Abstarred
@abstarred.bsky.social
London based. Into travel, politics, music and literature. Seeking out a better world.
Reposted by Abstarred
1,173 people were shot dead by "law enforcement" in the USA last year.
In the UK, it was 2.
The US population is 6x that of the UK, so go ahead and multiply the second figure by 6.
Then explain to me why this massively disproportionate rate of killing is so.
In the UK, it was 2.
The US population is 6x that of the UK, so go ahead and multiply the second figure by 6.
Then explain to me why this massively disproportionate rate of killing is so.
January 25, 2026 at 11:55 PM
1,173 people were shot dead by "law enforcement" in the USA last year.
In the UK, it was 2.
The US population is 6x that of the UK, so go ahead and multiply the second figure by 6.
Then explain to me why this massively disproportionate rate of killing is so.
In the UK, it was 2.
The US population is 6x that of the UK, so go ahead and multiply the second figure by 6.
Then explain to me why this massively disproportionate rate of killing is so.
Reposted by Abstarred
Worth remembering when looking at the horrific scenes in the US right now that both Reform and the Tories have pledged to bring in ICE-style organisations to the UK if they win power
January 24, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Worth remembering when looking at the horrific scenes in the US right now that both Reform and the Tories have pledged to bring in ICE-style organisations to the UK if they win power
Reposted by Abstarred
Reposted by Abstarred
I love Stephen. The face of a doomed WW1 officer and the wardrobe of John Travolta. #thetraitors
January 23, 2026 at 9:33 PM
I love Stephen. The face of a doomed WW1 officer and the wardrobe of John Travolta. #thetraitors
Reposted by Abstarred
If the US were a geopolitical rival the headlines would be like: US Secret Police Execute Second Dissident In the Streets As Militarized Occupation Enters Sixth Week
January 24, 2026 at 4:14 PM
If the US were a geopolitical rival the headlines would be like: US Secret Police Execute Second Dissident In the Streets As Militarized Occupation Enters Sixth Week
Reposted by Abstarred
Harrowing NY Times expose of the FBI, with some operational details of Minneapolis investigations & comments from ex-agents on the current federal occupation. The FBI is more fucked than you expect, which makes them less effective AND more dangerous. www.nytimes.com/interactive/... (gift link)
Kash Patel’s FBI Is Making America Less Safe, Current and Former Employees Say (Gift Article)
Forty-five current and former employees on the changes they say are undermining the agency and making America less safe.
www.nytimes.com
January 22, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Harrowing NY Times expose of the FBI, with some operational details of Minneapolis investigations & comments from ex-agents on the current federal occupation. The FBI is more fucked than you expect, which makes them less effective AND more dangerous. www.nytimes.com/interactive/... (gift link)
Reposted by Abstarred
state-sponsored child trafficking
This picture making the rounds on reddit, Columbia Heights. I'm not OK.
January 21, 2026 at 11:25 PM
state-sponsored child trafficking
Reposted by Abstarred
Read this.
January 20, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Read this.
Reposted by Abstarred
"sure, he was boorish, had an adjudicated conviction for rape, tried to fix an election and mount an insurrection, had convictions for fraud, suspicious connections to a known paedophile, run countless scams, been bankrupt six times... but if only there'd been some sign!"
January 19, 2026 at 8:41 PM
"sure, he was boorish, had an adjudicated conviction for rape, tried to fix an election and mount an insurrection, had convictions for fraud, suspicious connections to a known paedophile, run countless scams, been bankrupt six times... but if only there'd been some sign!"
Reposted by Abstarred
Not for the first time, it looks like Channel 4 just handed the keys to their socials to an evil genius:
January 19, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Not for the first time, it looks like Channel 4 just handed the keys to their socials to an evil genius:
Reposted by Abstarred
Finding the reactions to this bleakly funny. Lads, the point isn’t that you are sending enough people to “win”, because we in fact, can’t win. It is just to have a tripwire! If you are going “why not 13, like Germany?” you have not understood how bad things are.
BREAKING: The UK is sending a single military officer to Greenland at the request of Denmark to participate in a multi-nation exercise
January 14, 2026 at 10:07 PM
Finding the reactions to this bleakly funny. Lads, the point isn’t that you are sending enough people to “win”, because we in fact, can’t win. It is just to have a tripwire! If you are going “why not 13, like Germany?” you have not understood how bad things are.
Reposted by Abstarred
BREAKING: The United States economy posts its worst year for layoffs since 2009, with layoffs surging 183% in October compared to September of this year.
November 6, 2025 at 1:57 PM
BREAKING: The United States economy posts its worst year for layoffs since 2009, with layoffs surging 183% in October compared to September of this year.
Reposted by Abstarred
BAME contestants being consistently the first voted out on any and all shows and the elephant in the room never being mentioned…
October 15, 2025 at 9:43 PM
BAME contestants being consistently the first voted out on any and all shows and the elephant in the room never being mentioned…
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You don’t actually have to both sides this. The Jewish community in the UK is not the Israeli government. You can just condemn the murder of two British Jews killed in their place of worship and you don’t have to say a single other thing.
October 2, 2025 at 11:36 AM
You don’t actually have to both sides this. The Jewish community in the UK is not the Israeli government. You can just condemn the murder of two British Jews killed in their place of worship and you don’t have to say a single other thing.
Reposted by Abstarred
My favourite fact about Iceland is that we have many, many crime writers but only one forensic pathologist, and he was so busy answering all of their questions that he decided to have a small seminar for writers to get some peace.
It immediately sold out so he had another one that also sold out.
It immediately sold out so he had another one that also sold out.
July 3, 2023 at 12:04 PM
My favourite fact about Iceland is that we have many, many crime writers but only one forensic pathologist, and he was so busy answering all of their questions that he decided to have a small seminar for writers to get some peace.
It immediately sold out so he had another one that also sold out.
It immediately sold out so he had another one that also sold out.
Reposted by Abstarred
It might be worth reading my paper on how Europe should fight a war against Russia without the Americans, and which are the key gaps that need to be filled first
www.martenscentre.eu/wp-content/u...
www.martenscentre.eu/wp-content/u...
September 19, 2025 at 8:07 PM
It might be worth reading my paper on how Europe should fight a war against Russia without the Americans, and which are the key gaps that need to be filled first
www.martenscentre.eu/wp-content/u...
www.martenscentre.eu/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Abstarred
Incredibly powerful and heartbreaking writing. This is the reality in today's UK for anyone who isn't white British. Please read it.
I wrote something about feeling like a guest in a country that is my home.
bestforbritain.substack.com/p/my-place-o...
bestforbritain.substack.com/p/my-place-o...
My place or yours? - Flags and the far right from someone who looks different to you
By Alex Andreou
bestforbritain.substack.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Incredibly powerful and heartbreaking writing. This is the reality in today's UK for anyone who isn't white British. Please read it.
Reposted by Abstarred
Elon Musk openly called for violence on our streets yesterday.
I hope politicians from all parties come together to condemn his deeply dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric.
Britain must stand united against this clear attempt to undermine our democracy.
I hope politicians from all parties come together to condemn his deeply dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric.
Britain must stand united against this clear attempt to undermine our democracy.
September 14, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Elon Musk openly called for violence on our streets yesterday.
I hope politicians from all parties come together to condemn his deeply dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric.
Britain must stand united against this clear attempt to undermine our democracy.
I hope politicians from all parties come together to condemn his deeply dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric.
Britain must stand united against this clear attempt to undermine our democracy.
Reposted by Abstarred
I need you to understand what this country feels like right now for those of us who look different. I'm sitting here, trying to plan for Saturday, make sure I don't even need to go to the corner shop for milk, like it's Christmas Day or lockdown. Why? Because I live near where Yaxley-Lennon will 1/
September 11, 2025 at 11:31 PM
I need you to understand what this country feels like right now for those of us who look different. I'm sitting here, trying to plan for Saturday, make sure I don't even need to go to the corner shop for milk, like it's Christmas Day or lockdown. Why? Because I live near where Yaxley-Lennon will 1/
Reposted by Abstarred
I said a month ago that Pritzer = unlikely Desmoulins, jumping on metaphorical table in mediated Palais Royal to warn of danger, rally patriots. Now he's Mirabeau and Sieyes ("Be Loud for America"="What is the Third Estate?") too.
Newsom = Lameth brothers + Barnave. Media darling of early days.
Newsom = Lameth brothers + Barnave. Media darling of early days.
Had students read @rlspang.bsky.social’s “How Revolutions Happen” for our 1st French Rev class today & the Q she poses–“What is the difference between a revolution & the failure of a state or the collapse of an empire?” hit home even harder than it did in 2020
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
How Revolutions Happen
Revolutionary imagery is ubiquitous right now. But real structural change involves more than the toppling of statues, and what happens next is a matter of chance.
www.theatlantic.com
September 3, 2025 at 12:36 AM
I said a month ago that Pritzer = unlikely Desmoulins, jumping on metaphorical table in mediated Palais Royal to warn of danger, rally patriots. Now he's Mirabeau and Sieyes ("Be Loud for America"="What is the Third Estate?") too.
Newsom = Lameth brothers + Barnave. Media darling of early days.
Newsom = Lameth brothers + Barnave. Media darling of early days.
Reposted by Abstarred
"Actually I didn't even apply to Stanford, yeah, they just wrote to me and said come and study here, yeah, and they weren't the only ones, either, and they said I was so good that I could probably skip a year, yeah. But in the end I went to Sussex because of my allergies."
September 1, 2025 at 6:57 PM
"Actually I didn't even apply to Stanford, yeah, they just wrote to me and said come and study here, yeah, and they weren't the only ones, either, and they said I was so good that I could probably skip a year, yeah. But in the end I went to Sussex because of my allergies."
Reposted by Abstarred
Americans are just on the verge of accepting it’s probably not true and going to bed when suddenly all the Brits wake up and start hooting and hollering
August 30, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Americans are just on the verge of accepting it’s probably not true and going to bed when suddenly all the Brits wake up and start hooting and hollering
Reposted by Abstarred
Joe Biden outliving him would be objectively hilarious.
August 30, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Joe Biden outliving him would be objectively hilarious.