Gavin
@schofig.bsky.social
North West UK
He/Him
Sometimes paints miniatures, or posts pictures of cats, or talks about films/books, works in 'data'
Some sort of leftist
He/Him
Sometimes paints miniatures, or posts pictures of cats, or talks about films/books, works in 'data'
Some sort of leftist
Pinned
Reposted by Gavin
I love it when people post a picture of some regular guy to reddit and say “what breed is my cat?”
Ma’am, your cat came out of some muddy shrubs in your friend’s sister’s back yard
Ma’am, your cat came out of some muddy shrubs in your friend’s sister’s back yard
November 19, 2025 at 8:39 AM
I love it when people post a picture of some regular guy to reddit and say “what breed is my cat?”
Ma’am, your cat came out of some muddy shrubs in your friend’s sister’s back yard
Ma’am, your cat came out of some muddy shrubs in your friend’s sister’s back yard
Reposted by Gavin
Like everyone else caught up in the Unbound “drama”, John Finnemore is working out what to do with a book that was terminated with incompetent prejudice by people who vanished.
If you would like a lovely Xmas gift, he’s opened a shop, announced in this post here!
open.substack.com/pub/johnfinn...
If you would like a lovely Xmas gift, he’s opened a shop, announced in this post here!
open.substack.com/pub/johnfinn...
The Unbearable Torment of Bear Bear Bear
Concerning an unexpected window, an unchristmassy fuhrer, an unlucky publisher, and an unaware bear.
open.substack.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Like everyone else caught up in the Unbound “drama”, John Finnemore is working out what to do with a book that was terminated with incompetent prejudice by people who vanished.
If you would like a lovely Xmas gift, he’s opened a shop, announced in this post here!
open.substack.com/pub/johnfinn...
If you would like a lovely Xmas gift, he’s opened a shop, announced in this post here!
open.substack.com/pub/johnfinn...
Reposted by Gavin
What if:
Immigration is actually really beneficial to a country and helps secure its future prosperity and long term health of its culture and isn’t a really bad thing like all those rich sociopaths who moved to Dubai say it is?
Immigration is actually really beneficial to a country and helps secure its future prosperity and long term health of its culture and isn’t a really bad thing like all those rich sociopaths who moved to Dubai say it is?
Guys, guys, guys:
what if we provide asylum to lots of refugees so that when the conflict in their homeland ends and economic reconstruction begins we have lots of social links to that country that allow us to forge mutually beneficial economic partnerships with it?
what if we provide asylum to lots of refugees so that when the conflict in their homeland ends and economic reconstruction begins we have lots of social links to that country that allow us to forge mutually beneficial economic partnerships with it?
December 2, 2025 at 8:46 AM
What if:
Immigration is actually really beneficial to a country and helps secure its future prosperity and long term health of its culture and isn’t a really bad thing like all those rich sociopaths who moved to Dubai say it is?
Immigration is actually really beneficial to a country and helps secure its future prosperity and long term health of its culture and isn’t a really bad thing like all those rich sociopaths who moved to Dubai say it is?
Reposted by Gavin
Agree with every word of this
We've gone from 9% of social care staff coming from outside the UK and EEA in 2021/22 to almost 25% in 2024/25
The govt has no near-term replacement
It means either:
1) staffing shortages or
2) councils spending far more to attract staff, with no extra funding
We've gone from 9% of social care staff coming from outside the UK and EEA in 2021/22 to almost 25% in 2024/25
The govt has no near-term replacement
It means either:
1) staffing shortages or
2) councils spending far more to attract staff, with no extra funding
November 28, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Agree with every word of this
We've gone from 9% of social care staff coming from outside the UK and EEA in 2021/22 to almost 25% in 2024/25
The govt has no near-term replacement
It means either:
1) staffing shortages or
2) councils spending far more to attract staff, with no extra funding
We've gone from 9% of social care staff coming from outside the UK and EEA in 2021/22 to almost 25% in 2024/25
The govt has no near-term replacement
It means either:
1) staffing shortages or
2) councils spending far more to attract staff, with no extra funding
Reposted by Gavin
The "immigrants using taxis and hotels" bullshit is driving me insane - everything about the press and political framing is an absolute lie.
Asylum seekers are only staying in hotels and using taxis because we're apparently incapable of processing applications and providing nearby healthcare!
Asylum seekers are only staying in hotels and using taxis because we're apparently incapable of processing applications and providing nearby healthcare!
November 29, 2025 at 11:30 AM
The "immigrants using taxis and hotels" bullshit is driving me insane - everything about the press and political framing is an absolute lie.
Asylum seekers are only staying in hotels and using taxis because we're apparently incapable of processing applications and providing nearby healthcare!
Asylum seekers are only staying in hotels and using taxis because we're apparently incapable of processing applications and providing nearby healthcare!
Reposted by Gavin
My mum has had to downsize four times including leaving London in the last 20 years, again life just happens. Are homeowners just meant to all have some kind of special protection ring around them financially so they never come to any harm from market changes?
November 27, 2025 at 1:10 PM
My mum has had to downsize four times including leaving London in the last 20 years, again life just happens. Are homeowners just meant to all have some kind of special protection ring around them financially so they never come to any harm from market changes?
Reposted by Gavin
This house tax pretending is making me more insane than usual because as a renter I’ve had to move every 1-3 years just as standard because rents always rise. And no one cares. House owners get a tiny fraction of that precarity and suddenly it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened
November 27, 2025 at 1:09 PM
This house tax pretending is making me more insane than usual because as a renter I’ve had to move every 1-3 years just as standard because rents always rise. And no one cares. House owners get a tiny fraction of that precarity and suddenly it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened
Reposted by Gavin
Here’s my CHRISTMAS GIFT TIP. You can buy all Michael Palin’s books and DVDs and suchlike off his website, and he signs and dedicates the item for no extra charge. Don’t say I don’t give you nowt. (I did this for my dad, and he didn’t notice the autograph on his Ripping Yarns.) themichaelpalin.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Here’s my CHRISTMAS GIFT TIP. You can buy all Michael Palin’s books and DVDs and suchlike off his website, and he signs and dedicates the item for no extra charge. Don’t say I don’t give you nowt. (I did this for my dad, and he didn’t notice the autograph on his Ripping Yarns.) themichaelpalin.com
Reposted by Gavin
almost everything they describe by these words (free tuition, cycle to work, what have you), is not actually /exclusively/ beneficial to the middle class at all, they just hide behind the fact that they can benefit /both/ middle class and working class people as an excuse to defund them.
November 25, 2025 at 12:25 PM
almost everything they describe by these words (free tuition, cycle to work, what have you), is not actually /exclusively/ beneficial to the middle class at all, they just hide behind the fact that they can benefit /both/ middle class and working class people as an excuse to defund them.
Reposted by Gavin
Who cares what they think. I bet most of them have no understanding of the issues whatsoever, they won't know overseas students already pay way, way more than UK ones and prop the entire system up. So their opinion shouldn't matter.
With Rachel Reeves reportedly set to apply a new tax on tuition fees paid by overseas students, most Britons support such a move at the previously mooted level of 6%
Support: 57%
Oppose: 18%
yougov.co.uk/topics/socie...
Support: 57%
Oppose: 18%
yougov.co.uk/topics/socie...
November 24, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Who cares what they think. I bet most of them have no understanding of the issues whatsoever, they won't know overseas students already pay way, way more than UK ones and prop the entire system up. So their opinion shouldn't matter.
Here are two very good friends who have been helping me move furniture today.
November 22, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Here are two very good friends who have been helping me move furniture today.
Reposted by Gavin
Computer, 15 feet of spaghetti, single strand, lukewarm
November 22, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Computer, 15 feet of spaghetti, single strand, lukewarm
Reposted by Gavin
Me when i spread butter on my toast.
November 20, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Me when i spread butter on my toast.
I met this bird today
November 18, 2025 at 10:29 PM
I met this bird today
Reposted by Gavin
I've been following media coverage of immigration in detail over the last six weeks. There hasn't been a day during that period that the British people weren't told that asylum seekers are a drain on society or a danger to women and children
November 16, 2025 at 7:26 AM
I've been following media coverage of immigration in detail over the last six weeks. There hasn't been a day during that period that the British people weren't told that asylum seekers are a drain on society or a danger to women and children
Reposted by Gavin
Illegal migration isn't tearing this country apart, but our obsession with it is. It's an obsession fuelled by our media and politicians. Both profit from blowing the problem out of all proportion. It's been happening for decades, but never more so than now
November 16, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Illegal migration isn't tearing this country apart, but our obsession with it is. It's an obsession fuelled by our media and politicians. Both profit from blowing the problem out of all proportion. It's been happening for decades, but never more so than now
Reposted by Gavin
i think online gambling is a cancer that is spreading throughout our society, it was a horrible mistake to de-regulate it, and we desperately need to crack down on it again
i can’t talk about sports gambling anymore without sounding like a crank but i do believe legalized sports gambling is like 15-20% responsible for our current dystopia
The Athletic polled hundreds of players from across the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL about their opinions surrounding how sports betting impacts players — the responses were haunting.
November 15, 2025 at 6:25 PM
i think online gambling is a cancer that is spreading throughout our society, it was a horrible mistake to de-regulate it, and we desperately need to crack down on it again
Reposted by Gavin
Obviously this is ghoulish pseudo-technological nonsense and it's objectively a good thing that it can never actually exist, but still somehow the most unrealistic thing in this ad is that it shows the service this company offers continuing, functionality unchanged, for decades
November 15, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Obviously this is ghoulish pseudo-technological nonsense and it's objectively a good thing that it can never actually exist, but still somehow the most unrealistic thing in this ad is that it shows the service this company offers continuing, functionality unchanged, for decades
Reposted by Gavin
idk why these grown men even want to hang out with teenagers. have you spoken to a teenager? they're annoying.
November 13, 2025 at 4:54 PM
idk why these grown men even want to hang out with teenagers. have you spoken to a teenager? they're annoying.
Reposted by Gavin
i sometimes like reading wiki articles for things I love deeply and getting incredibly mad at how literally they take everything
November 11, 2025 at 6:50 PM
i sometimes like reading wiki articles for things I love deeply and getting incredibly mad at how literally they take everything
Reposted by Gavin
Funny but these kinds of posts do make me feel like the wiki-fication of all fiction has been a net negative
November 11, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Funny but these kinds of posts do make me feel like the wiki-fication of all fiction has been a net negative
Reposted by Gavin
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
Reposted by Gavin
if you don't read the Telegraph or the Times or the Mail - and frankly, why would you nowadays, as a decent human being? - you might not realize just how much they've radicalized to the far-right, especially the Telegraph.
November 8, 2025 at 4:58 PM
if you don't read the Telegraph or the Times or the Mail - and frankly, why would you nowadays, as a decent human being? - you might not realize just how much they've radicalized to the far-right, especially the Telegraph.
Reposted by Gavin
wonder if this could have anything to do with the British press running a 24/7 hate campaign where typically a single newspaper might contain 3 anti-trans stories *a day*
"The wide-ranging polling on attitudes also suggested the proportion of the public feeling transgender rights have gone "too far" has more than doubled in five years" I WISH there was a follow-up question as to what new trans rights they think have come in over say, I dunno, the last 15 years?
November 8, 2025 at 4:57 PM
wonder if this could have anything to do with the British press running a 24/7 hate campaign where typically a single newspaper might contain 3 anti-trans stories *a day*