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James Chalmers

@jameschalmers.bsky.social
4.8K followers 1.4K following 3.1K posts

Regius Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow School of Law. Nothing should be inferred from the absence of unnecessary disclaimers on this profile.

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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
La Bola Negra (*****); The Cars that Ate Paris (***); The Girl from the Third Row (****); Heat (1963) (***1/2)
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
There were some episodes of people putting cones on the Lobey Dosser statue in Woodlands recently; it may not be a coincidence that some of the stone panels on the plinth have broken away and now lie on the ground around it.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Always very sceptical of framing these debates as about ambition, as if politicians just wished hard enough everything would be great. It’s not even true: a strategy which aspires that through not doing very much great things will happen by the next election is extremely ambitious!
Guardian headline and subhead:

‘If voters aren’t better off by the next election, we’re screwed’: Labour insiders voice fears over budget

Some say party risks ‘looking twee’ by focusing on small fixes amid growing nervousness that budget lacks ambition
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The Innocents (***1/2); Elsinore (****1/2); Veien opp til himmels (***1/2); Digger (*****)
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Did not know this existed and am enjoying how pretentious it makes me look.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Same energy.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
“Sir, a second girls’ chess championship scandal has hit the Palace of Westminster”
Reform post on X “Kemi Badenoch said she was Nigeria's national chess champion at age 7. So we sent a reporter to Nigeria to find out the truth.”
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This shouldn’t make a difference but I am astonished that the person on the dinghy was *a member of the French coastguard* and the UK government response remains “did something happen? we weren’t looking”.
The video then shows him sailing up to the boat, taking out a small knife and starting to slash at the side of the migrant boat.
There were no migrants on board, but there was a French official from the coastguard vessel Abeille Liberté.
As the Frenchman boarded the empty migrant boat mid-Channel Thomas shouted "Right, you are on English territory. This is England. This is not France any more."
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I enjoyed the discourse even more when I read this earlier step: now it is *possible* that the Ohio rando is seeking to control and remodel NYC but it doesn’t seem either hugely likely or a strategy with much chance of success.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I think a 10p fuel duty cut is a daft policy but also hate this mode of response to a policy proposal: “hah yes, politics, all a big game isn’t it, don’t take it too seriously”. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Asked about Sir Ed's call for a fuel duty cut, Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson told Laura Kuenssberg: "I'm sure John Healey will be open to any and all suggestions ahead of the budget but actually this is an area where the Labour government has taken action on fuel duty already.
"Whilst I recognise what the Lib Dems have to say on this topic, this is the element of politics about it - they've got their conference, they're making their pitch, good luck to them."
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I wasn’t sure how to describe the song so I looked to see what genre of music Wikipedia classes the singer in and yeah, I don’t really know what this is.
“Epadunk, or raggardunk, is a genre of music, often electronic, that has been associated with EPA tractors and A-tractors in Sweden since the early 2020s.”
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This sounds like the sort of change you’d expect where either a) courts have concluded the orders aren’t useful and/or b) they aren’t in practice getting the information that would allow them to judge if an order would help in an individual case. (b) won’t be fixed just by creating extra powers.
Government statistics show the use of parenting orders has declined in recent years, from more than 1,000 orders in 2009/10 to just 33 in 2022/23.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This isn’t just “it would be good to be able to check in an emergency”. This is positively unhealthy! apple.news/A1lTWGCW5T8W...
“I’m getting anxious because I’ve also made it my business to know his timetable. He should be at a student meet-and-greet at 11am. It’s 10.38, and there’s no sign of movement. Again, Snap Map offers up his precise whereabouts — under a duvet. I’m in a parent-induced panic,”
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I see a journalist has been willing to go into print with the argument “I pay for my student son’s phone so I should have the right to monitor his movements at all times” argument.
Yes, the tracking has triggered World War Three arguments of the “why?” variety. The response from us is always the same: “While we pay for your phone, the apps stay on. Switch them off and we’ll assume you want the contract transferred to you for payment.”
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Alternatively: choose your fighter.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Bob Katter disapproves, because every three months, a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in North Queensland
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
M, le maudit (***); La femme infidèle (***); The Swindle (***); The Bugs Bunny / Road Runner Movie (***1/2)
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Got sent a discount code from a retailer I first bought from on this date last year with a message from the CEO about the importance of anniversaries and it’s a rich text.
"When I was eleven, my father sent me writing paper and envelopes for my birthday. He said they would be useful for “writing thank you letters”. It was the only present I got, so I used one sheet and one envelope to thank him for his lovely present, and vowed to never forget a birthday or anniversary ever again!”
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Suspect that was pushed back a bit since the page was first written!
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
See also switching between languages in song lyrics, which I’m not sure is massively common but when it happens can be a cultural reference but also perhaps just “huh it’s really difficult to make this particular sentiment scan if we say it in Swedish, let’s use English”.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
This Swedish novel title is a really good example of the phenomenon - it gets translated back into English as “screw” because that’s probably an accurate reflection of the level of harshness it conveys in Swedish.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I think this is part of a running slogan formulation (“the first party that…”) but just reads to me like a politician is inexplicably seeking election in Berlin on the “no one who speaks German could be an evil man!” platform.
Volt poster with the slogan “Die erste Partei, die”
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The Great Train Robbery (***); Ivan’s Childhood (****); Top Secret! (***1/2); The Departed (****)
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Weird given that the signals are so consistent. In other words:
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I suspect it’s both possible that a) we do get to this point and b) we are all long dead before it happens.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Seeing a lot of academics jealous of this but you should aim higher: I know of an academic who was once banned solely from *marking* and that, my friends, is the dream. (I suspect Cofnas’s contract didn’t actually include any teaching - or marking - making this largely symbolic if so.)
Guardian headline: “Jason Arday accuser given three-month teaching ban but can continue research”
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
It should look something like this in the employment section, with the figure going under the final line in this screenshot. You may need to select an option saying you want to claim expenses / have expenses that were not reimbursed (it’s a while since I did it so I can’t remember how I got there)
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
In the Cut (***1/2); The Man Who Sleeps (***1/2); Coyote vs. Acme (****); The Roundup (***1/2)
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
@magnets.eurosky.social Have you seen this?
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
(Couldn’t remember whether the deputy head teacher at my school was called a “depute” but this totally normal educational event has helpfully generated a historical record confirming he was not.)
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Body Double (****1/2); El televisor (***); The Front Page (***); A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese through American Movies (****)
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
What does this even mean?
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Added bonus “well you obviously don’t know how to run your pub” content.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
OK, in hindsight the text of the alert was a bit wordy.
Residents, landowners, visitors, lend me your ears
I come to bury BBQs, not to praise them
The heat that grills your chicken wings lives after them
The spark is often interred with their bones
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Did something happen?
Lots of posts about an emergency alert
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
La Notte (****); Letter from an Unknown Woman (****); Adaptation. (****1/2); La Cabina (***1/2)
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Helpful update from the BBC here if you need advice after staring at the sun.
“Eclipse warning: The key signs you may have damaged your eyes”, but blurred
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
This is probably how the discovery of time travel will go: an app glitch opens a portal to the near future and rather than exploiting it for good (or more likely stock market profiteering) thousands of users shout FIX YOUR SYSTEM YOU INCOMPETENT CODERS
A Bluesky trending topics list announcing that Farage has won Clacton
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Googled her earlier and I’m not going to accuse her of anything but I think the kids in this photo are definitely doping.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I liked this one on a recent book which is by all accounts really really good, but the quote doesn’t actually say that; instead being more along the lines of “here is a book”.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Point Blank (****1/2); Simon of the Desert (***1/2); Being John Malkovich (*****); Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (***)
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Important contemporary evaluation of this video:
The "Call on Me" video was directed by Huse Monfaradi, who proposed a "throwaway idea about sexual aerobics".[8] It features an aerobics instructor played by Deanne Berry and a class of female dancers including one male participant.[8]

In 2004, the British prime minister, Tony Blair, said: "The first time it came on, I nearly fell off my rowing machine."
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
The Mail reported the quote which the Telegraph attributes to a spokesman slightly differently:
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Here are the Durham regulations, for example: note the last line of the screenshot. www.durham.ac.uk/media/durham...
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Yes I acknowledge it makes sense in context but “I need my car to meet criminals” is now my favourite basis for an attempted exceptional hardship plea. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Best-selling crime author Lynda La Plante has been disqualified from driving for six months, despite tearfully telling the court a ban would end her writing career.
The 83-year-old author and screenwriter told Lavender Hill Magistrates' Court she needed her car to meet criminals and sources for research into her next works of fiction.
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Possession (***); Tampopo (****1/2); Modesty Blaise (***); Whistle Down The Wind (***1/2)
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James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
This is a very odd story but I find it difficult to jump to the conclusion that the French navy has decided it should try to scare the Shadow Home Secretary away from talking about small boats. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Philip said he believed it was an intimidation tactic or warning shots.
He said it "felt to me like an attempted intimidation to stop us covering migrant crossings".
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