Susan Smith
@susansmith65.bsky.social
Reposts and likes are endorsements of the post (not necessarily the poster) unless indicated otherwise - why "like" something I don't agree with?
Reposted by Susan Smith
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree. Ate it.
December 1, 2025 at 8:27 AM
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree. Ate it.
Reposted by Susan Smith
There are think tanks, NGOs, etc that inform and analyse in order to promote serious political debate and others (most?) much more interested in making lots of noise....front runners in first group include @resolutionfoundation.org @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social and @instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Resolution Foundation does some great, informative stuff on policy/politics. Really welcome antidote to the breathless obsession of most of Westminster village with who-said-whattery-when and meaningless opinion poll speculation about the next election. @resolutionfoundation.org
Is welfare spending ''out of control''?
It's estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP this financial year.
That's just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP since 2012-13⤵️ buff.ly/s5mz97u
It's estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP this financial year.
That's just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than in 2007-08, and total welfare spending has actually fallen fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP since 2012-13⤵️ buff.ly/s5mz97u
November 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
There are think tanks, NGOs, etc that inform and analyse in order to promote serious political debate and others (most?) much more interested in making lots of noise....front runners in first group include @resolutionfoundation.org @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social and @instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Reposted by Susan Smith
Muscular Christianity.
“Wear some headphones, kid. And put your shoes back on”
“Wear some headphones, kid. And put your shoes back on”
November 29, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Muscular Christianity.
“Wear some headphones, kid. And put your shoes back on”
“Wear some headphones, kid. And put your shoes back on”
Reposted by Susan Smith
There's an advert on his website for a 'Depot Supervisor' that pays £12.75 an hour for shift work.
If he wants to reduce welfare spending maybe he should pay staff enough that they don't need in-work benefits.
If he wants to reduce welfare spending maybe he should pay staff enough that they don't need in-work benefits.
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
www.independent.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 12:46 PM
There's an advert on his website for a 'Depot Supervisor' that pays £12.75 an hour for shift work.
If he wants to reduce welfare spending maybe he should pay staff enough that they don't need in-work benefits.
If he wants to reduce welfare spending maybe he should pay staff enough that they don't need in-work benefits.
Reposted by Susan Smith
Big news: the European Court of Justice rules that all member states are obliged to recognise a same-sex marriage lawfully concluded in another member state.
November 25, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Big news: the European Court of Justice rules that all member states are obliged to recognise a same-sex marriage lawfully concluded in another member state.
Reposted by Susan Smith
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Reposted by Susan Smith
VACCINE NEWS: A pair of Cochrane Review papers provide the strongest evidence to date that the HPV vaccine is very safe and highly effective.
Girls who are vaccinated before age 16 have an 80 percent lower risk of cervical cancer.
Girls who are vaccinated before age 16 have an 80 percent lower risk of cervical cancer.
November 24, 2025 at 1:10 AM
VACCINE NEWS: A pair of Cochrane Review papers provide the strongest evidence to date that the HPV vaccine is very safe and highly effective.
Girls who are vaccinated before age 16 have an 80 percent lower risk of cervical cancer.
Girls who are vaccinated before age 16 have an 80 percent lower risk of cervical cancer.
Reposted by Susan Smith
Profoundly beautiful account of the history of snow studies, the fragility of snow and the impact of the anthropocene by Sverker Sörlin.
Also an appeal for a different way of doing #science
Also an appeal for a different way of doing #science
November 23, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Profoundly beautiful account of the history of snow studies, the fragility of snow and the impact of the anthropocene by Sverker Sörlin.
Also an appeal for a different way of doing #science
Also an appeal for a different way of doing #science
Reposted by Susan Smith
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
Reposted by Susan Smith
Having Johnson & Cummings in Downing Street when Covid struck was, just like Brexit, an entirely avoidable disaster caused largely by utterly appalling journalism. And now exactly the same clowns, arses & bigots with bylines are rolling out the red carpet for Farage.
www.thetimes.com/article/1b15...
www.thetimes.com/article/1b15...
Covid inquiry live: ‘Inexcusable’ delays under Johnson led to 23,000 deaths
Lockdowns may have been avoided if Boris Johnson’s government had acted faster, damning report finds
www.thetimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Having Johnson & Cummings in Downing Street when Covid struck was, just like Brexit, an entirely avoidable disaster caused largely by utterly appalling journalism. And now exactly the same clowns, arses & bigots with bylines are rolling out the red carpet for Farage.
www.thetimes.com/article/1b15...
www.thetimes.com/article/1b15...
Reposted by Susan Smith
A reminder that seven years ago almost to the day, the CIA determined that Mohammed Bin Salman ordered the killing of @washingtonpost.com journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination
Audio recordings, intercepted phone calls and other intelligence link Mohammed bin Salman to killing that Saudis say was conducted by rogue elements.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM
A reminder that seven years ago almost to the day, the CIA determined that Mohammed Bin Salman ordered the killing of @washingtonpost.com journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
Reposted by Susan Smith
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Opinion | Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Reposted by Susan Smith
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc being the only human character in a film of Muppets is, and I’m trying not to be dramatic here, the reason cinema was invented in the first place!
Am I a hypocrite for wanting this after giving a hard no to muppet knives out
Okay, I'm making my case for the only Muppet I want to see on Broadway right now...
November 19, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc being the only human character in a film of Muppets is, and I’m trying not to be dramatic here, the reason cinema was invented in the first place!
Reposted by Susan Smith
- It is entirely legitimate for the Home Secretary to highlight the overt racism that she receives for taking part in public life.
- Everybody should oppose that racism against her, whatever their politics.
- But it is important to make several other points about this argument about racism.
- Everybody should oppose that racism against her, whatever their politics.
- But it is important to make several other points about this argument about racism.
November 17, 2025 at 11:02 PM
- It is entirely legitimate for the Home Secretary to highlight the overt racism that she receives for taking part in public life.
- Everybody should oppose that racism against her, whatever their politics.
- But it is important to make several other points about this argument about racism.
- Everybody should oppose that racism against her, whatever their politics.
- But it is important to make several other points about this argument about racism.
Reposted by Susan Smith
St Mary’s Haddington 🏴 has some remarkable medieval oak timbers in the nave roof. My #dendrochronology work there dated them to the early 1400s and revealed them as Baltic baulks from the Gdansk region.
#MedievalMonday
#MedievalMonday
November 17, 2025 at 8:20 AM
St Mary’s Haddington 🏴 has some remarkable medieval oak timbers in the nave roof. My #dendrochronology work there dated them to the early 1400s and revealed them as Baltic baulks from the Gdansk region.
#MedievalMonday
#MedievalMonday
Reposted by Susan Smith
Pretty unreported in the UK, I think - Japan and China relations are in a very bad way following "unhelpful" comments from the new Japanese PM about military deployments. Several Chinese companies due to attend the event I'm going to in Tokyo have withdrawn. More may follow. It's not good. At all.
November 17, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Pretty unreported in the UK, I think - Japan and China relations are in a very bad way following "unhelpful" comments from the new Japanese PM about military deployments. Several Chinese companies due to attend the event I'm going to in Tokyo have withdrawn. More may follow. It's not good. At all.
Reposted by Susan Smith
Steve had to get through college somehow.
November 15, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Steve had to get through college somehow.
Reposted by Susan Smith
They did say Portland was "war-ravaged"
November 15, 2025 at 5:22 AM
They did say Portland was "war-ravaged"
Reposted by Susan Smith
I’m not saying I won’t moan about it when the time comes to pay, but I think the Govt should raise my income tax because I am profoundly worried about the state of public services.
November 14, 2025 at 8:33 AM
I’m not saying I won’t moan about it when the time comes to pay, but I think the Govt should raise my income tax because I am profoundly worried about the state of public services.
Reposted by Susan Smith
🔉What dangers does X pose to our democracy? And should the government stop using it?
Good to hear yesterday from @sundersays.bsky.social and @petergeoghegan.bsky.social on the immense risk of X as it ignores legal obligations and its owner tries to influence UK politics.
@commonswec.parliament.uk
Good to hear yesterday from @sundersays.bsky.social and @petergeoghegan.bsky.social on the immense risk of X as it ignores legal obligations and its owner tries to influence UK politics.
@commonswec.parliament.uk
November 13, 2025 at 10:33 AM
🔉What dangers does X pose to our democracy? And should the government stop using it?
Good to hear yesterday from @sundersays.bsky.social and @petergeoghegan.bsky.social on the immense risk of X as it ignores legal obligations and its owner tries to influence UK politics.
@commonswec.parliament.uk
Good to hear yesterday from @sundersays.bsky.social and @petergeoghegan.bsky.social on the immense risk of X as it ignores legal obligations and its owner tries to influence UK politics.
@commonswec.parliament.uk
Reposted by Susan Smith
Please take a moment to appreciate this very, very small water sausage!
November 8, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Please take a moment to appreciate this very, very small water sausage!
Reposted by Susan Smith
I'm obliged for the nod.
The "Penrose Effect" seems to be a real thing - hypothesised in the 1930s and re-tested in the last decade or so:
Where you reduce your inpatient psychiatric provision, you'll see a correlated rise within 10yrs in prisons of seriously mentally ill prisoners.
The "Penrose Effect" seems to be a real thing - hypothesised in the 1930s and re-tested in the last decade or so:
Where you reduce your inpatient psychiatric provision, you'll see a correlated rise within 10yrs in prisons of seriously mentally ill prisoners.
November 9, 2025 at 11:37 AM
I'm obliged for the nod.
The "Penrose Effect" seems to be a real thing - hypothesised in the 1930s and re-tested in the last decade or so:
Where you reduce your inpatient psychiatric provision, you'll see a correlated rise within 10yrs in prisons of seriously mentally ill prisoners.
The "Penrose Effect" seems to be a real thing - hypothesised in the 1930s and re-tested in the last decade or so:
Where you reduce your inpatient psychiatric provision, you'll see a correlated rise within 10yrs in prisons of seriously mentally ill prisoners.
Reposted by Susan Smith
since chatgpt has coached another young person in a mental health crisis to their death, I am yet again tapping the sign
November 7, 2025 at 10:59 AM
since chatgpt has coached another young person in a mental health crisis to their death, I am yet again tapping the sign
Reposted by Susan Smith
BBC really burying the lede there
November 7, 2025 at 12:07 PM
BBC really burying the lede there