J-Lo
@oldnorthroad.bsky.social
English Lit prof based in Edinburgh. Bisexual English Scot - volatile organic compound - he/they. Roundhead in politics, Cavalier in spirit. Small room dj. Opinions expressed here entirely my personal own.
Reposted by J-Lo
Remembering when we were visiting a pal in Paris who served escargots and our seven year old daughter tried one, couldn’t swallow it, but didn’t want to offend our host - so she wrote and passed us a wee note saying I DO NOT LIKE SNIALS
Thieves have stolen €90,000 worth of fine French snails destined for some of the country’s most prestigious restaurants
Thieves take €90,000 of snails meant for Michelin-starred restaurants
French police are on the trail of ‘experienced’ criminals who stole a whole year’s worth of produce from Jean-Mathieu Dauvergne’s L’Escargot des Grands Crus
www.thetimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Remembering when we were visiting a pal in Paris who served escargots and our seven year old daughter tried one, couldn’t swallow it, but didn’t want to offend our host - so she wrote and passed us a wee note saying I DO NOT LIKE SNIALS
Reposted by J-Lo
Today's 70% fall in net migration to 205,000 was not one of the six stories in BBC ten o'clock news.
Ta massive assymetry in whether rises in immigration and falls in immigration are considered newsworthy by broadcasters
Down by 140k isn't thought to be.
Up by 140k undoubtedly would be.
Ta massive assymetry in whether rises in immigration and falls in immigration are considered newsworthy by broadcasters
Down by 140k isn't thought to be.
Up by 140k undoubtedly would be.
November 27, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Today's 70% fall in net migration to 205,000 was not one of the six stories in BBC ten o'clock news.
Ta massive assymetry in whether rises in immigration and falls in immigration are considered newsworthy by broadcasters
Down by 140k isn't thought to be.
Up by 140k undoubtedly would be.
Ta massive assymetry in whether rises in immigration and falls in immigration are considered newsworthy by broadcasters
Down by 140k isn't thought to be.
Up by 140k undoubtedly would be.
Reposted by J-Lo
Reposted by J-Lo
Truth coming out of her cup o’noodles to shame mankind
November 27, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Truth coming out of her cup o’noodles to shame mankind
See also: Edinburgh to London, Edinburgh to Bristol, Edinburgh to Birmingham - sometimes, even, Edinburgh to Manchester. Utterly wonky nonsense.
It's fucking ridiculous that it's cheaper to get a plane from London to Glasgow than a train.
November 27, 2025 at 9:58 PM
See also: Edinburgh to London, Edinburgh to Bristol, Edinburgh to Birmingham - sometimes, even, Edinburgh to Manchester. Utterly wonky nonsense.
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It is fascinating how, of all the bigotries, transphobia does seem to be the one that means you never ever get to be normal again?
The man is beyond unhinged
November 27, 2025 at 8:39 PM
It is fascinating how, of all the bigotries, transphobia does seem to be the one that means you never ever get to be normal again?
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When Keir Starmer asked me to work with our Trades Unions to develop a programme for the biggest uplift in workers’ rights and protections in a generation, I did exactly as I was asked and we produced the New Deal for Working People.
1/11
1/11
November 27, 2025 at 6:41 PM
When Keir Starmer asked me to work with our Trades Unions to develop a programme for the biggest uplift in workers’ rights and protections in a generation, I did exactly as I was asked and we produced the New Deal for Working People.
1/11
1/11
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Never let it be said that the British press is out of touch
November 27, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Never let it be said that the British press is out of touch
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The Times’ reporting on employment tribunals is routinely awful. The headlines are clickbait claims which the body copy often contradicts. In this case the issue was not the use of the word “fireman” but failing to challenge a campaign of persistent offensive behaviour. And he wasn’t fired. He left
November 27, 2025 at 7:04 PM
The Times’ reporting on employment tribunals is routinely awful. The headlines are clickbait claims which the body copy often contradicts. In this case the issue was not the use of the word “fireman” but failing to challenge a campaign of persistent offensive behaviour. And he wasn’t fired. He left
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wahhhh this is actually a good analogy
ChatGPT’s signature writing style is everywhere now, and I hate it. It reminds me of when we tried mixing all the beverages at the soda fountain in middle school. We didn’t actually create the perfect drink, we just made a cloying monstrosity that lost everything good about its constituent parts.
November 27, 2025 at 7:57 PM
wahhhh this is actually a good analogy
Reposted by J-Lo
Reposted by J-Lo
Right now on reddit there's a guy inventing a new kind of brick to build his home with and it's going about as well as you can imagine
November 25, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Right now on reddit there's a guy inventing a new kind of brick to build his home with and it's going about as well as you can imagine
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Reposted by J-Lo
Reposted by J-Lo
And now Edinburgh showing off
November 26, 2025 at 8:06 AM
And now Edinburgh showing off
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It bears constant repetition that expertise is nurtured slowly over a very long time. It doesn’t bounce back like a rubber band with every flex of a spreadsheet. Once it is gone, it can’t be rapidly rebuilt overnight or on demand.
P.S. a lot of Research and innovation happens at unis.
P.S. a lot of Research and innovation happens at unis.
"A system built on specialisation, efficiency", that right there is the death knell for the current university system in the UK, if (big if) government pushes it through. They actively don't want HE to grow, they will intervene, apparently, to help it shrink.
per this morning's education committee.
per this morning's education committee.
November 25, 2025 at 11:02 AM
It bears constant repetition that expertise is nurtured slowly over a very long time. It doesn’t bounce back like a rubber band with every flex of a spreadsheet. Once it is gone, it can’t be rapidly rebuilt overnight or on demand.
P.S. a lot of Research and innovation happens at unis.
P.S. a lot of Research and innovation happens at unis.
No need to tax wealth, cos we can tax foreign students and milky drinks instead.
November 24, 2025 at 11:26 PM
No need to tax wealth, cos we can tax foreign students and milky drinks instead.
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Trevor Philips in the Times, calling for a Trump/Miller-style of random deportations based on skin colour.
archive.ph/RlXPj
archive.ph/RlXPj
November 24, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Trevor Philips in the Times, calling for a Trump/Miller-style of random deportations based on skin colour.
archive.ph/RlXPj
archive.ph/RlXPj
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Just a jaw-dropping paragraph in Trevor Phillips's column for The Times.
This is a policy that, by his own account, has left parents of a particular race too frightened to walk their children to school.
And that's the example he chooses of the "vigour" we "need".
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
This is a policy that, by his own account, has left parents of a particular race too frightened to walk their children to school.
And that's the example he chooses of the "vigour" we "need".
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
November 24, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Just a jaw-dropping paragraph in Trevor Phillips's column for The Times.
This is a policy that, by his own account, has left parents of a particular race too frightened to walk their children to school.
And that's the example he chooses of the "vigour" we "need".
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
This is a policy that, by his own account, has left parents of a particular race too frightened to walk their children to school.
And that's the example he chooses of the "vigour" we "need".
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Reposted by J-Lo
It's time to end the arguments, they've gone on much too long. Here is the definitive ranking of Star Wars:
1. Star Wars (film, 1977)
2. Star Wars (comic book series, 1977-present)
3. Star Wars (video game, 1983)
4. Star Wars (novelisation, 1976)
5. Star Wars (proposed missile defence system, 1983)
1. Star Wars (film, 1977)
2. Star Wars (comic book series, 1977-present)
3. Star Wars (video game, 1983)
4. Star Wars (novelisation, 1976)
5. Star Wars (proposed missile defence system, 1983)
November 24, 2025 at 9:45 PM
It's time to end the arguments, they've gone on much too long. Here is the definitive ranking of Star Wars:
1. Star Wars (film, 1977)
2. Star Wars (comic book series, 1977-present)
3. Star Wars (video game, 1983)
4. Star Wars (novelisation, 1976)
5. Star Wars (proposed missile defence system, 1983)
1. Star Wars (film, 1977)
2. Star Wars (comic book series, 1977-present)
3. Star Wars (video game, 1983)
4. Star Wars (novelisation, 1976)
5. Star Wars (proposed missile defence system, 1983)
Reposted by J-Lo
which way western man
October 28, 2025 at 10:24 PM
which way western man
In other words: ‘can’t you take a JOKE?’
November 24, 2025 at 9:20 PM
In other words: ‘can’t you take a JOKE?’
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maybe i am going insane
November 24, 2025 at 6:49 PM
maybe i am going insane
If I was going to speculate, I’d say that the current government’s hostility to universities, and their refusal to consider them as crucial infrastructure, is directly traceable to Labour’s original decision to institute a fee regime which made HE a commodity in England (especially).
November 24, 2025 at 7:53 PM
If I was going to speculate, I’d say that the current government’s hostility to universities, and their refusal to consider them as crucial infrastructure, is directly traceable to Labour’s original decision to institute a fee regime which made HE a commodity in England (especially).