Just in case you are curious - and my God you should be - about the dude Wes Streeting and others are handing loads of public data contracts to. 👇

Two protestors run across the ground of Nottingham Forest FC, with banner "Arms For Spain", players watching on. February 1939. Thanks to @partizandulwich.bsky.social

So, the plan is to cut English, the arts, and sociology - the degrees that actually study culture - while on another part of your platform claiming to “defend” British culture. It’s performance nationalism with a reading age of seven.

Cheer Up, or Else: China Cracks Down on the Haters and Cynics www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/w...

"Fascist regimes have classic, telltale traits, like vilifying immigrants, adopting patriotic symbolism of their nation’s glorious past, and embracing a narrow definition of masculinity and family values. But just because we also do all of those things does not make us fascists."

The mistakes and mistaken responses of this government are beyond belief. They have no understanding of how people, society and nature could work together for good. Their instincts are autocratic and self-serving.

"I support things like civil rights, access to education, and medical research. You could never imagine me sitting in the front row at the inauguration of a far-right ruler who promised to destroy those things."

The NY Times continues to be the biggest sucker in the world for bad faith bullshit, just so the publisher can claim they're not too liberal and to pretend they'll somehow convince MAGA they're being fair to them.

"As the US author Ta-Nehisi Coates recently said of the Democrats, “if you can’t draw the line at genocide, you probably can’t draw the line at democracy”. The same applies to the Labour government."

'rescuers found jenrick clutching his mywaitrose card, sobbing into an ordnance survey map of the cotswolds, and rocking gently inside a makeshift shelter constructed from yesterday’s telegraph'

Latest @theguardian.com cartoon #CPC25 #Conservatives www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

what if I told you that taking accountability for your actions was traditionally considered a load-bearing feature of masculinity?

Hey, look, it’s the guy who paid affectionate tribute to US podcaster Charlie Kirk when he got murdered.

Jared Kushner is going to the Middle East to negotiate a deal on behalf of the U.S. government days after Kushner announced a $55 billion deal between his private equity fund and the Saudi government One of the most brazen conflicts in history.

Three Figures in a Room https://www.wikiart.org/en/francis-bacon/three-figures-in-a-room-1964

The last paragraph in the narrative section of Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. So powerful, brilliant and prophetic, ending with "... all sleeping the deep, deep sleep of England, from which I sometimes fear that we shall never wake till we are jerked out of it by the roar of bombs."

The government does not have the power to declare “free speech zones.” And the violent arrest of the rabbi should set off some alarm bells.

Another line crossed.

Governor Whitmer was almost kidnapped by armed thugs. Governor Shapiro‘s house was set on fire. Nancy Pelosi‘s husband was violently attacked by someone looking for her. Melissa Hortman was assassinated in her home with her husband and dog…and now this. The left is the victim, not the perpetrator.

He’ll Have the 10-Hour Theater Show, Please www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/t...

Not the most “I can definitely be trusted with power” kind of statement I’ve ever heard

Palestine marches have become a 'carnival of hatred' claims Badenoch (no specific evidence) who heads a party of hatred.

Frank Zappa warned on CNN in the 1980s: “The biggest threat to #America today is not communism. It’s moving America toward a fascist theocracy… Reagan administration is steering us right down that path.” He was dismissed and laughed at. Well… #NRx #GOP #Trump #ultrarich #oligarchy #neoliberalism

Some Sunday evening reading from @petergeoghegan.bsky.social on Tony Blair and Larry Ellison, two men whose influence is being brought more and more to bear on the UK: https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-the-tony-blair-institute-larry-ellison-peter-kyle-starmer

‘“I think Saul Bellow was not a good influence on Martin. Bellow’s prose was a specifically American idiom, and that didn’t sit well on top of an educated English literary voice.” But what about Money? I ask him.’ I interviewed Ian McEwan about Amis, Barnes, Nabokov, Trump and his new novel:

“Cumulative impact” upon whom? The marginalised, terrorised people we keep cooped up while their basic humanity is debated across all media and a new National Front holds hate festivals outside their detention blocks maybe? I won’t hold my breath. Hypocritical, authoritarian, Blairite fuckwits.

Typical Labour bring in a disproportionate stupid law and when people protest it, make the protest illegal.

“Freedom of assembly, expression and speech, as long as it’s just the once.” Got it. Campaigning rendered toothless, dissent criminalised. This is Trumpism.

'Salus populi suprema lex esto' in action. Thank you, Sir Keir Starmer & The Labour Party. 🫡

Washington Post dismantled the platform Jamal wrote on. Discarded the fellowship they created in his memory. They fired me unjustly for speaking the truth. But I’ll never stop talking about my friend, writer, and amazing human, Jamal Khashoggi. RIP, Jamal. open.substack.com/pub/karenatt...

My latest Guardian Fletter (Oct 1st) grapples in a transitional way with a key issue of the moment wp.me/p15p2Q-fcm

This morning on La Rambla, the yearly floral decorations by the guild of florists.

They are talking of a ceasefire that is almost two years too late. It could've happened from day one if the world and sensible people acted. Instead, we have over 65K people killed in Gaza, which has been reduced to rubble. Still, we accept to save our existance which is the main offence to some

“It was the same sun as on the day I buried Maman and, like then, my forehead especially was hurting me, all of the veins pulsating together beneath the skin.” www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...

Classic poster ‘Les milicies us necessiten!’ (‘The militias need you!’). 3 flags (Catalan, Anarchist, Communist) are flying in the autumn of 1936 calling for anti-fascist unity. Artist Cristobal Arteche based woman on Marlene Dietrich, encouraging / shaming men to join up

Fascinating quote from the Labour spokesperson that shows how populist hype works It both legitimises the far right by euphemising it and linking it to "the people" and delegitimises left alternatives by equating them to the far right What we see though is that push back is possible

1. This is one of the most insane statements ever delivered by a presidential spokesperson in U.S. history. Totally disconnected from reality. 2. There is either going to be a civil war or abject Democratic surrender to autocracy. They are telling this you, to your face, in explicit terms.

"There is nothing funny about calling me or Donald Trump a fascist, and if you do, we will ship you to Guantanamo."

a heartwarming story of how being an unethical and talentless hack is no barrier to success when you are willing to endlessly flatter the wretched views of rich dipshits

Trump: we will do project 2025 Harris: he will do project 2025 Public: oh that’s bad Trump: I’m not gonna do it have never heard of it Harris: he’s still gonna do it Media: no one can predict the future 77 pinocchios

So Musk remains a fellow of the Royal Society! History will remember this and not in a good way. royalsociety.org/news/2025/10...

‘Orwell: 2+2=5’ Review: How George Came to See the World as Orwellian www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/m...

Inside Hotel Gastronomic No. 1 (Hotel Ritz, now the Palace), in 1936. The most luxurious hotel and restaurant in Barcelona was collectivised by the Ritz workers (CNT+UGT) and turned into this workers canteen still served by tuxedoed waiters.

One of most beautiful posters in Catalan from the Spanish Civil War. "Peasant!: the revolution needs your efforts." Socialist UGT trade union. By Josep Subirats

Live updates regarding the #SumudFlotilla www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...