Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 4h

Think the first mistake was leaving Bebo

Ryan Boyd @ryanboyd.bsky.social · 3d

Leave Twitter for Bluesky. Leave Bluesky for Mastodon. Leave Mastodon for Klerb. Leave Klerb for Chunk. Leave Chunk for Goobus. Leave Goobus f

1

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 5h

Only thing I can think of reading that first line.

The turbo granny from dandadan before pinching someone's ball

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 6h

Turns out our glory days were only glorious because most of the country had imbibed slightly less then two drinks.

Reposted by 🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇

Chris Terry-Enescu @cjterry.bsky.social · 9h

Given that the productivity crisis has unfolded as Britain has drunk less maybe the solution is to get pissed at work more

6 8 62

Reposted by 🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇

Gretchen Felker-Martin 🍉 @scumbelievable.bsky.social · 21h

I don't like him personally, but David Simon on AI is the final word on the subject.

49 940 3.4K

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 6h

Pretty sure you'd show this chart to some voters and they'd wonder why 0-19 year olds are so undertaxed.

Peter Allen @peterallen.bsky.social · 7h

Print and send this chart (from your newsletter on Tuesday) to every household in the country.

A graph from the FT showing government spending by age cohort. Over-70s have more spent on them than any other age cohort.

1

Reposted by 🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇

Kav @shilpa.bsky.social · 8h

in absolute tears at this. i’ve never seen keir starmer so happy and genuine before. while being forced to watch ddlj, a bollywood film from 1996

1 7 30

Reposted by 🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇

Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 10h

Coverage of Badenoch's speech was one of the worst examples ever of Westminster Brain and Lobbythink. A litany of nonsense applauded by a policy elite that can't even think three moves ahead. (1/3)

11 50 140

Reposted by 🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇

Quiet Riot @quietriotpod.bsky.social · 12h

🆕 Anti-Woke Wake: It the Tory Party dead or just resting? ☠️

💥 Tory Conference debrief
💥 France latest political soap
💥 A deal on Gaza - but antisemitism on the rise

An amazing episode with special guest @samfr.bsky.social.

🍊 open.spotify.com/episode/5JQF...

🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...

Anti-Woke Wake: Is the Tory Party dead or just resting?

Podcast Episode · Quiet Riot · 09/10/2025 · 1h 13m

podcasts.apple.com

7 17 56

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 19h

The other more finessed option is to mark anyone who drops the economics part and immediately bar them from any form of public office.

1

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 20h

Gloucestershire.
A word and a place designed to show the absurdities of both the English language and people.

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 22h

What’s the word where you’re from that, when pronounced exactly as it looks, identifies a tourist immediately?

1 2

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 20h

Out of curiosity do you have any of the data on what lead to the change regarding Paxlovid eligibility?
Feel like from 2023-2024 I was throwing it out like smarties and notice it's tightened back up to the 'at risk of severe covid criteria'

1

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 20h

Everyone in 48 hours

1

Reposted by 🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇

Steve Senior @stevensenior.bsky.social · 21h

Bit nerdy, but it's worth having a skim over the number needed to vaccinate figures here. E.g. to avoid one hospitalisation in otherwise healthy people JCVI estimated 60-100k would need to be vaccinated (based on Autumn 2024 data).

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Appendix A: estimating the number needed to vaccinate to prevent a COVID-19 hospitalisation in autumn 2024 in England

www.gov.uk

2 12 21

Reposted by 🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 21h

Adding this mini-thread by @stevensenior.bsky.social in response to mine. It does at least explain the rationale behind why the NHS are not vaccinating more widely. bsky.app/profile/stev...

Steve Senior @stevensenior.bsky.social · 21h

Bit nerdy, but it's worth having a skim over the number needed to vaccinate figures here. E.g. to avoid one hospitalisation in otherwise healthy people JCVI estimated 60-100k would need to be vaccinated (based on Autumn 2024 data).

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Appendix A: estimating the number needed to vaccinate to prevent a COVID-19 hospitalisation in autumn 2024 in England

www.gov.uk

1 4 19

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 23h

Pretty sure Al Pacino is talking about the Catholic Church here

1

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 23h

Yeah I can see it may have given red meat to the crowd.
But seems sheer madness for commentators to say it was a great speech with a surprise tax cut.
Considering the dire financial straights of the country just seems detached from reality.

1 2

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 1d

Considered listening to the News Agents summary of Kemi's speech and Tory conference but wish a subheading like this will probably skip

(How the hell could those ridiculous promises be rewarded by saying she may have saved her job?)

1 1 3

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 1d

Oh no, they've embraced homeopathy

1 1

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 1d

Sometimes takes a few goes to shake the crystals loose.
An alternative maneuver is the Brandt Daroff exercises which some people also find beneficial.

brandt-daroff habituation exercise

YouTube video by Michigan Medicine

youtu.be

3

Reposted by 🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇

Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 1d

Been to the youngest’s harvest assembly.
Theory: every primary school built pre about 1980 in Britain has some version of this equipment. It is referred to as something like ‘the apparatus’.
No one has any memory of it ever being used.

70 23 360

Reposted by 🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇

Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 1d

We have built a society in which people of different skin tones, religious backgrounds & cultures get along, share power, work alongside each other, procreate with each other, recognise the each other’s humanity and democratic rights. It is a STUNNING ACHIEVEMENT OF WORLD HISTORIC PROPORTIONS.

Omar Khan @omaromalleykhan.bsky.social · 1d

I know statistics are poorly understood and are misused. But facts matter

Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them

9 140 560

Reposted by 🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇

HappyToast @happytoast.co.uk · 1d

Me ban English? That's unpossible

Kemi Badenoch holding the chocolate bar that the Tories handed out saying "Britian loses" plus some spelling mistakes added to the podium slogans.

10 22 180

Reposted by 🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇

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

46 530 1.4K

🎃🦇 Batrick Read 🦇 @oldmandoc.bsky.social · 2d

Really strong statements from Sara Khan on PM calling out what Robert Jenrick has said and how he's using divisive language.
Glad she's on first because they've apparently got Tony Sewell on later even though his report wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

2