Rick
@flipchartrick.bsky.social
Nottingham-born West Londoner. Author of Flip Chart Fairy Tales blog. Patient #NFFC supporter.
Reposted by Rick
The way things are going, there’s a fair chance ICE will just grab him on arrival and throw him in the gulag with all the other “enemy aliens”.
January 17, 2026 at 10:25 AM
The way things are going, there’s a fair chance ICE will just grab him on arrival and throw him in the gulag with all the other “enemy aliens”.
Reposted by Rick
Am beginning to wonder of anyone has told the government that they are in fact the government, becuase if not it would explain a lot.
NEW: Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, says Ofcom would have the "full backing" of government if it opted to block access to X in the UK (but it's a decision for Ofcom)
January 9, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Am beginning to wonder of anyone has told the government that they are in fact the government, becuase if not it would explain a lot.
The World Economic Forum pre-Davos survey, published in January 2022, 6 weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. www.weforum.org/publications...
January 17, 2026 at 9:48 AM
The World Economic Forum pre-Davos survey, published in January 2022, 6 weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. www.weforum.org/publications...
There has always been a right-wing case for closer European integration. I was surprised that so few made that case during the referendum.
“There is no longer only a liberal case for a unified continent, but one that is more about strength in numbers against external predators.”
I don’t think these are mutually exclusive at all.
I don’t think these are mutually exclusive at all.
The right will want a United States of Europe
Conservatives will come to see a unified continent as the only defence against America and China
giftarticle.ft.com
January 17, 2026 at 7:56 AM
There has always been a right-wing case for closer European integration. I was surprised that so few made that case during the referendum.
Reposted by Rick
Ok, here's a different proposal: a zany Film 4 comedy about a bunch of hipsters trying to make a film about this story just before it falls in the sea, risking their lives to film on the actual site and get trapped there. Simon Pegg, Simon Farnaby, and some other Simon who was on TV 25 years ago.
January 17, 2026 at 7:52 AM
Ok, here's a different proposal: a zany Film 4 comedy about a bunch of hipsters trying to make a film about this story just before it falls in the sea, risking their lives to film on the actual site and get trapped there. Simon Pegg, Simon Farnaby, and some other Simon who was on TV 25 years ago.
Reposted by Rick
If anyone can't manage to put together a mid-budget Brit scifi/horror movie about a man trapped in this lookout post after a nuclear war in the 1960s, trying to escape before it falls in to the sea, then we should close down our film industry
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Cold War nuclear bunker could be ‘days away’ from falling into sea
The structure is clinging to the cliff, with little of it left to support it
www.independent.co.uk
January 17, 2026 at 7:44 AM
If anyone can't manage to put together a mid-budget Brit scifi/horror movie about a man trapped in this lookout post after a nuclear war in the 1960s, trying to escape before it falls in to the sea, then we should close down our film industry
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
What? Integrate the tech into your operating model, like every business that has ever successfully exploited IT?
Oh Sarah, how boring! It’s much more fun to just throw it at people and see what happens.
(Good read by @sarahoconnorft.ft.com)
www.ft.com/content/2480...
Oh Sarah, how boring! It’s much more fun to just throw it at people and see what happens.
(Good read by @sarahoconnorft.ft.com)
www.ft.com/content/2480...
January 17, 2026 at 7:51 AM
What? Integrate the tech into your operating model, like every business that has ever successfully exploited IT?
Oh Sarah, how boring! It’s much more fun to just throw it at people and see what happens.
(Good read by @sarahoconnorft.ft.com)
www.ft.com/content/2480...
Oh Sarah, how boring! It’s much more fun to just throw it at people and see what happens.
(Good read by @sarahoconnorft.ft.com)
www.ft.com/content/2480...
Reposted by Rick
Once upon a time, a President of the United States saying "fuck you" and raising his middle finger to an American factory worker would be front page news around the world. Now it's a "colour lede" on a business analysis. www.ft.com/content/36ab...
January 16, 2026 at 10:48 AM
Once upon a time, a President of the United States saying "fuck you" and raising his middle finger to an American factory worker would be front page news around the world. Now it's a "colour lede" on a business analysis. www.ft.com/content/36ab...
Reposted by Rick
Guess who’s going to Davos this month?
What’s that phrase they all use? ‘WEF puppet’ and ‘globalists’?
What’s that phrase they all use? ‘WEF puppet’ and ‘globalists’?
January 17, 2026 at 6:48 AM
Guess who’s going to Davos this month?
What’s that phrase they all use? ‘WEF puppet’ and ‘globalists’?
What’s that phrase they all use? ‘WEF puppet’ and ‘globalists’?
Who knows where we will be by 4 July. It’s likely that this visit will be very unpopular in the countries where Charles is head of state.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
King Charles and Prince William expected to visit US in 2026 to revitalise trade deal
Royals are reported to plan separate trips, after Donald Trump paused implementation of agreement
www.theguardian.com
January 17, 2026 at 6:34 AM
Who knows where we will be by 4 July. It’s likely that this visit will be very unpopular in the countries where Charles is head of state.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Rick
Economically, agriculture is a tiny part of the EU-Mercosur agreement, which opens up markets in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The real economic rationale lies in industrial and services trade
Europe and South America seal a trade pact for the Trump era
The EU-Mercosur agreement is a big deal in the world of geoeconomics
econ.st
January 17, 2026 at 6:00 AM
Economically, agriculture is a tiny part of the EU-Mercosur agreement, which opens up markets in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The real economic rationale lies in industrial and services trade
Reposted by Rick
Brand safety disaster imminent...
January 16, 2026 at 7:37 PM
Brand safety disaster imminent...
Reposted by Rick
Genuinely baffling. Focus is onTory-Reform fighting, giving Labour breathing space and opportunity to look like grown ups in the room - so some Labour cabinet members decide better strategy is to brief and mimic infighting - to what? Wrest the chaos narrative back? 🤦♂️
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Cabinet allies urge Keir Starmer to sack Wes Streeting for disloyalty
Ministers say the Labour leader should learn from Kemi Badenoch’s decisive action against Robert Jenrick and dismiss his outspoken health secretary
www.thetimes.com
January 16, 2026 at 8:49 PM
Genuinely baffling. Focus is onTory-Reform fighting, giving Labour breathing space and opportunity to look like grown ups in the room - so some Labour cabinet members decide better strategy is to brief and mimic infighting - to what? Wrest the chaos narrative back? 🤦♂️
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Reposted by Rick
How simply having a lot of people watching can curb the ICE violence.
For @msnownews.bsky.social, I wrote an article about how ICE Watch is grounded in sociological theories of violence prevention.
The reality is that most men will only commit public violence in extremely specific scenarios and ICE Watch disrupts the conditions necessary for escalation.
The reality is that most men will only commit public violence in extremely specific scenarios and ICE Watch disrupts the conditions necessary for escalation.
Opinion | I'm a Minneapolis sociologist who studies violence. Here's how ICE observers are helping.
Research into how violence occurs shows that disapproval from the people around you can help reduce it.
www.ms.now
January 16, 2026 at 8:20 PM
How simply having a lot of people watching can curb the ICE violence.
Already a bit sceptical of this @realbaddiel.bsky.social cat programme. Opening scene has a Bengal Cat on a sofa and it’s making no attempt to destroy it.
www.channel4.com/programmes/d...
www.channel4.com/programmes/d...
David Baddiel: Cat Man
David Baddiel hosts the purr-fect combo of kitty cuteness, cat calamity and feline fun
www.channel4.com
January 16, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Already a bit sceptical of this @realbaddiel.bsky.social cat programme. Opening scene has a Bengal Cat on a sofa and it’s making no attempt to destroy it.
www.channel4.com/programmes/d...
www.channel4.com/programmes/d...
Reposted by Rick
I passed my PhD. If I gave my PhD certificate to my stepmother’s cat, that wouldn’t make her a doctor.
January 16, 2026 at 7:30 PM
I passed my PhD. If I gave my PhD certificate to my stepmother’s cat, that wouldn’t make her a doctor.
Yep. This will solve two decades of productivity stagnation.
at last we will be free from the backbreaking drudgery of ordering pizza from a menu and even counting how many people the pizza is for www.theverge.com/tech/863365/...
January 16, 2026 at 7:27 PM
Yep. This will solve two decades of productivity stagnation.
Reposted by Rick
A highly revealing profile, in really quite a few different ways:
The crisis whisperer: how Adam Tooze makes sense of our bewildering age
The long read: Whether it’s the financial crash, the climate emergency or the breakdown of the international order, historian Adam Tooze has become the go-to guide to the radical new world we’ve enter...
www.theguardian.com
January 16, 2026 at 5:10 PM
A highly revealing profile, in really quite a few different ways:
I don’t know what Jenrick thought he was doing here but it sounded like a petulant schoolboy snitching on his old mates.
Jenrick accuses Mel Stride of presiding over “the explosion of the welfare bill”
Priti Patel “created the very migration system that enabled 5 million migrants to come here - the greatest failure of any British government in the post-war period”
Priti Patel “created the very migration system that enabled 5 million migrants to come here - the greatest failure of any British government in the post-war period”
January 16, 2026 at 4:32 PM
I don’t know what Jenrick thought he was doing here but it sounded like a petulant schoolboy snitching on his old mates.
Ah, the Fail Whale.
Those were the days.
Those were the days.
Today is a good day. Some of us are old enough to remember...
January 16, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Ah, the Fail Whale.
Those were the days.
Those were the days.
Reposted by Rick
NEW: Jonathan Ross, the ICE thug who murdered Renee Good, was NOT TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL according to police reports. He was taken to the Federal Building. He was NOT INJURED. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
January 16, 2026 at 3:37 PM
NEW: Jonathan Ross, the ICE thug who murdered Renee Good, was NOT TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL according to police reports. He was taken to the Federal Building. He was NOT INJURED. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Reposted by Rick
NEW PODCAST: Why isn't the NHS improving faster?
@helenmiller.bsky.social, @maxwarner.bsky.social and Olly Harvey-Rich examine the latest data on NHS performance, progress on waiting lists and the big challenges around staffing, winter and flu cases.
🎧 Listen here: ifs.org.uk/articles/why...
@helenmiller.bsky.social, @maxwarner.bsky.social and Olly Harvey-Rich examine the latest data on NHS performance, progress on waiting lists and the big challenges around staffing, winter and flu cases.
🎧 Listen here: ifs.org.uk/articles/why...
January 16, 2026 at 4:05 PM
NEW PODCAST: Why isn't the NHS improving faster?
@helenmiller.bsky.social, @maxwarner.bsky.social and Olly Harvey-Rich examine the latest data on NHS performance, progress on waiting lists and the big challenges around staffing, winter and flu cases.
🎧 Listen here: ifs.org.uk/articles/why...
@helenmiller.bsky.social, @maxwarner.bsky.social and Olly Harvey-Rich examine the latest data on NHS performance, progress on waiting lists and the big challenges around staffing, winter and flu cases.
🎧 Listen here: ifs.org.uk/articles/why...
Reposted by Rick
Jenrick defection probably the dumbest thing he could have done. He could have been the top race science guy in the tory party, but now he's going to be a run-of-the-mill race science guy who needs to impress guys who believe a secret sect of Brown people control the traffic lights
January 15, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Jenrick defection probably the dumbest thing he could have done. He could have been the top race science guy in the tory party, but now he's going to be a run-of-the-mill race science guy who needs to impress guys who believe a secret sect of Brown people control the traffic lights