~daniel_barker~

~daniel_barker~

@daniel-barker.bsky.social

I like to think there's a little something for everyone here. There isn't, but I can think what I want.

1.9K followers450 following6.1K posts

~daniel_barker~
@daniel-barker.bsky.social

A few really cool, successful people who used to follow me on twitter have never followed me here, and I think it's good that people have decided to raise their standards for Bluesky.

~daniel_barker~ reposted

Mark Watson
@watsoncomedian.bsky.social

Once more we enter the season of bandwagon-jumping ads. 'You'll be TERRIFIED by how cheap these socks are!' 'These deals will to make you rouse the dead from their graves and tell them to buy a sofa!' 'Order pizza or we'll fucking kill you with an axe!'

~daniel_barker~ reposted

Anne Applebaum
@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu

In one day, two politicians - Bolsonaro in Brazil and Vucic in Serbia - with ties to Trump have lost surprise elections thanks to high turnout. The rise of the international far-right is not inevitable.

~daniel_barker~ reposted

FinnMackay
@finnfox.bsky.social

PSA ACADEMICS: BE THE KIND OF LECTURER YOUR STUDENTS WOULD PICK TO RUN A NEW REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT!!!

~daniel_barker~ reposted

Treblig 🇺🇦
@camtreblig.bsky.social

If Lula wins, obviously the best thing about it is that the Amazon will be protected and the heat death of planet earth won’t be accelerated. But a close second is the knowledge that Neymar will be really sad about it

~daniel_barker~ reposted

Dr Dean Burnett
@drdeanburnett.bsky.social

While the election result in #Brazil is obviously good news, we should remember that countless American wannabe-fascists poured $billions into achieving the opposite result and now have nothing to show for it, so it's not just good news, but also objectively hilarious.

~daniel_barker~ reposted

Joel
@snufkinlib.bsky.social

A Lula win is great news for those of us who enjoy breathing air, and will probably save several species from extinction

~daniel_barker~ reposted

Taniel
@taniel.bsky.social

Lula has been reelected president, Brazilian media has now called. An extraordinary comeback for the left-wing politician who trailed by 2 points in round 1 but managed to hold off Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president's son.

~daniel_barker~ reposted

Ned Hartley
@nedhartley.com

So many of these stories are “I‘ve used AI to outsource loving my children“ and they can’t see why this freaks everyone else out.

David Gura@davidgura.bsky.social

cool, cool

~daniel_barker~ reposted

Adam Schwarz
@adamjschwarz.bsky.social

The achievement of Serbian students overthrowing Aleksandar Vučić can't be overstated. In 2024, they began protesting. In 2025, they transformed a protest movement into civil dissidence. In 2026, they became a political party — and two months later, crushed a corrupt state-entrenched authoritarian.

~daniel_barker~ reposted

Sam Freedman
@samfr.bsky.social

Incredible. Student List are candidates selected by groups of students to form an anti-corruption party. Another youth-led movement overthrowing an authoritarian government in Europe.

Europe Elects@europeelects.bsky.social

Serbia: The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS-EPP) has admitted defeat in today's parliamentary elections. The Student List (SL-*) has won a majority of votes. #Serbia #Srbija #Izbori2026

~daniel_barker~ reposted

John C
@badsocialism.bsky.social

Yeah I've had people scoffing in groupchats about it being consent manufacturing as if supply chain vulnerabilities haven't been made extremely fucking clear

Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social

Finding some of the reaction on here to the 'stockpiling' stuff a bit odd. The Russians successfully firebombed the last prime minister's house! There was a cyberattack on a French supermarket a few weeks ago!

~daniel_barker~ reposted

Musa Okwonga
@okwonga.bsky.social

Hearing report after report. Bolsonaro’s allies are doing everything they can to suppress the vote. It’s the engine of fascism in action.

Musa Okwonga@okwonga.bsky.social

Grim stories from Brazil. Indigenous voters going to the city a day early because they don’t trust their state not to cut off their travel routes on election day: www.instagram.com/reel/De4z6kP... - while many flights to the north east, a pro-Lula region, have been cancelled without explanation.

~daniel_barker~
@daniel-barker.bsky.social

PIQUE. INTEREST IS PIQUED

Merriam-Webster@merriam-webster.com

We acknowledge that no one has the bandwidth for this, but if it helps: -It’s ‘sleight of hand’ -It’s ‘bated breath’ -It’s ‘lo and behold’ -It's 'buck naked' -It’s ‘brass tacks’ -It’s ‘free rein’ -It’s ‘toe the line'

~daniel_barker~ reposted

merman hellville
@seafoamghost.bsky.social

VERY interesting as we head into poppy month

Leicester Gazette@leicestergazette.leicester.news

Two University of Leicester students speak out over ‘absurd’ and ‘Orwellian’ decision by the BBC and ITV Studios to edit out pride pins worn on University Challenge

leicester.newsBBC edits out pride pins on University Challenge in ‘Orwellian’ move* * * This story was published by **The Leicester Gazette** : a local, independent newspaper about Leicestershire. 1,000 people have already joined our community. Just use those buttons below to download our app and **sign up for free**. * * * Astrophysics student Samuel Carlier and History student Emmeline Hague-Wright were shocked to find that their LGBTQ+ pride pins had been edited out of their University Challenge appearance earlier this year. The episode, initially scheduled for BBC Two on 24 August, was delayed twice before airing on 7 September 2026. The pins showed the progressive LGBTQ+ pride flag, the bisexual pride flag and a rainbow feather. Speaking to the Leicester Gazette, Sam said: “Living in a liberal democracy and having the state broadcaster tell you ‘we’re editing how you look’, seems very Orwellian.” Sam described the choice to remove the pins before broadcast as “weird” and “absurd”. He said: “[Censoring] that seemed weird. If I had worn a rainbow shirt, would they have censored that? If the idea is to keep things impartial, where is that line in the sand?” A side by-side image of Sam wearing the pin and with it having been digitally removed. Photograph: supplied Sam contacted the BBC to try to understand why his pins had been edited out. He told the Gazette: “The BBC people said they’d ring me, and I chased them, they just said go to the complaints website and file a complaint there, that’s what I did.” Since then, Sam hasn’t had a response from the BBC as to why his pins were removed. After the episode had aired, Sam noted that his shirt ‘melted’ into itself occasionally, as a result of the editing. Photograph: supplied ## Students believe the decision was made following online transphobia Emmeline was also shocked when she found out that the feather pin she wore was due to be removed from the episode she was in. It was understood by Emmeline that there was online transphobia in response to previous episode of University Challenge, and she had been contacted by the BBC, anticipating support from the broadcaster. When the BBC contacted her, instead of an offer of support, she was told her pin was going to be removed. “At first it was mostly confusion,” she said. “I heard that they had received a lot of nastiness online from people and I thought they were going to call me to say ‘we have support services if needed,’ and that wasn't what I got at all.” Instead, Emmeline was notified that the episodes were going to be delayed. “It was out of left field, I was confused for a while,” she said. “This entire delay has been because of a feather and two badges on a teammate that were basically impossible [for viewers] to see.” Emmeline had expressed her frustrations with the repeated delays from the BBC, spanning from mid-July to early-September. She said: “We were announced on the website and then delayed again, and then announced on the website a second time, and delayed even further. Speaking about the removal, she said: “It takes a lot of time” she said. “Making it [the edit] look good would be even more expensive and time-consuming. It seems like drastically a lot of effort.” ## Join the conversation Our app is more than just a way to keep up – it's a gateway to award-winning journalism and the local community. __Want to support our work?__ Click here for membership__.__ ## Wider criticism on LGBTQ+ support The pins Sam wore during the episode. Photograph: supplied According to leading LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall UK, two in five LGBTQ+ students will hide their identities at university for fear of discrimination. Stonewall has reported that more than 36 per cent of trans students have received hostile conduct from university staff due to their gender identity. Reflecting on the digital removal of the pins, Sam spoke about how disheartening the choice was. He said: “There was maybe like a span of eight years where someone could be uncontroversially out in the open queer – now that’s gone again.” he said. The BBC has also been widely criticised for ‘an attack on the LGBTQ+ community’ by pulling its involvement with the popular show, RuPaul's Drag Race. The broadcaster pulled its involvement in September following “significant financial pressures” as the reason for axing their involvement. The criticism follows another recent controversial edit by the BBC. On its hit show, Strictly Come Dancing, a decision was made to edit out ‘Protect the Dolls’ from contestant Bethany Antonia’s T-shirt. It’s a slogan which has become widely used to support the rights of trans women. The BBC defended their decision, saying the changes were made to meet editorial guidelines. It comes as the LGBTQ+ community has faced challenges amid an increasingly less tolerant political climate. ## What the BBC had to say When we asked them about editing out the pins worn by Leicester’s University Challenge team, a BBC spokesperson said: “In line with our editorial guidelines, we advise that no badges, flags, and emblems or symbols are worn or visible during filming, along with clothing with obvious branding or slogans. If such items are not removed for any reason then a decision is made between the programme makers and the BBC regarding any edits to the programme.” The BBC said the delays to the episode were unrelated to the decision to edit out the pins. A spokesperson for ITV Studios said: “University Challenge is an entertainment quiz show and is made in accordance with the BBC Editorial Guidelines requirements for impartiality.” The University of Leicester refused to comment on the matter. * * * **Before you go…** We’ve recently surpassed 1,000 subscribers, which is amazing considering we’re a small team on a shoestring budget. Now, we’re ready for the next stage of the Leicester Gazette. **Download our new app and get all of our journalism anytime, anywhere.** The app connects with **Bluesky** , **Mastodon** and **Threads** , giving you access to a network of around 60 million people. It’s a safer, more meaningful alternative to mainstream social media – owned by the community. * * *

~daniel_barker~ reposted

Alison
@alisondennison.bsky.social

It must be galling to people working in sweets development that the pioneers of chocolate bars basically got it bang on with their first gos.

Old UK Print Ads@oldukprintads.bsky.social

Oct 1925: Milk Chocolate ad from Toblerone (+with Almonds and Honey) «Where TOBLERONE is bliss, 'Tis folly to buy otherwise-»

~daniel_barker~
@daniel-barker.bsky.social

Loads of replies to this because obviously most things have improved in the last few decades except for the internet and America but personally I'll go for the sheer range of cakes and pastries available in almost any café. You just didn't get those kinds of options thirty years ago.

Michael Druker 🇨🇦@mdruker.app

Social media loves talking about how everything is getting worse. But what’s something that you’ve seen get _better_ in your lifetime?