Hugh Barnard

So much for Russia’s “peace.” Tonight: 35–40 drones over Poltava toward Kirovohrad/Cherkasy, 5 from Sumy, 5 from Dnipropetrovsk, 2 from Chernihiv toward Kyiv, 15 from Kharkiv toward Poltava—plus 2 strategic bombers airborne from Olenya, likely with cruise missiles.

Hurricane season's here, wildfire season is ongoing, and not only are the official resources to deal with both now torn apart but also the backup stuff like the national guard are busy being a gestapo several states away.

And Canadian and Mexican rescue workers won't want to risk being disappeared

French friends - any insights for the wonderful Christina? You around @picharbonnier.bsky.social? @margotlyautey.bsky.social? @parriblue.bsky.social?

Sam has done some awesome work here - and it's great that he's sharing it with everyone.

Experiences of trans segregation following the Supreme Court ruling. Evidence of people: Choosing between going to work or their mental health & dignity Outed by insensitive employers Excluded from previous safe spaces Harassed for following ‘the guidance’ Harassed for not following ‘the guidance’ Threatened and harassed for not ‘looking like a woman’ Bullied by those now empowered to harass trans people. tinyurl.com/trans-segregation -in-practice

The report gives evidence of people:
- Choosing between going to work or their mental health & dignity
- Outed by insensitive employers
- Excluded from previous safe spaces
- Harassed for following ‘the guidance’
- Harassed for not following ‘the guidance’
- Threatened, bullied and harassed

Meet the Pro-Israel Lawyers Hounding the NHS | Novara Media It’s had children’s artwork removed from hospitals, doctors banned from wearing watermelon pins and claimed craft pens evoked 7 October. Are UK Lawyers for Israel really the cartoon villains they appe...

Charmers.

novaramedia.com/2025/07/28/m...

BBC under pressure over Sally Rooney’s Palestine Action support The author of Normal People, which was a big hit for the corporation, said at the weekend she would donate money from her work to the proscribed group

More "free speech" in the Times, as "Lawyers for Israel" suggest that booksellers could be criminally liable for selling Sally Rooney's novels.

For years people said it was a gross exaggeration to label Nazism and its associated viewpoints within the modern conservative movement and especially online. Now Nazis are openly thriving and their rhetoric is impossible to avoid and many of the people who downplayed it are saying nothing at all

Which makes the U.K. Government’s obsession with sticking to X as a channel for official comms even more baffling. They might as well use OnlyFans.

like they cannot think of politics as anything but polls and news cycles and median voters and donors and the next election. trump doesn’t care about any of those things! he cares about money and power.

Take Big Money Out of Our Politics British politics is awash with money from super rich donors. In 2023, two-thirds of all private donations came from just 19 people. These so-called ‘mega donors’ enjoy privileged access to political p...

Democracy for Sale has been working w/ @38degrees.bsky.social on a campaign to cap political donations in the UK.

Our petition is now at over 49,700 signatures!! 🎉

Can we get it to 50k and send a really strong message?

Please share! Ta you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ta...

The Moscow coup(s) of 1991: Who won and why does it still matter? Thirty years after the coup that triggered the Soviet Union’s collapse, Russia is ruled by the heirs of the plotters, not their democratic opponents. Why?

HIGHLY recommended read by @cerianbond.bsky.social, "Thirty years after the coup that triggered the Soviet Union’s collapse, Russia is ruled by the heirs of the plotters, not their democratic opponents. Why?": www.cer.eu/insights/mos...

Deaglan O'Mulrooney (@deaglanomulrooney) Man is detained for wearing a Plasticine Action shirt. The UK is a parody of itself. Especially considering the lengths to which it goes to enable the genocide. https://thespectaclemag.substack.com/p...

substack.com/@deaglanomul...

Umi just sent me this. Cue, extensive High Court discussion of:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamming... with regard to UK 'law'.

Generative AI is not a ‘calculator for words’. 5 reasons why this idea is misleading Big tech wants generative AI systems to seem like neutral, reliable tools – but the reality is far more complicated.

Fantastic article debunking the common argument that "it's just a tool, like a calculator".

Calculators do not undermine autonomy - "Over time, reliance on these systems risks placing the power to make everyday decisions in the hands of opaque corporate systems"
theconversation.com/generative-a...

Headline: BBC under pressure to pull Sally Rooney dramas over vow to fund Palestine Action

Headline: Tory minister Robert Jenrick pictured with former Nazi terror chief at far right protest.

Perhaps, one day, schoolkids will study this squalid little chapter in British terror-panic history. When they do, I hope these two headlines from today are printed side by side, with clear annotation of which individual faced more outrage and condemnation.

Here's a fact for you all.

Prior to 2017 there was not a single documented case of any individual travelling by small boats across the English Channel to caim asylum in the UK.

Not ONE.

This current 'boats' crisis has been largely caused by Brexit.

But for some reason NOBODY is saying that.

Men on average take home 14% more five years after leaving university, according to FT analysis: www.ft.com/content/cb0e...

Entire church begins two-day journey across Swedish city of Kiruna The landmark 113-year-old wooden building is at risk from subsidence and will be moved 5km on giant rolling platforms.

* Warhammer 40k noises *

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

Most of Windermere polluted with sewage bacteria, finds biggest survey of its kind Exclusive: Concentrations of faecal bacteria in the lake were found to peak in summer but there were high levels throughout year

🌿☕This is so deeply deeply depressing & disappointing @unitedutilities.bsky.social you are an embarrassment

Most of Windermere polluted with sewage bacteria: share.google/y98qmbxUoi2P...

Look to your European friends for what good looks like & get on with it one-handed-economist.com?p=4715

Reminds me of Brexit. Domestically, there was an intense pressure to give credit to Brexiters, no matter how batshit their contribution was. But as soon as you spoke to a foreign journalist, no matter where they were from, there was a uniform sense of baffled disdain.

This is CNN, a channel I really enjoy when I'm in the US. I wonder if American journalists are aware of how completely insane they look to the rest of the world. How utterly detached their narrative is from everyone else's. edition.cnn.com/2025/08/19/p...

Text post screenshot. A transgender M&S manager addresses recent articles about them. They recount an interaction in the lingerie section where they offered help to a woman and teen. The customer declined, and the manager, who isn't a bra fitter, proceeded to put away returns. Weeks later, a complaint was filed citing the manager's "deep booming masculine voice" and "masculine facial features." The manager clarifies they never offered bra fitting advice and that their colleagues are supportive. The manager's boss dismissed the complaint, affirming their support. The manager expresses distress over the complaint's personal attacks.

A screenshot of a text post from a trans woman detailing her positive experiences working at M&S after undergoing Facial Feminisation Surgery. She describes receiving support from colleagues and management, including gifts and messages, after the surgery. The post addresses a newspaper article that insinuated M&S was not supportive, clarifying that the company has been overwhelmingly supportive. The author emphasizes that M&S allows any colleague to train as a bra fitter and any customer to book an appointment, regardless of gender identity. She also clarifies that the lingerie department and walkway to menswear are not "women only" spaces and that she does not enter occupied fitting rooms. The author concludes by stating that M&S respects her as a trans woman and a valued colleague, and that the real issue is tabloid newspapers twisting stories for profit.

Information relating to the M&S complaint, reportedly from the trans woman whom the complaint was about. Almost everything claimed in recent articles is extremely inaccurate. 1/

[Rappel de service]
Les prophéties de Madame Irma 🙃
À bon entendeur …

The Guardian view on Britain’s AI strategy: the risk is that it is dependency dressed up in digital hype | Editorial Editorial: The UK’s plans seem to outsource sovereignty for phantom efficiency. Public services provide the data and power while US tech giants reap the rewards

The deeper problem is one of imagination. A government serious about digital sovereignty might build a public cloud, fund open-source AI models and create institutions capable of steering technological development toward social ends:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Yep.

Le vrai visage du #RN #LePen et de l' #ExtremeDroite française c'est celui-là !
➡️ Programme OFFICIEL❗ de la candidate-marine-présidente !
Faire de la France un pays à la botte de #Putin, sur le modèle Biélorussie, en somme 🤮
Tout le reste n'est que #BlaBla et enfumage.
FAISON BARRAGE au #RHaine 👊

Our state has become a guarantor of corporate profits Equitable distribution of income and wealth would go a long way towards stimulating domestic demand and investment...

Successive UK govts have expected the City of London to revive the economy. This faith is misplaced.

In 2024, £25.3bn new shares issued on the London Stock Exchange
£92.1bn paid in dividends
£57.1bn paid in share buybacks.

Companies sweat assets, leads to low productivity.

Yet no govt reforms.

Jenrick can't control who stands in the background of his photos, but he can decide whether to attend protests with a far-right message and a documented history of being organised by the far-right. He knows this. He goes anyway. Once upon a time it would have been a sackable offence.

NEW:

“I’ve had enough…I’m refusing to back down.”

Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier speaks to MSNBC from the Texas State Capitol. She is stuck there after the Texas GOP required police surveillance as condition for release. She is refusing to sign a waiver for the law enforcement escort.

Here's the tweet which got deleted:

DK how speech act theory flies in court, but surely a case for saying that when someone brandishes a placard saying "I support Palestine Action" in Parliament Sq, that's an illocutionary act of opposing proscription and to focus on locutionary content (literal meaning of words) is a mistake