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Leroy

@leroylynch.bsky.social
1.7K followers 1.4K following 4.6K posts

ALP member. Social Democrat. Posts are mainly news, plus some history and general interest.

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Leroy @leroylynch.bsky.social · 12h
Chris Brain, now a convicted rapist, led the Nine O'Clock Service; a radical congregation of hundreds of young people drawn weekly to a COE Sheffield church in the 1980s and 1990s by a fusion of rave culture, live music, environmental activism and liturgy. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Chris Brain: The rapist priest who abused his congregation
Chris Brain, who led nightclub-style services in the 1980s and 90s, is convicted of rape.
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Barbara Rich @barbararich.bsky.social · 16h
The Lost Explorer - Sir Ranulph Fiennes and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 I have written about lasting powers of attorney, deprivation of liberty, and the powers of the Court of Protection in connection with the “disappearance” of Sir Ranulph Fiennes bleakhouserevisited.substack.com/p/the-lost-e...
bleakhouserevisited.substack.com
The Lost Explorer
The ‘disappearance’ of Sir Ranulph Fiennes and the Mental Capacity Act 2005
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Ali @grissallia.bsky.social · 15h
There’s a lot going on here, but one thing it’s worth considering is that if Anthropic can convince people that their AI is conscious, then they can claim that the *model* is legally responsible for attacking third parties, and not Anthropic.
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Brandon D. Wilson @geniusbastard.bsky.social · 19h
Please note there is very little chance you will love this like I did. I was so moved by it I forgot to take a swipe at Christopher Nolan’s soullessness. boxd.it/gBmhuR
boxd.it
A ★★★★½ review of Boorman and the Devil (2025)
This film touched me deeply and is one of the best documentaries about the ecstasy and the agony of filmmaking. This could have been merely a whimsical look at a film maudit, but it manages to say som...
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Lee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 27/09/2026
Private Eye on Marina Hyde leaving the Guardian and the JK Rowling comment
Hyde out
MIXED emotions at the Guardian over the departure of Marina Hyde, the long-serving acerbic columnist who is off to pastures new (but remains coy so far about where they might be).
Hyde has enjoyed enormous success with the ever-expanding Rest Is Entertainment podcast she has hosted for Goalhanger with Richard Osman for the past three years, including considerable financial rewards from the hostage video-style adverts the pair voice during the show. She has previously complained to colleagues that her request to take a similar cut from a proposed in-house podcast series for the Guardian itself had been rebuffed by bosses, which led her to seek her fortune elsewhere.
With exquisite timing, Hyde handed in her notice just as the Guardian devoted the cover and five pages of its Saturday magazine to plugging her new book, a collection of columns published by the imprint the paper co-owns with Faber. By way of a hand grenade lobbed over her shoulder into the bear pit of pro- and anti-trans sensitivities that is the Guardian office, Hyde used her exit interview to respond to a reader question, “Who would you pick as prime minister?”: “JK Rowling.”
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
What a week. We've seen the news agenda rescued from the grip of the far-right. We've seen astonishing levels of competence in government communication. And we've seen the outline of a radical policy programme. It's a v.exciting time to be involved in politics iandunt.substack.com/p/some-dispa...
iandunt.substack.com
Some disparate thoughts on a historic speech
For the first time in two years, we freed ourselves from the far-right’s strangle-hold over the news agenda.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
One of two Labour gains from Reform in Northumberland by-elections yesterday. Too early to know for sure we've passed peak Reform, but another encouraging sign.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The ability to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into a loss-making TV channel, bent on wrenching British politics sharply to the right, is yet another of the ways in which extreme wealth is trying to remake UK democracy. It needs to be part of any serious conversation about political funding.
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Leroy @leroylynch.bsky.social · 21h
Magnitude-4.8 earthquake strikes near Leongatha, south-east of Melbourne (this woke me up in inner Melbourne) www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10...
abc.net.au
Magnitude-4.8 earthquake rattles rural Victoria
Geoscience Australia says the quake hit at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres just after 2am, and that the epicentre was near Leongatha, about 135km south-east of Melbourne.
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Possum @pollytics.bsky.social · 21h
What a garbage human being. Let Ukraine be erased, the Ukrainian people be essentially enslaved, murdered and disappeared. Real non-violence from the non-violence guy there. Oh, and that only the UN can authorise force - yep, Russia will definitely vote for that! www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...
smh.com.au
New Greens leader: No weapons for Ukraine, curtail the US alliance
David Shoebridge believes the Greens can win votes by campaigning to scrap the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine pact and legalise recreational cannabis.
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David Marler @qldaah.bsky.social · 22h
The "Donald Trump" cockatoo prematurely revealed as the Brisbane Games emblem. Crisafulli Queensland government Minister Tim Mander spent the week traveling the east coast releasing pieces of it ahead of Monday night's big reveal. Cost is unknown. #qldpol www.nine.com.au/sport/olympi...
nine.com.au
Brisbane 2032 emblems officially unveiled two days early after leak
Inspired by iconic Aussie bird
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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Earlier this week, I agreed to interviews with two USA Today journalists. They wrote fantastic articles about the Cornell case that I'm proud to have been a part of. What I did not know is that their employer considers interviews to proprietary and opens up recordings to be used by any journalist.
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Neglected Books @neglectedbooks.com · 26/09/2026
Imagine Don Draper out of a job. For months. A year. Allen R. Dodd's memoir, The Job Hunter, recounts the humbling experience of a once-hailed ad man having—unsuccessfully—to find work. A white-collar classic that belongs on the shelf next to Heller's Something Happened. neglectedbooks.com/?...
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Leroy @leroylynch.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
‘Self-healing’ coach who was banned from working in Australia to speak in UK www.theguardian.com/society/2026... She is married to Michael O'Neill, the founder of the now-defunct Informed Medical Options Party, an anti-vaccination and anti-fluoride political group. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara...
theguardian.com
‘Self-healing’ coach who was banned from working in Australia to speak in UK
Barbara O’Neill has previously claimed that cancer is a fungus that can be treated with bicarbonate soda
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Cambridge Skeptics @cambskeptics.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Within hours of the incident aboard a Tel Aviv-bound flight, social media had supplied ‘false flag’ claims, baseless accusations about the attacker’s nationality and a fake BBC report implicating Mossad and India. The investigation was still getting started. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10...
abc.net.au
Fake news and deepfakes about flydubai flight spreading online
ABC NEWS Verify examines and attempts to debunk some of the fake news that's spreading online following the flydubai flight.
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Duncan Mackay @theduncanmackay.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Sometimes you see an artefact where myth, magic & reality all seem to converge… Behold, the Iron Age Torrs Pony Cap; pulled from a Scottish bog in the 19thC & dating to the 3rdC BC, the horns were still attached when found. Chariot ponies knew they were cool. National Museum Scotland #FindsFriday
Decorated bronze pony cap with long, slender curving horns
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Mike D London @mikedlondon.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
BBC re-running their headlines from 3 years ago when Sunak released 10,000 prisoners early over 6 months....oh wait, no, that went off without a media fuss. Labour are releasing up to 5,000 early over a year - due to Tory failure to build prison capacity. They only built 36 net new places a year.
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Possum @pollytics.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It's good that Australia is leading the way and being upfront about it, unlike a few other countries we already know about that have been trying to keep it secret.
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Possum @pollytics.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
People don't realise that these 'events' that occured over the last 12 months are going to stretch into the tens of thousands around the world
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Robert Maxwell @robmax4.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
www.theguardian.com/media/2026/o...
theguardian.com
‘If you can’t hold it, you don’t own it’: why media fans want to escape algorithms with CDs, DVDs and vinyl
People describe their return to physical media – whether to protect data, support artists, or retain control of one’s choices
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Leroy @leroylynch.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Psychic medium accused of disappearing with customers’ money for supposed Ballarat and Geelong Ghost Tours www.nine.com.au/australia-ne... 28/9 story
nine.com.au
Psychic medium accused of disappearing with customers’ money
The woman responsible is a so called psychic medium who took their money and then did her signature move... a disappearing act.
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Sam ooOOooOoo Turner @renrut-mas.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The weirdo nazi fetishists have always existed. The difference is that we used to know how to treat them.
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Sam ooOOooOoo Turner @renrut-mas.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I'm not sharing the Braverman posts because every single one of them addresses the wrong problem. The problem is not a fringe politician expounding on her 19th century racial science theories. The problem is a publicly funded broadcaster platforming and normalising them. Several times a day.
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I mean what were those speechwriters doing? They had all summer I'm also looking forward to the Conservatives' critique that the public services disasters that they spent 15 years creating haven't been fixed yet
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Mildly surprised how many people think "yeah Burnham's speech went down well but did you not notice how he failed to solve the (checks notes) 20 year growth and fiscal problems he inherited" is a devastating and insightful critique.
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David Marler @qldaah.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
News Corp used 6 of its own cadets in the anti-Labor "Home Front", taxation changes propaganda campaign. It advertises cadetships that pay $65k. News Australia Holdings, pays no corporate income tax. #auspol www.theguardian.com/media/commen...
theguardian.com
News Corp’s housing special proves a bit too close to home as cadets enlisted as case studies | Weekly Beast
Six unhappy young Australians fronting Commonwealth Bank-sponsored series are News Corp’s own employees. Plus: Peter Manning remembered
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David Marler @qldaah.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Queensland celebrates Labour Day in May but this Monday is a public holiday for King's Birthday. ACT, New South Wales & South Australia celebrate Labour Day this Monday. Everyone else goes to work. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10...
abc.net.au
Which states get a public holiday on Monday?
Many Australians will enjoy a long weekend this weekend, but half the country will miss out on a public holiday.
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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This 2017 comment from General John Hyten, the then-commander of US Strategic Command, which he intended to be reassuring in the face of Trump’s multiple angry nuclear threats against North Korea that year, is anything but.
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Cai @annenotation.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
And not to flaunt my bona fides about this, but I was one of the only people posting "we are absolutely going to go to war with Iran" within 24 hours of the 2024 election outcome.
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Cai @annenotation.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Take him seriously, take him literally.
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Cai @annenotation.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I also am extremely worried that this would have fewer consequences than we would like to think. A lot of economies simply can't cut themselves off from the United States the same way that they can't cut themselves off from China or even Russia.
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Cai @annenotation.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I 100% believe that he has been talked down from nuking Tehran several times and may still do it.
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Cameron Clark @cameronclark.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The Home Office is about to discover that immigration actually has economic impacts too
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Actually pretty funny when you consider that they could benefit significantly from this.
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A country that will not fix its mistakes is a country that has given up on the future. And Brexit was, it’s now clear, a terrible, terrible mistake inews.co.uk/opinion/brex...
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Tim Lyons @picketer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This is a party (he was in the Gov) that mandated council decisions about fluoridating water in 2012.
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David Marler @qldaah.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Adani owes Queenslanders millions in royalties from the Carmichael coalmine. Premier David Crisafulli let them off the hook in Aug 2025 by abandoning the court case initiated in 2023. Adani donated thousands to the LNP prior to the Qld election. #qldpol thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...
thepoint.com.au
What did Adani get for the money it gave to the Queensland Liberal National Party?
If only we knew then what we know now. In August 2025, Queensland’s LNP Government announced it was abandoning a court case against Adani over unpaid coal royalties, a case that started in 2023 under ...
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 01/10/2026
yes there is a very useful book about this. www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p0...
press.uillinois.edu
Presidential Campaigns and Presidential Accountability
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 01/10/2026
"they really believe it"/"they will try to do it"/"the promises are real" are things that most americans refuse to believe about politicians but if you take them seriously will help you predict political behavior more often than not
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Leroy @leroylynch.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Preston Market to retain most of original footprint under redevelopment plan www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10... #springst
abc.net.au
Beloved Melbourne market to have 900 apartments under redevelopment plan
Residential towers ranging in height from eight to 16 storeys would surround the market and include 10 per cent affordable housing under plans to redevelop the site.
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Noelle Cook @noellecook.com · 11/07/2026
The Conspiracists has been out for six months, and I keep coming back to the question at the center of it: what do conspiracy communities give people beyond the beliefs themselves? Certainty, purpose, identity, and belonging. January 6 was one outcome of that world, but it was never the whole story🧵
Bright blue book cover for The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism, and the Lure of Belonging by Noelle Cook. Centered on the cover is a large stylized blonde woman’s face with dark, hollow-looking eyes and a Statue of Liberty-style crown.
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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This is a fantastic essay using @milhistlee.bsky.social's book on The Cutting Off Way (of war) in Native North America to think about how warfare is changing today. I think you can actually push the analogy even further though, toward overall strategic aims.
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Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_...
en.wikipedia.org
Maggie Dickson - Wikipedia
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Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
under old scottish law, you just gotta let someone go after a failed execution because the sentence has been carried out
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Nina Jankowicz @ninajankowicz.com · 01/10/2026
My thoughts about the UK's new National Centre for Information Defence. I think it can survive the 'censorship' backlash; UK discourse isn't as infected by conspiratorial brain rot (yet). But it's incumbent on the Burnham gov to fill the info void. www.thewayfinder.net/p/the-uk-get...
thewayfinder.net
The UK Gets Serious About Countering Disinformation
Can the new National Centre for Information Defence survive the ‘censorship’ backlash?
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Owen Winter @owenwntr.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Greens slip into fifth place in our poll tracker, while Reform are only two points off third place. Two parties that dominated discourse in 2025 on their way down
Chart showing polls since 2024. Latest average:

Labour 27
Reform 22
Con 20
Lib Dem 11
Green 10
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Leroy @leroylynch.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
If you want to know where the polls for the Victorian election, bookmark the @pollbludger.bsky.social aggregator. You can toggle between voting intention and seats projection. Much better than tring to decipher each poll & what it might mean for seats. www.pollbludger.net/vic2026/blud... #springst
pollbludger.net
BludgerTrack Victoria 2026
Polling trends for the 2026 Victorian state election
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Paul Karp @paulkarp.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
SCOOP: Australia eyes ripping up $2.3B immigration detention contract --new details of financial penalties being paid by Secure Journeys, US-owned private prison operator --Home Affairs asks AGS for all options including termination www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
politico.com
Australia eyes ripping up $2.3B immigration detention contract
ICE-linked contractor has been hit with millions in fines for its handling of immigration detention.
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Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 01/10/2026
today in depressing takes, like "the war with iran probably isn't going to end"
liberalcurrents.com
The Return of the Cutting-Off Way
Structural changes are driving us towards a more chaotic world, defined by "neither peace nor war, but conflict."
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John Ganz @lioneltrolling.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The Lomez-Rufo podcast gives us a snapshot of the conservative movement's metabolism in action.— www.unpopularfront.news/p/from-shitp...
unpopularfront.news
From Shitpost to Bullshit
The Function of Conservative Intellectuals
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