David O'Flaherty

I wish that I could go.

The boundary line cut through the mortuary that was behind St. Leonard's! :)

‘It was not in his nature to do anything by halves:’ Mary Booth on her husband’s work. No lie detected. I run a course that demystifies Charles Booth’s massive Life & Labour survey and the accompanying Poverty Map.
Starts Tue 13 Jan at the Mary Ward Centre, nr Stratford High St DLR short.do/wLa3Vc

Saw this!

Every book of history involving original research should be accompanied by a 2nd vol where the historian relates the false starts, twists & turns etc the research took before it finally got its ultimate framing/shape. Not only is this fascinating it’s also fundamental to the historian’s craft(ing).

Stephen Miller Tears Up As Son Says First 14 Words

"Stephen Miller Tears Up as Son Says First 14 Words."

DOJ Removes All Mentions Of Justice From Website WASHINGTON—In the latest of a series of escalations in President Donald Trump’s highly publicized war on “woke,” the U.S. Department of Justice reportedly removed all mentions of justice from its webs...

Brilliant satire @theonion.com:
“Attorney General Pam Bondi directed her department to comb through all its articles, images, videos, and social media posts to remove any ‘un-American, leftist propaganda’ related to upholding the rule of law, keeping the nation safe, or protecting citizen’s rights”

Ambient Reading ‘The swing-doors swung open; and there one stood under the vast dome.’ IN THE 1830s, the Italian political dissident Antonio Panizzi became Keeper of Printed Books at the British Museum…

Book historian Bill Bell's latest blog post is a meditation on the liberating experience of the British Museum Reading Room. crusoesbooks.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/a... #bookhistory

So you find yourself doomscrolling through Bluesky and feeling more and more downhearted and then up pops an engrossing thread that a fave scholar has taken the trouble to put together and suddenly the world looks a little brighter. Thanks, @peteorford.bsky.social!

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.

Goats on guard to protect North York Moors Roman trail An illustrated trail is open to the public at Cawthorn Roman Camps in the North York Moors.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #romans

A green representation of a fat, round frog that looks like it's about to say something sarcastic.

That's sort of like my backyard, which has lots of frog statues that the previous owner left behind. Real frogs pass through on their way to the next pond (I suppose). No penal code that I'm aware of but maybe I should look closer.

Cover of How to Write a Thesis by Umberto Eco. Author sits at his desk, stacked with books, a push-button phone, and a pipe in his mouth.

A reviewer bagged on Eco for looking pretentious on this cover, but his pipe is a corncob, not very grandiose imo.

Mural of Statue of Liberty in shame unveiled in France the day before 4th of July

I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.

This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.

It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.

‘I’m an American, Bro!’: Latinos Report Raids in Which U.S. Citizenship Is Questioned

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/15/u...

Paris Can Be Intimidating—But It Has Great Butter A conversation with Caity Weaver about following Mark Twain there

If you've been to Paris, is it true about the butter?

Opinion | Really, Secretary Rubio? I’m Lying About the Kids Dying Under Trump?

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/31/o...

Celebrate Pride With Us Pride is power. Joining us in raising our flag high and making it clear - These Colors Don’t Run.

Happy Pride Month!

Police Code 1889 is great, isn't it? I like the part about the orange peels in particular.

Hardback copy of Written on the Dark by Guy Gavriel Kay. Illustration is a night scene lit with a blue light beneath an enormous full moon. I have the sense that it's very late at night. A cloaked figure on horseback traverses a stone arch bridge over a river. A medium fog floats in the air. In the left background is the edge of a castle or keep topped with crenellations. The briar pipe is Danish, a 2019 Nording nose. A red and black finish complements the grain of the wood.

New book by my favorite novelist and new pipe!

🎼 'Gather round while I sing you of Wernher Von Braun,
A man whose allegiance was ruled by expedience.
Call him a Nazi, he won't even frown,
"Ha, Nazi, Schmazi," says Wernher von Braun...'

Today is release day.

Cover of Julia Margaret Cameron's Women, featuring Julia Jackson staring back at us, taking us in as much as we take her.

Marie Spartali 1870, her gaze directed downwards, seems lost in thought, as slightly out of focus as the image is.

Bought this book at an exhibition at The Art Institute back in the 90s. I don't think I've seen it since until today. I like Marie Spartali here from 1870 as she looks lost in thought.

None of them have any idea what the Librarian of Congress does. For example, there’s no children’s section because it’s a research library.

It's important to understand the position of the US government in this case. They are arguing no court can have habeas corpus jurisdiction while they are randomly moving political prisoners about the country.

These are the actions of a secret police. These are the actions of a Gestapo.