John Shields
@avochie.bsky.social
Practical, evidence-informed conservation in the UK and Zambia, and calcium carbonates without the carbon @longcliffe. Fan of German wirehaired pointers, unlike Kristi Noem.
Pinned
Reposted by John Shields
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
November 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
I'm waiting for a late train because my previous train was late and I missed my connection. It's always a surprise to me when visiting the UK how staggeringly shit the trains are. I don't care re coffee; I don't even care re seats; there is only one thing I need from a train: that it be on time. FFS
November 6, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I'm waiting for a late train because my previous train was late and I missed my connection. It's always a surprise to me when visiting the UK how staggeringly shit the trains are. I don't care re coffee; I don't even care re seats; there is only one thing I need from a train: that it be on time. FFS
Reposted by John Shields
FAO Matt Goodwin and all the other racist filth who tried to exploit this incident
November 4, 2025 at 12:38 PM
FAO Matt Goodwin and all the other racist filth who tried to exploit this incident
Reposted by John Shields
As an aside, I think the real ticking time bomb in the gov's proposals is actually changes to BPR. With family businesses the foundation of the private sector, and the vast majority of any entrepreneurial family's wealth generally tied up in the business, IHT on trading businesses heralds a new era.
November 4, 2025 at 7:11 AM
As an aside, I think the real ticking time bomb in the gov's proposals is actually changes to BPR. With family businesses the foundation of the private sector, and the vast majority of any entrepreneurial family's wealth generally tied up in the business, IHT on trading businesses heralds a new era.
Yes of course your time is more important than everyone else's: by all means send voice notes.
October 28, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Yes of course your time is more important than everyone else's: by all means send voice notes.
It's not just the Kafue River that's been left dead. I've fished for 7 days total along the Lower Zambezi (into which the Kafue flows) over the last six weeks, and from my and others' experience it's clear that the spill has had a massive impact on fish stocks hundred of km down the river system.
"A major environmental disaster in Zambia has brought renewed attention to the harmful practices of global mining corporations
a waste pit at a copper mine operated by Sino-Metals Leach Zambia collapsed, releasing highly acidic toxic sludge [and] heavy metals into nearby rivers and communities."
a waste pit at a copper mine operated by Sino-Metals Leach Zambia collapsed, releasing highly acidic toxic sludge [and] heavy metals into nearby rivers and communities."
Mining giant hit with $80 billion lawsuit after shocking disaster: 'Immediate danger to human, animal and plant life'
A major toxic spill at a mine in Zambia has brought renewed attention to the harmful practices of global mining corporations.
www.thecooldown.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:44 AM
It's not just the Kafue River that's been left dead. I've fished for 7 days total along the Lower Zambezi (into which the Kafue flows) over the last six weeks, and from my and others' experience it's clear that the spill has had a massive impact on fish stocks hundred of km down the river system.
"The funding model has sparked concern among some legal experts, who say it may amount to paying for access to the administration."
You don't fucking say
www.bbc.com/news/article...
You don't fucking say
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Who is paying for Donald Trump's new White House ballroom?
A former White House chief ethics lawyer described the ballroom donations as an ethical 'nightmare'.
www.bbc.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:51 PM
"The funding model has sparked concern among some legal experts, who say it may amount to paying for access to the administration."
You don't fucking say
www.bbc.com/news/article...
You don't fucking say
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The pig headed stupidity of this kind of thing deserves to be remembered for generations www.bbc.com/news/article...
Landmark global shipping deal abandoned under US threats
President Trump intervened in the talks calling the deal a "green scam".
www.bbc.com
October 17, 2025 at 4:57 PM
The pig headed stupidity of this kind of thing deserves to be remembered for generations www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by John Shields
Yeah, I think even those sympathetic don’t want to look it straight in the face because it’s basically a horror show
Even in this place, I feel the sheer scale of foreign aid being demolished isn't fully appreciated. As it stands, it is perhaps *the* most catastrophic change to preventable deaths in our lifetimes, and the salience - even in presumably friendly spaces - is basically zero
apnews.com/article/myan...
apnews.com/article/myan...
Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.
apnews.com
October 16, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Yeah, I think even those sympathetic don’t want to look it straight in the face because it’s basically a horror show
Reposted by John Shields
Yeah this is a neat illustration of the difference between ‘information’ (data, facts etc) and ‘knowledge’ (understanding / application of information). AI *only* provides ‘information’.
let me note that one of the actual tests here is going to be 'what do people pushing these ideas want for their own children' and I will bet you a lot of money that the answer is 'the elite university model of Harvard et al' not 'learning through AI slop'
Wow. Just wow.
"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
October 16, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Yeah this is a neat illustration of the difference between ‘information’ (data, facts etc) and ‘knowledge’ (understanding / application of information). AI *only* provides ‘information’.
Reposted by John Shields
A 3,000-pound ice sculpture spelling out the word “DEMOCRACY” was seen melting on the National Mall within view of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
October 16, 2025 at 8:17 AM
A 3,000-pound ice sculpture spelling out the word “DEMOCRACY” was seen melting on the National Mall within view of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
Silicon Valley showing yet again that just in case we thought humanity couldn't lean any further in to its most pathetic and self-harming impulses, it can always take us one step further in the name of 'progress' [Money].
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
ChatGPT will soon allow erotica for verified adults, OpenAI boss says
CEO Sam Altman says upcoming versions of the popular chatbot would enable it to behave in a more human-like way - "but only if you want it".
www.bbc.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Silicon Valley showing yet again that just in case we thought humanity couldn't lean any further in to its most pathetic and self-harming impulses, it can always take us one step further in the name of 'progress' [Money].
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by John Shields
I was trying to put my finger on what bothered me about this portrayal and I think it’s that it just takes the guy’s words at face value, like he was a nice guy and reaction to Charlie Kirk’s death just pushed him over the edge www.nytimes.com/2025/10/12/u...
She Despised Charlie Kirk. He Resolved to Make People Like Her Pay.
www.nytimes.com
October 12, 2025 at 2:58 PM
I was trying to put my finger on what bothered me about this portrayal and I think it’s that it just takes the guy’s words at face value, like he was a nice guy and reaction to Charlie Kirk’s death just pushed him over the edge www.nytimes.com/2025/10/12/u...
Reposted by John Shields
Because apartheid South Africa really did a fantastic job of spaffing out a functional human being with you, didn’t it? You loathsome bellend.
October 12, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Because apartheid South Africa really did a fantastic job of spaffing out a functional human being with you, didn’t it? You loathsome bellend.
I genuinely think there's a point where even hardened Reform supporters start to realise that we really don't need Nigel Farage peering up the nation's skirts, and that this prurient old man self-appointing to sneak peeks over the country's loo cubicle partitions is, well, getting a little weird.
I mean, this is really desperate shit, isn’t it? I am a great deal more woke-sceptic than pretty much all of Bluesky but I honestly can’t be bothered to care about the National Trust putting vegan tampons in the men’s toilets and neither should you
October 11, 2025 at 7:30 PM
I genuinely think there's a point where even hardened Reform supporters start to realise that we really don't need Nigel Farage peering up the nation's skirts, and that this prurient old man self-appointing to sneak peeks over the country's loo cubicle partitions is, well, getting a little weird.
Excellent, intelligent, and humane interview that's worth a weekend watch. Much more about tribalism and our relationship to science than it is about human evolution www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj1Q...
‘Humans are not evolved for modern life’ - evolutionary biologist Ella Al-Shamahi
YouTube video by Channel 4 News
www.youtube.com
October 11, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Excellent, intelligent, and humane interview that's worth a weekend watch. Much more about tribalism and our relationship to science than it is about human evolution www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj1Q...
Reposted by John Shields
Briton Rivière RA (14 August 1840 in London – 20 April 1920 in London) was well known for his animal paintings.
I'm a sucker for this sort of stuff so here's a thread with some of his work.
You're allowed to get wet eyes.
Requiescat (1888; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney)
I'm a sucker for this sort of stuff so here's a thread with some of his work.
You're allowed to get wet eyes.
Requiescat (1888; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney)
October 6, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Briton Rivière RA (14 August 1840 in London – 20 April 1920 in London) was well known for his animal paintings.
I'm a sucker for this sort of stuff so here's a thread with some of his work.
You're allowed to get wet eyes.
Requiescat (1888; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney)
I'm a sucker for this sort of stuff so here's a thread with some of his work.
You're allowed to get wet eyes.
Requiescat (1888; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney)
Reposted by John Shields
Nigel Farage with fellow patriot Nathan Gill, the former leader of Reform in Wales who took bribes in exchange for spreading Russian misinformation.
September 29, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Nigel Farage with fellow patriot Nathan Gill, the former leader of Reform in Wales who took bribes in exchange for spreading Russian misinformation.
This is actually insane.
I know a lot of people won’t click through to read about “med beds” so here’s the crucial quote to explain how fucking crazy this is.
Trump just posted an AI video of himself promising every American access to this.
Trump just posted an AI video of himself promising every American access to this.
September 28, 2025 at 5:34 AM
This is actually insane.
Any restaurant or cafe where you have to scan a QR code and find the food on your phone should just be burned down, proprietors sent to the gulag, etc. Print a f*cking menu.
September 26, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Any restaurant or cafe where you have to scan a QR code and find the food on your phone should just be burned down, proprietors sent to the gulag, etc. Print a f*cking menu.
Reposted by John Shields
Not good. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Wild bird numbers continue to fall in UK with some species in ‘dramatic freefall’
Species index fell by 4% between 2019 and 2024 – although data shows woodland populations beginning to stabilise
www.theguardian.com
September 24, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Not good. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
I know little of Petro's domestic record/agenda, but at the very least, this is to his credit. This is how you respond to a child in the White House.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Colombia's president calls US attacks on alleged drug boats 'act of tyranny'
Gustavo Petro told the BBC that "there is no need to kill anyone" in efforts to crackdown on maritime drug smuggling.
www.bbc.com
September 25, 2025 at 5:53 AM
I know little of Petro's domestic record/agenda, but at the very least, this is to his credit. This is how you respond to a child in the White House.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by John Shields
What an impossibly ungracious man he is, really. It’s not news, of course, but he does somehow have the ability to be so uncouth, so impolite, that it really takes your breath away.
Opinion | We should mock Trump as the joke he truly is. That is the level of response he so richly deserves
🖋️ @iandunt.bsky.social ➡️ trib.al/hj0uY21
🖋️ @iandunt.bsky.social ➡️ trib.al/hj0uY21
September 24, 2025 at 4:25 PM
What an impossibly ungracious man he is, really. It’s not news, of course, but he does somehow have the ability to be so uncouth, so impolite, that it really takes your breath away.
Reposted by John Shields
Is no one ever going to question how Sheldrick and Born Free have essentially bought themselves into running KWS like their own private free-range zookeeping service?
September 24, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Is no one ever going to question how Sheldrick and Born Free have essentially bought themselves into running KWS like their own private free-range zookeeping service?