@teamlabouruk.bsky.social a reminder. Because apparently you need it.

‘Contempt is a dangerous way to lead a country’: here is the sermon that enraged Donald Trump | Mariann Edgar Budde This week, the Bishop of Washington delivered a sermon in front of President Trump urging him to show mercy towards LGBTQ+ and migrant communities. The president condemned it as ‘nasty’. We reproduce ...

The Convict thinks he is a caring and considerate man, believing in a loving God.

When told that some of his policies are the antithesis of this in a sermon in church he accused the Bishop of being too left win.

Fuck him.

Here's the sermon in full.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Looking critically at Trump’s flurry of Executive Orders: why we should watch what is done, and not to be distracted by what is said 21st January 2025 Around Westminster, the most useful guides to the nature of modern politics may not be the journalists and commentators, still less the ‘think tanks’ with their portentous names a…

Watch out for the sleight of hand whilst we are being outraged.

davidallengreen.com/2025/01/look...

To the crowds cheering Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement:
Do you think you live on a different planet, which climate breakdown does not affect?
Do you imagine only greens and progressives will be harmed by Earth systems collapse?
Do you believe you can win an argument with physics?

Trump signs order to withdraw US from Paris climate agreement for second time On first day back as president, Trump signs letter giving notice to UN of US exit from treaty seeking to curb climate crisis effects

There's any number of things that the convict is up to today that are cause for concern. (I promised myself I wouldn't get riled by his actions today, but here we are.)

This one is the most stupid and damaging.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Oh God. Where was that poll?

Elon Musk’s attempts to sway German and UK politics thought ‘unacceptable’ – poll Exclusive: Majority polled by YouGov viewed billionaire negatively – except among Reform UK and AfD voters

I'm pleased that everyone in Europe - apart from a few right wing extremists - wants Musk to just fuck right off.

Hopefully that means he's damaging the fascists rather than boosting them.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Gaiman breaks his silence.

It's not an apology (or even an acknowledgement of what happened.)

journal.neilgaiman.com/2025/01/brea...

Okay, you're blocked.

One question then: do you consider the genocide in Gaza to be excusable?

<sigh>

The problem with this article is that the author maintains that "anti-Zionism is antisemitism". Conflating the two muddies the message: the current leaders of Israel are culpable for war crimes.

So I'd like a bit more information about what exactly this antisemitism is.

Young people are abandoning democracy for dictators. I can understand their despair | Owen Jones Fascism in power in the 1930s brought the world to genocidal war. But memories have faded, as has the stigma attached to the far-right – and that’s dangerous, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones

Owen tells it like it is. There are many of these analyses around: the question is what to do about their conclusions?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Not just defence. Boosting spending across the board. Which means boosting taxation.

Impossible to answer given the character limit. But briefly: yes it can be done by increasing taxation. The how is much more difficult.

The Guardian view on globalisation and its discontents: how the left was left behind | Editorial Editorial: As national populist parties gain ground in the west, progressives must put social and climate priorities ahead of market interests

“We’ve given up on some ambitious continuation of the egalitarian agenda of making the most powerful economic actors accountable to democratic control, making them contribute to the public goods we need to fund.”

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

But that *does* work much better!

Aaaargh!

Thank you again 😄

Thank you!

God, I hate the way that replies are set out here. They don't seem to follow one from the other at all ....

If you find out how to do that please let me know!

Bizarrely I've got two versions of a reply from you in my notifications, Kate. Did you send two?

Ah, I understand now.

I'm not sure you understand the attraction of FB entirely, Kate (unless you are being deliberately provocative, in which case fair enough).

Here is a good replacement for Twitter, but it's nowhere near as good as FB for groups, pages etc etc.

Unless I'm missing something.

Fears for UK boomer radicalisation on Facebook after Meta drops factcheckers For middle-aged users, it will be ‘even harder to discern the truth’ among extremist content, expert says

I don't think they're really talking about the "boomer generation" here.

People in their 40s are at least 20 years younger than us. It's the next generation down.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

‘I think there is life there. Today’: the race to put a human on Mars – in pictures Ever since the first fuzzy images of its surface were captured in 1964, Mars has sparked imaginations worldwide. As Nasa publishes its photographic archives of the red planet, will Elon Musk’s wild pr...

A bit of an advert for a book of photos, but the article contains that genuine sensawunder.

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Since when did making clear what is truthful and factual amount to censorship?

I recognise three, which I guess means I am officially old.

“Twelfth Night Till Candlemas” – the story of a forty-year book-quest and of its remarkable ending The day before the Winter Solstice, 2024 This post is about finally finding a book from one’s youth forty years later – and after nearly thirty years of searching. It is also a tale about gob…

A bit of an unusual post from David Allen Green and a bit late for the Christmas season but I've just come across it and found it fascinating.

A good bit of detective work (and a reason to distrust AI).

davidallengreen.com/2024/12/twel...