Estelle Wolfers
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firetower.bsky.social
Estelle Wolfers
@firetower.bsky.social
Courts, cats and cars; she/her
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
Time again for my favorite christmas post ever, one that still makes me laugh every time i read it
December 23, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
Sure, because one of the first things you notice about 'gender-critical' voices in Scotland is how *silent* they are. It's not like they've been amplified like an air raid siren by virtually the entire national media or anything
December 10, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
btw the reason that transphobia is such a good canary in the coal mine for other rancid views is that transphobia is essentially a conspiracy theory and, via crank magnetism, once you accept its basic tenets you’re going to be open to a lot more
i hope we all noticed how quickly we went from ‘record all offenders by assigned sex at birth’ to ‘report on the ethnicity of all offenders’
once again asking what would be different if we had a Reform government
December 10, 2025 at 3:45 PM
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So this week shall I write about how killing unarmed civilians is murder or about how unwise it would be to limit the human right against torture.

Western liberal democracies in 2025.
December 8, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
This composition had eluded me for nearly a decade, but yesterday I was finally able to capture it. A train rolled through just as the Duquesne Incline was crossing over the tracks in #Pittsburgh, creating a picture perfect winter scene. It was worth the hours and hours I've waited over the years.
December 3, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
How many of my pals on here know the significance of this humble building to the UK nerd community? 😂
December 6, 2025 at 10:48 AM
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first time I've been sad bsky doesn't have an algorithm because how did it take a month for this to show up on my timeline
December 5, 2025 at 6:52 PM
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December 5, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
College Disability Champion & Deputy Senior Tutor for Admissions, Dr Spencer Johnston, talks about the Hughes Hall community as well as his own challenges having been diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia later on in his academic career. 🌟

Learn more:
youtu.be/K4FOyP_WI1k?...
Dr Spencer Johnston - Admissions Tutor and Disability Champion at Hughes Hall
We are pleased to be able to share this video featuring our College Disability Champion, and Deputy Senior Tutor for Admissions, Dr Spencer Johnston. Spencer talks about the Hughes Hall community as…
youtu.be
December 4, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
Holy shit.

Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.

www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
December 4, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
This is what government censorship actually looks like: defunding entire fields, deporting researchers, and quite effectively chilling speech that helps people understand how our information systems are being exploited and calls out powerful people and platforms for their bullshit.
For the last decade, the pervasive spread of bullshit & manipulation of online platforms have been widely recognized societal concerns. Now non US citizens studying those subjects can be labeled “censors” & denied visas or deported from the US. Censorship, indeed. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Exclusive: Trump administration orders enhanced vetting for applicants of H-1B visa
An internal State Department memo said that anyone involved in "censorship" of free speech should be considered for rejection.
www.reuters.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
Juries are not just part of our legal system — they are vital defenders of the right to protest.
With anti-protest laws still in place, I asked the Government what risks getting rid of jury trials will have on our democracy.

#RightToProtest #Democracy
December 3, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
1. The European Parliament’s attempt to ban plant-based foods from being sold as “sausages”, “burgers” etc is a direct response to livestock industry lobbying. This is a short thread on how utterly bleeding ridiculous it is. 🧵1/6
December 3, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
WAR IS OVER! FILM
www.chess.com/news/view/os...
"Chess historian Edward Winter was a consultant. One key moment in the film features a reversed-color version of Efim Bogoljubov vs. A.H. Trott, Southsea 1950, illustrating the unusual motif of answering check with an immediate checkmate."
Oscar-Winning Chess-Themed Animated Short 'War Is Over' Released To Public
Academy Award-winning animated short War Is Over!, a film in which an emotional game of correspondence chess becomes a lifeline between two soldiers on opposite sides of a battlefield, is released.
www.chess.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
#OnThisDay in 1892 eight people visited the Crime Museum in the newly-opened New Scotland Yard by the Thames. They included three authors - Arthur Conan Doyle, his soon-to-be-brother-in-law E. W. Hornung, and Jerome K Jerome. #OTD #OnThisDayInHistory #Sherlock #ConanDoyle #Elementary #CM150
December 2, 2025 at 1:49 PM
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Plans for an Ozvent calendar are meeting with some scepticism
December 2, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Seven years ago - a Brexitometer in Cambridge.
December 1, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
Please watch this important new video from Youtube channel “Just Have a Think”.
This is not the video I had planned to make.
YouTube video by Just Have a Think
youtu.be
November 30, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
"Never spread the lie in the headline" should be a hard rule of 21st century journalism.

Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
News media has to do better with headlines that present false and unverified public health claims.
November 30, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
Under Mahmood's current proposals, presumably would have been deported to Czechoslovakia in 1945, when it was "safe" again.
R.I.P. Tom Stoppard, playwright most famous for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia he fled his home during the Nazi occupation and found refuge in Britain at the age of eight. He later discovered all four of his grandparents had died in the Holocaust.
Sir Tom Stoppard, playwright famed for his wit and depth, dies at 88
Winning an Oscar for the screenplay for Shakespeare In Love, he captivated the hearts of audiences for more than six decades.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 29, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
As some have said in response to this, should departmental/Downing Street social media accts be like rebuttal accounts, responding to headlines based on incorrect info?
'We have historically high welfare spending.' No we don't.

'We have a historically high proportion of working-age people not actually working.' No we don't.

'The number of Britons emigrating is skyrocketing.' No it isn't.
November 29, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Why is the BBC referring to it as 'the war against Russia'?
November 29, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
And just like that, we became a fascist state.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Sally Rooney books may be withdrawn from UK sale over Palestine Action ban, court told
Rooney has said she intended to use royalties from her work
www.bbc.co.uk
November 29, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Estelle Wolfers
Northwestern’s leaders will likely try to justify their choice to appease fascist extortion with some BS about needing to help researchers get federal funds that were illegally withheld, so it’s important to note that virtually all of the researchers said not to.
So apparently the administrators at Northwestern have caved to the extortionist demands of the Feds. Faculty voted 595-4 AGAINST this measure.
November 29, 2025 at 1:18 PM