MarkRoweLondon
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markrowelondon.bsky.social
MarkRoweLondon
@markrowelondon.bsky.social
Here for Politics, Climate Breakdown, Architecture, Arsenal, and everything else. He/Him
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
From February 3rd. This is how the British media rehabilitate Peter Mandelson. Zero scrutiny, a puff piece. A lot of bad luck? Losing your last £20 2 days before payday and you need to top up gas, electric and buy milk, that’s a lot of bad luck. This is something entirely different
February 15, 2026 at 7:47 AM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
Another ICE horror story. Young boy opens door:

“Do you know this guy?” they asked him, showing him a name. “Oh, that’s my mom!” her son replied.

“Where’s your mom?” they pressed.

“My mom’s still sleeping,” he said.

Within minutes, the federal agents had roused Thi Dua Vang from bed.
Federal agents convinced an 11-year-old boy to open the door at 7:30 a.m. and then detained this Hmong grandma for 2 weeks in Texas. She shared a cell with 20 women. What did she do wrong? She has no idea, but ICE has returned repeatedly. She's still in hiding. www.twincities.com/2026/02/15/h...
Hmong grandmother detained in Texas for 2 weeks still doesn’t know why
After being repeatedly visited by ICE, Thi Dua Vang and her husband, both in the U.S. legally awaiting green cards, are in hiding.
www.twincities.com
February 15, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
It's unchartered, but we can see the terrain: the territory ahead includes masked secret police taking people to concentration camps but not new vaccines. That's our reward for a system in which fewer than 20 people, all of them deranged and malicious, control over $3 trillion.
The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering

The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
February 15, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
2nd story on BBC radio 4 bulletins now

Still huge questions to answer about Labour Together smearing journalists and sources

As I revealed yesterday, senior Labour insiders knew - and person who commissioned it, Josh Simons, now a Starmer minister….
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/starmer-al...
February 15, 2026 at 9:41 AM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
Whatever anyone’s views on the media, I think we should all be worried when politically powerful people hired lobbyists to smear their critics

Many of the journalists targeted are independent, like me.
I hesitate to make this comment to you because you're one of the very best but here goes. I think this story isn't gaining much traction because journalists have spent years smearing and digging around in the dirt, Currygate and Raynergate for example, those in glass houses.
February 15, 2026 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
Concerns about wealth inequality warrant one sentence in the BBC's coverage of Greater Manchester's 'economic miracle' yet deprivation has worsened in Manchester in the last 6 years and near 1/4 of GM residents live in the 10% of most deprived wards. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
February 15, 2026 at 8:47 AM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
When ministers defended Starmer over Mandelson’s links to Epstein this week, they rushed to X - a platform that lets users strip photos of women and girls.

Is it surely time for the government to log off X? And is social media too toxic for all of us?

My col: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Given the toxicity of social media, a moral question now faces all of us: is it still ethical to use it? | Frances Ryan
With so many platforms rife with racism, misogyny and far-right rhetoric, there must be a point where decent people walk away, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan
www.theguardian.com
February 14, 2026 at 7:22 AM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
Morning.
February 14, 2026 at 6:02 AM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
Bank CEOs get huge pay rises, salaries back to pre-crash highs.

NatWest CEO pay up from £4.9m to £6.6m.

Lloyds Bank CEO, up 20% to £7.4m.

Govt abolished cap on on bankers' bonus, regulation weakened, licence to be reckless.

Bankruptcy risk for banks abolished because people always fund bailouts.
Bank bosses get huge pay rises in sign top City salaries back to pre-crash highs
Nat West CEO’s £6.6m pay package for 2025 is largest for group since disgraced Fred Goodwin’s £7.7m in 2006
www.theguardian.com
February 14, 2026 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.

The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.

But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
February 13, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
It is shocking just how many NFL franchise owners are in the Epstein files, writes @edgeofsports.bsky.social. The sports media has largely ignored the story.
https://bit.ly/4cqkygS
The NFL Owners and Olympic Organizers in Epstein's Inbox
The sports media is ignoring the story, but wealthy sports figures are all over the Epstein files.
bit.ly
February 13, 2026 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
Here's a story about all the kidnapped children we are holding in torture prisons.
‘I Just Want to Get Out of Here’: ICE Is Detaining Hundreds of Children
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
I love Arundhati Roy's courage, integrity, intelligence, and her artistry as a writer of fiction & nonfiction.

Wim Wenders, the jury chair, on being questioned about Gaza, said filmmakers have to stay out of politics. Roy said a genocide demands a response from everyone, artists included. I agree.
Arundhati Roy quits Berlin film festival over ‘stay out of politics’ comment
Author says she is ‘disgusted’ by claim from jury president Wim Wenders that film-makers should remain apolitical
www.theguardian.com
February 13, 2026 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
And just like that, Gilead was no longer dystopian fiction.

“Just like Hitler imprisoned Gypsies, Jews, communists, you know, all of his political rivals, we have to do the same thing with women… So they go to the gulag first. They go to the breeding gulags.”

www.mediamatters.org/nick-fuentes...
Nick Fuentes: “The number one political enemy in America is women. … They have to be imprisoned.”
www.mediamatters.org
February 13, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
Facebook plans to put facial recognition in its glasses and they think we’re too stupid to fight back.

Their internal memo: “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
Ehud Barak, whose relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein spanned 15 years, says he regrets ever meeting him.
Former Israeli PM Barak responds to criticism over close Epstein links
Ehud Barak, whose relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein spanned 15 years, says he regrets ever meeting him.
www.aljazeera.com
February 13, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
“If you’ve lived in Greater Manchester all your life like I have, or you came here yesterday — if you’re part of our community and you’re mucking in, you’re one of us.”

Our candidate for Gorton and Denton, Hannah Spencer, rejects the demonisation of immigrants and calls for politics that unite.
February 13, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
High Court: proscription of #PalestineAction was unlawful.

Greens voted against proscription, so we welcome this.

Govt must now immediately end its authoritarian attacks on peaceful protest, and fully address its complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule
Protest group’s co-founder wins legal challenge against decision to proscribe it under anti-terrorism laws
www.theguardian.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
"we made it 3/4 of the way to a milestone that would theoretically let us make a power plant that is not the one we promised to have ready in two years" ok cool

techcrunch.com/2026/02/13/f...
February 13, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
The only biosphere in the known universe capable of supporting human life is being turned into a hell planet because most of Earth's governments refuse to stop trying to satisfy the insatiable greed of a plutocracy composed of people who already have more money than they could spend in 20 lifetimes.
Point of no return: a hellish ‘hothouse Earth’ getting closer, scientists say
Continued global heating could set irreversible course by triggering climate tipping points, but most people unaware
www.theguardian.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:12 AM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
Just going to leave this here
February 12, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
Westminster Voting Intention:

RFM: 29% (-2)
CON: 19% (+1)
GRN: 18% (=)
LAB: 16% (=)
LDM: 11% (=)
SNP: 3% (+1)

Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 11 Feb.
Changes w/ 4 Feb.
February 12, 2026 at 12:04 PM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
this is fascinating on how Jeffrey Epstein is thought to have made his fortune:

Victoria’s Secret boss Les Wexner claimed Epstein stole hundreds of millions of dollars from him

www.ft.com/content/72c0...
Jeffrey Epstein paid Les Wexner $100mn after retail billionaire accused him of theft
Private settlement sought to avoid ‘unnecessary public attention’, prosecutors’ report said
www.ft.com
February 12, 2026 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by MarkRoweLondon
February 12, 2026 at 8:15 AM