AlizonRobertson

@Helen_Fields @WomackPhilip wtf!

@WomackPhilip Voicey??!!

As someone who teaches Creative Writing, I find the jargon irritating. "Show don't tell", "WIP", "Sh*tty first draft". But I can live with them. What I can't live with is the word I heard recently for a good piece of writing: "Voicey."

BREAKING: Israel has confirmed its soldiers will not be joining the US in the ground invasion of Iran, due to the concern that they would have to fight grown men, rather than unarmed women and children

The Government is considering scrapping the NHS-Palantir deal. Do you want Palantir out of the NHS? RT if you do. #PalantirOUT

Superb political ad. One of the best you’ll see. This is better, and resonates more, than anything coming from Labour or the Tories.

Blaming asylum seekers for homelessness? What about the 720,000 empty homes in England, and the 1,627,450 second homes in England alone. Blaming asylum seekers for expensive food shops? What about the £3,100,000,000 profit Tesco made last year? Blaming asylum seekers for expensive energy bills? What about the £438,000,000,000 made by just 20 energy companies in profit? Blaming immigrants for not getting an NHS appointment? What about the 260,000+ migrant workers keeping the NHS going? And what about the 25% real term cut in NHS funding, think that could do it? Blaming people on welfare for a lack of money to fund the NHS? What about the £36,000,000,000 tax gap due to avoidance and evasion by the elite? It's time to realise it's not immigrants, asylum seekers or people on welfare causing you any harm, it's capitalism and the mega rich hoarding all the wealth.

@JoeEvener @cjtudor @MSOlney1 How would they know when you query your work?

@cjtudor @MSOlney1 Cis white men

Your manuscript could be brilliant. Your writing could represent years of effort and dedication. None of that matters. If you are the wrong type of person, the door is closed before anyone even reads the first page. - substack.com/home/post/p-19…

@Eyeswideopen69 @griffitha I can understand Joe Bloggs not knowing that we don't own our oil and gas reserves (or much else for that matter) but the ignorance of people who should know better or who- to save themselves the embarrassment -might have done a tiny bit of research...

@griffitha Know-nothing jackass demonstrates that he knows nothing about North Sea oil or gas — how it is extracted; how it is stored; how it is sold or at what price. What a fucking idiot.

There’s been talk of releasing strategic oil and gas reserves around the world to bring down prices. But why do we have to rely on the reserves of others? We have vast reserves at our fingertips which we could extract to lower prices for Britain every day of the year 👇

@BeckyLTuch I see it often in longer posts: repetition/opposition/rule of three/mix of sentences. Rhetorical devices as a teacher I encouraged students to use. But it's bland. It all looks the same. No personality. No unique voices. And the word 'quietly' finding its way into everything.

Ugh just read a Substack article by a lit mag editor that I'm almost certain was edited with AI. The style is so common: * short, punchy sentences * "This, not that" construction. ("It's not a rejection; it's a sign the process is working...") * Things in threes. ("Not a no, not a rejection, not a closed door. A window to something better...") I cannot say it enough: writers & editors, please stop relying on AI to help you edit your stuff. AI strips you of your own voice & makes you sound like a machine. It's utterly depressing to read such pieces from writers and lit mag editors.

> 70 years ago, Iran looked just like any Western country. > Short skirts, rock’n’roll, open universities. > It’s 1953. Iran elects a secular socialist: Mohammad Mossadegh. > He nationalizes oil. That pisses off BP. > Cold War excuse. > CIA and MI6 stage a coup. Operation Ajax. > Mossadegh is overthrown. > They install the Shah, a brutal US-backed dictator. > Secret police. Torture chambers. > Iran turns into a puppet state. > People are that desperate, they turn to Khomeini, an exiled cleric, promising independence and dignity. > 1979: Islamic Revolution. > The Shah flees. > US embassy stormed. Hostage crisis. > America never forgives. > Arms Saddam Hussein. > Iraq invades Iran. > US provides chemical weapons, satellite intel, logistics. > 1 million Iranians die. > Iranian kids sent into minefields with plastic keys around their necks. > US shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 > 290 civilians dead. > No apology. > Fast forward today, Israel attacks Iran. > The U.S. immediately says “we stand with Israel.” > They talk about “regime change.” > They say that Iranians “deserve freedom.” > No mention of the coup they started. > No mention of the dictator they installed. > No mention of the war they fueled. > No mention of the decades of sanctions and sabotage. > They created the monster, and now they attacked it because it was still breathing. > Watch who they try to put on the throne next. > The son of the Shah is already being presented as the “alternative.” > The same dynasty. > The same foreign backing. >The same promises of stability. > History will repeats itself. > And it’s not gonna end well.

Wes Streeting who blocked me for calling out donations from his pals in the private healthcare sector has been up to his old tricks again, he is set to receive £53,000 from OPD Group Ltd in 4 installments from January to December this year to support “staffing costs in my constituency office”. OPD Ltd is owned by Peter Hearn who got rich from his recruitment firms such as Odgers Berndtson that has a ‘global healthcare practice’ within which it works for private healthcare. The ministerial code looks set to be bent even further out of shape under Streeting. @PrivateEyeNews

@SteveLongstaffe What cares colon for Lent!

Carnival versus Lent! Despite bidding many farewells to it, there is still far too much of my own flesh. I am a man more thinned against than thinning.

BREAKING : The UN accuses Israel of committing EXTERMINATION in Gaza. EXTERMINATION. Repeat it. Spread it. Let the world know. “Israel is responsible for extermination, murder, using starvation as a method of war..” —The UN Human Rights Council

Government deals with Palantir stink, and stank long before the Peter Mandelson scandal. The government must pivot away from companies like Palantir - a company that has widespread allegations against it about human rights abuses, which is closely connected to Trump, and is run by an oligarch who despises democracy.

@cjtudor @cherryhabitat have been a Creative Writing tutor- feedback can be very useful. But, as you say, reading improves writing too- and over a range of genres. This is also going to sound very harsh but if finding writing friends is inaccessible and elitist- publishing is going to be far worse!

@cherryhabitat Surely there are online writing groups? I know these can be a mixed bag, but they exist. Also, hear me out, you don't always need feedback. Trusting yourself as a writer is also a skill. I didn't let anyone read my first novel before I submitted it. I learnt to write by reading.

young writers often ask me “but what do i do if i need feedback/get stuck?” and when i tell them “ask another writer” they say that making writing friends is elitist and inaccessible

Here is the proof Epstein was a Russian asset: - his girlfriend was the daughter of a Mossad agent - one of his best friends was Israel's lawyer - another of his best friends was a former Israeli prime minister - he met with the current Israeli prime minister - a senior Israeli spy would stay at his house for weeks at a time - a friend invited him to bring his girls to Israel - he fled to Israel when he was charged with sex crimes against a minor - he was pictured wearing an IDF shirt - he was funded by pro-Israel fanatics - he worked for the Rothschilds - he donated to pro-Israel student groups - he was responsible for the Wexner group's "pro-Israel philanthropy" - he supported Israeli settlement projects - his friends were all Zionists - he scathingly referred to non -Jews as "goyim" - he was involved in Israeli diplomacy efforts - he brokered security deals for Israel - he aimed to profit from regime changes in the Middle East - a former Israeli intelligence officer said he ran a honeypot for Israel - his business partner confirmed he ran a honeypot for Israel - one of his victims confirmed h ran a honeypot for Israel As you can see, all of this was done for the benefit of Russia. There is no other explanation.

This is very, very important

Palantir has no place in our country. Deyank the UK, starting with ending every government contract with monstrous tech firms.

It’s important that you watch this and hear what Peter Thiel really thinks - because he is a f**king danger. Wanna know the bad news? He’s got his dirty fingers in our NHS.

In opposition you were fantastic, in government, it's been a series of policy disasters which eclipse the good that you do ➡️ You chose to keep the bankers bonus cut instead of reversing it and pay for the two child benefit cap, suspending 7 of your MPs ➡️ You conflated public safety with antisemitism, then went on a witch hunt against the Chief Constable of West Midlands police even after Andy Cooke's independent report showed no malice and no antisemitism. You were more interested in a policy win and ending a successful policeman's career than 'lessons learned' ➡️ You conflated non violent protest with terrorism, were criticised in the Lords by Labour's Baron Hain, a policy that resulted in hundreds of pensioners were arrested ➡️ You understood the winter fuel allowance needed to be improved but instead of consulting and creating a fair sensible solution, you took a sledgehammer to it, eventually being forced into a u-turn; one of fourteen u-turns so far I'm convinced you're generally a good decent guy, but I'm not convinced that your judgment meets the standard expected of a Prime Minister, as you're prepared to put ideology ahead of what's better for the people and the country You started out well addressing the Farage riots the right way, but since then it's been disaster after disaster culminating in the scandal of Mandelson, the contracts with Palantir, and so much more There's a feeling of unease across the country, and disgust, over Mandelson, and tragically, you're at the heart of it People just want to live, and get on with their lives, we expect our government to create the safe environment, and opportunities for everyone to not just survive but also thrive That hope after 14 years of Conservative chaos has been lost, that trust after repeated u-turns and god-awful policy decisions, eroded Can you recover from this? Maybe People need to feel that spark again, that we all had after the Conservatives were voted out And without meaningful change from your end, I'm not convinced Labour will succeed under you Least of which, your failure to regulate the media in our country - a one hour puff piece on Nigel Farage and Reform UK on BBC2 last night just days before a by-election, and still no full investigation into Russian interference into Brexit? The country needs answers, and to move forward, and it seems with Labour under you, we're stuck, if not going backwards Do better, not just to survive politically, but to find that dignity and decency that you had in opposition, as in office, that sparkle is gone, and it's about as charismatic as the day is today: dark, grey, wet and dull

@implausibleblog @Keir_Starmer Exactly this! Some good things have been done but too many stupid decisions have let Labour supporters down and given Deform weapons to attack with. Sort your act out Labour!

I love this country. It is the greatest country in the world. We are tolerant, decent and respectful – and unity is our strength. But for too long, proud communities have been failed by politics and left powerless to do anything about it. Our Pride in Place programme changes that. We are giving people the power to build up their communities. We’ve already invested thousands into communities across Britain. Now, we are giving thousands more the opportunity to transform their local area. Putting local people in control and building a Britain that works for all.