Sarah
@sarahskeeter.bsky.social
Curiouser and curiouser, and increasingly militant
Reposted by Sarah
Yeah, I come up against this attitude all the time. Invariably, upon questioning, it breaks down to "Disability accommodations have become more common, which has resulted in more work for me".
I hate to say it, but in terms of HE a very sizeable number of staff appear to believe that disability accommodations are unnecessary, a nuisance, and have gone 'too far'.
Toxic, precarious and competitive university environments (that ignore staff welfare) lend themselves to this kind of thinking
Toxic, precarious and competitive university environments (that ignore staff welfare) lend themselves to this kind of thinking
okay, I have to wonder how many of the people declaring that disability accommodations have gone "too far":
1. are disabled.
2. went through the process themselves.
3. work in higher ed at all.
4. read ANY critical disability studies work at all? Like, any?
1. are disabled.
2. went through the process themselves.
3. work in higher ed at all.
4. read ANY critical disability studies work at all? Like, any?
December 3, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Yeah, I come up against this attitude all the time. Invariably, upon questioning, it breaks down to "Disability accommodations have become more common, which has resulted in more work for me".
Reposted by Sarah
It's funny that Hegseth calls himself "Secretary of War" and the admin talks about the "Department of War" when that's just... an unofficial rebrand. Congress never changed it. He's the Secretary of Defense, legally. They're just doing a bit. They changed the website to war dot gov and everything.
December 3, 2025 at 10:09 PM
It's funny that Hegseth calls himself "Secretary of War" and the admin talks about the "Department of War" when that's just... an unofficial rebrand. Congress never changed it. He's the Secretary of Defense, legally. They're just doing a bit. They changed the website to war dot gov and everything.
Reposted by Sarah
[ angry goose meme ]
"DESIRED" BY WHOM?
"DESIRED" BY WHOM, MOTHERFUCKER?
"DESIRED" BY WHOM?
"DESIRED" BY WHOM, MOTHERFUCKER?
Shrug. Eugenics was bad because it involved racist pseudoscience and forced sterilization. If we're using "eugenics" broadly to mean "any effort to produce desired genetic characteristics" then there's nothing wrong with eugenics as such.
His “it’s not a eugenics company” tee is raising questions already answered by his shirt. www.cbsnews.com/news/nucleus...
December 3, 2025 at 8:12 PM
[ angry goose meme ]
"DESIRED" BY WHOM?
"DESIRED" BY WHOM, MOTHERFUCKER?
"DESIRED" BY WHOM?
"DESIRED" BY WHOM, MOTHERFUCKER?
Reposted by Sarah
Plus so many disabilities are invisible 😭😭
You don’t want people to bare open their wounds to stick your hand in before you believe them
You don’t want people to bare open their wounds to stick your hand in before you believe them
It's white supremacist capitalist scarcity mindset that led us to STILL (ugh) be needing to talk about what if abled people fake it. There's enough help & support to go around. It's not going to run out. When you reach that point you add capacity. There's not actual the need to gatekeep services.
December 3, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Plus so many disabilities are invisible 😭😭
You don’t want people to bare open their wounds to stick your hand in before you believe them
You don’t want people to bare open their wounds to stick your hand in before you believe them
Reposted by Sarah
This is such a sad story! An important collection that had been sent for digitisation (though why from Kent to Scotland, I'm not sure) 📜 www.bbc.com/news/article...
Museum staff 'devastated' after drawings worth £500,000 destroyed
About 1,700 military drawings from the Royal Engineers Museum were destroyed in the theft last month.
www.bbc.com
December 3, 2025 at 10:01 PM
This is such a sad story! An important collection that had been sent for digitisation (though why from Kent to Scotland, I'm not sure) 📜 www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Sarah
Obviously commenting as a bystander, but my wife breastfed both of ours over several years & honestly it was brutally difficult, especially after her returning to work. Explain evidence of the benefits, fine, but I think public health measures cajoling or bullying ppl into it are kind of revolting.
Baby formula milk can be bought with supermarket loyalty points
Baby formula milk can be bought with supermarket loyalty points
The government claims that parents who cannot or chose not to breastfeed could save £500 a year.
www.bbc.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Obviously commenting as a bystander, but my wife breastfed both of ours over several years & honestly it was brutally difficult, especially after her returning to work. Explain evidence of the benefits, fine, but I think public health measures cajoling or bullying ppl into it are kind of revolting.
Reposted by Sarah
You should read this blog for some (very brief) legal analysis on why women's organisations can and should continue to be inclusive 👇
Girl Guiding and the Women’s Institute have announced that they will now exclude trans women and girls after legal threats – but organisations can and should remain inclusive:
https://goodlaw.social/cpfx
https://goodlaw.social/cpfx
Excluding trans people won’t stop you getting sued | Good Law Project
Girl Guiding and the Women’s Institute have announced that they will now exclude trans women and girls after legal threats – but organisations can and should remain inclusive.
goodlaw.social
December 3, 2025 at 3:52 PM
You should read this blog for some (very brief) legal analysis on why women's organisations can and should continue to be inclusive 👇
Reposted by Sarah
The family of a Colombian man believed to be killed by a strike on a boat in September has filed a human rights complaint against the United States, saying that the attack was “murder” and that he was denied the right to due process.
Family of Colombian Man Killed in Boat Strike Files Complaint Against US
This is the first known filing of its kind, and comes amid increasing scrutiny over the military’s boat strike campaign.
truthout.org
December 3, 2025 at 9:45 PM
The family of a Colombian man believed to be killed by a strike on a boat in September has filed a human rights complaint against the United States, saying that the attack was “murder” and that he was denied the right to due process.
Reposted by Sarah
Breadcrumbs for #speirghorm
Absolute perfection that the author of "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is a transphobic pick-me gay
The Most Hated Children's Book
YouTube video by Big Joel
youtu.be
December 3, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Breadcrumbs for #speirghorm
Reposted by Sarah
This is an excellent piece of work by @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and the DfS gang
Lobbyist / ex Tory MP Ben Howlett has been done by an undercover sting. As ever, the most revealing thing is how very very cheap it is buy access in British media/politics — and especially how Howlett controls one of the biggest UK pol Twitter accounts!
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/breaking-o...
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/breaking-o...
December 3, 2025 at 9:41 PM
This is an excellent piece of work by @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and the DfS gang
Reposted by Sarah
One point that may have been lost: I’ve never seen this ad before.
It’s only when I searched for Mexican folk music tonight that YouTube started running it.
Google’s surveillance technology has enabled the government to selectively terrorize specific groups in service of white supremacy.
It’s only when I searched for Mexican folk music tonight that YouTube started running it.
Google’s surveillance technology has enabled the government to selectively terrorize specific groups in service of white supremacy.
Listening to Mexican folk music on Youtube and they're running this horrible ad urging people to self-deport.
Fuck you Kristi Noem, and fuck you Google for taking her money.
Fuck you Kristi Noem, and fuck you Google for taking her money.
December 1, 2025 at 12:58 PM
One point that may have been lost: I’ve never seen this ad before.
It’s only when I searched for Mexican folk music tonight that YouTube started running it.
Google’s surveillance technology has enabled the government to selectively terrorize specific groups in service of white supremacy.
It’s only when I searched for Mexican folk music tonight that YouTube started running it.
Google’s surveillance technology has enabled the government to selectively terrorize specific groups in service of white supremacy.
Reposted by Sarah
Last week @theverge.com published my essay exploring the limitations of large-language models. This week, that same essay is cited by a federal judge in Michigan to distinguish the process of human reasoning from what these models do. Very, very gratifying.
h/t @robertfreundlaw.bsky.social
holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
December 3, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Last week @theverge.com published my essay exploring the limitations of large-language models. This week, that same essay is cited by a federal judge in Michigan to distinguish the process of human reasoning from what these models do. Very, very gratifying.
Reposted by Sarah
🚨NEWS🚨
We are deeply concerned at the DWP's 'bank spying bill' coming into force today. A government agency that is notorious for punitive sanctions and bureaucratic faults that have cost lives, this will have dire consequences.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
We are deeply concerned at the DWP's 'bank spying bill' coming into force today. A government agency that is notorious for punitive sanctions and bureaucratic faults that have cost lives, this will have dire consequences.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
DWP gains new powers to take money directly from bank accounts
Banks risk a fine if they do not share information with government agents when asked
www.independent.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 4:25 PM
🚨NEWS🚨
We are deeply concerned at the DWP's 'bank spying bill' coming into force today. A government agency that is notorious for punitive sanctions and bureaucratic faults that have cost lives, this will have dire consequences.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
We are deeply concerned at the DWP's 'bank spying bill' coming into force today. A government agency that is notorious for punitive sanctions and bureaucratic faults that have cost lives, this will have dire consequences.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Reposted by Sarah
In my experience the main practical impact of the "what if people FAKE disabilities" debate has been demanding anyone who's not a visible amputee perform tricks for you
December 3, 2025 at 2:45 PM
In my experience the main practical impact of the "what if people FAKE disabilities" debate has been demanding anyone who's not a visible amputee perform tricks for you
Reposted by Sarah
Good read about the arms race of AI in education: "Universities partner with AI companies; students use AI to cheat; schools panic about cheating and then partner with more AI companies to detect the cheating. It’s surveillance capitalism meets institutional malpractice."
„CSU—US’s largest public uni system—went all-in with a $17mill partnership with OpenAI. . .CSU unveiled its grand technological gesture just as it proposed slashing $375mill from its budget. While admin cut ribbons on AI, they were cutting faculty positions, academic programs, student services.“
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 3, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Good read about the arms race of AI in education: "Universities partner with AI companies; students use AI to cheat; schools panic about cheating and then partner with more AI companies to detect the cheating. It’s surveillance capitalism meets institutional malpractice."
Reposted by Sarah
Not only are the proposals cruel, racist and inhumane, the 'consultation' itself seems to be in breach of the govs own principles
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Consultation principles
www.gov.uk
November 22, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Not only are the proposals cruel, racist and inhumane, the 'consultation' itself seems to be in breach of the govs own principles
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by Sarah
I am currently, because I know how to enjoy a Saturday morning, writing some guidance for people on filling this consultation in. As I do several things are highly apparent. Before I go through them though I don't want this to put people off of filling it in. It is important to do so nonetheless. 1/
Government has today published its consultation into "earned settlement", the forward alone contains a hot mess of misrepresentation of the current system by the Home Secretary. I would strongly urge anyone affected by the current system to respond.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691edd...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691edd...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
November 22, 2025 at 8:57 AM
I am currently, because I know how to enjoy a Saturday morning, writing some guidance for people on filling this consultation in. As I do several things are highly apparent. Before I go through them though I don't want this to put people off of filling it in. It is important to do so nonetheless. 1/
I just got around to reading this and, among other questions I have, I'd love to know who this lad is hanging around with that he reckons it's a "commonly made assumption" that "private schools provide no better education than state schools".
Just a boy, standing in front of a political class, asking them to read @igmansfield.bsky.social's Seven Public Policy Rules of Thumb, this time on taxes:
Seven Public Policy Rules of Thumb
They're not always true. But you've got grounds to demand strong evidence before accepting that one isn't.
www.edrith.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 2:10 PM
I just got around to reading this and, among other questions I have, I'd love to know who this lad is hanging around with that he reckons it's a "commonly made assumption" that "private schools provide no better education than state schools".
Reposted by Sarah
Excellent piece by my colleague, Professor Ciara Smyth:
The real migration crisis is not the one you’ve been hearing about – The Irish Times
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
The real migration crisis is not the one you’ve been hearing about – The Irish Times
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Opinion: The real migration crisis is not the one you’ve been hearing about
‘Politics of affect’ stokes anxieties about immigration, allowing Government to then respond
www.irishtimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Excellent piece by my colleague, Professor Ciara Smyth:
The real migration crisis is not the one you’ve been hearing about – The Irish Times
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
The real migration crisis is not the one you’ve been hearing about – The Irish Times
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Reposted by Sarah
I think the technical term for Craigavon hospital's A&E is 'On Its Arse'. My stepdad had 11 and 12 hour waits to be seen there (plus 2 nights sleeping on a trolley in a corridor) last year and it seems to have gotten worse.
Craigavon hospital: Wait times averaging almost 19 hours
Emergency department average waiting times released at 09:00 GMT show the Royal Victoria and Ulster hospitals also experienced waits of about nine hours.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 12:28 PM
I think the technical term for Craigavon hospital's A&E is 'On Its Arse'. My stepdad had 11 and 12 hour waits to be seen there (plus 2 nights sleeping on a trolley in a corridor) last year and it seems to have gotten worse.
Reposted by Sarah
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
December 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
Reposted by Sarah
On a purely practical level, and without detailed knowledge of exactly what information they are referencing, but this could cover quite a substantial amount of what I have to use every day in researching asylum and trafficking.
I'd hate to be a boat owner after this passes.
Imagine all the information that could be be useful for your navigation but which would ALSO be potentially useful to those guiding small boats across the Channel.
Will the Shipping Forecast cease broadcasting? That, after all, makes crossings easier.
Imagine all the information that could be be useful for your navigation but which would ALSO be potentially useful to those guiding small boats across the Channel.
Will the Shipping Forecast cease broadcasting? That, after all, makes crossings easier.
December 3, 2025 at 12:32 PM
On a purely practical level, and without detailed knowledge of exactly what information they are referencing, but this could cover quite a substantial amount of what I have to use every day in researching asylum and trafficking.
Reposted by Sarah
The UK really is just gangsterism at this point: Nice liberal democracy you have here, it’d be a shame if something happened to it. Hey, nice health service, nice Institute for Women. It’d be unfortunate if they got all fucked up, because someone senior refused to do as they were told. Every day.
It’ll be fun to hear “it’s the sacred moral duty of all you scum idiots to vote for us” from the same people who - last time this was an issue - worked relentlessly to ensure one million easily led idiots voted for the Lib Dems: a party that had 12 MPs before the election, and 11 after it.
December 3, 2025 at 12:02 PM
The UK really is just gangsterism at this point: Nice liberal democracy you have here, it’d be a shame if something happened to it. Hey, nice health service, nice Institute for Women. It’d be unfortunate if they got all fucked up, because someone senior refused to do as they were told. Every day.
Reposted by Sarah
Such a telling line.
December 3, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Such a telling line.
Reposted by Sarah
We're watching the wholesale burning of every scrap of dignity afforded to trans people in the UK, their rights, their medical services, their employment, their place within society, their bodily functions.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.
December 3, 2025 at 11:54 AM
We're watching the wholesale burning of every scrap of dignity afforded to trans people in the UK, their rights, their medical services, their employment, their place within society, their bodily functions.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.