Clive Mitchell
@clivemitchell1.bsky.social
Out of hours: masters swimmer, pond tenderer, step-grandad, and words. Occasionally, planes.
In hours: freelance charity governance & operations. https://www.cranfieldtrust.org/ volunteer. Facilitator.
Staffordshire, UK.
In hours: freelance charity governance & operations. https://www.cranfieldtrust.org/ volunteer. Facilitator.
Staffordshire, UK.
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
A radio programme like the Shipping Forecast but it’s called Bin Day and it just reads out every single council in the country’s bin schedule
November 10, 2025 at 11:53 PM
A radio programme like the Shipping Forecast but it’s called Bin Day and it just reads out every single council in the country’s bin schedule
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
November 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
The BBC simply is not a robust, independent institution.
Those who clap and cheer at these resignations are only having a short-term fillip - for this capitulation indicates a less-than-healthy wider polity.
Those who clap and cheer at these resignations are only having a short-term fillip - for this capitulation indicates a less-than-healthy wider polity.
November 10, 2025 at 7:59 AM
The BBC simply is not a robust, independent institution.
Those who clap and cheer at these resignations are only having a short-term fillip - for this capitulation indicates a less-than-healthy wider polity.
Those who clap and cheer at these resignations are only having a short-term fillip - for this capitulation indicates a less-than-healthy wider polity.
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
Hi I am dingle by chance
November 8, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Hi I am dingle by chance
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
"So I said, 'I'd only support the death penalty in very extreme circumstances, such as high treason or mass murder, and even then only if it was proven 100% that they were guilty...' what did I say Roy?"
"You said, 'Anybody not wearing a poppy from late August onwards should be taken out and shot.'"
"You said, 'Anybody not wearing a poppy from late August onwards should be taken out and shot.'"
November 7, 2025 at 12:24 PM
"So I said, 'I'd only support the death penalty in very extreme circumstances, such as high treason or mass murder, and even then only if it was proven 100% that they were guilty...' what did I say Roy?"
"You said, 'Anybody not wearing a poppy from late August onwards should be taken out and shot.'"
"You said, 'Anybody not wearing a poppy from late August onwards should be taken out and shot.'"
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
It continues.
November 7, 2025 at 10:59 AM
It continues.
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
My new series - Empire With David Olusoga - starts 9pm on BBC Two. Whole series on @bbciplayer.bsky.social from tonight.
November 7, 2025 at 8:56 AM
My new series - Empire With David Olusoga - starts 9pm on BBC Two. Whole series on @bbciplayer.bsky.social from tonight.
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
A fun question. In 5 years time, what looks better? The US’s enormous bet & capex on AI? Or China’s equally enormous bet and capex on renewables?
China has made cheap, clean energy available in huge quantities. The world should take the win econ.st/4oqFszB
Photo: Eyevine
Photo: Eyevine
November 7, 2025 at 7:10 AM
A fun question. In 5 years time, what looks better? The US’s enormous bet & capex on AI? Or China’s equally enormous bet and capex on renewables?
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
But ransacking other languages for spare vocabulary is what the British *do*
“One reader said children now mimic cartoon characters when they speak, while others pointed out that adults are just as guilty, with phrases like ‘working mom’, ‘gas’ and ‘couch’ seeping into conversations.”
‘I can’t follow’: Readers lament creeping Americanisms in British English
Our community are divided over whether the spread of Americanisms among British children marks the decline of traditional English or simply reflects the language’s natural evolution through global med...
www.independent.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 1:04 PM
But ransacking other languages for spare vocabulary is what the British *do*
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
I have no dog in this fight, but it is really strange to me that the PM has no presence here at all.
When I occasionally hop on X, my feed is just conspiracy theories, antisemitism, Americans making absurd claims because AI deluded them, and random dudes claiming non-whites can’t be English.
When I occasionally hop on X, my feed is just conspiracy theories, antisemitism, Americans making absurd claims because AI deluded them, and random dudes claiming non-whites can’t be English.
X is designed to radicalise people.
The algorithm promotes Elon Musk's agenda to promote racists and people who want violence bought - specifically - to the streets of Britain.
Members of Parliament, major institutions and the media should not be there.
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
The algorithm promotes Elon Musk's agenda to promote racists and people who want violence bought - specifically - to the streets of Britain.
Members of Parliament, major institutions and the media should not be there.
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:32 AM
I have no dog in this fight, but it is really strange to me that the PM has no presence here at all.
When I occasionally hop on X, my feed is just conspiracy theories, antisemitism, Americans making absurd claims because AI deluded them, and random dudes claiming non-whites can’t be English.
When I occasionally hop on X, my feed is just conspiracy theories, antisemitism, Americans making absurd claims because AI deluded them, and random dudes claiming non-whites can’t be English.
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
Charter of the Forest sealed #OTD 1217 at St Paul’s London.
Carta Foresta, important complementary charter to Magna Carta, re-established rights of freemen to royal forest, protecting land for grazing, fuel & forage.
Carta Foresta 1217 Durham Cathedral | Queen Mary Psalter 1310-20 British Library
Carta Foresta, important complementary charter to Magna Carta, re-established rights of freemen to royal forest, protecting land for grazing, fuel & forage.
Carta Foresta 1217 Durham Cathedral | Queen Mary Psalter 1310-20 British Library
November 6, 2025 at 6:03 AM
Charter of the Forest sealed #OTD 1217 at St Paul’s London.
Carta Foresta, important complementary charter to Magna Carta, re-established rights of freemen to royal forest, protecting land for grazing, fuel & forage.
Carta Foresta 1217 Durham Cathedral | Queen Mary Psalter 1310-20 British Library
Carta Foresta, important complementary charter to Magna Carta, re-established rights of freemen to royal forest, protecting land for grazing, fuel & forage.
Carta Foresta 1217 Durham Cathedral | Queen Mary Psalter 1310-20 British Library
Pretty extraordinary: Trump paying public attention to the sinking polls.
Trump to Republican senators: "I thought we'd have a discussion after the press leaves about what last night represented and what we should do about it and also about the shutdown and how that relates to last night. If you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for Republicans."
November 5, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Pretty extraordinary: Trump paying public attention to the sinking polls.
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
This explanation is ridiculous yet likely true. Millions of people did not conceptualize Trump the way we do (e.g., "bad person who did a bad job and wants to do bad things like X, Y, Z") but rather as a TV character, an avatar of prosperity who would somehow bless them economically.
"... the best explanation for 2025 is that voters didn’t know what they were getting with Trump 2.0 last November, but now they do — and they don’t like it."
@gelliottmorris.com
@gelliottmorris.com
This is a very informative read: Seven data-driven lessons from the 2025 elections
open.substack.com/pub/gelliott...
open.substack.com/pub/gelliott...
November 5, 2025 at 12:48 PM
This explanation is ridiculous yet likely true. Millions of people did not conceptualize Trump the way we do (e.g., "bad person who did a bad job and wants to do bad things like X, Y, Z") but rather as a TV character, an avatar of prosperity who would somehow bless them economically.
This is so true.
It also helps that Mamdani is, imho, hot, and his smile couid light a candle from 100 yds.
But likeability trumps all of it.
It also helps that Mamdani is, imho, hot, and his smile couid light a candle from 100 yds.
But likeability trumps all of it.
Charisma.
Not rocket science, a dirty word, or a fart at a genteel dinner party. A vessel in which less base ideals can be communicated to the heart. Present at every piece of progress ever made by society. Politics, like all human drama, is laden with theory, but realised in the heart and gut.
Not rocket science, a dirty word, or a fart at a genteel dinner party. A vessel in which less base ideals can be communicated to the heart. Present at every piece of progress ever made by society. Politics, like all human drama, is laden with theory, but realised in the heart and gut.
This isn't the only takeaway of Mamdani's victory, but it is the most important one www.ft.com/content/92bf...
November 5, 2025 at 1:14 PM
This is so true.
It also helps that Mamdani is, imho, hot, and his smile couid light a candle from 100 yds.
But likeability trumps all of it.
It also helps that Mamdani is, imho, hot, and his smile couid light a candle from 100 yds.
But likeability trumps all of it.
Lovely piece, including why we now have "guy" for referring to some bloke/person.
Its *Bonfire/Firework Night* in the UK tonight...https://language-and-innovation.com/2018/11/05/poor-guy-a-fawkesian-miscellany/
POOR GUY – a Fawkesian miscellany
Tonight is Bonfire Night, Firework Night, nowadays usurped by Hallowe’en as the most popular celebration of autumn-to-winter transition, but still a folk festival of note. Many people are awa…
language-and-innovation.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Lovely piece, including why we now have "guy" for referring to some bloke/person.
😯
here's your reminder that in the usa, air traffic controllers are *required* to continue working through a government shutdown with no pay. one of the highest stress jobs imaginable. no pay
November 5, 2025 at 10:42 AM
😯
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
RIP tide
Not currently up on our website, but if you'd like me to draw one for you, get in touch via www.worldofmoose.com/collections/...
Not currently up on our website, but if you'd like me to draw one for you, get in touch via www.worldofmoose.com/collections/...
November 5, 2025 at 10:30 AM
RIP tide
Not currently up on our website, but if you'd like me to draw one for you, get in touch via www.worldofmoose.com/collections/...
Not currently up on our website, but if you'd like me to draw one for you, get in touch via www.worldofmoose.com/collections/...
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social when's bins?
November 5, 2025 at 7:52 AM
@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social when's bins?
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
New favourite example of structural ambiguity
November 5, 2025 at 4:54 AM
New favourite example of structural ambiguity
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
It's scarier than that, for is it not written in Revelation 6:12:
"I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the US executive branch was inconvenienced in its ability to tax American purchases from abroad on a whim."
"I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the US executive branch was inconvenienced in its ability to tax American purchases from abroad on a whim."
TRUMP: IF WE LOSE TARIFF CASE, OUR COUNTRY COULD BE REDUCED TO ALMOST THIRD WORLD STATUS
November 3, 2025 at 9:52 AM
It's scarier than that, for is it not written in Revelation 6:12:
"I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the US executive branch was inconvenienced in its ability to tax American purchases from abroad on a whim."
"I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the US executive branch was inconvenienced in its ability to tax American purchases from abroad on a whim."
My son just described #strictly as “pure mumslop” and it really made me laugh
November 1, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Clive Mitchell
If you're a member of the National Trust remember to vote for council members by midnight tonight.
Use the Quick Vote option.
Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them
Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Use the Quick Vote option.
Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them
Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Log In
Welcome to the National Trust 2025 voting website, hosted by independent voting service provider Civica Election Services.
secure.cesvotes.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:19 PM
If you're a member of the National Trust remember to vote for council members by midnight tonight.
Use the Quick Vote option.
Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them
Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Use the Quick Vote option.
Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them
Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Great, sobering, piece.
And HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is an absolute must-see. A reminder that nuclear weapons are very much with us, and they are utterly existential.
And HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is an absolute must-see. A reminder that nuclear weapons are very much with us, and they are utterly existential.
I couldn't let this week go without reviewing HOUSE OF DYNAMITE — which gets right to me the four core principles of nuclear thrillers. Most of all it should serve as a reminder why Trump's nuclear threats this week are so dangerous: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/trump-s-od...
Trump’s Odd Nuclear Threat and America’s House of Dynamite
Almost nothing about Trump's latest nuke tweet is correct. Plus what Netflix's HOUSE OF DYNAMITE gets right about nuclear war.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
October 31, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Great, sobering, piece.
And HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is an absolute must-see. A reminder that nuclear weapons are very much with us, and they are utterly existential.
And HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is an absolute must-see. A reminder that nuclear weapons are very much with us, and they are utterly existential.