Richard King

flu vaccinations. In due course, likely within the next two weeks, we will be having our Covid boosters, at our local pharmacy. Such precautions are even more importance now that, West of the Pond may become a breeding ground for diseases, given the way the Country is being run. /2

Unlike the USA in its current Administration’s mad health paroxysms, vaccinations in the UK are encouraged and for encouraged and for those of us who qualify via age, or otherwise, are free, on the NHS. Hence my wife and I attending our local Health centre today for our annual /1

Crashed on my sofa after a week with the orange Thing, and looking for something to binge.
Out of ideas. Anyone?
#followerpower

The tall moss-covered trees of the Lovers Lane trail in Olympic National Park

“What is a plant without a means to communicate? A husk. And without conversation, a forest is not a forest.”

THE LIGHT EATERS, by Zoë Schlanger

#SundaySentence #naturewriting

Martha Spurrier: Proscribing Palestine Action is a dangerous shift in the law More than 20 years ago, ministers promised they wouldn’t use the Terrorism Act to target direct action. But if the powers to suppress dissent are there, it’s only a matter of time before the state use...

This is a very good short piece at @goodlawproject.bsky.social on the (mis?)application of terrorism law with Palestine Action: goodlawproject.org/martha-spurr...

My piece on same issue at @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...

Tories were terrified of the same blowhard with precisely zero seats 12 years ago, and now look at the mess we're in.

Clearly no lessons have been learned.

This past week with the idiocy of Rayner throwing away her job by being stupid about tax, the complete stupidity of the Mandelson appointment, and now the silence in the face of fascist rallies and incitement from Musk and Robinson... I'm feeling despair at where we are & fear at where we are going

They must be able to criticise Tommy Robinson fascism or we're completely lost. This isn't even Farage we're talking about here. Goddamn them for even needing to hear that.

100k or more marching for a violent racist, the head of X live-streamed in to incite a violent overthrow of the government. And that same government can't find in itself the decency or even the instinct for self preservation to call this out. I despair.

Musk is inciting violence on London's streets.Tommy Robinson is financed by US tech bros. These are all very direct attempts to destabilise the British state.

Starmer needs to stand up to this. A government that doesn't defend its country's values against these blatant attacks is not doing its job.

Federal Reserve Board Member Lisa Cook:

“I will not resign."

‘A dangerous moment’: the emboldening of Britain’s far right In a summer of anti-migrant rallies, flags and nationalistic rhetoric, observers warn there is a lack of government voices pushing back

Had two weeks away with all social media deleted. Worst summer I can remember for cess pit stories.

This weekend read from Esther Addley sums up how far British politics has shifted www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

Farage’s plan to deport thousands of asylum seekers draws scorn from legal experts Reform UK leader told scheme is ‘simply not rooted in reality’ after he dodges questions on how it would work

Obviously it's my paper, but this is more like how Farage's delusional fantasy immigration plans should be reported, no? Not the abject copy-paste bollox of some who shall remain nameless but should know better

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The Convention and the Kingdom Cambridge Core - Socio-Legal Studies - The Convention and the Kingdom

Wiebe Hommes' new book - on the ECHR's reception in the Netherlands - is out

www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...

What could be done in practice with a Reform majority in the House of Commons would have no constitutional limits, short of either refusal of Royal Assent to a Bill or the courts impugning the sovereignty of parliament.

"The world can tell the difference now between a war being waged for the survival of the Jewish state and a war being waged for the political survival of its prime minister."

Dear Mr Farage Welcome to Oxfordshire. You came here to talk about “mass deportations” but made no effort to understand the people or challenges of this community. Your proposals offer no costed plan. Daily flights, new detention centres and vast surveillance systems would cost billions. Empty slogans are not a substitute for serious policy. It did not go unnoticed that you spoke just minutes from Campsfield House, where a detention centre is being rebuilt despite local opposition and past scandals. Yet you chose not to meet residents living with those consequences. You often invoke Winston Churchill, born here in Oxfordshire. He spent his career grappling with difficult truths and forging alliances in our national interest. Instead of sowing division, we should build on that legacy. Our immigration system is broken after years of Government failure. It needs urgent, practical reform: fair, managed migration to meet workforce shortages, a faster asylum system and support for those fleeing war and persecution. That requires cooperation and honesty, not division. If you return, I would be glad to show you Oxfordshire’s real story: businesses thriving thanks to home and overseas talent, health and care services desperate for staff and residents supporting refugees with compassion. You would see a community interested in solving problems, not fuelling conflict. Yours sincerely Calum Miller MP

I have written to Nigel Farage in response to his visit to my constituency of Bicester and Woodstock today.

Yes, it does seem to go quickly, although I hope that I have a few more years left of this one, and at least see Anna’s time through University, although there are many other things I wish to do, including writing and publishing a sequel to my autobiographical book. /2

Our son, Tim, was 50, earlier this year, and seemed to both acknowledge it and be celebrating it with a degree of reluctance. Jo and I have bee together for fifty-five years, married for fifty-three years, and, last month our eldest granddaughter, Anna, passed her driving test. /1

The mathematics of the perfect penalty shootout Professional footballers sometimes use a mathematical strategy to help them score a penalty, or save one – and it all comes down to randomness.

With penalties grabbing the headlines in the later stages of the women’s Euros I ask
“Can mathematics help players determine how they should take their penalties and what can they do to make it more likely that they hit the back of the net?”

#Lionesses
www.bbc.com/future/a...

Maurice Cerullo was a showman, so was James Randi. A certain type a theistic religious types followed the former, and probably still do, a certain type of scientistic religious types followed the latter and certainly still do. Much as the pair of them seemed to believe that they knew what /1

Interesting. I am not at my laptop at the moment, and am not as flexible on my phone. I will try to have a look when I get home.

Having only very recently got around to joining BlueSky, though had intended to for some time, that is really good news.

Probably. Emojis are one of the things I have not caught up with, yet.

That bad?

Thank you.

Thank you. That looks like a very useful “welcome present”. I have copied and pasted it for reference.

Thank you for the welcome.
Going by what you have posted on your BlueSky account, our social and political leanings are likely fairly similar.#

Engineering Degree, then back to Brunel University in 1974 for my Masters. Others I followed migrated from what Twitter had become, so, belatedly, I joined them. I need to get back to my own Blog, as well as other writing matters, including, hopefully, a follow up to my autobiographical book. /2

Thank you. I followed you and several others on Twitter, when it was Twitter, as well as reading some of your Blogs. I went to N.E. Essex Technical College, HND Student at Paxmans, Colchester, in 1960s, then to Brunel, one of the other new University in those years, along with Essex, for my /1