Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 20h

You could walk into 30 nightclubs in London any weekend and arrest 10 bankers or lawyers for possession or use of cocaine.

And yet I've never heard it happen.

Anyone know why?

#law
#legalsystem
#warondrugs

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 21h

- Octopus
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off
- Not really a song but Archers Theme Tune.

Martin Nutbeem @martinnutbeem.bsky.social · 1d

“Introduce yourself using only one food you refuse to eat, one movie you’ll never watch again, and one song you can’t stand”

Red meat - work experience in a food tech lab taking swabs in an abattoir put pay to that.

Top Gun - Honestly, Tom Cruise gives me the ick.

Mr Brightside - Shouty mindpiss.

Danie Ware @danacea.bsky.social · 1d

“Introduce yourself using only one food you refuse to eat, one movie you’ll never watch again, and one song you can’t stand”

Avocado (with or without the toast) 🤢

Event Horizon (watched it once, scared the ABSOLUTE living shit out of me)

The fucking Macarena (and the dance that goes with)

1

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 22h

I just don't get the #padlet hype.

That game we all played in the beach with our parents or kids - but with a couple of walls at each end? Fffft.

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 22h

Is there a way to be sceptical about pain without being contemptuous?

M. Kabir @mkabir.bsky.social · 1d

“There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one’s head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people’s pain.”

— James Baldwin

Reposted by Carl Gombrich

Tax Justice Network @taxjustice.net · 23h

“When menstrual products are taxed as luxuries, it shows what a society values & what it doesn’t. The unpaid care work women do is a hidden tax that covers the failures of the state.”
Miriam Nobre, Sempreviva Organização Feminista (SOF) #ClimateForChange2025 #FeministEconomics

5 15

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 22h

Diplomacy as trolling. We've never seen anything like it.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 23h

Trump on the leader of Egypt: "The first time we met it was at a hotel and I was going to meet him and then Hillary Clinton was following me. Remember? Hillary Clinton. And he liked me so much he never even got to see Hillary...he didn't want to waste a lot of time. He knew what was going to happen"

1 1

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 6d

Weirdly better looking than either.

2

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 9d

👍. Apologies, so hard to catch the tone sometimes these days...

1

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 11d

WHUT?! All I think of when I hear 'half time orange' is happy memories playing footy on chilly mornings in dewy fields.

1 1

Reposted by Carl Gombrich

Ryan Bebej @ryanbebej.bsky.social · 12d

Belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) – From the Instagram archive… I love seeing kingfishers, but they rarely let me get close enough for a decent photo. I actually like how I could frame this one against the culvert.

www.instagram.com/ryan.bebej.photography

🪶 #birds #birding #wildlifephotography

Female belted kingfisher in front of a culvert

4 18 170

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 13d

Great book. Does @bsky.app do conversations about #NuclearPower?
#NetZero
#GreenWashing

1

Reposted by Carl Gombrich

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 14d

This is a really key chart. Look at the difference between concern about immigration between Lab to Reform switchers and Lab to LD/Green/don't know switchers.

The latter group is five times larger.

16 62 160

Reposted by Carl Gombrich

Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 15d

The real generational divide is people who refuse to watch a video if it could be an article versus people who refuse to read an article if it could be a video

520 2.2K 12K

Reposted by Carl Gombrich

The Onion @theonion.com · 17d

Talk Of Fascism Dangerous, Warns Ministry Of Compliance

120 3.9K 15K

Reposted by Carl Gombrich

Transparency International UK @transparencyuk.bsky.social · 18d

🚨 NEW 🚨

Nathan Gill, the former leader of Reform UK in Wales has pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to eight bribery charges while an elected member of the European parliament.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Reform UK’s ex-leader in Wales Nathan Gill pleads guilty to bribery charges

Gill admits to eight charges while an elected member of the European parliament

www.theguardian.com

1 12 10

Reposted by Carl Gombrich

Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 18d

I don’t think there’s a single ‘gotcha’ against ID cards. There are some good arguments for them. There are also, however, some significant downsides. What I *do* think is that the government case for them, as so far presented, is extremely flimsy.

6 18 66

Reposted by Carl Gombrich

Transparency International UK @transparencyuk.bsky.social · 18d

💸 Nearly £1 in every £10 donated to UK political parties comes from UNKNOWN sources.

That's millions in dark money flowing into our politics.

We're fighting back - and YOUR donation goes TWICE as far via @biggive.bsky.social matched funding.

Support us today ⤵️
donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

Breaking Big Money’s Grip on Politics – Big Give

In 2023 66% of donations to political parties came from just 19 donors. Increasingly, our politics is funded by a small number of super donors. We seek support to make sure those with the deepest poc...

donate.biggive.org

5 4

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 19d

Perhaps I'm doing it wrong, but I've been scrolling 5 mins on Bluesky and can't find a single thing about the Kadri judgement and the knife attack on the man burning the Qu'ran. Amazing. This place is another, rarified, universe.

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 19d

Difficult to tell if this post is about US or UK - for different reasons.

Karim Wafa-Al Hussaini @karimwafa.bsky.social · 20d

I don’t know who needs to hear this but fascism happens through the erosion of freedom of speech under the guise of ‘law and order’.

Fascism isn’t on its way. It’s already here.

Reposted by Carl Gombrich

Transparency International UK @transparencyuk.bsky.social · 20d

💷 Polling by @patmillsuk.bsky.social found 81% of UK millionaires think extreme wealth buys political influence.

We need your help to break big money's grip on our politics.

Support our work today and see your donation doubled via @biggive.bsky.social ⤵
donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

4 7

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 19d

It also exists independent of its source - at least in many cases

Amy K @amyklassen.bsky.social · 20d

Truth exists independently of belief or agreement. It doesn’t need likes, retweets, or applause.
Lies, propaganda, and bullshit do need people to keep repeating and defending them, otherwise they collapse.

Beige background with typewriter font text reading: “The truth does not require your participation in order to exist. Bullshit does. – Terence McKenna.”

1

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 19d

Good.

Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com · 19d

How One University Is Reimagining a Humanities Ph.D. Program

@cmu.edu is turning its literary and cultural studies Ph.D. program into one focused on computational cultural studies. The reframe comes as many humanities graduate programs face an uncertain future. https://bit.ly/4ngm7R7

A diploma sitting between handwritten and typed backgrounds.

1

Reposted by Carl Gombrich

Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 23d

There are now more HR workers than lawyers or doctors in the UK.
How did a job – once a back-office function – become so central to the UK workplace?
I’ve investigated in today’s Sunday Times Magazine…🧵

1 6 10

Reposted by Carl Gombrich

Colin Yeo @colinyeo.bsky.social · 22d

It’s quite do-able from a legal perspective. I don’t think dismissing Reform in this way is wise. Voters need to understand that this stuff can happen if they vote for it - and that it would be morally, socially, culturally, economically disastrous. So they shouldn’t vote for it.

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 22d

Reform will apparently pledge today that they'd abolish indefinite leave to remain - including retrospectively, to people already granted it. Obviously this is a moral abomination but it is also a practical and legal impossibility.

14 110 240

Carl Gombrich @carlgomb.bsky.social · 24d

I'm sorry, I think you are still conflating religion and race. This is a serious error but we don't seem to be making much progress in the discussion, so let's leave it. Hope you can have a good day.

1