James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 10/10/2026There 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. 230 3
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Always 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! 040 4
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Did not know this existed and am enjoying how pretentious it makes me look. 4110 11
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 03/10/2026“Sir, a second girls’ chess championship scandal has hit the Palace of Westminster” 4768 76
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 23/09/2026This 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”. 2256 25
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 21/09/2026I 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. 180 8
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 20/09/2026I 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... 061 6
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 19/09/2026I 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. 111 1
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 19/09/2026This 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. 2234 23
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 18/09/2026This isn’t just “it would be good to be able to check in an emergency”. This is positively unhealthy! apple.news/A1lTWGCW5T8W... 2232 23
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 18/09/2026I 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. 2174 17
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Got 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. 1100 10
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Suspect that was pushed back a bit since the page was first written! 180 8
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 05/09/2026See 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”. 000 0
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 05/09/2026This 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. 150 5
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 05/09/2026I 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. 34610 46
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Weird given that the signals are so consistent. In other words: 091 9
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 01/09/2026I suspect it’s both possible that a) we do get to this point and b) we are all long dead before it happens. 100 1
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 30/08/2026Seeing 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.) 5719 71
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 29/08/2026It 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) 110 1
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 28/08/2026@magnets.eurosky.social Have you seen this? 57611 76
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.) 110 1
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Added bonus “well you obviously don’t know how to run your pub” content. 2200 20
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 14/08/2026OK, in hindsight the text of the alert was a bit wordy. 2152 15
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Helpful update from the BBC here if you need advice after staring at the sun. 637272 372
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 13/08/2026This 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 050 5
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Googled her earlier and I’m not going to accuse her of anything but I think the kids in this photo are definitely doping. 0170 17
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 10/08/2026I 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”. 130 3
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Important contemporary evaluation of this video: 47223 72
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 04/08/2026The Mail reported the quote which the Telegraph attributes to a spokesman slightly differently: 130 3
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Here are the Durham regulations, for example: note the last line of the screenshot. www.durham.ac.uk/media/durham... 240 4
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Yes 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... 40844178 844
James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 28/07/2026This 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... 5112 11