iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 23h

This is undeniable by any fair-minded observer, really

Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 20h

Recently returned from an Italian road trip with longstanding friends Tim & Beth from Minnesota, which took in Genoa, Lucca, Cinque Terre and Pisa. Enormous fun!

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Mark Thompson @markreckons.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Seriously. This is a big part of the problem. The BBC "both sides"ing absolutely everything. Even stuff like this which is about what our security services know about election interference. It *does not* require any Tufton Street response. At all.

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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 10/10/2026

For those playing along at home: To give the appearance of action on the impacts of his humiliating blunder on the world stage, the President of the United States is making a humiliating blunder on the world stage by bailing the Russian president out of a humiliating blunder on the world stage.

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 10/10/2026

One day after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals came out against the Pentagon’s plan to livestream an execution, Pope Leo has published a tweet reiterating the Catholic Church’s opposition to the death penalty.

Pope Leo XIV • @Pontifex• •4h
X
The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption.

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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

No, competitive tendering and transparency in the award of public contracts would do.

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Peter Whitewood @pwhitewood.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

A shadowy network of hedgehogs and owls, operating at the highest levels of the British establishment.

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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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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Reading more about what Manchester City this is far more than a story about football, this is also the playbook for how some companies grew to global dominance in the last 30 years and the difficulties national authorities then have in dealing with them.

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Alex Hall Hall @alexhh.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It’s a badge of honour for @bylinetimes.bsky.social to be banned from Reform and Conservative conferences - like being banned by Russia or China, it says more about them, than the journalists. Also, so ironic that the parties which waffle on about freedom of speech are the most scared of it.

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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

NEW The diabolical defending of Manchester City Understanding an aggressive litigation strategy By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk (Prospect paywall is down currently.) www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th... #MCFC

What can explain such an aggressive and counterproductive approach? To an extent the answer may be in the facts and the evidence. Perhaps the view was that the only chance of getting out of this was to be unhelpful as well as robust. In respect of an earlier dispute with Uefa, an internal communication at the club apparently said “Uefa doesn't respond to anything other than aggression”. Maybe the view was taken that this would work here too. Maybe the club still thinks it will work in the end, with the league being pushed into settlement on appeal or at the doors of the High Court.

But this does not offer a total explanation. What may work with Uefa may not work with other adversaries. The structure of the league’s investigation and the disciplinary approach meant that aggression would not only be unhelpful, but would count heavily against the club. An appeal on the law or procedure at the High Court in this sort of case only has a remote chance of success. It can be assumed the club was warned of all this.

There is a phrase in football punditry that “the defending is diabolical”. Here diabolical is, of course, a synonym for dreadful. But in its more literal sense, diabolical means bedevilled with wrongful purpose. And the strategy adopted by Manchester City in contesting this matter is also in this sense diabolical. The club will have known that it was unlikely to work, and that it would make things harder, but the club decided to do it anyway.

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Jonathan Roberts @jonroberts.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Parents will recognise this as stages hope goes through as you try and get children out the door to school on time.

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Simon Gosden @simongosden.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

True patriots would surely welcome such a plan. Unless they have something to hide?

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Enjoyed a wild interpretation of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night'd Dream" at the Chichester Festival Theatre this weekend. Set in the rave culture of the 1990s and including a reference to singing "Shine Jesus Shine" (which I'm fairly sure wasn't in William's original text😉.) Great acting!

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Jonathan Roberts @jonroberts.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Toddler whose tantrum has failed to achieve the goal of being allowed ice cream for dinner, says he has lost confidence in parents. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK

Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

A really interesting read ahead of going to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Chichester Festival Theatre.⬇️

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Fun, first time visit to the Goodwood Revival yesterday. Thanks for Caroline and James for buying the tickets.

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Christopher Hale @christopherjhale.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

On Sept. 11, Pete Hegseth defended the Iran war and declared: “The Lord trains our arms for war and our hands for battle.” Pope Leo XIV’s message bears repeating: Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”

thelettersfromleo.com

“Your Hands Are Full of Blood” — Pope Leo XIV’s Palm Sunday Message to Warmakers

On the first day of Holy Week, the pope invoked Isaiah to declare that God rejects the prayers of those who wage war — with the U.S.-Israeli bombing of Iran entering its second month.

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Mark Hebden @unionlib.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Scotland: We want to leave the UK BBC: Huh? Wales: We want to leave the UK BBC: What? Northern Ireland: We want to leave the UK BBC: Lolz Some shithole in Oxfordshire: We want to leave the UK because racism BBC: REPORT THE HELL OUT OF THIS #Piddington

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

My review of Andrew Crislip's "Emotion in Early Christianity" (Eerdmans 2026) for the Journal of Contemporary Religion is now available here: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/HMQ8W...?

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Recently bought the new Pulp 'Live!' album which reminded me of seeing them at Glastonbury last summer.

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

My chapter on St Hildegard of Bingen in the new, two volume book 'Inspirational Women Leaders' (Emerald 2026) is available here: www.emerald.com/books/edited...

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Charles Fourier @charlesfourier.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Bill Bryson’s words seem appropriate to post right now

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Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

This Neo-Nazi is attempting to target RNLI volunteers. The police have to act, and the Prime Minister should be making a public statement.

Neo Nazi attempts to target RNLI volunteers

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Ryan Bridge - Founder of "Raise the Colours" flag protests - charged with 14 offences including common assault. Danny Thomas - ringleader of Dover/Portsmouth thuggery - an ex-con jailed for attempted kidnap at knifepoint. Almost like they're not "ordinary people with concerns" but criminals.

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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Seems the difference between ‘protestors’ and ‘terrorists’ is that protestors wear balaclavas while terrorists hold placards.

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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Been feeling this a lot today! Have appeared everywhere from France 24 and Times Radio to Radio Scotland and 5 Live (twice!) talking about Reform’s funding scandal Would have struggled to do that from Reform conference if they hadn’t banned me!!

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Jonathan Roberts @jonroberts.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

What if we say we did nothing wrong but the people who did the wrong thing have been sacked

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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 03/09/2026

A company linked to Chelsea FC co-owner Todd Boehly has donated £75,000 to Reform UK, part of the more than £5mn raked in by the rightwing populist party in the second quarter of 2026 ft.trib.al/Y3UFcko

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Great to be back at Westcott House, Cambridge, earlier this week – for the Society for the Study of Theology exec committee 24 hour meeting to review the 2026 conference and plan ahead for gatherings in 2027/28. Very positive time!

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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Chris Mason (BBC) reports on his “interview” with Nigel Farage. It’s not an interview. It’s an idiotic, moany rant from Farage about how he’s being picked on cos he reckons he’s a threat to the establishment. And Mason just folds like a wet cardboard box in the face of this delusional bollox.

Farage pictured with his innocent face on… (it’s hideous - my opinion)

Nigel Farage insists he's 'broken no rules'

He added: "The point is, we live in a complainants' society. If you complain about me, automatically that triggers an investigation."
He said that political parties were "constantly writing to all the authorities", meaning Reform was "under investigation every day for virtually everything we do".
"There's a big picture here. The old two-party system that has dominated since the end of the First World War feels for the first time it faces an existential threat.
"There is a whole ecosystem with a century of development around this. And we come along from virtually nowhere and threaten the whole thing.”

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

On Saturday we celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary (how does THAT happen?) So on the day and at the hour we went to the church and stood where we shared our vows and took some informal photos to mark the occasion🥂

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Alistair King @alistairking.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Struggling to work out why Jenrick would single out these three Commonwealth countries rather than, say, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, whose citizens have exactly the same rights. It’s a head-scratcher.

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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 28/08/2026

‘Generations of Catholic neurotics might protest against the utility of guilt, but at least J.D. Vance is unlikely to run out of raw material.’ James Butler (@piercepenniless.bsky.social) on Vance’s conversion memoir. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

lrb.co.uk

James Butler · Short Cuts: J.D. Vance’s Conversion

The most obvious question is not whether J.D. Vance believes what he claims to believe, but why, if he believes it, he...

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Saw the vibrant and energetic production of Lerner and Loewe's "My Fair Lady" @chichesterft.bsky.social yesterday evening with longstanding friends Susan and Keith Mobberley.

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

My review of Andrew Crislip's stimulating new book "Emotion in Early Christianity" (Eerdmans, 2026) has been accepted by the Journal of Contemporary Religion. I'll keep you updated in due course.

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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 25/08/2026

‘Trump’s vice president was a writer before he was a politician, and brought a writer’s vices with him: a titanic but fragile ego, limitless self-interest and thirst for adulation, an unsleeping vigilance for any slight.’ @piercepenniless.bsky.social on J.D. Vance. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

lrb.co.uk

James Butler · Short Cuts: J.D. Vance’s Conversion

The most obvious question is not whether J.D. Vance believes what he claims to believe, but why, if he believes it, he...

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Much fun at the Compton Festival last weekend – seeing Stornoway for 1st time since 2013 in Leamington and Buzzcocks for 1st time since 1979 at Bangor Uni (then supported by Joy Division). Not original Buzzcocks lineup obvs but Steve Diggle still whips up a storm!

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Michael J. Stern @michaeljstern.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Hey Jon Ossoff, you got Melania to come out of hibernation by mentioning Natalie Harp. Can you get Mitch McConnell to reappear?

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Jonathan Coe @jonathancoe.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Apparently this is the list of British films included in the booklet accompanying the British Citizenship test. Unfortunately, if familiarity with the films on this list is one of the criteria for being a British citizen I think we're going to have to deport everyone under the age of 50.

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Last Friday Mandy and I had great fun watching a Blues Brothers tribute band playing a village in the south of France. This Friday it'll be a Madness tribute band playing a village in the south of England🎷

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Reform Party UK Exposed @reformexposed.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Reform UK Councillors Gone: Update

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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I'd say "Something for nothing" culture is getting paid £100,000 a year of public money, plus expenses, for a job that you then fail to turn up to for months on end

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Vaughan Roberts @vaughanroberts.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Just finished C Thi Nguyen's "The Score" about the Four Horsemen of Bureaucracy (Rules, Scale, Parts and Control) and how they can be mitigated by play, arts and games. Very interesting and personal investigation/analysis.

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