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Andrew McRae

@mcraeandrew.bsky.social

English prof, Uni of Exeter. Prone to talk about UK politics, higher education policy, the 17th century, the excellence of English studies, & Aussie sports.

1,470 Followers  |  907 Following  |  665 Posts  |  Joined: 22.08.2023
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Posts by Andrew McRae (@mcraeandrew.bsky.social)

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Great quotes in military history.

@atrupar.com

10.03.2026 11:35 β€” πŸ‘ 3767    πŸ” 1046    πŸ’¬ 341    πŸ“Œ 137
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Trump is heading for a hard reckoning over Iran It isn’t a sign of Trump Derangement Syndrome to consider the Trump administration's Iran war video obscene

An utterly brilliant article on a revolting spectacle. Do Read. @questingvole.bsky.social

spectator.com/article/trum...

09.03.2026 15:52 β€” πŸ‘ 73    πŸ” 22    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2
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Truly unbelievable stuff. Just up there shamelessly lying his ass off

09.03.2026 23:00 β€” πŸ‘ 11527    πŸ” 4358    πŸ’¬ 1119    πŸ“Œ 447
New MP Hannah Spencer was given a police escort after an anti-hate demonstration turned violent.
The Green Party MP had made a speech at the Greater Together Manchester event on Sunday afternoon in Piccadilly Gardens.

New MP Hannah Spencer was given a police escort after an anti-hate demonstration turned violent. The Green Party MP had made a speech at the Greater Together Manchester event on Sunday afternoon in Piccadilly Gardens.

I try very hard not to use the word Orwellian too much but it’s the best adjective for the mauling of language at the start of this BBC News report. β€œβ€¦ an anti-hate demonstration that turned violent”. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

09.03.2026 20:10 β€” πŸ‘ 515    πŸ” 159    πŸ’¬ 19    πŸ“Œ 19
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absolutely deranged headline from the depths of hell

09.03.2026 20:15 β€” πŸ‘ 892    πŸ” 127    πŸ’¬ 36    πŸ“Œ 32
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Hannah Spencer: Green MP gets police escort from violent demo The Green Party MP was put into a waiting police car after a demonstration turned violent in Manchester.

How odd – I thought all of this anti-trans stuff was about women's rights?

"The 34-year-old, who won last month's Gorton and Denton by-election, was helped by the police towards a waiting car after anti-transgender activists clashed with women's rights and anti-racism campaigners."

09.03.2026 18:47 β€” πŸ‘ 145    πŸ” 34    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

β€˜And now we have our regular far-right US commentator slot, in which we allow his lies to go unchallenged, then discuss his fantasies among ourselves in the most serious serious tones.’ #r4today

09.03.2026 08:30 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Steve Reed very keen to assure us that, whatever other restrictions his government might impose, transphobia remains totally ok. #r4today

09.03.2026 07:59 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Lewis Goodall: 'You would welcome Iranians on small boats?'
YouTube video by LBC Lewis Goodall: 'You would welcome Iranians on small boats?'

A reminder that if you back regime change (morally) you ought to accept the likely consequences. www.youtube.com/shorts/Uuber...

08.03.2026 20:04 β€” πŸ‘ 587    πŸ” 142    πŸ’¬ 79    πŸ“Œ 17

You can bet your shorts this paper won’t say anything about the fascist thugs’ attack on Hannah Spencer today.

08.03.2026 20:13 β€” πŸ‘ 32    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The "feminist" anti-trans movement, everyone

08.03.2026 18:00 β€” πŸ‘ 81    πŸ” 25    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 2

Tomorrow Wes Streeting will remove trans minors ability to access, and doctors to prescribe, cross-sex hormones.

Try as it might Labour will never eradicate trans people. They cannot, and should not, change who they are. All Labour will do is make trans lives harder - with more harm and more death.

08.03.2026 19:23 β€” πŸ‘ 2271    πŸ” 566    πŸ’¬ 56    πŸ“Œ 64

πŸ€¦β€β™‚οΈ β€˜UK-born graduates are’ NOT β€˜increasingly competing with international students for places’. International students help keep universities afloat, enabling them to offer many of the courses that home students take. Why keep peddling this xenophobic myth?

08.03.2026 18:03 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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3 Big Reasons Software Companies Need English Majors β€” Dear English Major I’m not the only English major working in tech at HubSpot. I could see a lot of English majors taking the same path as me. The tech industry needs people who can fulfill three important business needs...

English degrees - dispelling the myths about employability. www.dearenglishmajor.com/blog/3-big-r...

08.03.2026 08:27 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

This is no different from Putin saying MH17 was shot down by Ukraine or Assad saying rebels gassed themselves.

07.03.2026 23:52 β€” πŸ‘ 7781    πŸ” 2441    πŸ’¬ 240    πŸ“Œ 62
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I’m sorry, what? How can Chelsea & Westminster Hospital’s official charity *possibly* accept a Β£1 million β€˜donation’ - meaning, in reality, an attempt to buy public credibility - from the Sacklers? Yes, those Sacklers, whose company, Purdue Pharma, caused >800k deaths from pumping out opioids. 1/3

08.03.2026 08:43 β€” πŸ‘ 163    πŸ” 79    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 4

It’s already happening. Iran attacked a desalination plant in Bahrain.

This war has to end immediately. If it turns into a water war we will be dealing with a whole different level of a humanitarian catastrophe across the region.

aje.news/64yl8m?updat...

08.03.2026 08:37 β€” πŸ‘ 1139    πŸ” 525    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 20
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You've got to be kidding me...

07.03.2026 20:56 β€” πŸ‘ 1596    πŸ” 232    πŸ’¬ 330    πŸ“Œ 101

Really kind of morally offensive how much contempt these people have for curiosity.

07.03.2026 20:50 β€” πŸ‘ 265    πŸ” 59    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 0

This is a social democrat.

07.03.2026 13:19 β€” πŸ‘ 187    πŸ” 30    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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A little bit obsessed with all the nut clusters currently β€˜ashamed to be British’ because Starmer didn’t sign us up to this shit show.

07.03.2026 12:33 β€” πŸ‘ 2560    πŸ” 465    πŸ’¬ 277    πŸ“Œ 32
Professor Jiang Warns US Will LOSE Iran War #Shorts
YouTube video by Breaking Points Professor Jiang Warns US Will LOSE Iran War #Shorts

Jiang predicts that the West will ultimately lose the war when the economies of the Gulf states fail because Iran continues to damage critical infrastructure; they stop propping up the AI bubble in the US; this will lead to a collapse of the US economy.

youtube.com/shorts/TQ6_Q...

07.03.2026 08:56 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 4
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THEY FINALLY DID IT! Sheldon Whitehouse officially called out the connections between Trump, Epstein, and Russia on the Senate floor.

06.03.2026 02:31 β€” πŸ‘ 2276    πŸ” 1044    πŸ’¬ 84    πŸ“Œ 55
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Withheld Jeffrey Epstein files with accusations against Trump released by justice department The Department of Justice said the released files had been

'FBI documents summarising interviews with a woman who made unsubstantiated claims of sexual assault against Donald Trump have been released as part of the...Epstein files.'

Might we, in 2026, just have a wee bit of a think about how and why claims of sexual assault might be "unsubstantiated"?

06.03.2026 21:44 β€” πŸ‘ 265    πŸ” 100    πŸ’¬ 16    πŸ“Œ 10
Female athletes must pay Β£185 to prove their sex
Matt Lawton - Chief Sports Correspondent
British female track and field athletes are being asked to pay Β£185 for a sex test if they want to compete internationally.

World Athletics requires all athletes to take an SRY gene test before competing in the female category at major championships and Diamond League events to guarantee fair competition by excluding trans and DSD (differences of sex development) competitors.

Before the World Championships in Tokyo last September, World Athletics gave $100 per test for the thousand or so female athletes needing one. More money will be provided by the international federation for this year’s World Junior Championships.

But British women have been advised by UK Athletics (UKA) to pay for the test themselves, urging them to have the cheek swab, which indicates the presence of a Y chromosome, β€œas soon as possible to avoid delays around selection”. However, some women have complained it is unfair when the test is not required for men.

UKA has a hardship fund to pay for the test and will assess requests on a case-by-case basis. But the situation is symptomatic of a national federation already facing financial challenges, made worse by UK Sport cutting its funding for this Olympic cycle. While almost Β£32 million was given to the relatively niche sports that won five medals at last month’s Winter Olympics, athletics has had its funding cut from Β£22.18 million to Β£20.45 million despite winning ten medals in 2024.

It was only last year UKA returned to some form of financial stability, posting a profit of Β£107,588. But it is now facing a big fine after admitting corporate manslaughter over the death of Abdullah Hayayei, who died in 2017 after a metal cage fell on him while he was training for the World Para Athletics Championships in London.

Female athletes must pay Β£185 to prove their sex Matt Lawton - Chief Sports Correspondent British female track and field athletes are being asked to pay Β£185 for a sex test if they want to compete internationally. World Athletics requires all athletes to take an SRY gene test before competing in the female category at major championships and Diamond League events to guarantee fair competition by excluding trans and DSD (differences of sex development) competitors. Before the World Championships in Tokyo last September, World Athletics gave $100 per test for the thousand or so female athletes needing one. More money will be provided by the international federation for this year’s World Junior Championships. But British women have been advised by UK Athletics (UKA) to pay for the test themselves, urging them to have the cheek swab, which indicates the presence of a Y chromosome, β€œas soon as possible to avoid delays around selection”. However, some women have complained it is unfair when the test is not required for men. UKA has a hardship fund to pay for the test and will assess requests on a case-by-case basis. But the situation is symptomatic of a national federation already facing financial challenges, made worse by UK Sport cutting its funding for this Olympic cycle. While almost Β£32 million was given to the relatively niche sports that won five medals at last month’s Winter Olympics, athletics has had its funding cut from Β£22.18 million to Β£20.45 million despite winning ten medals in 2024. It was only last year UKA returned to some form of financial stability, posting a profit of Β£107,588. But it is now facing a big fine after admitting corporate manslaughter over the death of Abdullah Hayayei, who died in 2017 after a metal cage fell on him while he was training for the World Para Athletics Championships in London.

"Feminism" [Times]

06.03.2026 08:13 β€” πŸ‘ 715    πŸ” 211    πŸ’¬ 31    πŸ“Œ 78

I know I'm a broken record on this but being lectured about the nature of war by the supreme assholes who started it as though we, THE PEOPLE WHO DID NOT WANT THIS WAR, are hopelessly naive, makes me want to [redacted] [redacted] [REDACTED] [REDACTED]

06.03.2026 05:01 β€” πŸ‘ 229    πŸ” 31    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1
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From FT comments

05.03.2026 13:47 β€” πŸ‘ 4383    πŸ” 1530    πŸ’¬ 194    πŸ“Œ 106
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Jonathan Pie's Take on Trump's War With Iran is Unmissable - Dorset Eye Another blisteringly insightful take on psychopaths doing their thing. And when he destroyed Trump’s poodle, Farage Report Article To report this post you need to login first.

Jonathan Pie's Take on Trump's War With Iran is Unmissable - Dorset Eye

06.03.2026 20:22 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

And an infinitely more intelligent commentary. bsky.app/profile/greg...

06.03.2026 19:43 β€” πŸ‘ 61    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

If you missed it, this kind of moral trash (below) was the pretext for a blokey chat about how best to market modern warfare. The vacuous bro standing in for Evan Davis should be put out to pasture until he grows up. #bbcpm
bsky.app/profile/rike...

06.03.2026 19:19 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0