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Ben Thorne

@benthorne.bsky.social
84 followers 60 following 39 posts

Dad. Green Lefty Humanist. Born at 333ppm.

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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
I was on a pendolino three years ago in high heat. Rammed, air con had broken. Water from the broken air con was dripping onto various heads. A man was guffawing and snorting and shouting loudly, so you can imagine our delight when the train tilted round a corner and dumped a load of water on him.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
My son’s second and he’s 1.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Howw is Burnham going to be any different? I genuinely need to know, because to run on the PM hamster wheel you have to dance to the tune of your masters.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
I don’t think you’re okay are you? When was the last time you went outside or spoke to another human? Maybe have a wank? Like I said, wind your neck in and use your brain to consider whether my reply warranted your teenage bullshit.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Fuck me. Didn’t expect you to go ‘full cunt’. Wind your neck in a bit, I think you’ve jumped down the throat of someone who’s more aligned with you than took the time to assess.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Have you seen the studies on what it’s doing to people’s brains? I’ve deep in Claude (not in that way) for about 18 months and I’m definitely experiencing some of the issues.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Love seeing Claude Code put to use.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
What astounds us non-Americans is that this was patently obvious pre-16 and yet people still voted for him? Yes, I know we also had a bad moment where something else was patently obvious in 2016 but we took the opposite, idiotic, course of action.
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Jay Waters @jaywaters.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
The President of the United States is a liar.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
And paedo. And war criminal. And corrupt crook.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
The Rothko room at the Tate and the approximation of the same at the Tate Modern definitely had an impact on everyone entering. Hanging one on its own in a bright gallery with lesser works doesn’t have the same effect.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
I’m not sure I could have any more admiration and respect for another human being Robin, but you keep raising that bar. I hope you’re able to rest a bit tomorrow.
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Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Calstock tonight
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Ricky Davila @therickydavila.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Iran got sanctions removed, will continue missile program, their nuclear program stays intact, they’ll get $300B and confirmed they’ll continue to toll Strait of Hormuz. US lost hundreds of billions, has record high gas prices, Americans are dead, NO gains. Art of the fraud.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Both the government and the Court of Appeal now treat protesters as terrorists and terrorists as protesters. It's hard to accept that a "Labour" government is imposing rightwing authoritarianism on the UK, but please read this column to see what's happening.+🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The Belfast riots, Palestine Action protests. What is terrorism now – and why the hypocrisy? | George Monbiot
The right is obsessed with ‘two-tier policing’. This is indeed a two-tier government – but the real victims are progressives, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
If I can offer a blend of two Marcus Aurelius quotes here: “When you wake, tell yourself: today I will meet with ingratitude, arrogance, disloyalty, ill-will and selfishness -all of it the result of people not knowing good from evil. The best revenge is not to be like that.” - Meditations
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
The Court of Appeal judgement on Palestine Action is frankly bonkers. It says PA is not "a direct action civil disobedience protest group like the suffragettes operating transparently in the open." Right: the arson, bombings, slashings etc were all planned in open meetings in Parliament Square 🙄🧵
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Owen Jones @owenjones.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Do we want this country to be destroyed?
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Digital Brain @yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Excessively watching short videos alters cerebral self-control circuits, driving fast, impulsive decisions and reducing sensitivity toward future risks or negative losses. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.12125
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
So "what's Palestine got to do with the UK left?" is from that root origin. If you oppose domination on principle, it doesn't stop at the economy or the border - and the UK isn't a bystander here, it's selling the arms. The oppression point wasn't an axis-mapping error, it's just core left-wing.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
True, if you look at a two-axis compass, but the axes aren't as independent as they look. Left/right didn't start as "who owns the factory" - it started in 1789 as where you stand on hierarchy. Equality vs the established order. Economic ownership is downstream of that, not the definition of it.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Wah wah. That’s my klaxon. Plenty of unambiguously left positions - social democracy, the Greens, anarchism - don’t centre nationalised ownership, and the equality/anti-domination value underneath the left is exactly what links economic redistribution to standing up for the oppressed.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
These ‘patriots’ are seriously doing my head in now. Still, at least when they chuck a bin we can expose them for the simpletons they are.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I really hope you’re back in the UK for a while Mehdi, our media and certain ‘political’ movements need tearing apart.
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Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
First album of poetry and music is here - Working on more - all profits go to Rachel and she needs her tour van fixing so it would be a great time to buy it please normallyweirdassociates.bandcamp.com/album/weirdl...
normallyweirdassociates.bandcamp.com
Weirdly Normal, by Robin Ince and Rachel Taylor-Beales
13 track album
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Owen Jones @owenjones.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
This is so dangerous
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
This is great! And not easy. Quite Brian Bilston.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
The latest installment of a story that just gets grimmer and grimmer. If you thought such appointments ended with the Tories, you'll be sorely disappointed. www.ft.com/content/747e...
ft.com
Top health official had close ties with Palantir partner at time of NHS contract
Scrutiny of Samantha Jones, permanent secretary at the Department of Health, comes amid pressure for ministers to use break clause in key contract
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Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
This week’s gigs #comedy #poetry #books #bookshop www.robinince.com
THIS WEEK'S GIGS
8/G
BOOKISH, CRICKHOWELL
9/6
STORYVILLE, PONTYPRIDD
10/6
QUINNS, MARKET HARBOROUCH
11/6
DROP CITY, STOKE ON TRENT
12/6
THE SPEAKEASY, LINCOLM
13/6
CHIPPENHAM PRIDE
14/6
WATERSTONES, CHIPPENHAM 11am
& & robin.ince
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I far prefer to scan on my own phone, then just tap and walk out, like in Sainsbury's. No self-checkout faff, no having to let someone else scan it. Just grab it and go. We need to find better work for people than scanning other people's shopping.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Top Deck? Nice photo.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
You’re not going to like this then Robin. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGGgzS…
youtube.com
Reform candidate calls for young girls to be given 'biological reality check' | LBC
Reform UK’s candidate in an upcoming by-election has called for women and young girls to be given a 'biological reality' check, as he outlined how he believe...
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
I’ve ridden the Shanghai-Huangzhou section (110 miles, takes just under an hour, would take 3-3.5hrs in the UK) many times. First class pod seats, waitress service, utter luxury. And for 1/4 the price of a UK fare.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
🔴 SCOOP: Wife of Starmer’s comms chief had direct knowledge of Labour Together’s investigation into journalists, documents seen by D4S show Revelation heaps more pressure on minister Josh Simons to explain why he paid a PR firm to dig dirt on reporters democracyforsale.substack.com/p/starmer-al...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Starmer ally Josh Simons faces fresh questions about digging dirt on journalists
Tory and SNP chiefs call for Labour minister Simons to ‘come clean’ as we reveal new details of PR firm’s campaign to discredit journalists
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
I hope that soon, when this is all over, the trials, sentencing and wealth distribution will make Nurenberg look like Judge Judy.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Managed to take a break from the rage induced by that big orange clown to get the next part of the MMT series done. It’s worth asking who the fear serves. medium.com/@benthorne/why…
medium.com
Why You’re Being Told To Be Scared Of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
The fear is real. The reasons for it are not what you think.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Looks like I’ll be voting @greenparty.org.uk then. votecompass.uk
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Mary Gillis @marygillis.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
The only biosphere in the known universe capable of supporting human life is being turned into a hell planet because most of Earth's governments refuse to stop trying to satisfy the insatiable greed of a plutocracy composed of people who already have more money than they could spend in 20 lifetimes.
theguardian.com
Point of no return: a hellish ‘hothouse Earth’ getting closer, scientists say
Continued global heating could set irreversible course by triggering climate tipping points, but most people unaware
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
I got banned from Twitter from calling Trump a c**t on every post of his for two years straight. 8 years later, it’s still true.
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Struggling to find the words to describe the utter reckless vandalism of this sickening move - deliberately making millions of people sicker & less secure in order to enrich billionaire polluters
bbc.co.uk
Trump revokes landmark ruling that greenhouse gases endanger public health
The White House calls it the largest deregulation in US history, but environmentalists say it will prove costly for Americans.
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
😂
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Thanks! Got it. Economic power not the same as spending power.
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Rings true from a British perspective too... The Heartbreaking Reason Americans Won’t Work Anymore by Mona Lazar medium.com/p/the-heartb...
medium.com
The Heartbreaking Reason Americans Won’t Work Anymore
No, they’re not suddenly lazy
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
This is why we need to nip the channels to bribery in the bud now, through parliamentary reform, rather than chasing our tails saying it won’t happen again. I wrote a rant about it yesterday. medium.com/@benthorne/we-… #votegreen
medium.com
We Knew
The Mandelson revelations aren’t shocking. That’s the problem.
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bubbaz.bsky.social @bubbaz.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
#Epstein was co-owner of a Silicon Valley venture fund controlled by Peter Thiel, billionaire founder of defence analytics giant Palantir Technologies, which holds more than £670 million in UK Government contracts. Palantir has tentacles that reach deep into the British state and institutions.
sussexbylines.co.uk
Palantir’s far-reaching gaze penetrates Britain
Are we really still independent of the US security state?
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Simon Kuestenmacher @simongerman600.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
This map by @neilrkaye shows day length change in minutes per week at 51 degrees north latitude (that's roughly Brighton, Cambridge, London). Source: buff.ly/U6mUZzA
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Try this. If I'm completely wrong about MMT, please do let me know! First stab at getting my head around it. medium.com/@benthorne/w...
medium.com
What is Modern Monetary Theory? (And What It Isn’t)
The economic framework everyone’s arguing about, explained without the nonsense from either side
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Ben Thorne @benthorne.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Interrupted my writing schedule to knock out my thoughts on Mandelson and how none of us are surprised any more. medium.com/p/we-knew-3c... #mandelson #politics #ukpolitics #labour #corruption #epstein #epsteinwasmossad #trumpiscorrupt
medium.com
We Knew
The Mandelson revelations aren’t shocking. That’s the problem.
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