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duncanrobertson.bsky.social
Policy & Strategy Analytics academic at Loughborough University; Member, Independent SAGE; Fellow, St Catherine's College, Oxford.
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‼️ Kulldorff is getting rich from anti-HPV vaccine litigation: “At a deposition in October, Kulldorff testified that the plaintiffs paid him $400 an hour & he had already billed for ~ $33,000 in legal work on the case through late September. He said he also received a $4,000 retainer in the NC case”

Yes. According to Army protocol, congressional staff are VIP Code 5, with a rank equivalent to a two-star general/admiral. Members of Congress are of course significantly higher. I have never seen USCP, FPS, or any other federal LEO treat any Member with anywhere near this disrespect and violence.

Are we there yet.

"Just asking questions"

In advance of Saturday's military birthday parade, I present... youtu.be/WVGbkFxxOoE?...

Another example of how the art in Ladybird books was just wonderful.

i've been trying to see what the right wing platforms (even outside of X) are showing people regarding the protests in LA and i am not sure it can be overstated just how much the AI slop is being used to reinforce the idea that downtown is a post-apocalyptic war zone

FT scoop by Demetri Sevastopulo: The Pentagon has launched review of Aukus to decide if should continue with US-UK-Australia submarine deal. www.ft.com/content/4a93...

The entire board of the Fulbright program reportedly resigned today after accusing the Trump administration of illegal interference www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

The Trump administration’s table of authorities in this filing:

Exit through the gift shop.

Not ideal, I'd say.

Bit xenophobic, this.

Every overview and scrutiny committee at Kent County Council for the month of June has now been cancelled or postponed. So that will now be at least two months into Reform's administration before any scrutiny or council decisions can take place.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office posts a video of Emperor Palpatine reciting Donald Trump’s Truth Social post about L.A. via @swholocron.bsky.social

Trump’s “big, beautiful [budget] bill” will earmark $185bn for immigration enforcement, including ICE, which is more than the annual military spending of the UK and France combined. www.ft.com/content/3d6c... via @ft

What the hell.

There's a bit in The King and I when he commands 'lower'.

Great ID modelling opportunity to aim for real impact on mitigating and monitoring AMR in sub-Saharan Africa. You'll work closely with us @ox.ac.uk, and Oxford’s Modernising Medical Microbiology group, as well as collaborators at CRUN (Burkina Faso) and KWRTP-KEMRI (Kenya). tinyurl.com/mry25kxe

The UK government should long ago have exited X. The platform is not interested in appropriate moderation. It is a hotbed for extremism. This was clear nearly a year ago during the riots.

Major US climate website likely to be shut down after almost all staff fired #Climate

A defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that although the National Guard initially focused primarily on safeguarding federal property, they were now involved in ICE operations. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

'Kick off' indeed.

This is truly astonishing

"Dear Academic. Would you like to spend a year putting together a special issue for our journal? You will provide us with all your contacts and edit the issue for us for free. We will then sell access to the work. In return for your efforts, you will be allowed to read the issue, for no extra cost".

Me, writing in the @bigissue.com this week (print and online) on the gamification of citizenship. I end on the recent (chilling) example of the reported US reality gameshow pitched to Trump, where citizenship itself is the star prize... www.bigissue.com/opinion/good...

It must be very tiring being an autocrat. Because if you stop, the rulers that come after you can come after you.

What an interesting thread (really).

A nice map (and video) of the parking app turf wars www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJXE...

No, BBC Chris Mason: the NHS does not make up 40% of day to day government spending. You've left out spending on pensions, benefits, debt interest etc. When you include those, the figure is less than half that. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Read it and weep on.ft.com/3FGos7B

I'm not sure it's *entirely* usual for serving members of the armed forces to boo an elected representative.

Political volatility has been taking us by surprise for a while now. Here’s little exercise to illustrate. Rewind two years and take a look at where the polls were, what people expected, and what they failed to anticipate. You have to go back a while before politics is predictable even 2 yrs out 1/

Send the Marines, by Tom Lehrer. As posted by @AllenStricklandWilliams on IG.

Breaking news: The Trump administration is planning a major increase of deportations to Guantánamo, including citizens of Britain, France and other allies. Officials said they are unlikely to inform the foreigners’ home governments about the transfers.

Traditionally, that was what the Memory Hole was for.

If you think this looks like a mess: it isn‘t. It‘s a treasure trove of information. There is no history writing without archives, and there are no archives without people who appreciate and protect them. History, much like democracy, begins locally. Cherish it.

A shocking speech to deliver to troops. “President Donald Trump called protesters in Los Angeles“animals” and “a foreign enemy” in a speech at Fort Bragg on Tuesday… ostensibly supposed to be used to recognize the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army” apnews.com/article/dona...

Found myself doomscrolling with my eyes shut. Don’t actually need to see anything right now to know.

AI. The stochastic parrot. 🦜

I was always confused by the politics of The Dukes of Hazzard.

“In 1900, 30 percent of all deaths in the United States occurred among children younger than 5, mostly because of preventable infectious diseases. By the end of the century, that number was just 1.4 percent.” #VaccinesWork #VaccinesSaveLives #ACIP