Dr_Aust_PhD
@draustphd.bsky.social
Grumpy old lab scientist (retd.), Uni teacher & centrist dad. Irked by trendy nonsense, own waistline, hair 📉 etc. NOT a medic - other ½ of NHS doctor. Long-ago 70s punk rock fan/ guitarist. 2 kids & now no dog (RIP). Personal views.
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
I wrote for @theobserveruk.bsky.social on the special needs problem highlighted by the budget and the big political battle over it coming next year.
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Labour’s holiday homework: solve the problem of special needs education | The Observer
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November 30, 2025 at 8:50 AM
I wrote for @theobserveruk.bsky.social on the special needs problem highlighted by the budget and the big political battle over it coming next year.
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Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
If Corbyn is banned from leading Your Party, he's no longer got a reason to stay, so I expect he'll leave & start My Party.
No 'Your Party' MP will be allowed to be its leader under rules voted for by members at its Liverpool conference on Sunday
The party membership has approved 'collective leadership', which rules out both Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana leading it, reports @siennarodgers.bsky.social
The party membership has approved 'collective leadership', which rules out both Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana leading it, reports @siennarodgers.bsky.social
Corbyn And Sultana Barred From Leading 'Your Party' As Members Will Front It Themselves
Members of 'Your Party' have stopped a potential leadership contest between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana after voting in favour of a 'collective...
www.politicshome.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:21 PM
If Corbyn is banned from leading Your Party, he's no longer got a reason to stay, so I expect he'll leave & start My Party.
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“Hitler was now the law, as Goering said.”
- William Shirer, “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” p. 337
- William Shirer, “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” p. 337
KARL: Did you know about the judge's order when you issued your order for the planes to continue?
KRISTI NOEM: This is an activist judge. We comply with all federal orders that are lawful and binding.
KRISTI NOEM: This is an activist judge. We comply with all federal orders that are lawful and binding.
November 30, 2025 at 7:56 PM
“Hitler was now the law, as Goering said.”
- William Shirer, “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” p. 337
- William Shirer, “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,” p. 337
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A quick reminder of who Nigel Farage was most concerned about when Putin's tanks first rolled into Ukraine
November 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
A quick reminder of who Nigel Farage was most concerned about when Putin's tanks first rolled into Ukraine
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
I must have missed the wall-to-wall coverage of demands for an investigation into Nigel Farage's lies about being a racist
Or about whether he knew Nathan Gill
Or about who bought his house in Frinton
Or about whether he knew Nathan Gill
Or about who bought his house in Frinton
November 30, 2025 at 9:15 PM
I must have missed the wall-to-wall coverage of demands for an investigation into Nigel Farage's lies about being a racist
Or about whether he knew Nathan Gill
Or about who bought his house in Frinton
Or about whether he knew Nathan Gill
Or about who bought his house in Frinton
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
This article lays out just how clear the case was against Juan Orlando Hernández, the former Honduran president convicted of trafficking cociane to the US was. He primised ro “shove cocaine up the nose of gringos”
Trump promises to pardon him. (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
Trump promises to pardon him. (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
The Ex-President Whom Trump Plans to Pardon Flooded America With Cocaine
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 7:59 AM
This article lays out just how clear the case was against Juan Orlando Hernández, the former Honduran president convicted of trafficking cociane to the US was. He primised ro “shove cocaine up the nose of gringos”
Trump promises to pardon him. (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
Trump promises to pardon him. (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
Senator Kelly is correct.
Plus a Public Service Announcement:
KEY section of Department of Defense's Law of War Manual is 18.3.2.1.
The VERY rule on the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders gives as its paradigmatic example of what is "clearly illegal:
"orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
Plus a Public Service Announcement:
KEY section of Department of Defense's Law of War Manual is 18.3.2.1.
The VERY rule on the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders gives as its paradigmatic example of what is "clearly illegal:
"orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
November 30, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Senator Kelly is correct.
Plus a Public Service Announcement:
KEY section of Department of Defense's Law of War Manual is 18.3.2.1.
The VERY rule on the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders gives as its paradigmatic example of what is "clearly illegal:
"orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
Plus a Public Service Announcement:
KEY section of Department of Defense's Law of War Manual is 18.3.2.1.
The VERY rule on the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders gives as its paradigmatic example of what is "clearly illegal:
"orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
That’s rich coming from the architect. McConnell is just as responsible as Trump. He thought he could still control Trump and the senators, but he got older and Trump got bolder.
#leopardsatemyface #Politics #News
November 30, 2025 at 7:59 PM
That’s rich coming from the architect. McConnell is just as responsible as Trump. He thought he could still control Trump and the senators, but he got older and Trump got bolder.
#leopardsatemyface #Politics #News
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Happy anniversary, Pete!
Exactly 80 years ago this precise moment (8:40am Hamburg time, Nov. 30, 1945), German submarine commander Heinz-Wilhelm Eck and two of his former subordinates on the U-852 were shot by Allies in Hamburg for killing the survivors of a ship they had sunk. Pete Hagueseth needs to lawyer up immediately.
The Peleus War Crimes Trial
After sinking the Greek steamer Peleus in 1944, the captain ordered his crew to attack the survivors, three sailors survived and faced their attackers in a war crime trial.
www.usni.org
November 30, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Happy anniversary, Pete!
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
Everyone needs to be calling out Trump’s extreme racism all of the time.
Mark Kelly: "This president, when he says things like 'third world countries,' what is he really saying? I think what he's saying is he doesn't want brown people in our country. And that's disturbing. It's un-American."
Mark Kelly: "This president, when he says things like 'third world countries,' what is he really saying? I think what he's saying is he doesn't want brown people in our country. And that's disturbing. It's un-American."
November 30, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Everyone needs to be calling out Trump’s extreme racism all of the time.
Mark Kelly: "This president, when he says things like 'third world countries,' what is he really saying? I think what he's saying is he doesn't want brown people in our country. And that's disturbing. It's un-American."
Mark Kelly: "This president, when he says things like 'third world countries,' what is he really saying? I think what he's saying is he doesn't want brown people in our country. And that's disturbing. It's un-American."
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
The thinnest skinned man in the world.
A new White House webpage presents a Hall of Shame for news reports the president disagrees with.
A new White House webpage presents a Hall of Shame for news reports the president disagrees with.
Trump ramps up reporter attacks with White House media bias tracker
A new White House webpage presents a “Hall of Shame” for news reports that the president disagrees with, coming after Trump voiced personal attacks on female reporters at ABC, CBS, the New York Times ...
www.washingtonpost.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:13 PM
The thinnest skinned man in the world.
A new White House webpage presents a Hall of Shame for news reports the president disagrees with.
A new White House webpage presents a Hall of Shame for news reports the president disagrees with.
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
This is the most alarming story I’ve read today. Giving up the fight before it’s started
November 30, 2025 at 9:57 AM
This is the most alarming story I’ve read today. Giving up the fight before it’s started
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
Bash: "Do you believe if there was a second strike to eliminate any survivors that it constitutes a war crime?"
Mark Kelly: "It seems to."
Bash: "If you received that order, would you have carried it out?"
Mark Kelly: "No…Going after survivors in the water is unlawful."
Mark Kelly: "It seems to."
Bash: "If you received that order, would you have carried it out?"
Mark Kelly: "No…Going after survivors in the water is unlawful."
November 30, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Bash: "Do you believe if there was a second strike to eliminate any survivors that it constitutes a war crime?"
Mark Kelly: "It seems to."
Bash: "If you received that order, would you have carried it out?"
Mark Kelly: "No…Going after survivors in the water is unlawful."
Mark Kelly: "It seems to."
Bash: "If you received that order, would you have carried it out?"
Mark Kelly: "No…Going after survivors in the water is unlawful."
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
And notice: 11 stars—the number of states in the Confederacy. “Americanism” is the new fascism, as predicted.
November 30, 2025 at 4:52 PM
And notice: 11 stars—the number of states in the Confederacy. “Americanism” is the new fascism, as predicted.
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
HM Treasury before the ref and the Tories own post ref DexEU department both produced analysis showing there was no version of Brexit which could have worked for the economy.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
November 30, 2025 at 4:41 PM
HM Treasury before the ref and the Tories own post ref DexEU department both produced analysis showing there was no version of Brexit which could have worked for the economy.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
Too little and too late is the general approach to infrastructure and public transport in the Uk. In most of Europe a city the size of greater Manchester would have had a decent underground metro built in the 80s. And what’s most worrying is that Manchester is doing better than most Uk cities…
November 30, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Too little and too late is the general approach to infrastructure and public transport in the Uk. In most of Europe a city the size of greater Manchester would have had a decent underground metro built in the 80s. And what’s most worrying is that Manchester is doing better than most Uk cities…
Quite so. A 'slightly naive & often complacent people' might fly. But 'defeated'...?
I'm 60+, grew up in 1960s (kid) & 70s (teenager) Britain. Some things might have been better - sense of optimism (60s), property prices (60s & 70s), political debate (ditto). Loads of material things were worse.
I'm 60+, grew up in 1960s (kid) & 70s (teenager) Britain. Some things might have been better - sense of optimism (60s), property prices (60s & 70s), political debate (ditto). Loads of material things were worse.
Absolutely insane to have spent Saturday battling crowds of shoppers and tourists in the West End, seen hordes of teenagers queuing for Korean food and Hollister Black Friday sales and sent youngest daughter off to Wembley to see a sell-out women international - and then read headlines like this.
Are there any other countries whose "patriotic" publications pay foreigners to write about what a hellhole they think their country is?
November 30, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Quite so. A 'slightly naive & often complacent people' might fly. But 'defeated'...?
I'm 60+, grew up in 1960s (kid) & 70s (teenager) Britain. Some things might have been better - sense of optimism (60s), property prices (60s & 70s), political debate (ditto). Loads of material things were worse.
I'm 60+, grew up in 1960s (kid) & 70s (teenager) Britain. Some things might have been better - sense of optimism (60s), property prices (60s & 70s), political debate (ditto). Loads of material things were worse.
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
Absolutely insane to have spent Saturday battling crowds of shoppers and tourists in the West End, seen hordes of teenagers queuing for Korean food and Hollister Black Friday sales and sent youngest daughter off to Wembley to see a sell-out women international - and then read headlines like this.
Are there any other countries whose "patriotic" publications pay foreigners to write about what a hellhole they think their country is?
November 30, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Absolutely insane to have spent Saturday battling crowds of shoppers and tourists in the West End, seen hordes of teenagers queuing for Korean food and Hollister Black Friday sales and sent youngest daughter off to Wembley to see a sell-out women international - and then read headlines like this.
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
The trouble with national self-harm is that it really, actually harms the nation.
November 30, 2025 at 10:41 AM
The trouble with national self-harm is that it really, actually harms the nation.
'Your Party will be governed by the collective decisions of its Central Committee...'
November 30, 2025 at 11:33 AM
'Your Party will be governed by the collective decisions of its Central Committee...'
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
This. And it’s a pattern, which is a problem.
Other striking thing, certainly from @rachelsylvester.bsky.social’s fascinating write up this morning, is the absence of the PM’s voice or thoughts in the process. If it was there, it doesn’t seem particularly explicit
Other striking thing, certainly from @rachelsylvester.bsky.social’s fascinating write up this morning, is the absence of the PM’s voice or thoughts in the process. If it was there, it doesn’t seem particularly explicit
• I think the "DID SHE LIE?!" discourse slightly misses the broader point.
ie. This all adds to the credibility worries - already a strong impression among investors: no clear strategy, reactive, bad at communicating?
ie. This all adds to the credibility worries - already a strong impression among investors: no clear strategy, reactive, bad at communicating?
November 30, 2025 at 10:49 AM
This. And it’s a pattern, which is a problem.
Other striking thing, certainly from @rachelsylvester.bsky.social’s fascinating write up this morning, is the absence of the PM’s voice or thoughts in the process. If it was there, it doesn’t seem particularly explicit
Other striking thing, certainly from @rachelsylvester.bsky.social’s fascinating write up this morning, is the absence of the PM’s voice or thoughts in the process. If it was there, it doesn’t seem particularly explicit
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1965: 20-1
CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1990: 75-1
CEO-to-worker pay ratio today: 280-to-1
Trickle-down economics was always a sham.
Nothing has ever trickled down.
CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1990: 75-1
CEO-to-worker pay ratio today: 280-to-1
Trickle-down economics was always a sham.
Nothing has ever trickled down.
November 29, 2025 at 11:01 PM
CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1965: 20-1
CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1990: 75-1
CEO-to-worker pay ratio today: 280-to-1
Trickle-down economics was always a sham.
Nothing has ever trickled down.
CEO-to-worker pay ratio in 1990: 75-1
CEO-to-worker pay ratio today: 280-to-1
Trickle-down economics was always a sham.
Nothing has ever trickled down.
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
Under Kemi Badenoch the Conservatives have ceded both the answer to 'what's the lever I pull to get the left out of power' to Reform and are rapidly on their way to ceding 'what's the least nutty option available to me on the right?' to Reform too.
No response from the Conservative party to my questions about this and the post still remains on her account.
So apparently openly spreading anti-Muslim hate is absolutely fine now
So apparently openly spreading anti-Muslim hate is absolutely fine now
The Conservative Party's leader in London, Susan Hall, just shared this Islamophobic disinformation about Sadiq Khan, after it was posted on X by a racist troll
November 29, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Under Kemi Badenoch the Conservatives have ceded both the answer to 'what's the lever I pull to get the left out of power' to Reform and are rapidly on their way to ceding 'what's the least nutty option available to me on the right?' to Reform too.
Reposted by Dr_Aust_PhD
Are there any other countries whose "patriotic" publications pay foreigners to write about what a hellhole they think their country is?
November 28, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Are there any other countries whose "patriotic" publications pay foreigners to write about what a hellhole they think their country is?
Bleaugh. Thank f**k I'll be retired by 2029, so if this really happens I can just eff off to some Farage-free country.
Civil servants will wring their hands about migrant camps, but they'll still be there - as in Children of Men. Might be a few resignations. Some academics will be given license to protest. Charities will be one place you get the truth tho, it'll be variegated. (2/2)
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Cambridge University cosies up to Reform
The vice-chancellor expects Nigel Farage to model his policies on Trump and says other Russell Group members are meeting his allies
www.thetimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Bleaugh. Thank f**k I'll be retired by 2029, so if this really happens I can just eff off to some Farage-free country.