The Loneliness of the Long Distance Plumber

As with the appendix, the Metropolitan line adds nothing to my life.

“Quite beyond the sheer obscenity of this sieg-heil-ing transphobic, misogynist, racist oligarch becoming a trillionaire, what is getting much less attention is the sheer obscenity of ANYONE becoming a trillionaire in a world where millions are dying for lack of food or basic medical care.”

Had an excellent conversation with @sturdyalex.bsky.social

Lord grant me the confidence of a student who, when told their AI use constitutes an academic integrity breach, sends a GPT-generated email response.

If houses had been set on fire *by* ethnic minority people, I suspect the BBC would have somehow rediscovered the active voice

Origin Story- This is a searching and hilarious podcast. Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey explore the money and ideas at work in some of these shadowy influence engines. They also bring lightness and wit to the subject. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...

Context: in 2018, FB labeled clean energy & climate as “political” topics. I was told I had to “register as a political entity.” I’m a scientist, I said. Over my dead body. So my previously thriving page was shadowbanned-til Dec when the algo was altered to deliberately promote divisive content 😳

So GB News was set up as a propaganda outlet in the first place, Boris Johnson filled the BBC with personal buddies and Tory placemen, and it now emerges that former OfCom chair Lord Grade is openly biased in favour of rightwing politics. See how it works yet?

Michael Grade- Fail Now we know why OFCOM ( under his chairmanship)was so ineffective at ensuring impartiality and regulating propaganda. Now he’s gone, they need to take a proper gander at GB News, which funds political parties with inflated salaries.

Thanks to the U.S. administration for its input at this sensitive time. Glass houses, anyone?

If only he were in charge and could do something about it.

Tell Us It’s "Battery Cow" Dairy: Demand Mandatory Welfare Labels! Sign the petition:

“Congressman Brendan Boyle claims Donald Trump is corrupt on an "unbelievable" scale, and warns that the UK could face the same under a Nigel Farage leadership”. “I hope Brits realise Farage is a fraud before it's too late”: www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/i-ho...

Man of the people, Nigel Farage fronts a party formed by billionaires to serve billionaires.

Really insightful people can distill difficult ideas into the simple truth so we can all understand. bsky.app/profile/magg...

@privateeyenews.bsky.social #cartoon

Fortunately, Britain has a Bermuda-registered mass circulation newspaper owned by a French-domiciled billionaire, a television station owned by a Dubai hedge fund and a political party backed by a Thailand-based crypto tycoon to remind us of the importance of patriotism

Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho keeps saying the "UK is the only country in the world banning new oil and gas licenses". It's completely untrue. Denmark, France, Spain & Ireland have all done the same. She went completely unchallenged on Talk this AM when she repeated it.

This is very good on the logical preposterousness of the trans bathroom ban. It simply cannot have been the intention of the Equality Act or the governments which administered it. www.liberalcurrents.com/the-end-of-t...

The need to have a laugh when such extremism exists is always helpful in reducing the anger it causes…

‘Battery cattle’ farms surge in UK as Big Dairy rakes in profit. Arla, Müller, Saputo profit whilst farmers struggle. The cattle confined indoors has more than doubled in the past 10 years. Concerns about animal welfare and pollution. UK Govt doesn't monitor the spread of battery farms.

Original Story : Evangelicals Part One This is a wonderful episode on the fragmentation and political influence of religion in America, delivered with Ian & Dorian’s usual insight and wit. A rich vein of obscurantism and slick marketing to investigate. Can’t wait for part two.

I like left wing policies, but I also like getting stuff done and not wasting energy constantly protesting the good-enough

£30 million. That's how much the Thai-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne has ‘donated’ to the British political right since 2001, including £5M to Farage personally shortly before he coincidentally changed his mind about standing for Parliament again in 2024. Despicable.

There’s a rogue “O” in the book title

Gabriel Zucman is worth listening to. This is about tax justice ,not the politics of envy. I live modestly and do not covet the wealth of others but I want to live in a society where everyone contributes, including the super rich. There is such a thing as society.

Over 80% of people want a wealth tax for billionaires. Of course they’re resisting with their army of lawyers and lobbyists, but we’re building ours. I’m so excited to be teaming up with @gabrielzucman.bsky.social 👉

Labour-Leadership-Confected-Drama-Free Zone You’re welcome.

Sneaking a giant screen into the flagshagger march is one of the funniest things @ledbydonkeys.org have ever done. "STAY HYDRATED" 😂🤣😂

The Finance Curse: How Private Equity Upended Capitalism Deep dive with @hettieobrien.bsky.social - author of 'The Asset Class' PLUS @naomifowler.bsky.social @alexcobham.bsky.social @goldbergradio.bsky.social @bylinetimes.bsky.social 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/4SiO... 📺 youtu.be/RPiwx58XZaI?...

The standards committee must decide if this gift could be related to political/public role. A defence could that a £5m gift was "purely private" + "wasn't political in any sense at all" (May 5th) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... To say "reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years" disrupts that

An unconditional reward doesn’t exist. To be rewarded something you must have done something to get the reward. Those are the conditions. I’m losing my mind

I don't know who needs to hear this, but an economy controlled by a handful of oligarchs isn't a "free market."

keep hearing Reform UK people claiming Nigel Farage wasn't in politics when he received his £5M gift from Christopher Harborne early 2024 OK Richard Tice was leader of the party from March 2021 until June 3rd 2024 when Farage took over again, but Farage remained the person with significant control

The area is supposed to be protected for wildlife but often there are “wet wipes and plastic pollution entangled in algae and all over the rocks” Gibraltar's government claims wet wipes “that appear occasionally on our beaches have … come from outlets in nearby Spain”.

Political donations are bribes paid to enable corporations and super-rich to subvert public choices. Giving/Receiving political donations should be criminalised. Social problems can't be addressed without ending political corruption. I said this in UK parliament. youtu.be/WMnYkYb2-ts?... 👇👇👇👇👇

Where dumb meets evil... #cartoon #trump ##unfitforoffice

I was in the V&A last week to meet my son who works there. I always visit my favourite sculpture. The terracotta glows. It’s an image of perfect composure and a perfect piece from any angle.

1/ The Guardian's deep dive into offshore crypto billionaire and Reform mega-donor Christopher Harborne is well worth reading. Naturally, convicted fraudster and money-laundering expert George Cottrell - Farage's long-term sidekick - plays a part in this story.

We need to completely rethink the Lords. Sham of a democracy.

The thing is, there are also "legitimate concerns" about her policies pandering to racists. Biden had one job, to stop Trump's second term. He failed. Labour's job is stop a Reform led government. They're doing the opposite.

So the Good Law Project @jolyon.goodlawproject.org found that Goodwin was taking money from MCC goodlawproject.org/orbans-pay-c... He is not currently listed as a fellow on MCC's site mcc.hu/en/organisat...

Also, a special congrats to Chinless Nazi Care Bear, JD Vance, who managed to actually COST Orbán a reported three points with his visit. Well played, couchfucker.

"We didn't burn him" 😂

This was a profound episode dense with ideas, unexpected connections and relevance for our times. Deeply satisfying. As always, it requires another hearing. What a colossal piece of research! I haven’t tracked down the link to the images yet. Thankyou Alex, for this peerless podcast.

The news has been getting me down today,then I saw this and I feel a bit more cheerful. How is such complex behaviour transmitted and encoded?

Tailor Bird sews leaves together with plant fibre to form its nest!