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Max Colbert

@mc00.bsky.social
27K followers 5K following 2.2K posts

Freelance journo/researcher. Bylines: Guardian, Mirror, DeSmog, Byline Times, The Nerve, Computer Weekly, Democracy for Sale, AOAV, Citizens, Good Law Project, Dawn etc. Email:mcfoiareturns@proton.me

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Max Colbert @mc00.bsky.social · 3h
'Watson told the podcast he would work with a Reform UK government on immigration crackdowns if the situation arose, saying: “We don’t actually work in that sector, but yes, of course we would.”' www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
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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Max Colbert @mc00.bsky.social · 3h
No, that's typically what a tender process is for...
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Keezy Young🌼 @keezyyoung.bsky.social · 11h
they did overturn the school board in our community, btw. it worked. people were like yeah no fuck this we don't even have a track team and y'all are trying to ban trans athletes?? we don't have a school library and you're trying to ban queer books?? they said "grow up". it worked
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Andrew Male @andrewmale.bsky.social · 6h
One of the best scripts of the Noughties and justifiably Oscar-nominated. I'd love to know why Nancy Oliver hasn't done more cinema work. Also, a beautiful, whimsical score by ECM guitar mangler, David Torn. youtu.be/ARaYoylNWo4?...
youtu.be
at the mall
YouTube video by David Torn - Topic
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Mallory Moore @sexabolition.blog · 8h
French police using stroboscopic shields, some say to interfere with journalists trying to cover police brutality.
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Netpol @netpol.org · 8h
Police say they have arrested 35 people at a protest in Leicestershire on suspicion of having "material in support of" the proscribed group Palestine Action www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Braunstone protest sees 35 held over 'Palestine Action support'
Police arrest multiple people on suspicion of having "material in support of" the proscribed group.
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Josie Glausiusz @josiegz.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The Israelis Refusing Silence Over Gaza: My latest for @prospectmagazine.co.uk As the 3rd anniversary of the October 7 attacks approaches, most Israelis are grieving. A small minority refuse to ignore the atrocities Israel inflicted on Gaza. [Gift Link] www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/israel...
prospectmagazine.co.uk
The Israelis refusing silence over Gaza
On the third anniversary of 7th October, Israel occupies more than half of Gaza and is still striking the Strip. Most Israelis are in denial
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Tom McKay @catturd2.bsky.social · 9h
from me @gizmodo.com Peter Thiel: You Know Who Else Wants to Regulate AI? The Antichrist gizmodo.com/peter-thiel-...
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William Gibson @greatdismal.bsky.social · 12h
Having long been aware of those tech bros who read my work as utopian porn, where they’ve taken that doesn’t exactly surprise me.
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 8h
This would sink a presidency in any other era. I would bet most Americans will never hear it even happened.
wapo.st
Trump bought over $1 million in SpaceX debt days before unveiling space policy
The purchase, revealed in his latest financial disclosure, involved a firm directly affected by his administration’s actions — and led by presidential ally Elon Musk.
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silverbeet-gd.bsky.social @silverbeet-gd.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Britain's contracts with Palantir hit £1bn Newly surfaced disclosures reveal the government has spent or agreed to spend at least £992m with Peter Thiel’s controversial AI company – as pressure mounts on Andy Burnham to block them. Max Colbert reports for the Nerve www.thenerve.news/p/palantir-1...
thenerve.news
Revealed: Britain's contracts with Palantir hit £1bn
Newly surfaced disclosures reveal the government has spent or agreed to spend at least £992m with Peter Thiel’s controversial AI company – as pressure mounts on Andy Burnham to block them. Max Colbert...
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Jezebel @jezebeldotcom.bsky.social · 8h
ICE just shot another person on the streets of New York City, this time while a 5-year-old was reportedly in the car next to the victim. tinyurl.com/bc49ufn4
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 8h
I am angry tonight. Because tonight ICE shot a New Yorker. They shot a New Yorker while his five year old child was in the car. ICE makes this city less safe. We want them out. Now.
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 9h
BREAKING: Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali has officially been declared the winner of the Holborn and St Pancras by-election with 12,292 votes. Green Party leader Zack Polanski received 8,928 votes.
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The National @scotnational.bsky.social · 10h
BREAKING: The Greens have conceded defeat in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election Read here: www.thenational.scot/news/2...
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Sharon 🪳🌹 @sharonk.bsky.social · 15h
update: this is bad www.axios.com/2026/10/08/h...
axios.com
Pete Hegseth says public can watch Fort Hood shooter's execution
Hegseth said Nidal Hasan is "gonna get a firing squad of soldiers. As it should be."
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Reuters @reuters.com · 16h
Trump discloses Nvidia stock trades as he prepares to honor CEO Huang reut.rs/4hATCNM
reut.rs
Trump discloses Nvidia stock trades as he prepares to honor CEO Huang
President Donald Trump bought as much as $1.6 million and sold as much as $1 million in Nvidia stock ​in August, according to his latest financial disclosure, which ‌was released on Thursday as he prepared to award Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang the nation's highest honor for scientific achievement.
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Adolfo Neto @adolfoneto.elixiremfoco.com · 15h
"US government suspends Indian firms Tata, Infosys, Wipro, HCL from sponsoring most foreign workers for green cards Capgemini and Cognizant also suspended"
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Angri Bundel @anibundel.com · 15h
The “Divorce Epidemic” was thousands of people finding freedom after long held toxic social mores lost their power and people were no longer pressured to stay in miserable circumstances. … so actually not a bad comparison.
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Global Project Against Hate and Extremism @globalextremism.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Neo-Nazis are increasingly targeting teenagers. Active Club chapters have grown 28% worldwide since 2025, while youth chapters have exploded 142%. With groups now recruiting 15- to 18-year-olds, including through girls-only organizations and mainstream platforms like Instagram and YouTube.
globalextremism.org
Neo-Nazi Active Clubs Increasingly Recruiting Teenage Boys And Girls
Neo-nazi Active Clubs are expanding their efforts to recruit teenagers, with Youth Club chapters increasing 142% since 2025. GPAHE identified 220 Active Clubs across 33 countries, including 46 youth c...
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
'seven women...have told the Guardian they are survivors of domestic abuse carried out by key figures in the anti-immigration street patrol movement. All have chosen to come forward to make the public aware of the patterns of violence behind this new form of activism.'
theguardian.com
‘Bully in every way’: domestic abuse survivors say ex-partners behind far-right UK street patrols
Seven women share their stories to make people aware of patterns of violence behind anti-immigration street patrol movement
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—>realhackhistory.org @bsky.realhackhistory.org · 06/10/2026
These domains will of course be linked in some way to the same system of moderation that is inconsistent, capricious and actively hostile to certain parts of the Bluesky userbase. If you get a domain that directs to your account and your account gets suspended you have a domain with nothing on it.
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Patrick Galey @patrickgaley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The son of one of the biggest of the Epstein class creeps - and possessor of perhaps the singularly most punchable faces in all business, now essentially controls US media We are truly in the final stages of oligarchy before collapse www.ft.com/content/9375...
ft.com
Debt in the spotlight as Paramount closes $111bn deal for Warner Bros
Heavy cuts expected as boss David Ellison seeks to deliver $6bn of cost savings at combined group to be known as Skydance
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Press Gazette @pressgazette.co.uk · 06/10/2026
Reform UK is hiring at least 12 journalists to build a "national publishing operation" including a digital newsroom and expanded video output via Reform TV on Youtube pressgazette.co.uk/news/reform-...
pressgazette.co.uk
Reform hiring journalists to build national newsroom
At least 12 jobs on offer via new Reform content operation.
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John Lubbock @jwsal.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I think this is a good example of how transphobia is used to police the bodies and appearance of all women, as it is at its heart a misogynistic form of gender essentialism which punishes anyone considered outside the norm.
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Getting some fan mail from a far-right bookshop over on the hellsite (and their supporters, oh joy) Comes after I had the cheek to put allegations of...questionable content to them before publishing
Screenshot of a post on X by Oldspeak Bookshop (@oldspeak_books) reading: "Oh no. @josiahmortimer thinks I'm going to be sitting at home worried that he's spending his time writing about me. @BylineTimes". Attached is an image of an email thread with the subject line "Re: Right of reply - story this week". At the top, Josiah Mortimer of Byline Times replies: "Thanks, will pop that in the story, and your kind tribute on X. Very best, J". Beneath it is the message he is responding to, sent from info@oldspeakbookshop.co.uk on Mon, 5 Oct 2026 at 12:57: "Haven't you got anything better to do?" Below that is Mortimer's original email, sent 05 October 2026 at 12:54, which begins: "Dear Ms May, I am a reporter at Byline Times. I am writing an article about Oldspeak Bookshop and I a…" before the text is cut off.
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Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Same has happened in Britain. Speed with which such extreme ideas have become mainstream is concerning.
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General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The oyster shells are a nice touch #CPC26
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General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
MANDY #CPC26
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General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
THE TAPESTRY IS HERE #CPC26
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I'm told the Zionism is Racism motion passed at Green Party conference by 1022 votes to 830
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Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Well said greenparty.org.uk/2026/10/04/j...
greenparty.org.uk
Joint statement from the Greens' 5 MPs, Leader and Co-Deputy Leaders - Green Party
As Green Party leaders and MPs, we will always uphold universal human rights. We will never tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment. We will continue to stand in opposition to genocide, ethn...
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The Citizens @the-citizens.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
At our Labour conference fringe event, @labourlewis.bsky.social revealed a letter he received from Palantir’s new UK chief Tom Watson, which he described as an “implicit threat”. Read our full coverage 👇 citizensreunited.substack.com/p/labour-blo...
citizensreunited.substack.com
Labour blocked the Palantir debate
As protesters demand the government break with Palantir, Clive Lewis revealed its new UK chief has been keeping count of his criticisms
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Carla Denyer @carladenyer.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
My thoughts on tomorrow's conference motion 'Zionism is Racism’
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Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
NEW: DHS agents tracked people observing ICE arrests, photographed them, ran their plates, pulled personal information, and added them to a Palantir database, according to newly unsealed court filings. w/ @regret.bsky.social
wired.com
ICE Has Been Dumping Protester Photos Into a Palantir Database
DHS agents not only tracked and intimidated people observing ICE activity in Maine, but stored information about them in a Palantir-built database, newly unsealed court filings say.
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Chris Brooke @chrisbrooke.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The Cambridge student newspaper Varsity is reporting that James Orr (or, as they call him, "Disgraced theology professor James Orr") hasn't been turning up to his own lectures.
archive.varsity.co.uk
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Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
ICE's shameless stupid cruelty continues unabated. Here's a truly wrenching account from our wonderful local Vermont newspaper, which I imagine could be multiplied a thousandfold every day across America. Many thanks to Liza Cochran, its author bravelittlevoices.substack.com/p/terror-in-...
bravelittlevoices.substack.com
Terror in the Backyard:
ICE’s Shadow Surge in Vermont
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Chris Boyd @paperghost.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
congrats to the pope on ushering in the butlerian jihad
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THE NERVE @thenerve.news · 03/10/2026
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The total, just over £992m – compiled from new freedom of information disclosures, departmental spending records and contracts reported since January – is 48% higher than the £670m the Nerve first identified in an investigation at the start of the year. About £372m of the money has not yet been paid, and depends on two contracts running to their full value: the Ministry of Defence’s £240.6m deal, awarded in December 2025, and the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP), which could cost up to £330m if the government does not exercise a break clause next year.
The figures come as the prime minister, Andy Burnham, faces growing pressure to cut ties with the company co-founded by Peter Thiel. Labour members at the party’s conference this week have called on the government to end its Palantir contracts, and campaigners are holding a week of international protests against the firm
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Angry People in Local Newspapers @apiln.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
We don’t do the Daily Mail, but as a public service, here is someone with far too much money being attacked by an owl.
Princess Beatrice's friend Alice Naylor-Leyland is attacked by rogue owl during chaotic photoshoot.
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The Labour Party are now polling on average ten points higher under Andy Burnham than they were at the turn of the year under Keir Starmer. Reform are polling on average eight points lower than they were this time last year.
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THE NERVE @thenerve.news · 03/10/2026
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Martin Wrigley, a Liberal Democrat MP, said the scale of spending “begs the question of why Palantir isn’t on the Cabinet Office’s strategic suppliers list”. He has asked the Commons public accounts committee to investigate.
In July, the government published the latest list, which featured 36 companies including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Vodafone. Each are assigned a Crown Representative who oversees their relationship with the government. Although there are no published criteria for inclusion on the list, it is assumed that annual receipts of over £100m is the threshold for inclusion. In the first two years of the FDP, spending on that alone was £198.4m, so it is unclear why Palantir is not on the list. In March, the Cabinet Office told Wrigley, in answer to a written question, that Palantir was not a strategic supplier and that there were no plans to make it one.
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Henry Dyer @direthoughts.com · 02/10/2026
Intrigued to see the Conservative conference will feature a speech on "press freedom" next week while they ban lobby journalists such as @josiahmortimer.bsky.social from attending their conference.
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DAVIEWoOOoO 👻 🎃🕸️ @daviemoo.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Thiel this week saying being evil is actually good. So glad his company, based on the evil all seeing eye device from the book about anti fascism is now embedded over a billion pounds deep in our national health service ^_^
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Heather Paterson @heatherpaterson.co.uk · 03/10/2026
EVERY UK MP needs to read this You are all part of a government that is creating a situation so hostile and unsafe that people are leaving the country This is not an isolated case. You have the power to do something about this.
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THE NERVE @thenerve.news · 03/10/2026
REVEALED Britain’s contracts with Palantir hit £1bn The government has spent or agreed to spend at least £992m on contracts with Palantir Technologies, the Nerve’s Max Colbert - @mc00.bsky.social - can reveal 🧵
REVEALED: Britain’s contracts with Palantir hit £1bn. Peter Thiel’s face against a bright green background, with the Palantir logo in his eyes, with the words ‘£1 billion’ written across his face in large pink letters.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
28 year old suspect charged with Widdecombe's murder also today charged with preparing terror attack over the previous two months, seeking target Nigel Farage www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Ann Widdecombe murder suspect charged with planning terror act against Nigel Farage
Joshua Kerry, 28, of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, charged with one count of preparation of terrorist acts, say police
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Tim Marchman @timmarchman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
NEW: Partially unsealed court filings show that ICE has been putting photos of people observing their activities into a Palantir-built database as well as tracking and intimidating them. @regret.bsky.social and @dmehro.bsky.social have the details:
wired.com
ICE Has Been Dumping Protester Photos Into a Palantir Database
DHS agents not only tracked and intimidated people observing ICE activity in Maine, but stored information about them in a Palantir-built database, newly unsealed court filings say.
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Cornish Skipper #FBPE #RejoinEU 🇪🇺🔶🌹💚💙 @cornishskipper.wsocial.eu · 02/10/2026
“It’s increasingly clear the British state is in the early stages of addiction to Palantir and all it represents. We now have a chance to chart a new and better course away from Palantir. We should take it quickly, with both hands.” #NoToPalantir www.thenerve.news/p/palantir-1...
thenerve.news
Revealed: Britain's contracts with Palantir hit £1bn
Newly surfaced disclosures reveal the government has done deals to spend £992m with Peter Thiel’s controversial AI company – as pressure mounts on Andy Burnham to block them. Max Colbert reports
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Max Colbert @mc00.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
🔴NEW from me, for @thenerve.news: Britain's contracts with Palantir hit £1bn Newly surfaced disclosures reveal the government has done deals to spend £992m with Peter Thiel’s controversial AI company – as pressure mounts on Andy Burnham to block them: www.thenerve.news/p/palantir-1...
thenerve.news
Revealed: Britain's contracts with Palantir hit £1bn
Newly surfaced disclosures reveal the government has done deals to spend £992m with Peter Thiel’s controversial AI company – as pressure mounts on Andy Burnham to block them. Max Colbert reports
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