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Rob

@robg8.bsky.social
133 followers 169 following 141 posts

Welshman living across the bridge. Interested in 🇪🇦🇫🇷🇬🇷🇪🇺 and Latin America. And in history, law, & politics - and sci-fi!

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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 16h
Worse. I'd argue that Europe's social contract is essentially broken with two huge factors being an ageing population and the rise of the gig economy. Preferred fixes, of blaming China or immigrants, are obviously inadequate and probably counter-productive.
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 15h
Not to be alarmist, but to those of us of a certain age reports of a test tube breaking at a Russian research lab immediately recall the opening sequence of the 1975 TV series 'Survivors': www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch7N...
youtube.com
Survivors title sequence
YouTube video by VHS Video vault
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Tits McGee @scientits.bsky.social · 20h
IMO, the issue is not the monetary contribution, it's that an awful lot of people conflate fun activities that you do in your spare time as also being the same thing in terms of work, as in - not *real* work Games are enjoyable activities you do on the evenings and weekends with your mates
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This ancient Greek figure from the 2,500 year-old Douris Cup looks uncannily like someone working on a laptop! 😲 💻 He’s actually writing with a stylus on a hinged wax writing tablet! The technology has changed, the posture has not! 😂 Altes Museum, Berlin 📷 by me
My photo shows detail from an ancient Greek red-figure kylix (drinking cup) of a young man shown in profile seated on a stool facing right. He wears a knee length cloak (himation) over his left shoulder, which is shown in folds around his waist and upper legs. His right shoulder, chest, and arms are bare. His dark hair is short, and he wears a band around his head. He is looking down at an open rectangular wax writing tablet which he is supporting in his left hand above his lap. In his right hand he holds a metal stylus pen poised over the writing tablet. The wooden writing tablet is hinged like a book and, from this angle, resembles a modern laptop. The figure is part of a scene depicting school lessons in ancient Athens, painted by Douris around 480 BC. On display at the Altes Museum in Berlin.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 19h
The teaching of critical thought is being dismantled. In the US, it is happening very deliberately for ideological reasons. In the UK, it is far more haphazard and senseless, driven by short-termist money saving. The end result, though, is the same: ignorance and the entrenchment of privilege.
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Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 19h
Under Labour large swathes of the UK outside of London and Manchester are losing access to much of Europe and Britain's cultural heritage. Burnham talks a good game about regional pride even as his government mindlessly watches many of its foundations collapse beyond the Southeast and Northwest
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 19h
the welfare budget is basically the clown car of Tory fiscal policy isn't it, you keep thinking it must be empty but nope, out pops another amazing saving to spend on something they like more
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 19h
The implications of an Iron Dome are either: 1. Western Europe has been conquered. 2. Western European countries will allow drones targeting the UK to freely pass through their airspace. I can't help thinking it may be better value for money to work with others to prevent either happening.
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Svetovid @svetovid.bsky.social · 20h
Well, that's a hell of a thing to leave next to a statue of Joan of Arc.😏
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Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This proves only two things. The Ukrainian campaign against Russian refineries is causing serious damage. Putin has asked Trump to help him out and the US president obliged.
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Politico: "CCHQ is working to a strategy aimed at appealing to the center, then hoovering up right-wing support to kill off Reform...The plan centers first on winning back middle class Lib Dem & Labour voters" They're starting that by...pledging to abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency
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Mark Wallace @wallaceme.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It’s a little known fact that all the words associated with paying to see the Bayeux Tapestry are derived from Anglo-Saxon while all the words for being invited to see it by a corporate sponsor derive from French.
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Jordan @jordanpfot.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Oh no
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 05/10/2026
Holy shit.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Strong recommend as Spain faces its most consequential general election since 1982, at least. The return of the far-right to power for the first time since Franco's death will be seismic and massively destabilising. Éamann gets that in a way most anglosphere commentators do not.
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 05/10/2026
This is a much stronger statement than the one issued yesterday by the MPs and leadership of the Green Party of England and Wales
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Rob @robg8.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I guess they meant they wanted him to call elections after the judges had come up with some half-baked accusations to interview him about (and leak to their chosen media organisations...)
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Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
There's something a little depressing in the fact that the British establishment stood up against Enoch Powell's racism in the 1960s than it seems to be willing to be now
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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This is almost certainly true, and the UK fails women refugees in multiple ways, including by refusing safe routes to come here, wrongly rejecting asylum claims, barring family reunion & not recognising trafficking victims promptly or at all. If only Mahmood had the power to do something about this
theguardian.com
Nearly all women arriving on small boats have been raped, says Shabana Mahmood
Home secretary warns people traffickers will exploit asylum seekers because they decide who comes to the UK
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Zanzibar @satancucufato.satan.social · 05/10/2026
Ahora veras a los jueces fachas darse prisa en condenar a begoña antes del 29 del 11
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
PSOE could do a lot worse than produce a poster similar to this with Feijóo in Abascal's pocket.
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Rob @robg8.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Wondering how active a role the "neutral" judges will play during (obviously not "in", ahem!) the campaign...
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David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Paying taxes is punishment is it? Some might say it's a contribution to the infrastructure and regulations (like the rule of law) that enables you to build a successful business and, being less transactional, your contribution to society..
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Jill Rutter @jillongovt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
You might hate the Environment Agency and Natural England - but am not sure how good your evidence base is that there is a latent majority for poorer air quality, more pollution and (even more) destruction of nature #CPC2026 - and homes that are going to require big retrofits
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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 05/10/2026
The extent to which the rule "you are not allowed to insult the other side's voters" is applied exclusively to the left never ceases to infuriate me. "Basket of deplorables" and "cling to guns or religion" were WEEKS-long news cycles. There were panels. There was theme music and a logo.
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A new trade union has just been officially registered, the UK Hospitality Union It's a v under-represented part of the workplace re. unions: "Members include...baristas, hotel staff, restaurant staff, chefs, event caterers, bar staff, housekeeping." Be interesting to see how they fare
ukhospitalityunion.com
UK Hospitality Union | trade union
At the UK Hospitality Trade Union, we are the united voice for workers across the UK's hospitality sector. Our mission is simple: to advocate for fair treatment, safe working conditions, and equitable...
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Víctor Ventura @vicvent.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Una de esas cosas que tengo clavada en la memoria es la última vez que las encuestas daban un 50% de intención de voto a la derecha.
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Adam Chapman @adamchapman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A quick look for sentences passed down (a while ago, yes) for others convicted of bombings in the UK suggests - and I know that the legislation is different - that 15 years is at the lower end of what he might have expected.
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Sir Almaviva @ilcontealmaviva.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Being against bus lanes is absolute loser behaviour.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
As a Jew I think what the Greens have done is appalling. As a political commentator I think Andy Burnham is a lucky man.
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Éamann Mac Donnchada @almagroschool.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
sth not sufficiently commented on; Vox and the PP are determined to see Sánchez behind bars, its not empty talk, if they win a majority they'll say yes to the first judge who wants to strip his parliamentary immunity, so he's playing for his freedom
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🏳️‍🌈Jorge Godoy🇪🇺 @godoito.eurosky.social · 05/10/2026
Pablo Iglesias en RNE criticando al PSOE. Ni en momentos de emergencia nacional este hombre puede dejar su ego a un lado.
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EL PAÍS @elpais.com · 05/10/2026
Editorial | La hipótesis de un Gobierno con ministros y políticas de Vox no puede banalizarse ni los grandes partidos conformarse con este escenario (...) La socialdemocracia tiene ahora una oportunidad para demostrar que sus recetas todavía son válidas social.elpais.com/qp8…
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Numeritos 🍕🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇵🇸 @08181.es · 05/10/2026
Si gana la derecha, la calidad de vida de la amplia mayoría del país será peor. No basta con votar, hay que movilizar. El que pueda hacer que haga. Porque ellos no van a dudar.
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Simon Usherwood @simonusherwood.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
💯
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Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Scaring Jews is part of the fun.
If the headline motion is itself racist, the refusal to even pretend to make a carve-out for Jewish members of your own party is perhaps most revealing. Evidently, a majority of Green Party members who voted for the motion and against the amendment simply have little interest in finding an accommodation with Jews.

And I think this speaks to what a lot of people fail to understand. That for Jew-haters, antisemitism is fun. Even better, it frequently forces Jews to play the game of emptying their pockets and patiently explaining why this obviously horrible, racist thing — a slogan, a placard or a burning of ambulances operated by a Jewish charity — is in fact antisemitic. That, too, is part of the fun.

You don’t need to label every antisemitic terrorist attack (and there are horrifyingly many to choose from this year alone) a “false flag” or suggest that “Zionists control the media” to oppose a terrible war or in any way dilute support for Palestinians. You certainly don’t have to, as Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories claimed in a recent interview, say that Jews in Nazi death camps were called “Muslims”.

I could attempt to explain why they do this. Why so many people believe that Jews, whether stabbed on the streets of Golders Green or murdered in gas chambers, are molecularly incapable of being victims. Indeed, how and why the Holocaust itself is an example of Jewish power and privilege. But that would be to play the pocket-emptying game.
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Gavin Jackson @gavinjackson.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I visited the Amazon rainforest a year ago ahead of the cop conference in Belem. Historically the only thing that has stopped deforestation has been electing Lula da Silva has Brazilian president. www.economist.com/the-americas...
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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
"Yeah, in Germany today, you can't even support far-right efforts to ban Holocaust memorials without someone calling you a Nazi! What is this country coming to?" (www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
"But Silke Schutz, 63, a baker who called herself a “staunch AfD voter”, described the Stolpersteine as “a waste of money, regardless of who pays for them”.

“There are so many victims no one cares about,” she said, citing people killed in traffic accidents. “We had nothing to do with the war and at some point it [remembrance] has got to come to an end. But when I express my opinion, I’m insulted as a Nazi.”"
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Under the Tories we will lose our human rights and environmental protections. They are promising to deliver a full on race to the absolute bottom. I am not sure this wins back those seats they lost to the LibDems in 2024.
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Stephen Morrison @stephen-morrison.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It's striking that Brazil did exactly what so many on the left blame Biden for not doing: prosecuting and imprisoning the would-be authoritarian. Yet here we are. The message, I think, is that there is no legal or procedural means of safeguarding democracy if enough voters want a dictator.
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James @jamesh1.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
There goes the Amazon.
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The pitch here seems to be, ‘we’ll build the houses and infrastructure we failed to build during the 14 years we were in government, but we’ll do it in the most damaging and lowest quality way possible’. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Tories to pledge to scrap Environment Agency and Natural England
Shadow chancellor will also promise to scrap affordable homes regulations as part of strategy to refocus on growth
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Ann Monster Lipton @annmlipton.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
so... how are the benefits, agency, and bad things allocated, exactly
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General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Is there a subtle contrast being drawn between who Labour help and who the Tories help 🤔 #CPC26
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I went out and drank too much. But I gained clarity. Sitting on the stoney Sidmouth beach, watching a sky turning from steel blue to golden sunset yellow, I realised, totally, this is a world we cannot allow the fascist right to control. It is far too special to give up to that banality of evil.
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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 04/10/2026
It's even weirder when you look at the demographics under the hood - the Tory vote is literally dying over the next 10-15 years.
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JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
A new chapter for Profiles in Courage ...
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Xela Hart @xelahart.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
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The Fig Economy @figgityfigs.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
When was the last time the press ran a story about republicans making intemperate remarks about democrats? Fretting about whether republicans are doing enough to be bipartisan, to reach out to the forgotten voters who favor the democrats?
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