David Matthewman
@djm4.bsky.social
Sheffield,-UK-based liberal leftie geek, into SFF generally and Dr Who specifically. Likes cycling and birdwatching, but very much playing both on easy mode. LOFC fan in exile. Pronouns he/him/himself
Also on Mastodon as @djm4@mastodon.me.uk
Also on Mastodon as @djm4@mastodon.me.uk
Reposted by David Matthewman
This is all true but
1) under no definition are we currently at war with Venezuela under domestic US law
2) since we aren’t, the initial strike was just as much a murder as the follow up
The failure to understand this by a huge range of actors is really driving me up the wall.
1) under no definition are we currently at war with Venezuela under domestic US law
2) since we aren’t, the initial strike was just as much a murder as the follow up
The failure to understand this by a huge range of actors is really driving me up the wall.
If the Venezuelan sailors were enemy combatants, then the 2nd strike is a war crime.
If the Venezuelan sailors weren’t enemy combatants, then both strikes are criminal murder.
It’s that simple.
If the Venezuelan sailors weren’t enemy combatants, then both strikes are criminal murder.
It’s that simple.
November 30, 2025 at 11:07 PM
This is all true but
1) under no definition are we currently at war with Venezuela under domestic US law
2) since we aren’t, the initial strike was just as much a murder as the follow up
The failure to understand this by a huge range of actors is really driving me up the wall.
1) under no definition are we currently at war with Venezuela under domestic US law
2) since we aren’t, the initial strike was just as much a murder as the follow up
The failure to understand this by a huge range of actors is really driving me up the wall.
Reposted by David Matthewman
Introduce yourself with five animals you've seen in the wild (seen in very domestic circumstances but still made me go Wow!):
Hedgehog
Squirrel
Rabbits
Shrew
Dragonfly
Hedgehog
Squirrel
Rabbits
Shrew
Dragonfly
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild
(Seen in my garden somewhere I have lived list)
Starlings
Great-crested newt
Mole
Long-tailed tits
Nuthatch
(Seen in my garden somewhere I have lived list)
Starlings
Great-crested newt
Mole
Long-tailed tits
Nuthatch
November 29, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Introduce yourself with five animals you've seen in the wild (seen in very domestic circumstances but still made me go Wow!):
Hedgehog
Squirrel
Rabbits
Shrew
Dragonfly
Hedgehog
Squirrel
Rabbits
Shrew
Dragonfly
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild
(Exotic list - things that made me go 'wow!')
European praying mantis
Purple gallinule
Horned lizard
Bearded vulture
Ibex
(Exotic list - things that made me go 'wow!')
European praying mantis
Purple gallinule
Horned lizard
Bearded vulture
Ibex
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild
Soprano Pippistrelle bats
Rabbits
Foxes
Water voles
Herons
(all in my local park)
Soprano Pippistrelle bats
Rabbits
Foxes
Water voles
Herons
(all in my local park)
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild
Pigeons
Wood pigeons
Collared doves
Stock doves
More pigeons
Pigeons
Wood pigeons
Collared doves
Stock doves
More pigeons
November 29, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild
(Exotic list - things that made me go 'wow!')
European praying mantis
Purple gallinule
Horned lizard
Bearded vulture
Ibex
(Exotic list - things that made me go 'wow!')
European praying mantis
Purple gallinule
Horned lizard
Bearded vulture
Ibex
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen.
Amy MacDonald
Carter USM
Melrose Quartet
Pet Shop Boys
Pulp
Amy MacDonald
Carter USM
Melrose Quartet
Pet Shop Boys
Pulp
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen.
Steeleye Span
Spirit of the West
Sex Pistols
Billy Bragg
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Steeleye Span
Spirit of the West
Sex Pistols
Billy Bragg
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen.
The Prodigy
Rammstein
Madness
Nickelback
Electric Six
The Prodigy
Rammstein
Madness
Nickelback
Electric Six
November 28, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen.
Amy MacDonald
Carter USM
Melrose Quartet
Pet Shop Boys
Pulp
Amy MacDonald
Carter USM
Melrose Quartet
Pet Shop Boys
Pulp
This is a powerful gut punch of a letter, all the more powerful because of the clear force of love that lies behind the punch. To say more would be to lessen its impact. Read it.
Today's Love Letter is a stunning meditation on birdwatching and the loss of a friendship, from the one and only @amalelmohtar.com
stone-soup.ghost.io/love-letter-...
stone-soup.ghost.io/love-letter-...
Why I Need the Birds
A Love Letters Feature by Amal El-Mohtar - November 2025
stone-soup.ghost.io
November 27, 2025 at 7:29 AM
This is a powerful gut punch of a letter, all the more powerful because of the clear force of love that lies behind the punch. To say more would be to lessen its impact. Read it.
Reposted by David Matthewman
Just arrived in Miami, FL for the Miami Book Fair. First bird I saw was a Muscovy duck! There were three standing in green around the highway ramp goes around.
I was like, “ooooh, who is that!”, then I googled. They’re common here and look like this:
I was like, “ooooh, who is that!”, then I googled. They’re common here and look like this:
November 21, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Just arrived in Miami, FL for the Miami Book Fair. First bird I saw was a Muscovy duck! There were three standing in green around the highway ramp goes around.
I was like, “ooooh, who is that!”, then I googled. They’re common here and look like this:
I was like, “ooooh, who is that!”, then I googled. They’re common here and look like this:
Reposted by David Matthewman
"Even pretending it makes me feel sexy and primal..."
#ICYMI this week's stunning guest blog is about a topic close to my heart: #breeding!
www.girlonthenet.com/blog/childfr...
#ICYMI this week's stunning guest blog is about a topic close to my heart: #breeding!
www.girlonthenet.com/blog/childfr...
November 22, 2025 at 8:12 AM
"Even pretending it makes me feel sexy and primal..."
#ICYMI this week's stunning guest blog is about a topic close to my heart: #breeding!
www.girlonthenet.com/blog/childfr...
#ICYMI this week's stunning guest blog is about a topic close to my heart: #breeding!
www.girlonthenet.com/blog/childfr...
Reposted by David Matthewman
Regret to inform you all that at the tender age of 40 I am becoming a train guy due to the magnetic physicality of anti-Nazi reverse-heist film THE TRAIN (1964)
November 21, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Regret to inform you all that at the tender age of 40 I am becoming a train guy due to the magnetic physicality of anti-Nazi reverse-heist film THE TRAIN (1964)
Reposted by David Matthewman
President Elect of the @libdems.org.uk the wonderful @joshbabarinde.bsky.social says trans rights in parliament (and gets a non answer from the government spokes)
November 20, 2025 at 7:01 PM
President Elect of the @libdems.org.uk the wonderful @joshbabarinde.bsky.social says trans rights in parliament (and gets a non answer from the government spokes)
Reposted by David Matthewman
I would put it like this. Minority communities and the majority of the majority community have integrated v.well. However, a significant minority of the majority community and a significant majority of the political class are stubbornly refusing to integrate, and that is where the real problem lies.
Fundamentally, the UK is a massive success story on integration and most of the anxiety around it from the right should be treated as in insincere concern trolling it actually is.
Remember integration? That thing voters "really, really" care about? Where's that in the latest plans?
My column:
My column:
November 20, 2025 at 9:23 AM
I would put it like this. Minority communities and the majority of the majority community have integrated v.well. However, a significant minority of the majority community and a significant majority of the political class are stubbornly refusing to integrate, and that is where the real problem lies.
Reposted by David Matthewman
*blinks*
If it’s any consolation, this is the first time I’ve heard about this…
I might have repeatedly memory-holed all references to it.
I have never liked the Time Lords making Zoe and Jamie forget their experiences with the Doctor, but this case might be an exception.
If it’s any consolation, this is the first time I’ve heard about this…
I might have repeatedly memory-holed all references to it.
I have never liked the Time Lords making Zoe and Jamie forget their experiences with the Doctor, but this case might be an exception.
November 20, 2025 at 6:41 AM
*blinks*
If it’s any consolation, this is the first time I’ve heard about this…
I might have repeatedly memory-holed all references to it.
I have never liked the Time Lords making Zoe and Jamie forget their experiences with the Doctor, but this case might be an exception.
If it’s any consolation, this is the first time I’ve heard about this…
I might have repeatedly memory-holed all references to it.
I have never liked the Time Lords making Zoe and Jamie forget their experiences with the Doctor, but this case might be an exception.
Reposted by David Matthewman
I’m reading the John Higgs Doctor Who book as I’m falling asleep and there seems to be a whole section about a nearly-produced Troughton sex farce on the lines of “The Worm that Turned”, and I can only assume:
November 20, 2025 at 5:21 AM
I’m reading the John Higgs Doctor Who book as I’m falling asleep and there seems to be a whole section about a nearly-produced Troughton sex farce on the lines of “The Worm that Turned”, and I can only assume:
Reposted by David Matthewman
One of the things that the “immigration debate” in the UK really reveals is how little people actually know about how other people live. So much of immigration policy fails to work, even on its own terms, because it’s trying to solve problems that mostly exist in peoples heads
November 18, 2025 at 10:51 PM
One of the things that the “immigration debate” in the UK really reveals is how little people actually know about how other people live. So much of immigration policy fails to work, even on its own terms, because it’s trying to solve problems that mostly exist in peoples heads
The Government's proposals for performative cruelty to migrants are awful, and will do nothing to unite Britain. To the extent that immigration is dividing Britain at all, it is not immigration itself, but a largely unfounded _fear_ of immigration that the Government is only stoking further.
November 19, 2025 at 8:30 AM
The Government's proposals for performative cruelty to migrants are awful, and will do nothing to unite Britain. To the extent that immigration is dividing Britain at all, it is not immigration itself, but a largely unfounded _fear_ of immigration that the Government is only stoking further.
Reposted by David Matthewman
Forgot to announce it, but I sold a short story to @jonathanstrahan.bsky.social which has weird time aliens, scholars and the fall of empires. Not sure when the book is coming out, but it's going to be one to watch.
November 19, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Forgot to announce it, but I sold a short story to @jonathanstrahan.bsky.social which has weird time aliens, scholars and the fall of empires. Not sure when the book is coming out, but it's going to be one to watch.
Reposted by David Matthewman
This is a thing for British SF. Write it down and stick it on your wall because I'm tired of post oil British sf where the UK runs out of oil, and road, rail and air freight ends and this is a crisis.
We have *canals*, *navigable waterways* and a coastline around which you can *sail* cargo ships.
We have *canals*, *navigable waterways* and a coastline around which you can *sail* cargo ships.
November 19, 2025 at 7:26 AM
This is a thing for British SF. Write it down and stick it on your wall because I'm tired of post oil British sf where the UK runs out of oil, and road, rail and air freight ends and this is a crisis.
We have *canals*, *navigable waterways* and a coastline around which you can *sail* cargo ships.
We have *canals*, *navigable waterways* and a coastline around which you can *sail* cargo ships.
Reposted by David Matthewman
Amal’s audiobook for The River Has Roots, her novel about two sisters who make music together, has *actual music played and sung by her and her sister* and you should listen to it.
I'm so happy more people will be made aware of Gem Carmella's brilliant narration & Steve Wagner & the Macmillan Audio folks' excellent work producing it! & it's honestly amazing to get to share this kind of recognition with my sister, because we sang & played music together on it.
November 18, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Amal’s audiobook for The River Has Roots, her novel about two sisters who make music together, has *actual music played and sung by her and her sister* and you should listen to it.
Reposted by David Matthewman
Why did Keir Starmer and the Labour Party decide to destroy EVERYTHING they could have been - to hand over the uk to the far right with such dainty gloves on - utterly disgusted by it all
@teamlabouruk.bsky.social - many people in the UK are NOT Nazis
@teamlabouruk.bsky.social - many people in the UK are NOT Nazis
November 18, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Why did Keir Starmer and the Labour Party decide to destroy EVERYTHING they could have been - to hand over the uk to the far right with such dainty gloves on - utterly disgusted by it all
@teamlabouruk.bsky.social - many people in the UK are NOT Nazis
@teamlabouruk.bsky.social - many people in the UK are NOT Nazis
Reposted by David Matthewman
BBC News: "the government believe refugees are deliberately bringing their children to avoid deportation"
As opposed to doing what with their children??
As opposed to doing what with their children??
November 17, 2025 at 10:11 PM
BBC News: "the government believe refugees are deliberately bringing their children to avoid deportation"
As opposed to doing what with their children??
As opposed to doing what with their children??
Reposted by David Matthewman
Watching DEATH BY LIGHTNING & feeling so many things, one of which is an absolute bafflement at why in an otherwise stalwartly atmospheric period production every giant banner is computer lettered
November 17, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Watching DEATH BY LIGHTNING & feeling so many things, one of which is an absolute bafflement at why in an otherwise stalwartly atmospheric period production every giant banner is computer lettered
Reposted by David Matthewman
"As another row on immigration and refugees awaits parliament, it is clear the problem is not immigrants, but politicians themselves."
Great piece, great closing line from @stellacreasy.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Great piece, great closing line from @stellacreasy.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
ICE-style raids on Britain's streets: that's all Labour's brutal asylum reforms will achieve | Stella Creasy
If we want to ‘stop the boats’, we need to stop the BS when it comes to what creates refugees, and how to respond to them, says Labour MP Stella Creasy
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:43 AM
"As another row on immigration and refugees awaits parliament, it is clear the problem is not immigrants, but politicians themselves."
Great piece, great closing line from @stellacreasy.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Great piece, great closing line from @stellacreasy.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by David Matthewman
The line “vote for us or you’ll get the far right” doesn’t really work when the policies you’re enacting are barely distinguishable from what the far right propose.
November 17, 2025 at 8:16 AM
The line “vote for us or you’ll get the far right” doesn’t really work when the policies you’re enacting are barely distinguishable from what the far right propose.
Reposted by David Matthewman
Congratulations!!!
November 17, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Congratulations!!!
Reposted by David Matthewman
"I never thought the facing-eating leopard, that i helped eat faces, and laughed when he ate those faces, would someday....."
MTG: “.. “I am now being contacted by private security firms with warnings for my safety as a hot bed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world. .. The man I supported and helped get elected.”
@mediaite.com #GA14
www.mediaite.com/media/news/m...
@mediaite.com #GA14
www.mediaite.com/media/news/m...
November 15, 2025 at 6:30 PM
"I never thought the facing-eating leopard, that i helped eat faces, and laughed when he ate those faces, would someday....."