"Facing an increasingly hostile environment, the smartest students will look elsewhere for university places, notably the US, where they often receive more generous financial support for postgraduate degrees. Some international students are already turning away. According to Financial Times analysis of Universities and Colleges Admissions Service data, a third of UK universities saw fewer overseas non-EU applicants in 2023."
https://www.ft.com/content/0191f95d-299e-4fb0-a46a-d371711c138b
The sign advertising "hot food and pizza counter" in my local Sainsbury's implies one of three things and I'm not sure which:
1. The pizza is not hot.
2. The pizza is not food.
3. The opportunity to buy hot food and the opportunity to have pre-existing pizza counted are entirely separate services offered in-store.
Politicians and pundits are in the business of building reality tunnels.
They tell stories and promote narratives that, if repeated often enough, feel like the capital-T Truth to their followers.
Step outside their tunnel, and suddenly, that worldview seems crazy.
Weekend visit to #Bradford reminds me of the city's continued ability to absolutely screw up urban planning. I knew a few years back they'd squandered the opportunity to revive the centre with yet another boring Westfield shopping centre development, plonked right in the way. They could have made a pedestrian friendly space linking the City Hall in the middle to the Cathedral and Alhambra at north and south.
There are some absolutely beautiful buildings from the Victorian era, and more modern ones that came from a time before the government shut down regional development. Realistically, some of both might have needed to be demolished, and there's been times over the past 40 years when that would have had minimal impact. But now a set of motorways surrounds the best parts, and impractical blobs of ill conceived, cheap blocks are spread around. Nottingham, Sheffield and Coventry did this so much better.
Whilst they keep doing this, the centre will continue to be a rough place. Anyone who wants an enjoyable night out and a nice meal has dozens of towns and villages in this distributed metropolis.
John Krasinksi's new movie "If" looks like a fairly routine kids movie, but in fact it's an absolutely beautiful blub fest, pushed over the edge by Giacchino's music (remember "Up"?).
https://youtu.be/H-Lp5ygQLoA
TBF, it's got Sam Rockwell and Fiona Shaw in it so you know it's going to be good.
Yeah, Jaklin is my new spirit animal. For me that's the best thing about #Eurovision, that amongst the votebait and silliness there's some great new music I'd never have found.
https://youtu.be/_6xfmW0Fc40?si=pkbc17TEg2IbEhUK
I haven't been to the Abba voyage thing but I think they've definitely taken some technical aspects from Ye Pan's PhD work on immersion, that I helped with about 10 years ago. But the CGI avatars are awful.
I'm afraid I have been away from home and phone, my #Eurovision chums.
But I am watching the final now and breathless with anticipation for the scores. Crossing my fingers for #Armenia, #Italy or #Ukraine. A couple of faves never made the final.
In fact, I think it was on netflix until only recently, because I remember having it dubbed in French, for reasons. It was quite effective actually.
I was telling my brother about this movie the other day, who was a toddler when it came out. I can't remember when I last saw Shallow Grave but so many of the lines are embedded (I think I may have the book with the script in). And on the last rewatch it was still perfect.
Definitely going to see this.
The voting record of Natalie Elphicke speaks for itself:
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25831/natalie_elphicke/dover/votes#environment
And here's the moment the Dover MP thought it would be a good idea to confront a protest about Hire & Fire of P&O ferry staff. Forgetting that she'd voted to allow that sort of practice.
https://youtu.be/NAOZcUbmEds
For non UK people, Dover is the main port for connections to the continent. A fact that was news to Brexit minister Dominic Raab:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5m7_JrLNDY
Normally a Tory MP defecting to Labour might be a positive development, but sometimes you wish they'd just quit politics.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/11/tory-mp-who-accused-marcus-rashford-of-playing-politics-has-second-job
Couldn't recall why I knew she was a wrong'un but the internet remembers.
@rustoleumlove @seachanger As just one tiny example, I personally witnessed Seattle Police officers shoot a tear gas grenade directly at a reporter on live TV. It hit & injured her.
Went home afterwards. Found out the news channel said it was a firework thrown by a protestor.
The reporter was thanking the cops for protecting her.
It sounds like 1984 fanfiction but I couldn't make this stuff up. This is too on the nose, I'm a more creative author than this.
I mean I might be showing my age, and maybe that was the year I unlocked music big time, but there's also Prince's Batman soundtrack, Simple Minds, NIN, Beautiful South, RHCP, Belinda Carlisle, UB40, Erasure.
1989 was a great year with some iconic albums, but why is Blue Nile on this list but not Deacon Blue? Heck, they even knocked Madonna off the top spot, in a month that also saw classics from INXS, Fine Young Cannibals and Guns n Roses https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1prqk6JLsFGqz8nTlbj2JfX/12-classic-albums-that-define-1989
Minister ‘sorry’ as veterans find ID card not valid for English elections - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/02/minister-sorry-as-veterans-find-id-card-not-valid-for-english-elections "Johnny Mercer says he will ‘do all I can’ to change rules after veteran turned away from polling station" stupidity upon stupidity; just repeal it #voterID
Just another worried little citizen of this modern-day Pompeii. Techie at UCL, working on Process Automation with MS Power Platform. Scatterbrain, interested in education, languages, Space and lots of disparate things. sorry.
Keeping my space toots at @astrodad as an experiment in self-moderation :)
*Background banner is a photo Yorkshire flag in blue and white, in front of a classic bell tent, in a field of similar tents at a festival.