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Reposted by Carol Carman

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 1d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Ronnie Barbour @ronniebarbour.bsky.social · 1d

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Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 2d

I love how Russell T Davies always uses his platform to fight for progress - I hate how it is always so necessary

nicola @gleanniucha.bsky.social · 2d

Please, if good television matters to you, repost or repackage this video until everyone you follow has seen it

#televisionmatters

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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 2d

The Sun corrects Katie Lam's numerous errors and lies about foreign nationals claiming benefits.

archive.ph/vQ7Tn

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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 5d

Do read all of this.

Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 5d

🔴NEW🔴

Thread 🧵

@bylinetimes.bsky.social can now reveal that, during the crucial period when convicted Reform leader Nathan Gill was most active, working directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most senior ally in Ukraine, he was also one of Nigel Farage’s closest confidantes 1/12

‘Thick as Thieves’: Nathan Gill and Nigel Farage’s Putin Problem

Far from being distant from the Reform UK Leader, insiders told Byline Times that the former MEP convicted of bribery was one of Farage’s closest aides, while we reveal how Gill worked on the Kremlin’...

bylinetimes.com

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Carol Carman @carolcarman.bsky.social · 6d

For Christmas we were once given a two-foot high concrete traffic warden to put in the garden. When we moved house, it didn't.

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Banx @banxtoons.bsky.social · 6d

From today's @financialtimes.com #hegseth

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Carol Carman @carolcarman.bsky.social · 6d

What's that? You'd like a combination of #NationalPoetryDay and the month of #Halloween? But make it funny?
Happy to oblige... a collection of comedy poems about the work of the Grim Reaper, written by me and illustrated by the marvellous @banxtoons.bsky.social mccawmedia.co.uk amzn.to/405MTlE

A poem from the collection Sticky Ends by Carol Carman. The poem is called The Biter Bit and is illustrated by a waterfall of fingernails which lead down to the words 'The End' made from fingernails.
Illustration is by Jeremy Banx.

The poem reads:

Foolish Fred would bite his nails when he was alone;
Then he bit his fingers, right down to the bone…

…then he swallowed thumbs and palms
Followed by his wrists and arms,
Both feet’s toes, soles, insteps, heels
(Munching drowning anguished squeals),
Calves and shins and knees and thighs,
All consumed in front of eyes
Which had to watch the ghastly view
Of family jewels eaten too.
Still he chewed without a rest:
Bum, back, insides, belly, chest,
Shoulders, neck and lastly head;
Fred was – barring gnashers – dead.

When his wife walked through the door,
Just his teeth lay on the floor.
Snapping like the jaws of hell,
Fred’s teeth wolfed down her as well.

Bear in mind these dreadful tales:
Never, ever, bite your nails.

Cover of comedy poetry book Sticky Ends by Carol Carman. A catalogue of misfortunes,mishaps and meeting the maker. Unlucky - and unlikely - demises from the fevered imagination of Carol Carman, illustrated by Jeremy Banx. Front Cover shows a graveyard. Foremost grave is large, has a bony hand sticking out from the ground clutching a bunch of flowers, and on the gravestone is written Sticky Ends. In the background is the rest of the graveyard, with a church at the back and trees to the left hand side. Also in the graveyard are a bride with a black armband holding a bouquet, and a Grim Reaper clutching a bottle. Across the top is the strapline '65% Victoria Wood, 25% John Cooper Clarke, 10% Joyce Grenfell'.

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dag @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 8d

This is the judgment on the PPE/Medpro claim.

A cracking £122m win for the Government Legal Service

And is wonderful to see the government bringing a claim in contract against a shoddy supplier.

This does not happen often, and it should happen far more.

www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/u...

www.judiciary.uk

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Josiah Mortimer @josiah.writes.news · 8d

Some good news.

London is meeting legal limits for toxic NO2 pollution for the first time – almost 200 years earlier than predicted – following the Mayor’s "world leading air pollution policies," City Hall announces.

The Ultra Low Emissions Zone - and similar policies - really do work.

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Dr Rachel Clarke @drrachelclarke.com · 8d

Here I am in 2020 in the flimsiest, most pitful PPE - like so many other NHS staff, some of whom died from the Covid they caught in their hospitals.

Tory peer Michelle Mone - who today lost her legal case & must repay the govt £122m - dares to claim she’s been ‘scapegoated’.

What, Michelle? 🧵

Rachel wearing very flimsy looking apron, mask and visor in NHS setting

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Neil Brand @neilkbrand.bsky.social · 13d

I'm busking film music on Edinburgh Waverley station tomorrow morning for the BBC!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Radio 3 - Train Tracks, Live from Edinburgh Waverley

A railway extravaganza celebrating 200 years of the birth of the modern railway

www.bbc.co.uk

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Banx @banxtoons.bsky.social · 14d

From today’s @financialtimes.com #rapture

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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 15d

Reform’s plan, which it claims would net huge savings over the coming decades, would actually cost the UK about £70-90bn over the next ten years alone, new analysis of official statistics and forecasts suggests

bylinetimes.com/2025/09/24/f...

Farage’s Trillion Pound Black Hole: The Real Cost of Reform UK’s Mass Deportation Plan

Exclusive: Reform's plan, which it claims would net huge savings over the coming decades, would actually cost the UK about £70-90bn over the next ten years alone, new analysis of official statistics a...

bylinetimes.com

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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 16d

The even more unbelievable crime fact (which I learned relatively recently) is that burglary has fallen by more than 90% since the 1990s.

Did anyone notice? Nope. Does anyone believe it? Nope. But is is true? It is!

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 16d

Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds

open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...

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J.S. Watts @j-s-watts.bsky.social · 17d

#RoystonBookFair is this Saturday and on Sunday, as another part of Royston Arts Festival, Jude Simpson will be preforming her critically acclaimed show, "A Noise Annoys". www.hsrsc.org.uk/event/roysto... #Royston #Hertfordshire

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Neil Brand @neilkbrand.bsky.social · 18d

This Wednesday Sept 24th - I'm playing Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera at the Playhouse Cheltenham.
cheltplayhouse.org.uk/CheltPlayhou...

The Phantom of the Opera with Special Guest Neil Brand - Cheltenham Playhouse

Wed 24 Sep

cheltplayhouse.org.uk

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J.S. Watts @j-s-watts.bsky.social · 24d

Not only can you buy books at #RoystonBookFair on Saturday 27th September, but you can also hear writers read and perform. #Royston #BookSky #Hertfordshire #writerscommunity

White writing on a black background like a chalkboard. A list of Children & YA, Poetry and Non-Fiction readings at Royston Book Fair on 27 September 2025

White writing on a black background like a chalkboard. A list of Historical Fiction and Contemporary, Speculative Fiction & Thriller readings at Royston Book Fair on 27 September 2025. Part of Royston Arts Festival 2025

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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 24d

Hallelujah!

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 24d

Channel 4 to mark Trump’s UK visit with ‘longest uninterrupted reel of untruths’

Broadcaster to dedicate Wednesday night schedule to unpicking US president’s false or misleading statements More than 100 of Donald Trump’s inaccurate statements are to be dissected by Channel 4 to coincide with his state visit, in what it described as “the longest uninterrupted reel of untruths, falsehoods and distortions ever broadcast on television”. The US president is expected to arrive in the UK on Tuesday night. He will enjoy a huge amount of special treatment as ministers attempt to preserve the special relationship, including a ceremonial welcome at Windsor Castle for Trump and his wife, Melania. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 29d

This is such positive, powerful, direct communication. The fact that this seems so remarkable and so rare speaks volumes about our failure to stand up to the fossil fuel lobby.

Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 29d

"My school saves thousands of pounds every year from those solar panels." The TUC directly takes on Reform, a party funded by the fossil fuel Industry. Posted on IG by tradesunioncongress

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Neil deGrasse Tyson @neildegrassetyson.com · Sep 7

Notice to flat-Earthers in Earth's Eastern Hemisphere witnessing a Total Lunar Eclipse right now

Once again, please alert the authorities if your eclipse tonight looks like this:

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Jane @localnotail.bsky.social · Sep 5

On the same day in the Telegraph:

The Telegraph

Rayner tax scandal - £40k tax dodge - Statement

Angela Rayner dodges £40,000 stamp duty

Deputy Prime Minister reduces tax bill for Hove flat by declaring it as her main residence

[Photo: Angela Rayner pictured at the weekend in Hove, where she has just bought a flat Credit: Dan Charity/The Sun on Sunday]

Robert Mendick Chief Reporter. Amy Gibbons Political Correspondent

29 August 2025 8:57am BST

The Telegraph

Money > Property > Second homes

How to avoid tax on your second home

From stamp duty to council tax, shield your wealth from Labour's tightening net

[Photo of houses around a bay - Areas such as Cornwall have added a premium to council tax bills for second homes Credit: iStockphoto]

Fran Ivens Senior Money Writer

29 August 2025 1:21pm BST

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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · Sep 5

Nigel Farage, whose party recently put a teenager with zero work experience of any kind in charge of an entire English county, accuses the government of appointing people "with no knowledge" or experience in charge of Government departments

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Carol Carman @carolcarman.bsky.social · Sep 5

This Saturday and Sunday I'll be at #Haddenham Steam Rally in #Cambridgeshire selling Dennis of Grunty Fen books and CDs, etc. (and I may have a few of my own with me 😆). Christopher South will be attempting to be there on Sunday as well. Do come and say hello! www.haddenhamsteamrally.co.uk

Promo poster for Haddenham Steam Really 50th Anniversary.

Picture of Dennis of Grunty Fen. He wears a grubby mac with badges on the laurels, nick teeth, thick glasses and a black corduroy cap. He is playing a banjo in front of a microphone.

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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · Sep 5

Oh.

Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · Sep 5

“Farage claimed last year to have “bought a house” in his constituency but the property is actually owned in the name of his partner, meaning he legally avoided higher-rate stamp duty on the purchase of an additional home – given he already owns other properties”

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Nigel Farage uses private company to pay less tax on GB News earnings

Exclusive: Reform leader’s use of personal services firm is a practice criticised across the political spectrum

www.theguardian.com

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