Amerjit Basi
@amerjitbasi.bsky.social
Into books, politics, the arts, SF, urban space. Civil servant, DfE; former Head of Policy,University of Sheffield.Personal views expressed. Same name on Twitter.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
Research by Sabine Little, a senior language education lecturer at the University of Sheffield, found that multilingual children spend more time reading for pleasure than monolingual children, and read a wider variety of texts and formats.
‘It’s about making reading as natural as breathing’: Malorie Blackman backs the National Year of Reading
The Noughts & Crosses author is among the starry ambassadors for the campaign – one of the initiatives aimed at addressing the reading crisis
www.theguardian.com
January 26, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Research by Sabine Little, a senior language education lecturer at the University of Sheffield, found that multilingual children spend more time reading for pleasure than monolingual children, and read a wider variety of texts and formats.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
In contrast, @channel4news.bsky.social report just now (both studio and piece to camera by Anushka Asthana from Minneapolis) was exemplary in giving a clear picture of exactly what is happening.
NEW| Reporting on the Minneapolis ICE shooting, BBC News is soaked to the skin but still not sure if it's raining...
brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/reporting-...
brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/reporting-...
Reporting on the Minneapolis ICE shooting, BBC News is soaked to the skin but still not sure if it's raining...
In an attempt to maintain balance, the BBC is letting obvious lies go unchallenged.
brokenbottleboy.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:41 PM
In contrast, @channel4news.bsky.social report just now (both studio and piece to camera by Anushka Asthana from Minneapolis) was exemplary in giving a clear picture of exactly what is happening.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
Alex Pretti’s coworkers take a moment of silence this morning
January 26, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Alex Pretti’s coworkers take a moment of silence this morning
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
Even when there’s no accountability, the record matters. Credit to the Wikipedia editors maintaining this page.
Deaths, detentions and deportations of American citizens in the second Trump administration - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 25, 2026 at 3:09 AM
Even when there’s no accountability, the record matters. Credit to the Wikipedia editors maintaining this page.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and Keith Porter Jr. were murdered. Marimar Martinez was shot. Mahmoud Khalil was arrested and jailed.
The next could be you.
What’s at stake isn’t just our democracy. It’s also your safety and security and that of your loved ones.
This is personal — to every one of us.
The next could be you.
What’s at stake isn’t just our democracy. It’s also your safety and security and that of your loved ones.
This is personal — to every one of us.
January 25, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and Keith Porter Jr. were murdered. Marimar Martinez was shot. Mahmoud Khalil was arrested and jailed.
The next could be you.
What’s at stake isn’t just our democracy. It’s also your safety and security and that of your loved ones.
This is personal — to every one of us.
The next could be you.
What’s at stake isn’t just our democracy. It’s also your safety and security and that of your loved ones.
This is personal — to every one of us.
I think my cat Eddie has more political nous in one of his claws than seemingly the entirety of whoever is advising this Govt.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Andy Burnham blocked from byelection race by Labour ruling committee
Decision likely to set off ferocious row between Keir Starmer loyalists and allies of Greater Manchester mayor
www.theguardian.com
January 25, 2026 at 12:25 PM
I think my cat Eddie has more political nous in one of his claws than seemingly the entirety of whoever is advising this Govt.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
Trump and his outriders are intentionally trying to destroy even the idea of truth
Trational media strictures - reporting he said, she said; not reporting more ‘extreme’ claims by those not in power - plays right into this
It’s a playbook, and it’s already in U.K. (cf Farage’s Dulwich racism)
Trational media strictures - reporting he said, she said; not reporting more ‘extreme’ claims by those not in power - plays right into this
It’s a playbook, and it’s already in U.K. (cf Farage’s Dulwich racism)
January 25, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Trump and his outriders are intentionally trying to destroy even the idea of truth
Trational media strictures - reporting he said, she said; not reporting more ‘extreme’ claims by those not in power - plays right into this
It’s a playbook, and it’s already in U.K. (cf Farage’s Dulwich racism)
Trational media strictures - reporting he said, she said; not reporting more ‘extreme’ claims by those not in power - plays right into this
It’s a playbook, and it’s already in U.K. (cf Farage’s Dulwich racism)
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
Reminder: All it would take to end the murder of American citizens by an untrained government goon squad is 16 Republicans in Congress voting with Dems to defund ICE (or 23 to impeach and remove Trump — 3 in House & 20 in Senate). That’s it. 23 Americans can vote for the public and end all of this.
January 24, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Reminder: All it would take to end the murder of American citizens by an untrained government goon squad is 16 Republicans in Congress voting with Dems to defund ICE (or 23 to impeach and remove Trump — 3 in House & 20 in Senate). That’s it. 23 Americans can vote for the public and end all of this.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
Immigration is a fake problem. We have politicians on the one hand who want to use immigrants as scapegoats for our real ones and politicians on the other who are too cowardly to stand against them and tell the truth. That is the entire situation. Until that changes, people will continue to die.
January 24, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Immigration is a fake problem. We have politicians on the one hand who want to use immigrants as scapegoats for our real ones and politicians on the other who are too cowardly to stand against them and tell the truth. That is the entire situation. Until that changes, people will continue to die.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
Martyrs is exactly what Renee Good and Alex Pretti are. They were bearing witness to ICE’s racist terror campaign against our neighbors and lost their lives for it.
This martyr could be any of us. He is doing what so many of us have been trained to do. Standing and recording on his phone, trying to warn his neighbors, and now he’s dead because armed, masked federal paramilitaries are acting with impunity to perform ethnic cleansing.
Video before it happens is showing this guy they shot in the head in Minneapolis was just standing there videoing them before and they got out to push him back and then murder him.
January 24, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Martyrs is exactly what Renee Good and Alex Pretti are. They were bearing witness to ICE’s racist terror campaign against our neighbors and lost their lives for it.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
A lot of the media has messed up in describing all of these folks who are observing as protesters, they’re neighbors who quickly come out of their homes to document ICE presence knowing that their privilege is the only thing possibly standing in the way of a neighbor being disappeared or brutalized.
January 24, 2026 at 2:41 PM
A lot of the media has messed up in describing all of these folks who are observing as protesters, they’re neighbors who quickly come out of their homes to document ICE presence knowing that their privilege is the only thing possibly standing in the way of a neighbor being disappeared or brutalized.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
This is courage. Looking a masked, government fascist dead in the eye, face to face, knowing full well that your life is on the line.
If elected officials had 1/10th of Alex Pretti's resolve, we would have far fewer troubles.
If elected officials had 1/10th of Alex Pretti's resolve, we would have far fewer troubles.
January 24, 2026 at 7:56 PM
This is courage. Looking a masked, government fascist dead in the eye, face to face, knowing full well that your life is on the line.
If elected officials had 1/10th of Alex Pretti's resolve, we would have far fewer troubles.
If elected officials had 1/10th of Alex Pretti's resolve, we would have far fewer troubles.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
years and years of avoiding plain language and the active voice do make the choice to use it more impactful, I suppose
January 24, 2026 at 8:31 PM
years and years of avoiding plain language and the active voice do make the choice to use it more impactful, I suppose
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
People got so uncomfortable about that Ta-Nehisi Coates quote about how if you didn't draw the line at Gaza, you can't draw the line at democracy
I would argue there is a throughline here with every Palestinian in Gaza being called a terrorist
Stephen Miller calls the deceased “a domestic terrorist.”
January 24, 2026 at 8:49 PM
People got so uncomfortable about that Ta-Nehisi Coates quote about how if you didn't draw the line at Gaza, you can't draw the line at democracy
Loved H is for Hawk, beautiful and very moving, couldn't help but cry. For me, a very good version of the book, and the depiction of grief feels very true.
I thought a lot about my dad dying when I was 20.
I thought a lot about my dad dying when I was 20.
January 24, 2026 at 9:54 PM
Loved H is for Hawk, beautiful and very moving, couldn't help but cry. For me, a very good version of the book, and the depiction of grief feels very true.
I thought a lot about my dad dying when I was 20.
I thought a lot about my dad dying when I was 20.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
Sometimes I really am the dumbest
What it’s like to be played by Claire Foy
I said “Hello, film Dad” to Brendan Gleeson in a wobbly voice, and gave him a huge hug
www.newstatesman.com
January 22, 2026 at 11:55 AM
Sometimes I really am the dumbest
Deserves to win all 16!
www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...
www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...
Sinners becomes first film in history to earn 16 Oscar nominations
Ryan Coogler’s ghost story breaks records as One Battle After Another trails in second with 13 nods and Marty Supreme, Sentimental Value and Frankenstein trail with nine apiece
www.theguardian.com
January 22, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Deserves to win all 16!
www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...
www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...
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This is a huge crisis that we must do our part on by rejecting generative AI. The more it infiltrates our systems, the more fucked we are over time.
NVidia chief creep says resistance and scorn for AI have done a lot of harm. Good. Nice confirmation it's working. Keep it up. Although the main thing is this stuff is harmful crap so the mind and body tend to revolt against it automatically.
January 21, 2026 at 4:27 PM
This is a huge crisis that we must do our part on by rejecting generative AI. The more it infiltrates our systems, the more fucked we are over time.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
The US granted visas to Jews but only allowed 30,000 in from Germany a year. You had to wait for your number to come up.
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
January 21, 2026 at 12:52 PM
The US granted visas to Jews but only allowed 30,000 in from Germany a year. You had to wait for your number to come up.
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
This is insane. Insane that it's happening. Insane that these good folks need to do it in the first place. And insane that no one in power is helping them one iota.
Neighborhood watch is taking on a new form in Minneapolis and other cities under occupation by federal immigration agents: ICE Watch.
These folks, who're tailing federal agents as they make arrests, are passionate, determined, and just about everywhere—and ICE is getting frustrated.
These folks, who're tailing federal agents as they make arrests, are passionate, determined, and just about everywhere—and ICE is getting frustrated.
Meet the Minneapolis neighbors standing up to ICE by the thousands
Local resistance is "growing exponentially," says Defend the 612's Andrew Fahlstrom.
www.motherjones.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:07 PM
This is insane. Insane that it's happening. Insane that these good folks need to do it in the first place. And insane that no one in power is helping them one iota.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
I said this several weeks before Renee Good's killing, but man, it's incredible how brave these women out there are. Thousands of them, spending days, weeks, months just trying to get a phone number from detainees. They've prevented so many disappearances. ICE hates them for a reason.
I've watched countless videos now of confrontations between DHS agents and ICE observers, and it's awesome how many are women recording, challenging male agents, refusing to give up their rights. I'd say the number of women involved in documenting ICE crimes outnumber men three to one or more.
January 21, 2026 at 9:09 PM
I said this several weeks before Renee Good's killing, but man, it's incredible how brave these women out there are. Thousands of them, spending days, weeks, months just trying to get a phone number from detainees. They've prevented so many disappearances. ICE hates them for a reason.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
Perfect, for him to just look like some middle manager in a suit at an accountancy firm.
Italian voice actor Carlo Bononi was the voice of all of the characters on Pingu. A trained clown by trade, he used a theater technique called grammelot, which consists of "speaking" in a mix of babbled gibberish noises. He improvised all the voices live and unscripted.
January 21, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Perfect, for him to just look like some middle manager in a suit at an accountancy firm.
Loved seeing that amazing unique find of the beautiful bone box on tonight's #diggingforbritain
January 21, 2026 at 9:55 PM
Loved seeing that amazing unique find of the beautiful bone box on tonight's #diggingforbritain
Asked Eddie if he wanted to sit closer to get stroked...his answer.
January 21, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Asked Eddie if he wanted to sit closer to get stroked...his answer.
Reposted by Amerjit Basi
fascinating to compare how Wall Street reacts to the possibility that a socialist might have some power somewhere versus how it reacts to the concrete reality of a literal madman tearing down the American-led post-WWII global order
January 20, 2026 at 4:49 PM
fascinating to compare how Wall Street reacts to the possibility that a socialist might have some power somewhere versus how it reacts to the concrete reality of a literal madman tearing down the American-led post-WWII global order