Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Flora Renz

QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 10h

Goldsmiths's VC is booted out??? GOLDSMITHS'S FRANCES CORNER IS OUT???

The 'with immediate effect' and these three sentences being the full extent of the webpage is quite revealing of just how much drama we're not being told about: www.gold.ac.uk/news/2025/vc...

👀 @goldsmithsucu.bsky.social #UKHE

screenshot from Goldsmith's webpage.
title: Professor Frances Corner OBE has stepped down with immediate effect as Vice-Chancellor of Goldsmiths.
text: Professor Corner will begin a period of research leave and will undertake existing commitments including her support of the University of London.

Professor David Oswell has been appointed as Interim Vice-Chancellor while a permanent leader of the university is recruited.
that's the full extent of the entire webpage, which is raising way more questions than it answers.

1 1 5

Reposted by Flora Renz

Senthorun S. Raj @senthorun.bsky.social · 19h

“Beyond privacy concerns, being forced to disclose sex assigned at birth may also significantly increase people’s vulnerability to harassment, abuse and even violence…”

The British government has pursued the erosion of trans rights. Letting people use spaces that align to their identity is basic.

Trans people at risk of exclusion from many UK public spaces, rights expert says

European Council commissioner voices concerns after April’s supreme court ruling on legal definition of a woman

www.theguardian.com

1 12 19

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 14h

To this day I do not understand how people I know and love dearly were raving about it when it was so very objectively dreadful

1

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 14h

It’s the first time I actually chucked a book across the room because it made me so mad (somewhere around the halfway mark I think). The definition of misery porn!

1

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 14h

Oh it’s fine, either way this has resolved it and I get a neat scar out of it

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 14h

Unfortunately I’ve been playing “is this skin cancer or my EDS being weird” but for some mystifying reason everyone so far has assumed it’s self inflicted 😂

2

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 14h

Well this is going to be a great look for my teaching this week!

A smiling white woman is doing a thumbs up gesture towards the camera. She has a very noticeable line of dark stitches under one eye

1 1

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 15h

Can’t wait for the new immigration rules to expect a 3 page analysis of a Shakespeare sonnet with every application

András Forgács W @andraswf.bsky.social · 17h

Well this will certainly do it www.gov.uk/government/n...

Migrants will be required to pass A Level standard of English

Migrants will be required to pass tough new English language requirements under a law introduced in Parliament today.

www.gov.uk

1

Reposted by Flora Renz

Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 20h

enjoyed every single one of those pictures:

Patriciajaydee @patriciajaydee.bsky.social · 1d

The rikishi are taking-in the town and doing what we all do when in London.
Seeing the sights, admiring the parks, shopping on High Street, taking tea at Fortnum's, using the olde phonebox, eating Chinese, and having a terrific time.

8 12 170

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 23h

Please form an orderly queue behind all the other things that will wipe us out

2

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 1d

What an achievement! I guess homeopathy is big there in general so it shouldn’t surprise me but it’s just so grim…

1 1

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 1d

The phrase “out homeopathic vet” has broken my brain

Bad Medical Takes @badmedicaltakes.bsky.social · 1d

Twitter user kikolara23: Do you intend to give your dog the new self-amplifying RNA rabies vaccine? 🤔

Dr. Sherri Tenpenny: "Our homeopathic vet... said the problem with it is all the side effects are exactly what you would see in a dog that has rabies."

1 3

Reposted by Flora Renz

LEX Network @lexnetwork.bsky.social · 1d

Open now! @flsjournal.bsky.social @fdelond.bsky.social @jonathanherring.bsky.social @drmarymcauliffe.bsky.social @ials.bsky.social @florarenz.bsky.social @mlafineman.bsky.social @sssh-research.bsky.social @sorchamcc.bsky.social

3 3

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 1d

Oh its both grim and pointless, unless of course the point is to drive everyone in a 50 mile radius absolutely nuts from the noise...

2

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 1d

I can't work out if that's better or worse than the 'rape alarms' being given out at student fairs...

1 2

Reposted by Flora Renz

Sylvia de Mars @sylviademars.me · 1d

Shoutout to strong humanities education. As the government bangs on about how we're not delivering enough on the "skills" agenda, we're over here yelling at young adults about why critical thinking and fact checking are existential, which should be a huge priority for any non-fascist government.

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 1d

There are no quick fixes. As a start on long term fixes I think we need political focus on the crisis, limits on the wealth & power of individuals, more regulation of social media & genAI, enforcement of laws on monopolies & mergers in media, strengthening of watchdogs, strong humanities education.

1 3 6

Reposted by Flora Renz

Camellia Tea Ceremony @camelliakyoto.bsky.social · 2d

🏊‍♂️🧢🏉SPORTS DAY🥏🥎🧗‍♂️

Happy 'Health and Sports Day' (体育の日 'Taiiku-no-hi')!🥳
As you might expect, we'll be celebrating with lashings of tea and sweets, and as the holiday commemorates the 1964 Tōkyō Olympics there's a subtle Olympic theme to today's offerings🏅

#体育の日 #healthandsportsday #olympics

A Japanese flag inspired sweet (the flag sits on a red bean paste with a thin layer of jelly covering the round confection).

One of my favourite tea bowls. Purchased for the Tokyo Olympics it depicts mice holding the Olympic rings. The pandemic delayed the Olympics, so in the end it didn't take place in the Year of the Rat.

Colourful macarons hinting at the Olympic rings.

A sumptuous lunch box filled with colourful seafood and vegetables.

2 11 44

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 1d

I can't see the phone charging points surviving for long but the clearly marked out wheelchair spaces look very handy!

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 2d

The DLR just got better.

54 brand new, state-of-the-art trains are rolling out over the next year - with more space, air con, phone charging points and improved accessibility.

3

Reposted by Flora Renz

Bouba's Delivery Service @fernmonkey.bsky.social · 3d

My friend Sascha is a professional musician and he's lost a viola bow on the way to Heathrow. Please signal boost to help him get it back.

Lost viola bow on the way from Honor Oak Station to Heathrow Terminal 2. The bow slid from its bow case somewhere along the way, possibly on the train. TFL contacted already.
It weighs 68.2 grams and has got a stamped DODD next to the frog. If any info on this, please pm me.

5 710 650

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 2d

The traditional angry German chicken

Bevis Musson @bevismusson.bsky.social · 3d

Mr Germany.
.
.
.
.
.
Oh god.....

A photo of a contestant at Mister Global 2025

4

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 2d

Follow up: “Shall we get another meeting in the diary for next month?”

C. Buckthorn @cbuckthorn.bsky.social · 2d

This is amazing. I laughed out loud www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

As 32-year-old Rich points out, though, "it's not like using ChatGPT guarantees success".
When he met someone in a bar one Friday night and swapped social media handles, he asked AI what his next move should be.
ChatGPT discerned that sending an initial message on Monday midmorning would set the right pace. "Then it gave me some options for what the message could be," says Rich.
"Keep it light, warm, and low-stakes so it reads as genuine interest without urgency," the bot advised. "Something like: Hey Sarah, still laughing about [tiny shared moment/reference if you've got one] - good to meet you!" Rich went back and forth with ChatGPT until he felt they'd hit upon exactly the right message ("Hey Sarah, it was lovely to meet you") but sadly she never replied, he says. "It's been two weeks now."

1 4

Reposted by Flora Renz

C. Buckthorn @cbuckthorn.bsky.social · 2d

This is amazing. I laughed out loud www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

170 770 4.2K

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 3d

That is so impressive!!

1

Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 3d

Well now I simply must know what ingredient the non-vegan tampons contain

Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 3d

I mean, this is really desperate shit, isn’t it? I am a great deal more woke-sceptic than pretty much all of Bluesky but I honestly can’t be bothered to care about the National Trust putting vegan tampons in the men’s toilets and neither should you

1 4

Reposted by Flora Renz

Dr Katie Twomey @k2mey.bsky.social · 3d

My local university and former employer, Lancaster, is opening a new campus in India *at the same time* as threatening UK staff with redundancies. How will the overseas campus work? How will the fees structure work? This can't be about anything other than money, and it smells very colonialist.

University World News @uniworldnews.bsky.social · 3d

During his visit to India this week UK PM Keir Starmer confirmed 2 more universities received approval to open new campuses there - a major expansion of UK #highered footprint in India, Brendan O'Malley reports
www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto...

Major expansion of UK universities’ footprint in India

United Kingdom Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed that two more universities have been given approval to open new campuses in India, under ...

www.universityworldnews.com

1 5 10