Paul Jackson
@jacksopb.bsky.social
Professor of African Politics, University of Birmingham, UK. All over Africa but not just Africa. Conflict, security and development politics as well as UN and policy. Professional Northener, bibliophile and loud guitar fan.
Something I never thought I would ever say - I will he talking to Carlus Acosta and Tony Iommi about the Black Sabbath ballet in Birmingham next week. www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/to...
Tony Iommi and Carlos Acosta join academics for an evening exploring the legacy of Black Sabbath - University of Birmingham
Overlooked elements of Black Sabbath’s legacy are being uncovered and celebrated at a special University of Birmingham event.
www.birmingham.ac.uk
October 6, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Something I never thought I would ever say - I will he talking to Carlus Acosta and Tony Iommi about the Black Sabbath ballet in Birmingham next week. www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/to...
I knew it. Just forgot to mention it to anyone…
A new measure of mental and personality traits suggests the late 50s are your cognitive prime
Forget youthful brilliance — the human mind actually peaks at 60
A new measure of mental and personality traits suggests the late 50s are your cognitive prime
www.thetimes.com
October 2, 2025 at 5:06 PM
I knew it. Just forgot to mention it to anyone…
Reposted by Paul Jackson
Dutch late night TV has its take
September 19, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Dutch late night TV has its take
Reposted by Paul Jackson
2CELLOS - Thunderstruck [OFFICIAL VIDEO]
YouTube video by 2CELLOS
youtu.be
September 18, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Henry the Navigator in Porto. The person who rounded up the Portuguese fleet, pointed to the horizon and said ‘sail that way’. What could possibly go wrong?
September 16, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Henry the Navigator in Porto. The person who rounded up the Portuguese fleet, pointed to the horizon and said ‘sail that way’. What could possibly go wrong?
Reposted by Paul Jackson
Timeless humour!
A 2,000 year-old Roman souvenir pen with a joke inscription roughly equivalent to:
“I went to Rome and all I got you was this cheap pen!" 😂
Dated circa 70 AD, this iron stylus pen was recovered in London during excavations by MOLA.
📷 Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA
#Archaeology
A 2,000 year-old Roman souvenir pen with a joke inscription roughly equivalent to:
“I went to Rome and all I got you was this cheap pen!" 😂
Dated circa 70 AD, this iron stylus pen was recovered in London during excavations by MOLA.
📷 Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA
#Archaeology
![The photo shows four images of the same Roman iron stylus pen, one below the other. The knib to the left. It has an inscription which runs along its length on four sides. The four images show the four lines of inscribed text which read:
‘ab urbe v[e]n[i] munus tibi
gratum adf(e)ro
acul[eat]um ut habe[a]s memor[ia]m nostra(m)
rogo si fortuna dar[e]t quo possem
largius ut longa via ceu sacculus est (v)acuus’
‘I have come from the City. I bring you a welcome gift
with a sharp point that you may remember me.
I ask, if fortune allowed, that I might be able (to give)
as generously as the way is long (and) as my purse is empty.’
The pen was used to write on wax-filled wooden writing tablets. Found in London (Roman ‘Londinium’) by MOLA. Photo by Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:j56ydp325adovobhwpkzc6sp/bafkreifzhfymde7cyrv2i7fu7e2v33veporn5rsywwi2rqdgswkxpj6xre@jpeg)
September 6, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Timeless humour!
A 2,000 year-old Roman souvenir pen with a joke inscription roughly equivalent to:
“I went to Rome and all I got you was this cheap pen!" 😂
Dated circa 70 AD, this iron stylus pen was recovered in London during excavations by MOLA.
📷 Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA
#Archaeology
A 2,000 year-old Roman souvenir pen with a joke inscription roughly equivalent to:
“I went to Rome and all I got you was this cheap pen!" 😂
Dated circa 70 AD, this iron stylus pen was recovered in London during excavations by MOLA.
📷 Juan Jose Fuldain/MOLA
#Archaeology
Reposted by Paul Jackson
The Thai cover band you didn't know you needed in your life.
Crank it! 😀 🎸
Crank it! 😀 🎸
August 21, 2025 at 10:45 PM
The Thai cover band you didn't know you needed in your life.
Crank it! 😀 🎸
Crank it! 😀 🎸
Reposted by Paul Jackson
totally agree - this is a point I make repeatedly on @instituteforgovernment.org.uk #Insidebriefing podcasts. Hunt was deeply irresponsible on the NIC cuts and this overshadows all his other decisions.
I think @robertshrimsley.bsky.social is much too kind to Jeremy Hunt here. In time, Hunt will come to be reviled as second worst chancellor in modern times after Kwarteng. In 1997, faced with similar circumstances, Ken Clarke put the national interest first. Hunt salted the earth. Shame on him
July 19, 2025 at 8:17 AM
totally agree - this is a point I make repeatedly on @instituteforgovernment.org.uk #Insidebriefing podcasts. Hunt was deeply irresponsible on the NIC cuts and this overshadows all his other decisions.
That Adam Smith, Glasgow University
July 15, 2025 at 6:22 PM
That Adam Smith, Glasgow University
Rethymnon in Crete reputedly has the largest Venetian colonial fortress still extant - occupied by the Ottomans (eventually) hence the dome over the original church
July 13, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Rethymnon in Crete reputedly has the largest Venetian colonial fortress still extant - occupied by the Ottomans (eventually) hence the dome over the original church
Venetian lighthouse and old port, Crete
July 13, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Venetian lighthouse and old port, Crete
Model of the amazing Palace of Knossos
July 9, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Model of the amazing Palace of Knossos
Minoan bull’s head. Astonishing detail.
July 9, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Minoan bull’s head. Astonishing detail.
Reposted by Paul Jackson
‘The argument with the public [about international aid] was not lost in the past few years, it was lost somewhere around 2012-2013.’
Great blog from @duncangreenlse.bsky.social with clear ideas on building the idea of development as solidarity
blogs.lse.ac.uk/activism-inf...
Great blog from @duncangreenlse.bsky.social with clear ideas on building the idea of development as solidarity
blogs.lse.ac.uk/activism-inf...
What does the UK public really think about aid? From someone who knows. - Activism Influence and Change
David Hudson, an academic with years of research on public opinion on aid, responds to a UK Government Minister’s recent comments about public support (or in the minister's view, the lack of it). I co...
blogs.lse.ac.uk
June 23, 2025 at 5:53 PM
‘The argument with the public [about international aid] was not lost in the past few years, it was lost somewhere around 2012-2013.’
Great blog from @duncangreenlse.bsky.social with clear ideas on building the idea of development as solidarity
blogs.lse.ac.uk/activism-inf...
Great blog from @duncangreenlse.bsky.social with clear ideas on building the idea of development as solidarity
blogs.lse.ac.uk/activism-inf...
Reposted by Paul Jackson
Will Rankers Keep on Ranking, Regardless?
A recent report has presented a detailed analysis of the methodologies used by major university rankings. There are some sensible recommendations for change. But will the rankers keep on ranking, regardless?
wonderfulhighered.com/2025/05/20/w...
A recent report has presented a detailed analysis of the methodologies used by major university rankings. There are some sensible recommendations for change. But will the rankers keep on ranking, regardless?
wonderfulhighered.com/2025/05/20/w...
Will Rankers Keep on Ranking, Regardless?
A recent report from an independent research organisation in the US has presented a detailed analysis of the methodologies used by a number of major university rankings. There are some significant …
wonderfulhighered.com
May 20, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Will Rankers Keep on Ranking, Regardless?
A recent report has presented a detailed analysis of the methodologies used by major university rankings. There are some sensible recommendations for change. But will the rankers keep on ranking, regardless?
wonderfulhighered.com/2025/05/20/w...
A recent report has presented a detailed analysis of the methodologies used by major university rankings. There are some sensible recommendations for change. But will the rankers keep on ranking, regardless?
wonderfulhighered.com/2025/05/20/w...
Reposted by Paul Jackson
"Fishing was the industry that encapsulated the essence of Brexit: it is an industry that voted overwhelmingly for Brexit. And it is one that in, Farage’s words, has been ‘gutted’ by Brexit." Written in March 2024.
westcountryvoices.com/how-fishing-...
westcountryvoices.com/how-fishing-...
How fishing was gutted by Brexit
Having recently ‘celebrated’ the anniversary of Brexit, it seemed like a good time to look at how various British industries and sectors of society have fared four years on from leaving the European U...
westcountryvoices.com
May 19, 2025 at 8:23 AM
"Fishing was the industry that encapsulated the essence of Brexit: it is an industry that voted overwhelmingly for Brexit. And it is one that in, Farage’s words, has been ‘gutted’ by Brexit." Written in March 2024.
westcountryvoices.com/how-fishing-...
westcountryvoices.com/how-fishing-...
Surprise - government run by billionaires benefits, well, billionaires… such is populism…
SpaceX’s Starlink has become a big benefactor of Trump’s tariff trade war, leaked memos show
techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/s...
techcrunch.com/2025/05/07/s...
SpaceX’s Starlink has become a big benefactor of Trump’s tariff trade war, leaked memos show | TechCrunch
SpaceX’s satellite internet service, Starlink, is directly benefiting from the Trump Administration's tariff trade war, according to leaked State
techcrunch.com
May 7, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Surprise - government run by billionaires benefits, well, billionaires… such is populism…
Reposted by Paul Jackson
Another report on how our high visa costs deter top R&D talent
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
April 22, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Another report on how our high visa costs deter top R&D talent
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Back home at one of my favourite places on the Wall
April 20, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Back home at one of my favourite places on the Wall
Night stair, Hexham Abbey
April 20, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Night stair, Hexham Abbey
Reposted by Paul Jackson
Performative public lying is a hallmark of far right authoritarian parties
Trump: "Prices are coming down, not going up. Only the fake news says they're going up. The only thing that's even are interest rates and if we had a Fed chairman that understood what he was doing, interest rates would be coming down. He should bring them down."
April 18, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Performative public lying is a hallmark of far right authoritarian parties