LightNews LightNews
banner
quackometer.bsky.social
@quackometer.bsky.social
95 followers 33 following 5.5K posts
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
THREAD.
I love old Habitat catalogues & managed to get hold of all the 70s ones before they got v pricey & collectable. Flicking through them, I wondered: "What are the true stories of the lives of the people in these photos?"

So I decided to write those stories.

You'll find them in the alt text.
Serendipity Range (1971) 11.39am. Carol’s head felt like a fire in a neglected pedal bin. The vodka had been a mistake, the downers a larger one. There would be no chance of making it to her aunt’s luncheon now and all hope of a reconciliation would be gone. She picked up the novel she’d found by the bed, but it was no use: she couldn’t consume words in this state, much less those of wittering self-obsessed suburbanites. The smell of basic supermarket jam from the other side of the room caused her insides to churn. Which c*** had left it there? Another hour of meaningless, wasted life, never to be regained, trickled away from her. “This is not my house,” she finally realised.
November 17, 2025 at 12:54 PM
quackometer.bsky.social
Occult school closes for good. Bristol Steiner School, like all Waldorf schools, is a threat to the physical, mental and educational needs of children and it is a good thing it has now folded.

www.bristol247.com/news-and-fea...
School to permanently close after 50 years
The news follows several tumultuous years of efforts by parents and alumni to keep it open
www.bristol247.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:37 PM
quackometer.bsky.social
Was there no relative who could have taken power of attorney?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
'I heat my Essex home with a data centre in the shed'
www.bbc.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 6:54 AM
quackometer.bsky.social
Show us the last four albums you listened to
October 5, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Reposted
katebevan.com
This woman is so absolutely terrible. Blaming the medical staff for her daughter's completely unnecessary death when it's totally on her. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
UK woman who refused cancer drugs was influenced by mother, inquest finds
Paloma Shemirani, 23, died after refusing chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma despite doctors’ concerns
www.theguardian.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Reposted
scurry.bsky.social
I am so dismayed a the statement today from the President of the @royalsociety.org that I want to publish here the letter I wrote to him yesterday urging him to address the clear concerns of the UK scientific community.
Screenshot of first part of letter (continues in next image). Text reads: Dear Sir Adrian I write to request that in its deliberations tomorrow the Council resolves to take a principled stand to defend the scientific values written into its code of conduct. In its attempts to deal with the actions of Elon Musk FRS, the Royal Society has repeatedly failed to explain how his repudiation of those values is consistent with the code of conduct that all Fellows must adhere to as a condition of their fellowship. As is now well established, these actions include attacking Antony Fauci FRS without good cause; spreading scientific misinformation on X [through his own utterances and by relaxing controls on the platform]; recklessly and unlawfully degrading the research ecosystem of the US as part of DOGE; and bragging publicly about "feeding USAID into the wood chipper", which the Lancet estimates will cause the deaths of 14 million people, many of them children under the age of five, by 2030. The Society’s inaction extends to the recent brief exchange of correspondence between Prof Sir Paul Nurse and Mr Musk. Although there was some initial contact, when Sir Paul laid out the Society’s specific concerns there was no reply or explanation from Musk. For reasons that I’m afraid I cannot fathom, you chose once again not to enforce your code of conduct. Screenshot of letter. Text continues: "You will be aware that the sense of bewildered dismay over this affair is shared by Royal Society Fellows, medallists and journals editors, and many thousands within the scientific community here and abroad. The Royal Society still claims to speak for scientists in the UK, but on this vital issue, its inaction represents an inexplicable rupture with values that our community holds very dear. In all this my primary concern is has been for the good standing of the Royal Society as the UK’s national academy. As I am sure you understand all too well (given your recent remarks in the wake of Mr Musk’s ill-judged speech at the Tommy Robinson rally), the country, the world at large, and the very practice of science itself face severe challenges from technologies and populist politics that foment division and ignorance. In such troubled times, people look to our established institutions to have the courage to stand by long-held values of truth and decency. It is my sincere hope the Royal Society will demonstrate tomorrow that it is just such an institution. Yours faithfully, Stephen"
October 1, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Reposted
leithmotive.bsky.social
You can be an explicitly racist, far right agitator and that's acceptable for the Royal Society. Wonder how many Fellows are happy in such company. Most I would imagine. Another western institution full of weak, cowardly people.
jamesrball.com James Ball @jamesrball.com · Oct 1
The Royal Society has met to discuss Elon Musk – and they’re NOT removing his fellowship. They are criticising him publicly, but stopping short of actual removal.

This feels like the kind of compromise that will please *absolutely nobody*.
“I am increasingly concerned over threats to the values that allow science to flourish. Today at a meeting of the Royal Society’s Council, I led a discussion regarding some of those threats. “Science thrives when individuals and institutions have the freedom to carry out research without fear of discrimination, censorship, or other restrictions that would hinder their work. In support of that, Council believes that it is not the role of the Royal Society to police the personal political opinions of individual Fellows and disciplinary procedures should not be initiated because of a Fellow’s social and political views. “However, the Society can and will criticise Fellows who act in a way that runs counter to the values of tolerance, courtesy and respect for others that allow science to flourish. Elon Musk’s contribution to the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally is an example of a growing tendency towards the use of the language of violence, and narratives of division and polarisation. This language and these narratives threaten the values that enable science to thrive and the Royal Society rejects them, from wherever they originate.”
October 1, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Reposted
leithmotive.bsky.social
Fuck off with this woke shit www.theguardian.com/money/2025/s...
Sock it to the shoes: why more offices are going footwear-free
British companies are trialling no-shoes policies as a way to improve focus, comfort and morale – but not everyone is convinced
www.theguardian.com
September 30, 2025 at 12:44 PM
quackometer.bsky.social
From the archives:

www.quackometer.net/blog/2009/03...

Top Ten Tips For Creating Your Own New Alternative Medicine
Top Ten Tips For Creating Your Own New Alternative Medicine – The Quackometer Blog
www.quackometer.net
September 28, 2025 at 7:18 PM
quackometer.bsky.social
Thanks to the BBC today for telling us that Cillian Murphy is not a psychopathic gangster but is in fact just an actor.
September 20, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Reposted
mathempell.bsky.social
How has a brand new party set up by Corbyn and Sultana managed to sorry I've answered my own question there
September 18, 2025 at 3:31 PM
quackometer.bsky.social
Word

"Words are not violence. When you pretend that views that oppose your own are violence, you are justifying the use of actual violence towards the speaker."
September 17, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Reposted
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
Aren't village message boards brilliant? the-villager.ghost.io/the-village-...
Mark Laggs: There’s a black lad running around Cavendish’s top field. Not sure if anyone knows anything about him. Penelope Ralph: Mark, this seems a bit racist. I don’t see why it’s cause for concern or that the colour of the skin of the running boy is relevant. Mark Laggs: Typo! Black lab. Saw him on Squeezebelly Lane before that. Maybe was tied up outside Spar and broke his leash. P.S. This is not real; it's an excerpt from my novel Villager. You can read the full thing in the link.
September 15, 2025 at 5:05 PM
quackometer.bsky.social
I'm guessing AirPods 3 are slightly better than sticking a live fish in your ear canal.
September 9, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted
samfr.bsky.social
Farage said today he would said women refugees back to the Taliban.
mattpotteruk.bsky.social Matt Potter @mattpotteruk.bsky.social · Sep 6
What a grotesque loss of touch with the whole idea of ‘right’.

The Taliban’s strict command about ‘no skin contact between women and unrelated men’ means rescuers leave injured but surviving women under earthquake rubble, even as they retrieve the dead first.

www.indiatoday.in/world/story/...
Taliban's 'no skin contact with males' rule leaves Afghan women under quake rubble
Many women remain trapped and overlooked after the deadly earthquake in Afghanistan, as male rescuers prioritise efforts on men and children due to Taliban's strict “no skin-contact” rule.
www.indiatoday.in
September 6, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Reposted
timothyoleary.bsky.social
Yes, yes, yes. This is coming. It caught voters in the US by surprise. The same will happen in the UK. Once we dismantle institutions base decisions on evidence and reason, we lock in a culture of authority, ideology and oppression. History shows this lasts generations, or until society collapses.
neural-reckoning.org Dan Goodman @neural-reckoning.org · Sep 6
UK academics, be aware that what's happening to universities in the US is coming to us in a few years, in the (unfortunately quite likely) event that Reform wins.

Labour needs to get it's act together and give people a reason to vote for them.
scurry.bsky.social Stephen Curry @scurry.bsky.social · Sep 6
Having lied to congress earlier in the week, Farage flew back to the U.K. to lie to his party conference. Populists don’t like having to deal with reality and truth. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers...
September 6, 2025 at 9:12 AM
quackometer.bsky.social
Reform is going to attract every conspiracy theorist nut-job, crank and quack, racist, pub bore and crook.
September 6, 2025 at 7:06 PM
quackometer.bsky.social
September 3, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Reposted
leithmotive.bsky.social
Greens. Cranks from top to bottom now. The reformers have lost to a guy who thinks he can make breasts get bigger through the power of his mind. If you lose to that you have to conclude you were in the wrong party.
September 2, 2025 at 11:13 AM
quackometer.bsky.social
While the Trump administration is destroying Evidence Based Medicine from the top down, the "left" are keen to destroy it from the bottom up.

jessesingal.substack.com/p/the-disast...
The Disaster At McMaster, Part 1
Scholars are being “traumatized,” a long-running collaboration is being torched. . . what is going on?
jessesingal.substack.com
August 28, 2025 at 8:17 AM
quackometer.bsky.social
Can you give a case study of any human who has changed sex?
August 27, 2025 at 11:53 AM
quackometer.bsky.social
This is a thoughtful and thorough analysis of Fuentes' "Sex is a Spectrum" book - showing the tricks he uses to convince you.

blog.edhagen.net/posts/2025-0...
Review of Sex Is a Spectrum: The Biological Limits of the Binary by Agustín Fuentes – Grasshoppermouse
Does Sex is a Spectrum offer a bold new paradigm for understanding the biology of sex?
blog.edhagen.net
August 26, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Reposted
leithmotive.bsky.social
Palestine Action is above all incredibly tedious and indulgent. The time and money of everybody protesting would demonstrably be much better spent on donations to non proscribed charities and aid organisations dedicated to helping Gazans. Victims of war crimes an adornment for their public display.
August 18, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted
katebevan.com
Mr Hypnotits says what now?
August 18, 2025 at 9:57 AM