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Bentley Steed

@bentleysteed.bsky.social
59 followers 33 following 243 posts

Andrew makes bespoke furniture from sustainable local hardwoods in Fife, Scotland. Writes and paints. Enjoys history, very original fiction and Bruichladdich. Recovering bookseller.

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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Literally: "kinky nuts", seen today in Rocamadour, France. #France
Photograph shows a sign in the shape of a bottle promoting the Quinqui brand of walnut liquer hanging outside a wine merchant in the medieval town of Rocamadour, France
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
My advice to younger selves is to ask how the manager would deal with rude customers shouting at young staff. If it's not along the lines of "kick the f*cker out the door", don't take the job: it's likely the manager treats the staff just as poorly. Best boss I ever had had a preferred head-lock.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
It's always fun to ignite the internet with Yoon huffery by overlaying a map of typical prices per kWh for residential and business users by region. Apparently, the Anglo-Occupiers aren't 'stealing', merely borrowing or sumfink.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Weeks after posting the link, I'm still thinking about THAT short story. Every time I think about how 'Comstellations' was put together, I get the same thrill I had when I was a kid trying, and failing, to figure out how a magic trick was accomplished.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
He swallows.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
China just won the EV war with haptic feedback (mechanosensory information): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatos... All good design has it. It's essential. In short, when driving, you shouldn't be having to take your eyes off the road to adjust the temperature.
en.wikipedia.org
Somatosensory system - Wikipedia
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
For the readers among you, published 2015: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wat... #booksky
en.wikipedia.org
The Water Knife - Wikipedia
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Post-independent Scotland would have remained in the EU as a successionary state. If Unionist fearmongering held any sort of truth, Czechia and Slovakia would still be (re-)applying for membership following the break-up of Czechoslovakia. Today's tip: best not use AI to help with search enquiries.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
I really want reports of Burnham being a supporter of proportional representation to be true and for him to blow up The House of Cards but too many MPs behind him were beneficiaries of a system that gives landslides to a party who can win just 18.6% of all eligible votes (or 30+% of those who did).
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Anyone backing oil over electric has never changed the oil and filter on their vehicle's engine. Miles from a garage in rural France, I've just done it for a Ford Transit. The toxic filth that comes out of just one vehicle would astonish you. Multiply this carbon cancer pus millions of times over...
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
The constitution may be unwritten but elections are for picking MPs. They decide who should be 'First Lord of The Treasury' .ie. the MP who wields the power of monarch in Parliament... ...and that, right there, is the continuing problem: it's a kingdom not a directly-elected democracy.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Very happy qntm's novel is finally getting some recognition. It's absolutely insane that this was self-published but as it defies categorisation, sits perfectly in the 'maybe I should just read that next' list.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Day 15 of the new life in France involves the strip-out of the 1947 kitchen which was last modified in the 1980s. Gas stove out. Bit of a relief to be out of the unseasonal 38°C temperature tbh. Looking forward to restoring the other mid-century bits too. #Rose&Andrew
Image shows the corner of a mid-century French kitchen, currently 4x5m with tiles removed from the walls and the skull-cracking low brick stove hood also taken away. The black soot from the leaky wood burning stove remains on the wall. To the right, a porcelain sink and drainer which was perhaps reclaimed when installed as it's from the 1920s. This will be getting installed in the much older part of the buildimg downstairs.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Spotted in Cahors, France. For those without a map or self-awareness, Dunoon is in Scotland. #GTF
Photograph shows the window display of a tourist tat shop just off Rue Gambetta, Cahors, featuring a display of very colourful, artsy but mass-produced mugs with a label that reads 'Dunoon, Made in England', emblazoned withe The Butcher's Apron (or for the ratfink Yoons among you, the Union flag).
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Day Two of the new life in France and here's an 8pm image of our foundling feathered friend, Cinquieme, who fell onto our van and into our lives just two weeks ago as a mewling near-bald chick. Cat food brand 'Sheba' is the secret, and lots of strawberries, blueberries and cucumber. #Rose&Andrew
The photo shows the three-week-old bundle of prank that is otherwise known as a magpie chick. Possibly female as there's no white spot on her black back. From day one, two eeks last Saturday, we've debated the ethic of supporting a wild animal that fell with her siblings from a nest attacked by another magpie. She was the only survivor out of five from an abandoned nest (we waited for a parent to re-appear) and in a rural part of the country with no equivalent to the RSPCA, we either left for a cat, fox or whatever, or did the 'weak' thing and get her to an age she can fly and feed for herself. One notable thing to say in our defence is that other people on the campsite have overcome the superstition that corvids are bad luck, and discovering that persecuted birds can be helped, even if it's just giving them space to be curious has encouraged them to see these birds differently.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Day One. Welcome to the jungles of Masclat, Lot, in south-west France and a new post-Brexit life. Just cut a path through what will be the garden so we can park! #Rose&Andrew
Photo shows the rear, north-facing side of our home which was first built in 1768. I've just finished using a brushcutter to whack a path through meadow grown a metre-high in the Spring rain.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
It's an Occupation. There may not be tanks on the streets but the logical consequence of holding a veto over a 'client' nation is that they cannot vote for independence. And for those unaware, Bernard Ponsonby is a journalist not a pro-independence politician.
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A. Marmot 🌱 @aminus.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
⚠️ Chrome's update installs a 4GB AI model file to your device without your consent! To disable the shitty AI mode*, go to chrome://flags/ and search for these, toggle each to "disabled": optimization-guide-on-device-model prompt-api-for-gemini-nano ai-mode-omnibox-entry-point -
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Celeste Ng @pronounced-ing.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Had convos w/ multiple people in the past 4 days who DID NOT KNOW that 1. AI doesn't "think" or know anything; it's a probability machine 2. It was created using massive amounts of work stolen from actual people including me 3. The environmental costs are astronomical Spread the word, every time!
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Most people don't actually drive very far but can't rely on public transport outside of major cities. Rather than importing bland touch-screen vehicles, why aren't EU govts (especially) scaling up on the manufacture and installation of conversion kits? www.electrogenic.co.uk/kits/convers...
electrogenic.co.uk
Electrogenic electric conversion kits
Electrogenic drop-in EV conversion kits
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
@georgemonbiot.bsky.social gets the front page back home. It's surprising how many folk in England agree. Nice lady on phone yesterday apologised as she couldn't list our country of birth as 'Scotland' but only 'Royaume-Uni'... The French know it too.
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Resist and restore democracy in 2026 @defendamerica.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Just curious... how many times will we have to sit through these ridiculous "assassination attempt" reruns? Is it sweeps week yet?
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Faked. The photo of the Groomers grinning minutes after the fact, all using the identical talking point on social media makes it plain. Looking forward to the next Iranian Lego video: it seems to more accurately report White House affairs than other outlets.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Strange find of the day: an Umbrella Paper Wasp nest found abandoned in the grass in Lot, France. Been inspired to keep a keen eye for the strange stuff by @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
Image shows the remains of a wasp nest containing around thirty empty cells, photographed on a decorative blue tile. At this time of year, it's really easy to find wasps mining wood such as oak and beech from which they make paper. If you've ever wondered what those strange blond trails on grey raw wooden surfaces were, there's a chance it was a gardener's friend. Many species of wasp are omniverous and predate other insects, so shouldn't be swatted, especially as they're also good pollinators.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Booksellers who've laughed at some of the generic sh*t publishers have been bigging-up biggly months in advance of those boxes arriving in bookshops to be displayed front-of-store, only to find how hilariously flat is the novel which got spat out the other side of the edit be like...
media.tenor.com
a woman is eating popcorn while sitting on a couch and says `` the show begins '' .
Alt: A woman is eating popcorn while sitting on a couch as a subtitle below declares: "the show begins". The look on her face tells you this is no surprise, I mean, seriously, this much popcorn doesn't just spontaneously appear but has been prepared by all those long-serving, very experienced editors you fired after each successive round of corporate takeovers because some unpaid intern, subsidised by their wealthy, upper middle-class parents is far cheaper to employ than someone who doesn't shrink in fear from the unfashionable use of a semi-colon.
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bluesams.bsky.social @bluesams.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
the US miltary leaked details of the operation to rescue civilians (not military personnel engaged in an illegal war) to cause a disaster which brought down the only US President to never prosecute a foreign war (& not a single uniformed US service member died taking part in war under Carter). 2/
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Until the US shows the rescued pilots, I think it's fair to say the rest of the world is assuming the Iranian version of events is correct, namely, the US tried - and failed - to secure the enriched uranium. Also, the episode that brought down Jimmy Carter occured because Reagan-supporters in 1/
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Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Charlize Theron on the Night Her Mother Killed Her Father in Self-Defense Unfortunately, this is not an isolated story. These things are prevalent in a lot of homes. Women really get a very, very unfair shake, even in this country. Nobody takes it seriously.
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
my latest books cartoon for @theguardian.com
Two hooded figures with lamps approach a moonlit, isolated cottage.
A woman answers the door.
We have come for the child, says the hooded figure
So soon? she asks
It is time, says the hooded figure.
The woman is distraught. We should never have got him a library card!
What is done cannot be undone, says the hooded figure
We couldn’t see the harm! We just wanted him to enjoy reading! 
For most, it ends there, says the hooded figure, turning away and walking into the wilderness
Oh lord, What have I done! says the woman,
the child walks past her and out into the darkness with them.
Do not cry mother. 
I am a writer now.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Farage: (French) 1. (n.) failed cheese; 2. (v.) to farage, deriv. 'farrago' eg. to purvey badly-fermented and/or poorly-mixed products, esp. those that would latterly fail a British Standard (see also: Russia; Ruzzia; crypto-commerce; political influence)
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Wes Streeting there, demonstrating what an occupation looks like when a smaller, neighbouring country doesn't share a border with Russia or Israel.
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Ruth Watson @ruthwatson.eurosky.social · 12/04/2026
*Scotland enters the chat* bsky.app/profile/lbc....
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
The rest of the world is watching. We will judge your entire nation in the future by what the citizens of the US choose to do before 8pm. To refuse to act is to be complicit. Isn't that why you have a Second Amendment? (We are also judging our own governments and how complicit they choose to be.)
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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
NASA just dropped this image of Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch looking back at us. The first woman to ever see our planet in its entirety. I’m not crying you’re crying 🥹🔭🧪 📸: NASA
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Bought a new computer recently. First thing out of the box, stripped out the AI slopware. Use it for browsing, email etc Then fired up the old Thinkpad. Disconnected internet, removed every app I could that isn't Scrivener and FocusWriter. My writing has noticeably improved.
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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
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Chris Larsen @chrislarsen.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
It's not so much about control of spending as control of information and data, therefore, polling and elections. FMs of all 3 devolved nations could be doing far more to call people onto streets in protest by explaining how constitutional arrangements constrain their ability to resist UK overreach.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
...and they arrested the guy who put graffiti on the statue of the British PM who persuaded the US President to sign off on Operation Ajax? Hey Google, wasn't it the same UK PM whose orders led to the deliberate starving of 3 million Indians? The same guy who sent tanks into Glasgow in 1919? 🤔
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Pete Kegsbreath reckons that the sinking of an Iranian frigate is the first by torpedo since WWII. Two words: General Belgrano. But while we're distracting ourselves from Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza, let's consider how China fancies its chances of grabbing Taiwan:
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Still bemused that no UK politician has gone on Fox News (or whatever), to remind the Magarons (and stoke the fury of) The Orange Felon that he last year insulted the memory of allied servicemen killed in Afghanistan and Iraq... ...but it's an open goal and Starmer is true to his Arsenal.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Your objections to @zackpolanski.bsky.social statements are political and the law hasn't changed to accomomodate the raging whims of The Orange Felon. Even before the first bombs were dropped, it looked likely that the negotiations on enrichment were succeeding. Now? bsky.app/profile/cool... 2/2
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
I studied the constitutional law of both countries at university. But you don't need to be a lawyer. The armed forces of both nations teach the rules of engagement to recruits. Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the rules on how the executive offices of both governments have been tightened. 1/2
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
But the US cannot invoke Article 5, nor can Kier Starmer use it for (temporary) political cover. The US President initiated an act of war against a soveriegn state without seeking approval for the use of tax dollars and the resultant loss of life among military personnel from the US Government. 2/2
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
If UK personnel are killed or captured in Iran, they are not protected by international rules of engagement while fighting without the protection of UK parliamentary approval, which would follow on approval for military action in the US Houses of Congress, assuming Article 5 is invoked. 1/2
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Dad was a bus driver. Mum worked part-time as a typist. Grew up in a council house but yeah... "middle-class". Still never so up myself as to vote for something as right-wing as the modern iteration of the 'Labour Party'. Four legs good, two legs better... mind everyone tastes the same as sausage.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Trump has broken US law again. To launch offensive military action, even where justified, without the approval of Congress leaves US military personnel liable to prosecution. This is also true for the military personnel of allied nations. Polanski is correct even we disagree with his reasons why.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
The debate about who's a "UK citizen" avoids dealing with the fact that legally, no-one can be. It's a 'Kingdom'. We are all subjects, no ifs or buts. Not one of us has the legal right to sue the monarch or their family in a court. We will not be equal as citizens until we all are.
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Bentley Steed @bentleysteed.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
If it hasn't got an address on it, especially one identifying the purveyor of budgie cage liner, then it should be reported to The Electoral Commission.
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