iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Richard Bourke

Rafael Behr @rafaelbehr.bsky.social · 7h

Column on Greens, anti-Zionism and why the people who pathologically hate something are not the most reliable people to define it accurately www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

Zack Polanski had the chance to show real leadership. He blew it | Rafael Behr

A toxic debate over anti-Zionism leaves the Green leader looking like a passenger in the movement that carried him to the top, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr

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Reposted by Richard Bourke

Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Though there is a amusing thought that AI researchers might find that instead of creating the scientific super-intelligence of an Asimov novel they end up getting the machine equivalent of an erratic but well-read penniless intellectual that you'd find in a 19th century Istanbul or Vienna coffehouse

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

90 years ago, Parliament responded to the rise of Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts by passing the Public Order Act, which banned political uniforms, private militias and the threat of force for political objects. The debates make very resonant reading today. Here's the Liberal Robert Bernays. (Short 🧵)

You cannot conduct a fair match when one side is playing with a ball and the other with bombs and, if democracy is to survive, it must be conducted according to definite and recognised rule. One of them is that no political party should resort to any weapon other than reason and argument. The introduction of private armies, as I see it, strikes at the root of democracy. I know it is contended that the Blackshirts are not armed and, therefore, are not an army, but I do not think that argument can be upheld. … Uniformed men in military formation suggest, and are meant to suggest, the idea of force. It is no argument to reply that at this or that demonstration no force is intended. It is an inescapable fact that a uniform in politics symbolises force, to be used either now or in the future.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

As a country, the USA was well overdue an "oh no!! Our army is led by morons" defeat. Think of yourselves as a column of redcoats, marching through hostile forests under the watchful eye of weaker but crafty opponents. You can choose if Trump or Hegseth is General Braddock.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

I've always been interested in the international reactions to Irish step dance. I think every Irish person knows, uneasily, that though this was originally a native dance form, an institutiionalised control emerged. Anyway, here's indians reacting to riverdance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=63AU...

youtube.com

Incredible! Villagers Experience Riverdance for the First Time - Their Reactions are Priceless!

YouTube video by Common Man Show

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

I listen to a load of interviewing history podcasts, and have grown cynical about them. They're so obviously part of the marketing round. Softball questions, leading to a lack of useful information to the listener. This is exceptional. Searching questions, and the interviewee isn't pushing his book!

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

He got many things right. His rejection of Imperial Preference; his recognition that the Asquith/Lloyd Geroge split meant that the liberals were finished; his recognition that Hitler couldn't be appeased. He got big things wrong. But many of the above were against the majority opinion in his party.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

I've been following the tortuous and time-consuming ceasefire negotiations in 1950-1 at @TheKoreanWarbyIndyNeidell on youtube for a while. Diplomacy-wise, public posturing and maximalist positions can take a long time to soften. We could be here for a year, easily. www.bbc.com/news/article...

bbc.com

Donald Trump: US will not lift Hormuz blockade until deal made with Iran

The US president's comments come amid uncertainty over whether Iran will attend peace talks in Pakistan this week.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Very much enjoyed this post by the cynical, hardboiled but seemingly well-connected @peterzeihan.bsky.social (but he's inactive here) on the constraints on Trump's cabinet hires-and-fires. tl;dr if you think it's bad now, just wait. www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4ku...

youtube.com

Trump Goes on a Firing Spree || Peter Zeihan

YouTube video by Zeihan on Geopolitics

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Reposted by Richard Bourke

Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 12/04/2026

The math of complex negotiations is that the more important the issues on the table are, the more the parties need some combination of: a) Trust b) Enforcement More trust might make someone willing to live with less enforcement. More enforcement might make someone tolerate a trust deficit.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

I think this is from @bretdevereaux.bsky.social . It's all 40-year-old-obvious in one sense (Everyone knew Iran would close the strait, and has known for 40 years). But maps out the strategic errors and implications very well. tl_dr: no easy way out for USA, Israel or Iran from this.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

This is wonderful. Thanks to HistoryofEnglishPodcast and also browsing videos and an old English reader from the Author (Colin Gorrie) I can just about do it back to 1100 or so. www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/how-far-ba...

deadlanguagesociety.com

How far back in time can you understand English?

An experiment in language change

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

A thing I'm proud of: the peaceful, constant, effective agitation for further civil rights by nonconformist and catholic christians, 1660-1837. Emancipation extended to Jews in 1858. Access to university for non-Anglicans 1871. It was mostly Christians who drove that on. Because they valued it.

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Reposted by Richard Bourke

Christine Kooi @christinekooi.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

The Luther Random Insult Generator was, as ever, a hit in my Reformation class this morning. ergofabulous.org/luther/?

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Reposted by Richard Bourke

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

You should read this piece. Adam is right: the core theory behind the anti-ICE mobilization here in Minneapolis isn’t really a political ideology, but that neighbors are neighbors and must be protected.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Wow, this year's Munich Security Conference is going to be interesting.

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Reposted by Richard Bourke

Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

"The wall looks permanent until the day it comes down." data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-wall-l... Several people I know have used the word "beautiful" for this piece, and that's exactly right. A beautifully phrased essay on the bind we're in— until we aren't. Recommended, in an extreme way.

data4democracy.substack.com

The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls

On the optimism of preparation in a time of democratic decay.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

As the British Covid Judicial Inquiry released its report, the German Parliamentary Commission into it starts. Its first important witness, Christian Drosten. Who recommends Germany gets itself a transparent scientific advice body "like the UK's" (SAGE, I guess). www.tagesschau.de/video/video-...

tagesschau.de

Enquete-Kommission arbeitet Corona mit Drosten auf

Virologe Christian Drosten hat der Enquete-Kommission zur Corona-Aufarbeitung Rede und Antwort zu ihren Fragen rund um die Corona-Maßnahmen gestanden.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

I've been unsuccessfully looking for a book that covers the Irish Confederacy Wars (1641-1653: basically the Irish strand of the War of the 3 Kingdoms). And instead, I found a podcast, @paxbritannicapod.bsky.social , whose series 2 and 3 covers the period in a lot of detail ).

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

I know you don't like your followers posting replies that you alread know, but maybe you could have mercy on us by not posting questions whose answers all start with "duh! nicotine dependency!"

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Reposted by Richard Bourke

Rory Cellan-Jones @rorycj.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

www.facebook.com/share/p/19C1... My friend Mark Mardell was chucked off his Turkish Airlines flight at the weekend because he had Parkinson’s and his son had asked for assistance for him. (He’s written about it as a public post on Facebook but the link is proving hard to share outside,)

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

asylum in the UK is just an endless succession of expensive, inefficient bodges eg: Scabies shd be picked up at initial screening. Hotels shd only ever have been a temporary stopgap. Wd be far cheaper to custom-build or renovate to allow separation eg of genders.

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Reposted by Richard Bourke

The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

The cynical words of an old law professor seem again apt, sadly. Domestic law is a matter of law. Foreign laws are a matter of expert evidence. International law is a matter of fiction.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

Merkel's record on this is mixed. It isn't that she deliberately provoked the surge of asylum-seekers in 2015. Rather it was accidental, plus being bounced into it by Orban. She did, however, call in a lot of favours to get the EU-Turkey repatration deal agreed, which did help to reduce the flow.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Working title. "Lawyer on the edge of a nervous breakdown".

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Implement a 100% tariff and ruin a movie To kill 2 Mockingbirds

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Vorfreude. "Anticipatory happiness" or similar

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

"Deshalb ist es so wichtig, zwischen dem, was real ist, wie dieser dumme Zollkrieg, den er angezettelt hat, und dem, was er sagt, weil er weiß, dass sich alle darüber aufregen, zu unterscheiden". 9 kommas! #DE_ENRealSentences

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

So, today I tripled my numbers of blocks, and number of times I've been blocked. And this is something that I worry about. It kicked off with this story, widely shared over the past 24 hours from Quakers in Britain (BYM) 1/ bsky.app/profile/quak...

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

My God. "Adolescence" just wrings you out and leaves you crumpled on the floor. And after all that still keeps you thinking. How does the UK still produce this level of acting quality? A stunning mini-series if you have netflix. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

theguardian.com

Adolescence review – the closest thing to TV perfection in decades

Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham’s drama about a teen accused of murder is astounding. Its dazzling performances, and the devastating questions it asks, will linger with you

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

This was a beautiful, inspiring read. But I want to make a different, nerdy point: It popped up a comprehensible explanation of cookie usage. 1st time! I hate the standard cookie selection popups with a passion. (WTF is "legitimate use" anyway?) Why don't more websites customise their explanation?

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

ok, no need to stay up late on sunday night, as this thread basically tells you what the pundits are going to say. update: die Linke up to 7.5% in latest polls, FDP and BSW both below the 5% threshold

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Is there nothing that's *below* this guy's pay-grade? You're the President of the global top nation, for god's sake!

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

A very good speech. But also good expectation management. Something Trump (who appears to believe that foreign governments pay the cost of tariffs) hasn't done for his own citizens. And he's either going to back down quickly, or learn that to his cost.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Rudakubana sentencing in UK in parallel with ongoing political reactions to attack in Aschaffenburg (2 dead, perp a mentally disturbed Afghani). A long time since the Syrian refugees were welcomed by enthusiastic helpers and applauded at Munich Hauptbahnhof, in 2015. Right to asylum: can it last?

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Psychic hygiene, my subjective take. Right now it's unfollowing people (even interesting, well-informed people) who mostly post on US politics. I'm rationing my attention and my emotion. That's also why I left X.

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Richard Bourke @richardfbourke.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

I'm not intending to post much. I mostly reply

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