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Bevan Thomas @bevanthomas.bsky.social · 4h

In “Gulliver’s Travels" by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver encountered many inventors with foolish inventions on Balnibarbi Island, including a device for randomly creating sentences so that even people with no talent can write books. Thus predicting generative AI several centuries early.
#WyrdWednesday

A map of the island of Balnibarbi, from "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift.

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Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 1d

Data indicates that dogs are considerably MORE likely to eat their owners after they die than cats are.

I like to periodically remind people of this

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 1d

we spent thousands of years breeding dogs to like humans and collaborate with us - we have more of a “begrudging standoff between equals” thing going on with pigs

However to be fair dogs eat humans way more than most people know or want to know

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 10h

For the uninitiated: The pope being this direct and explicit to U.S. bishops about how to respond to a domestic policy happening in real time is…unusual.

Joshua McElwee @joshmcelwee.org · 13h

Pope Leo told U.S. bishops visiting him at the Vatican on Wednesday that they should firmly address how immigrants are being treated by President Donald Trump's hardline policies, attendees said, in the latest push by the pontiff on the issue. For @reuters.com:

www.reuters.com

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Ian Simmons @iansimmons1960.bsky.social · 10h

Hmm, Britain tends to go for a version of free speech that tries to restrain calls for violence and hate and give everyone a chance to be heard (but does it imperfectly), the US prefers a version with no restrictions where the loudest bully gets to decide who is heard

Ian Simmons @iansimmons1960.bsky.social · 14h

At university, Dali's best friends were Bunuel and Lorca

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Ian Simmons @iansimmons1960.bsky.social · 14h

Also, T.rex is more closely related to sparrows than to Stegasaurus

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Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 1d

Heseltine at the Tory conf:

"Fascists of the 30s are back... Trump's language coincides with words here... The immigrant has replaced the Jew as the problem. We must make clear we will never have any part in the populist extremism of Farage... We don't need Trump's mouthpiece anywhere near No. 10.”

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Ian Simmons @iansimmons1960.bsky.social · 1d

I Think The Holloway on Norwich can manage 50, and London Forteans use The Bell on Middlesex Street which seats 50 and is cheap

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 1d

Every state-funded religious school in the country must accept all religions, though they can prioritize their own.

There is a Jewish state primary school in Birmingham with a majority Muslim student body who learn Hebrew and celebrate Jewish holidays (including IIRC Israeli Independence Day).

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Ian Simmons @iansimmons1960.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, went to get mine today and was denied the covid. Fortunately I can afford the private shot, but I don't see why previously eligible people should be denied as covid is still here and those people are still vulnerable.

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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 2d

It helps to be able to spell the country you say only you are competent enough to run.

Goody-bag merch from Tory Conference branded "When Labour negotiates Britian loses" and signed "Kemi Badenoch".

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Ian Simmons @iansimmons1960.bsky.social · 2d

A shameless plug for my latest, which you might like to add to the collection 🙂

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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 2d

I relate to quite a bit of Ursula Le Guin's writing schedule, but it's the "very stupid after 8pm" part that seems to hit harder and deeper as the years go on.

5:30 a.m.—wake up and lie there and think.
6:15 a.m.—get up and eat breakfast (lots).
7:15 a.m.— get to work writing, writing, writing.
Noon-lunch.
1:00-3:00 p.m.—reading, music.
3:00-5:00 p.m.— correspondence, maybe house cleaning.
5:00-8:00 p.m.- make dinner and eat it. After 8:00 p.m.—I tend to be very stupid and we won't
talk about this.

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KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 3d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

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Ian Simmons @iansimmons1960.bsky.social · 2d

I can imagine!

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Thomas E. DeCaulp @decaulp.bsky.social · 3d

Six in 10 American Jews say Israel has committed war crimes. Four in Ten American Jews Say Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza: Washington Post Poll

ground.news/article/many...

Four in Ten American Jews Say Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza: Washington Post Poll

Many American Jews sharply disapprove of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, with 61 percent saying Israel has committed war crimes and about 4 in 10 saying the country is guilty of genocide against ...

ground.news

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Ian Simmons @iansimmons1960.bsky.social · 3d

Whenever I write a shopping list Cromwell sits on it and chases the pen while I write, but only for shopping lists

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AJ DISMEMBERS! @robertgalbraith.bsky.social · 3d

NO NORMAL CUNT IN BRITAIN GIVES A WET WEDNESDAY WANK WHO THE FUCK CHARLIE KIRK WAS

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Ian Simmons @iansimmons1960.bsky.social · 3d

I'm fairly confident this is not her thing

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Ian Simmons @iansimmons1960.bsky.social · 3d

Oh, and I have an ex-wife that needs hexing...

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Rebecca Lambert (She/Her) ♾️🐭🍉 @ladyliminal.bsky.social · 3d

Mantra

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 6d

On Yom Kippur many Jewish people in Britain have their phones off to mark the holy day.

As it ends at 723pm, some will hear the tragic Manchester news for the first time.

At that time, please join many of us to send a message of solidarity to British Jews.Thanks Together coalition for proposing.

To everyone in Britain's Jewish Community: you are not alone.

We will not let hate or those who spread it win.

We stand with you.

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Andrew Nette @pulpcurry.bsky.social · 6d

This almost brought a tear to my eye. A small but important victory.

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Ashleeee 🌊🪭 @reactiveashley.bsky.social · 6d

“The route, which admitted spouses or partners and dependent children under 18, granted 4,671 family reunion visas in the year ending June 2025

That’s how petty it is.

Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · 6d

Those who have claimed asylum from violence or trafficking or state persecution or war should not be spoken of as lottery winners.

Shame on Keir Starmer.

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Ian Simmons @iansimmons1960.bsky.social · 6d

Yay! My Opinionated Guide to Haunted London is published today by Hoxton Mini Press www.hoxtonminipress.com/collections/...

#folklorethursday

An Opinionated Guide to Haunted London

Haunted London is your opinionated guide to the capital’s most chilling sites — from plague pits to cursed pubs. Discover centuries of eerie tales and haunted places, perfect for ghost hunters and cur...

www.hoxtonminipress.com

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