Howell Harris
@trefeca.bsky.social
Retired (US, business & technology) historian. Twitter escapee. Hope this doesn't go the same way. Welsh & European. Durham resident. Gardener & cyclist.
Another triumph for Peter Kyle — uniting his former Tech & current Trade roles in one heartwarming news story.
December 16, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Another triumph for Peter Kyle — uniting his former Tech & current Trade roles in one heartwarming news story.
@bymyong.bsky.social you had enough Durham excellence to feast on this year so far?
December 16, 2025 at 7:05 PM
@bymyong.bsky.social you had enough Durham excellence to feast on this year so far?
Another triumph for Peter Kyle. We need to beg for favours more persuasively.
December 16, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Another triumph for Peter Kyle. We need to beg for favours more persuasively.
I’m platform-indifferent. WhatsApp is OK, but email gets you more news from people you don’t know so well and hear from so often that you’re on WhatsApp terms.
December 15, 2025 at 2:13 PM
I’m platform-indifferent. WhatsApp is OK, but email gets you more news from people you don’t know so well and hear from so often that you’re on WhatsApp terms.
It’s an excellent question, but you can see why professionals don’t use it. The answer would almost always be “Nothing,” but using more words.
December 15, 2025 at 2:10 PM
It’s an excellent question, but you can see why professionals don’t use it. The answer would almost always be “Nothing,” but using more words.
She’s not quite in the Mone-Barrowman league of ripoff artists, though. Bad behaviour, but limited harm.
December 15, 2025 at 2:04 PM
She’s not quite in the Mone-Barrowman league of ripoff artists, though. Bad behaviour, but limited harm.
How about individual emails? All you learn from most cards is that their sender is still alive & you are on their list; also that they enjoy spending ££ on overpriced cards that will soon end up in the bin & on even more overpriced (& unreliable) postage. I’d much rather get a newsy letter & pics.
December 15, 2025 at 2:02 PM
How about individual emails? All you learn from most cards is that their sender is still alive & you are on their list; also that they enjoy spending ££ on overpriced cards that will soon end up in the bin & on even more overpriced (& unreliable) postage. I’d much rather get a newsy letter & pics.
There is obviously, too, an anti-Zionist tradition on the British left— certainly since 1970s— that slops over rather too easily into collaboration with, or blindness to, or toleration of anti-semitism that thrives in Muslim communities. You hear conspiracist rubbish from the most surprising people.
December 15, 2025 at 10:36 AM
There is obviously, too, an anti-Zionist tradition on the British left— certainly since 1970s— that slops over rather too easily into collaboration with, or blindness to, or toleration of anti-semitism that thrives in Muslim communities. You hear conspiracist rubbish from the most surprising people.
Where was this? And why did you believe it? It’s not as if you were doing any sort of broad-gauge degree subject that does not open any specific opportunities but on the other hand doesn’t shut too many down either. I taught History, & my students did all kinds of things. Not speech therapy, tho.
December 15, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Where was this? And why did you believe it? It’s not as if you were doing any sort of broad-gauge degree subject that does not open any specific opportunities but on the other hand doesn’t shut too many down either. I taught History, & my students did all kinds of things. Not speech therapy, tho.
You might just as well have chosen Underwater Basketweaving. Were there no independent data available to you about actual career prospects? The info is not perfect, but in the U.K. at least you can find out something about employability & earnings of graduates by subject & institution.
December 15, 2025 at 10:18 AM
You might just as well have chosen Underwater Basketweaving. Were there no independent data available to you about actual career prospects? The info is not perfect, but in the U.K. at least you can find out something about employability & earnings of graduates by subject & institution.
Perhaps in part because (1) there is not a large Ukrainian diaspora in this country, & (2) our governments (of both parties since the start of the war on Gaza) have not been semi-apologists for Israeli conduct. There are not large groups of MPs who are, e.g., Labour Friends of Russia.
December 15, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Perhaps in part because (1) there is not a large Ukrainian diaspora in this country, & (2) our governments (of both parties since the start of the war on Gaza) have not been semi-apologists for Israeli conduct. There are not large groups of MPs who are, e.g., Labour Friends of Russia.
If the course was pointless, how come you were sold it?
December 15, 2025 at 10:05 AM
If the course was pointless, how come you were sold it?
Wonder whether that will be replaced — and if so, at what price, with what good taste , and in how long a time?
December 14, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Wonder whether that will be replaced — and if so, at what price, with what good taste , and in how long a time?
* minor suggestion: ANOTHER total failure, etc. There’s a pattern.
December 13, 2025 at 1:39 PM
* minor suggestion: ANOTHER total failure, etc. There’s a pattern.
We are a key member of the Coalition of the Willing — willing to do nothing much, not soon enough, not fast enough, not big enough, & only if it doesn’t cost us much & incurs no risk. Putin must be quaking in his boots.
December 13, 2025 at 1:37 PM
We are a key member of the Coalition of the Willing — willing to do nothing much, not soon enough, not fast enough, not big enough, & only if it doesn’t cost us much & incurs no risk. Putin must be quaking in his boots.
You just need an electric motor & you’ll be fine. It’s what they’re for. I haven’t succumbed yet, but would rather do so than stop riding. Or would your heart etc. not be up to that bit of gentle pedalling?
December 13, 2025 at 1:34 PM
You just need an electric motor & you’ll be fine. It’s what they’re for. I haven’t succumbed yet, but would rather do so than stop riding. Or would your heart etc. not be up to that bit of gentle pedalling?
Also, if it’s not universal, how do you persuade the rich to pay for it — especially if it’s not a service that fits their expectations, as is increasingly the case? Applies to other public goods too, of course.
December 13, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Also, if it’s not universal, how do you persuade the rich to pay for it — especially if it’s not a service that fits their expectations, as is increasingly the case? Applies to other public goods too, of course.
Can we even _afford_ to / can we afford not to (at least try, a bit, and not be America’s disappointed but loyal poodles)?
December 13, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Can we even _afford_ to / can we afford not to (at least try, a bit, and not be America’s disappointed but loyal poodles)?
Good for him! Sounds even better in his wonderfully old-fashioned plummy accent.
December 13, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Good for him! Sounds even better in his wonderfully old-fashioned plummy accent.
Tell Kyle that. Is his successor any better?
December 13, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Tell Kyle that. Is his successor any better?
Who are “we”, though? And what does this obligation ever mean in practice? In Gaza & the W. Bank, for example, there is no “we” at all. In Ukraine, we have a “Coalition of the Willing” to do nothing that exposes us or our forces to any danger, Re Sudan, long ago filed as a hopeless case. Afr Union?
December 13, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Who are “we”, though? And what does this obligation ever mean in practice? In Gaza & the W. Bank, for example, there is no “we” at all. In Ukraine, we have a “Coalition of the Willing” to do nothing that exposes us or our forces to any danger, Re Sudan, long ago filed as a hopeless case. Afr Union?
Formerly eminent historian, now just a well-paid right-wing rentagob Niall Ferguson, you mean?
December 13, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Formerly eminent historian, now just a well-paid right-wing rentagob Niall Ferguson, you mean?