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Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Naomi Alderman @naomialderman.bsky.social · 14h

I cannot understand what these people think the purpose of human life is?

It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?

Tim Worthington @outonbluesix.bsky.social · 14h

How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.

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Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 7h

Trump's $100,000 skilled worker visa fee gives Britain a golden opportunity to attracted global talent. Needless to say, we're going to piss it away because we're scared of upsetting Nigel Farage.

inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...

Trump's migrant obsession offers Starmer a rare win - but Farage has scared him off

We have a golden opportunity to kick-start the British economy

inews.co.uk

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Graham Dutfield @grahamdutfield.bsky.social · 2h

If we allow ourselves to get bullied by an unfriendly government and a pharmaceutical 'cartel', when's it going to stop? www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/uk-go...

UK floats plan to fend off Trump tariffs by raising NHS drug spending threshold: Politico

Amid mounting pressure on U.K. officials relating to the pharma industry, the government is reportedly preparing its defense against potential U.S. | The U.K. government is in "advanced talks" with th...

www.fiercepharma.com

Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 6h

A new paradigm that integrates human and nonhuman communication and culture.

Melissa Leach and James Fairhead's Naturekind is now available. Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...

#Anthropology #Communication #Culture

Naturekind: Language, Culture and Power Beyond the Human by Melissa Leach and James Fairhead

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Graham Dutfield @grahamdutfield.bsky.social · 6h

Still, it’s an interesting alternative to the let’s be like Singapore pipe dream we more often hear from the Right

Graham Dutfield @grahamdutfield.bsky.social · 6h

So our xenophobic Reform Party wants us to emulate a country nearly 90% of whose resident population is foreign born.

Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 7h

UAE has no democratically elected institutions, no free speech and an appalling human rights record.

Its economy functions on completely different metrics to the ours & ranks well below us for GDP

No serious person would ever think that we should emulate it.

But here's Tice calling us decadent

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Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Alexander Luckmann @aluckmann.bsky.social · 11h

Enjoyed this piece on Pynchon by @devintoshea.bsky.social which phrases a point @mattseybold.bsky.social makes - “Print is a Rent Strike” - in another way

lithub.com/thomas-pynch...

I've been thinking a lot about how, now, thanks to our phones and screens, every waking hour of the day is subject to capital extraction through data, which is collected and bundled, and sold without you or I even knowing we labored. Reading a physical book breaks from that, and I sometimes feel physical relief in my head when I detach from the monitor; putting eyes on text that doesn't move, read a line, close the book, take a breath, stare out into the sky, open the book back up, notice something, then notice something about the room I'm in, or the park bench. Sometimes the relief of this feels like someone cracked open my skull and poured cool water on the hot machine; other times I'm too scattered and frightened about the future to do anything but sit beside the book while I scroll.

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Reposted by Graham Dutfield

David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 13h

Incidentally English graduates are in demand by tech companies who need to translate what they do into understandable language for their business customers in particular.

But why let facts get in the way of a stupid soundbite?

Tim Worthington @outonbluesix.bsky.social · 14h

How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.

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Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Global Food and Environment Institute @globalfoodleeds.bsky.social · 13h

A key focus of agroecological practice is understanding ecosystem functions.

Researchers are studying how plant-level treatments, field-level crop compositions & landscape-scale structures & vegetation interact to influence crop pest & disease risks.

fosta-health.eu/index.php/bl...

👇

Fall armyworm on a green leaf that has been partly eaten

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Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 15h

Brutally on target from @rafaelbehr.bsky.social.

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Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Tim Worthington @outonbluesix.bsky.social · 14h

How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.

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Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 1d

Excellent letter from the Bishop of Birmingham to Robert Jenrick.

At a time when so many other voices have been silent, the bishops have been admirably outspoken against attempts to stir up division.

The churches do a lot of community cohesion work & do not want to see this trashed for party gain.

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 1d

The Bishop of Birmingham has written to the Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick about his comments about Handsworth

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Graham Dutfield @grahamdutfield.bsky.social · 3d

Exactly

Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 3d

Just not sure, really not sure, that I'd follow Kemi Badenoch as an example of the USA as a country that is protecting human rights without being in the ECHR.

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Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 4d

Nine jobs Nigel Farage hasn't updated his register of interests in months.

Potentially hundreds of thousands of ££££ from his many "outside interests" remain undeclared

observer.co.uk/news/politic...

‘Nine-jobs Nigel’ Farage denies not declaring extra earni...

Roles outside Parliament make Reform leader the highest-earning MP, but register of interests has not been updated since end of May

observer.co.uk

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Graham Dutfield @grahamdutfield.bsky.social · 5d

Sympathies for those farmers who knew Trump was a wrong ‘un and didn’t vote for him.

Dan Osborn @osbornforne.bsky.social · 6d

“I was astonished when I heard about this,” said Osborn. “Our own government – which supposedly exists to promote the interests of our people – just gave Argentina the ability to undercut our farmers and steal our biggest customer.
www.centralnebraskatoday.com/2025/10/02/d...

Dan Osborn calls out U.S. government’s Argentina bailout that hurts Nebraska soybean farmers

OMAHA - Independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn today criticized the federal government's decision to pro...

www.centralnebraskatoday.com

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Graham Dutfield @grahamdutfield.bsky.social · 5d

Really important message here, that you don’t have to cut down trees to grow more food www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/conv...

Conventional wisdom says more forests means less crops. What if that’s not always true?

In a new case study in Rajasthan India, researchers showed that afforestation was linked to a 24% surge in crop production.

www.anthropocenemagazine.org

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Graham Dutfield @grahamdutfield.bsky.social · 5d

‘Thrilled’ Indonesian scientists celebrate return of fossil trove from the Netherlands | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

‘Thrilled’ Indonesian scientists celebrate return of fossil trove from the Netherlands

The items to be returned, which include Java Man, were collected during the colonial era

www.science.org

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Graham Dutfield @grahamdutfield.bsky.social · 6d

When such contested origin stories going far back in time matter to dictators today, you just know it’s dangerous www.science.org/content/arti...

China bolsters controversial claim to Pacific languages with new museum

Nationalist narrative holds that Austronesian language and culture originated in China, not Taiwan

www.science.org

Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Robert Shrimsley @robertshrimsley.bsky.social · 6d

If you feel the need to do something in the wake of the Manchester attack why not donate to the Community Security Trust, the organisation that works to keep jews in Britain safe

cst.org.uk/donate-now

Donate Online Now – CST – Protecting Our Jewish Community

cst.org.uk

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Graham Dutfield @grahamdutfield.bsky.social · 6d

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

‘A tool in the fight against Amazon’: independent bookshops to begin selling ebooks

A new platform will be an alternative to Kindle, and bookshops will earn 100% of the profit from sales

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 6d

Tory party’s long journey away from science, reason, responsibility, common sense and truth is complete

Kemi Badenoch vows to repeal Climate Change Act

Tory leader says she would replace it with ‘cheap energy’ strategy, ending decades-long consensus on climate

www.theguardian.com

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Graham Dutfield @grahamdutfield.bsky.social · 6d

The price to be paid in human lives when people elect a goverment that moves fast and breaks everything www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The damage done - Nature Medicine

When clinical trials are suddenly halted by US funding cuts, there are repercussions for investigators and patients, and they do not stop at borders.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Jay 🦋 @jay.bsky.team · 6d

“It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.”
― Jane Goodall

💙 RIP to a real one. My childhood hero

Jane Goodall with monarch butterfly scarf

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dag @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 7d

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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Reposted by Graham Dutfield

Adil Ray @adilray.bsky.social · 7d

Reform’s Yusuf says Starmer is “inciting violence” and “demonising” Farage with his comments and will be responsible if anything happens? So who is responsible for all the hate following Farage calling Muslims a “fifth column”, BLM “The Taliban”.? Chinese “c****y” & referring to the “Jewish lobby”?

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