranged the UK has become about gender stuff, here's Enid Blyton - the absolute avatar of classic English conservatism and a huge fan of racist "gollywogs" - casually describing a gender non-conforming kid in the 1940s and having their friends be totally cool with it.
"I say! Are you Georgina?" The child in the opposite bed sat up and looked across at Anne. She had very short curly hair, almost as short as a boy's. Her face was burnt a dark-brown with the sun, and “Famous Five 01 - Five On A Treasure Island” By Enid Blyton 7 her very blue eyes looked as bright as forget-me-nots in her face. But her mouth was rather sulky, and she had a frown like her father's. "No," she said. "I'm not Georgina." "Oh!" said Anne, in surprise. "Then who are you?" "I'm George," said the girl. "I shall only answer if you call me George. I hate being a girl. I won't be. I don't like doing the things that girls do. I like doing the things that boys do. I can climb better than any boy, and swim faster too. I can sail a boat as well as any fisher-boy on this coast. You're to call me George. Then I'll speak to you. But I shan't if you don't." "Oh!" said Anne, thinking that her new cousin was most extraordinary. "All right! I don't care what I call you. George is a nice name, I think. I don't much like Georgina. Anyway, you look like a boy."
February 14, 2026 at 11:33 AM
ithilienorthend.bsky.social
What on earth just happened in the ice skating?!? I’m only watching because the cat fell asleep on my lap, I thought the result was a foregone conclusion. #winterolympics
February 13, 2026 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Katy
samfr.bsky.social
GB finally win a medal at the winter olympics and it's gold for Matt Weston in skeleton.

First man to win a gold for GB since Christopher Dean 42 years ago.
February 13, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Katy
oddbodd13.bsky.social
Since the Italian football team won the world cup in 2006, their cricket team has now won exactly the same number of world cup games: One.
footymac.bsky.social John Foot @footymac.bsky.social · 3d
Italy are officially better at cricket than at football.
February 12, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by Katy
awp.christies.org.uk
House rule: cats aren't allowed on the table

The cat:
A snoozing cat. He is stretched out for maximal length across the dining table he's not allowed to be on.
February 9, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Katy
jackbern.bsky.social
[watching the winter Olympic snowboarding]

COMMENTATOR: a lot of anticipation here. are we going to see a 1640?

ME: the end of the personal rule of Charles I? ONE MIGHT HOPE
February 8, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by Katy
mickeynumberz.bsky.social
I can see it now

Start: 11am because who gets up before then?

Lunch: 1pm

Resume: 4.30pm

Dinner: 6.30pm

Resume: 10pm

Close for drinks: midnight
February 8, 2026 at 9:39 AM
Reposted by Katy
vincentledvina.bsky.social
The aurora last night in Beaver, Alaska was just incredible. This is a real-time video (not sped up) of the crazy motion I saw. Also, look how BRIGHT it is, wow!
February 7, 2026 at 9:02 PM
ithilienorthend.bsky.social
I had no idea there was a T20 World Cup on at the moment. I’m afraid for the next few weeks I’m only interested in snow and ice.
February 8, 2026 at 9:20 AM
Reposted by Katy
cricketerik.bsky.social
If I ran ICC outreach, we'd go to all the olive oil European countries with a pitch centered around beating the English at their thing and stopping twice a day for meals.
rosamundi.bsky.social Rosamundi @rosamundi.bsky.social · 7d
Maybe we can get them into Test cricket? I bet they would approve of a game that stops for meals.
February 8, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by Katy
davidallengreen.bsky.social
Today is Candlemas

If you have not cleared all your Christmas decorations by today, a demon hiding behind them will cause dire mischief in your house for the rest of the year.

See my popular post on this: emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
"Twelfth Night Till Candlemas"
The story of a forty-year book-quest and of its remarkable ending
emptycity.substack.com
February 2, 2026 at 7:41 AM
Reposted by Katy
gregjenner.bsky.social
Hello, international fans of BBC YOU’RE DEAD TO ME!

You can now listen to ep1 of our latest series. It’s about Rome’s infamous Emperor Nero, and my guests are the amazing comedian & actor @pattonoswalt.bsky.social and brilliant Professor @wmarybeard.bsky.social
January 30, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by Katy
smolrobots.bsky.social
I don't exaggerate when I say that Andrew Wakefield should be tried for mass murder. We'll never know how many people have died or will die as a direct result of his fraudulent study.
jensfoell.de Dr. Jens Foell @jensfoell.de · 17d
This is the large domino, with the small domino being some random quack in the UK in 1998 trying to undermine the existing MMR vaccine so his business partner can swoop in with his own. Instead he lost his work credentials and now kids are dying needlessly all over the world, so great job everyone.
aberlejudith.bsky.social Aberle Judith @aberlejudith.bsky.social · 19d
Austria loses its WHO status as measles-free, too, together with Armenia, Azerbaijan Uzbekistan and Spain. This comes as no surprise, considering the rise in numbers in recent years and the decline in MMR vaccine coverage
#VaccineHesitancy #PublicHealthImpact #AllChildrenNeedProtection
January 28, 2026 at 10:04 PM
ithilienorthend.bsky.social
Baby woke up for her second feed of the night at 2:30, after which I was wide awake. Listened to two episodes of a sleep podcast - nothing. Jon got up to go to work at 5am, then baby woke for another feed. I finally dropped off after that, and then 40min later she decided it was daytime.
January 28, 2026 at 7:20 AM
Reposted by Katy
ayoub.bsky.social
The UK version of “Project 2025” by the Reform party includes a British ICE, a concentration camp for 24,000 people, mass surveillance and withdrawing from refugee, anti-torture and anti-trafficking conventions.

It’s on their website. That’s how comfortable fascists are in the UK today.
The Legislation Upon winning a general election, a Reform government under Prime Minister Nigel Farage will: 1) Leave the ECHR 2.) Repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights. 3.) Pass The Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill: This Bill will: Create a legal duty to remove illegal migrants for the Home Secretary The Bill opens with a blunt obligation for the Home Secretary: "The Secretary of State shall ensure the removal from the United Kingdom of each person who does not have extant leave to remain and is not an Irish citizen or otherwise protected by regulations made under this Act." The following parts of the legislation are introduced on an emergency basis, with an in-built sunset clause after 5 years: Disapply the 1951 Refugee Convention, the UN Convention Against Torture, the Council of Europe Anti-Trafficking Convention (ECAT) Derogation is justified under the Vienna Convention doctrine of state of necessity: Britain faces a national emergency in which uncontrolled illegal migration undermines public order. These treaties will otherwise be used by activist judges to frustrate deportations, even after the repeals of the HRA and ECHR. Create Detention Power Without Hardial Singh Constraints This means illegal migrants can be detained until they are deported. Activist lawyers routinely use Hardial Singh to secure their client's bail, after which the client absconds. If you came to the UK illegally, you are ineligible for asylum. End of story All asylum claims will become inadmissible if made by a person within the Act's scope. If you came to the country illegally, you are ineligible for asylum in the UK. This strips the Home Office, the immigration tribunals and the higher courts of jurisdiction to even consider claims. A claim that cannot be considered cannot suspend removal and therefore, cannot delay a flight. Re-entering after deportation and destroying ID becomes a serious criminal offence Re-entry after deportation will be… The Operational Plan We will create an enforcement unit called UK Deportation Command, including an Illegal Migrant Identification Centre - harnessing cutting edge data fusion A Reform government will create a cutting edge enforcement data centre to relentlessly identify and detain all illegal migrants in the UK. Using powers granted by the new legislation, it will automatically share data between the Home Office, NHS, HMRC, DVLA, banks and the police. It will power bulk warrants, including mandatory biometric capture during any police encounter. Each power addresses a failure mode observed over the past decade - for example, banks and GP surgeries unaware of a customer's status, or overstayers slipping through because a warrant covered only a single property. Secure Immigration Removal Centres (SIRC) will be built rapidly to detain up to 24,000 Detention capacity for up to 24,000 will be created within 18 months. The Home Office will build Secure Immigration Removal Centres. This will be modular accommodation built in remote parts of the country. Conditions are basic but not punitive: prefabricated two-person rooms, canteen catering, on-site medical suites. Robust perimeters and internal movement controls prevent escapes. This enables detention-on-arrest: no more bail. This capacity would allow for up to 24,000 illegal migrants to be deported per month. Initial Voluntary Return Window A six-month Assisted Voluntary Return window precedes large-scale raids. Illegal migrants will be offered a financial incentive to self-deport. An app will be launched to facilitate this. The Deportation Flights The Home Office will scale up charters to 5 flights per day. To guard against last-minute aircraft unserviceability, the RAF will keep one Voyager aircraft on six-hour 'hot-spare' readiness. If a commercial charter breaks down, detainees can still be flown out that night, preserving operational integrity. The legal reset will mean activist lawyers will no longer be able preven…
January 26, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Katy
thecricketer.com
"He has been a key figure for us over a number of years since joining the club."
Durham secure return of David Bedingham for seventh season | The Cricketer
David Bedingham will return to Durham for a seventh consecutive season in 2026
www.thecricketer.com
January 27, 2026 at 1:54 PM
ithilienorthend.bsky.social
Ten years ago today I was watching Test cricket from a swimming pool on the boundary at Centurion.
Me, in a swimming pool, with the Test pitch behind me. This was taken after England had won the Test.
January 26, 2026 at 10:11 PM
ithilienorthend.bsky.social
Watching the Cricket episode of Bluey, and feeling smug that I accurately identified the stadium that features for about a second at the end. Obviously the Gabba.
January 26, 2026 at 5:46 PM
ithilienorthend.bsky.social
Toby’s doing his #RSPB #BigGardenBirdwatch2026
Cat lying on the windowsill watching a flock of sparrows in the tree outside
January 25, 2026 at 10:42 AM
Reposted by Katy
perigominas.bsky.social
Everyone in Britain will know what I mean when I say that I wish that was Paddington not Pingu
chadbourn.bsky.social Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 22d
There are many serious governments in the world.

The US is not one of them.

(There are no penguins in Greenland.)
White House post - Trump and a penguin walk towards a Greenland flag. “Embrace the penguin”.
January 24, 2026 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Katy
tomevanscricket.bsky.social
99% sure Trump thinks Greenland is much bigger than it is because nobody has even attempted to explain the Mercator Projection to him
January 23, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Reposted by Katy
greenparty.org.uk
Help us make hope normal again.

Join the Green Party now.
January 22, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Katy
somersetccc.bsky.social
⏳ 70 days to go until our first County Championship game of the season.

#YouAreSomerset
January 23, 2026 at 8:02 AM
Reposted by Katy
atlathewriter.bsky.social
In the 2010s, the Icelandic tv station Channel 2 accidentally added subtitles from a gritty crime drama to an episode of Teletubbies.

I have translated some of the highlights
A screenshot of Lala and Po from the teletubbies. The screenshot is clearly taken from someone's phone, as the borders of the tv can be seen, as well as glimpses into the apartment behind them. Po is in bed wrapped up in a blanket. The text below them reads "I know you were high at my mother-in-laws funeral..." More screenshots from the Teletubbies. Lala seems to be upset with a terrified Po. the text below reads "Did you kill the dog? Why would you do that?!" A third screenshot from the Teletubbies, this time the same scene as before. Po is wearing an apron while Lala seems to still be upset at him. The text below reads "You're nothing but a failure of a man."
January 20, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Reposted by Katy
garius.bsky.social
I've used the Smallbones Scheme as an example before with SPADs/politicians who've said "oh but it's politically unpalatable to..." about stuff.

yeah. no shit.

So find a way to do it anyway, in a deniable way. That's your fucking job. Smallbones did it. So can you.
January 21, 2026 at 1:15 PM