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Arthur Snell

@snellarthur.bsky.social

24K followers 3.8K following 4K posts

Writer, podcaster and former diplomat. https://www.rusi.org/people/snell arthursnell.substack.com

www.rusi.org

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · Nov 15

I was going to do a starter pack of former diplomats who like mountaineering and geopolitics and seventeenth century music and Gloucester rugby but it turns out I'm the only person on it.

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Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · 5h

Horrific reporting from the AP on the Myanmar families watching their kids starve to death from Trump and Musk’s aid cuts apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 1h

And don't forget those checks and balances. Very checky and balancy

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 1h

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 3h

Did you go to university?

Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 4h

Yes if you create tools that have learned from artists’ work (literary, visual, musical) without compensation and which can then create low quality but high volume content, rendering many artists unemployable.

Reposted by Arthur Snell

Adam Sharp @adamcsharp.bsky.social · 5h

As today is World Octopus Day I’ll again mention that a Spanish equivalent to “like a fish out of water” is como un pulpo en un garaje. It means “like an octopus in a garage.”

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 4h

It’s straight from a Stewart Lee routine: ”what, literally? They built *how* many reactors while we were redefining what a woman is? Five reactors?”

Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 4h

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.

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 4h

If you want to read an actually good piece about integration in the United Kingdom, try @samfr.bsky.social:

The Truth About Integration

I have been challenged by readers to write something less depressing about the state of the country.

samf.substack.com

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 4h

Also, people claiming the right to lecture on ‘culture’ and ‘integration’ when they represent a dying political party and desperately oppose broad societal trends clearly lack any sense of self awareness.

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 4h

The invective that Daisley hurls at Muslims he would have hurled at my great-grandparents when they came here and indeed much of it is still true of the ethnic group he slobbers over. 'Aggressive integration policies' do not work in France and would diminish Jewish life here in the UK.

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 7h

Whereas stealing artists’ work is killing their industry, so…

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 7h

Presumably Michael Gove (MA English, Oxon) agrees with his protégée’s approach.

The Bear @bearlypolitics.co.uk · 11h

So, the plan is to cut English, the arts, and sociology - the degrees that actually study culture - while on another part of your platform claiming to “defend” British culture.

It’s performance nationalism with a reading age of seven.

Badenoch: Curb students taking 'rip-off' degrees such as English
The performing arts, sociology and anthropology are among the subjects the Conservatives would like to cut

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 2d

After a trip across Ukraine on trains that keep running in spite of Russian air raids, nothing says welcome home quite like those three magical words:

Rail Replacement Bus

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 7h

It would be damn fine thing f they did.

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Meta Resistance @metaresistance.bsky.social · 11h

“Words cannot express how much I love this. Humor is critical in stopping the Fascists.” Below, another caption reads: “Portland Protestors Baiting ICE Agents With Donuts on Fishing Poles Calling it ICE Fishing.” Image shows protesters holding fishing poles with donuts tied to the ends, facing several uniformed officers standing near bicycles on a city sidewalk.

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 7h

Maybe Macron can help. He’ll have plenty of time on his hands…

John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 9h

Think an underpriced 2029 scenario is "ungovernable mess".

Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 1d

Four parties within a 5 point swing of first place and five parties on 12% plus.

This would be pure chaos under first past the post.

Reposted by Arthur Snell

John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 9h

Think an underpriced 2029 scenario is "ungovernable mess".

Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 1d

Four parties within a 5 point swing of first place and five parties on 12% plus.

This would be pure chaos under first past the post.

Election Maps UK @electionmaps.uk · 1d

Westminster Voting Intention:

RFM: 27% (-2)
LAB: 20% (-2)
CON: 17% (+1)
LDM: 17% (+2)
GRN: 12% (+1)
SNP: 4% (+1)

Via @yougov.co.uk, 5-6 Oct.
Changes w/ 28-29 Sep.

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Josie Glausiusz @josiegz.bsky.social · 7h

Some of the saddest stories are the ongoing trauma suffered by survivors of the Nova Festival.

Arad Katz fled the festival in a car with friends. He saw Eden Ben Rubi standing with police officers at a junction, so didn't offer her a ride. She was later shot dead.

www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

They survived the Nova party massacre. Two years on, they are still hiding

The State Expects Survivors of the Nova Festival to Recover, but With Hostages Still in Gaza and the War Dragging On, the Personal Tragedy Persists. 'I Knew We Had an Army, We Hade a Police Force; I B...

www.haaretz.com

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BBC Newsnight @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social · 22h

“You described Reform and other parties across Europe today as among the 'right wing equivalents of the fascists in the 1930s'. Why?”

“Because that’s what they are”

@vicderbyshire.bsky.social asks Lord Heseltine about remarks he made at Conservative Party Conference.

#Newsnight

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 8h

If they’d offered “incredible invisibility” then I guess it might have been worth considering, just for the experience.

Reposted by Arthur Snell

Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 8h

Up to 25,000 Cubans could soon be fighting for Russia.

It is reported that Cubans are promised about $2,000 per month - far more than they can earn at home. It is also possible that they are promised jobs in construction but then sent to the frontlines.

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Dr Stylite @columnist.bsky.social · 8h

From today’s Playbook - I find it curious that none of these political geniuses ever seem to consider how UK GDP growth might have looked in the few years post Brexit (a time of acute focus on relative economic performance) w/out immigration.

From today’s politico playbook:

Exhibit A: "The Boriswave — and we should call it that - has f*cked us. Our record on everything in the last government, prisons, immigration, economy, is sh*t," one Tory figure lamented last night. "There's naivety at the top about just how much time they need to be spending doing surgery and showing we're learning our lessons from the last government, and the whole 'we'll look like the grown-ups eventually' thing isn't going to work."

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 8h

FAFO etc

Frédéric Moreau @goodclimate.bsky.social · 22h

This lurid headline is about British tourists no longer getting away with overstaying in Schengen. Or being 'illegals', as it's often called in the UK.

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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 21h

It was going fine until brilliance filed a me too complaint…

Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 1d

open.spotify.com/episode/1vQw...

Crossing the Line: an Israeli - Palestinian love story

open.spotify.com

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