Reposted by Michael
I was just listening to This Train by Sister Rosetta Tharpe and thought I'd look up what she's actually singing when it sounds like she's singing "This train don't pull no wankers". The answer surprised me.
January 17, 2026 at 2:32 PM
I was just listening to This Train by Sister Rosetta Tharpe and thought I'd look up what she's actually singing when it sounds like she's singing "This train don't pull no wankers". The answer surprised me.
Reposted by Michael
Reposted by Michael
BAGGER: (spilling my groceries on the floor) Oh God. I'm so sorry. This isn't what I'm supposed to do.
ME: How are you supposed to do it?
MANAGER: She means she was gonna be a fox. In the woods and shit. But something happened and she got stuck.
BAGGER: (crying) Got so stuck.
ME: How are you supposed to do it?
MANAGER: She means she was gonna be a fox. In the woods and shit. But something happened and she got stuck.
BAGGER: (crying) Got so stuck.
January 17, 2026 at 10:44 AM
BAGGER: (spilling my groceries on the floor) Oh God. I'm so sorry. This isn't what I'm supposed to do.
ME: How are you supposed to do it?
MANAGER: She means she was gonna be a fox. In the woods and shit. But something happened and she got stuck.
BAGGER: (crying) Got so stuck.
ME: How are you supposed to do it?
MANAGER: She means she was gonna be a fox. In the woods and shit. But something happened and she got stuck.
BAGGER: (crying) Got so stuck.
Reposted by Michael
Had an intriguing editorial discussion recently: how did people in the past talk about 'minutes' when they didn't have watches or standardised times? How does that affect your thinking?
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
January 17, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Had an intriguing editorial discussion recently: how did people in the past talk about 'minutes' when they didn't have watches or standardised times? How does that affect your thinking?
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
Reposted by Michael
British education in a nutshell
January 17, 2026 at 10:33 AM
British education in a nutshell
Reposted by Michael
1st time reading Stick Man: What a lovely story. We’ll have it again tomorrow?
10th time reading Stick Man: Oh look, a nativity card behind Stick Man.
50th time reading Stick Man: so Jesus exists in the Stick Man universe?
100th time reading Stick Man: iS sTiCk mAN A fRaGment oF tHe tRUe cROsS?
10th time reading Stick Man: Oh look, a nativity card behind Stick Man.
50th time reading Stick Man: so Jesus exists in the Stick Man universe?
100th time reading Stick Man: iS sTiCk mAN A fRaGment oF tHe tRUe cROsS?
January 17, 2026 at 8:44 AM
1st time reading Stick Man: What a lovely story. We’ll have it again tomorrow?
10th time reading Stick Man: Oh look, a nativity card behind Stick Man.
50th time reading Stick Man: so Jesus exists in the Stick Man universe?
100th time reading Stick Man: iS sTiCk mAN A fRaGment oF tHe tRUe cROsS?
10th time reading Stick Man: Oh look, a nativity card behind Stick Man.
50th time reading Stick Man: so Jesus exists in the Stick Man universe?
100th time reading Stick Man: iS sTiCk mAN A fRaGment oF tHe tRUe cROsS?
Reposted by Michael
A small number of senior barristers are enabling large-scale tax fraud.
They issue opinions saying tax schemes will work. They know they won't.
The point of the opinion isn't to be right. It's to protect the shadowy individuals running the schemes from prosecution.
🧵
They issue opinions saying tax schemes will work. They know they won't.
The point of the opinion isn't to be right. It's to protect the shadowy individuals running the schemes from prosecution.
🧵
January 16, 2026 at 9:51 AM
A small number of senior barristers are enabling large-scale tax fraud.
They issue opinions saying tax schemes will work. They know they won't.
The point of the opinion isn't to be right. It's to protect the shadowy individuals running the schemes from prosecution.
🧵
They issue opinions saying tax schemes will work. They know they won't.
The point of the opinion isn't to be right. It's to protect the shadowy individuals running the schemes from prosecution.
🧵
Reposted by Michael
Common Sense, published 250 years ago today.
January 10, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Common Sense, published 250 years ago today.
Reposted by Michael
Sometimes when I’m feeling a little doomer I think about the folks who sat on top of Canterbury cathedral during the blitz and literally picked up incendiary devices and threw them to the ground to be extinguished
www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk/firewatchers
www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk/firewatchers
Firewatchers – Canterbury Historical and Archaeological Society
www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk
January 15, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Sometimes when I’m feeling a little doomer I think about the folks who sat on top of Canterbury cathedral during the blitz and literally picked up incendiary devices and threw them to the ground to be extinguished
www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk/firewatchers
www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk/firewatchers
Reposted by Michael
This seems like a maliciously put headline to make people feel a certain way.
Wikipedia is not partaking in generative AI. They are making AI companies and scrappers having to pay for training their modules off wikipedia texts. And having an AI (not that ai) tasked with updating dead links.
Wikipedia is not partaking in generative AI. They are making AI companies and scrappers having to pay for training their modules off wikipedia texts. And having an AI (not that ai) tasked with updating dead links.
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia written by volunteers, is embracing artificial intelligence to mark its 25th anniversary.
Wikipedia unveils new AI licensing deals as it marks 25th birthday
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia written by volunteers, is embracing artificial intelligence to mark its 25th anniversary.
bit.ly
January 15, 2026 at 7:08 PM
This seems like a maliciously put headline to make people feel a certain way.
Wikipedia is not partaking in generative AI. They are making AI companies and scrappers having to pay for training their modules off wikipedia texts. And having an AI (not that ai) tasked with updating dead links.
Wikipedia is not partaking in generative AI. They are making AI companies and scrappers having to pay for training their modules off wikipedia texts. And having an AI (not that ai) tasked with updating dead links.
Reposted by Michael
I was thinking about that 1980s James Bond movie where everybody's trying to get their hands on a Fabergé egg for some reason
And then I realized:
It's an Egg McGuffin.
And then I realized:
It's an Egg McGuffin.
January 15, 2026 at 6:40 PM
I was thinking about that 1980s James Bond movie where everybody's trying to get their hands on a Fabergé egg for some reason
And then I realized:
It's an Egg McGuffin.
And then I realized:
It's an Egg McGuffin.
Reposted by Michael
the European mission to Greenland was fourth in the BBC news running order this morning, which feels a bit like doing a light "and finally..." item about the archduke's motorcade taking a wrong turn in Sarajevo
January 15, 2026 at 10:01 AM
the European mission to Greenland was fourth in the BBC news running order this morning, which feels a bit like doing a light "and finally..." item about the archduke's motorcade taking a wrong turn in Sarajevo
Reposted by Michael
Just astonishing good news. We are on the way to end Multiple Sclerosis.
University research delivers. Always has. Now a cabal in the White House is shattering it.
University research delivers. Always has. Now a cabal in the White House is shattering it.
Epstein-Barr Virus #EBV was linked to #MultipleSclerosis - now a plausible cause has been found, misidentification by longterm memory T-cells that pick on the wrong protein, ANO2, instead of the EBV-antigen. Massive inflection towards the elimination of MS!!!
🧪🧠Cell www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
🧪🧠Cell www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Anoctamin-2-specific T cells link Epstein-Barr virus to multiple sclerosis
Researchers identified anoctamin-2 (ANO2) as a frequent autoimmune target in multiple
sclerosis, with T cell responses against ANO2 occurring in over half of patients.
These ANO2-specific T cells shar...
www.cell.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:33 AM
Just astonishing good news. We are on the way to end Multiple Sclerosis.
University research delivers. Always has. Now a cabal in the White House is shattering it.
University research delivers. Always has. Now a cabal in the White House is shattering it.
Reposted by Michael
Thought I’d do a mega hread on NPR, partly because I’ve seen some London based commentary that doesn’t really get the bigger picture quite right imho
January 15, 2026 at 7:34 AM
Thought I’d do a mega hread on NPR, partly because I’ve seen some London based commentary that doesn’t really get the bigger picture quite right imho
Reposted by Michael
If there's one empirical insight I'd want everyone to understand about American politics, it's this:
America's problems are solved problems. Just not here.
What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. 🧵
America's problems are solved problems. Just not here.
What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. 🧵
January 12, 2026 at 9:36 PM
If there's one empirical insight I'd want everyone to understand about American politics, it's this:
America's problems are solved problems. Just not here.
What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. 🧵
America's problems are solved problems. Just not here.
What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. 🧵
Reposted by Michael
❤️🔥Tory sources confirm that Nadhim Zahawi made approaches to senior members of Kemi Badenoch's team about getting a peerage just weeks before defecting to Reform UK - but was turned down.
January 12, 2026 at 2:35 PM
❤️🔥Tory sources confirm that Nadhim Zahawi made approaches to senior members of Kemi Badenoch's team about getting a peerage just weeks before defecting to Reform UK - but was turned down.
Reposted by Michael
I don't think it's a coincidence that all of this (worldwide) is happening when most of the people who lived through WWII have just died. We need to do a better job of keeping their memories and ideals alive.
January 10, 2026 at 10:29 PM
I don't think it's a coincidence that all of this (worldwide) is happening when most of the people who lived through WWII have just died. We need to do a better job of keeping their memories and ideals alive.
Reposted by Michael
i don't know who needs to hear this (everyone) but Bob Mortimer is on Would I Lie to You tonight
January 9, 2026 at 7:09 PM
i don't know who needs to hear this (everyone) but Bob Mortimer is on Would I Lie to You tonight
Reposted by Michael
January 9, 2026 at 11:39 AM
Reposted by Michael
Reposted by Michael
Every country needs to be following Finland's lead here. Media literary skills are going to be crucially important in the age of AI, where knowing what's real and what's not is going to be increasingly difficult
apnews.com/article/fake...
apnews.com/article/fake...
Finnish children learn media literacy at 3 years old. It's protection against Russian propaganda
Finland has been fighting fake news by teaching media literacy to children as young as 3. The Nordic nation includes this in its national curriculum to help citizens recognize disinformation, especial...
apnews.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:50 AM
Every country needs to be following Finland's lead here. Media literary skills are going to be crucially important in the age of AI, where knowing what's real and what's not is going to be increasingly difficult
apnews.com/article/fake...
apnews.com/article/fake...
Reposted by Michael
(living an unexamined life) yaaaaaay haha yay wheeeeee
December 4, 2025 at 1:44 AM
(living an unexamined life) yaaaaaay haha yay wheeeeee
Reposted by Michael
General reminder that if you mute the current US president's surname on here, you will miss absolutely zero important news. Even right now. But your timeline will do way less stacking damage to your mental health.
January 3, 2026 at 10:06 AM
General reminder that if you mute the current US president's surname on here, you will miss absolutely zero important news. Even right now. But your timeline will do way less stacking damage to your mental health.
Reposted by Michael
Unbelievably bleak to see journalists quoting an LLM bot's output as if it's an agent capable of making statements that mean something.
January 2, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Unbelievably bleak to see journalists quoting an LLM bot's output as if it's an agent capable of making statements that mean something.