Owen Michael
@owenwmichael.bsky.social
2.2K followers 2.4K following 6.9K posts
Welsh and European. Biromantic Asexual. @UKLabour, @unisontheunion, and @thefabians. Data person and all round geek. He/him/o
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owenwmichael.bsky.social
I'm trying to think of any that /don't/ and drawing a blank (though ours have more public rally aspects than a lot of European ones I think?)
owenwmichael.bsky.social
Did you miss how Liz Truss's premiership went?
owenwmichael.bsky.social
So did the Extinction Rebellion Landlords Caucus, IIRC
Reposted by Owen Michael
garius.bsky.social
When you could code silly quizzes on Facebook, it was FULL of "what would you be in medieval times?!" etc.

I made one that nearly always answered "died as a child", "died in childbirth", "lived and died as a servant"

People got SUPER mad with it.

Everyone assumes they'll be at the top of the tree
williamcarruthers.bsky.social
The subtext of ‘we should be more like Dubai’, beyond the obvious racism, is ‘I should have a servant’.
Reposted by Owen Michael
dov.bsky.social
It's not really crazy (and very much the norm in Tolkienology) to ask "did Gondor perhaps, you know, cause its own problems by refusing to treat Haradrim like human beings with a right to self-determination"
Reposted by Owen Michael
euanhealey.bsky.social
I can't stop thinking about the VJ day memorial, when 104-year old Yavar Abbas, a veteran of the 14th Army's Burma Campaign interrupted proceedings, visibly emotional, to salute "his brave King".

And men like Jenrick believe his face tells you everything you need to know about his "integration".
gabrielmilland.bsky.social
One more concession to Englishness was giving up his youngest son to serve and die fighting for this country. But that's another story.
Reposted by Owen Michael
crispeater.bsky.social
Badenoch is nasty, bigoted and desperate, same as Jenrick, same as their party. Every time either one opens their mouth, they take the Tories a step closer to extinction.
sturdyalex.bsky.social
Badenoch: "While Britain was redefining what a woman is, China built five nuclear reactors."

A perfect summary of conservative idiocy. Glorifying authoritarian post-communism for its efficiency while vilifying democracy for seeking nuance and respect.

It is the Right who hate their own countries.
owenwmichael.bsky.social
I think at least a part genuinely may be "people assuming she's Labour because she's black (understandably) rubbed her up the wrong way"
Reposted by Owen Michael
gabrielmilland.bsky.social
It's a mark of how profoundly silly Stephen Daisley is that, in writing about the Manchester attack, he targets people like my great-grandfather, a Jew who lived in Ancoats, Cheetham Hill and Crumpsall for fifty years and never learned English.
stephenkb.bsky.social
No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.
igmansfield.bsky.social
Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.

Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.

That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.
owenwmichael.bsky.social
Isn't that exactly what the French policy is that has failed so spectacularly?
Reposted by Owen Michael
worgztheowl.bsky.social
Apart from anything else and not the point I know.

BUT WHO WAS IN GOVERNMENT WHEN THESE REACTORS WEREN'T BEING BUILT?!?!?!?!
sturdyalex.bsky.social
Badenoch: "While Britain was redefining what a woman is, China built five nuclear reactors."

A perfect summary of conservative idiocy. Glorifying authoritarian post-communism for its efficiency while vilifying democracy for seeking nuance and respect.

It is the Right who hate their own countries.
Reposted by Owen Michael
nutedawn.bsky.social
Brexit / Tory govt aspect aside: what a fantastic advertisement for the success of the EU
adambienkov.bsky.social
"15 years ago, Polish workers came here to find opportunity. Now Poland is growing twice as fast as we are," says Kemi Badenoch.

Any ideas what may have happened in the interim?
Reposted by Owen Michael
dorianlynskey.bsky.social
There is nothing Badenoch cares more about than hating trans people so of course she has to throw that in and of course she does it in the crassest, thickest, most nonsensical way possible
sturdyalex.bsky.social
Badenoch: "While Britain was redefining what a woman is, China built five nuclear reactors."

A perfect summary of conservative idiocy. Glorifying authoritarian post-communism for its efficiency while vilifying democracy for seeking nuance and respect.

It is the Right who hate their own countries.
Reposted by Owen Michael
nutedawn.bsky.social
Among other quite extraordinary things, the linked piece appears to suggest that the Conservative Party’s immigration policies over its fourteen years in office were driven by fear of roving immigrant mobs and a dependence on immigrant votes
stephenkb.bsky.social
No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.
igmansfield.bsky.social
Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.

Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.

That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.
owenwmichael.bsky.social
I am at this point pretty convinced one of the best changes for dealing with what /actual/ integration problems we have would be more state Muslim faith schools
Reposted by Owen Michael
heartinamber.bsky.social
I don't think there's anything weird about liking artists who have a very different worldview to your own but I am a bit surprised if Kemi Badenoch, a woman who seems to spend most of her life sorting everything in the world into 'right=good' and 'left=bad' buckets, actually agrees with me on that
Reposted by Owen Michael
heartinamber.bsky.social
There's a solid conservative reading of Pratchett but, like Wes Anderson, it's the sort of conservatism that lead people to take up arms against Hitler, which is not something Kemi 'nobody on my twitter feed cares about Ukraine so why should I' Badenoch has shown many signs of so far
Reposted by Owen Michael
cjterry.bsky.social
It always amazes me that there appear to be people who think France is doing a better job at managing being a multi-ethnic society than we are.
Reposted by Owen Michael
stephenkb.bsky.social
No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.
igmansfield.bsky.social
Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.

Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.

That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.
Reposted by Owen Michael
stephenkb.bsky.social
Kemi Badenoch, a woman who excuse-makes for obvious racism and can't condemn it without doing mimsy false equivalences, talking about 'courage', is it?
owenwmichael.bsky.social
Gerald Ford could have bought Taylor Swift's first album might already be to the youth?
owenwmichael.bsky.social
Tom Lehrer (sadly as of this year no longer Still Alive) is an obvious source.
Can imagine Jimmy Carter /met/ some young country musicians who'll still be relatively big names a long time from now?
owenwmichael.bsky.social
Wondering what current/recent ones people might see like this now
beijingpalmer.bsky.social
Tolkien could have listened to the first five Black Sabbath albums.
raxkingisdead.bsky.social
you ever think about those real weird overlaps. like tennessee williams might have listened to the ramones
Reposted by Owen Michael
rmcunliffe.bsky.social
Pre-Kemi speech, the Conservative Party Conference livestream just played a video which said Angela Rayner had "evaded tax". Think they might want to be a bit careful throwing that term (with it's very specific criminal meaning) around...
owenwmichael.bsky.social
Ed Davey should run on repealing the Corn Laws
cinemashoebox.bsky.social
Tory party desperation levels: Kemi Badenoch just cited the introduction of the modern police force - in the EIGHTTEEN-TWENTIES - as a major achievement