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Marcus Chown

@marcuschown.bsky.social
11K followers 962 following 4.4K posts

Writer. Books include A Crack in Everything, Breakthrough, The Ascent of Gravity, Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand, Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You & Solar System for iPad. See www.marcuschown.com

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Reposted by Marcus Chown
Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 6h
Often, when services such as health services are privatised/outsourced, it initially looks as if it’s cheaper. But what happens is that NHS in-house expertise is lost & private firms, having the NHS over a barrel, ramp up prices. Can see this too with Care Homes, almost all of which are privatised.
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 3h
Yes, and when the private sector screws up, it is the NHS that must pick up the pieces, at whatever cost. A textbook example of the government privatising the profit and socialising the risk
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Richard, Toad the Just, Earl of Sausagetoad 🇬🇧 🇺🇸🌊 @richardlordtoad.bsky.social · 15h
They all knew, but sucked-up anyway...
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Digital Brain @yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 2h
A man dug a tiny waterhole in the Brazilian rainforest, then set up a camera to see who would show up for a drink
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 3h
Using phone calls, travel movements and location data, Der Spiegel has traced the recent drone attack on a German airport back to the elite SSD unit of the Russian military intelligence service GRU. When are the authorities going to start saying we’re at war and have been for a long time?
spiegel.de
(S+) Leipziger Flughafen: Das sollen die Männer hinter der Drohnen-Attacke sein
Ermittler meinen zu wissen, wer den Leipziger Flughafen mit Drohnen angegriffen hat. Ihren Auftrag erhielten die Verdächtigen nach SPIEGEL-Recherchen wohl von einer Spezialeinheit des russischen Gehei...
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 3h
Most Americans can agree on one thing, regardless of their political affiliation. We hate data centers. So why does Trump love them?
motherjones.com
"The single most toxic issue in the midterms": How America turned on data centers.
On the latest episode of "Stress Test": The AI building boom has become the season’s sharpest attack line—and candidates are running scared.
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A Voice Crying in the Wilderness @cryingwilderness.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 2h
BREAKING: Prime Minister Andy Burnham tells German chancellor Friedrich Merz that he wants to "bring the UK closer to Europe" while speaking in Berlin 👏
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Bluesky Fanatic @blueskyfanatic.bsky.social · 11h
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 7h
Private equity owners of Boots sell it to another PE group from Canada for £6.74bn. Debt-laden PE has no long-term interest. Everything is a commodity. No UK tax levied on dividends paid to foreign owners, which sweetens cash extraction. PE dominates town centres, when it crashes ...
theguardian.com
Canada’s Weston family buys Boots for $8.9bn
Former Selfridges owners buy UK high street institution from long-term backer Stefano Pessina
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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 12h
The problem is he believes this.
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 3h
Yes, and when the private sector screws up, it is the NHS that must pick up the pieces, at whatever cost. A textbook example of the government privatising the profit and socialising the risk
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 3h
Exactly.
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Ron R Gray @sixpixeldesign.bsky.social · 5h
Because it was the left and Labour that argued against Thatcher giving everything away to the oligarchs, the right still refuse to acknowledge how catastrophic it was. They would rather maintain the status quo than admit they were wrong, Thatcher was wrong and their opponents where right all along.
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 3h
Just to take your 3) The public subsidy to the railways is now four times what it was when they were publicly owned. And we have the highest train fares in Europe.
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 7h
Privatisation in a nutshell: 1) Steal from us something we own. 2) Sell us back an inferior service 3) Charge us a higher price. The pattern is the same everywhere: royal mail, water, railways, the NHS, public services, council services…
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 6h
What we have are privatised monopolies. The profit motive has no place in our NHS, where founding principle is “care according to need not ability to pay.”
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 6h
Often, when services such as health services are privatised/outsourced, it initially looks as if it’s cheaper. But what happens is that NHS in-house expertise is lost & private firms, having the NHS over a barrel, ramp up prices. Can see this too with Care Homes, almost all of which are privatised.
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Paul Sandham @sandypuke.bsky.social · 7h
I recently bought a book of 6 first class and 10 Second class stamps. I think 30p Lee could have fed his entire constituency for a month on what it cost me!!!
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 6h
What we have are privatised monopolies. The profit motive has no place in our NHS, where founding principle is “care according to need data ability to pay.”
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 7h
Privatisation in a nutshell: 1) Steal from us something we own. 2) Sell us back an inferior service 3) Charge us a higher price. The pattern is the same everywhere: royal mail, water, railways, the NHS, public services, council services…
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Failures of privatisation. Royal Mail to cut up to 2,500 jobs Foreign-owned RM doesn't meet letter delivery targets even after regulator lowered them. Postage: 1st class, £1.80, 2nd class 91p. When privatized in 2013: 1st class 60p; 2nd class 50p. Poor service at triple price. Customers fleeced.
bbc.co.uk
Royal Mail plans to cut 2,500 head office jobs
The postal service firm wants to cut the head office and other jobs by the end of 2027.
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Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 8h
🟡 From This Month’s Magazine Finding the Right Energy to Tackle Our Existential Climate Dread By @johnmitchinson.bsky.social John Mitchinson finds an inspiring warmth in the reality-checking work of climate justice activist Mikaela Loach
subscribe.bylinetimes.com
Finding the Right Energy to Tackle Our Existential Climate Dread
John Mitchinson finds an inspiring warmth in the reality-checking work of climate justice activist Mikaela Loach
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 8h
This looks like a crucial investigation to me, building on an essential body of work by @bylinetimes.bsky.social Please help to support it. subscribe.bylinetimes.com/lightuptheda...
subscribe.bylinetimes.com
#LightUpTheDark – Byline Times
Dark Enlightenment: The US Far-Right War on British Institutions Help Byline Times Fund aN URGENT New INVESTIGATIVE SERIES #LightUpTheDark What is the Dark Enlightenment? The extraordinary anti-DEI me...
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Dave Johnson @dcjohnson.bsky.social · 8h
Now we find out later, from leaks. Democracies only function when there is an honestly informed public... www.the-express.com/news/us-news...
the-express.com
Stark numbers show US has lost 81 planes and $3.3BN worth of helicopters in Iran
A new report shows the scaled of US losses during the conflict with Iran, which began in February.
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Dave Johnson @dcjohnson.bsky.social · 8h
I'm so old I remember war correspondents, and news reports telling the public in a democracy about what was happening in wars... Now we find out later, from leaks. www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-at...
cbsnews.com
"They hit us bad." Newly obtained footage, witness accounts detail Iran attack — and U.S. retreat — at major post in Kuwait
CBS News obtained new video from a person on the ground showing an Iranian attack on a U.S. base at the beginning of the war.
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 8h
Is France signalling the end of neoliberalism? As a matter of fact, people will only stand for abuse from a financial system designed to oppress them for so long. France and maybe Spain seem to be indicating they've had enough. youtu.be/CpRl1ajsj-k?...
youtu.be
Is France signalling the end of neoliberalism?
YouTube video by Richard J Murphy
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
From the new Private Eye
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 7h
Government spending stimulates and mainatins the economy. Without it, there would be no economy. Even the money in our pockets is government debt in circulation. Look at the wording on bank notes. They are IOUs from the Bank of England/Government.
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Fionna O’Leary @fascinatorfun.bsky.social · 8h
Memories of Mandelson & Palantir come to mind The head of a lobbying firm, Roland Rudd, paid by the UAE to promote its interests in Westminster, is also advising the UK government on how Britain can use sport and culture to project influence overseas 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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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 8h
Hardly an original take but it is Quite Annoying to imagine how much the UK (and me, and you!) would all have more cash today if Donald Trump hadn't decided to start bombing Iran for *reasons*. Where's the White House impact assessment on my nursery fees. www.ft.com/content/2cb1...
ft.com
Iran war blows near-£12bn hole in Britain’s public finances
FT estimates show inflation and soaring borrowing costs have slashed chancellor John Healey’s headroom in half
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Reuters @reuters.com · 7h
US President Donald Trump campaigned for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton in San Antonio, Texas, on October 7 urging supporters to help Republicans win key midterm races. The rally was interrupted repeatedly by protesters reut.rs/4zmtADX
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Grady Booch @booch.com · 16h
Ms Hamilton coined the term “software engineering”.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 14h
Margaret Hamilton, who led the 100-person team that wrote the onboard software for the Apollo missions, has died.
nyti.ms
Margaret Hamilton, Whose Software Guided the Apollo Missions, Has Died
Margaret Hamilton, the first female programmer hired to work on the space project at M.I.T., was 90.
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 14h
This picture will always be iconic. RIP Margaret Hamilton who wrote the software that successfully guided NASA’s Apollo missions through the moon.
Margaret Hamilton with printed computer code in 1969. Credit: NASA/Alamy
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Listening to Kemi Badenoch list her many supposed triumphs you wouldn't have any idea that the Conservatives just suffered their worst set of election defeats in their history and are now polling eight points lower than when she first took over as leader
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erin mccann @mccanner.bsky.social · 23h
“We just went through the month of September without a hurricane, and that has not happened in what we call the satellite era, basically since the 1970s,” one hurricane expert said. Signs point toward Isaias being the first Atlantic hurricane of 2026 — in October! www.nytimes.com/2026/10/07/w...
nytimes.com
Tropical Storm Isaias Heads Toward Gulf Coast and Is Forecast to Become a Hurricane
The storm will move north toward the Gulf Coast of the United States over the next few days, forecasters said.
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Childcare for those earning more than £100,000, an inheritance tax cut for the 4.72 per cent of people that pay it… The Tories are no longer even pretending they give a toss about the majority of people in the UK.
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CNN @cnn.com · 07/10/2026
Danish artist Jens Galschiøt unveiled a sculpture depicting a naked US President Donald Trump surrounded by golf equipment. It was unveiled on the grounds of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg.
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Amee Vanderpool @girlsreallyrule.bsky.social · 21h
A new gold statue showing Donald Trump, naked and balanced atop the back of a meek man, has been unveiled today in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg. The eight-foot installation, titled The Orange Plague, is attributed to "The King of Injustice."
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Need more corgi poo bags
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 23h
UK govt plans £1bn energy bills help for poorer households. How about cutting energy profit margins, 100% windfall tax on excess profits before turning to the public purse. UK energy sector is mostly foreign-owned. Dividends paid without any UK tax deduction. End this perk, raise billions.
theguardian.com
Chancellor plans major intervention to help poorer UK households with rising energy bills
Exclusive: Officials working on further radical changes that would change how much energy companies could charge customers
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Reuters @reuters.com · 22h
LIVE: WHO update on global health issues, possible plague outbreak in Russia youtube.com/live/e0F-2wD...
youtube.com
LIVE: WHO update on global health issues, possible plague outbreak in Russia
YouTube video by Reuters
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M Meerkat @kackbro.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Truth 👇 Bomb 💣.........
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Jules⚖️📨 @northjules.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Authoritarianism advances when the people meant to restrain power decide serving the leader matters more than serving the law. Courts, watchdogs, oversight, ethics—democracy weakens when every guardrail becomes optional.
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Yes. That’s always been the case with the Tories. But in the past they’ve been clever enough to lie about the fact they exist to enrich the 1% at the expense of the 99%. But not Badenoch!
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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
JD Vance & Kemi Badenoch.
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
If there is one thing that encapsulates the moral bankruptcy of America it is this.
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Paul K - Tricolour glitter @paulkcmf.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It's all about the rich and protecting their money at the cost of those that have much less
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Ian @ianpadg.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Kemi is going back to the future! Corruption Selfservatism Food banks Austerity Broken housing markets Broken water markets Broken energy markets Mail services in ruin Schools falling apart Prisons full NHS wards closed Poor, poorer Rich, richer
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