Sonic Sloth Scientist
@slothlydad.bsky.social
Bikes, synths, maps, LCC, homegrown, homebrewed, G/green.
Croydon / S London mostly.
https://cycle.travel/by/angus_hewlett
Personal views. Actual contents may vary. May contain cats.
Croydon / S London mostly.
https://cycle.travel/by/angus_hewlett
Personal views. Actual contents may vary. May contain cats.
"I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace."
January 19, 2026 at 1:15 PM
"I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace."
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
New Bluesky users: you're starting here afresh. The algorithm selected feed doesn't exist. Follow the people you want to hear from, share the posts you like, interact, and build new community and following. This new world is your oyster! Please be nice; that's how we've tried to make here different.
January 16, 2026 at 9:26 PM
New Bluesky users: you're starting here afresh. The algorithm selected feed doesn't exist. Follow the people you want to hear from, share the posts you like, interact, and build new community and following. This new world is your oyster! Please be nice; that's how we've tried to make here different.
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
"Peter Thiel... the founder of this company, does not believe in democracy"
January 15, 2026 at 11:08 AM
"Peter Thiel... the founder of this company, does not believe in democracy"
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
Politicians: don't use AI to make your maps.
January 14, 2026 at 11:13 AM
Politicians: don't use AI to make your maps.
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
He has been very clear that Nigel Farage wants to initiate racist terror squads snatching foreign-looking teenagers off the streets here in Britain too. It boggles my mind the free ride Reform gets in the media despite saying yes they want a UK ICE!!
This is 10th-grader Arnoldo Bazan.
A citizen.
Immigration agents grabbed him and put him in a chokehold.
"We're from the United States bro!' he screamed.
Agents took and sold his phone
And when he finally got home hours later, his shirt was ripped, he neck had angry, red welts, and he sobbed.
A citizen.
Immigration agents grabbed him and put him in a chokehold.
"We're from the United States bro!' he screamed.
Agents took and sold his phone
And when he finally got home hours later, his shirt was ripped, he neck had angry, red welts, and he sobbed.
January 14, 2026 at 6:47 AM
He has been very clear that Nigel Farage wants to initiate racist terror squads snatching foreign-looking teenagers off the streets here in Britain too. It boggles my mind the free ride Reform gets in the media despite saying yes they want a UK ICE!!
This part above all.
And at this point, by crossing red lines and breaking society's central taboos around abuse, Elon and chums are rubbing national leaders' noses in the dirt, humiliating each one of them that takes no action.
Time leaders remembered that their job is to be respected, not liked.
And at this point, by crossing red lines and breaking society's central taboos around abuse, Elon and chums are rubbing national leaders' noses in the dirt, humiliating each one of them that takes no action.
Time leaders remembered that their job is to be respected, not liked.
January 13, 2026 at 2:47 PM
This part above all.
And at this point, by crossing red lines and breaking society's central taboos around abuse, Elon and chums are rubbing national leaders' noses in the dirt, humiliating each one of them that takes no action.
Time leaders remembered that their job is to be respected, not liked.
And at this point, by crossing red lines and breaking society's central taboos around abuse, Elon and chums are rubbing national leaders' noses in the dirt, humiliating each one of them that takes no action.
Time leaders remembered that their job is to be respected, not liked.
Tangential, but did any 20thC Sci-Fi writers predict a future where the world was overrun by cybernetic fascist sex-bots, but where also, somehow, cybernetic fascist sex-bots turned out to be deeply boring and shit?
It is time for Scotland's politicians to leave the Nazi dildo dungeon
My column in @heraldscotland.bsky.social
www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...
My column in @heraldscotland.bsky.social
www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...
January 13, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Tangential, but did any 20thC Sci-Fi writers predict a future where the world was overrun by cybernetic fascist sex-bots, but where also, somehow, cybernetic fascist sex-bots turned out to be deeply boring and shit?
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
Surely, an IQ assessment should be part of the driving test.
It's a German BMW.
It's a German BMW.
January 12, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Surely, an IQ assessment should be part of the driving test.
It's a German BMW.
It's a German BMW.
This is where you end up when people imagine themselves primarily as consumers, not citizens.
So -of course- they shop out of town, or on Amazon. They haven't got the time or inclination to do otherwise.
And then they wonder why there's no sense of community any more, and blame it on immigration.
So -of course- they shop out of town, or on Amazon. They haven't got the time or inclination to do otherwise.
And then they wonder why there's no sense of community any more, and blame it on immigration.
Latest from me, on an eternally overlooked, sniffed-at issue that is politically huge www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The UK’s high streets have reached a tipping point – and Reform will reap the benefits | John Harris
When even Poundland and charity shops are closing, we’re near a point of no return. But there is hope, says Guardian columnist John Harris
www.theguardian.com
January 11, 2026 at 1:25 PM
This is where you end up when people imagine themselves primarily as consumers, not citizens.
So -of course- they shop out of town, or on Amazon. They haven't got the time or inclination to do otherwise.
And then they wonder why there's no sense of community any more, and blame it on immigration.
So -of course- they shop out of town, or on Amazon. They haven't got the time or inclination to do otherwise.
And then they wonder why there's no sense of community any more, and blame it on immigration.
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
The first point here is she isn't his girlfriend; she's a sycophantic computer programme he's set up to praise him.
We need to stop indulging this
We need to stop indulging this
January 11, 2026 at 8:56 AM
The first point here is she isn't his girlfriend; she's a sycophantic computer programme he's set up to praise him.
We need to stop indulging this
We need to stop indulging this
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
Let alone their future driving permissions…
Why is road crime treated differently to other crime? IMO complacency and acceptance of road danger as inevitable have dulled accountability. Strategy isn’t enough — we need a fundamental root & branch cultural reset.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Why is road crime treated differently to other crime? IMO complacency and acceptance of road danger as inevitable have dulled accountability. Strategy isn’t enough — we need a fundamental root & branch cultural reset.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Nearly 630 drivers dodge jail over their role in death crashes
An average of ten a month are given community service orders, suspended sentences or fines instead of being sent to prison for triggering killer car crashes.
www.dailymail.co.uk
January 11, 2026 at 7:04 AM
Let alone their future driving permissions…
Why is road crime treated differently to other crime? IMO complacency and acceptance of road danger as inevitable have dulled accountability. Strategy isn’t enough — we need a fundamental root & branch cultural reset.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Why is road crime treated differently to other crime? IMO complacency and acceptance of road danger as inevitable have dulled accountability. Strategy isn’t enough — we need a fundamental root & branch cultural reset.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
Graham's all about 'protecting women'
January 9, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Graham's all about 'protecting women'
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
Just in case you didn't already think that Farage is an awful person, here he is championing and normalising drink driving. He really is an absolute twat.
road.cc/content/news...
road.cc/content/news...
Nigel Farage claims plan to lower drink drive limit “designed by the Islington cycling classes” – as Reform UK leader says: “We’re now incredibly safe on our roads”
Labour’s plans to consult on lowering the drink drive limit in England and Wales were branded “absolutely ridiculous and wholly unnecessary” by Farage, who said the current laws have worked “pretty ef...
road.cc
January 8, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Just in case you didn't already think that Farage is an awful person, here he is championing and normalising drink driving. He really is an absolute twat.
road.cc/content/news...
road.cc/content/news...
Louder for those at the back:
Standard of living and quality of life are *not* the same thing.
Standard of living and quality of life are *not* the same thing.
A Washington Post article suggests that, beyond a certain threshold, larger homes don't make people happier. Instead, well-being is correlated with affordable housing in walkable neighborhoods where they feel socially connected.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
![Excerpt reads: "Prioritize your neighborhood
Neighborhoods drive our happiness (or unhappiness) more than we think.
When Lina Martinez, director of POLIS, the Center for Wellbeing Studies at Universidad Icesi in Colombia, studied the happiness of households in the city of Cali, she couldn’t find much difference between poorer and richer areas. “Their happiness is pretty much the same,” she said. But that changed when she isolated neighborhood conditions, such as access to transit, health care and parks. “The conditions of the neighborhood affect happiness,” she said. “I can’t link that to the space where [people] live.”
That aligns with findings from a 2023 study of the Vancouver metro area: Researchers found no significant differences in well-being between people living in single detached homes, duplexes, townhouses, laneway houses and apartment buildings (basement units smaller than 300 square feet were the only negative exception). What did people say they missed most in their neighborhood? Affordability, proximity to family and friends, and a sense of community. Home design was eighth on the list."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ks3gpa6ftoyaq7hmf6c4qx4c/bafkreicapfknasylzk2lqzaxxeb5mchgnru75obggn45dusda6j5zogvuu@jpeg)
January 8, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Louder for those at the back:
Standard of living and quality of life are *not* the same thing.
Standard of living and quality of life are *not* the same thing.
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
Trump started it.
Reform and Tories are at it too.
And Labour already heading in that direction.
All cruel, potentially deadly and does nothing to fix the cost of living crisis.
Reform and Tories are at it too.
And Labour already heading in that direction.
All cruel, potentially deadly and does nothing to fix the cost of living crisis.
January 8, 2026 at 11:27 AM
Trump started it.
Reform and Tories are at it too.
And Labour already heading in that direction.
All cruel, potentially deadly and does nothing to fix the cost of living crisis.
Reform and Tories are at it too.
And Labour already heading in that direction.
All cruel, potentially deadly and does nothing to fix the cost of living crisis.
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
The Road Safety Strategy is an opportunity to address the dangers pedestrians face every day, but the vision should be for zero people to lose their lives. We should not accept that a certain number of people will die on our roads.
livingstreets.org.uk/RSScomment
livingstreets.org.uk/RSScomment
“The vision should be for zero people to lose their lives”
Living Streets comments on the Government's first Road Safety Strategy in over a decade, released today (7 January).
livingstreets.org.uk
January 7, 2026 at 1:14 PM
The Road Safety Strategy is an opportunity to address the dangers pedestrians face every day, but the vision should be for zero people to lose their lives. We should not accept that a certain number of people will die on our roads.
livingstreets.org.uk/RSScomment
livingstreets.org.uk/RSScomment
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
The only target for the number of people killed on the road should be zero.
With its Road Safety Strategy, the Government has massively overlooked key actions to cut traffic and achieve safer and slower vehicle speeds, which are truly effective at saving lives and essential to reaching this goal.
With its Road Safety Strategy, the Government has massively overlooked key actions to cut traffic and achieve safer and slower vehicle speeds, which are truly effective at saving lives and essential to reaching this goal.
The Road Safety Strategy is an opportunity to address the dangers pedestrians face every day, but the vision should be for zero people to lose their lives. We should not accept that a certain number of people will die on our roads.
livingstreets.org.uk/RSScomment
livingstreets.org.uk/RSScomment
“The vision should be for zero people to lose their lives”
Living Streets comments on the Government's first Road Safety Strategy in over a decade, released today (7 January).
livingstreets.org.uk
January 7, 2026 at 2:41 PM
The only target for the number of people killed on the road should be zero.
With its Road Safety Strategy, the Government has massively overlooked key actions to cut traffic and achieve safer and slower vehicle speeds, which are truly effective at saving lives and essential to reaching this goal.
With its Road Safety Strategy, the Government has massively overlooked key actions to cut traffic and achieve safer and slower vehicle speeds, which are truly effective at saving lives and essential to reaching this goal.
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
Outrageous.
Ministers should be listening to scientists, frontline communities and those working towards a green transition – not hosting the interests of oil giants in their own offices.
✍🏼 - @adamramsay.bsky.social
abolishwestminster.substack.com/p/revealed-o...
Ministers should be listening to scientists, frontline communities and those working towards a green transition – not hosting the interests of oil giants in their own offices.
✍🏼 - @adamramsay.bsky.social
abolishwestminster.substack.com/p/revealed-o...
Revealed: oil industry lobbyist working inside UK’s climate department
Polanski slams arrangement; experts warn of 'corporate infiltration antithetical to democracy'
abolishwestminster.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Outrageous.
Ministers should be listening to scientists, frontline communities and those working towards a green transition – not hosting the interests of oil giants in their own offices.
✍🏼 - @adamramsay.bsky.social
abolishwestminster.substack.com/p/revealed-o...
Ministers should be listening to scientists, frontline communities and those working towards a green transition – not hosting the interests of oil giants in their own offices.
✍🏼 - @adamramsay.bsky.social
abolishwestminster.substack.com/p/revealed-o...
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
Agree. The failure to quit X for their official comms is such a morbid symptom, because it is the definition of 'good money after bad' - that website is not going to become a warm home for 'our message about interest rates' *ever*. Accept that and move on!
January 5, 2026 at 9:21 AM
Agree. The failure to quit X for their official comms is such a morbid symptom, because it is the definition of 'good money after bad' - that website is not going to become a warm home for 'our message about interest rates' *ever*. Accept that and move on!
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
Sky News, "Zack Polanski described it as an illegal strike.. When asked to condemn it Keir Starmer refused to do so"
January 3, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Sky News, "Zack Polanski described it as an illegal strike.. When asked to condemn it Keir Starmer refused to do so"
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
This fact needs to be spread widely:
Brits, get off twitter before you get arrested...
Brits, get off twitter before you get arrested...
This is quite an important point; if you are a UK citizen with Twitter on your phone, opening it up is like playing Russian roulette that the algorithm might commit a strict liability offence on your behalf.
Has everyone whose scroll the illegal image appeared on also committed an offence by downloading it? This is one of those AI worst case scenarios that ought to make everyone aware of the current direction of travel.
January 2, 2026 at 5:26 PM
This fact needs to be spread widely:
Brits, get off twitter before you get arrested...
Brits, get off twitter before you get arrested...
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
In news that should surprise no one…
280 million e-bikes are slashing oil demand far more than electric vehicles
E-bikes and scooters displace 4x as much demand for oil as all of the EVs in the world.
arstechnica.com
January 1, 2026 at 10:10 PM
In news that should surprise no one…
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
Among dreadful climate news, some sunny news:
2025 was the sunniest year in records dating back to 1910, with 61.4 more hours of sunshine more than the previous record set in 2003.
Over 6% of Britain’s annual energy requirements were met by solar this year = a more than 50% increase on recent years.
2025 was the sunniest year in records dating back to 1910, with 61.4 more hours of sunshine more than the previous record set in 2003.
Over 6% of Britain’s annual energy requirements were met by solar this year = a more than 50% increase on recent years.
2025 was UK’s warmest and sunniest year on record, says Met Office
2025 was UK’s warmest and sunniest year on record, says Met Office
Mean temperature for year was 10.09C, surpassing 2022 record, and 1,648.5 hours of sunshine were recorded
www.theguardian.com
January 2, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Among dreadful climate news, some sunny news:
2025 was the sunniest year in records dating back to 1910, with 61.4 more hours of sunshine more than the previous record set in 2003.
Over 6% of Britain’s annual energy requirements were met by solar this year = a more than 50% increase on recent years.
2025 was the sunniest year in records dating back to 1910, with 61.4 more hours of sunshine more than the previous record set in 2003.
Over 6% of Britain’s annual energy requirements were met by solar this year = a more than 50% increase on recent years.
Reposted by Sonic Sloth Scientist
2025 was the warmest year on record for Central England in a dataset that starts in 1659.
(Daily data available since 1772.)
www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadce...
(Daily data available since 1772.)
www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadce...
January 1, 2026 at 2:56 PM
2025 was the warmest year on record for Central England in a dataset that starts in 1659.
(Daily data available since 1772.)
www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadce...
(Daily data available since 1772.)
www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadce...
And a bonus - @londoncycling.bsky.social's annual Solstice Ride meet at Richmond Hill (this year with @croydoncyclists.bsky.social crew).
Was there again on foot the other day - middle picture is 8:30pm in June, last one is the same view in December - at 4:25pm, a few days after Winter solstice.
Was there again on foot the other day - middle picture is 8:30pm in June, last one is the same view in December - at 4:25pm, a few days after Winter solstice.
December 31, 2025 at 11:17 PM
And a bonus - @londoncycling.bsky.social's annual Solstice Ride meet at Richmond Hill (this year with @croydoncyclists.bsky.social crew).
Was there again on foot the other day - middle picture is 8:30pm in June, last one is the same view in December - at 4:25pm, a few days after Winter solstice.
Was there again on foot the other day - middle picture is 8:30pm in June, last one is the same view in December - at 4:25pm, a few days after Winter solstice.