Jean-Luc Picard
@voiceofpericles.bsky.social
Proctor ergo, proctor hoc - after this, therefore because of this.
Philosophy, economics, politics, football, Wales, UK, climate change, gaming, LOTR, Dinosaurs and the stars.
Philosophy, economics, politics, football, Wales, UK, climate change, gaming, LOTR, Dinosaurs and the stars.
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
Most of Westminster is still using a website that has been producing and distributing CSAM, maybe a bit of self-reflection is in order.
Isn’t the point that you shouldn’t be mates with a convicted child sex offender anyway? Like the depth and the money should be add-ons
February 5, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Most of Westminster is still using a website that has been producing and distributing CSAM, maybe a bit of self-reflection is in order.
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
Yes, quite. It's the biggest scandal of this administration, so far, probably. It's an average Tuesday under Johnson.
OK this makes me extremely angry. Has everyone forgotten the massive profiteering from thousands of avoidable pandemic deaths?? The unconstitutional suspension of parliament to force through an act of nationalist destruction that cost our children their future??
“It’s potentially the biggest political scandal of this century”
As MPs force Keir Starmer to publish files about Peter Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador Skys Beth Rigby provides a detailed summary of how we got here
As MPs force Keir Starmer to publish files about Peter Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador Skys Beth Rigby provides a detailed summary of how we got here
February 5, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Yes, quite. It's the biggest scandal of this administration, so far, probably. It's an average Tuesday under Johnson.
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
Mandelson’s malign influence runs right through the heart of this Government.
Not least in the govt’s NHS data deal with Palantir – a spy-tech firm co-founded by a man who thinks the NHS should be ‘ripped up.’
I've written to Wes Streeting urging him to ditch this dangerous deal.
Not least in the govt’s NHS data deal with Palantir – a spy-tech firm co-founded by a man who thinks the NHS should be ‘ripped up.’
I've written to Wes Streeting urging him to ditch this dangerous deal.
February 5, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Mandelson’s malign influence runs right through the heart of this Government.
Not least in the govt’s NHS data deal with Palantir – a spy-tech firm co-founded by a man who thinks the NHS should be ‘ripped up.’
I've written to Wes Streeting urging him to ditch this dangerous deal.
Not least in the govt’s NHS data deal with Palantir – a spy-tech firm co-founded by a man who thinks the NHS should be ‘ripped up.’
I've written to Wes Streeting urging him to ditch this dangerous deal.
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
“I look at the performative hand-wringing, all the ‘OMG can’t believe Starmer appointed him despite all this!’ and I feel I’m in a parallel universe. Starmer appointed him BECAUSE of, not despite it. To be our interface with a corrupt WH that operates in precisely the same way. Everyone understood.”
🔥 NEW: Binfire of the Vanities
👿 Mandelson: Beyond the schadenfreude
🎒 Education: What next for SEND policy?
🏺 Plus a very Homeric Wokey Dokey
@sturdyalex.bsky.social, @mrkennycampbell.bsky.social & guest @samfr.bsky.social
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/61di...
🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
👿 Mandelson: Beyond the schadenfreude
🎒 Education: What next for SEND policy?
🏺 Plus a very Homeric Wokey Dokey
@sturdyalex.bsky.social, @mrkennycampbell.bsky.social & guest @samfr.bsky.social
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/61di...
🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
Binfire of the Vanities
Podcast Episode · Quiet Riot · 05/02/2026 · 1h 12m
podcasts.apple.com
February 5, 2026 at 9:01 AM
“I look at the performative hand-wringing, all the ‘OMG can’t believe Starmer appointed him despite all this!’ and I feel I’m in a parallel universe. Starmer appointed him BECAUSE of, not despite it. To be our interface with a corrupt WH that operates in precisely the same way. Everyone understood.”
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
Former speechwriter for Bush the Younger and Senior Editor at The Atlantic:
February 4, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Former speechwriter for Bush the Younger and Senior Editor at The Atlantic:
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
This really shouldn't surprise anyone.
February 4, 2026 at 5:39 PM
This really shouldn't surprise anyone.
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
"Are you saying the survivors are being identified and the potential abusers are being protected?"
"That is exactly my point."
Epstein survivor Jess Michaels on survivors’ names and personal information being published in the Epstein files.
#Newsnight
"That is exactly my point."
Epstein survivor Jess Michaels on survivors’ names and personal information being published in the Epstein files.
#Newsnight
February 4, 2026 at 1:44 PM
"Are you saying the survivors are being identified and the potential abusers are being protected?"
"That is exactly my point."
Epstein survivor Jess Michaels on survivors’ names and personal information being published in the Epstein files.
#Newsnight
"That is exactly my point."
Epstein survivor Jess Michaels on survivors’ names and personal information being published in the Epstein files.
#Newsnight
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
Mandelson had deep links to Russia, just like Epstein.
Mandelson-Epstein Links Were in Vetting Material, Starmer Says
Peter Mandelson’s long-term friendship with Jeffrey Epstein was mentioned in the material used to vet his appointment as UK ambassador to the US, Keir Starmer said, as the prime minister came under re...
www.bloomberg.com
February 4, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Mandelson had deep links to Russia, just like Epstein.
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
Erron Gordon, Head of BBC News, Studios & Ops. No mention in his, 'X' account frontpiece, that he use to be employed by GB News 2023/24, as Executive Creative Director & Head of Studio Output. The question is, why has he censored this piece of information on his 'X' CV?. I can guess why.
February 4, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Erron Gordon, Head of BBC News, Studios & Ops. No mention in his, 'X' account frontpiece, that he use to be employed by GB News 2023/24, as Executive Creative Director & Head of Studio Output. The question is, why has he censored this piece of information on his 'X' CV?. I can guess why.
I will be furious if Jeffrey Epstein brings down our Prime Minister, who had nothing to do with him, but not the US President who was quite clearly a co-conspirator.
February 4, 2026 at 3:51 PM
I will be furious if Jeffrey Epstein brings down our Prime Minister, who had nothing to do with him, but not the US President who was quite clearly a co-conspirator.
Is it a good thing that this is all coming out now, so that maybe we can extract these vermin from our politics?
February 4, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Is it a good thing that this is all coming out now, so that maybe we can extract these vermin from our politics?
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
Over on X...
February 4, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Over on X...
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
If Mandelson is being investigated for his Epstein connections, he must also be investigated for his Thiel connections, because they ran a joint fund when Mandelson fixed Starmer's visit to Palantir
bylinetimes.com/2025/04/25/p...
bylinetimes.com/2025/04/25/p...
'Peter Mandelson's Fixing of Keir Starmer’s Visit to Spytech Firm Palantir Raises Serious Questions'
Palantir was represented by a lobbying firm founded by Mandelson, Iain Overton and Max Colbert report
bylinetimes.com
February 4, 2026 at 12:41 PM
If Mandelson is being investigated for his Epstein connections, he must also be investigated for his Thiel connections, because they ran a joint fund when Mandelson fixed Starmer's visit to Palantir
bylinetimes.com/2025/04/25/p...
bylinetimes.com/2025/04/25/p...
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
You could make the same argument for Labour in the UK. Too much electoral strategy, not enough political vision and leadership.
This part of our response essay is where I'm at. Boiling down all of politics to electoralism has been absolutely terrible for resisting rising authoritarianism.
www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...
www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...
February 4, 2026 at 2:49 AM
You could make the same argument for Labour in the UK. Too much electoral strategy, not enough political vision and leadership.
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
And we need all the documents related to why Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein instructed Boris Johnson to get rid of Theresa May and Bannon talking to Nigel Farage and Boris and Reees Mog the days around the cabinet resignations…. Treason
February 3, 2026 at 10:16 PM
And we need all the documents related to why Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein instructed Boris Johnson to get rid of Theresa May and Bannon talking to Nigel Farage and Boris and Reees Mog the days around the cabinet resignations…. Treason
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
A few people asking about fascinating story by @rowenamason.bsky.social (which others have followed up/ expanded on) so sharing here 👇
She & @guardianheather.bsky.social revealed that Nigel Farage’s trip to Davos was hosted and paid for by the $10bn family trust of an Iranian-born billionaire.
She & @guardianheather.bsky.social revealed that Nigel Farage’s trip to Davos was hosted and paid for by the $10bn family trust of an Iranian-born billionaire.
February 3, 2026 at 8:41 PM
A few people asking about fascinating story by @rowenamason.bsky.social (which others have followed up/ expanded on) so sharing here 👇
She & @guardianheather.bsky.social revealed that Nigel Farage’s trip to Davos was hosted and paid for by the $10bn family trust of an Iranian-born billionaire.
She & @guardianheather.bsky.social revealed that Nigel Farage’s trip to Davos was hosted and paid for by the $10bn family trust of an Iranian-born billionaire.
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
The problem with social media is that you’re only allowed to hold opinions in batches. If you believe X and Y, you must also believe Z, which is atmospherically similar to X and Y and believed by all the same people.
If you don’t do this, everyone hates you. It makes actual thinking impossible.
If you don’t do this, everyone hates you. It makes actual thinking impossible.
February 3, 2026 at 1:21 PM
The problem with social media is that you’re only allowed to hold opinions in batches. If you believe X and Y, you must also believe Z, which is atmospherically similar to X and Y and believed by all the same people.
If you don’t do this, everyone hates you. It makes actual thinking impossible.
If you don’t do this, everyone hates you. It makes actual thinking impossible.
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
More integrity in his little finger than his detractors have displayed in entire careers.
Gordon Brown writes to Met to back case for investigation into Mandelson's 'inexcusable and unpatriotic' leaking - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
February 3, 2026 at 5:21 PM
More integrity in his little finger than his detractors have displayed in entire careers.
Oh look, whilst everyone is worrying about what Mandelson done to enrich himself (at our expense) we are all ignoring that Brexit was quite literally engineered by right wing Americans to create distressed assets and pick them up cheaply. Fuck this timeline.
Oh.
Definitely seems like they destroyed the country on purpose.
February 3, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Oh look, whilst everyone is worrying about what Mandelson done to enrich himself (at our expense) we are all ignoring that Brexit was quite literally engineered by right wing Americans to create distressed assets and pick them up cheaply. Fuck this timeline.
Same day as the Paris office gets raided and the Spanish PM accuses X of tampering with its algorithm to promote anti government migration policy posts..
The UK's ICO has opened an investigation in to X in relation to Grok AI & its potential to produce harmful sexualised image & video content.
They say the creation of the "content raises serious concerns under UK data protection law & presents a risk of significant potential harm to the public"
1/3
They say the creation of the "content raises serious concerns under UK data protection law & presents a risk of significant potential harm to the public"
1/3
ICO announces investigation into Grok
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has opened formal investigations into X Internet Unlimited Company (XIUC) and X.AI LLC (X.AI) covering their processing of personal data in relation to the ...
ico.org.uk
February 3, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Same day as the Paris office gets raided and the Spanish PM accuses X of tampering with its algorithm to promote anti government migration policy posts..
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
Lebedev is still a Lord...
February 3, 2026 at 1:41 PM
Lebedev is still a Lord...
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
Unusually punchy and well-written column for a minister, but the persistence of the "we're going to make Brexit work better" line from the UK govt is depressing.
www.ft.com/content/3be7...
www.ft.com/content/3be7...
This is what a proper Brexit looks like
Prosperity and security will be driven by removing unnecessary barriers that hold businesses back
www.ft.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Unusually punchy and well-written column for a minister, but the persistence of the "we're going to make Brexit work better" line from the UK govt is depressing.
www.ft.com/content/3be7...
www.ft.com/content/3be7...
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
1. Interesting to see Reform abandon its flirtation with nativism / birth rate boosterism in favour of the policy of the last Tory government
2. “Starve a kid for a cheaper pint” is quite the policy. Be interested to see how that performed in focus groups (especially all male versus mixed).
2. “Starve a kid for a cheaper pint” is quite the policy. Be interested to see how that performed in focus groups (especially all male versus mixed).
February 3, 2026 at 10:49 AM
1. Interesting to see Reform abandon its flirtation with nativism / birth rate boosterism in favour of the policy of the last Tory government
2. “Starve a kid for a cheaper pint” is quite the policy. Be interested to see how that performed in focus groups (especially all male versus mixed).
2. “Starve a kid for a cheaper pint” is quite the policy. Be interested to see how that performed in focus groups (especially all male versus mixed).
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
A lot going on here and all ugly, but one thing I still can't get my head around is how any British government can do business with Thiel at this point.
February 3, 2026 at 9:28 AM
A lot going on here and all ugly, but one thing I still can't get my head around is how any British government can do business with Thiel at this point.
Reposted by Jean-Luc Picard
‼️SPAIN'S PM SANCHEZ: SPAIN WILL BAN ACCESS TO SOCIAL MEDIA FOR MINORS UNDER 16
‼️SPAIN'S PM SANCHEZ: WE WILL CHANGE SPANISH LAW TO HOLD SOCIAL MEDIA EXECUTIVES ACCOUNTABLE FOR ILLEGAL, HATEFUL CONTENT
‼️SPAIN'S PM SANCHEZ: WE WILL CHANGE SPANISH LAW TO HOLD SOCIAL MEDIA EXECUTIVES ACCOUNTABLE FOR ILLEGAL, HATEFUL CONTENT
February 3, 2026 at 9:25 AM
‼️SPAIN'S PM SANCHEZ: SPAIN WILL BAN ACCESS TO SOCIAL MEDIA FOR MINORS UNDER 16
‼️SPAIN'S PM SANCHEZ: WE WILL CHANGE SPANISH LAW TO HOLD SOCIAL MEDIA EXECUTIVES ACCOUNTABLE FOR ILLEGAL, HATEFUL CONTENT
‼️SPAIN'S PM SANCHEZ: WE WILL CHANGE SPANISH LAW TO HOLD SOCIAL MEDIA EXECUTIVES ACCOUNTABLE FOR ILLEGAL, HATEFUL CONTENT