Author | Lightnews

John Davies

@jrsdavies.bsky.social

520 followers 690 following 440 posts

Old bloke. Now back living in NE London after sojourns in Oxford, Liverpool, Bloomsbury, Boston MA, Cardiff and N Ireland. Reads, sings in choirs, worries about Leyton Orient. Occasionally blogging at https://oldgeezerrereadingblog.wordpress.com/

oldgeezerrereadingblog.wordpress.com

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Reposted by John Davies

Lydia Polgreen @polgreen.bsky.social · 15h

The whataboutism on Gaza really rankles, especially for those of us who have spent our careers reporting on the crises Israel's defenders cynically invoke as so much worse than Gaza. I wrote about how it actually compares, and what the true toll may be. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/o...

Opinion | What Happened in Gaza Might Be Even Worse Than We Think

www.nytimes.com

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John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 13h

Melvyn Bragg

John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 2d

Yes

John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 2d

One more for the #1925club: Edith Wharton's The Mother's Recompense
oldgeezerrereadingblog.wordpress.com/2025/10/

October 2025 – Old geezer re-reading

1 post published by jrsdavies during October 2025

oldgeezerrereadingblog.wordpress.com

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Tom Davies @tomdaviese17.bsky.social · 2d

If you read one article about the nonsense of recent days, make it this one. Not least because it also acknowledges that the trend towards blanket away-fan bans is problematic.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 2d

Standing with Maccabi’s football hooligans against local police – is that what patriotism looks like now? | Jonathan Liew

Tommy Robinson is said to be going to Villa Park as a Maccabi Tel Aviv fan. Do the politicians jumping on this bandwagon care what they are doing, asks Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew

www.theguardian.com

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Welsh Bollocks @welshbollocks.bsky.social · 2d

116 children didn't come home from school that day. Never forget. Aberfan 💔

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John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 3d

Hey, @kaggsy59.bsky.social (or whoever makes the rules), can I submit for the #1925club a blog I wrote a couple of months ago on 1925's The Great Gatsby? Here's the link oldgeezerrereadingblog.wordpress.com/2025/08/20/r...

Re-reading The Great Gatsby … and Accident

Another centenary: after celebrating the 100th anniversary of Russell Hoban’s birth, we turned to the even more famous Scott Fitzgerald for a re-reading of his The Great Gatsby, first published in …

oldgeezerrereadingblog.wordpress.com

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John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 6d

'The rhythm of British life'. So that's what we're supposed to be nostalgic for

John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 6d

Hivemind failed come up with any suggestions, I regret to say. But we had a great time, anyway #Antibes

John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 6d

Looks like that's N Ireland only. But on iPlayer for the rest of us

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John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 8d

For one day only, I could say I was the man in @seatsixtyone.bsky.social (and the Eurostar was on time, too)

John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 13d

I think you'll find that in fact it's your flabber that has been ghasted

John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 16d

Hivemind! Suggestions please on what to do / where to eat in or near Antibes in October (yes, that's #Antibes in France)

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John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 19d

I think that was the opposite of 0-0 #lofc

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Adrian Short @adrianshort.uk · 26d

Want to kill the BritCard digital ID scheme dead in a day?

Insist that Keir Starmer spends a day volunteering in a public library to deal with all the tech support requests.

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John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 27d

Let's assume a digital ID system is 'rolled out'. So like any big project, there'll be what its defenders will call 'glitches'. And there'll be headlines such as 'OAP denied treatment because his/her ID doesn't work'. Ready for that? #digitalID

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Zoe Gardner @zoejardiniere.bsky.social · 27d

Ok. They’ve pissed me off.

I’m back to tell you 3 things about ID cards:

1. Migrants ALREADY HAVE biometric ID cards & govts have been trying to digitise them for years w repeated fuckups & failures causing complete chaos - they don’t work, you do not want that system for you.

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John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · 27d

A great list - not only because it includes Epping Forest, riding on top of a bus and the Wallace Collection. Mentions must-visit places I'd never heard of ...

Naomi Alderman @naomialderman.bsky.social · 28d

subsequent to the orange man shooting his mouth off about London, I did the second part of my 100 things I love in London. because I mean, really:

open.substack.com/pub/naomiald...

43 more things I love in London

still just filled to the brim with wonder

open.substack.com

Reposted by John Davies

Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · Sep 23

Why are the American president's claims about autism the first item on British news bulletins?

He's not our president, the advice doesn't apply here and he's not presented any evidence to support his assertions.

So why spread these claims? What make this the biggest story in the UK?

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John Davies @jrsdavies.bsky.social · Sep 20

No Porridge? Or Whatever Happened TTLL? I despair

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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · Sep 17

Yes, in case you missed it, the U.K. does have a big problem with free speech.

No, it’s not the problem Vance et al are talking about.

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Naomi Alderman @naomialderman.bsky.social · Sep 17

I love London so much. So much.

Did you know that London has the lowest level of ethnic violence of any city of comparable size in the world?

Multiculturalism has in fact worked here. They just don’t want it to be true because we happen to have a Muslim mayor.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · Sep 17

In London, hate will never win.

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Reposted by John Davies

Jane Winters @jfwinters.bsky.social · Sep 15

This is the 2025 experience

Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · Sep 15

My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com

p.s. this week I am on a USA/Canada tour with my new book. Details and preorder links at tomgauld.com

Panel 1. image of a huge nuclear plant.
“Reactor Overheating”

2. A worker in a hazmat suit works at a computer. The screen reads:
“Press cancel to avoid critical overload”

3 - 9. The worker continues to type at the computer. The screen changes in each panel and reads:
“Enter password to confirm”
“Incorrect password”
“Incorrect password”
“Do you want to reset your password?”
“Reset link has been sent to your email”
“Please choose a new password”
“New password can't be the same as old password”
The colour gets hotter in each panel. Starting blue in 1 and ending in red in 9.

Panel 10. Wide view. The entire earth is blown up.

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Voice4Justice @voices4justice.bsky.social · Sep 12

Ilan Volkov, an Israeli orchestral conductor, who has been chief conductor and guest conductor of a number of orchestras.

His moving words at the BBC Proms (the full text below). 🧵👇
Another saint in Sodom. 🙏👏

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Reposted by John Davies

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · Sep 10

This article is utterly horrific, as the quote here indicates, and I’m glad it brings up the urgent and necessary question of investigating war crimes.

Julianna 💎 @batariangal.bsky.social · Sep 10

This fucking psychopath

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