Ian Hopkinson
@ianhopkinson.bsky.social
Scientist. Pythonista. Terrible guitar player. ooo...looker extraordinaire. Mr @Happymouffetard. Senior Data Scientist. @libdems since 1988 [he/his] https://www.ianhopkinson.org.uk
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
People arriving here by small boat are desperate, often traumatised. Latest figures are 68% of boat arrivals granted asylum (see link)
The idea of the govt stripping people of their valuables & then hawking it off literally makes me sick to my stomach
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...
The idea of the govt stripping people of their valuables & then hawking it off literally makes me sick to my stomach
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...
Confiscating jewellery from survivors of a war zone makes you look like a fucking Nazi. And the obscene thing is, that is the intention. It's there to look appropriately harsh. Indecent. Filthy. A moral stain. And no-one of good character would have ever proposed such a thing in the first place.
November 17, 2025 at 11:46 AM
People arriving here by small boat are desperate, often traumatised. Latest figures are 68% of boat arrivals granted asylum (see link)
The idea of the govt stripping people of their valuables & then hawking it off literally makes me sick to my stomach
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...
The idea of the govt stripping people of their valuables & then hawking it off literally makes me sick to my stomach
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/br...
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Indeed, and it’s not like this is the first example of performance art cruelty, is it. Let’s look up the Wiki page for Home Secretaries of the 2000s, for example. Does this tell us anything about this mode of politics?
November 17, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Indeed, and it’s not like this is the first example of performance art cruelty, is it. Let’s look up the Wiki page for Home Secretaries of the 2000s, for example. Does this tell us anything about this mode of politics?
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Shabana Mahmood on the BBC this morning talking about desperate people fleeing war and persecution as being given a "golden ticket" and "handouts" and saying she's got a "moral mission" to take them away from them
Indistinguishable from the rhetoric of Reform www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/shabana-ma...
Indistinguishable from the rhetoric of Reform www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/shabana-ma...
Shabana Mahmood and the Politics of Extortion
Labour's strategy of telling its supporters to back Reform-style policies, or get a Reform Government, is the politics of the protection racket and it is not going to work
www.adambienkov.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Shabana Mahmood on the BBC this morning talking about desperate people fleeing war and persecution as being given a "golden ticket" and "handouts" and saying she's got a "moral mission" to take them away from them
Indistinguishable from the rhetoric of Reform www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/shabana-ma...
Indistinguishable from the rhetoric of Reform www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/shabana-ma...
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
They must be proud with this endorsement, they worked hard for it.
November 15, 2025 at 11:11 PM
They must be proud with this endorsement, they worked hard for it.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
It can't be emphasised enough that the Government's current approach:
- Increase ILR to 10 years,
- Increase Asylum ILR to 20 years,
- Removal "immediately" if your home country becomes "safe,"
- Loss of permanent refugee status,
Is exactly the sort of thing they dismissed as radical extremism.
- Increase ILR to 10 years,
- Increase Asylum ILR to 20 years,
- Removal "immediately" if your home country becomes "safe,"
- Loss of permanent refugee status,
Is exactly the sort of thing they dismissed as radical extremism.
Yvette Cooper was defined by inertia and just blew in the wind. Shabana Mahmood gets things done. And what she wants to get done is absolutely crackers.
November 15, 2025 at 10:36 PM
It can't be emphasised enough that the Government's current approach:
- Increase ILR to 10 years,
- Increase Asylum ILR to 20 years,
- Removal "immediately" if your home country becomes "safe,"
- Loss of permanent refugee status,
Is exactly the sort of thing they dismissed as radical extremism.
- Increase ILR to 10 years,
- Increase Asylum ILR to 20 years,
- Removal "immediately" if your home country becomes "safe,"
- Loss of permanent refugee status,
Is exactly the sort of thing they dismissed as radical extremism.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
November 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
if your moderation team bans someone for a harmless unactionable exclamation of disgust, but permits a govt account to say stuff like this,
you need a new moderation team.
you need a new moderation team.
![Dept. of War [sic]'s bluesky account says "To all narco-terrorists who threaten our homeland: If you keep trafficking deadly drugs–we will kill you."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:a4n6zqm2ufqrdbyszo5gvgyq/bafkreifpxnl7xocstyj3ztg3enbd5osgyaxznmbkkkysjjuykxbplp5gl4@jpeg)
November 14, 2025 at 3:56 PM
if your moderation team bans someone for a harmless unactionable exclamation of disgust, but permits a govt account to say stuff like this,
you need a new moderation team.
you need a new moderation team.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
I just want one— ONE— decently-run short-form social media framework in this heaven-forsaken benighted hellscape of an internet age; why is that so much to ask??? bsky.app/profile/mommunism.bsky.social/post/3m5hmytc2xs2f
Well I can see Bluesky is handling a PR crisis in their normal competent manner
November 13, 2025 at 5:05 AM
I just want one— ONE— decently-run short-form social media framework in this heaven-forsaken benighted hellscape of an internet age; why is that so much to ask??? bsky.app/profile/mommunism.bsky.social/post/3m5hmytc2xs2f
In my day, "viral" was a bad thing... I'm only 55
Today in “Influencer has a hugely inflated sense of their importance to the world”, an influencer with a hugely inflated sense of their importance to the world.
Influencer kicked out of Borough Market while reviewing an apple crumble
The team behind Bite Twice were booted out while unfavourably reviewing a viral pudding
www.standard.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 11:19 AM
In my day, "viral" was a bad thing... I'm only 55
Idiocy on stilts, and incompatible with ideas for more inclusive schools for children with SEND www.theguardian.com/education/20...
All schools in England to be given AI-generated pupil attendance targets
Unions decry move, saying it will put more pressure on headteachers without tackling absence from classrooms
www.theguardian.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Idiocy on stilts, and incompatible with ideas for more inclusive schools for children with SEND www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
ZZ Top – La Grange (Asian Folk Metal Cover) | NiNi Music
YouTube video by Nini Music
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
“So it was, on that misty morning, that Brenda set off for the capital. She knew not what she would find there, only that the time had come to move on - away from small-minded rural attitudes and people who called her ‘Oreo’ and ‘the wide panda’ - to seek a more fulfilling life.”
November 11, 2025 at 9:36 AM
“So it was, on that misty morning, that Brenda set off for the capital. She knew not what she would find there, only that the time had come to move on - away from small-minded rural attitudes and people who called her ‘Oreo’ and ‘the wide panda’ - to seek a more fulfilling life.”
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
I mean, what kind of legal action would this be exactly? Defamation? I would truly love to see it. 'They made it look like I instigated a coup during my very well recorded coup attempt.'
The US president has sent a letter to the corporation threatening legal action.
Donald Trump Preparing To Sue BBC Over Panorama Speech Row
The US president has sent a letter to the corporation threatening legal action.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
I mean, what kind of legal action would this be exactly? Defamation? I would truly love to see it. 'They made it look like I instigated a coup during my very well recorded coup attempt.'
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
I fear that if Johnson were asked this today, there would be lot of umming & erring, some guff about "the custard of conciliation" & "the tiramisu of time", but he would refuse to answer.
That a US President tried to overthrow an election is now unsayable on the British Right & in much of the media
That a US President tried to overthrow an election is now unsayable on the British Right & in much of the media
In 2020, Boris Johnson said that Trump "encouraged people to storm the Capitol ... I believe that that was completely wrong. ... I unreservedly condemn encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way that they did in the Capitol".
Does he still think that?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgCi...
Does he still think that?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgCi...
Boris Johnson condemns Trump after Capitol attack: 'Completely wrong'
YouTube video by Guardian News
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:45 AM
I fear that if Johnson were asked this today, there would be lot of umming & erring, some guff about "the custard of conciliation" & "the tiramisu of time", but he would refuse to answer.
That a US President tried to overthrow an election is now unsayable on the British Right & in much of the media
That a US President tried to overthrow an election is now unsayable on the British Right & in much of the media
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Lloyd Didcot, 32, took the unusual step to not carefully prepare a mental script for his coffee order last Friday and, subsequently, experienced the actual, literal torture of eternal damnation for about five minutes in his local Costa.
Autistic man neglects to plan conversation in advance, experiences literal Christian hell
An autistic man who routinely plans his conversations well in advance decided to ditch the habit of a lifetime “to see what it was like”, landing him in a Biblical underworld of Christian hell,…
thedailytism.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Lloyd Didcot, 32, took the unusual step to not carefully prepare a mental script for his coffee order last Friday and, subsequently, experienced the actual, literal torture of eternal damnation for about five minutes in his local Costa.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
National Trust council elections saw a defeat for the Restore Trust campaign.
35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee
12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate
Non-slate candidated
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee
12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate
Non-slate candidated
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
Voting results from the AGM
Read about the National Trust's 2025 Annual General Meeting and the results from the day.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
November 8, 2025 at 11:50 PM
National Trust council elections saw a defeat for the Restore Trust campaign.
35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee
12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate
Non-slate candidated
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee
12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate
Non-slate candidated
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
#SundayPixMirror a tree reflected in a canal in Chester
November 9, 2025 at 9:56 AM
#SundayPixMirror a tree reflected in a canal in Chester
As someone who used to work as research chemist I find the profligate sale of fireworks at this time of year somewhat terrifying.
I had to fill in forms for stuff that didn't even explode...
I had to fill in forms for stuff that didn't even explode...
November 8, 2025 at 7:21 PM
As someone who used to work as research chemist I find the profligate sale of fireworks at this time of year somewhat terrifying.
I had to fill in forms for stuff that didn't even explode...
I had to fill in forms for stuff that didn't even explode...
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Wow. I hadn't heard.
The obituaries will be interesting. And I guess we can also expect some biographies in the next few years. Perhaps @matthewcobb.bsky.social could do Jim as well as Francis?
The obituaries will be interesting. And I guess we can also expect some biographies in the next few years. Perhaps @matthewcobb.bsky.social could do Jim as well as Francis?
James D. Watson died on Thursday in East Northport, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 97.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
James Watson, Who Helped Discover the Structure of DNA, Is Dead at 97
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Wow. I hadn't heard.
The obituaries will be interesting. And I guess we can also expect some biographies in the next few years. Perhaps @matthewcobb.bsky.social could do Jim as well as Francis?
The obituaries will be interesting. And I guess we can also expect some biographies in the next few years. Perhaps @matthewcobb.bsky.social could do Jim as well as Francis?
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
There are no words for how evil this is
November 7, 2025 at 1:36 AM
There are no words for how evil this is
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
It's because racism has now been normalised, lobbied for at the highest levels. The Free Speech Union, set up by Lord, yes, LORD Toby Young is more about pushing for people to be free from the consequences of speaking derogatory to minorites, than it does with what it claims. This is where we are.
For anyone still tempted to take Dominic Cummings at all seriously, he's now an advocate of Donald Trump-style open racism.
November 7, 2025 at 8:31 AM
It's because racism has now been normalised, lobbied for at the highest levels. The Free Speech Union, set up by Lord, yes, LORD Toby Young is more about pushing for people to be free from the consequences of speaking derogatory to minorites, than it does with what it claims. This is where we are.
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Don’t forget to watch this much needed and long overdue series on the British Empire. Remarkably, it’s not based on the opinions of a travelling ‘personality’, but on what historians who’ve actually researched it say!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Two - Empire with David Olusoga, Series 1, Episode 1
David Olusoga tells the story of the beginnings of the British Empire under Elizabeth I.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Don’t forget to watch this much needed and long overdue series on the British Empire. Remarkably, it’s not based on the opinions of a travelling ‘personality’, but on what historians who’ve actually researched it say!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Ian Hopkinson
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching