Neville Morley
@nevillemorley.bsky.social
Classics & Ancient History at Exeter, Leverhulme Major Research Fellow; much Thucydides, Marx and decadence, but also beer, cats and obscure European jazz. STILL trying to keep the blog going: https://thesphinxblog.com.
Pinned
Neville Morley
@nevillemorley.bsky.social
· Jul 26
One like, one history opinion
one like, one writing opinion.
One like, one Thucydides opinion.
The majority of my ancestors never moved more than ten miles from King’s Lynn in their lives, but I’m still hoping to find a stray immigrant somewhere in the family tree to disassociate myself from this shitty ‘England for the English’ campaign.
November 15, 2025 at 8:47 AM
The majority of my ancestors never moved more than ten miles from King’s Lynn in their lives, but I’m still hoping to find a stray immigrant somewhere in the family tree to disassociate myself from this shitty ‘England for the English’ campaign.
Reposted by Neville Morley
"The era of permanent protection is over"
Is this Labour government really saying it was wrong in principle to let these refugees of the last 75 years to stay, settle and become British - and they believe that should NEVER happen again in principle or practice?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuR...
Is this Labour government really saying it was wrong in principle to let these refugees of the last 75 years to stay, settle and become British - and they believe that should NEVER happen again in principle or practice?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuR...
Refugees from 7 decades gather to commemorate 70 years of refugee in protection in the UK
YouTube video by Refugee Council
www.youtube.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:28 AM
"The era of permanent protection is over"
Is this Labour government really saying it was wrong in principle to let these refugees of the last 75 years to stay, settle and become British - and they believe that should NEVER happen again in principle or practice?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuR...
Is this Labour government really saying it was wrong in principle to let these refugees of the last 75 years to stay, settle and become British - and they believe that should NEVER happen again in principle or practice?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuR...
5. Dither, haver and equivocate, thus creating impression that ALL pledges have been or will be broken regardless of actual actions.
4 choices
1. break the tax pledge to meet the public services pledge
2. keep the tax pledge and break the public services pledge
3. break the tax pledge and try to hide it with trickery, to keep the public services pledge.
4. break the sound finances pledge and keep the public services pledge
1. break the tax pledge to meet the public services pledge
2. keep the tax pledge and break the public services pledge
3. break the tax pledge and try to hide it with trickery, to keep the public services pledge.
4. break the sound finances pledge and keep the public services pledge
I think Luke's right: breaking tax pledge is foundational. But I also think 'raising tax revenues in any way BUT raising headline rate, & thinking ppl will buy that's not a breach' is delusional. The pledge was understood as 'Labour will fix things & it won't cost me'. You're breaking it, so own it
November 14, 2025 at 11:02 AM
5. Dither, haver and equivocate, thus creating impression that ALL pledges have been or will be broken regardless of actual actions.
It’s increasingly difficult to avoid imagining the Number 10 playlist…
Turn Turn Turn
Blank Space
Little Lies
Idiot Wind
Ball of Confusion
If You Don’t Know Me By Now
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Help!
Turn Turn Turn
Blank Space
Little Lies
Idiot Wind
Ball of Confusion
If You Don’t Know Me By Now
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Help!
November 14, 2025 at 10:51 AM
It’s increasingly difficult to avoid imagining the Number 10 playlist…
Turn Turn Turn
Blank Space
Little Lies
Idiot Wind
Ball of Confusion
If You Don’t Know Me By Now
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Help!
Turn Turn Turn
Blank Space
Little Lies
Idiot Wind
Ball of Confusion
If You Don’t Know Me By Now
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Help!
New Budget Plan! Chancellor promises a "dog's breakfast" of stuff she found in the back of the cupboard.
November 14, 2025 at 8:20 AM
New Budget Plan! Chancellor promises a "dog's breakfast" of stuff she found in the back of the cupboard.
People are failing to see the six-dimensional chess aspect of this: pitch tax increases to show you’re not afraid of hard choices, then ditch plan to show you’re concerned about working people’s pay packets, then respond to reaction by bringing back the plan to show that you’re listening…
November 14, 2025 at 7:52 AM
People are failing to see the six-dimensional chess aspect of this: pitch tax increases to show you’re not afraid of hard choices, then ditch plan to show you’re concerned about working people’s pay packets, then respond to reaction by bringing back the plan to show that you’re listening…
Sophocles (fragment from The Sons of Aleus): “It is money that finds friends for men, and also honours, and finally the throne sublime of royalty, nearest to the gods. And no one is an enemy to money, or if they are, men deny their hatred of it…
November 13, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Sophocles (fragment from The Sons of Aleus): “It is money that finds friends for men, and also honours, and finally the throne sublime of royalty, nearest to the gods. And no one is an enemy to money, or if they are, men deny their hatred of it…
“The Classics are still relevant!”
genuinely very few things more satisfying than reading the kinds of emails rich and famous people send each other
November 13, 2025 at 2:01 PM
“The Classics are still relevant!”
Reposted by Neville Morley
Once again, the Labour Party shows just how out of touch it is with ordinary people by launching a campaign website in Latin! We didn't all study at Orxford you know
November 12, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Once again, the Labour Party shows just how out of touch it is with ordinary people by launching a campaign website in Latin! We didn't all study at Orxford you know
Reposted by Neville Morley
We have chaos and Ed Miliband, they're just not evenly distributed.
November 13, 2025 at 1:15 PM
We have chaos and Ed Miliband, they're just not evenly distributed.
“We have created the Single Point Of Failure from the famous organisational PowerPoint slide ‘Beware of the Single Point Of Failure’.”
‘clicking the big button labeled “OK” which appears on every screen of the new system is IRREVERSIBLE and CANNOT BE UNDONE. did we mention that once any single person presses the button, that’s it folks, game over. also 10,000 people will be offered this button every single day so good luck!’
November 13, 2025 at 9:07 AM
“We have created the Single Point Of Failure from the famous organisational PowerPoint slide ‘Beware of the Single Point Of Failure’.”
What does Herodotus tell us about mad tyrants’ sexual desires and judges’ betrayal of the law? Nothing! Actually it’s all about the moral bankruptcy of liberalism…
thesphinxblog.com/2025/11/13/o...
thesphinxblog.com/2025/11/13/o...
Oh Sister
This is, one might suggest, an interesting week to discuss an ancient story about a mad tyrant seeking to indulge his sexual desires regardless of law or custom, and the group of judges who have de…
thesphinxblog.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:00 AM
What does Herodotus tell us about mad tyrants’ sexual desires and judges’ betrayal of the law? Nothing! Actually it’s all about the moral bankruptcy of liberalism…
thesphinxblog.com/2025/11/13/o...
thesphinxblog.com/2025/11/13/o...
Reposted by Neville Morley
Elon Musk: da nine books that everyone should read are
9) Brainology: The Secret Science of Ensmartification
8) Numbers: What Numerals Get Wrong about Integers
7) Future Time Now: How Silicon Valley Makes Yesterday's Present into Tomorrow's Past
9) Brainology: The Secret Science of Ensmartification
8) Numbers: What Numerals Get Wrong about Integers
7) Future Time Now: How Silicon Valley Makes Yesterday's Present into Tomorrow's Past
November 12, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Elon Musk: da nine books that everyone should read are
9) Brainology: The Secret Science of Ensmartification
8) Numbers: What Numerals Get Wrong about Integers
7) Future Time Now: How Silicon Valley Makes Yesterday's Present into Tomorrow's Past
9) Brainology: The Secret Science of Ensmartification
8) Numbers: What Numerals Get Wrong about Integers
7) Future Time Now: How Silicon Valley Makes Yesterday's Present into Tomorrow's Past
Reposted by Neville Morley
It is crazy that there is no testing or licensing regime for these things, dozens of deaths later. A drug which had such serious mental side effects would have been withdrawn instantly
🚨OpenAI’s new “safer” version of ChatGPT actually allows more harm.
We tested GPT-5 and GPT-4o to see if GPT-5 was safer & found that actually GPT-5 gave MORE harmful responses.
Read our new report ⤵️
https://bit.ly/3JgW9OP
We tested GPT-5 and GPT-4o to see if GPT-5 was safer & found that actually GPT-5 gave MORE harmful responses.
Read our new report ⤵️
https://bit.ly/3JgW9OP
November 12, 2025 at 8:22 PM
It is crazy that there is no testing or licensing regime for these things, dozens of deaths later. A drug which had such serious mental side effects would have been withdrawn instantly
This does feel rather like an update of Alan Coren's Golfing For Cats.
Exclusive: Adolf Hitler’s DNA has been sequenced by scientists
It has:
- shown he had a disorder which impacted his sexual development
- debunked rumours about his ancestry
- shown a high likelihood that he had a neurodivergent condition and/or bipolar disorder
www.thetimes.com/article/e728...
It has:
- shown he had a disorder which impacted his sexual development
- debunked rumours about his ancestry
- shown a high likelihood that he had a neurodivergent condition and/or bipolar disorder
www.thetimes.com/article/e728...
Hitler had hidden genetic sexual disorder, DNA analysis reveals
The Nazi dictator had Kallmann syndrome, which hinders normal puberty and the development of sexual organs, according to groundbreaking research
www.thetimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:04 PM
This does feel rather like an update of Alan Coren's Golfing For Cats.
Narrowing this down is incredibly difficult, as teen me was all about the books…
1. Lawrence Durrell, The Alexandria Quartet
2. E.H. Carr, What Is History?
3. J.G. Ballard, The Voices of Time
4. Anthony Powell, A Dance to the Music of Time
5. Germaine Greer, The Female Eunuch
1. Lawrence Durrell, The Alexandria Quartet
2. E.H. Carr, What Is History?
3. J.G. Ballard, The Voices of Time
4. Anthony Powell, A Dance to the Music of Time
5. Germaine Greer, The Female Eunuch
These really influenced teen me:
1) Eric by Terry Pratchett. Got me into reading for fun.
2) Utopia by St. Thomas More. Got me into philosophy.
3) The Black Jacobins by CLR James. Shaped my politics.
4) Paradise Lost by Milton. Shaped my literary taste.
5) Confessions by St. Augustine. I felt seen.
1) Eric by Terry Pratchett. Got me into reading for fun.
2) Utopia by St. Thomas More. Got me into philosophy.
3) The Black Jacobins by CLR James. Shaped my politics.
4) Paradise Lost by Milton. Shaped my literary taste.
5) Confessions by St. Augustine. I felt seen.
performative reading, lack of reading skills, nobody's reading anymore -- NO!
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
November 12, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Narrowing this down is incredibly difficult, as teen me was all about the books…
1. Lawrence Durrell, The Alexandria Quartet
2. E.H. Carr, What Is History?
3. J.G. Ballard, The Voices of Time
4. Anthony Powell, A Dance to the Music of Time
5. Germaine Greer, The Female Eunuch
1. Lawrence Durrell, The Alexandria Quartet
2. E.H. Carr, What Is History?
3. J.G. Ballard, The Voices of Time
4. Anthony Powell, A Dance to the Music of Time
5. Germaine Greer, The Female Eunuch
Autumn bounty.
November 11, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Autumn bounty.
Repost with an iconic fictional band.
November 11, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Repost with an iconic fictional band.
Butterflying sardines is a useful skill at which I need much more practice.
November 11, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Butterflying sardines is a useful skill at which I need much more practice.
“The only examples it provides among high-priority sources, apart from X users, are ArXiv (itself contending with an influx of LLM content) and PubMed for scientific/technical topics and Kremlin dot ru for historical events.” Uh huh.
The Wikipedia Signpost republished this Grokipedia essay today (from @techpolicypress.bsky.social last week). Signpost is the unofficial (but sorta official) newspaper of the English Wiki community, and is reliably useful for all things Wikipedia "Inside Baseball." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2025-11-10/Opinion - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 11, 2025 at 1:49 PM
“The only examples it provides among high-priority sources, apart from X users, are ArXiv (itself contending with an influx of LLM content) and PubMed for scientific/technical topics and Kremlin dot ru for historical events.” Uh huh.
Definitely overcomplicate it. Tom Holland steps out of the car, says my name's Bondjamesbond, raises an eyebrow, says "were you expecting someone else?", embarks on complex chase sequence ending in him being torn apart by crocodiles. Idris Elba steps out of the shadows…
don't overcomplicate it lads. Idris Elba steps out of the car, says my name's Bondjamesbond, raises an eyebrow, says "were you expecting someone else?", on with the fun.
November 11, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Definitely overcomplicate it. Tom Holland steps out of the car, says my name's Bondjamesbond, raises an eyebrow, says "were you expecting someone else?", embarks on complex chase sequence ending in him being torn apart by crocodiles. Idris Elba steps out of the shadows…
Higher education has been in crisis since students stopped wearing hats.
Once upon a time in a university near you, in-person teaching was a thing, as you can see in this image of 1612. Young people with hats came together, regularly and voluntarily, prepared for classes, and enjoying a lively learning situation of *checks notes*, a 90 minutes monolog of someone else ...
November 11, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Higher education has been in crisis since students stopped wearing hats.
A relentless series of programmes implying that slavery is bad, without giving pro-slavery views the same prominence.
Failure to do exactly what Reclaiming History demanded on all occasions.
Persistent platforming of claims that all human beings have equal rights and deserve respect.
#BBC
Failure to do exactly what Reclaiming History demanded on all occasions.
Persistent platforming of claims that all human beings have equal rights and deserve respect.
#BBC
November 10, 2025 at 10:29 AM
A relentless series of programmes implying that slavery is bad, without giving pro-slavery views the same prominence.
Failure to do exactly what Reclaiming History demanded on all occasions.
Persistent platforming of claims that all human beings have equal rights and deserve respect.
#BBC
Failure to do exactly what Reclaiming History demanded on all occasions.
Persistent platforming of claims that all human beings have equal rights and deserve respect.
#BBC
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel that some people feel a bit too fine about this…
thesphinxblog.com/2025/11/09/a...
thesphinxblog.com/2025/11/09/a...
Appetite For Destruction
My wife is blaming me for her having a very disturbed Friday night, as she felt obliged to listen to Radio 4’s Free Thinking as I was a guest on it ( and then found the discussion of impending glob…
thesphinxblog.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:16 PM
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel that some people feel a bit too fine about this…
thesphinxblog.com/2025/11/09/a...
thesphinxblog.com/2025/11/09/a...