Alastair Millar
LightNews LightNews
banner
skriptorium.info
Alastair Millar
@skriptorium.info
5K followers 3.7K following 2.4K posts
Translator & flash sf writer (BSFA); 🇨🇿/🇬🇧
Posts eclectically (current affairs, archaeology, words, writing)
❤️ travel, coffee, puns; 🚫 genAI; unsolicited DM = block
Happily married; he/him; 🏳️‍🌈/🏳️‍⚧️ ally; #NAFO fella; 🇺🇦 🇬🇪 🇬🇱
Links: https://linktr.ee/alastairmillar
Posts Replies Media Videos
skriptorium.info
The embrace of Nazism by the US regime continues apace. This was posted by the US Dept. of Labor today.
Ein Reich, Ein Volk...
Screenshot of US Department of Labor post on X, which consists of the text: "One Homeland, One People, One Heritage. Remember who you are, American".
January 12, 2026 at 6:19 AM
skriptorium.info
This is a periodic reaffirmation that I do not, and will not, use genAI in the conceptualisation, drafting, writing or editing of my stories and books, and will never use or commission genAI "art" for covers or illustrations.

"AI author" is an oxymoron. Avoid prompt jockeys and sloperators.
Square purple logo with rounded corners, bearing just the white text "NO GEN AI"
January 7, 2026 at 5:56 AM
skriptorium.info
A man in a suit seated at a desk, leaning back and laughing uproariously.
January 4, 2026 at 9:03 PM
skriptorium.info
My micro ‘Tones’ was published today in the Vine Leaves Press ’50 Give or Take’ series. May it be an antidote to trying times.
Screenshot of my micro 'Tones', story no. 1884 in the '50 Give or Take' series from Vine Leaves Press. Full text: " Tones Diving in deep water, I fancy myself alone until I hear it: whalesong, surrounding and buoying me as I peer through the blue, trying unsuccessfully to find its source. Eventually, the strange harmony of moans and chirps fades, leaving behind a memory of the ineffable, the untouchable and the infinite. "
January 3, 2026 at 2:59 PM
skriptorium.info
Hmmmmm....
Wolfish
January 2, 2026 at 7:46 PM
skriptorium.info
I made this back in 2015, and it has only become more relevant since then.
A red tinted face emerges from a black background as if from water. Above, the quotation: "It seems that in the advanced stages of stupidity, a lack of ideas is compensated for by an excess of ideologies". Below, the attrribution: Carlos Ruiz Zafon, 'The Angel's Game'.
December 27, 2025 at 6:22 AM
skriptorium.info
Wow... passed the 5K follower mark for the first time today!

Whether you're here for the archaeology/history, the words & writing, the translation talk, the genAI & Musk dislike, the current affairs commentary, or anything else - thank you!

Stick around, there's more to come 😉
The text '5K FOLLOWERS THANK YOU' surrounded by confetti and party ribbons. The 5K is in gold.
December 20, 2025 at 2:03 PM
skriptorium.info
Governments come and go, and their policies and priorities may shift - but NAFO will always stand with Ukraine and Ukrainians, and against Russian aggression. So if you see a fella, follow a fella!

nafo-ofan.org
weaponstoukraine.com/en
#nafo
Art in the style of a medieval illustration, showing an enthroned shibu king blessing a collared shibu before him. He says: "See a fella, follow a fella"
December 14, 2025 at 3:38 PM
skriptorium.info
"The advent of artificial intelligence is accompanied by rapid and profound changes in society, which affects essential dimensions of the human person, such as critical thinking, discernment, learning and interpersonal relationships..."

- Pope Leo XIV

www.vatican.va/content/leo-...
Picture of Morgan Freeman with one finger raised, and the caption "He's right you know"
December 6, 2025 at 1:11 PM
skriptorium.info
Donald Tusk nailed it this morning.
Twitter post by Donald Tusk, stamped Nov. 29th 2025 at 11.35am (CET). Text reads: "I wish to remind our allies that NATO was created to defend the West against the Soviet aggression, that is against Russia. And its foundation was solidarity, not egoistic interests. I hope that nothing has changed."
November 29, 2025 at 1:41 PM
skriptorium.info
Original post from this morning here:
Threads post by kimberleydraperphotography reading: "Baccio Pontelli commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel. Which of the two was the artist? (Okay, I know Pontelli was the architect, so technically he was AN artist, but that's not what I'm asking) There is no such thing as an AI Artist. You are little more than the person commissioning the work. Being more specific in what you’re asking for doesn’t make you an artist"
November 28, 2025 at 8:48 AM
skriptorium.info
Haha, nice try - but if I see that you only joined Bluesky 4 days ago, are already following 10K other people, and have a profile pic that is an attractive young woman while your bio says that you are a working dad of 2, you'll have to forgive me for being skeptical...
A rectangular red stamp saying "FAKE", at a 45 degree angle.
November 25, 2025 at 3:15 PM
skriptorium.info
If you want evidence of how downright childish and immature the US government can be, the Homeland Security account on X just made a derogatory post starting "womp womp, cry all you want" and calling US citizens "imbecilic morons". Really.
Screenshot of a post from the DHSgov account on X, which above a TV news image showing a protest reads: " Womp womp, cry all you want. These criminal illegal aliens aren’t getting released. Like clockwork, violent rioters have arrived at the Broadview ICE facility to demand the release of some of the worst human beings on planet earth. Get a job you imbecilic morons. "
November 15, 2025 at 9:17 AM
skriptorium.info
Hey @waterstones.bsky.social - is it company-wide policy to consider Ukraine part of Russia, or are your Glasgow staff just incapable of understanding why there's a war in Europe right now?

Screenshot from Threads.
Screenshot from Threads, where a user reports being in Waterstones Glasgow bookshop, and seeing books about Ukraine in the 'Russia' section.
November 10, 2025 at 5:17 AM
skriptorium.info
Cartoon character Johnny Bravo being kissed by two clowns.
October 30, 2025 at 6:13 PM
skriptorium.info
Look, AI has its place, e.g. analytical AI is invaluable in medical research, and assistive AI spellcheckers are universal.

But generative AI is a theft-based imitation service that denies human creativity, steals livelihoods, and discourages thinking. I do not, and will not, use or support it.
Icon from https://no-ai-icon.com In a circular frame, an outline human head containing a brain. Around the periphery, the text "100% human created content".
October 30, 2025 at 5:04 AM
skriptorium.info
As Ukraine signs an order for 100-150 Gripen fighters, we have this excellent post from the Swedish Embassy in Kyiv.

NAFO expansion is not negotiable!
Screenshot from the X account of the Swedish Embassy in Kiev, showing a Gripen jet fighter with the Ukrainian tryzub on the wings; emerging from the cockpit is a shiba inu, icon of the NAFO resistance to Russia.
October 23, 2025 at 3:24 AM
skriptorium.info
He's right, you know.
Screenshot of post on X from the account of Pope Leo XIV, dated Oct 16th 2025, reading: ""In our age, science has extended life expectancy, technology has brought continents closer, and knowledge has opened horizons once thought unimaginable. Therefore, allowing millions of human beings to live—and die—stricken by hunger is a collective failure, an ethical lapse, and an historical culpability.""
October 17, 2025 at 4:58 AM
skriptorium.info
Work smarter, not harder 😉
Meme of the 1850 painting 'The Lazy Fisherman' by William Tylee Ranney, showing a young man and his dog asleep on a riverbank while a fishing line drags in the water unattended. The sky area is overlaid with the text: "Procrastination: working tomorrow for a better today".
October 10, 2025 at 3:52 AM
skriptorium.info
As requested.
Label in red and white saying "This food contains gluten"
October 9, 2025 at 2:41 PM
skriptorium.info
And that's my democratic duty fulfilled 🇨🇿
Black stamping saying "I VOTED"
October 3, 2025 at 1:21 PM
skriptorium.info
Lots of fuss being kicked up about AI 'actress' "Tilly Norwood", and quite right too. It's not real, can't act, is designed on the basis of stolen movements and gestures, and is designed to put people out of work.

You can put lipstick on a clanker, but a clanker it remains.
Publicity image of the AI 'actress' known as "Tilly Norwood", supposedly on the red carpet at an event somewhere. The text reads: "You can put lipstick on a clanker... but a clanker it remains!"
October 2, 2025 at 1:47 PM
skriptorium.info
It's International Translation Day, also known as the feast of St Jerome, patron saint of translators!

#internationaltranslationday #xl8 #translatorslife
Portrait of "St Jerome in his Study" (1480) by Domenico Ghirlandaio, showing the saint with his head resting on his left knuckles, elbow on his desk. Overprinted with the text "Be a translator, they said. It'll be fun, the said."
September 30, 2025 at 1:03 PM
skriptorium.info
Your guide to the main players in the imminent Czech elections.

Explainer:
SPOLU: governing centre right Civic Democrats & allies.
Starostové: 'Mayors & Independents'
ANO: party of oligarch Andrej Babiš
Stačilo: rebranded Communists & Social Democrats.
SPD: far-right party

ANO leads in the polls
Czech Election flowchart from website Nezvaný host: Is Russia Evil? YES: Spolu, Pirate Party, Starostové DEPENDS HOW MUCH MONEY I CAN MAKE FROM THE STATE: ANO NO: Stačilo!, SPD
September 30, 2025 at 10:16 AM
skriptorium.info
You know what really disturbs me about this meme?
The picture on the left (Holly Fisher) dates to 2014 - over a decade ago.
The picture on the right (Reem Slaleh Raiyshi) dates to 2003/4 - over two decades ago.
And we still see the same fanaticism now.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
A side by side comparison of two photographs: On the left, American Holly Fisher, dressed in a sleeveless top, stands in front of an American flag, holding a semi-automatic rifle in one hand and a Bible in the other. On the right, Gazan Reem Saleh Riyash, stands in front of Palestinian inscriptional flags, holding a semi-automatic rifle in one hand a Quran in the other. Across the top of the image in large letters the legend "EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE"
September 28, 2025 at 9:42 AM