Loukas (They/Them) 🏳️‍⚧️

Journalist, teacher, Londoner, Stockholmer.

Deputy editor, Freedom news (London)

Writing about autism, ADHD and disability.

Profile image description: me on a balcony
Background image description: dry grass reviving after winter

Public Key

npub1324pvu8sclj7pqwfen2c022dt68cehll5h7m4pxwcsfe0xs5473qqzu38w

NIP-05 Address

Loukas_at_mastodon.nu@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsg42skwrcv0e0qs8yue4v849x4aruvmll6tld6sn8vgyuhng22lgsprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wdmksetjv5hxxmmdqyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueq0rmm06

Publishing to

relay.noswhere.com

relay.nostr.band

nostr21.com

Author Public Key

npub1324pvu8sclj7pqwfen2c022dt68cehll5h7m4pxwcsfe0xs5473qqzu38w

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Last Notes

2024-08-20 07:58:44

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@npub1vzq…gn6z if you tell me the full quote I can guess.

2024-08-07 15:50:10

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@npub1uxq…wahx thank you, I appreciate it!

2024-08-07 15:39:59

Proposal to rename racist rioting 'Faraging'.

2024-08-07 08:08:17

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@npub1xcs…pq9u thank you! In the past I've seen antifascism as two words, so I wasn't sure whether text to speech could handle it

2024-08-07 07:43:37

Hey people who use screen readers, could you help me with something?
Should I camel case the word antifascism?
Does it sound better like number one?
#antifascism
Or number two?
#antiFascism

2024-08-07 05:11:21

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This is the kind of thing I was talking about in this thread.
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/919/016/151/277/734/original/3e5d29cfa686a662.png

2024-08-06 16:49:13

I just realised Americans calling Trump TFG is a close parallel to what British people called Hitler in the 30s: ITMA (it's that man again).

2024-08-06 11:41:09

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@npub1kvz…k9es or just investing real energy into alternatives. Utter moral vacuum on the part of the intelligentsia.

2024-08-06 11:40:28

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@npub1r73…uhv6 Yes, liberal democracy and the rule of law was literally invented to protect private property. This is why capitalists can't be trusted to look after capitalism and only social democrats do it successfully.

2024-08-06 10:25:55

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It's not a bug, it's not an oopsie. Fascism arises as a contender for state power when it's backed by rich and powerful people who are scared of democracy and equality.

2024-08-06 10:24:54

The super-wealthy are actively backing fascism? Always have done.
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/914/586/561/436/262/original/db8e29176f73641c.jpg

2024-08-06 10:11:26

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@npub1928…kcpa "never again referred specifically to zombie Goebbels coming back and this token cannot be redeemed in other cases, sorry".

2024-08-06 09:50:03

I'm sure if you went back to 2010 and described today's politics to centrist journalists, politicians and academics and asked what they would do in such a world, I'm sure you'd hear lots of rhetoric about joining the resistance and opposing fascism to the last breath.
Instead we got normalisation of fascism, by most of the people who see themselves as the independently-minded.

2024-08-06 09:15:54

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@npub1ay5…lhj7 ok, but I hope it does

2024-08-06 05:29:32

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@npub19na…2pws It's one of the ways that prefix works, although a rare version.

2024-08-06 04:53:51

Shh, I'm only showing this to you, because everyone else is asleep: but the word 'disgruntled' doesn't mean not-gruntled. it means EXTRA gruntled, as gruntle meant a grunt of complaint and 'dis' was used as an intensifier.

2024-08-05 18:56:43

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@npub1vcy…gzn8 hon verkar vara en sådan fanatiker för yttrandefrihet som hittar gärna hem hos Elon Musk.

2024-08-05 17:18:42

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@npub1qzx…wjhy yes I'm sure it'll crash a lot of the economy

2024-08-05 15:55:42

Let's all hold hands and watch bitcoin and AI crash together.

2024-08-05 11:32:14

Today's bastard disappointment. My 19th century dictionary says 'bastard' comes from 'fils de bast' (son of the saddle). That would be satisfyingly similar to 'son of a gun'. But Wiktionary says it's unlikely since 'bast' only became used for 'saddle' in the 13th century.

2024-08-05 10:12:08

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@npub1r73…uhv6 We're just keeping an eye on you to make sure you don't have any nuclear submarines in your pockets.

2024-08-05 09:54:46

Looking at how top UK Labour politicians are excusing and minimising the white power pogroms, I think it confirms my thesis of 'beige': "the new normal of a mixture of centrist and fascist politics for a scared state in crisis." https://freedomnews.org.uk/2024/05/13/the-triumph-of-beige/

2024-08-05 08:05:03

has anybody tried marketing a cat bed in the shape of a laptop?

2024-08-05 07:31:42

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@npub1shs…5nuu Jag pluggar enstaka kurser inom engelska för att förhoppningsvis utöka min behörighet och få jobb. Att vara so-lärare betyder inte mycket i dagens arbetsmarknad tyvärr :)

2024-08-05 07:28:52

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@npub1shs…5nuu Det jag gillade mest med att börja plugga och CSN var att inge behöva aktivitetsrapportera längre. Det är tufft!

2024-08-05 07:04:30

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@npub188z…ue2h They are all words, but four are fake words, to catch cheaters.

2024-08-05 07:03:48

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@npub1shw…aesf Yes, 6/10 is the perfect score because the others are fake words.

2024-08-05 06:47:42

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@npub1zpw…dk8l Yes, it's a vocabulary test with fake words, to catch cheaters :)

2024-08-05 06:35:08

You may think you know English, but how many of these words do you know?
adviser
ghastly
contord
implore
morlorn
moisten
patiful
profess
stourge
discard
Meara (1989).

2024-08-03 14:10:44

#caturday featuring two different kinds of plaid.
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/898/485/877/923/972/original/bf616f419ca0fc01.jpg

2024-08-03 07:25:20

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@npub1tfm…5xf3 is this the 'unpleasant mob'?
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/896/892/669/883/504/original/34a6034d460f3fd5.png

2024-07-31 20:41:10

A reason journalists go harder on centrists and the left is because those groups are *affected* by journalism, and making an impact is how journalists have careers.
So if Trump now seems vulnerable, it creates incentives for journalists and editors to keep up the pressure, just for career reasons.
(I'm not an expert on American politics, but I've been a journalist for 20 years, so I'm looking at this dynamic from inside my professional culture and in terms of its political economy.)

2024-07-31 17:40:44

I've been reading an 1879 dictionary of English etymology and the more I read the more I feel I know the author, Walter Skeat. Just look at how excited he gets when exploring the origins of the word 'cutlass'!
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/882/319/628/230/392/original/e692a596d8e7d642.jpg
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/882/319/714/005/582/original/ab9a014a06880f79.jpg

2024-07-27 14:59:59

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The movements that nowadays have the name 'conservative', on the other hand, are radical movements for the overturning of traditions and norms, in the pursuit of political power for their narrow group.
It's not unusual for names to become totally detached from actual political practice, but it's striking to see it happening in real time.

2024-07-27 14:58:29

To the extent that something called 'conservatism' exists it is the centrists of today who are the conservatives.
They continue performing the old rituals of civility and comprise, they keep maintaining the institutions that don't seem to have any functions any more, just because they honestly believe that clinging to the old ways is a good thing in itself.

2024-07-27 12:19:31

I'm listening to a podcast about the languages of Eurasia 2,500 years ago and thinking how sick it is that so many politicians want to make the Mediterranean into some kind of moat or divider between north and south.
Historically the Med has been a political and cultural link, not a barrier.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7uKLZoxkSP2cOf1Xi8Jyi1?si=-yEud0EqQ_ideFijhVm-vA

2024-07-24 11:12:58

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@npub14ka…azjw yes I assumed the democrats would fumble any handover and lose weeks to infighting, but it's been incredibly smooth.

2024-07-24 10:52:54

A while ago I was speculating that a more defensive strategy of digging in the heels would be a more powerful one, for people who are trying to avoid climate catastrophe and fascism. I think this is an example of that kind of thing.
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/841/086/990/927/546/original/df55ef7fb1371a9a.png

2024-07-23 12:29:25

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@npub1kz5…ysxq yes it's humbling to realise how wrong we were about how easy it is to just be a cheapskate fascist.

2024-07-23 11:18:39

Well it seems like I was very over optimistic about how twitter would be affected by the US election campaign.
Two years ago I was very hopeful that the campaign would be a mask-off moment for Elon Musk, and this would trigger a mass exodus from twitter as he revealed himself to be a total Trumper.
Unfortunately I was only half right.

2024-07-22 14:16:22

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@npub132q…ua6v 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

2024-07-22 14:06:32

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@npub1s7n…75gz thank you!

2024-07-22 13:37:16

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@npub17ns…h6qj thank you, I appreciate it!

2024-07-22 13:02:47

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@npub1h2k…wk2y haha wow! He should have held a press conference! It was Prehistory of the Far Side where i read about it.

2024-07-22 12:55:17

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@npub1h2k…wk2y a press release when it was published in the paper the first time?

2024-07-22 12:42:51

Hey do any of you work with dogs? How do you get a start in that kind of work? Someone in my family would like to do this.
Boost for more replies, please!

2024-07-22 12:41:36

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@npub1h2k…wk2y i love that one so much. I remember reading how Larson didn't really think it was a good joke, so I'm glad it has become a cult success.

2024-07-22 12:25:15

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@npub1h2k…wk2y is that cow tools?

2024-07-22 07:15:57

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@npub1zud…wlmh maybe one day I'll do an online class about the history of fascism but today is not this day:)

2024-07-22 06:39:31

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@npub1zud…wlmh historical examples of fascists losing and going into self-destructive spirals? If you don't think that's a thing then I'm not interested in trying to persuade you.

2024-07-22 06:14:29

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@npub1zud…wlmh I'm sorry, but this is not true at all.

2024-07-22 06:05:43

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So what's really crucial during this historical era is independent organising, that can both push centrists to do the right thing, and also pivot to oppose them when they do the wrong thing.
It's why people shouldn't just fold social movements into centre-left political parties, or even green or leftist parties.

2024-07-22 06:03:45

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The thing about fascism is you can't really beat it by voting in liberals, because it is also present in how liberalism operates - but I think if Kamala Harris wins we'll see US-EU fascism go into a kind of self-destructive pity spiral that will make them less able to hurt people.
I think we can already see Elon spiralling in this kind of way, even.

2024-07-22 06:02:40

I get why a lot of people are pointing out that Kamala Harris has a lot of the same reactionary politics, and people shouldn't be fooled by her being a WOC, but at the same time the fascists don't really care either.
They're going to react as though US has elected Angela Davies, and I want to gloat.

2024-07-21 19:17:25

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@npub15kq…rvzg ❤️

2024-07-21 18:01:53

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@npub1juc…z3ff i really can't say.

2024-07-21 16:17:13

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@npub1r9e…lx2p Frodo seems kind of tired and incoherent. Isn't it time to give Gollum a chance?

2024-07-21 16:12:37

Finally a constructive contribution from the NYT.
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/825/357/781/418/488/original/f5dbc2430054e96f.jpg

2024-07-21 12:21:02

But Mastodon is the social media of the 1337s.
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/824/446/325/492/500/original/6f0b87ad35916438.png

2024-07-21 12:12:09

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Update: the high court has scrapped the job quotas the students were protesting against. I hope this means a win for the Bangladesh social movements and safety on the streets. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6p27g628k6o

2024-07-21 09:17:17

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@npub180d…yqvk if we get a big split ticket effect and a lot of representatives out-perform the party as a whole that's going to create space for people to break off I guess.

2024-07-21 07:02:19

I think the Biden/donors conflict is fascinating, not because I think Biden is a radical politician, but because splits in the elite during times of social crisis are significant. The Mexican revolution started as a fight between landowners, and the French nobles' dispute with the king led to the French one.
In using these examples I'm exaggerating for effect, but since we all know American democracy is in its worst crisis since the civil war it's not a totally inappropriate exaggeration.

2024-07-20 14:43:11

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@npub1cjr…sdnz yes that's a big category of what they're talking about.

2024-07-20 14:18:47

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@npub1que…2lrp yes it's very different

2024-07-20 13:40:48

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And this is why I spent the entire term teaching the kids Monty Python quotes. It's science. Dont you see!!!

2024-07-20 13:40:22

'Martinez and Murphy (2011) argue that because some multiword units are at least partially opaque (it is not clear how the meanings of the parts make up the meaning of the whole), knowledge of the mean-
ing of these multiword units is important for language use. That is, we need to regard certain multiword units (probably a large number) as items that have to be known in their own right and regarded as part of the vocabulary knowledge needed to use the language.' Nation (2022)

2024-07-20 11:53:56

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@npub1wpe…kk3z it's like a klaxon going off for me every time it happens. The good news is I don't think any other mistake is as bad or has the same potential for disaster.

2024-07-20 11:42:02

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@npub1wpe…kk3z it's happened enough times, and to such highly educated people, that it seems to me like a specific kind of blind spot.

2024-07-20 09:47:44

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@npub1z95…av02 I really appreciate you using alt-text, thank you.

2024-07-20 09:40:18

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Friends in Bangladesh say they can't communicate with their family, the internet has been off for two days. People don't know who is alive and who is dead. I wish we had ways to get around this.

2024-07-20 09:32:30

Let me know if you see any good accounts here who are following or involved in the protests in Bangladesh https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq5xye1d285o

2024-07-20 08:30:26

My 13-year-old tells me that whether I'm posting on Mastodon or BlueSky it's still a 'tweet', daaaad.

2024-07-20 07:55:08

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@npub1gwd…3lhr it wasn't too hard. Not a rød grød med flød ;)

2024-07-20 07:53:04

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@npub1pg3…9a8a tell us some!

2024-07-20 07:25:15

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@npub1dt0…7205 it simply means enthusiasm or appetite for something. So I've heard someone say 'children's literature must inspire lust' and not realise what they just said.

2024-07-20 07:20:01

Swedish people I am begging you to remember that 'lust' in English is a very different word to how you use it in Swedish.
I've seen highly-educated people, including authors and CEOs, use it wrongly in front of English audiences.
My theory is these people are so important no one around them has dared to correct them.

2024-07-20 07:13:17

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@npub1gwd…3lhr no, it's not rude, it's just that flott(ig) in Swedish has more of the connotation of being creamy, fatty, luxurious rather than skillful or admirable.

2024-07-20 06:49:41

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@npub1aup…lzlv CHAOS

2024-07-20 06:49:31

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@npub1gwd…3lhr yes it's similar enough despite being different words and not used in that way :)

2024-07-20 06:39:58

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@npub1gwd…3lhr haha I love how i can understand that despite never seeing those words before.

2024-07-20 06:05:14

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'This guy can't win so we'll make sure he loses' is a hell of a train of thought.

2024-07-20 05:58:31

Looking at the US election from a British perspective it feels like 2019, when a lot of people at the top of Labour decided they would rather lose than win with the guy they didn't want. And yes, 'electability' was part of their alibi.

2024-07-20 05:09:47

Finished my war literature course with top marks. I highly recommend this course, held by Dr Susan Foran, an expert on medieval chivalry.
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/817/088/980/867/032/original/350e2cfe56c33f12.png

2024-07-19 19:29:18

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@npub1lsl…jl7v if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out

2024-07-19 15:12:05

Without cheating can you name any of the top-ten Facebook pages?
I try to follow some big Facebook pages so I get an idea of what's popular there. But I just looked at the list of the most-followed pages, on Wikipedia, and I am surprised!

2024-07-19 14:58:57

I've never felt so good about converting to Linux as today. I installed Mint a few months ago and it's been seamless and my old laptop doesn't overheat as much, either.

2024-07-19 09:46:00

Worldwide shortage of potatoes incoming as companies flock to use them for printing.

2024-07-19 08:59:08

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@npub1c6k…e5c5 Yes it's fascists that I despise, whether they speak Russian, English, Hindi or Klingon!❤️💚

2024-07-19 08:29:42

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@npub1c6k…e5c5 thank you for sharing your journey with us.

2024-07-19 08:23:45

Everyone who works with computers today is like
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/812/189/842/834/127/original/5aec87cf1eb9800b.jpg

2024-07-19 08:02:21

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 finally a news story that Mastodon will be best at!

2024-07-19 07:46:10

I hope carbon emissions will fall because of all the planes being grounded.

2024-07-19 06:27:12

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@npub1mqh…wrmm thank you! Does Nextcloud need a server?

2024-07-19 06:26:22

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@npub195z…x938 thank you I appreciate the tip

2024-07-19 06:25:57

Capitalists backing warmongering fascists for the 94th time since 1922.
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/811/725/293/107/745/original/3297c140d14b9b46.jpg

2024-07-18 12:52:11

What's your favourite open source tool for calenders and other sharable planning tools?
I'm setting up a planning system for @npub1vdk…msh2 and I want to avoid Google calendar and documents.

2024-07-18 08:38:42

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@npub12ca…q8m2 I'm not familiar with Jimenez, Heth or Park.

2024-07-18 08:28:17

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With the presence of Dahl, Gaiman and Seuss on the list I really hope we'll be taking a critical view of them as authors.

2024-07-18 08:22:12

I'll be studying children's literature in the autumn! This is my reading list.
https://media.mastodon.nu/media_attachments/files/112/806/518/152/021/845/original/e016edec7871d6fd.png

2024-07-17 12:01:15

A friend of mine is feeling very bad and I'm reacting by sending them memes. Please drop your absolute guaranteed belly laugh memes and cartoons here so I can keep my supply going!