Paul McGhee
@pmcghee.bsky.social
Rug repairer. Haunter of car boot sales. Cambridge, UK.
Also stereography at @pmcghee2.bsky.social
Also stereography at @pmcghee2.bsky.social
This is very good and balanced.
Iran’s last Shah presided over rapid economic growth and social transformation. Yet the unresolved political legacy of Pahlavi rule continues to haunt Iran’s opposition.
The stakes of a Pahlavi restoration | Roham Alvandi
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The stakes of a Pahlavi restoration | Roham Alvandi
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The stakes of a Pahlavi restoration
Iran’s last Shah presided over rapid economic growth, social transformation, and expanding opportunity, particularly for women. Yet the unresolved political legacy of Pahlavi rule continues to haunt I...
engelsbergideas.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:19 PM
This is very good and balanced.
Nick's on good form this morning.
Stalinism is the new congestion charging.
What a time to be alive
January 26, 2026 at 8:34 AM
Nick's on good form this morning.
Yesterday, I posted a picture of an Ottoman bowl I picked up at the car boot sale. No less boring than any of my cultural junk, which people mostly pass over with a feint flicker of interest, it got over 700 likes and a couple of dozen reskeets. Why? Are the botswarms being operated out of Konya?
January 26, 2026 at 7:37 AM
Yesterday, I posted a picture of an Ottoman bowl I picked up at the car boot sale. No less boring than any of my cultural junk, which people mostly pass over with a feint flicker of interest, it got over 700 likes and a couple of dozen reskeets. Why? Are the botswarms being operated out of Konya?
Today's car boot sale treasure
Beaten copper bowl with sweet Ottoman motifs. Formerly silver'd o're.
Beaten copper bowl with sweet Ottoman motifs. Formerly silver'd o're.
January 25, 2026 at 8:57 AM
Today's car boot sale treasure
Beaten copper bowl with sweet Ottoman motifs. Formerly silver'd o're.
Beaten copper bowl with sweet Ottoman motifs. Formerly silver'd o're.
Unexpected thing seen in Bury St Edmunds yesterday - a nocturnal or nocturlabe for telling the time at night. For the truly committed insomniac or a ships navigator.
marinecurator.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-no...
marinecurator.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-no...
January 24, 2026 at 7:25 AM
Unexpected thing seen in Bury St Edmunds yesterday - a nocturnal or nocturlabe for telling the time at night. For the truly committed insomniac or a ships navigator.
marinecurator.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-no...
marinecurator.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-no...
TIL:
The British Medical Association passed a formal resolution in 2025 calling for the cancellation of the Palantir NHS contract
January 23, 2026 at 7:14 PM
TIL:
I'm interested in the concept that each of us looks at the world through our own little tunnel. Trump and Co constantly try (and fail) to force the world (and its media) to look through his narrowing, decaying view of reality. Mark Carney just opened the window.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality...
Reality tunnel - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 23, 2026 at 8:47 AM
I'm interested in the concept that each of us looks at the world through our own little tunnel. Trump and Co constantly try (and fail) to force the world (and its media) to look through his narrowing, decaying view of reality. Mark Carney just opened the window.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality...
I found this useful windmill in China for Don Quixote.
This is half of an unlocated stereoview and I heartily recommend the text on the back of it, by the Keystone Company, which I have copied into ALT text for you.
This is half of an unlocated stereoview and I heartily recommend the text on the back of it, by the Keystone Company, which I have copied into ALT text for you.
January 22, 2026 at 9:21 AM
I found this useful windmill in China for Don Quixote.
This is half of an unlocated stereoview and I heartily recommend the text on the back of it, by the Keystone Company, which I have copied into ALT text for you.
This is half of an unlocated stereoview and I heartily recommend the text on the back of it, by the Keystone Company, which I have copied into ALT text for you.
Trump's dumbest remark - that China doesn't have wind farms because he hasn't seen any - is also his most pertinent. Everything else - territorial, military, repression of dissent - follows from climate denial. American extractive capitalism pays Don Quixote to say it must rampage unchallenged.
January 22, 2026 at 6:02 AM
Trump's dumbest remark - that China doesn't have wind farms because he hasn't seen any - is also his most pertinent. Everything else - territorial, military, repression of dissent - follows from climate denial. American extractive capitalism pays Don Quixote to say it must rampage unchallenged.
Reposted by Paul McGhee
🎶I saw her face now I'm a Lea beaver
Without a trace of doubt in my mind
Without a trace of doubt in my mind
Beavers are back in London 🦫
Here's how (and why) we did it ⬇️
Here's how (and why) we did it ⬇️
January 21, 2026 at 2:44 PM
🎶I saw her face now I'm a Lea beaver
Without a trace of doubt in my mind
Without a trace of doubt in my mind
Some great stuff in here.
January 21, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Some great stuff in here.
Decided to train myself to become an LLM.....
Larry David, who wrote the play, Fishing in the Dark, was brought up in Sheepshead Brooklyn, which is named after a kind of fish. Brooklyn Beckham is more famous than the city and Larry the Cat, who is fond of fish, is more famous than the comedian.
Larry David, who wrote the play, Fishing in the Dark, was brought up in Sheepshead Brooklyn, which is named after a kind of fish. Brooklyn Beckham is more famous than the city and Larry the Cat, who is fond of fish, is more famous than the comedian.
January 21, 2026 at 6:49 AM
Decided to train myself to become an LLM.....
Larry David, who wrote the play, Fishing in the Dark, was brought up in Sheepshead Brooklyn, which is named after a kind of fish. Brooklyn Beckham is more famous than the city and Larry the Cat, who is fond of fish, is more famous than the comedian.
Larry David, who wrote the play, Fishing in the Dark, was brought up in Sheepshead Brooklyn, which is named after a kind of fish. Brooklyn Beckham is more famous than the city and Larry the Cat, who is fond of fish, is more famous than the comedian.
I'm so sick of this framing. "I want something so it is inevitable. All your bases are belong to us. Your law, your history, your carefully built consensus mean nothing in the face of my indomitable will."
The equally evil Rupert Murdoch adopted "No Turning Back" as his slogan for Sky Television.
The equally evil Rupert Murdoch adopted "No Turning Back" as his slogan for Sky Television.
Trump: “I had a very good telephone call with Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, concerning Greenland. I agreed to a meeting of the various parties in Davos. As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security. There can be no going back”
January 20, 2026 at 7:55 AM
I'm so sick of this framing. "I want something so it is inevitable. All your bases are belong to us. Your law, your history, your carefully built consensus mean nothing in the face of my indomitable will."
The equally evil Rupert Murdoch adopted "No Turning Back" as his slogan for Sky Television.
The equally evil Rupert Murdoch adopted "No Turning Back" as his slogan for Sky Television.
Rug of the Day
January 20, 2026 at 7:48 AM
Rug of the Day
Reposted by Paul McGhee
If you were going to be teleported there and back, and could only enter one place, I’d suggest Dennis Severs’ House, 18 Folgate Street, a Spitalfields row house refurbished to look and feel as if its 18th/19th century residents have only just stepped out for a moment. Extraordinarily experience.
Mr. Gibson, when I think about London I think about you and strange calculators in the boot of a car. My wife and I are going, so I thought I would ask: If you had a place to recommend seeing what would it be?
January 19, 2026 at 7:19 AM
If you were going to be teleported there and back, and could only enter one place, I’d suggest Dennis Severs’ House, 18 Folgate Street, a Spitalfields row house refurbished to look and feel as if its 18th/19th century residents have only just stepped out for a moment. Extraordinarily experience.
Today's Car Boot Sale Treasure
Pigments and powders for alchemical purposes.
Pigments and powders for alchemical purposes.
January 18, 2026 at 11:44 AM
Today's Car Boot Sale Treasure
Pigments and powders for alchemical purposes.
Pigments and powders for alchemical purposes.
Reposted by Paul McGhee
“I’m a remarkable woman..always was, though none of you seemed to think so.”May Morris, English artist embroiderer, designer, feminist and socialist, dismayed by the lack of support for women artists founded the Women’s Guild of Arts, 1907 #womensart
January 18, 2026 at 5:20 AM
“I’m a remarkable woman..always was, though none of you seemed to think so.”May Morris, English artist embroiderer, designer, feminist and socialist, dismayed by the lack of support for women artists founded the Women’s Guild of Arts, 1907 #womensart
What will it take to completely uproot the cancerous Palantir from our systems, I wonder?
Thank you so much to @zackpolanski.bsky.social for inviting me onto his podcast. We talked about critical issues the media & political establishment is ignoring such as the extraordinarily dumb & dangerous UK defence deal with Peter Thiel’s Palantir
"Peter Thiel... the founder of this company, does not believe in democracy"
January 18, 2026 at 9:37 AM
What will it take to completely uproot the cancerous Palantir from our systems, I wonder?
Happy 2026 to the Spinners, Weavers and Dyers. Not forgetting the Shearers, Carders and Combers.
Interrupt the doomscrolling for a minute? Spinning helps me calm down. Hard to believe someone as squishy-looking as I can contain as much rage as I do, but that's 2026 for you.
#handspinning #greatwheel
#handspinning #greatwheel
January 18, 2026 at 4:10 AM
Happy 2026 to the Spinners, Weavers and Dyers. Not forgetting the Shearers, Carders and Combers.
So, Til:
Gastown isn"t a town, it's a factory.
with disposable workers.
Gastown has no location except a mountain on which they die.
Gastown burns fuel and money to make all you want, 24/7.
"Government" is a gangster fox run by an exhausted panda.
A sweet dark vision of American Intelligence.
Gastown isn"t a town, it's a factory.
with disposable workers.
Gastown has no location except a mountain on which they die.
Gastown burns fuel and money to make all you want, 24/7.
"Government" is a gangster fox run by an exhausted panda.
A sweet dark vision of American Intelligence.
January 18, 2026 at 3:30 AM
So, Til:
Gastown isn"t a town, it's a factory.
with disposable workers.
Gastown has no location except a mountain on which they die.
Gastown burns fuel and money to make all you want, 24/7.
"Government" is a gangster fox run by an exhausted panda.
A sweet dark vision of American Intelligence.
Gastown isn"t a town, it's a factory.
with disposable workers.
Gastown has no location except a mountain on which they die.
Gastown burns fuel and money to make all you want, 24/7.
"Government" is a gangster fox run by an exhausted panda.
A sweet dark vision of American Intelligence.
Reposted by Paul McGhee
It will not surprise you to learn that Toby Youngs 'Free Speech Union' has obtained a High Court injunction banning the publication of a list of its donors open.substack.com/pub/democrac...
Who funds the Free Speech Union?
Toby Young’s outfit went to court to hide its donors. Today we reveal that funders include US anti-abortion groups, Brexit politicians and Tufton Street insiders.
open.substack.com
January 17, 2026 at 8:45 AM
It will not surprise you to learn that Toby Youngs 'Free Speech Union' has obtained a High Court injunction banning the publication of a list of its donors open.substack.com/pub/democrac...
Belatedly catching up with this fabulous vision. Don't really understand the words, but the pics are brilliant. Lanson tubes and badgers!
steve-yegge.medium.com/welcome-to-g...
steve-yegge.medium.com/welcome-to-g...
Welcome to Gas Town
Happy New Year, and Welcome to Gas Town!
steve-yegge.medium.com
January 17, 2026 at 6:41 AM
Belatedly catching up with this fabulous vision. Don't really understand the words, but the pics are brilliant. Lanson tubes and badgers!
steve-yegge.medium.com/welcome-to-g...
steve-yegge.medium.com/welcome-to-g...
Great little one room exhibition of Nigerian leather work at the Fitzwilliam Museum, curated by Eva Namusoke, is worth going to see.
January 16, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Great little one room exhibition of Nigerian leather work at the Fitzwilliam Museum, curated by Eva Namusoke, is worth going to see.
Rug of the Day
Lotto carpet from Western Anatolia on the table in this picture by Rotterdam artist Joost (?) van Geel. It has a particularly elaborate border. The nearest thing I can find online is this Mid 17th century one from Jozan's excellent Lotto gallery.
Lotto carpet from Western Anatolia on the table in this picture by Rotterdam artist Joost (?) van Geel. It has a particularly elaborate border. The nearest thing I can find online is this Mid 17th century one from Jozan's excellent Lotto gallery.
January 15, 2026 at 9:15 AM
Rug of the Day
Lotto carpet from Western Anatolia on the table in this picture by Rotterdam artist Joost (?) van Geel. It has a particularly elaborate border. The nearest thing I can find online is this Mid 17th century one from Jozan's excellent Lotto gallery.
Lotto carpet from Western Anatolia on the table in this picture by Rotterdam artist Joost (?) van Geel. It has a particularly elaborate border. The nearest thing I can find online is this Mid 17th century one from Jozan's excellent Lotto gallery.