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Sara Rich Dorman

@srd.bsky.social
3.1K followers 2.2K following 2.6K posts

Edinburgh. Newfoundland. Canada. Political Scientist. African Politics; Authoritarianism. Maybe some cycle campaigning. "low waffle threshold". Previously @srdorman and @afr_pol

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Reposted by Sara Rich Dorman
Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 9h
This feels like... pretty good polling for a thing everyone thought would be career-ruining-ly unpopular?
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UCU Edinburgh @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social · 14h
Day 3 of the UCU workers' strike against 1000s of job cuts at the University of Edinburgh. UoE's VC Peter Mathieson earns nearly half a million pounds. Under him, the UoE has acquired over £1billion of capital assets, for which the UoE continues to pay in spiralling interest and depreciation.
Peter Mathieson poses cheerfully next to Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine and their latest £1billion pound capital asset, the Death Star.
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Simon is on strike ✊🏻 @simonxix.com · 28/09/2026
Historic England outsourced their digital image provision to a third-party company. Then the company went bust and now all their images are inaccessible. Tell me again how outsourcing to the private sector is sustainable?
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UCU Edinburgh @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Its Law School ...
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UCU Edinburgh @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Its Moray House School of Education ...
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UCU Edinburgh @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Overwhelming response today from the protests and picket lines at the University of Edinburgh, on Day 1 of the UCU workers' strike. This includes at the university's Medical School ...
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Alina Pereverzieva 🇺🇦 @perevaa.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
❗ Russian jet-powered drone struck Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences in Kyiv. People are climbing out of windows to avoid being burned alive. Meanwhile, Europe is lifting sanctions on Russian oligarchs, and #Trump is asking Ukraine not to hit Russian oil refineries.
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Zecharias Zelalem @zekuzelalem.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I went on the BBC to provide some updates and context on Ethiopia's new war and how it broke out in the first place. As I pointed out here, yesterday bank accounts opened in Tigray were collectively frozen, which prevents millions from accessing funds. The situation is becoming increasingly dire.
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John Fea @johnfea1.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Release date is tomorrow, Sept. 29
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Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Fresh on the heels of similar complaints about OpenAI from mathematicians, a biologist says Anthropic’s Claude “discovered” the same system his team has spent years researching while sharing their unpublished work with Claude. It’s no longer just publishers & artists accusing AI labs of plagiarism.
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 28/09/2026
Our members at Edinburgh University commence a 5 week strike today over crippling job cuts. Please show them solidarity as they head onto picket lines this morning.
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Ian McShane MacGowan @schwajohn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
only the americans raced like a team, which is something I never thought I'd say!
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Sara Rich Dorman @srd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
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Sara Rich Dorman @srd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Terrible kit. Terrible moustache. Great race !
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Andy Catlin @andycatlin.com · 26/09/2026
Harvest Moon going full power over #Edinburgh 🌝
A full moon in a black sky
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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Kjetil Tronvoll is one of the best analysts of the Horn of Africa. This is well worth listening to in full despite all the annoying Youtube adverts. In passing, the AU's failure to engage confirms that it has become as irrelevant and complicit as its OAU predecessor. www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-Ze...
youtube.com
Ethiopia and Tigray at war: New alliances and same old fears of death, destruction and devastation
YouTube video by Tghat ትግሃት
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Sara Gibbs @sararoseg.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
He imposed Shania Law
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Rayner is correct: these proposals are economically damaging and politically counterproductive. Pretty clear that view is now almost universal in the Cabinet/Labour Party and the informed public. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
thetimes.com
Angela Rayner condemns Labour’s migrant visa crackdown
Speaking before the party conference, the housing secretary says Shabana Mahmood’s immigration plans would affect care workers
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Keir Giles @keirgiles.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Would you like to discuss Russia's long-term campaigns of regime change through information warfare and political subversion, and whether they have succeeded in the United States, in person? Come to King's College London on Monday 5 October 2026. Limited places! www.kcl.ac.uk/events/ameri...
kcl.ac.uk
American Overthrow: Moscow’s Endgame in Its Long War with Washington | King's College London
In his new book, American Overthrow, Keir Giles examines America’s political transformation through the prism of Kremlinology.
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The Alternate Historian @althistorian.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The fight against fascism never really ends.
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Comfort Ero @comfortero.crisisgroup.org · 25/09/2026
In my new piece for @elpais.com, I look at how world leaders are gathering in New York this week praising multilateralism, but the UN is in severe distress. As the race for a new UN Secretary-General heats up, a new leader alone won't save the organisation.
english.elpais.com
The UN’s decline is a choice
The selection of a new chief is an opportunity for governments to rally round the ailing organization and choose a ‘general’, not a ‘secretary,’ to lead the charge
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Andy Wightman @andywightman.scot · 23/09/2026
In March 2000, John MacLeod announced that he was selling the Cuillin. 1/5
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Pookleblinky @pookleblinky.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Reminder that in Canada upon becoming an engineer you get an iron ring made of a collapsed bridge, purposely designed to be uncomfortable, to remind you that your ethics demand you give a fuck even about the boring grudgework of such as double-checking your math. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ring
en.wikipedia.org
Iron Ring - Wikipedia
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Dr Zubaida Haque @zubhaque.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
And they thought Muslim women choosing to wear hijabs (headscarves) and niqabs (face veil) was a threat to British values lol
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Karen Gregory @karengregory.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Exceptional Postdoc here in Law @uoe-sps.bsky.social Edinburgh: "how do we wish to live with and alongside algorithmic technologies?" I love the phrasing. elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com
Postdoctoral Research Associate
We are seeking to appoint a talented researcher to the role of Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) to work on The Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life (LCAL). LCAL is a major new interdisciplinar...
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Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
He was appalled by the examination system, when it was explained to him, he could not imagine a greater deterrent to the natural wish to learn than this pattern of cramming in information and disgorging it on demand.
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Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 24/09/2026
Yes, you read that right. NINE times cheaper.
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Plashing Vole @plashingvole.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Week 1 of Austen’s Afterlives today - the module that’s being simultaneously abolished and used as a TEF excellence case study. This is just some of the tat and fan culture we’ll look at alongside her works, adaptations, sequels and retellings. They like The Lost Sex Scenes of Jane Austen but…
A collection of Austen ephemera: a Darcy bobblehead; Austen’s History of England, Pride and Prejudish sponge, a crochet Jane Austen, the Austen board game and card game, Austen soap and an Austen seed tray.
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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
30 years ago Spitting Image dared to broadcast the truth about Israel. Now no one dares.
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Gordon Little @gord.games · 22/09/2026
Canada, not content watching the authoritarians fuck things up for their people, decided to also do it, but in the most Canadian way possible, while smiling.
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Sara Rich Dorman @srd.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Relieved to hear he has been released and will be home soon.
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amaBhungane @amabhungane.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
South African journalist Micah Reddy is free and safe. He was deported from Djibouti, according to his brother Niall Reddy. Authorities claim he did not have proper media accreditation. His fixer, Kooki Mahmoud, is apparently released without charge.
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UK in a Changing Europe @ukandeu.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
⏰ STARTING SOON ⏰ 💻 Join us online for a disucssion on the policy and politics of the Burnham government With @anandmenon.bsky.social, @johnmct.bsky.social, @robfordmancs.bsky.social & @sophiestowers.bsky.social 🕐 1pm kick off Tune in live here 👉 app.sli.do/event/ug4CL3...
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Markus T Hiemann @markushiemann.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Heads up Southside (Edinburgh, to be precise) peeps. The Astley Ainslie draft Place Brief is up for consultation. Closes 11 Nov 2026. consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/astley-a...
consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk
Astley Ainslie Draft Place Brief - City of Edinburgh Council - Citizen Space
Find and participate in consultations run by City of Edinburgh Council
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Ella @ellatasm.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Holyrood High Road closed, including pavement, 23 and 24 sept. Daytime. @edi.bike @robbieainsworth.bsky.social
High Road and pavement closed ahead 23 & 24 sept 8:30 to 15:00
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The China-Global South Project @chinagsproject.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Ethiopia’s shift to electric vehicles is turning into a major transport experiment, with Chinese EV technology playing a central role in reshaping how the country moves beyond gasoline and diesel. chinaglobalsouth.com/analysis/eth...
chinaglobalsouth.com
Ethiopians Dream of an Electric Car Future
By Dylan Gamba Kemeriya Mehammed Abduraheman set her sights on an electric car four months ago, joining more than 100,000 Ethiopians who have made the green switch. While electric vehicle (EV) sales…
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Pierre Romera Zhang @pirhoo.com · 20/09/2026
Our colleague Micah Reddy, @icij.org's Africa coordinator, and journalist Mohamed Willo Ismael have been missing in Djibouti City since Saturday. Djiboutian authorities must urgently account for them. www.icij.org/news/2026/09...
icij.org
Statement on missing ICIJ journalist Micah Reddy - ICIJ
ICIJ lost contact with our colleague Micah Reddy, ICIJ's Africa coordinator, and local journalist Mohamed Willo Ismael ("Kooki Mahmoud"), in Djibouti City on Saturday, Sept. 19.
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RFI @rfi.fr · 21/09/2026
Djibouti: un journaliste d'investigation sud-africain porté disparu avec son assistant local
rfi.my
Djibouti: un journaliste d'investigation sud-africain porté disparu avec son assistant local
À Djibouti, un journaliste d’investigation sud-africain ainsi que son fixeur local sont portés disparus. La famille et les collègues de Micah Reddy sont sans nouvelles de lui depuis le samedi 19 septembre, ainsi que de Kooki Mahmoud qui l’assistait sur place dans son travail. Depuis, des voix s’élèvent pour réclamer des explications de la part du gouvernement djiboutien. 
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Kate Louise Mathis is on strike @drmaudbailey.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
'Budget constraints' = fall-out of deliberate prioritization of capital expenditure now laid at the feet of all sorts of staff (other than management, of course) and our specialist programmes www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/blog/depreci...
ucuedinburgh.org.uk
Depreciating the University of Edinburgh into the Ground — UCU Edinburgh
There are four key takeaways from the University of Edinburgh’s 2024-25 annual report, which this post explores: The University continues to make a sizeable surplus. What financial pressures exi...
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Justin Pearce @justinpearce.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Worried about my friend the investigative journalist Micah Reddy, who seems to have gone missing in Djibouti. He and his family are in my thoughts.
Photo of Micah with the text:
Urgent alert 🚨: Roshan Micah Reddy, a #southafrican journalist and the #ICJI’s Africa coordinator, has gone missing in Djibouti.
He was staying at the Escale International Hotel and had been in $Djibouti since Thursday. The ICJI and the editorial team at his newspaper have had no news of him since 6.00 am (Eastern Time) this morning. He was accompanied by a local contact named Kooki Mahmoud, of whom there is also no news.
A missing person report has been filed with the #British and South African governments.
According to our information, the hotel is believed to be owned by members of the family of djiboutian President Ismaël Omar Guelleh and is known to be a stronghold of the djiboutian secret services.
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Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust @greenspacetrust.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Great to see The Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society start to uncover the 'Broken Briggs' settlement in Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park. All part of Scotland Archaeology Month delivered through the Restore the Burn project.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Very good article by @jburnmurdoch.ft.com - the fiscal cost/benefit of migration is not set in stone but depends on your tax + benefit policies. As well as the nature of the immigration.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The strategy of Denmark & Greenland in pointing out only in code what this content is (as a ratificatoon of existing status) and signing it at the UN General Assembly, while the US overspin expansion of what exists, means the BBC reporting comes across as a little naive www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
US and Denmark reach deal over Greenland's security after Trump threats
Trump says the agreement will give the US "permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland", though specifics have not been confirmed by Danish officials.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Somebody in Nato, Denmark or Greenland seems to have spotted that telling Trump he can have an enormous victory + then offering him the status quo of the last 25-50-75 years is an off-ramp
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Colin Yeo @colinyeo.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Terrible article. But also telling that these pieces never mention the burden of compliance with Home Office immigration regulations by employers, universities, landlords, the NHS, public services… giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
The relentless creep of Britain’s compliance state
While some rules are just fiddly and frustrating, others do real harm
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Jester mouse @jestermouse.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Coincidentally, most of the UK has lost confidence in billionaires. Will the BBC print that? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.
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The China-Global South Project @chinagsproject.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Zimbabwe just shipped its first blueberries to China after Beijing scrapped tariffs, and now farmers need $50,000 a hectare to keep up with demand that's already outpacing supply. chinaglobalsouth.com/analysis/zim...
chinaglobalsouth.com
Zimbabwe Farmers Seek Funds to Cash in on China Blueberry Boom
By Mary Taruvinga Under the morning sun, women moved briskly through neat rows of bushes, plucking blueberries for Zimbabwe's export market thrown wide open by new trade deals with China. Managers of…
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Felicity Callard @felicitycallard.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The brutal reality of universities' suppression of wages (in KPMG's report for DfE on cost of undergraduate provision in England) assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6aabfa...
Table 1 – Cost increases since the last study by cost type
Actual % increase
between 2016-17 and
2019 study cost groupings
2023-24 weighted
average unit cost
Staff costs 14%
Non-pay costs 46%
Indirect departmental costs -24%
Centrally allocated indirect costs 29%
Estates costs 40%
Sustainability adjustment -2%

Source: Analysis of Data Returns
Table 1 shows that costs have not increased equally in the time between the two costing studies. Non-pay costs have increased slightly ahead of inflation and estates costs have increased in line with inflation. Universities have managed staff costs significantly below inflation, increasing only by 14% compared to the 41.2% increase in RPIX. By contrast, indirect departmental costs have reduced by 24%, but this may be due to differences in the universities participating in the 2019 and this study. The movement in MSI is reflective of changes in financial performance rather than any inflationary impact.
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Pavel Iosad @anghyflawn.net · 18/09/2026
A further observation: the response to the news is widespread horror and solidarity (which we’re grateful for), but it’s also really interesting to observe the gap between how this looks like from ‘the inside’ vs the outside.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Celtic (UG), Chinese & Russian (UG), Contemporary History, Economics & Statistics (joint degree), Inclusive Education (MSc), Intellectual History, Italian & Classics (joint), Law & Social Policy (joint), Medieval History, Persian Studies (UG), Portuguese (UG), Psychology & Economics (joint)....
heraldscotland.com
Full list of the 90 programmes earmarked for closure at leading Scottish university
Managers say the cuts are necessary “to protect our world-leading reputation and resilience in research and teaching” but staff members have hit…
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