Andrew Thatcher
@andythatcher1.bsky.social
Love theatre, #LFC, music, plus ranting randomly may happen along with slow running particularly in recovery from surgery (#wattbikeproton - coming soon) Words purely my own. Reskeet not necessarily endorsement.
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
Shamir Shah's letter to the DCMS is another shameful chapter in capitulation to Tufton Street lobbying and foreign influence from MAGA and Trump
November 10, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Shamir Shah's letter to the DCMS is another shameful chapter in capitulation to Tufton Street lobbying and foreign influence from MAGA and Trump
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
“a group of politically-appointed directors has forced the hand of Samir Shah,the chair, and the departure of the two most senior people in the organisation. Their resignations should be called out for what they are: political interference..”1/
The Observer view: political interference at the BBC | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 10:22 AM
“a group of politically-appointed directors has forced the hand of Samir Shah,the chair, and the departure of the two most senior people in the organisation. Their resignations should be called out for what they are: political interference..”1/
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
the right winger who was appointed to lead the BBC in the hope of appeasing right wingers has been driven out by right wingers for not appeasing right wingers enough and the BBC has the chance to do the funniest thing ever
November 9, 2025 at 6:38 PM
the right winger who was appointed to lead the BBC in the hope of appeasing right wingers has been driven out by right wingers for not appeasing right wingers enough and the BBC has the chance to do the funniest thing ever
My LinkedIn post - amazing day in #Tokyo #robots #disability #positivity #guidedtour www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew...
November 7, 2025 at 2:53 PM
My LinkedIn post - amazing day in #Tokyo #robots #disability #positivity #guidedtour www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew...
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
I've wanted to visit Dawn in Tokyo ever since it opened!
It's a "robot avatar" cafe, where all the staff are "robots" piloted by people with disabilities that don't allow them to leave the house.
It would be so easy to make this place feel gimmicky or exploitative but I think they get it right.
It's a "robot avatar" cafe, where all the staff are "robots" piloted by people with disabilities that don't allow them to leave the house.
It would be so easy to make this place feel gimmicky or exploitative but I think they get it right.
May 30, 2025 at 2:19 PM
I've wanted to visit Dawn in Tokyo ever since it opened!
It's a "robot avatar" cafe, where all the staff are "robots" piloted by people with disabilities that don't allow them to leave the house.
It would be so easy to make this place feel gimmicky or exploitative but I think they get it right.
It's a "robot avatar" cafe, where all the staff are "robots" piloted by people with disabilities that don't allow them to leave the house.
It would be so easy to make this place feel gimmicky or exploitative but I think they get it right.
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
incredible photo that's definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty
November 6, 2025 at 6:10 PM
incredible photo that's definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty
November 6, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
TRUMP: Tom Emmer, we have one of our great leaders in the room. Is he in the room?
EMMER: I'm right behind you
TRUMP: Oh
EMMER: I'm right behind you
TRUMP: Oh
November 6, 2025 at 6:36 PM
TRUMP: Tom Emmer, we have one of our great leaders in the room. Is he in the room?
EMMER: I'm right behind you
TRUMP: Oh
EMMER: I'm right behind you
TRUMP: Oh
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
Mid-60s Enoch Powell was like that: racism is bad but so is immigration. Then he resolved the cognitive dissonance by being racist
November 6, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Mid-60s Enoch Powell was like that: racism is bad but so is immigration. Then he resolved the cognitive dissonance by being racist
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
NEW: The US Army website for its bases in Bavaria, Germany told its soldiers and employees that it might need to obtain free food from the German government during the US government shutdown.
The Army later altered publication to remove a list of food banks, but we have the original text here:
The Army later altered publication to remove a list of food banks, but we have the original text here:
US Army Tells Soldiers to Go to German Food Bank, Then Deletes It
The initial 'Shutdown Guidance' for the US Army Garrison Bavaria included instructions to go to German food banks.
www.404media.co
November 5, 2025 at 6:03 PM
NEW: The US Army website for its bases in Bavaria, Germany told its soldiers and employees that it might need to obtain free food from the German government during the US government shutdown.
The Army later altered publication to remove a list of food banks, but we have the original text here:
The Army later altered publication to remove a list of food banks, but we have the original text here:
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
Sky News's data forensics team has spent 9 months examining the algorithm on Elon Musk's X platform, and found it clearly promotes right wing views to new users of the site, even to those who deliberately only follow left wing accounts. This short film explains more www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6M...
Elon Musk, X and the shaping of British politics
YouTube video by Sky News
www.youtube.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Sky News's data forensics team has spent 9 months examining the algorithm on Elon Musk's X platform, and found it clearly promotes right wing views to new users of the site, even to those who deliberately only follow left wing accounts. This short film explains more www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6M...
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
The National Police Agency on Thursday began allowing riot police officers to cull wild bears with rifles amid a series of attacks on people across Japan.
Japan riot police allowed to cull bears with rifles
Police are set to cull bears in Akita and Iwate, which have seen an increase in attacks on local residents, with operations scheduled to begin on Nov. 13.
ebx.sh
November 6, 2025 at 12:45 PM
The National Police Agency on Thursday began allowing riot police officers to cull wild bears with rifles amid a series of attacks on people across Japan.
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
"When politicians or commentators are afraid, they vacillate, they hesitate, they dodge the issue, or they say nothing at all. Britain’s elite has a reflexive reaction to avoid saying anything about flags, poppies, or patriotism that might even slightly upset the Daily Mail or Nigel Farage."
First the flag. Now the poppy
A sombre display of remembrance is being weaponised and policed by nationalists
www.thenewworld.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 11:48 AM
"When politicians or commentators are afraid, they vacillate, they hesitate, they dodge the issue, or they say nothing at all. Britain’s elite has a reflexive reaction to avoid saying anything about flags, poppies, or patriotism that might even slightly upset the Daily Mail or Nigel Farage."
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
I habitually check BBC News every morning.
The In Depth political section is "What would a Reform government look like?" They're friggin' obsessed.
The In Depth political section is "What would a Reform government look like?" They're friggin' obsessed.
November 5, 2025 at 6:49 AM
I habitually check BBC News every morning.
The In Depth political section is "What would a Reform government look like?" They're friggin' obsessed.
The In Depth political section is "What would a Reform government look like?" They're friggin' obsessed.
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
Earlier this year, I met a Croatian journalist who was in the US doing a piece on America’s politics and I asked her what surprised her. And she said, “What you all call the far left is just being normal.”
November 5, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
Arne Slot: “To be against Vinicius one-on-one so many times is not for everyone to play a game like this, but Bradley did outstanding today”
#lfc
#lfc
November 5, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Arne Slot: “To be against Vinicius one-on-one so many times is not for everyone to play a game like this, but Bradley did outstanding today”
#lfc
#lfc
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
Yes, I was reading a post by someone with Reform in their bio who complained that the train didn’t immediately stop, but continued to the next station. These people are both nasty and morons.
November 2, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Yes, I was reading a post by someone with Reform in their bio who complained that the train didn’t immediately stop, but continued to the next station. These people are both nasty and morons.
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
Next time someone tells you that train drivers "just push buttons" show them this from the BBC
November 2, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Next time someone tells you that train drivers "just push buttons" show them this from the BBC
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
Extract from more recent Goodwin post. He really should never be allowed on the BBC - or any other reputable broadcaster - again.
November 2, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Extract from more recent Goodwin post. He really should never be allowed on the BBC - or any other reputable broadcaster - again.
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
And as a footnote to these Brexiters' beliefs that they exist to head off the Far Right, here's Farage during the last election campaign telling us how he’s ‘done more to drive the far right out of British politics than anyone alive’.
www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/bbc-...
www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/bbc-...
Farage claims he’s done more to combat far-right than anyone alive’
Nigel Farage claimed he has done more “than anybody else alive” to combat the far right in Britain during the BBC’s Question Time Leaders’ Special on Friday, 28 June. The Reform UK leader faced questi...
www.independent.co.uk
November 2, 2025 at 5:03 PM
And as a footnote to these Brexiters' beliefs that they exist to head off the Far Right, here's Farage during the last election campaign telling us how he’s ‘done more to drive the far right out of British politics than anyone alive’.
www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/bbc-...
www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/bbc-...
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
Hannan becoming more extreme, probably egged on by his old friend, Douglas Carswell.
I don't think they used to be this extreme but they entered into a Faustian bargain years ago: they, 'the clever chaps', could ride/steer the less desirable part of the Right. Now they are steered by it.
I don't think they used to be this extreme but they entered into a Faustian bargain years ago: they, 'the clever chaps', could ride/steer the less desirable part of the Right. Now they are steered by it.
November 2, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Hannan becoming more extreme, probably egged on by his old friend, Douglas Carswell.
I don't think they used to be this extreme but they entered into a Faustian bargain years ago: they, 'the clever chaps', could ride/steer the less desirable part of the Right. Now they are steered by it.
I don't think they used to be this extreme but they entered into a Faustian bargain years ago: they, 'the clever chaps', could ride/steer the less desirable part of the Right. Now they are steered by it.
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
Dancers at Trump’s Halloween party as people begin losing food stamps under his administration
November 1, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Dancers at Trump’s Halloween party as people begin losing food stamps under his administration
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
“The persistence of violence in Colombia is not an anomaly within an otherwise stable democracy”.
In our latest blog post, Jenny Pearce & Juan David Velasco explain why, turning the spotlight on the elites that sustain the status quo #LSEInequalitiesBlog
buff.ly/sCfkwKs
In our latest blog post, Jenny Pearce & Juan David Velasco explain why, turning the spotlight on the elites that sustain the status quo #LSEInequalitiesBlog
buff.ly/sCfkwKs
November 1, 2025 at 11:30 AM
“The persistence of violence in Colombia is not an anomaly within an otherwise stable democracy”.
In our latest blog post, Jenny Pearce & Juan David Velasco explain why, turning the spotlight on the elites that sustain the status quo #LSEInequalitiesBlog
buff.ly/sCfkwKs
In our latest blog post, Jenny Pearce & Juan David Velasco explain why, turning the spotlight on the elites that sustain the status quo #LSEInequalitiesBlog
buff.ly/sCfkwKs
Reposted by Andrew Thatcher
Good question for the BBC and its board.
So why does the BBC label the academic and economist Faiza Shaheen an "activist" but refuse to do the same for the former academic, turned anti-migrant activist Matt Goodwin?
October 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Good question for the BBC and its board.