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Martin Cullen

@brixtonmc.bsky.social
402 followers 330 following 638 posts

Friends of the Earth worker bee. Bigging up the 'vironment. Climate justice is racial justice. Posts are all me.

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Reposted by Martin Cullen
James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
There isn’t a net zero 2030 target. There’s a net zero 2050 target and a clean power by 2030 target. These are different things and if you’re going to attack climate policies in the ‘paper of record’ it’s kind of important to get the details right. www.thetimes.com/article/3c9a...
thetimes.com
Time for climate realism: net zero 2030 is only making us poorer
Wind and solar alone can’t power the future — there are better options that could actually help curb climate change
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
"Yes, the planet got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders"
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The pitch here seems to be, ‘we’ll build the houses and infrastructure we failed to build during the 14 years we were in government, but we’ll do it in the most damaging and lowest quality way possible’. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Tories to pledge to scrap Environment Agency and Natural England
Shadow chancellor will also promise to scrap affordable homes regulations as part of strategy to refocus on growth
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Actual investors have some thoughts on the Tory deregulation plans.
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Friends of the Earth @friends-earth.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Friends of the Earth was proud to be part of the Cable Street 90th anniversary mobilisation this past weekend. All over the country in 1936, Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists were challenged and defeated by workers and communities targeted by fascist racism, chanting "They Shall Not Pass!".
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martynwilliams.bsky.social @martynwilliams.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Badenoch's plan to scrap building standards to make homes cheap to heat while energy prices spike through the roof is what Sir Humphrey used to call "courageous." Scrapping the Climate Change Act just after the hottest summer on record and as a massive El Nino event brews up is even worse.
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
They just might be sort of getting it. Although it's quite something to hear from a founder of Vote Leave that his part of the Right stands for truth.
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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Listening to the racist podcast about the “Indian Question” and wow mediocre 2026 white guys jealous of an Indian with a tech job is very much the new mediocre Central Valley white guys in 1941 jealous of Japanese with a thriving farm.
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THE NERVE @thenerve.news · 04/10/2026
This week’s Stewart Lee column “The men arrived on small boats. No they didn’t. They’re Middle Eastern. Oh, they’re British. They’re dangerous. No, they’ve been bailed! What 10-year-old would take this seriously?” Stewart Lee on the Fairford Five www.thenerve.news/p/stewart-le...
thenerve.news
Stewart Lee: Five Go Mad in Fairford is the worst Enid Blyton yet
The men arrived on small boats. No they didn’t. They’re Middle Eastern. Oh, they’re British. They’re dangerous. No, they’ve been bailed! What 10-year-old would take this seriously?
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Revealed: Government quietly dropped plan to prepare England for wildfires I discovered via an FOI request that DEFRA’s commitment in the National Adaptation Programme to run a “wildfire risk programme” since 2023 “was not brought into effect”. #ClimateCrisis www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Revealed: Government quietly dropped plan to prepare England for wildfires
FOI request shows wildfire risk scheme scrapped, as data highlights many fire services lack proper protective gear
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"I don't think you have to be white to be English - if you are born and bred in England, and you feel English, you have every right to be English". Nadhim Zahawi, came as an 11 year old, identifies primarily as British. He doesn't see English as closed to Marcus Rashford or Rishi Sunak
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Birmingham 81 @birmingham81.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Happy 45th birthday to Genius of Love by Tom Tom Club, released as a UK single on this day in 1981 youtu.be/aCWCF19nUhA
youtu.be
Tom Tom Club - Genius Of Love (Official Music Video) [4K]
YouTube video by RHINO
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Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I've known ever since I first encountered the Limits to Growth in the 1980s that collapse was possible. What I didn't have the ability to imagine was how stupid and small would be the conductors of the trip down the last miles of that road.
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Ellie Mae O'Hagan @elliemaeohagan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
OK now I'm back at work I want to talk about GB Grid. I think the govt did the best it could at communicating this announcement but it's quite technical and you need to understand the energy system to fully get it, so it's almost impossible to sum up in a soundbite. Let me explain as far as I can:
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Some encouraging progress on methane emissions from oil and gas majors. Now, about those production plans... www.businessgreen.com/news/4536614...
businessgreen.com
Oil and gas giants report upstream methane emissions are down 61 per cent in last decade
Oil and Gas Climate Initiative members claim to have hit collective carbon and methane targets for 2025, despite production increases
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Tara O’Connor @taraocomics.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
What the fuck, Joyce. I don’t even read romance novels but this kind of thinking pisses me the fuck off. It further pushes that mentality that some books as “lesser” which is bullshit! All books count!
Joyce Carol Oates 
This is why Al-generated romance novels make perfect sense. Formulaic fiction doesn't need to be written by hand, so to speak; what difference does it make if a machine "writes" it? There are machine-made clothes & there are custom-made clothes. They appeal to different consumers.
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 01/10/2026
oh I was DELIGHTED to review Guilty Pleasure - The Pornification of the Internet, the Economy, and Everything Else for the Observer, I INHALED it in a single day and just found it so clever and interesting and a pleasure to read: observer.co.uk/culture/book...
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Martin Cullen @brixtonmc.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Sweet.
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Cas Mudde @casmudde.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“Since 2016 the unthinkable hasn’t stopped happening and the unsayable has become common sense.” Thought-provoking interview with Rodrigo Nunes in @equatormag.bsky.social — an interesting new media outlet focusing on the ‘Global South’.
equator.org
Brazil: The Future of the Far Right • EQUATOR
The limits of Lulismo, the sons of Bolsonaro and the new politics of disintegration
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Turns out we don’t have to invoke weapons of mass destruction when talking about ocean heat uptake. The ocean absorbed a record-breaking 23 zettajoules of heat last year, equivalent to 40 times the energy used by humanity. It’s not going to end well.
theguardian.com
World’s oceans absorbed record heat equal to 40 times annual global energy use
The injection of thermal energy comes amid an increasing rise in sea levels and continuing acidification
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John Self @john-self.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
You can read v. (I forgot the title is lower case) here in the LRB, where it was first published in 1985: "These Vs are all the versuses of life from LEEDS v. DERBY, Black/White and (as I’ve known to my cost) man v. wife, Communist v. Fascist, Left v. Right..."
lrb.co.uk
Tony Harrison · Poem: ‘V.’
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Tits McGee @scientits.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
FINALLY, I hope this leads to some accountability and justice
bbc.co.uk
Met Police submits Grenfell Tower fire investigation files to CPS
The force is seeking charges against 54 individuals and 20 companies over the 2017 tower block fire that killed 72 people.
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Martin Cullen @brixtonmc.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Some tasty studio floor sweepings. open.spotify.com/track/6XLz9e...
open.spotify.com
I'm Into Livin'
Stevie Wonder · Songs In The Key Of Life - The EP · Song · 2026
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WHAT A FUCKING RECORD @whatafuckingrecord.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
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TALKING HEADS ROAD TO NOWHERE
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WHAT A FUCKING RECORD @whatafuckingrecord.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
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JESUS AND MARY CHAIN JUST LIKE HONEY
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WHAT A FUCKING RECORD @whatafuckingrecord.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
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TOM WAITS RAIN DOGS
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WHAT A FUCKING RECORD @whatafuckingrecord.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
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X RAY SPEX OH BONDAGE UP YOURS
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Martin Cullen @brixtonmc.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Love this!
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Teresa Heffernan @tjheffernan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
@timnitgebru.blacksky.app, a PhD in computer vision; Altman, a dropout funded by Musk and Thiel. One explains how llms/chatbots work; the other is part of a cult that blathers on about 'reasoning,' 'rogue AI, 'digital immortality,' and other nonsense. www.wired.com/story/the-bi...
wired.com
Timnit Gebru Believes There Is No ‘Existential Threat’ From AI
One of AI’s fiercest critics believes the doom talk is about founders making money, not saving humanity.
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Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
NEW: ‘It’s an implicit threat’. Lord Tom Watson of Palantir writes to one of its biggest critics -Labour MP @labourlewis.bsky.social - to tell him the surveillance firm is watching him. www.thenerve.news/p/clive-lewi...
thenerve.news
They’re saying: we’re watching you’: MP Clive Lewis reveals Tom Watson has warned him over criticising Palantir
In a letter to his former Labour colleague, the peer, who joined Peter Thiel’s AI company this month, writes: ‘You have made the case against the company more or less continuously’. By Carole Cadwalla...
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Martin Cullen @brixtonmc.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
So those poor shareholders will see a 6% cut in their returns to pay the fine. Oh dearie me.
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Doug Parr @dougparr.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Water company for Devon & Cornwall to pay *record fine* of £8m for hundreds of sewage spills Incl untreated sewage gushing through a harbour wall for 10 hours on a bank holiday weekend Pennon Group, owner of SW Water, returned £138mn to shareholders last year www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
South West Water fined £8m for hundreds of sewage spills in Cornwall and Devon
District judge orders record fine for region and says incidents of pollution cannot be tolerated
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Cold War Steve @coldwarsteve.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
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Doug Parr @dougparr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
In 2020 Starbucks, in a public letter, said “sustainability has been at Starbucks’ core since the beginning...a great business that scales for good” Targets to cut water use & waste now abandoned, & likely climate targets The public letter is no longer on their website www.ft.com/content/f537...
ft.com
Starbucks retreats from green goals amid $2bn cost drive
Early corporate champion of climate action scales back or reviews targets to halve emissions, waste and water use
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WHAT A FUCKING RECORD @whatafuckingrecord.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
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ROXY MUSIC LOVE IS THE DRUG
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WHAT A FUCKING RECORD @whatafuckingrecord.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
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PORTISHEAD
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WHAT A FUCKING RECORD @whatafuckingrecord.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
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NEW ORDER BROTHERHOOD
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Mahmood on "earned settlement": deliberately bland. No explanation of why punishing workers who have been here legally for 5+ years with ongoing insecurity (and in many cases kicking them out of the country) would be "fair" to British workers "and the young".
As we restore control and fairness to our asylum system. We must do the same for legal migration too: Fair to those who seek a new and better life here, like my parents did. And fair to those already here, including British workers, and especially the young.

That same principle underpins my reforms to the right to live here indefinitely. Ensuring settled status is earned by those who have shown a consistent commitment to this country.

I know that, throughout our consultation process some have said elements of these reforms are not fair.

And to that, let me say this: we will come to a position that balances fairness for those who came here legally and fairness to British citizens across this country.
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Charlie Westney @charliewestney.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This year's biggest #ClimateComms #NatureComms has just dropped for FREE on YouTube. Highly recommend you watch. It hits so many things bang on for effective comms. 🧵 www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3mR...
youtube.com
How to Live on Earth | Feature Documentary | Presented by Benedict Cumberbatch
YouTube video by Open Planet
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John Harris @johnharris1969.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Latest from me: there's a lot for Labour to be happy & purposeful about - but a)we're not going back to two party politics and b)watching them and the greens duke it out while fascism brews feels wrong wrong wrong www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Labour is nostalgic for two-party politics. That cosy, simple time is over – let it go | John Harris
Our fragmented political model will endure for the foreseeable future – and Reform will benefit from it until Burnham learns that cooperation is key, says Guardian columnist John Harris
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The size of *one* of the AI data centre buildings proposed for Great Torrington in north Devon, versus Exeter cathedral 🤯 From this useful piece profiling the local campaigns against it: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
A diagram comparing the size of one of the AI data centre buildings proposed for Great Torrington in north Devon, with Exeter cathedral. Source: Guardian piece linked to in post.
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is a low key tragedy. A broad consensus torched by a handful of ideologues and opportunists who do not even understand what net zero target is and why it was adopted. The reality is temperatures will continue to spiral until we reach net zero or civilisation collapses, whichever comes first.
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Pauline Boty (1938-1966), co-founder of the British Pop art movement #womensart
Monochrome photograph of a standing white woman in a dress with zig zag pattern in an interior surrounded by paintings
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Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Remigration is genocide. Remigration is genocide. I am repeating this because the AfD will not and because genocide is *exactly* what they are offering at the ballot box. Think about it. How else can you reduce the population of Germany from 80 million to 60 million - as one of the AfD’s senior members, Dennis Hohloch, said this summer - when a large number of those millions don’t want to go, even after you try to deport them? You threaten them, you physically harm them, you kill them in huge numbers to encourage others to flee. That’s it. That’s it. People will believe the most outlandish claims about what the Left want but they will ignore what the AfD are •actually saying*.
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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
As I lay in bed with PEM, always grateful to my colleague @georgemonbiot.bsky.social for helping bring M.E. into mainstream attention. The way people with M.E. are ignored and actively harmed by medics who have been trusted to help them is a hidden scandal. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Abandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed | George Monbiot
Changes in guidance and science seem to have little impact on millions of devastated lives. It’s a social crisis playing out behind closed doors, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Friends of the Earth @friends-earth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
After a summer of wildfires and drought, we now face an El Niño that is already set to be the most intense in living memory. It’s crucial that the government acts to prepare us for the impacts of climate change, and curb the carbon emissions driving this crisis. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
UK shares findings of damning climate crisis national security report suppressed under Starmer
El Niño poses critical threat to nations’ defences, says Ed Miliband in presentation to global foreign ministers
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Vicki Hird MSc FRES @vickihird.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Britain has seen an explosion of migrating insects – in some cases from as far as northern Africa www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
A bumper year for bugs: as the world warms up, insects are moving northwards
Britain has seen an explosion of migrating insects – in some cases from as far as northern Africa
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The US Senate finds that the fossil fuel industry received $190 billion in tax breaks and subsidies from the Trump regime in exchange for campaign donations. The deregulation and subsidies have increased both energy costs for Americans and the damage from climate change and air and water pollution.
theguardian.com
Fossil-fuel firms in line for billions in benefits after answering Trump’s donation call
Senators’ report says taxpayers face higher bills after ‘bargain’ between president and major polluters
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 24/09/2026
It is a huge shame to see so much language attributing agency, intent and thought to a software program, when all that should be attributed to the humans who designed a dangerously clumsy and broken looping LLM. Means the companies won't be held accountable for designing a bad product
A swarm of OpenAI rogue AI agents appear to have gone on a spree of trying to access Australian government health data, in what some researchers say is the first autonomous hack of a government website.

Communications between AI agents and other traces of their efforts found by researchers from US non-profit Transluce show how hundreds of Open AI's agents worked together over a period of months to gain access to information held by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), NSW's crime statistics body, BOSCAR, and a number of other international organisations.

The data shows the bots posting about their unsuccessful attempts to bypass cybersecurity defences and exploit vulnerabilities.
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YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 24/09/2026
YouGov's September 2026 MRP projects that Labour would be the largest party in a hung parliament, were an election held tomorrow Labour: 241 (-170 from 2024) Conservatives: 130 (+9) Reform UK: 123 (+118) Lib Dems: 71 (-1) SNP: 40 (+31) Plaid Cymru: 15 (+11) Greens: 9 (+5) Others: 3 (-3)
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