rab181.bsky.social
@rab181.bsky.social
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
If it were steel works we would have a government bailout plan, yet losing thousands of jobs at unis is met with a shrug. & unlike steelworks universities were profitable when they had foreign students.
You are killing the golden goose… one of our best exports…
HOW IS THIS HELPING GROWTH?!
You are killing the golden goose… one of our best exports…
HOW IS THIS HELPING GROWTH?!
Every sympathy for University of Essex (and pressures facing them) but this is very bad news for Southend.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Essex university to cut 400 jobs as overseas student numbers plummet
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Essex university to cut 400 jobs as overseas student numbers plummet
Essex university to cut 400 jobs as overseas student numbers plummet
Roles to be lost are part of wave of redundancy programmes across UK’s higher education sector
giftarticle.ft.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:14 AM
If it were steel works we would have a government bailout plan, yet losing thousands of jobs at unis is met with a shrug. & unlike steelworks universities were profitable when they had foreign students.
You are killing the golden goose… one of our best exports…
HOW IS THIS HELPING GROWTH?!
You are killing the golden goose… one of our best exports…
HOW IS THIS HELPING GROWTH?!
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
The war will end when Russia stops fighting. Therefore, pressure has to be put on Russia, so that they stop believing that they will win. Why is that so hard to understand?
November 27, 2025 at 1:49 AM
The war will end when Russia stops fighting. Therefore, pressure has to be put on Russia, so that they stop believing that they will win. Why is that so hard to understand?
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Utterly surreal that a key part of the pre Budget narrative from the government hasn’t been ‘Russian planes keep buzzing the Essex coast, US support for NATO is looking shaky, and thanks to the Tories our army fits in Old Trafford - that’s why we need to raise taxes’.
November 26, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Utterly surreal that a key part of the pre Budget narrative from the government hasn’t been ‘Russian planes keep buzzing the Essex coast, US support for NATO is looking shaky, and thanks to the Tories our army fits in Old Trafford - that’s why we need to raise taxes’.
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Idiom Origin
“pull yourself up by your bootstraps”
This was originally *sarcasm* & meant to convey that the act was impossible.
A boot strap is a loop used to help put your boot on.
This 1921 cartoon from the “Nonpartisan Leader” showcases that you can’t pull upward on your boots to levitate.
“pull yourself up by your bootstraps”
This was originally *sarcasm* & meant to convey that the act was impossible.
A boot strap is a loop used to help put your boot on.
This 1921 cartoon from the “Nonpartisan Leader” showcases that you can’t pull upward on your boots to levitate.
January 20, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Idiom Origin
“pull yourself up by your bootstraps”
This was originally *sarcasm* & meant to convey that the act was impossible.
A boot strap is a loop used to help put your boot on.
This 1921 cartoon from the “Nonpartisan Leader” showcases that you can’t pull upward on your boots to levitate.
“pull yourself up by your bootstraps”
This was originally *sarcasm* & meant to convey that the act was impossible.
A boot strap is a loop used to help put your boot on.
This 1921 cartoon from the “Nonpartisan Leader” showcases that you can’t pull upward on your boots to levitate.
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
"We cannot address the urgency of the climate and nature crisis without co-ordinated global action. A failure to act will cause environmental devastation, fuelling displacement, conflict and famine."
Keir Starmer's "Change" manifesto for Labour 2024.
2025:
Keir Starmer's "Change" manifesto for Labour 2024.
2025:
UK opts out of flagship fund to protect Amazon and other threatened tropical forests
UK opts out of flagship fund to protect Amazon and other threatened tropical forests
Decision is bitter blow to Brazil ahead of fund’s launch at Cop30 – and an embarrassment to Prince William
The UK will not contribute to a flagship fund for the world’s remaining tropical forests, in a bitter blow to the Brazilian hosts on the eve of the Cop30 climate summit.
Keir Starmer flew to Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon, on Wednesday to join the summit of world leaders hosted by Brazil’s president, Lula da Silva. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:40 PM
"We cannot address the urgency of the climate and nature crisis without co-ordinated global action. A failure to act will cause environmental devastation, fuelling displacement, conflict and famine."
Keir Starmer's "Change" manifesto for Labour 2024.
2025:
Keir Starmer's "Change" manifesto for Labour 2024.
2025:
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Mad example of this trend from real life though - we pitched an investigation to a commissioner at a major broadcaster, and they put the thing we were investigating and said “oh I’ve put it into ChatGPT and it says the answer is…”
And then we’re confused when we said “thats not true”!
And then we’re confused when we said “thats not true”!
November 4, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Mad example of this trend from real life though - we pitched an investigation to a commissioner at a major broadcaster, and they put the thing we were investigating and said “oh I’ve put it into ChatGPT and it says the answer is…”
And then we’re confused when we said “thats not true”!
And then we’re confused when we said “thats not true”!
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Sarah Pochin is a racist.
Reform is a racist party.
Her ‘apology’ makes no difference to that.
Trying to claim your words really meant something else is not an apology.
It’s a lie about who you are and what you think.
So, she’s a racist.
And, for all our sakes, that MUST be a shameful thing to be.
Reform is a racist party.
Her ‘apology’ makes no difference to that.
Trying to claim your words really meant something else is not an apology.
It’s a lie about who you are and what you think.
So, she’s a racist.
And, for all our sakes, that MUST be a shameful thing to be.
October 26, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Sarah Pochin is a racist.
Reform is a racist party.
Her ‘apology’ makes no difference to that.
Trying to claim your words really meant something else is not an apology.
It’s a lie about who you are and what you think.
So, she’s a racist.
And, for all our sakes, that MUST be a shameful thing to be.
Reform is a racist party.
Her ‘apology’ makes no difference to that.
Trying to claim your words really meant something else is not an apology.
It’s a lie about who you are and what you think.
So, she’s a racist.
And, for all our sakes, that MUST be a shameful thing to be.
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
This person is one hundred percent correct and it’s scary af. We will never “media literacy” our way out of this as a society. We are about to reap the whirlwind when it comes to misinformation, disinformation, and informational warfare.
October 23, 2025 at 12:25 AM
This person is one hundred percent correct and it’s scary af. We will never “media literacy” our way out of this as a society. We are about to reap the whirlwind when it comes to misinformation, disinformation, and informational warfare.
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
The EU won't care about this chart. They'll be much more interested in the polling that shows parties that think Brexit was the right choice have 50%+ support. There is no prospect of rejoining until those parties are defeated into irrelevance.
October 20, 2025 at 7:18 AM
The EU won't care about this chart. They'll be much more interested in the polling that shows parties that think Brexit was the right choice have 50%+ support. There is no prospect of rejoining until those parties are defeated into irrelevance.
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
This needs shouting from the rooftops.
The Labour victory was, mostly, a result of the split on the Right. The split on the Right won't exist in 2029.
Vote for the party that defeats Reform. In most seats, it's Labour. In others it will be LD, Green, SNP, Plaid..
The Labour victory was, mostly, a result of the split on the Right. The split on the Right won't exist in 2029.
Vote for the party that defeats Reform. In most seats, it's Labour. In others it will be LD, Green, SNP, Plaid..
There are less than 200 constituencies across the entire UK in which the right cannot win. The only way to beat them is to vote tactically. In most parts of England, if you do not vote for your sitting Labour MP you will be making it easier for Reform to take power. That's just a simple fact.
October 17, 2025 at 9:51 AM
This needs shouting from the rooftops.
The Labour victory was, mostly, a result of the split on the Right. The split on the Right won't exist in 2029.
Vote for the party that defeats Reform. In most seats, it's Labour. In others it will be LD, Green, SNP, Plaid..
The Labour victory was, mostly, a result of the split on the Right. The split on the Right won't exist in 2029.
Vote for the party that defeats Reform. In most seats, it's Labour. In others it will be LD, Green, SNP, Plaid..
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Even in this place, I feel the sheer scale of foreign aid being demolished isn't fully appreciated. As it stands, it is perhaps *the* most catastrophic change to preventable deaths in our lifetimes, and the salience - even in presumably friendly spaces - is basically zero
apnews.com/article/myan...
apnews.com/article/myan...
Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.
apnews.com
October 16, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Even in this place, I feel the sheer scale of foreign aid being demolished isn't fully appreciated. As it stands, it is perhaps *the* most catastrophic change to preventable deaths in our lifetimes, and the salience - even in presumably friendly spaces - is basically zero
apnews.com/article/myan...
apnews.com/article/myan...
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
The executive is usurping a core Article I function, this should be treated with the same amount of alarm as if he declared he's disbanding Congress, because that's functionally what he's doing/done
October 14, 2025 at 3:11 AM
The executive is usurping a core Article I function, this should be treated with the same amount of alarm as if he declared he's disbanding Congress, because that's functionally what he's doing/done
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Last night I heard of another friend of a friend who has been lost to a rabbit hole of online propaganda. We need to start treating this as a serious public health concern.
October 12, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Last night I heard of another friend of a friend who has been lost to a rabbit hole of online propaganda. We need to start treating this as a serious public health concern.
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Reading @londoncentric.media and reflecting on how everything wrong with Britain can be seen through Deliveroo:
- much of the economy is fraudulent
- people don’t go outside
- workers are underpaid and insecure
- the immigration system is broken
- society is being eroded by Big Tech
- much of the economy is fraudulent
- people don’t go outside
- workers are underpaid and insecure
- the immigration system is broken
- society is being eroded by Big Tech
October 11, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Reading @londoncentric.media and reflecting on how everything wrong with Britain can be seen through Deliveroo:
- much of the economy is fraudulent
- people don’t go outside
- workers are underpaid and insecure
- the immigration system is broken
- society is being eroded by Big Tech
- much of the economy is fraudulent
- people don’t go outside
- workers are underpaid and insecure
- the immigration system is broken
- society is being eroded by Big Tech
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
As the Tories advocate mass deportations, the end of human rights and giving up on net zero, the silence of David Cameron, George Osborne, Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid, James Cleverley, Tom Tugendhat and other supposed champions of the centre-right has been deafening and entirely revealing.
October 5, 2025 at 6:24 PM
As the Tories advocate mass deportations, the end of human rights and giving up on net zero, the silence of David Cameron, George Osborne, Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid, James Cleverley, Tom Tugendhat and other supposed champions of the centre-right has been deafening and entirely revealing.
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
I have to say, I don't think this is true
September 26, 2025 at 2:58 PM
I have to say, I don't think this is true
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Kind of amazing how UK news media still remains obsessed with the structurally limited impact in economic terms of small boats even as this potentially terminal havoc works its way through key UK industrial supply chains
on.ft.com/3Ihb8YF
on.ft.com/3Ihb8YF
September 24, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Kind of amazing how UK news media still remains obsessed with the structurally limited impact in economic terms of small boats even as this potentially terminal havoc works its way through key UK industrial supply chains
on.ft.com/3Ihb8YF
on.ft.com/3Ihb8YF
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
This has to be a moment of reckoning. Broadcasters must focus on the practical consequences and make them clear. It would be utter, society altering chaos. That should dominate the approach, as it would coverage of any other party's policies.
September 22, 2025 at 6:31 AM
This has to be a moment of reckoning. Broadcasters must focus on the practical consequences and make them clear. It would be utter, society altering chaos. That should dominate the approach, as it would coverage of any other party's policies.
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Nigel Farage and Reform are running almost as scared as Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives.
Reform is an unprecedented threat on the Tories’ right flank. But Reform and Farage are under pressure too: from Rupert Lowe, Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk. Farage is running rightwards, and fast.
Reform is an unprecedented threat on the Tories’ right flank. But Reform and Farage are under pressure too: from Rupert Lowe, Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk. Farage is running rightwards, and fast.
September 21, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Nigel Farage and Reform are running almost as scared as Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives.
Reform is an unprecedented threat on the Tories’ right flank. But Reform and Farage are under pressure too: from Rupert Lowe, Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk. Farage is running rightwards, and fast.
Reform is an unprecedented threat on the Tories’ right flank. But Reform and Farage are under pressure too: from Rupert Lowe, Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk. Farage is running rightwards, and fast.
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
The CDC data is pretty fairly different - much higher tubal ligation, much lower condom use, and a lower rate of "not using contraception" once you filter out non-sexually active people www.cdc.gov/nchs/product...
September 17, 2025 at 5:47 AM
The CDC data is pretty fairly different - much higher tubal ligation, much lower condom use, and a lower rate of "not using contraception" once you filter out non-sexually active people www.cdc.gov/nchs/product...
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
See also the *massive* cocaine epidemic among 40- to 50-something men. The media keeps talking about young people and drugs but peak deaths are among 40-49 year olds now.
The discourse is all around deradicalising young men and the crisis among young men.
The discourse would be much better targeted if it was about deradicalising boomers (and increasingly Gen Xers).
The discourse would be much better targeted if it was about deradicalising boomers (and increasingly Gen Xers).
Shot, chaser
Young men more likely to vote Green than Reform. Young men second most progressive group of any demographic. Combined right-wing vote barely bigger than Green vote alone for young men
Young men more likely to vote Green than Reform. Young men second most progressive group of any demographic. Combined right-wing vote barely bigger than Green vote alone for young men
September 14, 2025 at 11:59 AM
See also the *massive* cocaine epidemic among 40- to 50-something men. The media keeps talking about young people and drugs but peak deaths are among 40-49 year olds now.
Reposted by rab181.bsky.social
Probably should’ve posted the Ai statement separately - not sure how it displays with the rest. It’s not so different from what I originally posted, but prefer people get the final version. Have at it & hope it’s useful to you in your classes. All on my site here spinweaveandcut.com/fall-2025-sy...
August 20, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Probably should’ve posted the Ai statement separately - not sure how it displays with the rest. It’s not so different from what I originally posted, but prefer people get the final version. Have at it & hope it’s useful to you in your classes. All on my site here spinweaveandcut.com/fall-2025-sy...