Caroline Woods
LightNews LightNews
al-woods.bsky.social
Caroline Woods
@al-woods.bsky.social
35 followers 86 following 47 posts
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Caroline Woods
robertsaunders.bsky.social
I understand the pressures on the BBC, but Radio 4's coverage of the Minneapolis shooting is an example of "bad balance".

It's all "the Trump regime says she was a terrorist, but Democrats say it was murder".

The BBC has the footage. It doesn't have to treat truth and falsehood as equally valid.
January 8, 2026 at 8:38 AM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
thedevil.bsky.social
November 15, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
peterstefanovic.bsky.social
This perfectly encapsulates why we need the BBC
November 13, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
speculativeinsight.bsky.social
Freyja Stokes goes deep into the historical connections between European witchcraft and sex work, and draws out how #Pratchett uses these in the person of Mrs Palm. It's got history AND sexy puns...

This one's very reasonably-priced - it's free!

Read it now: www.speculativeinsight.com
Purple background, white text, which says The real-world history and stories about "witches directly inform the portrayal of Discworld's witches. Discworld's sex work and sex workers are similarly informed by real-world history and narratives. More specifically, the ways in which Mrs Rosemary Palm is "almost a witch" can constructively frame some real-world conversations around marginalisation, power, and autonomy... "Almost a Witch," Freyja Stokes
November 2, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
thehistoryguy.bsky.social
Nationalism is a shibboleth. The challenges we face are daunting. But we are not going to overcome them by hunkering down behind of imaginary lines scrawled on a map by medieval warlords. Our problems are transnational, and the solutions are too.
October 24, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
terrypratchett.bsky.social
Are you a UK or Ireland-based designer looking to get started in the industry? Penguin UK has launched its cover design awards and this year, the focus is fantasy – and one of the two titles is Terry Pratchett's Night Watch. More details:
terrypratchett.com/news/calling...
Calling all designers! Create your own version of a classic Discworld cover... | Terry Pratchett
Penguin UK has launched its annual cover design award contest where all UK and Ireland-based designers can submit their own designs for two classic Penguin titles. This year’s focus is fantasy and the...
terrypratchett.com
October 23, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
rincewind.run
Discworld QOTD, from Snuff
Aristocrats don't notice philosophical conundra. They just ignore them. Philosophy includes contemplating the possibility that you might be wrong, sir, and a real aristocrat knows that he is always right. It's not vanity, you understand, it's built-in absolute certainty. They may sometimes be as mad as a hatful of spoons, but they are always definitely and certainly mad.
October 7, 2025 at 7:17 PM
al-woods.bsky.social
GNU Jane Goodall
rhi.bsky.social Rhianna Pratchett @rhi.bsky.social · Oct 1
GNU Jane Goodall.
October 2, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
manmademoon.bsky.social
A "great tree" in human history. Her passing is hard in such difficult times, but her existence opens the way for a 1000 others, all inspired and made possible by her having been.
We'll miss you, Dr.Goodall... but my goodness, you have spun so much good with your time on Earth!
drdind.bsky.social DrDinD.bsky.social @drdind.bsky.social · Oct 1
Of all the best and kindest humans to ever live, Jane Goodall is near the top of my list.

Rest in Peace, you beautiful soul.

On behalf of the earth, I thank you

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...
Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91
www.nytimes.com
October 1, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
rincewind.run
“Ah," said Mr Pin. "Right. I remember. You are concerned citizens." He knew about concerned citizens. Wherever they were, they all spoke the same private language, where 'traditional values' meant 'hang someone'.

- Terry Pratchett, The Truth
September 30, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
thehistoryguy.bsky.social
You are not a patriot if your associates sell out your country to Russia.
You are not a patriot if your associates brag about annexing Commonwealth territory.
You are not a patriot if you advocate for policies that impoverish & weaken your country.
September 28, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
robinince.bsky.social
I want my country back … from those who profit as public transport is run into the ground , those who get rewards for putting shit in the sea, those financiers and bankers who will destabilise a country for a quick buck, basically everyone Farage will stand up for if he wins an election
September 17, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
brianbilston.bsky.social
Here’s a poem called ‘English Roundabouts’.
English Roundabouts   They’re making the roundabouts great again by painting the flag of St George to keep our circular road systems safe from the dark, satanic hordes. What do they want? Patriotic junctions! When do they want them? Before it’s too late. Good old-fashioned English roundabouts, as decreed by Alfred the Great. Behold the sacred intersection, this blessed plot, this septic isle. English roundabouts for English people, draped in red and white and bile. St George is cross, as well he may be – whipped-up hate, he’s seen before. Give way to the right, the road signs rage, and the far right most of all. Brian Bilston
September 15, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
joncooper-us.bsky.social
"…and Magda Goebbels made a great strudel.”
September 13, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
mrchrisaddison.bsky.social
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, put them in this van.”
September 9, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
oliver48.bsky.social
While berating Angela Rayner
for tax avoidance
not only does Nigel Farage
do the very same
he is also paid £thousands
by a group called Nomad
advising millionaires worldwide
on how to avoid paying tax

#TaxTheRich
#CloseTaxLoopholes
#AbolishBillionaires
#BlameMillionairesNotMigrants
September 6, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
levostregc.bsky.social
Thei wante us talkinge on our phones to a demon thei created, and not goinge places and being wyth each othir yn art and joy and communitye. Thei want to sell us hell and have us pay for it.
August 30, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
autismsupsoc.bsky.social
Terry Pratchett wrote of Golems with no sex who chose to be identified as men … and Gladys … the Golem that identified as a woman … and was respected for *her* identity …

and wrote of the importance of words we *choose* for ourselves …

And making up our *own* mind on what that means.
And we start out with the best of intentions, thought Moist, find 'em out, dig 'em up, make 'em free. But we don't know what we're doing, or what we're doing it to. "Gladys, the thing about books... well, the thing...I mean just because it's written down, you don't have to...that is to say, it doesn't mean it's...what I'm getting at is that every book is--" He stopped. They believed in words. Words give them life. I can't tell her that we just throw them around like jugglers, we change their meaning to suit ourselves-- He patted Gladys on the shoulder. "Well, read them all and make up your own mind, eh?" Terry Pratchett, Making Money
August 19, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
amybrown.xyz
this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like
Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me? Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.
August 22, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
rincewind.run
there are people who claim that Terry Pratchett would have been a TERF if he was still alive

to them I say two things:

1. are you fucking serious

2. go fuck yourselves
August 19, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
thejournal.ie
The UK government has urged people to delete old pictures and emails as 'data centres require vast amounts of water to cool their systems'.
http://jrnl.ie/6788643
UK government advises people to delete old photos and emails as England faces water shortfall
The UK government has urged people to delete old pictures and emails as ‘data centres require cast amounts of water to cool their systems’.
jrnl.ie
August 12, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
georgetakei.bsky.social
Keep the two distinct in your head.
August 3, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
yeetkunedo.bsky.social
re: generative AI

I have finally fully and accurately explained my problem with how it’s marketed and used.

And now, you can use it, too.
Generative Al is being marketed as a tool designed to reduce or eliminate the need for developed, cognitive skillsets. It uses the work of others to simulate human output, except that it lacks grasp of nuance, contains grievous errors, and ultimately serves the goal of human beings being neurologically weaker due to the promise of the machine being better equipped than the humans using it would ever exert the effort to be. The people that use generative Al for art have no interest in being an artist; they simply want product to consume and forget about when the next piece of product goes by their eyes. The people that use generative Al to make music have no interest in being a musician; they simply want a machine to make them something to listen to until they get bored and want the machine to make some other disposable slop for them to pass the time with. The people that use generative Al to write things for them have no interest in writing. The people that use generative Al to find factoids have no interest in actual facts. The people that use generative Al to socialize have no interest in actual socialization. In every case, they've handed over the cognitive load of developing a necessary, creative human skillset to a machine that promises to ease the sweat equity cost of struggle. Using generative Al is like asking a machine to lift weights on your behalf and then calling yourself a bodybuilder when it's done with the reps. You build nothing in terms of muscle, you are not stronger, you are not faster, you are not in better shape. You're just deluding yourself while experiencing a slow decline due to self-inflicted atrophy.
July 6, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
astrokatie.com
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
June 19, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Reposted by Caroline Woods
ogaines.com
#booksky #writingcommunity
June 17, 2025 at 2:51 PM