Alister Puddifer

A reminder, because it is almost that time of year: More children are killed by cars on Halloween than any other day of the year, by far. www.vox.com/future-perfe... If you're a parent, I hope you'll do what you can to keep kids safe. If you're driving on Saturday, PLEASE exercise extra caution.

perfect, no notes

Bluesky has 11,000 types of users.

Not long ago I was a great advocate for the BBC, before I saw the cracks. At first I tried to shrug it off as "They didn't get that one right", then "Some obvious false balance there", later "Clear bias, but hopefully they'll change soon". Today, I officially have this to say: Fuck the BBC. 🏳️‍⚧️

Finally we're fighting back! This ad goes so fucking hard youtu.be/Gt_IZoM9KuQ?...

Just 60 years ago, a coal tip over the village next to mine collapsed onto a school, killing 116 children and 28 adults. My gran worked in the morgue; I can't even begin to imagine. No one has ever been prosecuted for the Aberfan disaster. Hundreds of unsafe coal tips remain in my community.

“The internet is a store but it used to be a library” hits me like a slug to the chest

For my next trick…

Women are under considerable pressure to look their best whenever they go out.

14 October 1943 | Prisoners of the German Nazi extermination center at Sobibor began a revolt. The prisoners killed 9 SS men and severely wounded another one. Later, mass, chaotic escape began. Around 300 prisoners managed to escape, some 50 survived the war. More: https://bit.ly/4z73zJj

My new rule, when I'm dictator, is that nobody gets to be a city planner until they've visited at least one other country

Reminder that "biological sex" is not a thing that exists. It is a legal fiction in every place that refers to it. In the UK, in the equality act, it means "the sex that was written on your original birth certificate." Incidentally, it doesn't matter if that's due to a clerical error.

@hockeyviz.com I found some beautiful data viz for you

Inspector Smile is ready for science! 🫡 This is Smile’s first ultraviolet view showing an auroral substorm. With the ultraviolet camera now operational, Smile becomes the first spacecraft since 2008 to capture the full ring of northern lights around the north pole in ultraviolet light. 🔭 🧪 ☀️

You Can Be Anything You Want, Says Fictional Character https://theonion.com/you-can-be-anything-you-want-says-fictional-character-1819566934/

Can’t eat a sandwich until you subscribe to sandwiches. Can’t eat today’s sandwich until it has applied daily sandwich updates. Sandwich now has adverts even though you paid for ad-free sandwich. Can pay again to have less sandwich adverts. Now you can eat the sandwich, but it’s smaller.

A short thread on “legitimate concerns”. The phrase is used repeatedly by UK government ministers. The Home Secretary is at it again this week. But only ever - as far as I can tell - in one context: people’s response to the arrival of asylum seekers. Please read whole 🧵before responding - thanks

It occurs to me that Sam Altman's name could be an example of nominative determinism.

To those who are (or will be) terminally ill, and are disappointed by today's vote: I see you, I believe you. You are capable of making your own decisions and don't deserve to be infantilised this way. It is your body, it should be your choice. Wishing for you a peaceful end. xx

How are we supposed to answer that? It's been a thousand years.

I checked and it's real. 😂

People in Wales, please sign: petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/24...

It is always the same betrayal: the public interest is sacrificed for the sake of immensely wealthy people. And Andy Burnham has already gone and done it. My column on how Burnham needs to defy the ultra-rich if he's not to follow Starmer out of the door. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I went to see Spiderman for my birthday today and wanted to know the actors' actual ages. Happy Birthday to Zendaya! 🎂

Palaeontologists are compelled to attend conference on private island as they need the funding.

🚨 Astronomy cuts update 🚨 Next Tuesday (1 September) a debate about the ongoing funding crisis will take place in Westminster Hall from 1-1.30pm. 🗣️🔭 The RAS welcomes the debate and is encouraging all Fellows to contact their MPs to urge them to attend. ✍️ Find out more 👉️ ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

Reform UK and Tory voters are much more likely than others to think their own views are broadly in line with those of the wider public - but are they right? Reform: 75% say similar Con: 71% Lib Dem: 44% Labour: 42% Green: 38% yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

The best way to honor the two who have left us recently, imo, is to keep being as gay as possible

Good night friends. I hope you enjoy your evening. I’ll see you tomorrow. RIP Dolly Parton.💔

I appreciate that Dolly Parton refused to participate in "dress respectability" and, by her own account, modeled her aesthetic after a town "tramp," who she thought was beautiful. She separated aesthetics from character and understood "classiness" to be about how you treat people, not how you dress.

I made a formal complaint. It may not make a difference, but at least I can direct my anger constructively. www.bbc.co.uk/contact/comp...

Absolutely disgusted the BBC chose to single out JKR in their Dolly Parton coverage. Of all the celebrity tributes, you chose the words of someone who could not be more diametrically opposed to Parton. An apparent snubb to a woman who spent her life spreading a message of love and acceptance. 🏳️‍⚧️🧑🏼‍🦱💋💃🏼🏳️‍🌈

RIP Dolly Parton. She used her fame to do good for humanity. In 2020, she donated $1M to Vanderbilt University to fund the early stages of the Covid vaccine development in collaboration with Moderna. The best Christmas gift to us in 2020. 🧪 www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/w...

Black and rufous elephant shrew eating. [📹 Philadelphia Zoo] Original post

These are, of course, exactly the tactics that were used against trans kids. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Fed up with people shirking responsibility by arguing that the UK causes just 1% of emissions? Here are two fantastic analogies from a primary school teacher, Mark in Coventry, who called Sheila Fogerty on @lbc.co.uk - one involving dog poo 😆 Other arguments here: www.nebriefing.org/mp-dialogue

Two-thirds of UK news articles about wildfires this summer haven’t mentioned climate change - but ignoring it doesn’t make it go away, it just makes averting the worst of it even harder @eciu.net

Gammons. “I am worried about all of the ‘men’ playing in women’s sports. We have to support the women in women’s sports.” Normals. “Name three ‘men’ in women’s sports”. Gammons. “…. Normals. “Ok, since you are so interested in women’s sports. Name any three women’s world champions”. Gammons. “….

It's time to implement Leveson.