Sign in

Arjuna

@sandbagger59.bsky.social
906 followers 148 following 7 posts

Liberal Londoner. Hoping that this place isn't just another lifeboat.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Arjuna
Marios Richards @mariosrichards.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
open.substack.com/pub/mariosri... Tldr; I don't think the 1930s/2010-2020s are exceptional, I think it's 1945-1985 that's weird - that's the period where Authoritarian voters *aren't* voting for Authoritarian parties - which I'd describe as the Surprisingly Long Suppression of the Radical Right.
open.substack.com
My Theory of the (Re)Growth of the Radical Right
The Radical Right - aka Extreme Right/Hard Right/Far Right - is a party family that has been studied pretty continuously since 1945[1].
1212136
Arjuna @sandbagger59.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
I was added to this list today & I don’t even post publicly! 🤷🏾‍♂️
0111
Reposted by Arjuna
Charles Fourier @charlesfourier.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Keir Starmer calling out Nigel Farage over his response to the Henry Nowak murder
36484141
Reposted by Arjuna
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Every crime in which an ethnic or cultural minority is the perpetrator used to justify repression or worse of minorities. Every crime in which a minority is the victim used to argue for the idea that ethnic diversity is inherently unstable and should be reduced or eradicated.
352523783
Reposted by Arjuna
Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
there does seem to be something of a pattern here www.ft.com/content/2c3a...
4416954
Reposted by Arjuna
John C @badsocialism.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Watched a YouTube video of two Americans walking around Brixton and Herne Hill (or Hernie Hill as they decide to call it) and as relieving as it was for them to go "this is just a normal place" it is wild they still considered it rough away from the high street
youtu.be
We Don't Trust the Media, So We Went to London's Most "Dangerous" District 🇬🇧
YouTube video by TriFate Lifestyle
2422025
Reposted by Arjuna
The Mill @manchestermill.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Stop looking for Burnhamism - in six years, I’ve never found. Watching the mayor up close in Manchester, I’ve seen his unusual gifts and glaring weaknesses. Would he make a good prime minister? Our weekend read - by @joshih.bsky.social manchestermill.co.uk/stop-looking...
manchestermill.co.uk
Stop looking for Burnhamism - in six years, I’ve never found it
Watching the mayor up close in Manchester, I’ve seen his unusual gifts and glaring weaknesses. Would he make a good prime minister?
612265
Reposted by Arjuna
Max Wilkinson MP @maxwilkinson.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
It was kind of Robert Jenrick to set me up for an obvious joke at his expense.
2143044873
Reposted by Arjuna
Jennifer Williams @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Something from me on Andy Burnham as.ft.com/r/195a4775-9...
as.ft.com
Can Andy Burnham, Labour’s charismatic chameleon, reinvent himself again?
Greater Manchester mayor has earned public respect by going from insider to outsider, but economic doubts could undermine his bid for Downing Street
139323
Reposted by Arjuna
Jack Mendel @mendeljack.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Can't deal with this amount of nonsense
2173
Reposted by Arjuna
Warren Oates @warrenoates1.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
I was not prepared for what we just heard in parts of Naz Shah MP's speech as she launched the debate today. Absolutely fantastic!
23357115
Reposted by Arjuna
Mark Thompson @markreckons.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
I'm back baby. After several years in the political writing wilderness I've decided to dive back in so I've created a Substack "Political Sandbox" where I will be regularly posting my "Evidence-based political analysis". Here's my first piece on The 30% Government. open.substack.com/pub/politica...
open.substack.com
The 30% Government?
How Reform Could Glitch the System in 2029
022
Reposted by Arjuna
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Today’s column: some initial thoughts on what a “whole of society” approach to tackling antisemitism in the United Kingdom would have to do:
ft.com
How not to defeat antisemitism
The only way to overcome this scourge is to see it for what it is: racism
1210839
Reposted by Arjuna
Mark Hertling @markhertling.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Pulling troops out of Europe? Not a smart move…I know, because I was involved the last time we did it. My latest in @thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com/p/the-last-t...
thebulwark.com
The Last Time We Reduced Troops in Europe, a War Broke Out
I still carry the burden of that strategic failure.
51850318
Reposted by Arjuna
JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Powerful, brilliant and just terribly, terribly sad by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social. No community in the UK should feel the fear and abandonment so many in the Jewish community feel now. Read this and reflect. I am all for paywalls - but I'd take the FT one down for this.
ft.com
The shrinking of Jewish life in Britain
It should be entirely possible to be anti-Israel without sinking to dehumanising language
32613
Reposted by Arjuna
Adam Wagner KC @adamwagner1.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
After Golders Green adamwagnerkc.substack.com/p/after-gold...
adamwagnerkc.substack.com
After Golders Green
This post’s title could be five weeks old, or two days.
108632
Reposted by Arjuna
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 28/04/2026
standing ovation after King Charles sings the praises of NATO and says "that same unyielding resolve is needed for the defense of Ukraine"
34399582221
Reposted by Arjuna
emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Thoughts on Robert Mueller's Passing emptywheel.net/2026/03/23/t...
emptywheel.net
Thoughts on Robert Mueller's Passing - emptywheel
Robert Mueller was a complex person in a complex time in American history, and his passing provides a way to reflect on how we got to where we are. That reflection extends well beyond the investigatio...
1235399
Reposted by Arjuna
Steve Rosenberg @bbcstever.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
From a mainstream Russian tabloid, surprising criticism of the authorities: “Either they see us as kids too small & brainless to be trusted or to have anything explained to us [or] the system's now so unbalanced one part no longer knows what the other is doing.” #ReadingRussia
youtu.be
"The system's so unbalanced one part doesn't know what the other's doing" - Russian paper
YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg
1531587
Reposted by Arjuna
Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Aesop: I TOLD YOU
10278882412
Reposted by Arjuna
Jim Teeth @drjamesjteeth.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
This is an excellent summary of the US War on Iran current situation. I’m an existentialist and borderline absurdist and even I struggle with the current moment. This summary is just fantastic.
no01.substack.com
March, 19-21: God is a comedian
A stiff drink is recommended
8631821410
Reposted by Arjuna
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 18/03/2026
OSSOFF: Your statement says that as a result of last summer's airstrikes, Iran's nuclear program was 'obliterated.' Correct? GABBARD: Yes O: The WH stated war was launched to 'eliminate the imminent nuclear threat' G: The only person who can determine what's an imminent threat is POTUS O: False
635119423659
Reposted by Arjuna
Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
OK, this Tucker Carlson impression on Saturday Night Live last night is uncanny! Has all the verbal tics and go-to phrases down, and nails the high-pitch cackle.
22490411668
Reposted by Arjuna
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Latest post assesses current state of the war. Looks at the state of American decision-making, how it was caught out by Iranian response, the difficulty reopening Strait of Hormuz, and why hardliners in Iran may make it difficult to get a ceasefire. (£/free trial) samf.substack.com/p/the-split-...
samf.substack.com
The Split-Screen War
Finding a way out of a war gone badly wrong
814656
Reposted by Arjuna
Shaun Walker @shaunwalker7.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
In 2023, Nataliia Daletska was told her son Nazar, a Ukrainian soldier, had died near the front. A DNA match confirmed it. There was a funeral, & he was buried in the local cemetery. Then a few weeks ago, Nazar - very much alive - came home. My story: www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
theguardian.com
‘My dear son’: the Ukrainian soldier who came back from the dead
In 2023, Nazar Daletskyi’s apparent remains were buried in his home village. Three years later, he spoke to his mother, Nataliia, on the phone
18021
Reposted by Arjuna
404 Media @404media.co · 10/03/2026
A DOGE staffer assigned to the National Endowment for the Humanities to flag grants for "DEI" tries to explain what "DEI" is. This deposition is part of a lawsuit by the @acls1919.bsky.social, @historians.org and @modernlanguage.bsky.social.
84566712911
Reposted by Arjuna
Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Trump is in serious trouble. His war is deeply unpopular. He's now in the toilet on the economy, immigration, and national security. His public standing is getting close to being broken in an irreparable way, akin to Bush after Iraq and Katrina: newrepublic.com/article/2074...
newrepublic.com
Donald Trump’s Presidency Is in Free Fall
Republicans typically lead on the economy, national security, and immigration. Trump is squandering the GOP’s traditional strength on all three.
2152006627
Reposted by Arjuna
Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
If wannabe Nazis now confidently roam the halls of power—and the streets of American cities—it is because Republican leaders have made them feel at home. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
The Republican Party Has a Nazi Problem
How did the GOP become a haven for slogans and ideas straight out of the Third Reich?
891375512
Reposted by Arjuna
Frederick Deknatel @freddydeknatel.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Tony Gilroy on Andor’s prescience: “It’s the same shit all the time. Get rid of truth, get rid of a free press, destroy communities, nationalize the businesses, find an arbitrary enemy you can elevate and false flag them through propaganda. Flood the zone with as much gak and atrocity as you can.”
Yes, you were inspired by history books, including the use of pretext.
Yeah, it's the same shit all the time. Get rid of truth, get rid of a free press, destroy communities, nationalize the businesses, find an arbitrary enemy that you can elevate and false flag them through propaganda. Flood the zone with as much gak and atrocity as you can so that nobody can pay attention to what just happened, and pray that you have an overwhelming majority of sheep that will follow you. It's just tragically and sadly familiar. It's on them; it's not on us.
24618
Reposted by Arjuna
Eddie Burfi @eddieburfi.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Just listen to what Andrew’s nickname was amongst royal protection officers.
712448807
Reposted by Arjuna
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 21/02/2026
A retired British primary school administrator with a British passport and a valid visa was shackled, chained and detained for six weeks by ICE www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks
Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...
24471894174
Reposted by Arjuna
Shaun Walker @shaunwalker7.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
I've been working on this for ages in various countries: the story of the intelligence buildup to Putin's 2022 invasion. How did the US and Britain find out so much, and why were Europe and Ukraine sceptical. It's a long one: www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
theguardian.com
A war foretold: how the CIA and MI6 got hold of Putin’s Ukraine plans and why nobody believed them
Drawing on more than 100 interviews with senior intelligence officials and other insiders in multiple countries, this exclusive account details how the US and Britain uncovered Vladimir Putin’s plans ...
33286129
Reposted by Arjuna
Chris Ingraham @cingraham.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Incredible quote here from a Somali small business owner in Minneapolis who voted for Trump. minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/19/a...
Voting for Trump — and regretting it
Sharif, the Madina Mall shop owner who fears she may have to return to the bad old days of having a boss, gave out an exasperated sigh. 

“Would you believe if I told you I voted for this man?” she said, referring to Trump.

Sharif is not politically active, but in 2024, some campaigners came to her shop and told her that Trump would be good for business and against the LGBTQ agenda. 

“I was immediately hooked,” she said. She voted Republican for the first time.

Now, chagrined, she said, “I never thought the man I put in office would come for my family, make me financially struggle and cause me so much fear that I carry my passport when I go to the bathroom,” she said, pointing at the mall’s bathrooms.

“I feel as though the weapon I built is coming to kill me and my people,” she said.
77250101244
Reposted by Arjuna
ChrisO_wiki @chriso-wiki.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Today's UK newspapers, from left to right across the political spectrum, are dominated by Trump's threats over Greenland. The word "blackmail" is prominently used.
826147
Reposted by Arjuna
Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
I keep saying this but no one is connecting the dots. The war is to satisfy legal preconditions for mass removal *domestically* of Latinos (i.e., suddenly a lot of people are going to be “Venezuelan” for purposes of removal). This is 100% Stephen Miller…oil claim is to make grandpa go along
35898883729
Reposted by Arjuna
Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
Trump's new National Security Strategy: what if groypers cosplayed George Kennan? www.programmablemutter.com/p/america-ha...
programmablemutter.com
America has identified its greatest enemy: Western Europe
Trump's new National Security Strategy: what if groypers cosplayed George Kennan?
818063
Reposted by Arjuna
Robin Wigglesworth @robinwigglesworth.ft.com · 04/12/2025
I'm not even mad, that's amazing.
1426275
Reposted by Arjuna
Jill Lawrence @jilldlawrence.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
The American Revolution I Didn't Know: Thoughts on a 12-hour teachable "moment" from Ken Burns. Surprises and provocations, gritty details and historical sweep. Also brutality, hypocrisy, and oh yeah, our lofty ideals. My latest at History Keeps Happening. jilllawrence.substack.com/p/american-r...
jilllawrence.substack.com
The American Revolution I Didn't Know
Thoughts on a 12-hour teachable "moment" from Ken Burns
1328385
Reposted by Arjuna
Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
How Republicans commemorated Thanksgiving in 1869--with a multi-racial/multi-ethnic gathering of people at a table with a centerpiece celebrating universal suffrage and self-government, and with an engraving of Castle Garden, the pre-Ellis Island point of disembarkation for immigrants.
A Harpers Weekly engraving from 1869 depicting Uncle Sam's Thanksgiving Dinner as described in the main text of this skeet. There are also images of Lincoln, Washington, and Grant on the wall.
151585482
Reposted by Arjuna
Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
NEW: it’s the inaugural Your Party conference this weekend, and I’ve been speaking to people involved about a project which has become so bogged down in disagreement that, as one person told me, at one point they had six MPs and four factions. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
‘We had six MPs and four factions’: inside Your Party’s toxic power struggles
Some say Jeremy Corbyn is too non-committal for project to work, while others blame Zarah Sultana’s combative nature
103614
Reposted by Arjuna
Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Today's migration stats illustrate the migration doom loop in action... (from my presentation at the IMF last week)
371370562
Reposted by Arjuna
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
The second year of magical thinking: this evening's newsletter on the Budget:
ft.com
Rachel Reeves doubles down on wishful thinking
A government that can’t make tough choices now is unlikely to do so on the eve of an election
35911
Reposted by Arjuna
emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
The Dim Philby Leaks www.emptywheel.net/2025/11/26/t...
emptywheel.net
The Dim Philby Leaks - emptywheel
The release of transcripts showing that the Ukraine "piece" plan that Trump claimed to be his own was in fact simply the Russian plan could have the same effect the discovery of Mike Flynn's back chan...
924285
Reposted by Arjuna
James O'Malley @jamesomalley.co.uk · 26/11/2025
The Twitter/X account geolocation feature should be treated with scepticism (FREE TO READ!) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/the-twitte...
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
The Twitter/X account geolocation feature should be treated with scepticism
And surely BBC Verify should actually... verify... things?
31910
Reposted by Arjuna
Brian Phillips @brianphillips.lol · 25/11/2025
People are calling my lede here "appalling," "nightmare fuel," "actively evil," and "a desecration of the human spirit"
theringer.com
The Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. Affair Is Messier Than We Ever Could Have Imagined
Inside the most important, and also least important, story of our time
2001791255
Reposted by Arjuna
Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
siepr.stanford.edu
The Economic Impact of Brexit
Other
14538161710
Reposted by Arjuna
Dwight Silverman @dwightsilverman.com · 25/11/2025
The latest installment in the "dumb and dumber" series at Xitter, via @mmasnick.bsky.social.
techdirt.com
X’s New Feature Reveals Why Trust & Safety Work Was Never About The ‘Censorship Industrial Complex’
For the last few years, Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger, and their allies have spent considerable energy attacking both academic researchers studying disinformation and the trust & safety te…
19228