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Sara Rich Dorman

@srd.bsky.social
3.1K followers 2.3K following 2.6K posts

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

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Sara Rich Dorman
Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 15h
Those of us who work on contemporary France have long predicted some kind of social protest in advance of the 2027 elections. It could have been a gilets jaunes mk 2 related to high petrol prices, but instead it was school students. Some thoughts... www.lemonde.fr/politique/ar...
lemonde.fr
Un gouvernement fébrile, à la merci d’un embrasement qu’il n’a pas vu venir
La journée de mobilisation de mardi inquiète au sommet de l’Etat, alors que la tension n’a cessé de croître en près de trois semaines d’actions et que l’exécutif semble avoir pour l’instant donné la p...
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Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 04/10/2026
The scariest straight line you'll see all day, via @financialtimes.com no less
Global sea level rise has a accelerated during the past decade
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Brendan Paddy @bjpaddy.bsky.social · 19h
US and Russia fuelling separatist debate in Canada, new report says www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
US and Russia fuelling separatist debate in Canada, new report says
Researchers warn that foreign actors are meddling in the Alberta separatist movement in ways that threaten Canada’s "democratic integrity".
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New Lines Magazine @newlinesmag.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
WATCH: Théophile Simon expands on his @newlinesmag.bsky.social  article about Somaliland’s struggle for recognition, and discusses the strategic arguments being made about its main port city, the Houthis and China’s influence in the Horn of Africa.
f.mtr.cool
Somaliland's American Gamble
Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Abdullahi is pitching Trump on the value of his breakaway state, but even with the backing of key GOP lawmakers, the power ...
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NewsThump @newsthump.com · 05/10/2026
NEWS! Fears grow that high diesel prices could lead to more cyclists newsthump.com/2026/10/05/f...
newsthump.com
Fears grow that high diesel prices could lead to more cyclists
People in the UK are terrified today after considering the possibility that high diesel prices could lead to an increase in cyclists.
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Sara Rich Dorman @srd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Not here. Thankfully.
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Onni Gust @onnigust.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
41% staffing cuts in the Faculty of Arts at UoN. We're entering a wilderness of creativity and critical thinking.
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Sara Rich Dorman @srd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
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Sara Rich Dorman @srd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Great turnout at the @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social demo today!
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David Anderson @bricksilk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Letter printed in The Times today
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Edinburgh book launch! I’m going to be having an Edinburgh book launch for An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class on the evening of Tuesday 27 October. Venue and time will be confirmed soon. Save the date! Get your tickets 🔽
argonautbooks.co.uk
Argonaut Books - Leith's Independent Bookshop
We are Argonaut Books, a community bookshop for Leith, Edinburgh. We hold a curated selection of books; we only stock books that we are genuinely passionate about. We specialise in Science Fiction, Fa...
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Pavel Iosad @anghyflawn.net · 04/10/2026
I challenge you to read this article by the ex-convenor of Edinburgh Council’s Transport and Environment Committee and find even slight acknowledgment of how unsafe roads suppress cycling levels and how the city wasted the opportunity of Covid to change things for the better.
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SpokesLothian @spokes.org.uk · 04/10/2026
#GeorgeStreet #PrincesStreet 🙋 Spokes #TrafficCount ! 🚲 are 1 in 3 of all traffic ! #VoiBikes success ! #CCWEL #MissingLink vital --> www.spokes.org.uk/2026/10/city... @edi.bike @chdot.bsky.social @edfoc.bsky.social @edtiss.bsky.social @davidfkey.bsky.social @chasbooth.bsky.social @sw20.info
City Centre: bikes now 1 in 3 in rush hour

A Spokes traffic count in George Street and Princes Street on 24 September found bikes forming over 30% of all vehicles in the morning peak period, and over 20% at lunchtime. Other findings suggest a major boost to bike travel thanks to the Council’s Voi bike hire scheme.

Our count was conducted to add concrete evidence to current uncertainties over the future of both streets, with Princes Street likely to remain 4 lanes of tarmac for the some years to come and no funding available for the ambitious but extremely costly George Street proposals for a semi-pedestrianised ‘cycle street’ (albeit with significant motor traffic at times!). The money which had been intended for George Street will now go to repaving Princes Street footways with high-cost materials in what Cllr Lang termed a “glorified resurfacing project.”

Thus, whichever east-west route best suits a cyclist’s journey, Princes Street or George Street, cycling conditions in both look set to remain dire, with a major central gap remaining in CCWEL, the Council’s City Centre West-East Link, unless the Council thinks again.map showing CCWEL missing link along George Streettable of main results
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Blackford Safe Routes @blackfordsaferoutes.co.uk · 01/10/2026
What happens when you create a high-traffic neighbourhood by removing the modal filters on the Braid Estate… SUVs end up on their side Junction of Braid Rd and Hermitage Dr. Around school pick up time, Thursday 1st Oct
A black SUV on its side with the underside visible. A police car in the  foreground and an ambulance in the background. A police officer stands in hi viz beside the SUV. The pole of a zebra crossing can be seen in the foreground The same as the first picture, but zoomed in on the overturned SUV
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Am obvious security liability is the shrinkage of UK university teaching capacity and uptake of Chinese language and associated area studies expertise. The mooted new research security fund needs to address that (and not just re China) rather than only fixating on compliance.
ft.com
UK universities comb records for China links after MI5 warning
Security agency’s alert highlights rising compliance pressures in sensitive research areas
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New Lines Magazine @newlinesmag.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
In defense of Egyptian food: @kshaheen.bsky.social  makes the case that koshary, molokhia and tamiyya deserve more respect. 
f.mtr.cool
In Defense of Egyptian Food
Egyptian food has long had a bad reputation, but it’s time to reassess what you think you know about mahshy, molokhia in duck stock, koshary — and tamiyya versus falafel.
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
New from @timnitgebru.blacksky.app and me: "It is high time for us to regulate usage of systems sold as “AI”, not because they are magical machines, but because they are error-prone products that shouldn’t be used in high stakes scenarios." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Forget ‘superintelligence’: error-prone AI nearly sparked world war three this month | Timnit Gebru and Emily M Bender
The risks of AI aren’t what we think they are, as a recent security incident between China and the United States reveals
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
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 · 30/09/2026
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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Sara Rich Dorman @srd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
That’s what I thought too. Political statement? Someone trying to annoy QS?
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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
Absolutely. Jorgensen deserves a medal.
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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 Histoween 🎃 @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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