Sally Drayton

Right wing media has had it in for Angela Rayner from the start - they couldn’t bear a working class woman being so powerful & dynamic. She made a mistake and has paid heavily for it. Very much hope she’ll return at some point in the future - our politics desperately needs more voices like hers

Angela Rayner accidentally pays less tax than she should have, resigns, and the media gives her hell.

Nigel Farage deliberately pays less tax than he should have, and the media gives him a free pass.

That, right there, is the problem.

Out for a walk yesterday and took the opportunity to check out the tribute to @nedboulting.bsky.social in my neighbourhood. Chapeau to the minds behind this!

Sausages and cheese, German supermarket

the scenario we all feared

46 years ago today, @jonsavage.bsky.social reviewed Joy Division's "Unknown Pleasures" for the Melody Maker (21 July 1979).
#JoyDivision @robertrotifer.bsky.social

London South Bank hires PwC’s Paul Kett as next vice-chancellor Former director general in the Department for Education joins university that also runs schools and colleges

London South Bank University has opted for a non-academic vice-chancellor as its next leader, hiring Paul Kett from PwC, reports @twilliamsthe.bsky.social
#AcademicSky

At a festival in the West Country - no, not the Pilton pop festival (as we locals called it when I was growing up) but the Chalke History Festival where husband is giving a talk this evening. Currently enjoying the hospitality of the Green Room. Lovely day for it ☀️☀️☀️🕶️

Professor Goodwin goes to London Or: The Heart of Darkness 2

“Fifty years ago no one was mugged for their iPhone. That’s Sadiq Khan’s London for you”

A brilliant piece to make you laugh when there’s not much to laugh about.

open.substack.com/pub/davidaar...

😱

Summer solstice When - and what - is the summer solstice? Understand the science behind the solstice with Royal Observatory Greenwich

Only a few hours to go until the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere - it's at 03.42 BST (02.42 GMT) on Saturday 21 June. So yes, the middle of the night, and the 21st is the longest day of the year. Happy Summer (Winter for southerners) Solstice everyone!

www.rmg.co.uk/storie...

30 years since Jagged Little Pill - crazy!

Graphs showing 25 years of budgets for the National Institute of Health, NASA, and the NSF. In all cases, the proposed budget for next year is far, far below any year of the previous quarter century.

There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.

Close call today but my Wordle streak continues!

Wordle 1,354 6/6

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There is a striking contrast between the reporting of the Trump-Vance-Zelensky clash on #Channel4News and the BBC. Channel 4's Lindsey Hilsum was more accurate with her judgments of "performative bullying" and "humiliation".

Word of the day is ‘huff-snuff’ (16th century): a hectoring bully or braggart.

Late reply but looks like I only took a video of the catch, which I can’t upload here. Have a screenshot!

It’s been beautifully bright for the last few days, and literally freezing, but there’s a change on the way so I grabbed an afternoon walk by the water to get some rays. Was a bit surprised to see someone walking on the ice (pic 2) - I would definitely not risk that!

Top five grumpy notes written by the father of evolutionary biology, naturalist, and humanist Charles Darwin. #DarwinDay

I once saw a heron eat a rat in the river near Lewisham centre. Swallowed it whole!

Grey day, grey heron in Ladywell Fields.

🧐🤪

What is socialism, if not the state owning the memes of production

The New Rasputins Anti-science mysticism is enabling autocracy around the globe.

Brilliant, as always from @anneapplebaum.bsky.social on the New Obscurantism.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Scenes from a cold (-6 C) twilight walk.

Back to Narnia - for a few days at least.

They've ennobled furious gonad Toby Young, who demanded the Tories launch his money-saving Free Schools idea, then took 9 years to submit accounts, which proved his money-saving idea cost 10x as much as the system it replaced.

Louisiana forbids public health workers from promoting COVID, flu and mpox shots An NPR investigation found Louisiana health officials told staff to stop promoting vaccines for COVID, flu and mpox, holding flu shot events or otherwise encouraging the public to get those vaccines.

The US is heading for an even greater healthcare crisis if things like this continue to catch on.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Tree silhouettes on my afternoon (2:45) run. I’ll welcome the winter solstice tomorrow but in these northern latitudes it will still feel like a long drag until longer days.

For the lichen lovers: pictures from yesterday’s cold, sleety but rather lovely run by the water out to the Baltic.