Robert Marshall

I've signed this open letter. #CofEpeeps, lay or ordained, if you want the church to become more fully affirming of LGBTQ+ folks, please read this letter from Inclusive Church and consider signing it.
www.inclusive-church.org/llf-open-let...

With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.

Much enjoyed Coward's Present Laughter @madstheatre.org last night. Managed to persuade myself that wandering the <100m from home to the theatre in a dressing gown would have been a bad idea.

I’m sorry to add to our woes but my friend saw this

I'd been debating JD Bigot but maybe JD Knob sounds better!

Brilliant satirical cover from Private Eye, mocking spineless media organisations and journalists who submit and cower in the face of power 👏

3.2 amarok release blogs.kde.org/2024/12/29/a... definitely far harder to crash!

Garlic(!!) and bean pate at a flour water salt event

#classicalmusic

Open letter to William Nye, Archbishops’ Council’s Secretary General - Church Abuse With you at the helm, the Church of England has become a more dangerous place. It will not, and can not, improve its safeguarding with you at the helm.

A letter to William Nye (secretary of the Archbishops' council) by Gavin Drake churchabuse.uk/2024/11/18/o... #safeguarding

YouTube video by Diocese of Chester Julie Conalty

Julie Conalty (Bp Birkenhead) speaking on safeguarding at (well in a break at) Chester diocesan synod youtu.be/qTlP0PodSm8?...

Welsh Lib Dems leader under pressure after criticism over C of E abuse case Ed Davey says Jane Dodds should reflect on her position after failing to take action over allegations of abuse by late bishop of Chester

And the Pearl report on Whitsey now gets more coverage with the mishandling by Jane #Dodds www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Mouscron too!

A Brief History of Modern Art in Poetry 1. Impressionism Roses sway in softened reds, Violets swim in murky blues, Sugar sparkles in the light, Blurring into golden you. 2. Surrealism Roses are melting, Violets are too. Ceci n’est pas le sucre. Keith is a giant crab 3. Social Realism Roses are dead, Violence is rife. Don’t sugar coat This bitter life. 4. Abstract Expressionism Are and. Violets roses so. You sweet blue. Are are red is sugar 5. Pop Art Roses go BLAM! Violets go POW! Sugar is COOL! You are so WOW! 6. Conceptual Art Roses are red, Coated in blood: A deer’s severed head Drips from above 7. Pointillism Roses have black spot, You’re spotty, too. Sugar is granulated. I’m dotty for you 8. Minimalism

Today’s poem is called ‘A Brief History of Modern Art in Poetry’.

Candidate for C of E panel to choose Welby successor knew about John Smyth’s abuse Report says General Synod member Rev Andrew Cornes was told of Smyth’s abuse in 1982 but failed to act

It is unthinkable that someone named for failing to report Smyth’s abuse for 40 years should sit on the committee who selected the replacement of the Archbishop who resigned as a result of that failure www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...

Thomas Kurtz, Co-Creator of Computer Language Basic, Dies at 96 Thomas E. Kurtz, a Dartmouth College professor who co-created the novice-friendly computer code known as Basic during the 1960s and helped make it the industry standard for programmers during the rise...

10 STOP REM www.bloomberg.com/news/article... I was using it in 1976, last used in '85?

We have used Twitter – now X – for many years. It has been a resource for story-gathering, network-building, and a megaphone for getting public-interest stories to a wider audience. And it has been a well of ideas and discourse. Unfortunately that well is now poisoned. All of us have seen X become more toxic and broken since Elon Musk took over in 2022. Feeds have become less useful. Engagement has plummeted, except for those who will pay. Replies gain traction not through merit, but through the corrupted blue-tick system. We have seen hate speech and abuse deliberately dialled up and amplified, boosted not just by the algorithm, but by the owner himself. And England’s racist summer riots were one of many factors suggesting to us that X is not a neutral platform, but a space that now seems to glorify misinformation at a great cost to our public sphere. Millions of people are ditching X, and we are doing so, too. We have taken the view that it is no longer a useful tool for objective reporting, but a weapon being wielded by a narrowing ideological set. A tipping point is coming. Perhaps we are already in it. After much consideration, we have taken the decision to move over to other platforms, in particular Bluesky. For some of us that means instantly deleting our X accounts, for others it is a more gradual process. But we are all putting the majority of our efforts into building more constructive online spaces elsewhere for political dialogue and reporting. Bluesky is becoming a new hub for political discussion, and we encourage other UK journalists to join and become active. We are already seeing far higher engagement on our posts there than we’ve seen recently on X. And importantly, the mechanisms to limit abuse actually work. We enjoyed Twitter while it lasted. It played an important role in shaping many of our careers. And it was, for a long time, the place to be for UK politics. We believe that time is now over. Twitter is dead. Long live Twitter

NEW: "Moving Off X: An Open Letter from UK Journalists"

UK political journalists: "Twitter was, for a long time, the place to be for UK politics. We believe that time is now over...

"We have taken the decision to move over to other platforms, in particular Bluesky" docs.google.com/document/d/1...

So what loon are the felon and the #mElon going to appoint today? #RFK (I am still, just about, @rajm on twitter)