Tom Spoors
@tomspoors.bsky.social
130 followers 67 following 1.8K posts
Brit in Brussels, Belgium Ex teacher, RAF officer, training director, university lecturer (Critical Thinking, English and Statistics). Private tutor English GCSE and maths. I love books, sci-fi, science, data science and science communication.
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tomspoors.bsky.social
Because "covert" now means "overt".

Not that the CIA or other spy agencies aren't already in Venezuela acting in their own countries' leaders' interests.
rockshrimp.bsky.social
Good this never goes badly every single time because the CIA are definitely competent.
tomspoors.bsky.social
Damien's video essays are among some of the best.
His blend of critique and political analysis wrapped around a core of well-understood sci-fi tropes is not for everyone, but his analysis of Stephen Miller in light of "The Camp of the Saints" is informative and watchable.
youtu.be/ImZKh3SqSmo?...
The science fiction book that perverted Stephen Miller
YouTube video by Science Fiction with Damien Walter
youtu.be
Reposted by Tom Spoors
chadbourn.bsky.social
Israel sent back Greta Thunberg’s luggage scrawled with “Whore Greta”, an Israeli flag, and a penis.
Red suitcase scrawled with graffiti
tomspoors.bsky.social
As an Cambridge Examiner for C1 and C2 English, it's clear to me that non-native learners of English are already held to a higher standard of English than many natives.
tomspoors.bsky.social
Wow! A fascinating possibility. Definitely one for the #Trekkies!
jowolff.bsky.social
What do you think when you see this hand sign? Live long and prosper? Well this is a headstone in the Jewish cemetery in Frankfurt maybe 400 years old. It’s the sign of the kohanim priestly blessing, which Leonard Nimoy is said to have remembered from his childhood, and which he adopted for Spock.
A pair of hands both showing the characteristic four fingered V used in Star Trek.
tomspoors.bsky.social
What are the odds that UK politicians, with their paternalistic, post-colonial mindsets will actually listen to either the people in Palestine or marching for Palestine?
youtube.com/shorts/uu9S6...
Londoners Do Not Like Tony Blair
YouTube video by Novara Media
youtube.com
tomspoors.bsky.social
The law new requires reading, listening, writing and speaking at A level standard.
As a Cambridge English C2 examiner, this is a standard that many English natives would find difficult. We already hold people learning English as a foreign language to a similar, if not higher, standard than natives.
tomspoors.bsky.social
DNC appears to want a gerontocracy by aiding 79-year-old Mills rather than the popular oysterman who's gaining significant grassroots support.
editorialboard.bsky.social
Sorry why is a Democrat running against the lovable oysterman?
premthakker.bsky.social
🚨 The DSCC — led by Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Kelly, Adam Schiff, and Lisa Blunt Rochester — has formed a joint fundraising committee with Janet Mills.

Mills, running against Graham Platner in the Maine Democratic Senate primary, would become the oldest freshman (79) ever elected, to a 6-year term.
tomspoors.bsky.social
Clever commentary and toilet humour. All for the price of one in a one-time BOGOF deal.
janefae.bsky.social
Some thoughts on Zach Polanski turning out to be rather good at this politics lark.

1. By raising issues like wealth tax, and Brexit, he has not so much shifted the Overton Window, as re-opened the awkward loo window that over-looked the garden, but has been rusted shut for the last decade
Reposted by Tom Spoors
hypervisible.blacksky.app
Definitely nothing can go wrong with OpenAI having a full record of your sexy chatbot interactions.
Reposted by Tom Spoors
benjaminpope.bsky.social
never has there been a solution looking more desperately for a problem than ChatGPT
tomspoors.bsky.social
Some of the most thoughtful young adult literature ever written. The HBO version wasn't bad.
tomspoors.bsky.social
How would you fit 49 days into the x-axis scale!😑
tomspoors.bsky.social
The GCSE grades expect about half to get a C at GCSE ordinary. Being able to criticise Beowolf or demonstrate a deep understanding of Shakespeare or Dante hardly seems doable for most people. Anyway I thought the humanities were 'cowboy' degrees.
tomspoors.bsky.social
A mindless headline from Scientific American. It isn't Marilyn Monroe, it's image theft.
gregjenner.bsky.social
“Copyright growing pains” is one hell of a euphemism for the biggest IP theft in history
sciam.bsky.social
Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies
tomspoors.bsky.social
How about all politicians vaguely demonstrating some social worth. As they are clearly special, we can leave the proofs for later.
nisreenalwan.bsky.social
“The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.”

Aldous Huxley
tomspoors.bsky.social
As a bloke, I have no issue with changing weather. I have 365/365 clothes. So much easier that way!
rachelholliday.bsky.social
ok I swapped all my summer and winter clothes so it’s gonna STAY COLD NOW RIGHT??? [shakes fist at sky] no more FUNNY BUSINESS??? [scowls threateningly at the atmosphere]
Reposted by Tom Spoors
keithfrankish.com
A Blue Peter make from 1634 (Muscovie glass was the sticky backed plastic of the day)
publicdomainrev.bsky.social
“The flying Dragon is somewhat troublesome to compose...” ⠀

From The Mysteries of Nature and Art (1634), a book that is said to have spurred a young Isaac Newton onto the scientific path — publicdomainreview.org/essay/t... twitter.com/PublicDomainRev/status/1450880306207240194/photo/1...
tomspoors.bsky.social
When my Grandad (coal miner) told me this back in the early seventies, I nodded and pretended to understand what he meant.
davidpakman.bsky.social
The extreme left’s weird soft treatment of Nick Fuentes is a reminder that if you go far enough in either direction, you loop back around
tomspoors.bsky.social
I had about 8 numbers in my head. The phone book was always there to check!
Reposted by Tom Spoors
chercheurjuteux.com
Mettez moi dans un musée à côté des K7, des disquettes 3 ¹⁄₂ et des CD, le coup de vieux bordel.
bleary.off-the-records.com
If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.
Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?