Edward
@fornbirkibeinn.bsky.social
Nobody very important. Ferrets, greyhounds, poorly thought-through opinions. Englishman living in rural Northern Ireland. he/him
Reposted by Edward
This is literally the first YouGov survey I've ever seen where men were more likely than women to say "Don't know". A breakthrough for feminism.
A study has reportedly found no link between paracetamol use in pregnancy and childhood autism/ADHD - contradicting claims made by Trump in Sept
A YouGov study found 9% of Britons think paracetamol unsafe for pregnant women, but few directly referenced Trump or autism when asked why they think so
A YouGov study found 9% of Britons think paracetamol unsafe for pregnant women, but few directly referenced Trump or autism when asked why they think so
November 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
This is literally the first YouGov survey I've ever seen where men were more likely than women to say "Don't know". A breakthrough for feminism.
Reposted by Edward
Ah, the joy of "It's true white working class young men are more likely to support Reform than other young men, but even then Reform's support there is basically average, with a strong age curve. The more significant trend is Greens among young women." being edited to "young men […] support Reform".
November 10, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Ah, the joy of "It's true white working class young men are more likely to support Reform than other young men, but even then Reform's support there is basically average, with a strong age curve. The more significant trend is Greens among young women." being edited to "young men […] support Reform".
Reposted by Edward
Objectivity, impartiality and balance are all *different things*, and the lazy tendency to treat them as synonyms, and to use partisan balance alone as a proxy for the others, is the root cause of a vast amount of nonsense.
Robbie Gibb once suggested that reporters should reflect if they were getting more retweets from one side than the other - a braindead analysis that ignores that fair and impartial reporting of education might get more Tory retweets than say, criminal justice.
Stephen really does have the best take on this. It’s not clear that the BBC Board or indeed the rest of the News team really understood the message of the previous reviews, which were about getting detail right. Instead they wanted to know what was ‘biased’ or not like they were blotting out stains.
November 10, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Objectivity, impartiality and balance are all *different things*, and the lazy tendency to treat them as synonyms, and to use partisan balance alone as a proxy for the others, is the root cause of a vast amount of nonsense.
Reposted by Edward
Robbie Gibb once suggested that reporters should reflect if they were getting more retweets from one side than the other - a braindead analysis that ignores that fair and impartial reporting of education might get more Tory retweets than say, criminal justice.
Stephen really does have the best take on this. It’s not clear that the BBC Board or indeed the rest of the News team really understood the message of the previous reviews, which were about getting detail right. Instead they wanted to know what was ‘biased’ or not like they were blotting out stains.
The impossible dream some people on the British right are chasing is that you can have a BBC News operation that retreats from detail and expertise, that takes dictation from the government, but this will only create incompetence and failure when it suits you:
November 10, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Robbie Gibb once suggested that reporters should reflect if they were getting more retweets from one side than the other - a braindead analysis that ignores that fair and impartial reporting of education might get more Tory retweets than say, criminal justice.
Reposted by Edward
Just occurred that the BBC is the most literal example of Conquest's third law in that it is actually run by a cabal of its enemies.
November 10, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Just occurred that the BBC is the most literal example of Conquest's third law in that it is actually run by a cabal of its enemies.
Reposted by Edward
Why does the House, the larger of the two legislative bodies, not simply eat the Senate
November 9, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Why does the House, the larger of the two legislative bodies, not simply eat the Senate
Reposted by Edward
12 Angry Men. Legal drama, played completely straight except half of them are rubber suit aliens speaking gibberish. This is never commented upon and the humans respond to them as if they had delivered a perfectly comprehensible English sentence.
ironically what makes star wars stuff best is when it is 'something else, but also star wars'
e.g. Andor, a British political thriller but also Star Wars
the Mandalorian, an episode-of-the-week Western but also Star Wars (when it was good)
e.g. Andor, a British political thriller but also Star Wars
the Mandalorian, an episode-of-the-week Western but also Star Wars (when it was good)
November 9, 2025 at 1:18 AM
12 Angry Men. Legal drama, played completely straight except half of them are rubber suit aliens speaking gibberish. This is never commented upon and the humans respond to them as if they had delivered a perfectly comprehensible English sentence.
Reposted by Edward
The Forstater case broke something fundamentally in our democracy and nobody cared because it was happening to those fucking trannies at the time.
This is how transphobia's right wing fuckery blew open basic respect in the UK, there is absolutely no reason to expect now that being "women critical" is not also a protected belief, if you truly do not believe that women should just be reproductive slaves for cis men.
This will be used to abuse.
This will be used to abuse.
November 9, 2025 at 11:26 AM
The Forstater case broke something fundamentally in our democracy and nobody cared because it was happening to those fucking trannies at the time.
Reposted by Edward
look I'm trying to avoid a Prevent referral, I'd rather all the warnings went "missed"
November 9, 2025 at 9:28 AM
look I'm trying to avoid a Prevent referral, I'd rather all the warnings went "missed"
Notable how many Americans define things as Protestantism that Luther and Calvin would have been competing to defenestrate people for.
November 9, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Notable how many Americans define things as Protestantism that Luther and Calvin would have been competing to defenestrate people for.
Reposted by Edward
Reposted by Edward
PRC: if Sun Yat-Sen were alive today he would support the mainland
ROC: no! If Sun Yat-Sen were alive today he would support the Taiwanese government
Sun Yat-Sen if he was alive today: I’m required by law to inform you that I am a sex offender
ROC: no! If Sun Yat-Sen were alive today he would support the Taiwanese government
Sun Yat-Sen if he was alive today: I’m required by law to inform you that I am a sex offender
November 8, 2025 at 7:05 PM
PRC: if Sun Yat-Sen were alive today he would support the mainland
ROC: no! If Sun Yat-Sen were alive today he would support the Taiwanese government
Sun Yat-Sen if he was alive today: I’m required by law to inform you that I am a sex offender
ROC: no! If Sun Yat-Sen were alive today he would support the Taiwanese government
Sun Yat-Sen if he was alive today: I’m required by law to inform you that I am a sex offender
Things I learned today: County Roscommon contains nine baronies, one of which is also called Roscommon. Naturally, this does not include the town of Roscommon, which is in Ballintober South. The town of Ballintober, meanwhile, is in neither Ballintober South nor North.
November 8, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Things I learned today: County Roscommon contains nine baronies, one of which is also called Roscommon. Naturally, this does not include the town of Roscommon, which is in Ballintober South. The town of Ballintober, meanwhile, is in neither Ballintober South nor North.
Reposted by Edward
A government that did a wealth tax that literally brought people to the streets to protest against it, but is, somehow, having its lunch eaten by people calling for wealth taxes!
Terrific column by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social- this is essentially a Milibandite government, but one that is so in denial about it that it can’t even appeal properly to the coalition *for Milibandism*:
The inescapable logic of Labour’s choices
Starmer and Reeves should lean in to what the Budget reveals about this tax-and-spend government
www.ft.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:23 AM
A government that did a wealth tax that literally brought people to the streets to protest against it, but is, somehow, having its lunch eaten by people calling for wealth taxes!
Reposted by Edward
Wait no let them cook
November 8, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Wait no let them cook
Reposted by Edward
It really does come back to Labour not understanding how lucky they are to not share most other social democratic parties' age curve.
November 8, 2025 at 12:45 PM
It really does come back to Labour not understanding how lucky they are to not share most other social democratic parties' age curve.
Reposted by Edward
“Message discipline” is liable to lapse into “thought indiscipline”
“Nobody thought a Labour government would have to raise taxes by more than £70bn,” claims one insider in this excellent piece. Shows the problem of the climate of fear in meetings created by some of Starmer’s aides, in that plenty of Labour insiders, did, in fact, think this!
The politics of breaking manifesto promises
The history of politicians who go back on their words has lessons for Rachel Reeves as she mulls raising taxes
www.ft.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:43 AM
“Message discipline” is liable to lapse into “thought indiscipline”
An astounding political success (for Pia Olsen Dyhr.)
Drives me mad that people talk about Danish immigration policy as a *political* success without bothering to look at the polls.
Aside from the crucial voting system difference, the Social Democrats over this period have haemorrhaged votes to progressive parties and are currently on course for their worst result in 110yrs, while the Green Left are set for their best ever.
The Danish People's Party are currently gaining.
The Danish People's Party are currently gaining.
November 8, 2025 at 11:35 AM
An astounding political success (for Pia Olsen Dyhr.)
Reposted by Edward
Drives me mad that people talk about Danish immigration policy as a *political* success without bothering to look at the polls.
Aside from the crucial voting system difference, the Social Democrats over this period have haemorrhaged votes to progressive parties and are currently on course for their worst result in 110yrs, while the Green Left are set for their best ever.
The Danish People's Party are currently gaining.
The Danish People's Party are currently gaining.
what are the odds that the people in Downing Street briefing this out would also break out in hives at the mere mention of proportional representation?
November 8, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Drives me mad that people talk about Danish immigration policy as a *political* success without bothering to look at the polls.
I've noticed that more and more of the chocolate I buy is fairtrade, presumably because the retail price is high enough there's not much disadvantage to doing so.
Yet it's harder and harder to find fairtrade coffee, where the price has similarly rocketed. Any explanations as to why?
Yet it's harder and harder to find fairtrade coffee, where the price has similarly rocketed. Any explanations as to why?
November 8, 2025 at 10:03 AM
I've noticed that more and more of the chocolate I buy is fairtrade, presumably because the retail price is high enough there's not much disadvantage to doing so.
Yet it's harder and harder to find fairtrade coffee, where the price has similarly rocketed. Any explanations as to why?
Yet it's harder and harder to find fairtrade coffee, where the price has similarly rocketed. Any explanations as to why?
This is really worth reading.
"Put it in the curriculum" assumes that adults have learned everything they will ever need to know and that the state can play no role in informing them. When you put it like that, it becomes clear what abject bullshit the assumption is.
"Put it in the curriculum" assumes that adults have learned everything they will ever need to know and that the state can play no role in informing them. When you put it like that, it becomes clear what abject bullshit the assumption is.
For political hacks like myself, 'put it in the curriculum' is the oldest and hattiest of old hat policy ideas.
Why do we think schools should solve all our problems? What if we thought differently about life skills and civic education?
howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/schools-ca...
Why do we think schools should solve all our problems? What if we thought differently about life skills and civic education?
howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/schools-ca...
Schools cannot solve all our problems
The limits of ‘put it in the curriculum’ politics
howtorunacountry.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:59 AM
This is really worth reading.
"Put it in the curriculum" assumes that adults have learned everything they will ever need to know and that the state can play no role in informing them. When you put it like that, it becomes clear what abject bullshit the assumption is.
"Put it in the curriculum" assumes that adults have learned everything they will ever need to know and that the state can play no role in informing them. When you put it like that, it becomes clear what abject bullshit the assumption is.
@beernouveau.co.uk I'm the one you had the conversation about bar snacks with at the Belfast Beer festival
November 7, 2025 at 9:51 PM
@beernouveau.co.uk I'm the one you had the conversation about bar snacks with at the Belfast Beer festival
Reposted by Edward
"I showed unzoomed to my cousin. He was immediately hooked and played all the way back to 200 games ago in one weekend. Isn't it fun how a family can enjoy the same pasttimes?"
November 7, 2025 at 7:08 PM
"I showed unzoomed to my cousin. He was immediately hooked and played all the way back to 200 games ago in one weekend. Isn't it fun how a family can enjoy the same pasttimes?"
Reposted by Edward
cone of shame vs cone of delight
November 7, 2025 at 10:52 AM
cone of shame vs cone of delight
Taking the day off work for the purposes of beer. When we arrived, one of the breweries immediately recognised us as the people who plied them with homemade pork scratchings at the Portrush Beer Festival and gave us free samples in return for another hit.
November 7, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Taking the day off work for the purposes of beer. When we arrived, one of the breweries immediately recognised us as the people who plied them with homemade pork scratchings at the Portrush Beer Festival and gave us free samples in return for another hit.