Jeremy Rodell

A Washington Post poll has found that 61% of US Jews believe Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, and 39% say it is committing genocide. Among the broader American public, 45% told the Brookings Institution they believe Israel is committing genocide.

Pew Research Center has asked Americans several times in recent years how much conflict – if any – they feel between their religious beliefs and mainstream culture. For the first time since we began asking this question in 2020, a majority of U.S. adults (58%) say they feel at least some conflict. That’s up 10 percentage points from February 2024 and up 16 points from February 2020. This view is held by roughly half or more of Americans in both political parties and all age groups – and in every religious group analyzed, with the exception of those who say their religion is “nothing in particular.” Among religious groups large enough to be analyzed, White evangelicals (80%) are by far the most likely to say there is at least some conflict between their religious beliefs and the mainstream. Meanwhile, 62% of Republicans and 55% of Democrats say there is at least some conflict between their religious beliefs and the mainstream. Compared with the February 2024 survey, the share who feel at least some conflict between their religious beliefs and the mainstream is up 7 points among Republicans and 11 points among Democrats.

Say there's conflict between their own religious beliefs & mainstream American culture
White evangelicals 80%
Jews 62%
Atheists 61%
Black Protestants 58%
www.pewresearch.org/religion/202...

Today, 59 years on from 21st October 1966, we remember the 116 children and 28 adults who tragically lost their lives in the devastating Aberfan disaster.

We will never forget.

“Deciding that rules, and laws, and norms, and commitments are not things to be changed and renegotiated and argued over but things simply to be ignored if you don’t like them – as seems to be the fashion all over the world these days – seems to me to lead us in a very dark direction indeed.”

US Senate poised to approve industry lobbyist to lead chemical safety at EPA If Douglas Troutman is confirmed, the top four toxics office at the environmental agency will be held by ex-lobbyists

Trump administration are putting pro industry lobbyists with a track record in lobbying against limits in charge of chemical safety including . setting limits and regulations for chemicals including asbestos, lead, pfas.

This is really extreme. And it comes from a rising star in @conservatives.bsky.social Justice and fairness are apparently no longer British values.

Please, for the love of god, look at how much the ADF are investing in the UK.

it’s honestly impossible for me to respect any Trump supporters.

if you are proud of this man leading our country, I cannot respect you on any level. the lack of class, intelligence, or taste is just stunning. pure trash

I think he’s talking about Hamas, and buying an Israeli line that 50k of those killed were Hamas (vs civilians). He’s recognising that there will be another generation of “Hamas”. Absolutely.

Yes, it‘s The Times, but can anyone put these (apparently daft) AHRC funding decisions into context? They look like a gift to the anti-woke brigade. www.thetimes.com/article/ba40...

www.cnn.com/2025/10/17/p...

The snail farmer of London, his mafia friends, and a £20m vendetta against the taxman Terry Ball runs elaborate mollusc-based tax avoidance schemes that are costing London councils millions of pounds. Yet when London Centric tracks him down, an even stranger story emerges.

I think this is the weirdest story I've ever reported. www.londoncentric.media/p/terry-ball...

Uruguay passes assisted dying law Uruguay’s Senate has approved the ‘Dignified Death’ law, making the country the 34th jurisdiction in the world to allow assisted dying. Humanists UK is hailing this historic moment, and is calling on ...

Well done Uruguay! More evidence of the global tide turning in favour of autonomy, compassion, and dignity at the end of life.

Assisted Dying Select Committee launched in the House of Lords The House of Lords has set up a select committee to examine assisted dying in a historic first. No such committee has ever been created for a Private Members’ Bill originating in the Commons, and this...

No other Private Members’ Bill in history has ever received this many hours of debate, this amount of expert evidence, this amount of public attention. We hope that peers recognise & listen to the lived experience of the terminally ill and understand why the law must change! @humanists.uk

Sadly, I'm not surprised. When I carried out the last official review into cohesion & threats to democratic resilience I evidenced in the Khan Review 2024 how professions across the board are experiencing such behaviour. We are increasingly become a less tolerant nation. This is a democratic crisis.

How on earth did they get registered in the first place?

Nigel Farage and the foreign influence threat How US anti-abortionists are supporting Reform, and why we need to talk about Russian influence, with the New York Times’ Jane Bradley.

The ADF helped overturn Roe v. Wade and is now exporting its playbook to Britain. ADF’s UK arm orchestrated Farage’s appearance before Congress...
open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

London Became a Global Hub for Phone Theft. Now We Know Why.

Phone snatching in London has been running rampant, angering residents and making tourists afraid

After years of failing to investigate most thefts, the police have launched multiple operations that are piecing together an international criminal ecosystem
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/w...

Evidence please.

'Stunned?' Farage's Admission He Knew Nathan Gill but Not His Kremlin Associates Does Not Stand Up to Scrutiny Insiders have told Byline Times, it is 'inconceivable' the Reform Leader did not know about his close aide's pro Russian statements

“Here Farage is, in Gill’s office, with Voloshyn’s wife Nadia, on the day Gill makes an intervention on behalf of Medvedchuk’s channels, with an employee of one of those channels, whose husband started bribing Gill to make these statements 6 days earlier”

bylinetimes.com/2025/10/11/s...

a real water is wet scenario here

US Supreme Court rejects Alex Jones appeal in Sandy Hook shooting case The right-wing conspiracy theorist has not yet paid any of the more than $1b in damages he owes Sandy Hook families.

If you have tears to weep - shed them in mocking laughter.

It's all this monster deserves.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Musk has in recent months switched his support from Nigel Farage's rightwing populist Reform UK party to the far-right movement led by Robinson. Musk appeared via video link at a "Unite the Kingdom" rally in London organised by Robinson last month, and the Tesla chief executive predicted that "violence is going to come" to the UK "whether you choose violence or not" and told Britons to "fight back - or you die". After the first day of the trial before Westminster magistrates, which is expected to last two days, Robinson posted on X: "A huge thank you to Elon Musk today. Legend."

As red flags go, it doesn’t get any redder or in your face than this.

All politicians, commentators and organisations who care about our democracy should heed the warning, call it out and then *do something* about it.

First stop. Leave X.

Our country is under attack by the US Christian Right.

Maybe being either powerful multi billionaires, or having the ear of them, and having direct influence on the US VP might be something to do with it.

Trump and complex realities don’t go together. Seems his erratic tariff impulses are ruining the American automotive industry. Beneficiaries? Probably China?

I recently sat down with three leaders who are part of the @obamafoundation.bsky.social's alumni network to hear more about their work to strengthen democracy in Hungary and Poland. They’re an example for us all. Take a look:

Looks like the “AI is hitting new grad jobs, better be a plumber” narrative isn’t right (though prob not a bad idea to become a plumber).

🧪 This is a dangerous move 😡