Alexander Thom

Well, he's not. Churchill knew that mollifying fascists only emboldens them.

I have seen a lot of cursed stuff in my time in academia but this is among the *most* cursed.
Grammarly is generating miniature LLMs based on academic work so that users can have their writing ‘reviewed’ by experts like David Abulafia, who died less than two months ago.

Venezuela without pushback.
Iran without pushback.

Greenland's next on the list.

Chatting to a colleague today about the possibility of a return to open book exams, albeit in an internet-less computer room.

What do my fellow Bluterati think?

Chapter 1 of Moby Dick, page 1 The phrase ‘Call me Ishmael’, the first sentence of the book, is highlighted in blue, with careful highlighting on the very big C at the start. Above this, written in ballpoint pen ‘His name’

Love the glimpse into the beautiful mind that notated this used copy of Moby Dick I got

Extra, extra! Big scaries not done yet!

Which of the three sorts is John?

Someone told me lately "Bluesky is just like Twitter." I argued that was untrue on the basis that last time I had a Twitter account most times I got a new follower their bio said "single & looking for fun" & here when I get a new follower it tends to say something like "professor of rare moths".

But… but is there *ANY* way this could be a woman’s fault…?

Pretty widely accepted by Shakespeare academics that this is Shakespeare.

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

Well, I'm looking at my cat, and he's at least five sorts.

Only three?

Rory Sutherland's doorman fallacy: a tech company convinces a hotel to replace their doormen with automatic doors for "efficiency", only to discover the doormen did much more than just open doors.

When it affects book sales and theatre tickets, cancel culture is an outrage. But when it involves shooting protestors, there's a sudden dearth of Harper's Bazaar petitions.

What did you think?

Er. Replied then realised I was spoilering for David!

It would take a sturdier man than I to argue with six exclamation points.

Not too mimsy. I read it three times, then discovered it's all based on a real gang of scalpers—and could never bear to read it again.

That's surprising to me. Why do you call it an action story, as opposed to literary?

It has the grandeur and mystery of Melville and Milton—it lacks their sense of human possibility.

The only potential McCarthy provides is the potential to get worse.

A book for our times.

The Moby-Dick of Westerns. Accept no substitutes.

Shooting someone in the head for driving near you, and then calling her 'fucking bitch', does not strike me as proportionate self-defence.

Things that are not relevant to that discussion: her sexuality; her home state; her politics; whether she was rude; whether her departure was unlawful.

Oxford is charming in the snow!

Stealworkers

SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE

We should take this as seriously as the CEO of Subway saying he couldn't imaginine raising a child without a footlong meatball on hearty Italian.

Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun (b.1558), Moorish Ambassador to Queen Elizabeth I, painted about 1600. (University of Birmingham Shakespeare Institute)

There is an English major writing for The Onion.

"If the democratic state does not wish to give itself up, then it must resort to intolerance toward the enemy of the constitution."

Jürgen Habermas, 2004.