Finbarr O'Reilly

Hundreds sign petition against Cornwall solar farm plans Residents say the plan, equivalent to 69 football pitches, is inappropriate for the Lanreath area.

Hundreds sign petition to submerge Cornish coastline
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Waterstones opens 10 new stores a year as younger adults embrace reading Bookshop chain says people are keen to escape their screens and says rise in sales is partly down to BookTok

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

Chart showing Russian drone and missile attacks spiking after Trump’s election

This is what Trump’s election meant for Ukraine:

James O'Brien Daily Daily News Podcast · Updated daily · Welcome to the best bits of James O'Brien's LBC phone-in show. Listen back to all the highlights in a 60-minute bite sized chunk of his show with new episodes ever...

One way to understand the awfulness of what Trump is doing is to imagine FDR trying to ‘negotiate a ceasefire’ with Hitler in 1942 but with Churchill completely excluded. tinyurl.com/4rrn2mkx

And here it is! Our Edge-Lit schedule is now hot off the press, with stacks of panels, interviews and workshops on the day! www.derbyquad.co.uk/events/edgel...

Why the SF Canon Doesn’t Exist As is periodically the case in the SFF community, we’re once more in the midst of a conversation about “the classics.” If you’re reading this now, it doesn’t actually …

Apropos of yesterday's conversation about the classics and whether you should read them:

A few years ago, I wrote a piece arguing that SF doesn't have a Canon.

I have quibbles with myself now, but I think it still mostly holds or is compelling. Anywho.

shaunduke.net/2022/02/whyt...

Say what you like about the British Royal family, but when one of them was accused of sexually assaulting a minor trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, they didn't impose martial law in London.

What kicked off the canon wars this time around?

"With all due respect sir, I believe this is going to be our finest hour."

All that work, all those billions of dollars, and they’ve created Marvin The Paranoid Android.

Cover of Best of British Science Fiction without authors

Here we go!

www.bestofbritishsciencefiction.co.uk/2025/08/seek...

Tom the Dancing Bug The True, Top-Secret Story of President Donald Trump

This week's Tom the Dancing Bug comic now up on @contrariannews.org
-
contrarian.substack.com/p/tom-the-da...

She really is the pits. What happens to people like her and Linehan? Live your life, you weirdos

Rupert Lowe reports charity rowers to coastguard as possible ‘illegal migrants’ MP agrees to donate £1,000 to crew’s fundraising effort after alerting authorities to their boat off Great Yarmouth

Rupert Lowe-IQ, more like. It would be funny, if weren't so chilling. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I hope you're right. F4 hasn't made the local cinema yet, but Superman definitely leaned into it. Morally black and white, but in fun technicolour. Hopefully no return to Avengers-style writing where the biggest stakes were always personal, just so the fashy audience segment can't claim offence.

Wait till these creepy weirdos find out that some gynaecologists are men.

Saw Superman with the kids tonight. Very enjoyable and funny. Aliens are good. People who can literally transition into other things are good. Billionaires are dicks. Supposed patriots who hide behind masks are dicks.

"Artificial Intelligence will have an impact ten times greater than that of the Industrial Revolution," says somebody whose only knowledge of the Industrial Revolution must come from Artificial Intelligence.

"Bullwinkle, is that you?"

Eye test failed?

Cartoon by Stephen Collins - here's the script: 1 [Title panel] Changes to our Airport Drop Off Fees 2 Please note from August 2nd we will be charging a Dropping Mum Off At The Airport fee of £6.00 3 Please note from August 3rd we will be charging a Dropping Mum Off By Drone fee of £6.50 4 Please note from August 4th we will be charging a Firing Mum At The Airport From A Cannon fee of £7.00 5 Please note from August 5th we will be charging a Get Mum To Start Tunnelling To The Airport Four Years Before Her Holiday fee of £7.50 6 Please note from August 6th we will be charging a Getting Mum Bitten By A Vampire Show She Can Fly In As A Bat fee of £8.00 7 Please note from August 8th we will be charging a Dressing Mum Up As A Pilot And Dropping Her Off In A 747 So It Just Looks Like We Took A Wrong Turn fee of £8.50 8 Please note from August 9th we will be charging a Blowing Up The Fence And Telling Mum To Run Mum For God’s Sake Run fee of £9.00 9 [Show a couple Man and Woman doing this - a hole blown in the airport fence, while they shout at Mum]: Man: RUN MUM FOR GOD’S SAKE RUUUUN 10 [pause as they watch her running across the runways] 11 Man: THAT’S IT MUM. UP THE LANDING GEAR. 12 Woman [Looking at a drop off charges sign]: Oh they’re charging for this now Man: You’re joking [Police arrive in background to arrest them] [Ends]

Tom Gauld on the doubts surrounding an inspirational tale – cartoon Well, well, well …

Very good. www.theguardian.com/books/pictur...

The cover of ParSec 14, a monochrome picture of the moon with moondust falling from it and a hand reaching out to catch the falling dust

I have a story in the new issue of ParSec magazine; a europe story, but not a Europe story. First magazine sale since the roaring days of Sci Fiction, so I’m a bit rusty.
It’s available here:

pspublishing.co.uk/parsec-digit...

The same thing winds me up with bs nationalist stereotypes. "British values", "American spirit of independence", "Australian sense of fair play" etc.

Reform-led Durham County Council scraps diversity training Durham County Council removes equality, diversity, inclusion and climate change training modules.

Can't think why people in this picture would need diversity training
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

F.C.C. Approves Skydance’s $8 Billion Merger With Paramount

"Quick, before someone in the White House watches the South Park episode that flatters Trump's penis" www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/b...

An animated giant red Satan sits topless in bed with a naked Donald Trump, who has a tiny penis

The response to this is going to be funnier than the show itself, but I'm sure that's how Parker and Stone planned it.

A headline screen grab from Venturebeat. In white text on a blue background, it reads "Anthropic researchers discover the weird AI problem: Why thinking longer makes models dumber"

Not as funny as 'Eat It' or 'Smells like Nirvana'.