"Benches are where optimistic visions of civic life meet reality. To remove them, or to curate who gets to sit, is to abandon the work of defining a civic ideal and determining, together, how to live up to it."
NEW: Why benches are slowly disappearing from public spaces — and why we need them back:
You don’t need to go very far to see that the Para-Bros merger will mean censorship, reprisals, punishment and exclusion. They are already at it. Trust them when they tell you they will use the power and this consolidation of media for political reasons.
www.avclub.com/hollywood-bl...
Not everything requires your input. You don't have to have an opinion. And even if you do have one, it may not necessarily be worth expressing.
We would not have fuckin McSweeney and fuckin Labour Together were it not for the entire culture of careerist neolib cuntery, already firmly entrenched in power within the PLP and inextricable from their UK media counterparts, who chose to sacrifice Brown to pander to fascism rather than fight it.
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Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, said she is “furious” with the House of Lords for blocking the assisted dying Bill.
Hundreds rallied in Parliament Square today with one message: bring back the assisted dying Bill.
Backed by MPs and the public, it’s being blocked by a handful of unelected Peers.
This is delay - not defeat. Democracy must prevail.
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'Universities across the UK have reported more than 1,000 job losses in the first four months of this year, with the actual number likely to be far higher as institutions continue to roll out cost-saving initiatives.' 1/4
He's spent the whole of his career telling everyone in the South of England that they're cunts. I'm sure he'll do well.
Spoiler: It’s a seal, and as is usual in these cases, we ask the authorities to deal with the remains in the same manner as that used by the City of Florence, Oregon in November 1970.
7/8 for me, you Dinlos.
If they really believed that they’d pull sanctions on Iran and Russia. Instead, they increased them. It’s a lame excuse. Fact is they want to keep aligned with Israel and destroy Iran.
It would have been a powerful signal yesterday - and it still was, but for Israel that it can carry on as it is.
The truth is that the EU does not care about the pogroms, about the Palestinian family whose house was torched last night or the settlers who shot and killed a child in a school yesterday. The only time they moved towards sanctions is when Israel bombed Qatar (Sep 25). That's "EU values".
!["Kallas rejected criticism that the bloc’s approach to Israel suggested a double standard, a charge levelled by some EU insiders, while raising doubts about the impact of sanctions. “A suspension of the association agreement, will it stop the expansion [by Israeli settlers] on the West Bank? You know this is probably also not true.”
From https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/21/eu-foreign-ministers-reject-proposal-suspend-association-agreement-israel](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:zkolo4y7hpfos5kyn53kj73n/bafkreih2mki6yocygpjavexmtdehkuxjestygoibrwzt4ieo2u7o2lfm3m)
"Kallas rejected criticism that the bloc’s approach to Israel suggested a double standard, a charge levelled by some EU insiders, while raising doubts about the impact of sanctions. “A suspension of the association agreement, will it stop the expansion [by Israeli settlers] on the West Bank? You know this is probably also not true.” From https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/21/eu-foreign-ministers-reject-proposal-suspend-association-agreement-israel
A similar line from Kallas to the Biden administration's - "Israel is going to do this anyhow, our sanctions wouldn't make a difference".
Sanctions would absolutely make a difference: they'd empower those who are trying to stop the pogroms. By not taking steps you are empowering the Kahanist govt.
Is 'White Liberal' the new 'North London' for educated Reform types?
Meta is logging its workers’ every keystroke to train the AI that will replace them.
Extract what workers know. Model it. Cut the workers.
This is happening because governments are letting it happen. On this. On Palantir. On facial recognition.
Inaction is still a choice. And someone is making it.
The half billion royals started with Elizabeth. She nabbed our cash. #AbolishTheMonarchy #QueenElizabethII
RFK Jr. just said that immigration is to blame for the outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in the U.S., not him.
Not so niche, in fact. Last week, as you may have read, more than 200 authors quit Grasset, one of France's finest publishing houses, following its takeover by billionaire Vincent Bolloré. Bolloré also owns the railway bookshop chain Relay, whose windows are now full of titles by far-right figures.
impossible to overstate how poisonous this shit is. dudes on the street smiling and waving at your toddler are an indicator of a happy and functional community
"No pressure existed whatsoever" on the FCDO to appoint Mandelson, Keir Starmer tells the House of the Commons. And that, I think, is gonna be a big big hostage to fortune.
"Farage has clocked up nearly £2 million in income and gifts since he was elected as the member for Clacton in July 2024." open.substack.com/pub/writesbr...
Imagine if the Queen *had* lived to be 100. Britain this week would be even more batshit that it usually is. Compulsory street parties. Ten-mile queue to wave a flag at Buckingham Palace. Jennie Bond on TV saying things like 'she fought in two world wars and actually also invented the alarm clock'.
Starmer has opened this week's PMQs with a celebration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second the Queen's 100th Birthday even though SHE DEAD, SON, SHE FUCKING DEAD.
Safe streets are human streets.
She's awful.
two adults with two kids and 3 recycling bins Enviro-Friendly Parent Unsure Which Bin Their Kid's Art Project That Came Home Should Go In.
Enviro-Friendly Parents Unsure Which Bin Their Kid's Art Project That Came Home Should Go In.
"Dinlo" for the win!
