Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by James Thorniley

Caroline Russell @carolinerussell.bsky.social · 2d

If you want places to be accessible to older and disabled people installing benches is one very helpful thing to do.

Seems a few people are worried that young people will sit on a bench and be a bit annoying, so the bench won’t be installed after all.

Owen Massey @bookllyfr.bsky.social · 2d

A parish council in Oxford has refused to install a bench on a quiet side street in case people sit on it and get hit by a car

www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/2552131...

#motonormativity

@apiln.bsky.social

Proposed 'eyesore' bench causes outrage among community

Plans for a new artistic bench that have been two years in the making have caused outrage among residents in Botley near an Oxford Brookes campus.

www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk

8 18 54

Reposted by James Thorniley

The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 2d

Idea: keep the inhalers, get rid of half a million cars per year.

Headline:
Climate pollution from inhalers has the impact of half a million cars per year, study finds

20 170 830

Reposted by James Thorniley

Rafe Meager (they/them) @economeager.bsky.social · 2d

jumpscare on instagram @dandekadt.bsky.social

some instagram account has posted a screenshot of dan's post that says "My wife and I never talk baby talk to our kid. We enforce academic seminar norms and jargon. My child isnt even 2 yet and can interrupt presenters on the first slide. Adults at family gatherings are shocked when my child asks a questino that turns out to be more of a comment." it has THIRTY SIX THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIVE LIKES

3 30 330

James Thorniley @jamesthorniley.bsky.social · 2d

the response sheet does look like a good demonstration of "only people who are opposed to stuff fill in consultations"

Section of consultation responses, almost all negative. Text is

7/10/2025 23:33:59
7/11/2025 13:26:15No. These are really ugly
7/12/2025 13:50:27These honestly are terrible.
7/12/2025 13:52:56 TEXT REDACTED DUE TO ACCUSATORY
AND AGGRESSIVE TONE
7/12/2025 15:50:14No, these are all honestly terrible
7/13/2025 10:08:07
7/13/2025 10:25:50No, these are all honestly terrible
7/13/2025 10:26:59These are aggressively bad ��
7/13/2025 10:30:03
No. Funds have not been allocated for artistic
SEATING - you told us it was just for an art
installation of some kind. These bench designs
are really not good options
7/13/2025 19:47:24
7/13/2025 21:01:13
Yes. I like the simple ones that look like they're
planned, rather than the more elaborate
example
7/13/2025 19:29:24
7/17/2025 15:13:08No

1 1 17

James Thorniley @jamesthorniley.bsky.social · 6d

I mean they'd all get crushed by SUVs but why not

1 1

James Thorniley @jamesthorniley.bsky.social · 6d

Bike racks would fit here too

1 2

Reposted by James Thorniley

Alison Stenning @alisonstenning.bsky.social · 7d

Good that the Covid Inquiry is hearing about play, that it’s not just a nice to have, that it’s essential to childhood, for fun, that it’s how children exercise, that public play is unevenly policed, and that children’s right to play should have been upheld in lockdown.

@playingout.bsky.social

Covid exercise messaging left children stuck indoors, UK inquiry hears

Children not allowed out partly because their exercise – playing – looked too much ‘like fun’, says campaigner

www.theguardian.com

3 9 39

Reposted by James Thorniley

Cllr Emma Garnett @greenpartyemma.bsky.social · 7d

Let's call a spade a spade.

A "flying electric taxi" is essentially a private jet.

The last thing we need more of - electric or not.

Flying is hugely energy intensive.

Let's get East West Rail built and trains running asap instead.
#TrainsNotPlanes

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 8d

Flying electric taxis will be travelling between Oxford and Cambridge next year. A six-month pilot project (geddit) aims to prepare the infrastructure and develop a business case as a first step towards “commercially viable regional operations”.

Flying taxi over English countryside somewhere

2 18 71

Reposted by James Thorniley

ceej @ceej.online · 13d

my daughter really captured my essence in this portrait of me “at work”

a bald stick figure in a chair with his arms out in front like he’s typing on a keyboard, and he’s got the biggest angry frown imaginable and eyebrows that express frustrated bemusement

240 1.3K 12K

James Thorniley @jamesthorniley.bsky.social · 10d

We have it, sort of? But it is run in house by the government IT team, didn't get a big announcement and isn't a route for Peter Thiel and Larry Ellison to own the state. All big downsides from the gov pov www.gov.uk/using-your-g...

Using your GOV.UK One Login

Sign in to your GOV.UK One Login to change your details. See all the services you can access with GOV.UK One Login and how to prove your identity with it.

www.gov.uk

1

James Thorniley @jamesthorniley.bsky.social · 13d

Over a million, I think it was 300k ish when I first looked this morning.

Struggling to fathom why Labour would spend their non existent political capital on this at this moment. Is this supposed to get applause at conference?

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards

We demand that the UK Government immediately commits to not introducing a digital ID cards. There are reports that this is being looked at.

petition.parliament.uk

2

Reposted by James Thorniley

dag @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 13d

"on a technicality"

Not really.

A failure to get necessary consents to a terror charge is not a slight error. They are safeguards when a person faces a serious charge.

Prosecutors should take such safeguards seriously: this is terrorism law they are using.

www.theguardian.com/music/2025/s...

Terrorism case against Kneecap rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh thrown out

Chief magistrate at Woolwich crown court rules that ‘proceedings were instituted unlawfully and are null’

www.theguardian.com

23 370 1.1K

Reposted by James Thorniley

HowDoYou Guide @howdoyou.guide · 13d

Hi @npr.org! We worked late tonight putting together this handy pocket guide!

It doesn't address road design issues, but if we're going to educate road users, we should include drivers.

It's the size of a folded business card. Print it, fold it, put it in your wallet!

"How Do You Avoid Hitting People With Your Car" pocket guide. Instructs readers to Watch the Road and Slow Down. Further text humorously insists that watching the road and slowing down are indeed important.

41 1.1K 2.7K

Reposted by James Thorniley

Hamilton Nolan @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · Jul 27

It is pretty noticeable that even as mainstream opinion on Israel and Gaza finally shifts, you don’t hear the Responsible Adults apologizing for punishing all the college kids protesting the atrocities. Quite the opposite in fact!

130 2.1K 10K

Reposted by James Thorniley

phildavies1995.bsky.social @phildavies1995.bsky.social · 15d

Absolutely ridiculous that Caerleon doesn’t have a railway stop. It’s 100% needed and ridiculous that one wasn’t given under the New South Wales Metro scheme.

One of the most important Tourist destinations in Cymru. It is also located in a commuter area. I hope sense prevails.

NationCymru @nation.cymru · 15d

A new railway station for a historic Welsh town would alleviate “chronic” traffic congestion and encourage more visitors to its Roman riches, supporters have claimed

Support for new railway station to ease town’s ‘chronic’ traffic problems

Nicholas Thomas Local Democracy Reporter A new railway station for a historic Welsh town would alleviate “chronic” traffic congestion and encourage more visitors to its Roman riches, supporters have c...

nation.cymru

1 6 12

James Thorniley @jamesthorniley.bsky.social · 18d

That's absolutely ridiculous. OCC is Lib Dem but not heard any official statement from them about whether they accept it's political or not

1 2

James Thorniley @jamesthorniley.bsky.social · 18d

I'm sure it's been coordinated by people with resources, they are higher than the ladder in your shed goes. Council seem to have taken a small number down, not sure if they've dealt with any more at the weekend

1 3

James Thorniley @jamesthorniley.bsky.social · 18d

Flags on (public property) lamp posts are the particular code of the current far right campaign as it's an attempt to claim territory. Other stuff (flags on houses, bunting etc) at least ambiguous

1 2

Reposted by James Thorniley

Scary Corpse @damselindystopia.bsky.social · 21d

The "student politics" thing really comes down to the fact that for most of our political and media class, the last time they had to deal with a left winger challenging them was when they were doing student politics themselves.

Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 21d

Zack Polanski, "Are you comfortable with the most powerful man on earth banning books, militarising the police?"

Penny Mordaunt, "That's not the point"

5 77 360

James Thorniley @jamesthorniley.bsky.social · 21d

World Championship level sneering from Penny Mordaunt here.

Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 21d

@zackpolanski.bsky.social : "Are you comfortable with the worlds most powerful man on earth banning books, militarising the police, damaging women's reproductive rights"

Penny Mordaunt: "I don't know Zack, that's not the point..."

3

Reposted by James Thorniley

Bright Green @bright-green.bsky.social · 22d

'We cannot claim to stand with Palestine while undermining the unified, strategic voice of its people. If we are serious about justice, then we must do more than signal support, we must practice principled solidarity.'

Why Standing Together shouldn't be given a platform at Green Party conference

This wouldn't be 'radical empathy', but a radical betrayal

bright-green.org

1 2 8

Reposted by James Thorniley

🇵🇸 Dean Tāne 🇵🇸 @dean-tane.bsky.social · 22d

This honestly should’ve been the bigger scandal for Rayner than her underpaying stamp duty

Gregk Foley @gregk.co.uk · 22d

No words.

The lives of those living in Gaza are deemed less important than maintaining relations with Israel and, by proxy, the US. At the personal level, on Labour's doorsteps, this approach plays out in the most callous of ways. Dalloul al-Neder is a Palestinian refugee from Gaza, who was a constituent of the former deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner.
He got to know her, meeting several times: she visited his takeaway shop in 2019 and posed for pictures, declaring "Palestine must be free". She took him on a tour of parliament.

PHOTO: Dalloul al-Neder, who lives in Manchester, with an image of his late mother - he has lost several family members in Gaza bombings.
Photograph: Sean Hansford/MEN Media

Within weeks of the genocide beginning, in October 2023, his mother, brother, sister-in-law and two young nieces were killed by an Israeli airstrike. Desperate to evacuate his wife and four-month-old daughter - who had been buried under rubble three times by Israeli attacks - he emailed Rayner twice to seek help evacuating his family. He says received no response.

In January 2024, he attended a Labour fundraiser in Stockport addressed by Rayner and her colleague, Jonathan Reynolds, and got to his feet, clutching pictures of his dead mother, begging her to support a ceasefire, emotionally declaring "I lost my family in Gaza". The whole tawdry episode is on camera: he was aggressively ejected from the meeting and on to the street. Rayner did nothing, except to say "thank you, you've made your point". She then unfollowed him on social media. Days later, she was interviewed by Sky News' Beth Rigby, who framed the incident as an example of the threats politicians face, linking it to the murder of the MPs Jo Cox and David Amess.
Since then, so many of Neder's relatives have been slaughtered by the Israeli state that their names take up three pages of a notebook.

62 150

Reposted by James Thorniley

NBC News @nbcnews.com · 23d

SPECIAL REPORT: A large swath of the U.S. currently does not have the basic, ground-level immunity necessary to stop the spread of viruses that had once receded into the past, a six-month NBC News investigation in collaboration with scientists at Stanford University finds.

Data investigation: Childhood vaccination rates are backsliding across the U.S.

A monthslong NBC News data investigation finds that much of the U.S. doesn't have the protection needed to stop the spread of deadly diseases. St. Louis is a window into the problem communities face nationwide.

nbcnews.to

74 690 1.2K

James Thorniley @jamesthorniley.bsky.social · 24d

Highly questionable development proposed by ox uni. Given the impact in Headington, strange I haven't seen any comment from the LD councillors there? @libdemsoxon.bsky.social @rozsmith.bsky.social

Cllr Emma Garnett @greenpartyemma.bsky.social · 24d

🅿️ Removing parking is one of the most effective ways to reduce car use:
theconversation.com/12-best-ways...

🤦‍♀️ @ox.ac.uk Warneford Hospital proposes adding ~50% more car parking..

📝 Sign Headington Liveable Streets' petition:
actionnetwork.org/petitions/no...

www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2546328...

Fears for ‘traffic hell’ over new parking spaces at Oxford hospital

Adding new parking spaces to Warneford Hospital in Oxford could create “traffic hell” and lead to hundreds of more car journeys into the area,…

www.oxfordmail.co.uk

1 4

Reposted by James Thorniley

Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 26d

Removing racist displays in one city = the cost of 12,000 hours of social care.

Dr. Jude Seal - 'Unfunded Hobbyist' @judeseal.bsky.social · 26d

City of York Council, per a statement by Labour Council leader Claire Douglas, have estimated the cost of dealing with flags and related graffiti at around or over £¼m. That's in just the City of York Council area.

Statement from Claire Douglas, Labour leader of City of York Council stating that now the Women's Rugby World Cup games in York are over they will be removing the flags which have been illegal put up or graffitied with an estimated cost of a quarter of a million pounds

Statement from Labour Council Leader Claire Douglas noting that since the flag campaign began children on their way to school have been racially abused by adults, and Council staff have been abused while removing graffiti from the city roads.

6 94 170