An insult to 10 year olds
whovian | dad | husband | chaplain | teacher | discourse digger | "we are the cosmos made conscious" - prof brian cox
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An insult to 10 year olds
I’m sorry that you feel so let down by him. I want to say it was obvious that he would, but I want to say it in a way that doesn’t seem rude though I’m not articulate enough for that.
Starmer could have said: Vandalism isn't patriotism; daubing red crosses on Chinese takeaways and writing racist graffiti isn't patriotism; perfomatively sitting in front of a flag or tying one to a mosque isn't patriotism; Patriotism is about making this country safe, happy productive for all.
Excellent. Also, Excalibur is one of my favourite films
Fine with me, and as the internet's most beloved Welshman, what I say goes.
Keir who?
Reform UK, the right leaning think tank Policy Exchange, and some Labour grandees, are all pushing for us to either leave the ECHR, or disapply parts of it temporarily or permanently. This puts me, you and everyone at risk, not just those seeking sanctuary.
Refuk repeatedly argues for protection of free speech, of which the ECHR is the key protector. Its leaders backed Brexit, which meant leaving the Dublin convention, which has led to increased small boat crossings. They push against the very policies protecting them from things they most fear.
My DNA results show over 20% Celtic. Can I use the dragon flag please?
Johnny English is the best Bond
James Bond is rubbish and everyone knows it
You know that scene where he emerges from the water in his little trunks? It would be more confining if he had to pull them out of his bum as he’s walking.
You know that scene where he just gets back up after having a cardiac arrest? Unconvincing.
Well. This looks … interesting
I’m already a bit bored of my new diary
These children will be starting school this week.
"A chain of circumstances that fragment the laws that hold the universe together..." Watching Logopolis tonight. Cheers Chris.
What’s maddening is that Farage is on the telly far more often than, y’know, the actual Prime Minister. But then Starmer is Captain Cardboard and couldn’t land a persuasive point as easy as “Farage wants to give your money to the Taliban”.
Freeze peach
Your mam shouts at hotels and your dad paints roundabouts
Perfect summary of current “AI”
A link to Daniel’s original post would help greatly.
BREAKING: Obama wants to see Trump's death certificate.
This is on the 17.4M people who voted to leave the EU back in June 2016. The result of that accursed referendum emboldened & empowered every bigot & racist - including this foul harpy - to crawl out from under their rocks and abuse anyone who didn't look or sound like them. bsky.app/profile/otto...
And if you're wondering whether someone getting killed is what it will take for the media and political class to come to their senses, I would just remind you that Jo Cox was murdered in a similar moment of demagoguery and hysteria 9 years ago, and if anything things have got far worse since then.
Went to see #PetShopBoys at Warwick Castle last night - a birthday surprise treat from my amaxing wife. It was brilliant.
He’s probably just sulking about something
He’s probably just sulking about something
No, but in the eyes of the MAGA …
It’s all very Animal Farm.
I expect Vance to very quickly trash talk Trump and try to distance himself
Be careful what you wish for. What comes next may be even worse.
#AbsoFuckingLutely
A lot of people here are speaking euphemistically, and more bluntly, about here too. It worries me that they are so excited to see him die that they are missing: (A) he may become a MAGA martyr (2) what follows may be worse
#BeyondWipingNoses
#StephensAreGreat
Some people are far too eager for this man to become a martyr.
Bears repeating that Lowe's position on remigration is to the right of the BNP in the 2000s. And the Telegraph is giving him softball interviews.
I just saw someone refer to rfk jr as microwaved mel gibson & i can’t unsee it.
Interesting dipping back into Twitter this week - mainly because I was tagged in a media tweet It's all still hugely active on Twitter; pretty much where the media operate - so a very valuable space but you're straight back into the hate & misogyny. Pretty scary to see it all going on unchecked..😬
"How significant is the fact that Tony Blairs involved in discussions about a post war Gaza?" Ash Sarkar: "Well I guess it's because Satan was unavailable"
His hair isn’t white
I was today years old when I learnt that socks gave a left and right.
I suppose the Rylan thing is important in that what he said echoes what (apparently) a lot of people think. And it doesn’t get challenged often enough. But that doesn’t matter because the people that believe it will believe it harder when it is challenged.
Great reality tv show. Get those who spout the lies to swap places with the migrants for a month. Let's see how much their narrative changes.
Reform should not only be held to account they should be mocked. Thoroughly mocked. They and their Toad of Toad Hall leader are a fucking laughing stock and deserve the same contempt they reserve for potential voters. It should be a matter of embarrassment to vote for them.
The fact that Reform were trying to run a person who had been dead for six months as their Croydon Mayoral candidate is proof if it were needed that they are not a serious party. It demonstrates abject incompetence and no vetting as well as utter contempt for the electorate.
That’s spot on Zoe. An educational response is necessary, but not sufficient, because the broader challenge is inherently social. Particularly for those identified as SEND with learning disabilities, who have been repeatedly failed by policy and society.
Nice to see the Green leadership candidates on #Newsnight
From what I see in rural Cambridgeshire the unofficial installed flags are used more for provocation than patriotism. If used on a road the Highways Act 1980 s132 considers it an offence with a fine of up to £100 (first conviction) or £200 (second or subsequent conviction).
This is my flag.
This is a real photograph of Washington, DC this week, where the United States president has ordered military occupation in peacetime, and ordered the display of colossal portraits of himself. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
All the trappings of a dictator
As Ben points out above, it's facilitated ridicule of nonsense which is a vital function!
The pendulum swing is the thing. When will we stop pushing one or other of the theoretical extremes and get stuck in to looking at how teachers expertly navigate the middle ground. whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2024/06/lang...
Grammar v Communication is linked to Knowledge v Skills. And far from being exhausted, that debate has been an obstacle to actually starting to look at the rich messy dynamic overlap and interplay of knowledge and skills. whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2024/06/lang...
In languages, they had us fighting culture wars of grammar v communication, when of course it's both. But it distracted us from the systemic issues that really need fixing: whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2025/05/can-...
I think making schools less autism/ADHD-unfriendly is at least partly within the sector’s control. Eg in relation to the disproportionate ‘emotional burden’ carried by autistic & ADHD children & teens? www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/ju...
On reflection, I think a decade ago we had the privilege of deeply worrying about education policy because other areas weren’t so problematic. Now, the overbearing issues are economic and social, and not really within the sector’s control.
and 15-20 years ago we could refer to all sorts of external agencies.. Albeit they were of mixed success but everything from less over stretched social services, thriving families, YOT, sure start etc etc. Now we are the single point of focus for almost everything around young people.
SEND seems to be an area which crosses over from social into schools very poignantly. Will be very interesting to see what the plans for this look like whilst schools continue to try to navigate what's right for their pupils
That’s a relief
I mean to say that anything I have to say has all been said.
Maybe that’s true. I’m not too sure though. I reckon there’s probably still a lot of bobbins out there.
Exactly this. There is no concern for the people on the boats, and no genuine concern actually for the people of Great Britain. There’s something else behind it all.
Is it possible to express an anti-open border stance without resorting to hyperbole, demonisation, othering, and lying? I imagine it probably must be, but I’ve yet to see it. There must be people who oppose open borders yet can speak about asylum seekers with humanity and love. Where are they?
Reform UK: “Free speech! You can’t say anything these days!” Also Reform UK: “You’re banned from reporting on our council because we don’t like what you said.” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
He did say it. What’s the use in hypothetical posturing here? Truth is I’m fairly indifferent to Rylan or what he has to say about anything. It’s just emblematic of how the discourse is being framed. Fear mongering and othering are just mainstream talking points now.
Yes, exactly.
The second paragraph is an example of the divisive nature of the discourse. It’s us vs them. It’s a narrative of othering.
So you’ve proven my point with your examples. He’s regurgitating the hyperbole, legitimising the bullshit.
The narrative
I put a decade of myself into Twitter. I wrote my doctoral thesis about it. I found it very hard to come away from it. But every time I take a peek I see I was right to come away; it’s toxic.
That’s very kind of you.
Also, much of the stuff on Twitter was arguing with idiots and poor faith actors. Thankfully, they don’t seem to be bothering here.
It’s all been said. Also, I have been out of the state education system for 10 years, so I don’t feel I have the current experience or authority to comment on it. The other stuff I used to write about - discourse stuff - is just so depressing. Do you really want to read me moaning about flags?
On a purely personal level, I don’t feel I have anything to say anymore.
I am sickened by the relentless demonisation of refugees. No refugee underfunded a school. No refugee closed a hospital. No refugee took away support from the sick and disabled. We need solutions not scapegoats. Stop blaming refugees and tax the rich instead!
Rylan has fallen.
A picture speaks a thousand words.
Perhaps rather than endlessly promoting Mr Farage, the national media could highlight what his local councillors are doing - as demonstrated here by @northantstelegraph.bsky.social www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/people/...
Why, you might ask, do the BBC and Sky News, casting their editorial guidelines to the wind, keep giving massive airtime to the far right, while shutting out leftwing voices? Don't their bosses understand the likely consequences? Only one explanation now remains. They do. And it is what they want.
Putting a 10 year old on tv to talk about his friend being shot at school is a different level of diabolical.
DO NOT PUT CHILDREN ON TV TALKING ABOUT A SHOOTING THEY JUST LIVED THROUGH The media who do this are heartless bastards
Lolz.
Checkmate.
What’s the matter? Not happy that I haven’t responded within minutes? Your impatience causing you to descend into ad hominem? I saw the opportunity for a humorous interjection and I took it.
Those Reform nutjobs reminded me: "Being British is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, grabbing an Indian curry or Turkish kebab takeaway, then going home to sit on Swedish furniture & watch American shows on a Japanese TV, while being suspicious of anything foreign."
Because you lose?
Oooh
And yet entirely responsible.
There is no way of deporting 600,000 people that doesn't involve brutality and the enormous suffering of innocent people. I also know many people don't care about that.
Making them wear high-visibility vests over camo is such a good joke you couldn’t write it
Farage has already won in the minds and hearts of many people.
Meanwhile big social media platforms such as Facebook continue their lurch to the right, filling feeds with xenophobic and blatantly racist material. Everyone is talking about flags due to the success of the BNP fuelled Operation Raise the Colours.
I partly agree with you, but what’s the alternative ? Farage & his goons m dominate the BBC & other mainstream media outlets, as well as having effective social media channels that pass many of us by but that hit younger audiences. He is popular across demographics. Should Bush etc just ignore him?
One of two very good threads by Adam on this. A startling number of people - responding, in part, by the tone set by their government - just have this very complacent 'oh, no, this plan will never work'. I mean, 1) it could but also 2) they will definitely try.
I think Faragists actually would like to.
After they have gone after people born abroad, Reform will go for anyone who doesn't meet their type. We've seen this film before.