Michael ᚋᚔᚉᚆᚓᚐᚂ

The forgotten medieval habit of 'two sleeps' For millennia, people slept in two shifts – once in the evening, and once in the morning. But why? And how did the habit disappear?

Doomscrolling break...

This is fascinating stuff

Humans used to have 2 sleeps (biphasic)

It's normal to wake up in the middle of the night!

Our sleep patterns changed during the industrial revolution, because of artificial light and our working hours

Research by Professor Roger Ekirch

"Down this road they came"

What a monumental series. I have rewatched it countless times.

Reform UK, the Russian spy and rolls of Kremlin cash: the inside story of Nathan Gill How did a former Mormon bishop end up pleading guilty to taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia in the European parliament?

I knew Gill and Farage and the rest of the UKIP crew in the European Parliament

They were crooks and shysters to a man

They repeated Putin talking points and appeared on Russia Today

UKIP then and Reform now are both a threat to our democracy

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

I'm nearly finished reading the @barristersecret.bsky.social 's excellent book on the state of the criminal justice system. So many of the problems are directly attributable to the coalition government privatising and cutting everything.

Utter vandals.

Hannan and Frost in the Telegraph.
Sunak in the Times.
Kwasi Kwarteng in the iPaper.
Johnson in the Mail.
Gove editing the Spectator.
Farage everywhere.
All of them shamelessly honking out their ‘Listen to me!’ garbage, as the country flails around in the unbelievable mess they’ve made.
Nauseating.

CCTV catches moment intruder torched asylum centre housing children Gardai have rebranded attack in Drogheda as a potential attempted murder after camera footage was released

This is worse than even the initial reports and statement from the Justice Minister suggested.

www.thetimes.com/world/irelan...

The men who raised the flags Nigel Farage says this summer’s movement was led by ‘ordinary people’ expressing their patriotism. That’s not what we found

"it is striking how many of the key players we have looked into — the people who have gone out of their way to put up hundreds of flags — seem anything but ordinary."

manchestermill.co.uk/the-men-who-...

We are on the cusp of eradicating cervical cancer, and significantly reducing penile, anal and some head and neck cancers. These are cancers that kill young adults, and it’s a tragedy. Those who spread anti-vax disinformation are killing their children.

Spot on

Klare taal!

YouTube video by More Perfect Union Health insurance costs the same as your rent now??? | ft. @Kaburbank

Terrifying

youtube.com/shorts/1KVmM...

Man, 80s, dies after being struck by car in Co Galway A man in his 80s has died after he was struck by a car on the N83 in Co Galway last night.

A man in his 80s has died after he was struck by a car on the N83 in Co Galway last night.

I wonder how many other IDs like 'skinheadlad1488' conceal such outwardly respectable figures? And vice versa, no doubt.

Unbelievably tragic piece about all the crossing guards injured or killed on the job in the US.

One school district in South Carolina has had 4(!) crossing guards hit or killed on the job.

These are people trying to fix the problems caused caused by traffic engineers, and are dying doing it.

‘The money machine is misfiring’: City blames Brexit for UK’s £20bn productivity headache Poor output since the leave vote has landed Rachel Reeves with a bigger-than-forecast budget spending gap

City blames Brexit for UK’s £20bn productivity headache

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

These people are insane.

Imagine that.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/u...

Dominic Cummings Lobbied Officials to Hand 'Test and Trace' Contracts to Palantir After Secret Meeting With Peter Thiel Exclusive: Boris Johnson's senior advisor pushed for Covid contracts to be handed to companies run by Trump-supporting tech billionaires Peter Thiel and Larry Ellison

Dominic Cummings pushed for Covid tech contracts to be handed to a company run by a Trump-supporting billionaire after holding a secret meeting with him alongside Boris Johnson.

Officials were lobbied to ignore official procedures and bypass ministers in order to get the contracts signed

Posting a photo of Ceausescu’s bathroom for no apparent reason.

Especially as a cyclist or motorcyclist you learn to test these first before believing them.

Debate over changing 'Prince Andrew' place names in NI Calls to change "Prince Andrew" place names and street signs have intensified after Britain's King Charles's brother was stripped of his titles.

Calls to change "Prince Andrew" place names and street signs have intensified after Britain's King Charles's brother was stripped of his titles.

I am calling on the Irish government to learn the lessons from our peer countries and implement a default 30km/h speed limit in all built up areas, as previously promised. Lives depend on it. #SpeirGorm #Love30

Helsinki goes a full year without a traffic death A city traffic engineer credits the success to lower speed limits and smarter design.

Helsinki goes a full year without a traffic death, largely by upgrading pedestrian and cycling infrastructure and reducing speed limits to 30kmph, via @semafor.com yle.fi/a/74-20174831

Great read from @iandunt.bsky.social on whether Starmer should stay or go, including the mystery of how, if you’re launching a popular climate, energy, and growth strategy, why wouldn’t you stage a press conference on it?
iandunt.substack.com/p/a-world-wi...

Billie Eilish Calls on Billionaires to Support People in Need: 'No Hate, But Give Your Money Away' Billie Eilish donates $11.5 million from 'Hit Me Hard and Soft' tour to charity and calls on billionaires to support people in need during hard times.

I don't see a lot of people talking about this, so I want to highlight something GOOD

Billie Eilish stood in a room full of billionaires and said "you're billionaires... Why?"

She donated 11.5 MILLION DOLLARS to food equity and climate orgs, which Stephen Colbert announced to said billionaires.

This is fucking amazing

.

Some local councils might want to be having second thoughts about some street names.

“Check out my beautiful demolition job Bibi!”

From the new Private Eye, out now.

Another big factor for the UK is its slide down the income rankings.

Would-be migrants want to join a dynamic economy with the promise of high and rising wages.

The UK used to fit that bill, but Britain’s top salaries are now well down the list.

Are Britain and the US losing their allure for top talent? Open hostility and high visa fees are a risky bet amid intensifying competition for the world’s brightest and best

With more and more countries pursuing policies aimed at attracting the most highly skilled workers, the UK and US need to realise that perceptions also matter, and — in the UK’s case — that this is just one more area where a bit of economic growth would help.

My column: www.ft.com/content/d70c...