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James Middleton

@jaimiddleton.bsky.social
204 followers 630 following 381 posts

Freelance copy editor and proofreader working with authors, publishers and researchers www.linkedin.com/in/jaimiddleton

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Reposted by James Middleton
Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 22h
Here's our scoring of the growth impact of recently proposed tax cuts. The Conservative proposal is right at the bottom. Depressingly, all the tax cuts recently proposed by politicians are at the bottom of the chart.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 1h
🔴NEW: Ben Delo has given Reform £44MILLION Delo’s money comes from his now-closed crypto exchange BitMEX In 2019, a BitMEX investor asked about the status of his investment Delo responded by sending this meme, according to court documents. There’s more, a lot more (new investigation🧵)
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 1h
Holborn and St Pancras byelection: Polanski is an utter failure and it's time for him to go iandunt.substack.com/p/holborn-an...
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#BruceSterling @bruces.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
*"Adversarial poetry malware." Yeah: it's infected poetry. Evil poetry that powns machines and mines crypto. I'm pretty jaded when it comes to malware hijinks, but that's plenty weird www.theregister.com/security/202...
theregister.com
Poetry is the new AI security threat as PoeLLM malware infects 3K+ servers
Quoth the LLM, 'More and more'
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 3h
It would be lovely to think that on discovering an error of this magnitude it would prompt the Tories to stop and ask themselves if maybe we can afford net zero after all. Sadly, there is zero chance of that happening. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Tories overstate net zero cost by nearly £500bn in apparent spreadsheet error
Exclusive: Badenoch’s flagship conference policy document cites £957bn estimate, twice the total in climate advisers’ data
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Dr Huw Groucutt @huwgroucutt.bsky.social · 3h
And nice comment piece: www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Neanderthals were skilled woodworkers, first-of-its-kind tool trove reveals
Find in Spanish cave provides rare window into the domestic lives of our closest relatives
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WildDartmoor @tonydartmoor.bsky.social · 3h
We’re often told there’s a rural “culture war”. That nature recovery and rewilding is an urban agenda imposed on an unwilling countryside. But what happens when you ask people what they want? National Parks polling offers some striking evidence. 🧵
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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 15h
Poland is using "WarWilding" to turn the ancient Białowieża Forest into a natural border defense against potential attacks. Known as the Green East Shield, this nature-based barrier avoids concrete, but scientists warn road construction still threatens the delicate ecosystem. By Marta Kasztelan.
mongabay.cc
Can WarWilding defend Poland’s borders and save Europe’s last ancient forest?
BIAŁOWIEŻA, Poland — Michal Żmihorski, deputy director of the Institute of Environmental Protection, will never forget the morning of Aug. 1, 2023. Two Belarusian helicopters entered Polish airspace,…
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James Middleton @jaimiddleton.bsky.social · 15h
The food industry has predicted double digit inflation and called on the government to act. Dan Saladino asks what lies behind the gloomy forecast, who would be most affected by price increases and if anything can be done to avoid the worst case scenario?
bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 4 - The Food Programme, The Price of Food
The food industry is predicting double digit inflation. What can be done?
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Reposted by James Middleton
Jeff Greene @jeffgreene.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Good podcast by @dkthomp.bsky.social on how #GenAI has affected creativity in college student admissions essays. One thing to add: we need to account for the fact that many students see essays as a box to check, aligned w/ a societal shift toward devaluing higher education in general. (1/2)
theringer.com
What 400,000 Essays Reveal About AI and Creativity - The Ringer
Today, neuroscientist Adam Green joins the show to discuss how AI is changing the way we write, think, and generate ideas. His research finds that while AI can make our language more polished and soph...
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Ezra Klein @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Today's episode of The Ezra Klein Show. The Right’s Pre-Modern ‘Masculinist’ Fantasy Helen Lewis examines the ancient, angry gender politics of the New Right. open.spotify.com/episode/1yu0... youtu.be/YK1aj39y55k?...
youtu.be
The Right’s Pre-Modern ‘Masculinist’ Fantasy | The Ezra Klein Show
YouTube video by The Ezra Klein Show
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404 Media @404media.co · 08/08/2026
Scientists discovered a crab that had spent months at sea stuck in a bottle, subsisting on algae and fish that wandered into its plastic lair. The lonely mariner offers a warning about the impacts of human pollution on wildlife worldwide.
404media.co
Crab Odyssey: Crustacean Wandered the Seas in a Bottle for Months, Scientists Find
Scientists discovered a crab that had spent months at sea stuck in a bottle, subsisting on algae and fish that wandered into its plastic lair. The lonely mariner offers a warning about the impacts of...
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Nic Wilson @nicwilson.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
A mysterious case of the appearing rosemary beetle in today's @theguardian.com country diary by Susie White. We've had them here for years and I've never noticed any real damage. I'm interested to know if others have found them problematic. #countrydiary #naturewriting
theguardian.com
Country diary: A gleaming beetle that could be bad news for my garden favourites | Susie White
Allendale, Northumberland: On a hot autumn day, I see rosemary beetles here for the first time. This could be a problem for many thriving plants
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Jason GRIZZLED Bittel @bittelmethis.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Spotted Lanternflies… should you squish ‘em? 🧪
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K M Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
fascinating Word of Mouth @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social & Simon Roper on how people spoke thru history. E P Thompson on the Luddite letter writer also provides some clues bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... wp.me/p15p2Q-6Da
bbc.co.uk
Word of Mouth - How did people speak throughout history? - BBC Sounds
Michael Rosen meets popular YouTuber Simon Roper, who tries to recreate how people spoke.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 06/10/2026
‘It could knock a whole street down’: the art of defusing a second world war bomb
theguardian.com
‘It could knock a whole street down’: the art of defusing a second world war bomb
The long read: On 14 January this year, army and navy squads faced an unprecedented challenge: one bomb on a Plymouth building site, another floating on a dredger in Exmouth. That afternoon, the clock started ticking
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Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Knowingly doing crime to develop your product.
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NPR @npr.org · 06/10/2026
Jim Bakker, along with his first wife Tammy Faye built an evangelical empire around the hugely successful "The PTL Club" TV show, only to lose it all over a sex scandal and financial crimes. n.pr/3VsAFUV
n.pr
Jim Bakker, who built 'PTL Club' televangelism empire, has died at 86
Jim Bakker, along with his first wife Tammy Faye built an evangelical empire around the hugely successful "The PTL Club" TV show, only to lose it all over a sex scandal and financial crimes.
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Chatham House @chathamhouse.org · 06/10/2026
Nepal’s recovery from August’s catastrophic glacial flood will test the efficiency of the UN’s Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. It will also resurface questions about the responsibilities of the greatest carbon emitters.
chathamhouse.org
Nepal’s floods put the global loss and damage system to the test
Nepal’s recovery from August’s catastrophic glacial flood will test the efficiency of the UN’s Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. It will also resurface questions about the responsibilities of th...
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Luke Turner @luketurner.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Love this by @morwennaferrier.bsky.social on the joy of butter (tho not sure about the sweet flavoured ones). I adore butter, as ever the French do it better, their supermarket selections are first class. I get through tonnes of of President, treat it like cheese www.theguardian.com/food/2026/oc...
theguardian.com
The butter boom – how the world fell back in love with the glorious golden spread
It’s being sculpted for fashion parties, collected by tourists and hoarded in freezers. There are even entire shops devoted to it. What’s behind the revival of the much-maligned foodstuff?
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Infectious Diseases @infectiousdz.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Florida has reported 252 locally acquired dengue cases in 2026, plus one of chikungunya. At this point, mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases are a choice. Governments don't have to let these diseases spread. worksinprogress.co/issue/mosqui...
worksinprogress.co
Mosquitoes are a choice - Works in Progress Magazine
The technology to eradicate mosquito-borne disease already exists. We just have to be brave enough to use it.
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Zia Weise @ziaweise.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A climate nightmare lurks in the Atlantic. Europe is starting to pay attention. Just out — my long read on European governments waking up to the threat of a possible collapse of the AMOC, the ocean currents that keep our continent's climate mild: www.politico.eu/article/clim...
politico.eu
A climate nightmare lurks in the Atlantic. Europe is starting to pay attention.
A slowdown of ocean currents that would disrupt life on the continent on an unthinkable scale.
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Steve Rosenberg @bbcstever.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Today one Russian paper claims “Russia’s military has been given political blank cheque to carry out full demilitarisation & deindustrialisation of Ukraine.” But nothing in the papers from Irkutsk, where there have been reports of a potentially “dangerous infection.” #ReadingRussia
youtu.be
What are Russian newspapers saying about reports of a potentially "dangerous infection" in Irkutsk?
YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg
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Lynne Murphy @lynneguist.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Is 'oblong' the new 'frown'? Does it sneakily have different meanings in US and UK? New blog post! with thanks to @benzimmer.bsky.social and @ruthwarewriter.bsky.social separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2026/09/oblo...
separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com
oblong (and a bit about ovals)
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John Rentoul @rentouljohn.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
From the archive, 8 years ago: "Dog" in European languages (colouring by etymology); map by Jakub Marian jakubmarian.com/dog-in-europ...
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Lynne Murphy @lynneguist.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The name of this "test" makes no sense. It's literacy that creates mispronunciation! Reading gives you lots of great words and no reason to know how other people pronounce them. I've just heard 'hadjiography' in an erudite conversation on a podcast.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
One reason England does so well is our second generation immigrants outperform their peers which is not true in most OECD countries. We are also very good at integration. And it's v sad that this is never acknowledge in debates on immigration.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Vg and clear analysis: the Greens can do well where they have a credible chance of winning (in the most progressive seats that are progressive v progressive) but most voters who would vote Green would back other parties where Greens not in serious comtention
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Matt Steinglass @mattsteinglass.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Perfectly believable that the Element Pro alternative is bad, but finding a couple of officials who call it crap is not a convincing appraisal.
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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 01/10/2026
AirTags make that noise "because you cannot make a tracker that does not alert a thief without also making ... a tool for stalking,” EFF’s @evacide.bsky.social told @sixcolors.com. “I think these people have, in fact, considered the implications and decided that they don’t care.”
sixcolors.com
Silencing AirTags enables stalkers and domestic violence
ElevationLab has released an AirTag product I find appalling, and I strongly urge they immediately withdraw it from sale and recall all inventory. The AirTag Silencer is a simple device: remove the…
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Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
He is not burning cash. He is investing money to shape political discourse and public opinion in line with his ideology and interests. And it's a successful strategy. Also, for a billionaire losing 10 million is like losing 1000 pounds for a middle class person.
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Turns out we don’t have to invoke weapons of mass destruction when talking about ocean heat uptake. The ocean absorbed a record-breaking 23 zettajoules of heat last year, equivalent to 40 times the energy used by humanity. It’s not going to end well.
theguardian.com
World’s oceans absorbed record heat equal to 40 times annual global energy use
The injection of thermal energy comes amid an increasing rise in sea levels and continuing acidification
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Burnham speech: An astonishing moment of radicalism and commitment iandunt.substack.com/p/burnham-sp...
iandunt.substack.com
Burnham speech: An astonishing moment of radicalism and commitment
It’s easy to be cynical, but it would be false. Something extraordinary is happening here.
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Empire: World History @empirepoduk.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
At Rhynie the Picts built a huge city. Excavations uncovered fortified enclosures, elite metalworking, Mediterranean wine amphorae, French glass and a Pictish cemetery. Rhynie was no isolated backwater. It was a wealthy royal centre connected to a world far beyond Scotland.
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North Ages @northages.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Pictish royal 'power base' uncovered near Rhynie - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Pictish royal 'power base' uncovered near Rhynie
Rhynie in Aberdeenshire has been the focus of a 10-year archaeology project.
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NPicts @northernpicts.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Great piece by the Guardian on the wonderful Moray coast with mentions of Burghead and the Pictish fort: www.theguardian.com/travel/2026/...
theguardian.com
Why Scotland’s cinematic Moray coast made it a perfect location to shoot The Odyssey
‘Legends cling like barnacles to these shores,’ says our local writer, who reveals how the lore of these craggy cliffs and beaches resonates with the Homeric classic
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The Public Domain Review @publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A few of the seven etchings that comprise Käthe Kollwitz's Peasants’ War series (ca. 1901–1908) about the innate dignity, courage, and strength of the poor. More in our latest post here: publicdomainreview.org/collection/k…
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ian bremmer @ianbremmer.com · 02/06/2026
on china and iran, trump has a big punch but a glass jaw. and now he’s backing down. talking about the patterns of trump’s foreign policy with @ezraklein.bsky.social
youtube.com
Ian Bremmer on the Risks America Poses to the World | The Ezra Klein Show
YouTube video by The Ezra Klein Show
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Channel 4 News @channel4news.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation. 🔗 Read the exclusive story on Substack:
channel4news.substack.com
Exclusive: Nigel Farage filmed undercover celebrating secret new foreign donations
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation.
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This new tool, the Carbon Impacts Tracer, which translates carbon emissions into real-world climate impacts like heat exposure and coral bleaching, looks super useful. ➡️ carbonimpactstracer.com
theguardian.com
New tool directly links carbon emissions to amount of environmental and economic damage caused
Carbon Impacts Tracer can be used to estimate climate impact from emissions across eight different factors, including lost food production
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Semafor @semafor.com · 28/09/2026
Half of all countries in sub-Saharan Africa are relying more on diesel generators than on grid power, leaving countries with less reliable energy infrastructure particularly vulnerable to the effects of the Iran war. www.semafor.com/article/09/2...
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The Bunker podcast – Your daily news Deep Dive @bunkerpod.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Democratic rights and freedoms have expanded for a century or more, yet the super-rich have never been richer and wealth has never been shared less fairly. Why? Political scientist @profjeffreywinters.bsky.social talks to @nndroid.bsky.social about how to fix it. ➡️ linktr.ee/bunker_pod
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404 Media @404media.co · 07/06/2026
A Canadian company has seen that demand and came up with a radical thought: What if they made a new, repairable, “no-tech” tractor to solve what has become a gigantic pain point for farmers? Now, demand is booming. www.404media.co/demand-is-bo...
404media.co
Demand Is Booming for New No Tech, Repairable Tractor
"There is consumer pressure to back away from technology that is unnecessary to perform everyday tasks."
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Tom Heap @tomheap.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Are we entering a new energy age and seeing the beginning of the end of fossil fuels? @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social, Prof Helen Thompson, radical farmer Stuart Oates and @helenczerski.bsky.social BBC Radio 4 Rare Earth today
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The Conversation UK @uk.theconversation.com · 29/05/2026
Geologist Scott Montgomery tells The Conversation Weekly podcast how strategic oil reserves work and why the U.S. keeps oil in underground salt caverns.
tcnv.link
How and where global 2 billion barrels of strategic oil reserves are stockpiled
Geologist Scott Montgomery tells The Conversation Weekly podcast how strategic oil reserves work and why the U.S. keeps oil in underground salt caverns.
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This Is Not A Drill @thisisnotadrillpod.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
The world is in chaos, but who's thriving despite the turmoil? @gavinesler.bsky.social is joined by @markhleonard.bsky.social to discuss an era of "un-order" and how it's warping geopolitics. Listen ➡️ linktr.ee/drillpod
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James Middleton @jaimiddleton.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Are states responding quickly enough to “global un-order”? Mark Leonard distinguishes between “architects” such as the US and Europe, which try to reimpose their established blueprints, and “artisans” such as China, which adapt, improvise, and repurpose what already exists
youtu.be
Is Geopolitics Becoming More Chaotic?
YouTube video by Foreign Policy
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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 18/09/2026
What on earth is happening?
  This had become the new normal. RNLI crew members had been forced to take their permits off their cars after their tyres have been repeatedly slashed. Most of them have been pilloried at the school gates or turned away from local pubs. One man who worked in search and rescue had been beaten unconscious and hospitalised, recognised for TV interviews he had done.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Ministers and unions seem to be finally getting to grips with the existential threat to our democracy from billionaire donors - but whilst tighter residency rules & *spending* limits are good (& may nix the £72m), why can’t we just have a donations cap?! www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Amendment to bill in Lords could test legality of £72m Reform donations
Plans to strengthen legislation already going through parliament might mean donors having to meet stricter UK residence requirements
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Adam Shatz @adamshatz.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
On the @lrb.co.uk podcast this week, I speak with @muhammadshehada.bsky.social and @jehadabusalim.bsky.social about Gaza since the “ceasefire.” www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and...
lrb.co.uk
Podcast: Adam Shatz, Muhammad Shehada and Jehad Abusalim · Gaza after the Ceasefire
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