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Simon Morden

@comrademorden.bsky.social
570 followers 88 following 2.6K posts

Author, scientist, maker, lefty. Website: www.bookofmorden.co.uk

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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 6h
To sum up: My publishers failed to register US copyright on many of my titles I am doing all the work in making the claim on those titles they did bother with They take half of any compensation anyway
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Dr Rebecca Tyson @tyguson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
1. #MedievalSky, grab a lifejacket and a seasickness bag, we’re casting off on a thread about the Norman invasion fleet in 1066! 960 years ago, the Normans landed at Pevensey and established a base at the Roman shore fort which was already succumbing to erosion from the sea on its south side. 1/20
Photograph of Pevensey Castle with an information board in the foreground showing an artists impression of how the view may have looked in 1066 when the sea came almost up to the walls.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Why is this not considered terrorism? Either we take these threats at face value, or we treat them as a bad joke. Whichever, Anthropic should be shut down. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
Anthropic ‘warns of existential AI risks to humanity’ in IPO document
Reported admission to investors of AI’s ‘self-preserving behaviours’ comes as company prepares for a potential $2tn flotation
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Distracted boyfriend meme. Boyfriend looking at farmers, while the arts look on in bewilderment.
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Big Green Books @biggreenbooks.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
SIGNED BOOK NEWS. "The Bishop of Durham Attempts to Surrender the City" by Susanna Clarke is published next month. Delighted to say, we'll be getting some SIGNED copies. Order one HERE! www.biggreenbookshop.com/signed-copie...
Front cover of Susanna Clarke's new book. It's green and has an image of a tree with a load of birds in the branches.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Yet again I have had to search for the keys to the safe, because I didn't put them back in the place I'd designated the safe keys to go.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Any homelessness here, any 'scrabble for accommodation' is entirely an artefact of capitalism, and not of resources. The rooms are still there. They haven't evaporated because the landlords have gone belly-up. www.theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
Students scramble for accommodation after provider goes bust in Dundee
Case highlights severe financial strain on sector across UK as string of university housing schemes fail
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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Once more for the weekend long read crowd.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
If you've ever been down a coal mine, you'll know that this is not a coal mine, and also that a coal mine is an incredibly awful place to try hydroponics.
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Dewie @judgedewie.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
In 1994 when they were taking off but by no means massive or wielding any influence within the music industry, Green Day took gay punk band Pansy Division on tour with them. People were very vocally homophobic back then (in England, section 28 was still very much in force - not repealed until 2003!)
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
When I was a teaching assistant in a Gateshead primary school, there was a small minority of boys in every class who believed implacably that they'd be signed by Newcastle United, so didn't need to bother with book learning, or basic manners. 1/ www.theguardian.com/football/202...
theguardian.com
Raheem Sterling’s bleak tale a reminder of absurd path young footballers face | Jonathan Liew
The winger was one of the first big-money academy transfers, part of a child labour market that has barely been questioned
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
A macho culture of performative selfishness might start on the roads, through racing, rolling coal, ever bigger SUVs ... But it doesn't end there. If we want to live in a decent country which values human life, we need to change this culture. My column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Driving that’s too fast, too dangerous and utterly lawless: why do we tolerate this petro-masculinity? | George Monbiot
In towns and in the countryside, I see 4x4s and pick up trucks driven without care or consicence. It’s a Magafication of transport, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
What scene makes you emotional no matter how many times you see it?
static.klipy.com
Theoden King Commands 'Ride now!'
Alt: Theoden King Commands 'Ride now!'
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Does anyone have Kneecap's phone number?
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." Desmond Tutu (1984) Seems as apt as ever, somehow...
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
No, I don't think AI will kill us all. I think the people who are attempting to develop AI will get there first.
Georgi La Forge meme: AI will kill us all / Not if we kill it first
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Do I know anyone who works with/at Rebellion Books? Asking for a friend... (really!)
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
If you would like to add your voice to tens of thousands of people thanking RNLI volunteers for their work, 38 Degrees have organised this open letter to express public support (at a time when a hateful fringe have been intimidating & abusing RNLI volunteers) act.38degrees.org.uk/act/rnli-tha...
act.38degrees.org.uk
An open letter in support of the volunteers and staff at the RNLI
This is a disgrace. Brave RNLI volunteers being called scum for risking their lives to save others at sea is just plain wrong. So I've signed an open letter of thanks for the RNLI letting them know th...
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
What a strange feeling not having to pay for my prescription because of my age...
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I made an arbitrary decision to listen to R3 this morning rather than the usual Today programme. Debussy didn't disappoint, unlike Webb.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
ACAB, or ACAF?
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Mackensie Crook has set himself an incredibly high bar to better this perfectly contained piece of storytelling. It was a joy and a delight, and I'm hoping that he and the cast can pull off another triumph.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
It appears that TV Licencing records are good enough to work out that my mum (who died in November) hasn't renewed her TV licence, but somehow not good enough to realise that the property has a valid TV licence (in my name). I'm just going to ignore the letters and see how insistent they get.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
If you, or anyone's wain, is heading to Newcastle/Sunderland for university this October, and they fancy hitting people with sticks, dressing up as Anglo-Norman peasants and helping keep obscure red-list crafts alive, then DM me.
A happy bunch of boys and girls and those between, armed with pointy sticks.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
If I was Prime Minister of a country, and a group of uniformed, anonymous thugs blocked a major port for hours without any arrests being made, I would have the Chief Constable of that area in front of me for an interview without coffee at the earliest conceivable opportunity.
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Dr Jo Kershaw @mthrjo.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The RNLI have some of the best people in Britain volunteering for them. They put their lives on the line when they are called on and they will rescue anyone who needs them. Because every life matters, and offering help is the right thing to do. You can donate here: rnli.org
rnli.org
RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution - Saving Lives at Sea
The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. We do this through lifeboat search and rescue, lifeguards, water safety education and international interventions.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
So what I'm reading is "domestic terrorists seize national infrastructure: police collude". If this was XR or Palestine Action, they'd have been beaten to a bloody pulp and thrown into Black Mariahs before they'd got a banner unfurled.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Drop some helmets
Medieval reenactors having a good stab at each other.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Hachette appear to want half of all the Anthropic money due to me. Sigh.
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Greenbelt Festival @greenbeltfestival.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
And just like that...we were gone. Greenbelters you were utterly brilliant leaving yesterday, thank you. We arrived 12 years ago at Boughton and now we're off, and the only trace we've left is the red oak tree we planted on Sunday. #LeaveNoTrace
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Emma Monk @monkemma.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
One of the first "outrageous" claims I saw as Jason Arday's media hounding unfolded was that he ran 30 marathons in 35 days! Wow! What a thing to claim! And the newspapers all suggested there was no evidence he actually did it. Well, they clearly didn't look very hard 🙄 🧵 1/26
Photo after Jason's final marathon taken from his archived blog showing Jason surrounded by supporters in orange charity t-shirts
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Greenbelt Festival @greenbeltfestival.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Soon we’ll all be back in our happy place. Our bags have been packed for weeks. Here’s your final, extremely scientific, top ten checklist.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
BBC are reporting that racist academic Nathan Cofnas has been suspended from Ghent University.
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 20/08/2026
I've never seen such an effort to censor a document as I have the Amnesty International report on gender critical groups because of JK Rowling. They removed the report from the Wayback Machine and now I got a DMCA strike on my Google Drive for having it. It was deleted and removed from my account.
A screenshot of an email viewed in dark mode with the subject line "Google DMCA Violation." The email from Google informs the recipient that they have received a notification under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that some of their materials allegedly infringe on copyrights. It explains the removal process, mentions that notice details will be posted on Lumen, warns against repeated violations, and lists one affected Google Drive URL at the bottomA nearly identical mobile browser screenshot of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. It shows a search for the same Amnesty International UK resources URL, resulting in the same message: "This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine."A mobile browser screenshot of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. A URL for an Amnesty International UK resources page is entered in the search bar, but the page displays the message: "This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine."
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Bex @bexg93.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
🚨 The archived version of the suppressed Amnesty report into the anti-trans network operating to dismantle human rights in the UK has been "excluded" from the Wayback Machine. JKR is working very hard to scrub its existence from the eyes of the public. Thankfully, I kept screenshots.
A screenshot of the Wayback Machine page when trying to access the suppressed Amnesty report into anti-trans organisation and networks in the UK saying "This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine".
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Lee Kelly @leepkelly.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
If you want a handy primer on how these goons will likely try it, read One Way and No Way by @comrademorden.bsky.social.
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Count Melancholia @lillyh.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Such an erudite and interesting article, comparing the world of the 20 yr-old film "Children of Men" to our world today. [co-author not related to America's nr 1 crime family, in spite of his name] A very good read. [free for a few weeks, so read it now] thebulletin.org/premium/2026...
thebulletin.org
Treat me like a human: the prescience of Children of Men
The images and themes in the Britain of Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 film "Children of Men" resonate with current politics. In this childless world, the state mandates fertility tests of its citizens, while ...
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Hard no. That paper will be read by bots and used by bots, no matter the inaccuracies contained therein. That will then be recycled endlessly. There is no benefit in this - the paper is contaminated and will go on to pollute everything it touches. 1/
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! Fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
When Stock talks about philosophy, I don't know much about philosophy so I assume she's an expert. When Stock talks about climate change, about which I know a significant amount, she comes across as an absolute idiot. Which makes me wonder how much she actually knows about philosophy.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
I don't think we're "not allowed to say this". I think they don't like us saying it, which is a different thing entirely - in the same way saying that educated voters skew left is true, but it's also inconvenient.
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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 16/08/2026
I want to hide and to be seen - my feelings about Prof Jason Arday and how White society treats those of us who wish to be seen.
stewarthotston.com
I want to hide and to be seen
I'm not sure I want to write this - it's not my suffering and there's already so much bullshit on this that I don't want to add more to it. Where I've landed after a sleepless night is this - I am responding to Prof. Jason Arday's death in complicated ways and I need to write about them, not least because I have (White) friends who need to understand better what it's like to live with this.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Steal from one thesis = plagiarism Steal from every single thesis ever written, including mine = business model
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UltraInfinite @ultrainfinite.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Some angel doodles to fight off art block
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Well, that was exciting.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
There is a zero percent chance that these won't be used in domestic abuse.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
cat pictures
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I am not allowed to tell you the specifics, but the 'revelation' from the Chief of the Met that the criminal justice system is on the verge of collapse comes as absolutely no news to anyone even tangentially involved in, or having knowledge of any part of, the criminal justice system. 1/
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Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Okay Clacton. Let’s go.
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Simon Morden @comrademorden.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
It begs the question of what the other 6580 are doing. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Just 20 of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation amid drought and wildfires
Exclusive: England ‘desperately unprepared’ for effects of crisis including water shortages and heatwaves
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