Today's British media in 1944: 'Concentration Camps - Are they all bad?' 'We will be joined later by German minister Dr Joseph Goebbels, and a young girl called Anne Frank who is bunking off school at the moment.'

Has anyone ever met anyone whose life is so unconditionally fantastic that they want to drag it out for hundreds of years? Living forever won't make you less stressed / bored... And you'd still have to make a living. www.newscientist.com/article/2495...

#BritishPodcastAwards Just voted for Sergei and the Westminster Spy Ring - superb podcast. If I had more votes, I would have added Behind the Lines with Arthur Snell bsky.app/profile/snel... and Quiet Riot bsky.app/profile/quie... with Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou.

No words.

'Salt of the Earth' film about photographer Sebastiao Salgado is one of my favourite documentaries of all time... what an inspiring character he was...

Amazing photography from Sebastiao Salgado who has died aged 81, leaving behind an archive of over half a million pictures www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

This is definitely worth sharing - David Lammy's strong words on Israel yesterday: www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfe...

On the drive home from the Army Ten Tors challenge yesterday, I asked my teenage kids how all those (unarmed) people in military uniform made them feel. Answer: they would protect me and help me, if something went wrong. Ditto for the UK police. aoav.org.uk/2025/should-...

Currently watching The Man in The High Castle for the first time (what an amazing series it is!). This all feels very resonant.... Cough-Goebbels-cough-cough

Absolutely superb article. Dreams of cheap renewables and clean tech being available to all are just fantasies. There will always be a controlling power raising the costs for the masses. After centuries of Western superiority, China tips the balance. And the global poverty divide grows on.

Fired Inspector Generals say the US is no longer a democracy. youtu.be/GupyEudjdNw?...

"Elon Musk, a celebrity, ..." Chef's kiss, FT. Chef's kiss.

Disturbing stuff on Trump corruption from Senator Chris Murphy.

This brought me to tears....

So if it's fighting aged men called 'the Tates' on private jet planes fleeing countries and seeking asylum in America everyone's cool with it. Well that's noted.

Well, this is depressing. I suppose Britain and France didn't use their powers of veto, because they are still hoping to keep on the right side of Trump? www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...

New Deputy Director of the FBI is this guy:

So difficult to read... I genuinely feel tearful when reading about this erosion of decency and professionalism in the US armed forces.

It just gets worse every day...

What a great Valentine's tune! Even my 17-year-old daughter loved it! Thanks, Neal ‪@neal-x.bsky.social‬ x

This is a refreshingly positive story... Global politics is making my head spin and sending me into a dystopian panic. I am feeling a need to look at community / local projects that are thriving around the world: www.technologyreview.com/2024/04/23/1...

I found this article incredibly disturbing. I felt physically sick reading about Musk's coup of the US government. What can we do?

Excellent summary of USAID and Musk by @lewisgoodall.com, @maitlis.bsky.social and @jonsopel1.bsky.social on today’s episode.

Record arms sales fuel global explosive violence surge, AOAV reports aoav.org.uk/2025/record-...

It wasn't just the drug cartels Silk Road facilitated. Also child abusers, purveyors of child porn, terrorists & murderers for hire. "Libertarianism" was just a front for profiting from the worst kind of serious organised crime. Trump, a career criminal, is looking after his own.

Just discovered the superb Flying Penguin website - now on my go-to reading list. Check out this post on AI friends: www.flyingpenguin.com?p=64616 and then the articles on Musk and www.flyingpenguin.com?p=64454, then on the story on the exploding Tesla truck www.flyingpenguin.com?p=64204.

I read this great article: www.theguardian.com/environment/..., having read about Geoff Hinton 'shortening his odds' of AI causing human extinction from 10% to 10-20%. 80% chance of positive / neutral / mixed outcome for humanity isn't too bad, I thought...

I was thinking about how 'almost free' alternative energy could prevent poverty around the world. And then I thought about how capitalism and 'market forces' would probably screw that up. Here's a ChatGPT response to those musings: chatgpt.com/share/675fd7...

Are you all ready for some #binchat? takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/why-we-nee...

Superb article form @georgemonbiot.bsky.social

1. My column on what happened, what comes next, and just how easy our fake democracies are to overthrow. + short thread on where our remaining hopes lie. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Just saw this on Twitter before I became a Twitter quitter: "I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

In Trump's heart there is no curiosity, no wonder, no kindness, no compassion, no lightness of spirit; only ego, rage, resentment, impulsiveness and cruelty. You are better than him. He does not deserve your vote.

In the last week, Labour hit a crucial milestone on getting rid of hereditary peers, unlocked £1bn funding for social housing insulation, initiated plans to regulate buy-now-pay-later lenders and started to coalesce around an HS2 replacement. Barely any chat about this at all.

Oh god - I just had a go at this game, and I crashed the country. Like a socialist version of Liz Truss. 🤦‍♀️ ig.ft.com/chancellor-g...

Had exactly this conversation with my son yesterday (he's considering doing a HPQ project called 'does terrorism work?').

Prof Kevin Fong giving the most devastating and moving testimony to the Covid Inquiry of visiting hospital intensive care units at the height of the second wave in late Dec 2020. The unimaginable scale of death, the trauma, the loss of hope. Please watch this 2min clip. youtu.be/FPCztlID3Q0

Good question. Am looking forward to reading the view of millionaire Daily Mail columnist Boris Johnson, who merely got donors to pay for his accommodation, holidays, wallpaper and takeaway meals.

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #1,522,341! I think that makes me an 'early-ish adopter'... Not sure if that's something to brag about (as encouraged by Bluesky), but nice to know there's a growing crowd on here...

Had a go at the Starter Pack thing. Can anyone advise: is this just for Bluesky users? go.bsky.app/5ysSbAa

Home

A few showy-offy pics from our staycation.

@quietriotpod.bsky.social Listened to Quiet Riot non-stop for 6 hours on drive to London. 13-year-old son watching films in the back of the car switched off his headphones and listened in - laughing, asking questions and commenting. #winning

What the world really needs right now is a nut-job with the intellectual capacity of a paranoid 10-year-old at the helm of the richest and most militarily powerful country in the world.

Finding a writing / editing / comms job on jobsearch sites is like trying to find a kind, intelligent, attractive, stable man on Tinder. #notgonnahappen

Listened to this episode from @snellarthur.bsky.social while scampering about in my garage climbing wall. Winning points: a) it distracted me from maddening hip arthritis pain, b) it was fascinating and hugely informative, and c) it's ousted The Rest is Politics as my fave podcast.

This article by @rafaelbehr.bsky.social is both clear-eyed and scary. Wish I could feel more hopeful: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... Just registered for free to read this in the Washington Post and feel even more scared: www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Well, that was excellent. Thank you @snellarthur.bsky.social and @mrjamesob.bsky.social - definitely putting 'How they Broke Britain' on the Christmas list, even though I know it will be a right downer... Am reading Ece Temelkuran's fantastic 'Together' for a dash of hope.

IT’S THE MESS WE INHERITED IT’S THE AGEING POPULATION IT’S THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IT’S BED BLOCKERS IT’S THE PANDEMIC IT’S THE WAR IN UKRAINE IT’S THE UNIONS IT’S IMMIGRANTS Is it though.