Shona Cook
@shonacook.bsky.social
Swore I'd use the death of twitter to stop scrolling and start writing and yet here I am
Reposted by Shona Cook
The fact that this person remains Health Secretary is objectively one of the most significant British political scandals of the post-Covid era. But because he's doing something the media barons like, everyone has decided it's fine.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting says that the British Medical Association, which represents Britain's doctors, is a threat to the NHS. Streeting took a record £225k from private healthcare-related donors in just two years.
British Medical Association ‘threat to future of NHS’, says Streeting ahead of doctors’ strike
Health secretary accuses doctors’ union of ‘cartel-like behaviour’ and tells it to ‘get real’ over pay demands
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:46 AM
The fact that this person remains Health Secretary is objectively one of the most significant British political scandals of the post-Covid era. But because he's doing something the media barons like, everyone has decided it's fine.
Reposted by Shona Cook
now whenever someone rings the doorbell it acoustically zaps her like an electric shock. we now know when someone's at the door when my mother leaps up suddenly
November 12, 2025 at 10:03 AM
now whenever someone rings the doorbell it acoustically zaps her like an electric shock. we now know when someone's at the door when my mother leaps up suddenly
Reposted by Shona Cook
Banning VPNs not only compromises privacy, but it compromises safety. Being forced to use public wifi when travelling without the option of a VPN to make that safe will just lead to compromised computers. All in pursuit of the so-called "Online Safety Act", which achieves the opposite of safety.
The British government admits it is now monitoring VPNs use by UK residents. Regulator Ofcom has contracted with an AI-powered surveillance service to detect the number of citizens using VPNs to evade the Online Safety Act.
The UK tech minister has said a VPN ban is on the table.
The UK tech minister has said a VPN ban is on the table.
Exclusive: Ofcom is monitoring VPNs following Online Safety Act. Here's how
Ignoring VPNs risks creating ineffective laws, but tracking them threatens people's privacy
www.techradar.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Banning VPNs not only compromises privacy, but it compromises safety. Being forced to use public wifi when travelling without the option of a VPN to make that safe will just lead to compromised computers. All in pursuit of the so-called "Online Safety Act", which achieves the opposite of safety.
Reposted by Shona Cook
ok one last post -- oldheads are always going to "why is the web dying.... how can we get the kids invested in the free and open web"
bro the kids can't read. that's why the web is dying. first things first
bro the kids can't read. that's why the web is dying. first things first
November 11, 2025 at 6:49 PM
ok one last post -- oldheads are always going to "why is the web dying.... how can we get the kids invested in the free and open web"
bro the kids can't read. that's why the web is dying. first things first
bro the kids can't read. that's why the web is dying. first things first
Know it's only Tuesday but it's already been a weird week so I'm watching Cop Car because I can, and evil Kevin Bacon being driven nuts by a couple of cheerful delinquents feels like exactly the medicine I need
November 11, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Know it's only Tuesday but it's already been a weird week so I'm watching Cop Car because I can, and evil Kevin Bacon being driven nuts by a couple of cheerful delinquents feels like exactly the medicine I need
Reposted by Shona Cook
Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drinking water.
grist.org/accountabili...
#Oklahoma #Water #OK #Gas #Climate
grist.org/accountabili...
#Oklahoma #Water #OK #Gas #Climate
Toxic wastewater from oil fields keeps pouring out of the ground. Oklahoma regulators failed to stop it.
Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from Oklahoma oil wells.
grist.org
November 11, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Shona Cook
Reposted by Shona Cook
Whole fucking thing makes me sick to my stomach. An abject fucking liar, a man who lies as easily as he fucking breathes, threatening an organisation which strives for truthfulness. And plastic patriots like the Mail and Farage urging him on. Jackels.
November 11, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Whole fucking thing makes me sick to my stomach. An abject fucking liar, a man who lies as easily as he fucking breathes, threatening an organisation which strives for truthfulness. And plastic patriots like the Mail and Farage urging him on. Jackels.
Reposted by Shona Cook
Caught two minutes of the BBC stuff on the news and feel sick at the idea of this pillar falling. Farage and the other cunts chomping at the bit will take the NHS next and we'll be sat listening to Third Reich FM hoping our minor injury infections take us sooner than later.
November 10, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Caught two minutes of the BBC stuff on the news and feel sick at the idea of this pillar falling. Farage and the other cunts chomping at the bit will take the NHS next and we'll be sat listening to Third Reich FM hoping our minor injury infections take us sooner than later.
Reposted by Shona Cook
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
November 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
Reposted by Shona Cook
Two-day-old zebrafish larvae, as seen through a scanning electron microscope
November 6, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Two-day-old zebrafish larvae, as seen through a scanning electron microscope
Reposted by Shona Cook
In 'How They Broke Britain', I do a pretty good job of detailing the depth & breadth of Tufton Street/Tory/Murdoch/Mail attempts to scupper the BBC, even as I castigate some presenters for going too easy on precisely the people who seek the Corporation's abolition. But I should have done more. 1/2
November 10, 2025 at 9:23 AM
In 'How They Broke Britain', I do a pretty good job of detailing the depth & breadth of Tufton Street/Tory/Murdoch/Mail attempts to scupper the BBC, even as I castigate some presenters for going too easy on precisely the people who seek the Corporation's abolition. But I should have done more. 1/2
Reposted by Shona Cook
We are so far through the looking glass that the man who tried to overthrow an election becomes president, the people who attacked the Capitol are turned into martyrs, & it's the BBC that gets punished - cheered on by the worst news outlets in the UK & the two most dishonest politicians of our age.
It’s not at all clear to me how the BBC can do any kind of serious journalism if its top two bosses can be forced to quit over such an obviously confected scandal. There is no substantive error here. How can the BBC report on Trump, or Farage, or anyone else, in these circumstances?
November 9, 2025 at 9:08 PM
We are so far through the looking glass that the man who tried to overthrow an election becomes president, the people who attacked the Capitol are turned into martyrs, & it's the BBC that gets punished - cheered on by the worst news outlets in the UK & the two most dishonest politicians of our age.
Reposted by Shona Cook
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.
Well that was even odder than I expected a Thai film about a haunted vacuum cleaner to be. Will be pondering on it for a while. Also brushing up on recent history
November 8, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Well that was even odder than I expected a Thai film about a haunted vacuum cleaner to be. Will be pondering on it for a while. Also brushing up on recent history
Reposted by Shona Cook
Happy 423 years of us! 🎉 📚
The Bodleian Libraries opened for the first time on 8 November 1602...
This means, we're older than the refracting telescope (1608), the publication of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1623) and Sir Isaac Newton's apple (1666)! 😅
The Bodleian Libraries opened for the first time on 8 November 1602...
This means, we're older than the refracting telescope (1608), the publication of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1623) and Sir Isaac Newton's apple (1666)! 😅
November 8, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Happy 423 years of us! 🎉 📚
The Bodleian Libraries opened for the first time on 8 November 1602...
This means, we're older than the refracting telescope (1608), the publication of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1623) and Sir Isaac Newton's apple (1666)! 😅
The Bodleian Libraries opened for the first time on 8 November 1602...
This means, we're older than the refracting telescope (1608), the publication of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1623) and Sir Isaac Newton's apple (1666)! 😅
Reposted by Shona Cook
We do not need to mine the deep sea.
How deep-sea mining could threaten a vital ocean food source
As the US races toward deep-sea mining, scientists urge caution.
www.theverge.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:00 PM
We do not need to mine the deep sea.
Reposted by Shona Cook
The world’s first trillionaire initiated a move that has left more than half a million people dead, most of whom are children.
November 7, 2025 at 7:39 AM
The world’s first trillionaire initiated a move that has left more than half a million people dead, most of whom are children.
Reposted by Shona Cook
'mean-spirited'
November 6, 2025 at 11:30 AM
'mean-spirited'
Reposted by Shona Cook
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity
Australia's extensive solar power penetration makes so much energy that the government wants to offer free electricity at peak hours.
electrek.co
November 6, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Reposted by Shona Cook
A magnificent piece of work. Comprehesive, revelatory & shocking. Journalism this good is always rare & precious but never moreso than at times like this. Latter day Lord Haw Haws being plumped, preened & delivered to your doorstep in plain sight by a Nazi-saluting goon
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:16 AM
A magnificent piece of work. Comprehesive, revelatory & shocking. Journalism this good is always rare & precious but never moreso than at times like this. Latter day Lord Haw Haws being plumped, preened & delivered to your doorstep in plain sight by a Nazi-saluting goon
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Reposted by Shona Cook
Uninstall Grammarly NOW. They've partnered with an AI company and actively scrape your writing to train its models.
HEAD'S UP FELLOW #CREATIVES!
If you haven't heard, #Grammarly is changing...and one change that doesn't pass the smell test is the incorporation of the ocean-boiling plagiarism machine that is #AI. 😒
I'm ditching Grammarly TONIGHT. #Writing #Writers #NoAI
www.grammarly.com/blog/company...
If you haven't heard, #Grammarly is changing...and one change that doesn't pass the smell test is the incorporation of the ocean-boiling plagiarism machine that is #AI. 😒
I'm ditching Grammarly TONIGHT. #Writing #Writers #NoAI
www.grammarly.com/blog/company...
Grammarly Rebrands Company as Superhuman, Introduces Superhuman Suite and Superhuman Go
Superhuman Platform delivers proactive, context-aware AI agents that work in the flow of work, wherever people work Grammarly today announced it is changing its company…
www.grammarly.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Uninstall Grammarly NOW. They've partnered with an AI company and actively scrape your writing to train its models.
Reposted by Shona Cook
November 5, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by Shona Cook
This year, the Flotilla of Lights will take place on the Union Canal, in Edinburgh, on Saturday 8 November starting from Harrison Park at 6.30pm, and making way,... slowly, towards Edinburgh Quay (by the Leamington Lift bridge). Don't miss it!
More info www.whatsoninedinburgh.co.uk/event/106089...
More info www.whatsoninedinburgh.co.uk/event/106089...
November 3, 2025 at 4:08 PM
This year, the Flotilla of Lights will take place on the Union Canal, in Edinburgh, on Saturday 8 November starting from Harrison Park at 6.30pm, and making way,... slowly, towards Edinburgh Quay (by the Leamington Lift bridge). Don't miss it!
More info www.whatsoninedinburgh.co.uk/event/106089...
More info www.whatsoninedinburgh.co.uk/event/106089...