Flick 🇬🇧

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Nostr: 2c60241a778e47057c7b457e8e31750216a924877c8c21637b719ba573568161

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npub1uxmmyz2nw8ys8npflt93m9yu5c8ewckp00xsu5g3aykvn836jt7qyxujtm

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Flick@spinster-xyz.mostr.pub

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nprofile1qqswrdajp9fhrjgres5l4jcajjw2vruhvtqhhngw2yg7jtxfncaf9lqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsdsnls0

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Last Notes

2026-03-26 10:39:55 UTC

They’re not bloody “depressed”, ffs. Predictive text doesn’t have feelings.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15678939/Google-AI-bots-locked-despressive-spiral-refuse-carry-tasks-repeatedly-told-wrong.html
Google’s AI bots reportedly suffer ‘emotional distress’ and abandon tasks when repeatedly told they are wrong, according to new research.
The company’s Gemini and Gemma models, which assists users with daily tasks, can fall into a ‘depressive' spiral if they get answers wrong or fail to complete tasks when prompted.
And the chatbots even go so far as abandoning routines and deleting work, according to a study conducted by Imperial College London and AI company Anthropic.

2026-03-23 19:17:00 UTC

https://spectator.com/article/the-case-for-cloning-the-queens-corgis/
Think of cloning the corgis as a trial balloon for something infinitely thrilling. After all, we have come to accept as a matter of course that the descent of the crown through the generations is accompanied by a slight but perceptible deterioration of the genetic stock. Her Majesty, to pick just a single example, had a splendid head of hair right to the end of her long life. The King is pretty bald. The Prince of Wales is even balder.
Wouldn’t we all, in our secret hearts, and respect his Majesty though we do, prefer it had we been able to install an exact clone of the late Queen on the throne in his place? The technology wasn’t there at the time, and it isn’t there yet. But one day, it seems likely, it will be. Think how grateful Prince George and his descendants will be to be let off the prospect of doing that thankless job, while Queen Elizabeth III is followed by Queen Elizabeth IV and Queen Elizabeth V and so on. Extra money could be made, to relieve pressure on the public finances, by selling spare clones of Her Majesty to other countries in need of a monarch of proven quality.
https://archive.ph/K5oKm

2026-03-22 16:06:11 UTC

I think this may have gone too far, America.
https://www.tacticalpajamas.com/

2026-03-14 17:03:40 UTC

https://media.spinster.xyz/1f55f4b47a9e64acb5bca47d0807f4ef217fde0622326001e88fe9a81ab687f7.jpeg

2026-03-08 10:31:54 UTC

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Ah, yeah, that makes sense. Good luck to it, there’s no mobile signal where it spends the night!

2026-03-08 10:18:49 UTC

Why is my phone using (admittedly tiny) amounts of mobile data in the middle of the night when it’s connected to wifi…?
https://media.spinster.xyz/6b773b57d2b79cc8db46306506bf231a646bb495fed330949efe6c927e04152a.png

2026-02-27 15:31:15 UTC

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Not here, they don’t. (The UK and Ireland are rabies-free.)

2026-02-26 09:56:39 UTC

@nprofile…ctu6
My potato onions have made it through the winter (thank you!), but what do I actually do with them in terms of harvesting? Dig the whole thing up and replant the biggest one? And when?

2026-02-20 08:51:16 UTC

Crazy woman on the radio saying shooting deer is cruuuuuuel and their numbers can be controlled by — checks notes — cutting grass and putting in fences.

2026-02-11 17:57:53 UTC

Whilst it will necessitate some degree of recognition of and dealings with the Taliban, and the way women and girls are treated there is abhorrent and not something anyone wants to implicitly condone or support, I’m afraid that protecting women and girls begins at home.
https://spectator.com/article/the-afghan-asylum-crime-wave-has-to-stop/
This has to end. We can’t keep letting these men in and waiting to see which ones will rape children. Our current policy is neither wise nor moral. Those who advocate for it, who demand our borders remain open, and who urge us to welcome ever more dangerous migrants like to believe they are good and virtuous but they are causing a very great evil to be done to our nation. The doctrine of ‘kindness’ is nothing of the sort.
It’s time for serious decisions. Afghan migrants pose far too great a risk. They should not be here. Politicians need to be brave, to step forward and say that we must close our borders to Afghans, and that those who are here must be deported.
As Rob Bates says, ‘other European countries return individuals to Afghanistan, it is time Britain does the same – the Afghan population in this country is predominantly made up of asylum seekers or those resettled in the country. Refugee status is not permanent and we are under no long term obligations.’
https://archive.ph/g0qTk

2026-02-09 21:08:21 UTC

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I disagree, medlars are worth it even with the bletting and the seeds! You can make a lovely crumble with them.
They make a good fruit leather, if that’s not too similar to jam.
They are messy trees though, quite sprawling and floppy, not like a nice little apple or cherry.
Shout out for pheasant berry, too. Shrub rather than tree, but they are delicious.

2026-02-01 15:47:18 UTC

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Sadly, I have a suddenly very elderly one :’(

2026-01-31 20:32:22 UTC

https://spectator.com/article/amelia-the-purple-haired-goth-girl-who-became-a-nationalist-icon/
Does it mean anything important, or is it all just amusing internet froth? I believe it does have significance, even if Amelia disappears tomorrow. Amelia is final proof, in the age of the viral AI meme, that the government no longer has any chance of controlling the narrative, let alone establishing one in the first place.
This goes against every instinct and reflex of the British Establishment. Because, if the Establishment exists to do anything, it is to control us. This is why Starmer is so desperate to ban X for putting fake bikinis on women, while taking a year to announce a possible inquiry into nationwide grooming gangs.
Happily, this is one battle the Establishment simply cannot win. It has been said that the internet is the subconscious of humanity. And, as Freud observed, in the end the subconscious will always decide what we do. Dreams denote desires, and desires determine reality. In other words: go, Amelia.
https://archive.ph/gcdQf

2026-01-30 21:21:15 UTC

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Ah! I got it from the excellent Salt, Sugar, Smoke!
I have done all three colours and prefer white/pink to red, personally.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1845335643

2026-01-30 21:16:10 UTC

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Who what now?

2026-01-30 21:09:25 UTC

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If you have the trees, early peach/cherry leaves ditto without the vanilla.

2026-01-24 12:09:54 UTC

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Legally, W will operate as a subsidiary of We Don't Have Time, a media company focused on climate issues.

2026-01-22 10:14:05 UTC

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I know they’re cherry picked for maximum insane-looking, but there are just so many loony pictures of him.

2026-01-08 14:16:06 UTC

Yikes.
https://media.spinster.xyz/a06689c2c6c4c382e91f9ef2bf8a609032845997cac4a25c844b798390969722.jpeg

2025-12-19 16:51:34 UTC

Behold, my Christmas faggot:
https://media.spinster.xyz/30c0654903cf2f69e03c267282b7d6a6ee6828954718713e1b6e0e96aaf8c083.jpeg

2025-12-06 16:17:09 UTC

Looking for fabric that my mum would like.
Massively side-tracked.
https://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/tochio-yarn-dyed-10-patchwork-palette

2025-12-02 20:22:05 UTC

I feel really sorry for my financial planner’s secretary.
(I eventually deciphered it as “with very best wishes”. I think!)
https://media.spinster.xyz/ab47bd9127a6eb7e9f81aaacd9fa596bd7abe8f43cd29807574e228a036368d6.jpeg

2025-12-01 11:00:52 UTC

Help: what am I going to get my mum for Christmas?
Things I have bought her in recent years: a rose plant; a big fluffy fleece dressing gown; a raised planter with seeds for growing salad; a fancy smoked salmon hamper.
Things there is no point buying for her: clothes; homewares; any kind of non-gardening hobby stuff; books.
I had a blinder of an idea the other day (I’m going to make her a blanket with old cashmere jumpers that she’s given me because they have tiny bits of damage; while this breaks the “no homewares” rule, as it will be colours she chose I think it will be acceptable), but it won’t be done in time so will be for her birthday next year.

2025-11-23 10:48:56 UTC

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/22/pakistanis-holiday-visa-loophole-lodge-record-asylum-claims/
Nearly 10,000 Pakistanis entered the country with temporary visitor, work or student visas before then switching last year to claim asylum in an attempt to secure permanent residency in the UK, according to government data.
Pakistan now accounts for one in 10 of all asylum claims, more than any of the 175 other nations from which migrants seek refugee status in the UK. It topped the table with over 11,000 asylum applications, ahead of Afghanistan, Iran and Eritrea in a five-fold rise since 2022 when its claims numbered just 2,154. […]
“The rise of Pakistan in the asylum league tables exposes a truth politicians often avoid: Britain’s migration system isn’t just failing at the borders - it’s failing within them. Yes, small boats matter. But ‘legal entry, then asylum claim’ shows how the system is being gamed from inside.
https://archive.ph/uP7Pd

2025-11-23 10:45:15 UTC

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/errors-omissions-and-illogicalities-galore-at-the-covid-inquiry-d9kt5jzjj
The Covid inquiry is an extremely slow and expensive way of reaching some highly questionable conclusions. It is based on a remarkably limited range of material, much of it lacking in objectivity. Some of its arguments are logically incoherent. And it is riddled with solemn warnings against methodological errors and omissions which the author then proceeds to commit herself.
This is the second “module” of the inquiry. At £200 million and with another eight modules to go, one is bound to question whether the public is getting value for money.
https://archive.ph/h7tRm

2025-11-17 08:27:10 UTC

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/11/17/how-net-zero-will-deepen-the-uks-housing-crisis/
Landlords will soon face a stark choice. A retired teacher who rents a two-bedroom flat to supplement her pension might soon discover that her property is rated Band D. The cost of upgrading to Band C is from £5,000 to £8,000 – a cost she may not be able to bear. If she continues to let the property after 2028, she will be liable for a £30,000 penalty. The likely result is a forced exit from the rental market, reducing the supply of affordable housing at a time of chronic shortages.
The policy’s reach extends beyond those who let properties. Any homeowner who sells his home must provide a valid EPC. If the rating is below Band C and no exemptions apply, the sale cannot proceed until the necessary works are completed. For those inheriting a property, the burden falls on the estate. In each case, the £30,000 fine looms.

2025-11-16 19:58:27 UTC

For those days when your shoulders are having a hot flush.
https://media.spinster.xyz/af01a3a0ce59597b98fe1db6aaded90b52ed47f5c631cd91f187124a629c0377.jpeg

2025-11-14 09:55:51 UTC

Some force required to get him out of the house. Went far enough to have a poo then turned and route-marched home.
Actually difficult to walk in the stronger gusts, but not that much rain: the low patches on the road aren’t flooded all the way across. Yet.
#nevent1q…arhl

2025-10-21 17:17:03 UTC

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Women cannot rape in the UK. The law specifies a penis.

2025-10-20 15:06:29 UTC

Dear Diary,
Today, I almost saw the sun!
https://media.spinster.xyz/318290d33703202e2ef7fbdf522f40fe9ff57b8f602cfc2c96e19835c3181f16.jpeg

2025-10-14 20:35:03 UTC

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I checked the message carefully before I did anything.
He’s since replied and it turns out he thought he was BCCing his travelling companion.

2025-10-14 20:22:12 UTC

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sigh
German chap has just replied to me explaining that he BCC’d ‘me’ in his email to the hotel, but still blithely assuming that he was addressing his mate he’s going to Czechia with….
At least I’m not going to be getting all the hotel’s email, I guess?

2025-10-14 19:50:54 UTC

I have an email address along the lines of FelicityJSmith@gmail.com. It’s not the most common name in the world, but there are evidently others: I’ve had a job interview offer from the FBI, a message from the RSPCA about the dog I want to adopt, and various similar things in the past. If it looks important, I reply and explain. There’s also an elderly lady who emails me whenever she won’t be in for her regular weekly phone call and will not be told that she has the wrong email address.
In what might be the oddest yet, today I’ve had an email from a German chap that was sent to an hotel in Czechia asking for a room price. Checking the headers, it’s been redirected from the address he sent it to to felicity.j.smith@gmail.com (a punctuation format I never use but often see in these types of messages) so presumably my namesake works there now….
Can I be bothered trying to find an alternate contact email for the hotel to let them know? Probably not. I guess I’ll reply to the German chap and let him know his message probably hasn’t gone through.

2025-10-11 13:35:26 UTC

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I love the fact that the Taliban flat out said “We don’t do that any more” but the Home Office hasn’t thought to ask them.

2025-10-04 09:04:33 UTC

I think today may be worse than yesterday. First use of my winter coat….
https://media.spinster.xyz/da1f25059724cb338fb3b670abb13347e91d9a3d6618f73a0bb57a6ac3863482.jpeg

2025-10-03 20:26:01 UTC

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If it’s real, it’s probably the one login thing they’ve been pushing for a while.

2025-09-30 18:10:03 UTC

If you have clear skies, it’s worth looking north as soon as it gets dark.
https://media.spinster.xyz/44a8787662b6704ceaafb8f8a8317a46658d1a698dc796db983cb21df8ebb567.jpeg

2025-09-12 09:46:02 UTC

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/09/11/progressives-are-dehumanising-charlie-kirk-even-in-death/
His death does not come out of the blue. It happened after years of violent and hyperbolic rhetoric from the mainstream media and Democratic elites attacking conservatives as evil, Nazi-adjacent threats to the status quo. Indeed, the day before Kirk’s assassination, Connecticut Democratic senator Chris Murphy announced, ‘We’re in a war right now to save this country… so you have to be willing to do whatever is necessary in order to save the country’.
Nothing is beneath these people. After Kirk’s death, ‘progressive’ pundits and assorted online leftists have claimed that Kirk brought this on himself. That he deserves it for espousing ‘controversial’ views. MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd said that ‘[Kirk has] been one of the most divisive younger figures, who is constantly sort of pushing this hate speech aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which lead to hateful actions.’ By hateful thoughts and words, of course, Dowd means any views that challenge his liberal-left worldview.

2025-09-11 09:35:01 UTC

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09/09/trade-unions-vow-to-oppose-supreme-court-trans-ruling/
Trade unions have vowed to oppose the Supreme Court ruling on transgender issues and have called official guidance on single-sex spaces “flawed”.
Delegates at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) voted unanimously in favour of a motion which said the April ruling went against the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
One representative of the Unison union accused Bridget Phillipson, the equalities minister, of overseeing a “segregation” of trans people in society.
https://archive.ph/CHxNI

2025-09-10 14:21:47 UTC

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@nprofile…rpw6 ^

2025-09-10 14:21:28 UTC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwylp71vnjgo
A vaccine which could save Australia's endangered koala population from a rampant chlamydia epidemic has been approved for rollout for the first time.
University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) scientists have spent more than a decade developing a jab to curb the spread of the disease, which has devastated wild koala populations across most of eastern Australia.

2025-09-10 14:19:14 UTC

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Belarus is saying it was Ukraine’s fault because U jammed the drones’ signals. Just lol ffs.

2025-09-10 10:31:00 UTC

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Yeah, there seems to be slight concern that pegging it down might have caused damage but I suspect it will be fine.

2025-09-10 10:27:41 UTC

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/09/10/ukraine-russia-war-latest-news-drones-poland-nato/
Nato jets shot down Russian drones that “repeatedly violated” Poland’s airspace in an overnight bombardment of Ukraine.
Polish, Dutch and Italian fighter aircraft were scrambled to intercept at least 19 drones as citizens were told to stay at home.
It marks the most serious clash between Russia and the alliance since the start of war in Ukraine, dragging the conflict into uncharted territory.
Politicians and analysts believe it was a deliberate attempt by the Kremlin to test Nato’s response.

2025-09-10 10:22:36 UTC

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/climate-change-global-warming-net-zero-pxznms29q
The number of Britons who think the dangers of global warming have been exaggerated has jumped by more than 50 per cent in the past four years, new research for The Times reveals today.
One in four voters now believe that concerns over climate change are not as real as scientists have said, amid growing public concern at the cost of the government’s net zero policies.
Less than a third of the public (30 per cent) are in favour of banning new petrol and diesel cars — down from 51 per cent in 2021.
https://archive.ph/TUrLj

2025-09-10 10:18:37 UTC

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09/09/allison-pearson-graham-linehan-arrest/
The pattern is always the same. When the police want to behave like social-justice activists they demand “operational independence”. When they get found out suddenly they want “guidance”.
None of this is by accident. The stretching or misinterpreting of legislation that was intended for genuinely threatening scenarios to intimidate or criminalise people for expressing legitimate opinions is deliberate policy. It is presided over by one of the worst, most un-British bodies in Britain: the College of Policing. This quango states its purpose is “to support everyone in policing to reduce crime and keep people safe, including by sharing knowledge and good practice”.
Its true aim is more worrying, I think, and lacks democratic accountability. According to one senior officer, the College sees its role as promoting and supporting equality and diversity, and “supporting difference”. Entirely captured by transgender activists, the College brainwashes police officers to spout slogans like Maoist cultural revolutionaries – “Hateful and offensive! Hateful and offensive!” Anyone who hopes to climb the career ladder must be able to demonstrate their fidelity to progressive, Left-wing ideas, no matter how bonkers they may be.
https://archive.ph/O4oV9

2025-09-10 10:14:00 UTC

I was going to say that this was a bit much, but it’s fabric not spray paint, so actually quite clever!
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2106314/Whitby-White-Horse-St-George-s-Cross

2025-09-10 08:26:02 UTC

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https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/labour-s-refusal-to-accept-the-definition-of-a-woman/

2025-09-10 07:55:24 UTC

I’ve been getting mixed signals on the rodent front for the last couple of weeks: bait being taken sometimes, but the ducks’ bowl not being scraped clean and no actual sightings.
I set a trap last night to see what was going on, and: sorry, little mousie. That wasn’t meant for you :(

2025-09-06 19:52:41 UTC

https://media.spinster.xyz/5ebd60f47481ec2ff6a9e7c821a4821a5f1eab32b0e2df1de893b82844aea86f.jpeg

2025-09-06 19:33:46 UTC

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-truth-about-the-trans-school-shooter/
For journalists to take a trans-mollycoddling stand in the pronoun wars isn’t merely to default to niceness. Misidentifying the biological sex of figures in news stories is an implicit declaration of support for an incoherent, unhinged ideology. This grammatical loyalty to progressive dogma apparently trumps journalistic integrity – the obligation to report the truth – and even decency. Chronicling the Annunciation Catholic Church and School shooting, the New York Times and the BBC are pandering to the tender feelings of someone who’s 1) a would-be mass murderer (the successful kind, by a rather arbitrary definition, kills four or more), 2) insane and 3) dead. We alive people resent once-reputable news outlets choosing the occasion of two murdered and 15 sometimes seriously injured schoolchildren and three injured adults in their eighties to propagandise and yet again defy biological reality.
Media kowtowing to trans orthodoxy alienates their mainstream audiences. Incorrect pronouns drive news consumers nuts. Alluding to a burly guy with five o’clock shadow in a pink wig as ‘she’ makes journalists seem like fools, and readers and viewers feel mocked. Even the wussy middle course of calling trans people ‘they’ leads to grammatical confusion.
https://archive.ph/5YIqM

2025-08-26 11:50:58 UTC

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Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind.

2025-08-24 20:49:21 UTC

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It was her union that took her to court….

2025-08-24 16:47:45 UTC

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/08/24/canada-is-still-burning-witches/
Hamm’s case exposes the rot in Canada’s professional bodies. Even the panel conceded the nurse was motivated by a genuine belief in women’s sex-based rights. But sincerity counted for nothing. What mattered was not harm done, but the possibility someone might be offended.
Canada likes to present itself as a progressive nation built on kindness. But ‘care’ ought to include protecting the right of citizens to speak freely without fear. What has happened to Hamm is anything but compassionate or enlightened – it has more in common with the vindictiveness of a medieval tribunal. Her name has been blackened, her ruined career left dangling like a body in gibbet. The message to professionals is clear: speak out, and you’ll be next on the scaffold.

2025-08-24 09:44:21 UTC

Go, 4chan, go!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq68j5g2nr1o
A lawyer representing the online message board 4chan says it won't pay a proposed fine by the UK's media regulator as it enforces the Online Safety Act.
According to Preston Byrne, managing partner of law firm Byrne & Storm, Ofcom has provisionally decided to impose a £20,000 fine "with daily penalties thereafter" for as long as the site fails to comply with its request.
"Ofcom's notices create no legal obligations in the United States," he told the BBC, adding he believed the regulator's investigation was part of an "illegal campaign of harassment" against US tech firms.
Ofcom has declined to comment while its investigation continues.
"4chan has broken no laws in the United States - my client will not pay any penalty," Mr Byrne said.

2025-08-23 09:45:28 UTC

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15024581/Police-remove-sign-beep-Starmers-honking-noise.html
Police have removed a banner calling for drivers to 'beep if you think Starmer's a wanker' over fears the noise could disturb residents.
Locals have said the sign created the 'loudest dual carriageway in Britain' before it was brought to the attention of police.

2025-08-21 19:17:23 UTC

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-small-boats-are-a-national-security-emergency/
But what is especially alarming is the demographic breakdown of recent small-boat migrants who have arrived on Britain’s shores. It is safe to say that that we are not referring to migratory trends dominated by women and girls who are at serious threat of sex-based violence in warzones where rape is used as a weapon of war. From January to June 2025, 70 per cent of the 19,982 small-boat migrants who were recorded as arriving in the UK were males who were 18 to 39 years of age. During this time, the top five nationalities among small-boat migrants are the following: Eritrean, Afghan, Sudanese, Somali, and Iranian. They originate from parts of the world where women’s rights are not in especially high supply.
On top of that, there are emerging trends which underscore the reality of the small-boats crisis being a national-security emergency. In the first half of this year, 977 Yemeni nationals arrived in the UK through small-boat Channel crossings – adding to the 1,300 last year. From January to June this year, 266 small-boat migrants who reached the UK’s shores were recorded as originating from the ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ – a marked increase from last year’s total figure of 72. There are growing signs that the impact of the Yemeni civil war and the Israel-Palestine conflict is spilling over into the UK’s small-boats emergency. Irrespective of one’s views on UK Middle Eastern policy, the possibility of the UK importing Yemenis sympathetic to the Houthis and Palestinians supportive of Hamas – two Islamist political-military organisations backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran – carries significant public-safety risks, especially to Britain’s Jewish communities.
https://archive.ph/dY5ke

2025-08-19 19:04:55 UTC

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I was thinking “why prioritise a washing machine of all things”, but on reflection I suspect someone had just stuck a bunk bed in their laundry room, so the tenant will have the added joy of the landlord wandering in to do the washing.

2025-08-19 18:59:09 UTC

I’m slightly surprised that I have yet to see this memed.
1066: William the Conqueror crossed the channel with some 8,000 men.
1588: The Spanish fleet consisted of about 130 ships with about 8,000 seamen and possibly as many as 19,000 soldiers.
2025: 28,000 and counting….

2025-08-16 18:26:41 UTC

https://freespeechunion.org/police-gag-order-against-union-activist-overturned-in-free-speech-case/
A Free Speech Union (FSU) member was arrested in an early-morning raid after criticising his former employer in a private Facebook group, then placed under “Orwellian” bail conditions barring him from even revealing the arrest. Following legal intervention supported by the FSU, the extraordinary “gagging clause” has now been overturned at a special court hearing. […]
In 2023, an employment tribunal ruled he had been unfairly dismissed on grounds of capability. Since then, he has continued to advise firefighters in a private Facebook group, occasionally posting critical remarks about the service’s management. Speaking to the Telegraph, he said his comments – which have been reviewed by the paper as well as by the FSU’s casework and legal teams – were “anodyne” and “certainly not criminal”.
Nevertheless, these remarks drew police attention. Earlier this summer, Staffordshire Police carried out a 7am raid on Moss’s home in Newcastle-under-Lyme, seizing his phones, iPad and computer, before arresting him on suspicion of an offence under section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988. Moss said the officers were “heavy-handed” and left him feeling “like a criminal.”

2025-08-15 10:33:07 UTC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjeykklwn7vo
A Labour councillor who called for far-right protesters' throats to be cut at an anti-racism rally has been found not guilty of encouraging violent disorder.
Ricky Jones, 58, has been on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court after he called demonstrators "disgusting Nazi fascists" and said "we need to get rid of them all" while addressing a crowd in Walthamstow on 7 August last year.

2025-08-12 16:08:37 UTC

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I must admit, while reading it I did think “I wonder why the TRAs haven’t gone after the story”. Presumably a bit close to the truth for them to want to draw attention to it.

2025-08-12 15:59:55 UTC

Long but interesting.
https://dailysceptic.org/2025/08/12/the-land-that-forgot-about-wolves/
The image of the fairy tale wolf no doubt has lots of semiotic resonances but the most obvious (beyond the literal danger of wolves themselves, I suppose) is that of the sexually predatory male. The message of these tales is that although there are good people in the world (your grandmother, the woodcutter, the little pig who made his house out of bricks), it is also inhabited by dangerous actors who want to do bad things to you. And since these actors will often come in disguises, pretending to be nice – and particularly when your mother and/or father has gone out or is otherwise not present – be on your guard. Learn to discern the benevolent from the malign.
He goes on to analyse some recent BBC versions of Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Pigs:
In Little Red Riding Hood, we see “Little Red” going to visit her grandmother with a basket of treats, as in the original. And, sure enough, we discover that there is a wolf lurking in the forest. But he is curiously un-wolf-like. With bunny-like ears and a fluffy tail he looks more like a fox, and his behaviour is flighty, cowardly, almost effete. And we quickly find out that he has no interest in eating “Little Red” or her grandmother or anybody else.

2025-08-11 14:10:43 UTC

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/do-the-palestine-action-protestors-really-care-about-palestine/
The focus of the protest, Palestine Action, is almost incidental as a cause, because those arrested, and the rest of those who attended, were there not because they identify in any specific sense with the cause of Palestine Action but rather because they identify with every cause.
Support for Palestine Action is merely the latest example of what has been dubbed the ‘omnicause’. Whether they’re demonstrating for Palestine, trans rights or the environment, it’s essentially the same people doing the same thing, but under supposedly different labels. If you drew a Venn diagram of Palestine, eco and trans activists, you would draw a simple circle, because they are basically the same people. They aren’t protestors with a focus; they protest about everything, everywhere. Palestine Action is itself an offshoot of a green group.
https://archive.ph/YiKvm

2025-08-11 09:36:43 UTC

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Peak.

2025-08-11 09:15:18 UTC

Peculiar day, barely a breath of wind (which is not normal up here!) but that at least meant the clouds were so slow moving that the sun only came out for the downhill part of our walk!
https://media.spinster.xyz/dab461aedcaf45e3b271ab8c256544948dacbcd5a6538d3d2f6dfd90e835d76f.jpeg
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https://media.spinster.xyz/2aa6ec71f6cf0aec43b60729eb4bed60d7ce79893dcdaf94090e12f56e06087f.jpeg

2025-08-10 18:51:27 UTC

Nearly done, unless I decide to extend it:
It’s expensive, but that “Very Velvet” thread is pretty. It’s the darker shade in the alternating squares, and it really does sew up like velvet.
https://media.spinster.xyz/aeb5859a13e8bd4b5224d0adeaab30a75ba7196899a6d76aa39759c67ce8e940.jpeg

2025-08-09 19:12:30 UTC

https://media.spinster.xyz/5d0eb3b2923e00936ae15b678c63e38fcc8a4ae1e210d5352bf0c8fcf1191cba.jpeg

2025-08-08 18:50:03 UTC

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-nauseating-hypocrisy-of-kneecap/
It is worth recalling their noble sentiments when Kneecap was feeling the heat:
‘As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom… The question of not agreeing with Kneecap’s political views is irrelevant: It is in the key interests of every artist that all creative expression be protected in a society that values culture, and that this interference campaign is condemned and ridiculed.’
Consider the letter Kneecap and the same artists signed demanding the cancellation of Mise Eire: ‘If it is permitted to go ahead, we believe the far-right “Mise Éire Festival” will tarnish the proud history of the Mayflower as a venue that has served to bring people together from all backgrounds and as a safe and inclusive cultural space. We artists and musicians thus call on the committee of the Mayflower Community Centre to cancel this divisive event.’
So, there you have it. The festival was declared far right and divisive. It had to go.
https://archive.ph/KRmdY

2025-08-07 19:07:50 UTC

At Pilates, thinking “Why am I so stinky? Not really done much physical activity today…” then I realised that the Gorilla was over at the other side of the room. Bleh.

2025-08-06 10:39:06 UTC

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Wow, that’s a lot of fruit! Glad it was fairly unscathed.

2025-08-05 09:47:37 UTC

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Oh, I hope not!
I think the NE had it worse than the NW, from what I saw of it. Mostly wind here, too, but there was one absolute downpour late morning, just when I thought it was drying up.

2025-08-05 09:34:07 UTC

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I’ve known much worse. I only caught the edge of it, I think.

2025-08-05 09:32:00 UTC

On the plus side, the wind means the showers aren’t staying around for very long.
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2025-08-04 19:49:16 UTC

After the storm.
(Although it’s not exactly calm with this wind!)
https://media.spinster.xyz/366419fb3f4af9e74e537040fa63f37bab142f4f082aa34f8ef4eb5da9a83dd2.jpeg

2025-08-04 19:05:10 UTC

I stupidly had mozzarella (which I can’t get lactose-free) two days in a row, so with hindsight it’s not surprising that my digestive system complained, but it was a bloody week ago now and I am getting a bit sick of it.

2025-08-03 18:31:39 UTC

https://freespeechunion.org/police-advised-councillors-to-suppress-asylum-status-in-child-rape-case-sources-allege/
Local officials have raised concerns about a lack of transparency after it emerged that Warwickshire Police advised councillors not to disclose the immigration status of two men remanded in custody over the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton, citing fears of inflaming community tensions.
The guidance, reportedly issued to avoid inflaming community tensions, has prompted renewed warnings about the impact on democratic accountability when the full range of consequences of immigration policy are obscured from public view. […]
In recent months, other asylum seekers in taxpayer-funded accommodation have been charged with serious sexual offences across the country. In some cases, local politicians have accused councils and police of a “cover-up”, claiming incidents were kept quiet, as in Nuneaton, to avoid potential unrest.
This pattern of institutional nervousness around immigration and multiculturalism, particularly when sexual violence is perpetrated by members of ethnic or religious minorities, has been documented since at least the 2000s.

2025-08-03 14:52:54 UTC

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/jess-phillips-im-being-controlled-by-aggression-and-violence/
[Jess Phillips] says that her opponent, ‘the independent [muslim] candidate,’ brought in external canvassers. ‘From London,’ she believes. ‘We couldn’t advertise where we were going. They were haranguing voters. There were fireworks thrown, tyres slashed and constituents threatened at polling stations. And I have to say they were almost exclusively men.’
She told her sons, aged 16 and 20, to keep away from the count. ‘I thought, I’m being controlled by aggression and violence.’
She won by 693 votes but her opponent asked for a recount. The returning officer refused. ‘She was incredibly professional,’ says Phillips. ‘And absolutely tiny. About five-foot nothing. And she was encircled by men, shouting at her. It made me fucking furious.’
After the count, Phillips exchanged a handshake with each of her defeated opponents.
‘The independent candidate refused to shake my hand. Petty little idiot.’
Jonathan Ashworth had a similar experience in Leicester South where he narrowly lost to the independent, Shockat Adam. Phillips now regrets her decision not to publicise her opponent’s tactics for fear of tarnishing the image of her constituency. ‘Lots of journalists came and I kept them away. I didn’t want the people who live there to look bad.’
https://archive.ph/iJ8vf

2025-08-02 20:37:10 UTC

https://media.spinster.xyz/8495cbab91f42bf8ac80e0f2c00b5e11199554fe8b1e8c6c8e4bbe21eabc3e1d.jpeg

2025-08-02 19:55:57 UTC

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-generation-woke-loves-romantasy/
What is most bizarre is that, despite violent and sometimes coercive sex being the main selling point for many of these books, each comes with a list of trigger warnings (which consequently remove any mystery). They alert readers to ‘kidnapping/imprisonment’, ‘ableism/ableist language’, ‘body shaming’ and ‘forced betrothal’, among a litany of other politically incorrect sins.
There is a profound cognitive dissonance at play here. Romantasy is for the generation who came of age during the excesses of fourth-wave feminism, trigger warnings and social justice. […]
And yet almost all the books involved coercion and compelled sex. Does the popularity of romantasy betray something missing from Gen Z’s sanitised lives? The generation no longer having sex are devouring books which portray it in its basest form. The most hotly anticipated romantasy book of the year, Alchemised, is a direct reworking of a Harry Potter fan fiction written online. In it, Hermione Granger is sent as an enslaved surrogate to Draco Malfoy. Give me Emily Brontë any day over this.
https://archive.ph/zfHoz

2025-08-02 18:29:37 UTC

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14946993/Record-60s-referred-anti-terrorism-scheme-Prevent.html
Record numbers of over-60s are being referred to the Government's troubled anti-terrorism scheme, the Daily Mail can reveal today. […]
Even the 1955 epic war film The Dam Busters and The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare were flagged as possible red flags of extremism by Prevent's Research Information and Communications Unit. […]
While 'extreme right wing' referrals have been stable since records began in 2016, the reports for over 60s in all categories has more than doubled - rising from 59 in 2016, to 127 in 2023.
Over the same period, the overall number of referrals under the Islamist umbrella has plunged by 75 per cent, from 3,706 to 913 - or 13 per cent of the total.

2025-08-02 16:50:46 UTC

Two recent interesting episodes of The Food Chain.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct70yp — about how to approach food with foster children, including a very interesting segment about food hoarding, aka what to do when you find a stash of tinned food under the child’s bed: don’t scold, instead put up a new shelf in the child’s room for the tins and then, when they’re all neatly arranged, say “Now, is there anything else you would like to add to your shelf just in case?”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct70yr — about how to approach food with dementia patients, particularly how to get them to eat independently rather than spooning food into them like they are brainless voids.
The latter had an interesting anecdote about a man who loved mashed potato but stopped eating it for no obvious reason. Someone thought “Hmm. Mash is white. The plates are white…” and got him a blue plate, whereupon he started happily eating the mash that had suddenly reappeared in his meals and was soon putting weight back on.

2025-07-31 09:30:10 UTC

I normally go walking in bog standard cotton/poly socks, never have any issues with them but I don’t normally walk very long distances.
Did some research and the jury definitely says to wear two layers. I’m not at all keen on those thick wooly hiking socks, so I looked into mad high tech ones and bought a couple of pairs of double layer ones that are only slightly thicker than my usual ones.
Tried them out walking the dog today, and I had a slight sore spot on the pad (weirdly) of my heel after about forty minutes. I just took them off to have a look and there’s no damage or redness, but I do have a bit of a callus there, so maybe that’s the problem?
I’ll crack on with them and see.

2025-07-30 19:37:49 UTC

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/07/30/no-sydney-sweeney-is-not-a-genocidal-goose-stepper/
Way back in the mists of time, before TikTok, before Bluesky, before pussy hats and the #Resistance, there used to be this thing whereby large companies would hire beautiful young women with bodies you could bounce pennies off and for large sums of money, said women would prance about showing off whatever products the company was selling – plus their own natural assets. […]
The funniest thing about this non-story is that, by eighties and nineties standards, Sweeney is not a traffic-stopper. She’s obviously lovely in her own way, but compared with the glamazons who sold us stuff back in my youth, she’s practically homely. She’s a normal looking young woman with a fantastic rack and a very expensive make-up artist. And yet she’s provoking thinly veiled jealous rage all over the internet. That is how far the culture has shifted in just a few years.

2025-07-30 19:24:49 UTC

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-online-safety-act-is-plumbing-new-depths-of-stupidity/
The result? Not a safer internet, but a smaller, duller, more paranoid one. A place where freedom shrinks, innovation flees, and everything begins to sound eerily and deadeningly pre-approved, like Russian poetry under Stalin.
It is already noticeable that the OSA is not being used to shut down Pornhub or xHamster for adolescents, but to silence discussion – or even basic news – about those topics most awkward for the world’s worst government: Pakistani rape gangs, illegal immigration, protests about asylum hotels, and all that dreadful jazz that soundtracks Britain’s decline.
What’s more, the OSA threatens to destroy Britain’s AI industry – one of the few areas where we might actually be exploiting our post-Brexit freedoms. […] For example, next year the OSA will allow Ofcom to require companies to hand over any information about their algorithms as well as internal documents, data and software source code as part of its ‘regulatory functions’.
https://archive.ph/uZO58

2025-07-29 11:26:13 UTC

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/07/26/elite-police-unit-to-monitor-online-critics-of-migrants/
An elite team of police officers is to monitor social media for anti-migrant sentiment amid fears of summer riots.
Detectives will be drawn from forces across the country to take part in a new investigations unit that will flag up early signs of potential civil unrest. […]
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Two-tier Keir can’t police the streets, so he’s trying to police opinions instead. They’re setting up a central team to monitor what you post, what you share, what you think, because deep down they know the public don’t buy what they’re selling.
“Labour have stopped pretending to fix Britain and started trying to mute it. This is a Prime Minister who’s happy to turn Britain into a surveillance state, but won’t deport foreign criminals, won’t patrol high streets, won’t fund frontline policing.
“Labour are scared of the public, Labour don’t trust the public, Labour don’t even know the public.”
https://archive.ph/lgkq1

2025-07-29 11:21:59 UTC

https://order-order.com/2025/07/29/nearly-a-third-of-young-labour-voters-consider-leaving-uk-under-starmer/
One in four young Britons are considering leaving the country. A new Adam Smith Insights poll of more than 1,300 people aged 18-30 shows 28% have thought about or are planning to emigrate. Among young Labour voters, 29% say they are either seriously considering (20%) or actively planning (9%) to leave. […]
“Our research demonstrates the fear amongst young people that Britain is a sinking ship. GenZ are not the anxious generation – they are the scared generation. Scared that the country they love is being driven into the sea by decades of bad policy, terrible economic performance, and embarrassing leaders.”

2025-07-29 11:19:16 UTC

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jul/28/russia-aeroflot-cancels-flights-pro-ukraine-hackers-cyber-attack
The Russian airline Aeroflot was forced to cancel dozens of flights on Monday after a pro-Ukraine hacking group with a track record of claiming responsibility for hacking targets in Russia said it had carried out a cyber-attack.
Aeroflot did not provide further details about the cause of the problem or how long it would take to resolve, but departure boards at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport turned red as flights were cancelled at a time when many Russians take their holidays.

2025-07-28 21:01:50 UTC

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Male plants
Male flowers. You get both on the same plant.
Wait, now I’m also feeling like that!

2025-07-28 18:29:08 UTC

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God said so.

2025-07-28 15:37:52 UTC

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/does-trump-prefer-starmers-wife-to-him/
As soon as the Prime Minister and his wife arrived, Mr Trump turned his attention to Mrs Starmer, over whom he practically slobbered.
‘She’s a respected person over all the United States’, the President said, in one of his trademark mad reveries. This conjured the image of the Prime Minister’s wife being afforded that same respect across the United States. All Hollywood is a-chatter with tales of Sir Keir’s Missus. New York cab drivers affix a miniature of Lady Starmer on the wing mirrors. Drifters across the great truck routes of Appalachia tell tales of her beneath the stars. On the remaining reservations of the Rosebud Sioux in South Dakota when they rise to beard the new dawn, they do so by saluting Victoria, the Lady Starmer.
https://archive.ph/uxAWy

2025-07-28 15:34:35 UTC

I weeded the drive half an hour or so ago, and foolishly didn’t bother to go back and get my big leather anti-nettle gloves rather than my normal gardening ones.
I’m not sure what’s caused this to suddenly come up, but I’ve had a thorough scrub and an antihistamine….
https://media.spinster.xyz/bd476fe3425d7cceeec0d1705faf04bc5d23d86eefdc961e93493d1ac8e03fb2.jpeg

2025-07-28 09:00:32 UTC

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14943745/TikTok-cashes-gangs-post-videos-dangerous-crossings.html
Traffickers launching migrants across the Channel on small boats were promoting the crossings on TikTok – and being paid by the tech giant. […]
Migrants subscribed to live video calls with the smuggler. One account had 3,550 followers and another 22,300, so traffickers could be earning thousands of pounds.
The subscription service is a widely used feature for TikTok which makes clear on its website that after app store fees, ‘TikTok splits the revenue up to 50/50 with you’.The Mail on Sunday contacted two subscription service users who promoted a new life in Britain on their profile.

2025-07-27 09:54:20 UTC

https://freespeechunion.org/protest-footage-blocked-as-online-safety-act-comes-into-force/
And already, there are signs that lawful content is quietly being screened out.
One example came on 25 July, the day the [Online Safety] Act came into force, during a protest outside the Britannia Hotel in Seacroft, Leeds, where asylum seekers are being housed. A video showing police officers restraining and arresting a protester was posted on X, but quickly became inaccessible to many UK-based users. Instead, viewers saw the message: “Due to local laws, we are temporarily restricting access to this content until X estimates your age.” […]
What appears to be emerging isn’t just a two-tier internet, but something subtler and more insidious: a default-off model of speech and expression, where access to lawful content is no longer presumed but withheld until certain hurdles are cleared. On platforms like X, the door is currently closed before users even approach it. Elsewhere, full access depends on navigating a system of checks and classifications. Either way, the longstanding assumption that legal speech should be visible by default is being quietly dismantled.

2025-07-27 09:51:21 UTC

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Bit of a drive for you up to Buxton, I’m afraid!

2025-07-27 09:28:30 UTC

Nearly gave me a heart attack: it appears that the lingonberries are ripe!
https://media.spinster.xyz/b3fad622e0178e08c9b7f020e41af11d4c608fe1eeac6ba60ea8fb160bde463f.jpeg
https://media.spinster.xyz/64be7f8463d9889d848a6350ef427dc2f5db5ac987076d5ec3099fbcaadda2de.mov

2025-07-25 19:59:48 UTC

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He went mad for them. Not so much now he’s older, but when he was full of beans he would eat all kinds of weird stuff, especially if it was crunchy. About the only things he wasn’t keen on were citrus and mushrooms.

2025-07-25 16:48:11 UTC

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One thing I don’t miss about my old garden is the way the dog would scoff as many as he could find. He has a dodgy tummy anyway, and the results were horrific.

2025-07-23 09:48:39 UTC

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/22/police-take-pro-migrant-protesters-to-asylum-hotel/
Police have admitted escorting pro-migrant protesters to an asylum hotel at the centre of days of volatile demonstrations.
Essex Police initially denied that it had brought activists from the group Stand up to Racism to the Bell Hotel amid claims by anti-migrant protesters that the arrival of counter-demonstrators sparked the violence on July 17.
However, the force backtracked after being shown footage of the protesters being escorted by officers from a nearby station to the hotel.
On Wednesday, Essex Police will hold a press conference, at which is expected to explain its policing of the demonstrations.
https://archive.ph/cNt8o

2025-07-23 09:35:04 UTC

After a rodent hiatus, when they seemed to have learnt that the traps were only dangerous at night, I decided to move them to a manhole cover in the duck-free part of the garden. I’ve been baiting them for a few days, and set them last night.
Nothing first thing, but I’ve just gone to put the washing out and needed to empty both!