Howard Green
@howardigreen.bsky.social
Lapsed mathematician, serial migrant, Silicon Valley Survivor, Scottish Green
This blackmail has gone on for too long. "Vote for me or you'll get the people who eat babies." Labour have lost all credibility. Vote Green.
January 30, 2026 at 11:28 PM
This blackmail has gone on for too long. "Vote for me or you'll get the people who eat babies." Labour have lost all credibility. Vote Green.
In my experience they are mostly Kurdish -i think the entire nation must be hairdressers. Cheerful lads who mostly speak five+ languages.
January 30, 2026 at 7:39 PM
In my experience they are mostly Kurdish -i think the entire nation must be hairdressers. Cheerful lads who mostly speak five+ languages.
Do you know what Communism is? Do you know what Islam is? Can you find Iran on a map? Of course the Mullahs should get out of politics. This is a matter for the Iranian people. Stop bombing them. They are not alone in having a crap government.
January 24, 2026 at 11:35 PM
Do you know what Communism is? Do you know what Islam is? Can you find Iran on a map? Of course the Mullahs should get out of politics. This is a matter for the Iranian people. Stop bombing them. They are not alone in having a crap government.
Fact is, China makes better and cheaper electric cars. As to "their spying on you", it reminds me of a (sadly apocryphal) story about General Curtis E Lemay fearing he was being observed by midget submarines in his bath. Facebook already knows everything about you.
January 22, 2026 at 10:26 PM
Fact is, China makes better and cheaper electric cars. As to "their spying on you", it reminds me of a (sadly apocryphal) story about General Curtis E Lemay fearing he was being observed by midget submarines in his bath. Facebook already knows everything about you.
I don't know about "joining China", but friendly relations and mutual respect only makes sense. China is the dominant power of the next half century, and shows no sign of invading Greenland.
January 21, 2026 at 9:59 PM
I don't know about "joining China", but friendly relations and mutual respect only makes sense. China is the dominant power of the next half century, and shows no sign of invading Greenland.
The canonical case is Facebook. Many ordinary sorts of community activity now depend on it, and it reaches everywhere. I am delighted that Bluesky et al are replacing X, but Facebook is much harder. The best I can come up with is some kind of "community buyout", enforced by threat of actual ban.
January 21, 2026 at 9:51 PM
The canonical case is Facebook. Many ordinary sorts of community activity now depend on it, and it reaches everywhere. I am delighted that Bluesky et al are replacing X, but Facebook is much harder. The best I can come up with is some kind of "community buyout", enforced by threat of actual ban.
Totally. Victim-blaming. Kids need agency. The problem is that at least some of the social media platforms a) are very important to ordinary people b) claim (and enforce) ownership of our personal history
c) are every day more militantly monetizing this, turning advertising into social control.
c) are every day more militantly monetizing this, turning advertising into social control.
January 21, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Totally. Victim-blaming. Kids need agency. The problem is that at least some of the social media platforms a) are very important to ordinary people b) claim (and enforce) ownership of our personal history
c) are every day more militantly monetizing this, turning advertising into social control.
c) are every day more militantly monetizing this, turning advertising into social control.
My point is just that we need to try to be accurate. There is every danger of widespread war, fascism and the return of great power politics over the next period. This is not the same as the 90s, because neoliberalism has decisively failed.
January 20, 2026 at 2:56 PM
My point is just that we need to try to be accurate. There is every danger of widespread war, fascism and the return of great power politics over the next period. This is not the same as the 90s, because neoliberalism has decisively failed.
Neoliberalism is what it is, and we have had it for at least 40 years (according to your preferred definitions). Plainly, it has been broken beyond repair since 2008. I am not in the least interested in defending it. But now we have (real) fascism again. Perhaps it is Gramsci's time of monsters.
January 20, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Neoliberalism is what it is, and we have had it for at least 40 years (according to your preferred definitions). Plainly, it has been broken beyond repair since 2008. I am not in the least interested in defending it. But now we have (real) fascism again. Perhaps it is Gramsci's time of monsters.
Just for info - I spent ten years in San Jose. One of the virtues of Bluesky is a generally adult and nuanced debate. I'd like it to stay that way.
January 20, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Just for info - I spent ten years in San Jose. One of the virtues of Bluesky is a generally adult and nuanced debate. I'd like it to stay that way.
It's good to remain vaguely grounded in reality. So Newsom is a neoliberal democrat with white teeth and a glossy smile. He wants power. He has also to keep some part of the Silicon Valley wunderkinde onside. He is not the answer to anything. But he is not a fascist. We have enough real fascists.
January 20, 2026 at 10:10 AM
It's good to remain vaguely grounded in reality. So Newsom is a neoliberal democrat with white teeth and a glossy smile. He wants power. He has also to keep some part of the Silicon Valley wunderkinde onside. He is not the answer to anything. But he is not a fascist. We have enough real fascists.
We need of course to avoid poking the beast unduly. But we also need allies and options. For me, that means rapid progress on Europe and a sensible friendly relationship with China. Defence now is not nukes but drones and software. And we need to escape from US social media.
January 17, 2026 at 11:05 PM
We need of course to avoid poking the beast unduly. But we also need allies and options. For me, that means rapid progress on Europe and a sensible friendly relationship with China. Defence now is not nukes but drones and software. And we need to escape from US social media.
That's true, so far as it goes. But it brings the question: what can we do to be in a better position? And so far, it seems that Labour has nothing to say. Sadly, the US will not revert to "normal" - Trump or not. Appeasement is a limited life proposition.
January 17, 2026 at 10:58 PM
That's true, so far as it goes. But it brings the question: what can we do to be in a better position? And so far, it seems that Labour has nothing to say. Sadly, the US will not revert to "normal" - Trump or not. Appeasement is a limited life proposition.
Well, the circumstances do suggest that the effect would simply be sackings whenever Tufton St or the Israel lobby get their knickers in a twist. If politics continues to be imagined as how to deal with next day's Daily Mail, then senior officials need due process.
January 15, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Well, the circumstances do suggest that the effect would simply be sackings whenever Tufton St or the Israel lobby get their knickers in a twist. If politics continues to be imagined as how to deal with next day's Daily Mail, then senior officials need due process.
He has the misfortune to be in the way of the Israel lobby, who appear to be entirely above criticism or legality.
January 14, 2026 at 10:07 AM
He has the misfortune to be in the way of the Israel lobby, who appear to be entirely above criticism or legality.
Unconvicted political prisoners dying on hunger strike in UK gaols in support of international law. So much for the morality of a Labour government. I hope Cooper & Lammy are held to account.
January 14, 2026 at 12:10 AM
Unconvicted political prisoners dying on hunger strike in UK gaols in support of international law. So much for the morality of a Labour government. I hope Cooper & Lammy are held to account.
I think he may have spent the money already.
January 14, 2026 at 12:05 AM
I think he may have spent the money already.
The Guardian is once again cheerleading the Israel lobby's attempt to smear all opposition as anti-Semitic. Meantime the Gaza horror continues, and people of the West Bank are daily driven from their homes.
January 12, 2026 at 7:48 PM
The Guardian is once again cheerleading the Israel lobby's attempt to smear all opposition as anti-Semitic. Meantime the Gaza horror continues, and people of the West Bank are daily driven from their homes.