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Lee Spracklen

@leespracklen.bsky.social
401 followers 946 following 598 posts

In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. Albert Camus

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Reposted by Lee Spracklen
Gerry Hassan @gerryhassan.bsky.social · 11h
Trump is not just an appeaser but now an open advocate for Putin's Russia: unapologetically aligning with the aggressor who started & continues this conflict. Trump's America is an enemy of the rest of West & its leaders have to oppose Trump & support Ukraine's resistance.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 13h
“Zelenskyy could’ve stopped this war many times, and he chose not to … he better damn well stop” — Trump is no longer trying to conceal that he’s fully on Putin’s side
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Lee Spracklen @leespracklen.bsky.social · 15h
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Angry French students take to the streets. British students don’t – and I think I know why | Kitty Sayers
I grew up in France, where all children are taught about the revolutionary roots of their nation and the responsibility of the state towards its citizens, says Kitty Sayers, a master’s student in jour...
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
‘Mob rule’ is also, of course, an insulting way of referring to democracy.
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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 21h
So far everyone seems to think Navi Pillay is a worthy winner of the Nobel Peace prize except the Mad King and a government currently conducting a genocide.
Israel Foreign Ministry @IsraelMFA
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If there were an award for lies, hatred, and blood libels, Navi Pillay wouldn't just be a contender. She'd be a frontrunner.
Her role in the relentless, politically motivated demonization of Israel and promotion of the genoLIE speaks volumes.
Awarding Pillay the Nobel Peace Prize isn't a recognition of justice. It's the grotesque weaponization of an award to legitimize anti-Israel hatred and prejudice.
Now that the Nobel commission has rewarded the biggest lie of the 21st century, Joseph Goebbels is certainly applauding from hell.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 23h
Trump announces deal to import Russian diesel. Yet he imposed tariffs on China and India for importing fuel from Russia. 3 weeks ago signed law threatening 500% tariffs on India and China. Now facing midterm election defeat ... and Utter bankruptcy of Trump foreign, economic and other policies.
bbc.co.uk
Trump announces deal for Russian diesel as Zelensky calls it a 'gift to Putin'
Ukraine's president sharply criticised the move, calling it an "investment in war that must be ended, not prolonged".
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Lucy Prebble @lucyprebblish.bsky.social · 23h
Welcome to 45, you just got a bad back from sleeping in a bed
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Prof Mark Priestley @markrpriestley.bsky.social · 23h
Disgraceful and embarrassing are apt words - but entirely autobiographical. The man is a monstrous narcissist and a buffoon
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 09/10/2026
"This groundbreaking hardcover book will appeal to many, including white Christian straight men, their white Christian straight wives, and all white Christian straight children before they develop critical thinking skills." buff.ly/2Rbqt3u
buff.ly
Seeking Representation for My Unbannable Book
“This groundbreaking hardcover book will appeal to many, including white Christian straight men, their white Christian straight wives, and all white Christia...
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 09/10/2026
Yesterday marked the 3rd annual Network State conference (in Singapore). This is the venture capital cult that plans to kill democracy. Peter Thiel protégés Curtis Yarvin and Balaji Srinivasan had a polite fireside chat about exactly how the USA will die. Yeah, The Nerd Reich is a very true story!
curtis yarvin at network state conferencebalaji srinivasan at network state conference
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K M Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
wp.me/p15p2Q-8Fe
wp.me
John Lennon b.9th Oct 1940: ‘the establishment will irritate you-pull your beard’
Beard Liberation Front 9th October John Lennon b.9th October 1940: ‘the establishment will irritate you-pull your beard..’ The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has sai…
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 09/09/2026
“Democracy is priceless, but fascism sure seems to pay well. If you’re morally bankrupt and looking to sell your soul, Obey in Advance has everything you need for a profitable life of lickspittlery.” —Kevin Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social), Professor of History, Princeton University buff.ly/o2VAlmd
store.mcsweeneys.net
Obey in Advance: How to Survive (and Thrive) Under Authoritarianism
Get 20% off when you purchase the book alongside the official Obey in Advance hat. We know, we know: A book about authoritarianism? In 2026? What, are the writers living in some liberal snowflake…
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Lee Spracklen @leespracklen.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
France’s Long, Fervent History of Protest www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/w...
nytimes.com
France’s Long, Fervent History of Protest
Student demonstrations in recent weeks re-lit a centuries-old torch of civil resistance. How do they compare to previous movements in France?
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Trump is helping Russia finance its war against Ukraine because his own stupid war has made him desperate for Russian diesel. What a humiliation and what a betrayal of the Ukrainians.
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Martin Rowson @martinrowson.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Latest Graun toon
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Lee Spracklen @leespracklen.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
www.theguardian.com/books/2026/o...
theguardian.com
‘Sometimes she publishes notes she’s scribbled on her hand’: Édouard Louis on 10 reasons to love Anne Carson
The French author discovered Carson on a bus while stranded in a snowstorm and has been enthralled by her fearless imagination ever since
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Martin Rowson @martinrowson.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Latest Morning Star cartoon, out in print tomorrow
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Lee Spracklen @leespracklen.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Special relationship. Opposition to the special relationship will be called mob rule soon enough no doubt....
theguardian.com
Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream execution puts US in dubious company
Only Iran and Afghanistan routinely carry out sentences in public, with Saudi Arabia appearing to have ended practice
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Missing The Point @missingthept.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Breaking: Pope Leo XIV to be investigated for mortgage fraud.
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Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Navi Pillay — the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a former International Criminal Court judge — happened to be at the Nuremberg Court in Germany when she learned that she had won the Nobel.
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Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
“If you don’t like public executions just don’t watch it” says the crowd trying to ban drag shows and books
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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Christian Nationalism is just white ISIS www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Fort Hood attacker's execution by firing squad will be livestreamed, Pentagon says
Pete Hegseth says the execution will be public, but a legal expert says the "unprecedented" decision is on "uncertain legal terrain".
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Stephanie Lamy @stephlamy.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
For my ENG speaking followers Unprecedented High School blockades began in the outskirts of Paris in Créteil on the 21st of Sept. National mobilisations followed on the 29th of September, the 1st and the 6th of October. The movement is ongoing and has spread both in scope and scale. #tippingpoint
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Amnesty International UK @amnestyuk.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
🚨BREAKING: The government's own statistics show there was a *record level of terrorism arrests* in the year leading up to June this year. The vast majority of the enormous increase in terrorism arrests are of grandparents, teenagers and everyone in between for peacefully holding placards.
NEW: Home Office stats released today reveal that arrests for “terrorist-related activity” in the year ending June 2026 were up 1,553% on last year and 94% of the arrests (3,630 of 3,867) were linked to showing support for Palestine Action.
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Matt Round @mattround.com · 09/10/2026
Product idea: caps lock key with Brian Blessed’s face on it
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I have had the privilege to meet Navi Pilay a few years ago. I was deeply impressed with her no-nonsense, level-headed deep commitment to human rights in a true universal sense. An excellent choice. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/10...
nytimes.com
Nobel Peace Prize Live Updates: Navi Pillay, Human Rights Lawyer, Wins
Ms. Pillay has served as a judge in her native South Africa and on international courts investigating war crimes. She led a U.N. panel that determined that Israel had committed genocide against Palest...
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Samuel Pepys @samuelpepys.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I did keep my bed most of this morning, my body I find being still bound and little wind, and so my pain returned again, though not so bad, but keeping my body with warm clothes very hot I made shift to endure it.
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Jonathan Coe @jonathancoe.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
You’d have to be in thrall to the narrowest, most blinkered model of economics to believe that axeing Free Thinking and Thinking Allowed made sense. The amount of goodwill programmes like this earn from the BBC’s core supporters is way out of proportion to the pennies they cost to make.
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Lee Spracklen @leespracklen.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
"Watson told the podcast he would work with a Reform UK government on immigration crackdowns if the situation arose"
theguardian.com
Palantir’s Tom Watson says ‘mob rule’ must not dictate awarding of government contracts
Former Labour deputy leader says tech firm would work with a Reform UK government on immigration crackdowns
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Eric Levai @ericlevai.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Now THIS is how you write a story. Devastating.
Screenshot from this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/us/politics/fort-hood-execution-streamed-public.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HVE.Rw7O.Sj-0_s5YONzL&smid=nytcore-android-share
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Nick Lloyd @spaincivilwartours.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Group of Austrian and German International Brigade volunteers resting in Benissa, Alicante, September 1937. From the book "Voluntarios austriacos en la España republicana". Wonder what they're listening to. Erich Wolf, holding the record, later survived Auschwitz and Mauthausen.
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Ian Martin @ianmartin.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The last public execution in England was in 1868 - later than I thought. The latest public execution in America hasn't happened yet, will be livestreamed on the orders of that psychopath Hegseth, and what the fuck.
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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Just imagine if the UK had some sort of national broadcaster that had a duty to act in the public interest.
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Gianmarco Soresi @gianmarcosoresi.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Man who won’t give his employees piss breaks claims many piss breaks on the horizon
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Each should contribute according to their ability and take according to their need. This is why we expect so little from Vance.
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Melissa Nadia Viviana 🐸 @resistrebelrevolt.net · 08/10/2026
Hundreds of thousands of protestors in 🇫🇷 France 🇧🇷 Brazil 🇪🇸 Spain march against corruption & elitism. 🇧🇷 Brazil: pro-democracy protests for Lulu vs Bolsonaro. 🇫🇷 France: shortages in school funding. 🇪🇸 Spain: the death of an 87 yr old evicted by a predatory vulture fund after 70 yrs in her home.
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Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I've just been reading Albert Speer's Inside the Third Reich for a thing and Trump definitely resembles late-stage Hitler: surrounded by sycophants, rejecting all criticism, denying facts about the war he's losing, making mad declarations, seeing enemies everywhere. Not great
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Lee Spracklen @leespracklen.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
www.theguardian.com/music/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Only connect: two composers who put humans at the heart of their music, and the conductor who didn’t
This week, from Reich to Kendall and Celibidache, three musicians who prove there is no such thing as “pure music”, whether we’re talking about a technique, a mode of musical expression or a musician’...
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Lee Spracklen @leespracklen.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
bbc.co.uk
Manchester City charges: Premier League clubs fear political interference in appeal after Andy Burnham comments
Premier League clubs are "concerned" about political interference in Manchester City's appeal after Prime Minister Andy Burnham's comments.
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Lee Spracklen @leespracklen.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
www.theguardian.com/film/2026/oc...
theguardian.com
Tom Cruise’s Digger has flopped spectacularly – but I think it is a misunderstood masterpiece
This article contains spoilers for Digger: Alejandro G Iñárritu’s film may be about to become one of the biggest bombs Hollywood has ever seen – but it is destined to be re-evaluated with time
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Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
"listening to the wind"
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The rhetoric of tech in a nutshell: I value convenience, efficiency, ease first and also have no capacity to recognize humanity, my own or others, but feel qualified to run the world. Someone send an army of divorce lawyers; after all this guy already wants to disconnect.
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Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
they did the thing
an october 11 2025 post from me reading: every single tech idea is like “soon our robots will be capable of playing catch with your kid, freeing you up to spend more time working on your employers’ spreadsheets”
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
'In response to the era of artificial intelligence, and the questions it raises about culture, copyright and corporate power, the academics behind the Stuart Hall Archive Project have barred AI bots from accessing the data.'
theguardian.com
Thatcherism via the Walkman: Stuart Hall’s British cultural studies preserved online
Project lead says it celebrates ‘incredible contributions’ Jamaica-born sociologist made to Britain’s culture
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Nick Lloyd @spaincivilwartours.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Images of Emma Goldman's visit to a farming collective in Barcelona's neighbour of L'Hospitalet. #onthisday 8 October 1937. Pérez de Rozas. Conserved at the Arxiu Municipal de l'Hospitalet
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
🔴 SCOOP: The chair of a lobbying firm paid by the UAE sits on a government council advising ministers on how Britain uses sport and culture abroad. As Man City's verdict puts Abu Dhabi in the spotlight, our latest investigation 🧵 democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-u...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Revealed: UAE lobbyist advising UK government on sport and foreign policy
FGS Global chair Roland Rudd accused of "blatant conflict of interest" for advising ministers on foreign affairs while his firm lobbies for UAE embassy
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The government has declared datacentres “nationally significant infrastructure projects” that can be forced through the planning system. This means getting preferential access to water. Yet it has no idea what they're used for. Our dwindling supplies might be prioritised for nudifying celebrities.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 07/10/2026
Trump: "I could've done very bad things to Hillary Clinton. I could've done very very bad things to Joe Biden. I could've done very bad things to Barack Hussein Obama ... I can do whatever I want, if I want."
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