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Graeme Macdonald

@gmacdonald.bsky.social
564 followers 602 following 373 posts

Literature Energy Environment Climate stuff @University of Warwick. Glasgow Dweller. Yes, they are quite far apart.

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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
WTAF is this?
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Rodri started second half like a double agent - woeful
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
*What* is it that is coming? What, *exactly* is it doing/going to do? They don't tell you. 'Implications' is true but it is abstract. Asking us to get on board with something presented in such vague terms appears tactics for preserving the profit chain. The social implications are barely mentioned.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
As former Labour minister Tom Watson joins Palantir, please read this devastating exposé by @petergeoghegan.bsky.social & @lucasamin.bsky.social of how the company, with Peter Mandelson's help, wormed its way into the UK government to sell its dire & dangerous products. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Peter Geoghegan and Lucas Amin · ‘This looks absolutely rubbish’: Palantir and the NHS
A decade ago Palantir was largely unknown in the UK. It now holds public contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds...
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Christian Ilbury @christianilbury.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Super excited to share our new article which is *finally* out in Journal of Applied Linguistics, 'Tackling linguistic discrimination in higher education' which is co-authored with former students Grace Mai Clark (93% Club) and Shanley Breese (Scottish Society). academic.oup.com/applij/advan...
academic.oup.com
Tackling linguistic discrimination in higher education: a student-staff collaborative approach
Abstract. The field has long been committed to critically exploring the role of language in systemic inequality and social injustice. More recently, a grow
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
#wato “it’s ok because it was a misunderstanding” is a classic Reform feint. The fact is folk twitched up by all manner of malign forces - including Reform - were prepared to go and turf black and brown people out. The intent remains. Reform are responsible for it - and for the image of Portsmouth.
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
"Blackshorts" is perfect.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
This was the point I emphasised about Palantir when I wrote about tech soverignty - their model is to make bits of the state dependent on them and them jack up the price. samf.substack.com/p/sovereignt...
samf.substack.com
Sovereignty for sale
Tech monopolies and the future of the nation state
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Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A detail missing from The Times story… the woman who took the photo shared it to a Facebook group called ‘South east patriots’.
Facebook post showing the photo of three white women on a train with a group of black-clad, masked men being shared to a group called ‘South east patriots’
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
The Times. Explicitly and deliberately, as a matter of editorial policy, promoting violent racist thugs.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Appalling. This should be severely punished by UEFA. They should be immediately banned from European Competitions for an indefinite period. No team should be asked to play at this stadium nor should they want to. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
bbc.co.uk
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Nick Robinson on Today is literally talking about ‘legitimate concerns’ after second night of organised men dressed in black - sorry ‘protesters’ - mobilising en masse in another littoral town. This is how street fascism is normalised
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
#wato The emphasis on “tone” is so classically liberal naivety - the implication is that if you, an extremist, could just modify the tone then you can happily say the same extreme things and get more people on board. Enabling the extremism.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Never felt so alienated from Scottish football. Trying hard to give a shit, but pfffffttttt. The odds are just so ridiculously stacked *and* the team is so poorly run. Another season of utter dross awaits. Sorta want to get relegated for the full burn required.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 28/08/2026
London Science Museum cuts links with BP after decades of partnership
theguardian.com
London Science Museum cuts links with BP after decades of partnership
Campaigners say ‘seismic shift’ follows years of pressure to sever ties with oil and gas firm The London Science Museum has ended its decades-long partnership with the oil and gas company BP in what has been described as a “seismic shift” for the museum. The Science Museum Group academy, which was established in 2018 to provide training and resources, announced on Friday that it would be ending its partnership with BP. In a statement, the director and chief executive of the Science Museum Group, Sir Ian Blatchford, said the partnership had “drawn to a close at the end of the current contract term”. Continue reading...
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The collapse of a glacier and the truly devastating apocalyptic scenes - horrifyingly caught on film - from Nepal-Tibet tell us squarely, as if we needed telling, that the "slow violent" era of climate change is over. Welcome to the next era. It was always in the post.
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Alice Roberts @profaliceroberts.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The fallout from the collapse of this glacier - a torrent of mud surging down the valley - killed hundreds of people. Gone, in a flash. Those people were wiped out by anthropogenic climate change. Our governments are simply not responding quickly enough to this disaster which is already upon us.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
OR: "I am so proud of what Meta has done historically to protect kids that I have had to be dragged to the court at great expense and compelled to shell out $17Bn of our own profits as reparation." www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
This is just lying. The problem is the idiotic, criminal, disastrous war that this paper loudly endorsed, and the people writing this know that very well.
The Telegraph • @Telegraph
X.com
• Household energy bills to soar by £260 on net zero costs
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Note the rhetorical sleight here from Data Centre boosterism. We are being given a speculative promissory note - as for the “potential” of AI - by people who expect us to radically deplete our energy and water supplies. Where is the *proof* of these claims? Where is the legislation? #wato
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Will the “flagship” show of British News EVER realise how screamingly obsequious and frivolous to the point of ridicule their headlining of the return of a Royal Prince is to the majority of their listeners? WHY is this TOP of the headlines? Is it a high editorial imperative? #r4today
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Benjamin McKean @blmckean.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
“…introduces the concept of the ‘renewable normal’ to describe a regime of energy transition that promises transformation but delivers continuity…the volume explores how this regime captures hopes for climate solutions while closing down the very possibilities it appears to open.”
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Early signs are we are back to the dull and grindingly indignant era in Scottish football where a steroidally wealthy Celtic just score for fun and win everything. Sigh. Let’s see I suppose but the omens are bad.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
It ALL FINE because we here in the UK have TEMPORARILY banned DISPOSABLE BBQS. Phew.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Just remember this message is aimed at your children not theirs.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Sounds to me that Justin Webb needs some actual sociological method training to remove the evident bias in leading with questions based on “suggestions” rather than data. #r4today
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
BP exiting the North Sea is a big moment in the history of the industry and Scotland’s economy. It’s been a long time coming, and marks an end to over a century of petroleum activities and more than 50 years of North Sea drilling. BP’s exit cannot be explained by short term tax policy changes 🧵
thetimes.com
BP puts North Sea business up for sale
Chief executive Meg O’Neill says the business would be ‘better positioned as part of another company’, sparking recriminations over the basin’s high tax regime
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
All defenders of my generation hail il massimo. RIP Franco. Too soon.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
finally, some actual fightback.....
bbc.co.uk
Fifa World Cup: Uefa to boycott tournament if Gianni Infantino's investment plans go through
Uefa's 55 member associations vote to boycott the World Cup if Fifa proceeds with its plan to sell stakes in its competitions.
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 30/07/2026
🧵UK media has been duped about net-zero (again) The playbook is identical: 1️⃣ Find a big scary number 2️⃣ Speed-dial non-specialist hacks 3️⃣ Do say “serious economic damage” 4️⃣ Don’t say “we pretended gas is free” 5️⃣ That's it! Many papers still fell for it 🤷
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
I know it's not news Kemi Badenoch is not across the detail, but this is an absolute shocker. She says the UK's net zero plans are 'perversely increasing carbon emissions'. In 2019 when net zero targets were adopted emissions were 45% below 1990 levels. Last year they were 54% below 1990 levels.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Just want Nolan to do the Jimmy Joyce version tbh......
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David Leask @leaskyd.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
There are people throwing Hitler salutes, recycling Goebbels talking points, holding blackshirt-style protests in military formation and announcing “I’m a Nazi and I love it.” But there are folk on the internet who still think reporting this is reductio ad Hitlerum or an eg of Godwin’s Law.
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 28/07/2026
Israel is giving Trump's former campaign manager millions of dollars to fill the internet with pro-Israel articles written by AI, not so that anyone will actually read them, but so that *LLMs will train on them* & regurgitate their perspective. This is the future of the information environment.
dropsitenews.com
Israel Is Paying Millions to Train AI Chatbots How to Talk About Gaza. It's Working.
Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale is overseeing an operation posting hundreds of blog posts on behalf of Israel, with the goal of infiltrating artificial intelligence.
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 28/07/2026
There is something so compelling and beautiful about robot fail videos
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
At what point does UEFA (itself partly driven by envy at the FIFA money) withdraw its member associations in protest at this malign clown? A major problem of course, is that many UEFA national associations are - to their shame - perfectly happy with the Infantino show and its money juice.
theguardian.com
Fifa accused of ‘selling the soul of football’ over $20bn World Cup commercial rights sale plan
Fifa has announced plans to sell a share of its commercial operations to private investors, a deal that would include the media and sponsorship rights of the World Cup
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Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 28/07/2026
Aaaaaaannnd, 24 hours later, normal service is resumed... The Daily Telegraph has published a response column by a politician with, yes, *extremely* close links to climate-sceptic lobbyists and who recently said in parliament that climate change was *checks notes* “likely to be beneficial”
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Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 27/07/2026
Welcome to the frontpage of the Daily Telegraph* website... * The newspaper that has relentlessly spent the past three decades seeking to belittle climate science and undermine climate action at every turn
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Found an old LRB. Flicked through it, read an article on Beryl Bainbridge. This detail killed me:
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David Leask @leaskyd.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
We made a podcast about, well, weird fascisty vibes on Scotland’s right wing fringes. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Utterly appalling.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Imagine France actually gaf for 90 mins
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
People on here saying this is the best game of the World Cup. 😂 It’s an exhibition game FFS.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Anthony Barry. Dear God this is a cringe fest. Just admit it’s a shit contest. The players who scored know it - look at their faces. They know it’s an empty experience.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
France careering between hilariously not giving a shit and annoyingly so.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
No. No No No.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Ehm, @bbcsportbot.bsky.social it wasn’t all Messi lads. Argentina subs were superb. The idea you were beaten by one guy is just tears and rage
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
“It was a delivery Sir David would have been proud of!”
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
The Narrative: The Argies are (of course) unsporting. St George and inherent fairness will prevail.
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Graeme Macdonald @gmacdonald.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
“Bobby Charlton had to wait 26 years for his Knighthood, some of these boys won’t have to wait that long….” And THAT is why….
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