Terry O'Connor
@osteoconnor.bsky.social
Old bloke in Yorkshire, interested in wildlife, gardening, books, classical music, archaeology, cats. Often muddy. Born at 313ppm.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Reminder that In the 1990s Farage sought the backing of the disgraced former Conservative MP and notorious racist Enoch Powell and twice asked him to stand as a candidate for UKIP.
www.theguardian.com/politics/201...
www.theguardian.com/politics/201...
Nigel Farage asked former Conservative MP Enoch Powell to back Ukip
Despite his ‘rivers of blood’ speech, the Ukip leader has said the central thrust of Powell’s immigration arguments hold true
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Reminder that In the 1990s Farage sought the backing of the disgraced former Conservative MP and notorious racist Enoch Powell and twice asked him to stand as a candidate for UKIP.
www.theguardian.com/politics/201...
www.theguardian.com/politics/201...
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Extensive effort by multiple law enforcement / science / conservation partners to determine this as a wildlife crime. But of course, yet again the offender hasn't been identified, charged, prosecuted etc. Something needs to change.
#RaptorResearch
raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/11/24/h...
#RaptorResearch
raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/11/24/h...
Hen Harrier found dead in Northumberland National Park with shotgun damage to satellite tag
This is a blog about one of those dead Hen Harriers for whom we’ve been waiting over a year for Natural England to confirm the cause of death. A Hen Harrier (photo by Pete Walkden) The young …
raptorpersecutionuk.org
November 24, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Extensive effort by multiple law enforcement / science / conservation partners to determine this as a wildlife crime. But of course, yet again the offender hasn't been identified, charged, prosecuted etc. Something needs to change.
#RaptorResearch
raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/11/24/h...
#RaptorResearch
raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/11/24/h...
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Juries are not perfect.
Many of the worst miscarriages of justice have followed jury trials.
But the merit of juries is not so much the power they have, but the power they prevent others from having.
They mean a judge cannot just nod-along with prosecution evidence and give a guilty verdict.
Many of the worst miscarriages of justice have followed jury trials.
But the merit of juries is not so much the power they have, but the power they prevent others from having.
They mean a judge cannot just nod-along with prosecution evidence and give a guilty verdict.
November 25, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Juries are not perfect.
Many of the worst miscarriages of justice have followed jury trials.
But the merit of juries is not so much the power they have, but the power they prevent others from having.
They mean a judge cannot just nod-along with prosecution evidence and give a guilty verdict.
Many of the worst miscarriages of justice have followed jury trials.
But the merit of juries is not so much the power they have, but the power they prevent others from having.
They mean a judge cannot just nod-along with prosecution evidence and give a guilty verdict.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
It's 2029, and a Reform government has sworn in its first batch of politically appointed judges. Suddenly, the Labour Party remembers why jury trials mattered.
November 25, 2025 at 9:46 PM
It's 2029, and a Reform government has sworn in its first batch of politically appointed judges. Suddenly, the Labour Party remembers why jury trials mattered.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
The @scottpolar.bsky.social are looking for a librarian. This is a rare opportunity! Work with (probably) the world's largest dedicated polar library alongside archive and museum colleagues. The dream 😍
📜
📜
Librarian
The Library of the Scott Polar Research Institute is one of the most comprehensive collections of published polar information in the world. This highly specialist reference collection, which attracts
www.cam.ac.uk
November 25, 2025 at 8:45 PM
The @scottpolar.bsky.social are looking for a librarian. This is a rare opportunity! Work with (probably) the world's largest dedicated polar library alongside archive and museum colleagues. The dream 😍
📜
📜
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
![Comic: Typical Geologic core sample. [Cylindrical core sample with labels for difference sections from top to bottom] Topsoil, till, granite bedrock, bottomsoil, roof of subway car, floor of subway car, more granite, municipal water main [gouge in core sample], slightly different granite, piece of screaming spelunker’s forearm, cool crystals with no resale value, mangled fragments of drillbit from previous attempt, some boring intrusive rock that’s basically granite but has a name like “diorite” or “Andalite” that you always have to look up, netherrack, Balrog wing. [break between next chunk of core sample] Granite, topsoil, cement, floorboards, carpet, possessions of a confused and angry homeowner in the other hemisphere.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreicffnydtpbb2x24cfbblv2qtcwbr37zyw44vtqx47ocj2a26b2j2u@jpeg)
November 25, 2025 at 10:35 PM
So I would be rescued by the magnificent Bettany Hughes?
Sounds fine to me.
Sounds fine to me.
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
Touch and go, I reckon
Touch and go, I reckon
November 25, 2025 at 11:24 PM
So I would be rescued by the magnificent Bettany Hughes?
Sounds fine to me.
Sounds fine to me.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Someone (Rubio?) is MEGA pissed at the Ukraine peace plan situation if they leaked a full on *recording* of this Witkoff call (with transcript, lol).
November 25, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Someone (Rubio?) is MEGA pissed at the Ukraine peace plan situation if they leaked a full on *recording* of this Witkoff call (with transcript, lol).
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Can't believe they're going to end trial by jury. It's one of our most fundamental rights. Literally Magna Carta stuff.
November 25, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Can't believe they're going to end trial by jury. It's one of our most fundamental rights. Literally Magna Carta stuff.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Reform UK’s vow to scrap thousands of nature laws risks pushing Britain’s depleted countryside into irreversible decline, argues Stuart Spray
'Nigel Farage's Plan to Scrap Nature Protections Would Speed 'Demise' of UK Countryside'
bylinetimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reform UK’s vow to scrap thousands of nature laws risks pushing Britain’s depleted countryside into irreversible decline, argues Stuart Spray
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Were I - heaven forbid - to be entered for this prize, I would withdraw instantly. Gove is a cretinous s**t and should be kept away from - well, everyone and everything.
The former Conservative Levelling Up Secretary and now editor of the Spectator, Michael Gove, has been selected as a judge for the 2026 Orwell Prize awards, despite his record of dodging media scrutiny and allegations of ‘stifling’ critical journalists
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove Made Orwell Prize Judge Despite Record of Attacking Journalists and Dodging Scrutiny
Critics say "Orwell would have enjoyed the irony" of the former Conservative minister's appointment
bylinetimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Were I - heaven forbid - to be entered for this prize, I would withdraw instantly. Gove is a cretinous s**t and should be kept away from - well, everyone and everything.
CRACKERJACK!!!!
[For the more senior among us....]
[For the more senior among us....]
Cabbage is affordable, delicious, and astoundingly versatile, @giladedelman.bsky.social writes. The underrated crucifer “is fit for a king”:
The Most Underrated Thanksgiving Vegetable
Embrace cabbage.
bit.ly
November 25, 2025 at 6:01 PM
CRACKERJACK!!!!
[For the more senior among us....]
[For the more senior among us....]
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Explore via our website! ✉️
November 25, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Explore via our website! ✉️
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
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
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
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
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
A thread that will bring joy to gardeners and archaelogists.
so I have finally started digging the trench in the garden for the French drain
would you all like to guess what I found
would you all like to guess what I found
November 25, 2025 at 5:16 PM
A thread that will bring joy to gardeners and archaelogists.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
A PNAS Special Feature exclusively about dogs? Woof!
Here are 3 of the 8 that we were involved with. Congrats to @lachiescarsbrook.bsky.social & @undeaddandy.bsky.social
Dingoes!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
German Shepherds!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Imputation!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Here are 3 of the 8 that we were involved with. Congrats to @lachiescarsbrook.bsky.social & @undeaddandy.bsky.social
Dingoes!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
German Shepherds!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Imputation!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Imputation of ancient canid genomes reveals inbreeding history over the past 10,000 years | PNAS
The multi-millennia-long history between dogs and humans has placed them at the forefront
of archaeological and genomic research. Despite ongoing e...
www.pnas.org
November 25, 2025 at 12:41 PM
A PNAS Special Feature exclusively about dogs? Woof!
Here are 3 of the 8 that we were involved with. Congrats to @lachiescarsbrook.bsky.social & @undeaddandy.bsky.social
Dingoes!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
German Shepherds!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Imputation!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Here are 3 of the 8 that we were involved with. Congrats to @lachiescarsbrook.bsky.social & @undeaddandy.bsky.social
Dingoes!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
German Shepherds!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Imputation!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Ah yes, a masterpiece of biomimetic architecture.
The roof at King's Cross has reminded me of something since it was built and today I saw it. It looked like uncooked tripe...
November 25, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Ah yes, a masterpiece of biomimetic architecture.
To the cinema, for 'The Choral' (Alan Bennett, Nicholas Hytner). Funny, poignant, excellent cast. Lovely cameo from Simon Russel Beale as a vain, touchy Elgar. Music by George Fenton, obvs, who also has a key minor acting role. Fiennes superb as ever.
November 25, 2025 at 4:47 PM
To the cinema, for 'The Choral' (Alan Bennett, Nicholas Hytner). Funny, poignant, excellent cast. Lovely cameo from Simon Russel Beale as a vain, touchy Elgar. Music by George Fenton, obvs, who also has a key minor acting role. Fiennes superb as ever.
Good point, well made.
The 1970/80s was the era of Jim Davidson doing "chalky" on tv and the Black and White Minstrels. A different time... yes Nigel but here's the thing...
If fellow pupils remember you being racist at school in that clinate then you were being REALLY racist because the standards were rock bottom.
If fellow pupils remember you being racist at school in that clinate then you were being REALLY racist because the standards were rock bottom.
November 25, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Good point, well made.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
If you receive legal threats from Nigel Farage for your reporting of Reform, please get in touch.
We have employed a defamation lawyer specifically for this purpose and would love to help (and we do so on non-commercial terms). www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
We have employed a defamation lawyer specifically for this purpose and would love to help (and we do so on non-commercial terms). www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reform’s ‘Trumpian’ legal threats hint at more aggressive approach to media
Ultimatums sent to publications appear to intensify as Nigel Farage’s party rises in polls
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:29 AM
If you receive legal threats from Nigel Farage for your reporting of Reform, please get in touch.
We have employed a defamation lawyer specifically for this purpose and would love to help (and we do so on non-commercial terms). www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
We have employed a defamation lawyer specifically for this purpose and would love to help (and we do so on non-commercial terms). www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Our paper is out! Although wolves and dogs can interbreed and produce fertile offspring, hybridization between the two is rare. We found that most dogs today have low but detectable levels of post-domestication wolf ancestry that has shaped their evolution in human environments. tinyurl.com/yt4x4r7n
A legacy of genetic entanglement with wolves shapes modern dogs | PNAS
Dogs evolved through interactions between people and gray wolves during the Late Pleistocene
and have been ubiquitous in human societies ever since...
www.pnas.org
November 25, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Our paper is out! Although wolves and dogs can interbreed and produce fertile offspring, hybridization between the two is rare. We found that most dogs today have low but detectable levels of post-domestication wolf ancestry that has shaped their evolution in human environments. tinyurl.com/yt4x4r7n
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Soon, my partner and I will be getting British citizenship, to try to secure our rights. It'll be close to 10 grand & they can still make us 2nd class citizens later, without so much as an Act of Parliament. Getting citizenship should be a celebration but now it's just a bitter taste in my mouth.
November 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Soon, my partner and I will be getting British citizenship, to try to secure our rights. It'll be close to 10 grand & they can still make us 2nd class citizens later, without so much as an Act of Parliament. Getting citizenship should be a celebration but now it's just a bitter taste in my mouth.
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
14 words and not a single one wasted 👏👏👏
November 24, 2025 at 7:41 PM
14 words and not a single one wasted 👏👏👏
Reposted by Terry O'Connor
Where exactly did Aaron Banks get all the money that he donated to the Brexit campaign? Putin has always known that Britain and the EU are a strong force together. Britain is now so weak that Starmer is scared stiff of annoying Donald Trump
November 25, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Where exactly did Aaron Banks get all the money that he donated to the Brexit campaign? Putin has always known that Britain and the EU are a strong force together. Britain is now so weak that Starmer is scared stiff of annoying Donald Trump