Well what a fucking surprise. Another reason why Starmer should be packing his bags at Number 10 and, frankly, Yvette Cooper should be joining him. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live...

My team at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman.bsky.social, Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) has shared a big data update, covering all recorded US protests through Jan 2026. Some key takeaways 🧵:

"Every vice-signal, whether it’s Trump or Farage or Jenrick or Herbert Kickl, is telling you the rules are over. If you can’t believe them the first time, at least believe them the 100th." @zoesqwilliams.bsky.social The Anti-Vice Popular Front is expanding www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The clown with just one joke: "No counting? No problem!"

bring back shame

Useful graphs for when I teach the power of partisanship in a few weeks. Here is a force which can get 20% of the US public to see Canada (!) as an enemy overnight, based on nothing at all beyond the brain farts of a deranged party leader

Source: DOJ to release Epstein files in theaters showing Melania so that they can be sure that no one will see them.

This is fantastic - read it! (And subscribe to James for more)

Since July, I've tracked at least 2,300 cases in which federal judges have ruled ICE has illegally detained people without bond or due process. This is one that stands out: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

For those of us here in the UK who are watching with horror what is going on over in the US it is very important to remember that this is exactly what Reform wants for us over here. They've said so. They want 'forced deportations' in the US style. We're not safe here either if they win.

"...we maintain this weird double standard: Soldiers in combat zones must refuse unlawful orders, but civilians facing unlawful force from domestic law enforcement must submit." publicseminar.org/2026/01/the-...

"I remember the fear here in LA. But then DC was worse than LA. And Chicago was worse than DC. And Minneapolis is worse than Chicago. And now they’ve arrived in Maine. And they have yet to spend most of their gigantic new budget that’s the size of the Israeli military’s."

Conservative and Reform politicians should be unable to escape any interview about immigration without being asked why they want to import ICE's brand of violent thuggery on British streets.

Someone should ask Kemi Badenoch (or whichever Tory is up for Sunday shows) if the Tories’ proposed “removals force” with “sweeping new powers” will be modelled on ICE www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Unrolled thread on BBC online coverage of the shooting (and false claims about the shooting) skywriter.blue/pages/did:pl...

The BBC is just one of the many UK institutions that is completely at a loss when it comes to handling Trump. Both-sidesing is not the same as impartial reporting.

This analysis by the New York Times paints a damning picture of ICE's decision to kill Alex Pretti after Pretti had attempted to help a woman who had been shoved (assaulted) by ICE. ICE had Pretti pinned on the ground when one agent appears to come across a gun. After taking the gun, they kill him.

We told you we all needed weapons to defend ourselves against a future government that would shoot us in the streets. What we didn’t tell you is that we have helped bring you that government. by the NRA

President Trump didn't end up invading a NATO ally this week. Are the Europeans even going to say thank you? by J.D. Vance

A natural experiment in everyday sexism and misogyny on bluesky with depressingly predictable results danieldrezner.substack.com/p/on-trump-a...

#OpenAccess from @ejisbisa.bsky.social - Beware! Here (might) be terrorists: Constructing the threat of terrorism in foreign travel advice - https://cup.org/3NM5xvD - @leejarvis.bsky.social#OpenAccess #FristView

Ah the Palantir tech…

Out now! This new article, by @veronicabarfucci.bsky.social is well worth a read, I highly recommend it: Militarizing Femininity on Social Media: Female Empowerment and Heteronormative Logics in the Representation of the Japan Self-Defense Forces doi.org/10.1093/ips/...

IR Realists saying farewell to the Rational Actor Assumption

The ironic thing about this is that its all part of Trump's attempt to boost his social status, and yet all many people seem to feel about it is a serious case of vicarious embarrassment. Its so incredibly cringeworthy.

You might imagine that a US invasion would be truly existential for NATO and transatlanticism. And yet, given recent performances, you can also imagine Starmer and von der Leyen trying to style it out by merely expressing 'concerns'. (Okay, maybe 'grave concerns'.) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The US government official rewriting of history

Also if anyone is interested in the history of the United States' attempts to topple leaders in South America and install more friendly dictators then you can - and I'm not joking here - download the files from the CIA website.

"international law must be followed" is european for "thoughts and prayers"

Freud says that auld acquaintance can never truly be forgot.

Merry Christmas all!

'National security' is truly the last refuge of the scoundrel.

Thread on why even using AI as a way to brainstorm a project is a horrible idea.

The correct place for LLMs in academic life is no place at all. The correct policy toward LLMs in academic environments is comprehensive, summary ban.

Pitch perfect, sadly.

I don't want a lot for Christmas There is just one thing I need- Lacan: This is what we would call the *objet petit a*.

Jean Baudrillard says that the war on Christmas did not take place.

My god I thought you were someone to rely on / But was there not a sense in which you were ideology at its purest? #LastZizekIGaveYouTheReal

Ben Clift shared insights on how growing populism threatens technocratic economic governance at a LUISS University event in Rome. The 'Sustainable Leviathan' workshop focused on macroeconomic trust and democratic responsibility, featuring experts from Europe. #Populism #EconomicPolicy

Republican Elite: regular mass shootings at schools is the price we must pay to privately own military weapons, which we need to protect The People from any Authoritarians who would threaten the 1st Amendment Also Republican Elite: we are using government to shut down speech at private universities

We (@crossdale.bsky.social, Christina Pantazis, @roxana-pessoa.bsky.social, Tiê Franco Brotto and I) present the first academic peer-reviewed article, studying the criminalisation and repression of climate and environmental protest as a global phenomenon. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

#OpenAccess! CAPTURING COMMEMORATION: Reflections on the First World War Centenary in Britain by Noakes, Pennell @teachlearnwar.bsky.social, Hanna, Hughes @lornamhughes.bsky.social, Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social & Wallis has now been published! Find out more : bit.ly/47FiHAL #WWIStudies

Based on our recent IO article, @fabianpape.bsky.social, Toby Pforr and I wrote a short piece for @theconversation.com about the future of the dollar - check it out! 🙂 theconversation.com/is-the-domin...

Person who actually deserves a trophy is the artist who made the FIFA peace prize trophy look like everyone in the entire world holding their head in their hands out of secondhand embarrassment

Boomers: It just sucks so much that everyone gets participation trophies now, you used to have to show real merit to get an award Also Boomers:

*weary sigh* The Europe week of my US foreign policy module is going to need some fairly hefty revisions www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Publication alert! A collaborative reflection on the UK’s biggest public history event - the centenary of the First World War. Thanks to @ukri.org for funding & my fellow co-authors @lucynoakes1.bsky.social @chriskempshall.bsky.social @lornahughes.bsky.social James Wallis and Emma Hanna.

Wow - this guy must be really, REALLY bad with money if an extra £208 per month will “ruin” his retirement. Let’s take a look at his situation based on what he told the @Telegraph Because this does NOT add up! No, this is not a “poor pensioner” scrabbling around for pennies… 🧵1/9