Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 1h

I did wonder what huge Iain Banks fans Grimes and Musk thought was happening, in the bit where the drone radicalises the protagonist against the evil Empire by showing him that the rich live in awesome plushness, while the poor must claw whatever living they can out of their meagre circumstances.

Standplaats Kraków @standplaatskrk.pl · 5d

Martha Kelly (@MarthaKelly3) onn twitter: "Under capitalism, it's normal to let children go hungry, let banks force people out of their homes, let sick people die for lack of access to healthcare. But the idea that billionaires could just be less rich - not poor, not struggling, just less rich, is considered insane."

1 3 21

Reposted by flyingrodent

George Pearkes @peark.es · 2h

There were lots of things the Biden White House did that were extremely good but they didn’t get credit for because of (to varying degrees) ideology, propagandization, mendaciousness, and abject stupidity.

Nothing involving the Middle East is on that list.

Andrew Exum @exum.bsky.social · 2h

This week has confirmed my suspicion that Biden’s Middle East policies will look worse, and will be even more embarrassing for Democrats, with the passage of time.

8 22 180

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 2h

The air was crackling with magic, I guess

1

Reposted by flyingrodent

Jamie K @crumpsalljamie.bsky.social · 4h

lads, get over yourselves. Give him the damn bauble and whisper in his ear that it would mean so much more if Israel actually stuck to the ceasefire and had less US ordnance to chuck around.

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 8h

"Norway is bracing for the aftermath of the Nobel Peace Prize announcement on Friday as the Nordic nation has faced increasing pressure from Donald Trump and his administration to award it to the US leader."

Norway on Edge Over Trump Ahead of Nobel Peace Prize Verdict

Trump’s aggressive push to secure the prize, including public declarations he deserves it and calls to Norwegian officials, has intensified with a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and a possible pea...

finance.yahoo.com

3 2 7

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 2h

1 2

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 2h

I am hearing that the public are not, as expected, going absolutely wild for all the talent formerly on the backbenches

4 32

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 14h

Flying_Rodent @flying_rodent
X.com
Of course they are: their job is not to prevent energy companies ripping off half your pay packet or to stop water companies spraying shit everywhere. Their job is to stop you getting very angry about it, by sadly explaining that nothing can ever be done about it.

30 100

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 14h

Like I say: there was a brief period of rejoicing that social media could be used to overthrow cruel, unjust, criminal regimes that rule by patronage, propaganda, secrecy, inertia and force. And then, all the lads had a bit of a think about what that might mean, in practice.

1 13 52

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 14h

The Arab Spring really was a key, decisive event in world politics: it demonstrated to corrupt authoritarian regimes that they needed to move decisively to ramp up surveillance and crack down on dissent to prop up their control. And I do not mean “only authoritarians in the Middle East”.

Maryam Aldossari @maryamaldossa... • 5h
Saudi Arabia's investment in Twitter boosted its influence while being used at home to silence regime critics. "They're surveillance states. They're police states.
They want to use the latest tech to stay in power and surveil their populations."

2 69 190

Reposted by flyingrodent

David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 17h

We will also hear a lot about Washington's "diplomatic achievement", a travesty of a framing. The US could have pulled the plug on Israel's genocide at any point over the past two years, and chose not to. The basis of a ceasefire has long been there, but Israel and its allies weren't interested.

3 37 110

Reposted by flyingrodent

Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 17h

So much of the "OMG young uns don't party anymore" discourse never really grapples with how much more expensive it is for young uns to party than it was a decade ago

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 17h

There are reasons to think the claims that Gen Z “doesn’t drink” or even drink less than millennials did at their age aren’t true – it seems to be partly a Covid effect and partly some dodgy stats.

But I could easily believe they drink earlier and go home earlier. Pubs look *quiet* after 9pm now…

Rob Davies @byrobdavies.bsky.social · 17h

Pub industry folk: What do you make of this?

I'm sure it's not unwelcome but will it make much difference?

My impression is that you're struggling to fill space until 10pm, let alone 1am.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

13 26 200

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 17h

No Coke refills though

1 1

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 17h

90s and 2000s are gone, for whatever reason, and they probably aren’t coming back.

1 4

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 17h

Well, they don’t hate us because we’re wrong.

2

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 17h

He who pays the piper calls the tune

Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 17h

It's funny how good the Labour Party is at "liberalising" things like gambling and boozing when there are multi-billion industries backing it, and so bloody awful at liberalising anything else.

Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 17h

Just not sure this is the answer to low UK productivity

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

1 7 57

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 17h

This is why Mandelson’s fawning message to Epstein was so badly received, IMO: not just because Epstein was an infamous sex criminal, but because it was emblematic of what this whole project is and what it always was, the horrible little wealth-worship cult these oddballs bought into for decades.

1 5 41

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 18h

The angst of the local police commander, asked to round up dissidents. But sir, can’t you see this behaviour makes us all look bad, it is bad for business.

3 21

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 18h

This what Polly was getting at: if your crackpot ideology can fairly be summarised as “craven sycophancy to the rich and the right wing, hoping they will reward your usefulness”, then that malfunctions, if the right and the rich are just cackling Baron Harkonnen-style fascists, vandals and looters.

Opinion
I didn't think I'd ever say this: let's hope the Tory party can be saved
Polly Toynbee
Britain badly needs a grownup party of the centre right. It won't come from Badenoch - it may come from a new generation of one-nationers

4 6 33

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 18h

Colonial administrator mentality. We have cracked down upon the malcontents, My Lord. Does this please you.

1 1 59

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 18h

Pure Andor villain personality: relentlessly militant about stomping upon your inferiors; prostrate, fawning and eager to please your superiors. This is precisely the type of Britishness they’re talking about, when they accuse others of being “un-British”.

2 4 58

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 18h

Incredible really: facilitating genocide to the point you’re realistically going to worry about being arrested on holiday for the rest of your life, then continuing to grovel to the mad emperor who commanded you to do it.

Kate McCann • @KateEMcCann•44m S
"It is difficult to see how you could have a deal like this without the United States behind it" Pat McFadden tells @StigAbell, stating that while a Nobel Peace Prize is for the committee itself, Donald Trump "does deserve credit"
@TimesRadio

5 22 110

Reposted by flyingrodent

David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 18h

Even the change to formally calling for a ceasefire was meaningless given that there was no "or else" attached. The arms and intel sharing continued to flow, no sanctions were applied. They were complicit throughout.

Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 19h

Jonathan Ashworth: "I've wanted to see a ceasefire for 2 years"

The collective position of the Labour shadow cabinet (which you were part of) for months after October 7th was to reject a ceasefire & Labour instructed its MPs not to vote for a ceasefire in Nov 2023.

1 48 220

Reposted by flyingrodent

David Wearing @davidwearing.bsky.social · 1d

90% of Westminster-Fleet St discourse on the Gaza protests and the pro-Palestine movement more generally can be explained by the sheer desperation of guilty people to change the subject.

1 27 99

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 1d

It’s fun to recall that the entire point of this exercise was to create a crushing, rock-solid electoral bloc of Sensible Moderates, bullied libs and Reasonable Tories, and that everyone agreed this was obviously the best thing to do because you win from the centre. And

1 12 67

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 1d

Oh dear

1