Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 1d

As an Alexander, this is news to me.

Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 1d

Once you have over a certain amount of characters in the book, you need to put one of those character lists at the start like Ferrante does. At least an index that tells you the first page they were mentioned. Pg. 300 reference to a character you briefly mentioned on pg. 21? You're killing me here.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 2d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 1d

Cafe near the office has celebrity quotes along the window and I feel like there’s a real vibe shift by the time you get to the third one.

Live for today, plan for tomorrow, party tonight. - Drake

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. - John Lennon

Best place for the ultimate fry up - Gordon Ramsay.

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Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 5d

Double whammy of this is how awful and aggressive council tax debt collection can be. If you miss one payment, you can quickly become liable for the full year's worth of council tax. Councils often use bailiffs to collect this debt, which then adds court costs and bailiff fees to the debt.

Resolution Foundation @resfoundation.bsky.social · 5d

Council Tax arrears in England increased during the pandemic.

Arrears continued to rise during the cost of living crisis - with £445 million added to England’s stock of arrears between 2023-24 and 2024-25. This is much greater than the rise seen after the financial crisis.

Chart showing real-terms stock of Council Tax arrears at fiscal year-end: England
Total Council Tax arrears in England in 2024-25 stood at £6.7 billion in today’s prices, a 48 per cent real-terms increase since 2019-20

Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 6d

A reminder that we're only just out of a 16-year real pay crisis.

Real average weekly pay (pay once you take inflation into account) only returned to it's 2008 level last year. Even now, we're only £9p/w above it.

Real weekly pay would be £298 higher if it had grown at pre-crisis rates since 2008.

Chart showing real average weekly wages since Jan 2000. Described in post.

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

Reposted by Alex Collinson

Andrew Fisher @fisherandrew79.bsky.social · 7d

Asking people to pay for goods would kill the shoplifting industry ...

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

buff.ly

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Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 8d

Seen this report referenced as evidence of a wealth exodus again this morning, this time in The Independent. Shocking that journalists continue to use them given that they're widely discredited.

Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · Jul 29

Good to see more scrutiny of these numbers, but why weren't the journalists & newspapers using them for sensationalist headlines asking these questions before publishing?

Also odd to pretend these are new doubts - The Londoner published the same concerns in early May. www.ft.com/content/28eb...

Doubt cast on widely quoted millionaire migration numbers

Report published in association with Henley & Partners criticised for use of LinkedIn data and definition of ‘private wealth’

www.ft.com

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Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 9d

Reading Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin

Viral tweet “dudes can literally just sit around and name old football players and just have the best time” but “dudes” is replaced with food writers and “old football players” is replaced with “meals they’ve eaten”

Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 9d

Considered putting in iPlayer requests

Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 9d

Guy in the pub watching, full volume, the Gary Neville hosted episode of Have I Got News For You from 2022.

Renters' Right Bill: 'I've sold my flat before new bill becomes law'

Reposted by Alex Collinson

Tax Justice UK @taxjusticeuk.bsky.social · 17d

… TUC commissioned polling found huge support for a package of taxes on wealth to invest in our local services, our NHS and more.

Also huge support for a gambling levy, a windfall tax on banks, a 2% annual wealth tax, and for modernising our tax system to be more progressive.

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Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 21d

Does it?

Screenshot from guardian review:
It sounds like the setup to a joke: a viral author and a global virus walk into a novel.

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Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 22d

A bit intense for the side of a takeaway coffee cup.

Coffee cup that says “you deserve absolutely everything you’ve ever dreamt of”

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Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 26d

sadly can't remember the details, but I swear there's quite a few ex-indie band members among the left wing think tank community

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Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · 28d

This article a good summary of the rental market: it's all about a landlord being so scared of the changes they've sold 1 of their 9 flats, then about two-thirds in you finally hear from a renter who hopes the changes will stop her & her child being made homeless again. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Patricia sells one of her properties in London, saying landlords are

www.bbc.co.uk

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Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · Sep 15

Visited a place called Par last week and the local hairdressers was called Parsnip.

Reposted by Alex Collinson

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Sep 3

Wealth tax needed to help working people and avoid threat from Reform, says union chief

Exclusive: Paul Novak says Rachel Reeves should ‘stay the course’ on plans for investment Rachel Reeves should bring in wealth taxes at the autumn budget to deliver the change promised by Labour at the election and battle the rising threat from Reform, the UK’s most senior union chief has said. Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), urged the chancellor to “stay the course” on her plans to invest in the country, adding that the government should not be afraid of adopting “a little bit” of economic leftwing populism. Continue reading...

Food inflation at 4.2% this month, with prices increasing at fastest pace for 18 months, says British Retail Consortium A “significant” jump in the cost of grocery staples such as eggs and butter is stoking food inflation, according to data pointing to a renewed cost of living squeeze. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said prices had risen at their fastest pace for 18 months, with food inflation hitting 4.2% this month. This was up from 4% in July and the highest reading since February 2024, according to its monthly shop price monitor. Continue reading...

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Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · Aug 26

Food prices rising again, and not sure it's stated enough how steep the recent rises have been.

Over past four years, food and drink prices have gone up by 38%. In contrast, in the four years before that, they went up by 4%. Really noticeable whenever you go to the shop.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Aug 25

Egg and butter prices drive up UK food inflation as households feel squeeze

As first AI-led rights advocacy group is founded, industry is divided on whether models are, or can be, sentient

Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · Aug 26

Pacino, Gore, Yankovic. They all feel pain.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Aug 26

Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times

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Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · Aug 25

Already felt old after seeing The Maccabees yesterday and now a guy who wasn't even born when their first album was released has scored the winner in a premier league match.

Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · Aug 25

Absolutely love ref cam. Always wanted to watch football as if I’m playing a first person shooter game on the ps2.

Alex Collinson @alexcollinson.bsky.social · Aug 25

All Points East yesterday has reminded me of my main cultural theory: every thirty something who was into music that has since been loosely defined as “landfill indie” has three bands that they will get weirdly defensive of if anyone refers to them as “landfill indie”.