Harry Smart
@munross.bsky.social
@Munross@mastodon.scot no X, no FB
Poetry (Faber, Drunk Muse) Fiction (Dedalus). Social theory (Routledge)
#Istanbul, Photos. Drums. Greens, Kirk, #LUFC.
Poetry (Faber, Drunk Muse) Fiction (Dedalus). Social theory (Routledge)
#Istanbul, Photos. Drums. Greens, Kirk, #LUFC.
Pinned
Harry Smart
@munross.bsky.social
· Nov 7
Yeniçeriler Caddesi, #Istanbul, late summer evening.
Walking through quiet crowded streets to the #medrese to smoke a nargile and talk with friends.
#streetphotography
Walking through quiet crowded streets to the #medrese to smoke a nargile and talk with friends.
#streetphotography
Reposted by Harry Smart
The most innocent of moments - a young Palestinian girl filming herself showing her hair clips - is interrupted by Israeli missiles.
Yes, they shoot missiles at kids in tents. Don't tell me it's complicated
Jana and her brother survived, but the rest of their family was killed
Yes, they shoot missiles at kids in tents. Don't tell me it's complicated
Jana and her brother survived, but the rest of their family was killed
December 25, 2025 at 8:33 PM
The most innocent of moments - a young Palestinian girl filming herself showing her hair clips - is interrupted by Israeli missiles.
Yes, they shoot missiles at kids in tents. Don't tell me it's complicated
Jana and her brother survived, but the rest of their family was killed
Yes, they shoot missiles at kids in tents. Don't tell me it's complicated
Jana and her brother survived, but the rest of their family was killed
Julie Andrews for me. The hills are going to be alive. I am Trapped in a destiny beyond my ken. I need someone older and wiser but next March will see my X0th birthday. I suspect I'm buggered on that front.
Still, warm apple strudels.
Still, warm apple strudels.
December 19, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Julie Andrews for me. The hills are going to be alive. I am Trapped in a destiny beyond my ken. I need someone older and wiser but next March will see my X0th birthday. I suspect I'm buggered on that front.
Still, warm apple strudels.
Still, warm apple strudels.
I don't this could be better said.
And wait till Mike Johnson reads Matthew 25.
And wait till Mike Johnson reads Matthew 25.
Speaker Mike Johnson says his entire worldview comes from the Bible.
But he’s about to kick 2 million Texans off their healthcare right before Christmas.
If you aren’t loving your neighbor, then keep Jesus’ name out of your mouth.
But he’s about to kick 2 million Texans off their healthcare right before Christmas.
If you aren’t loving your neighbor, then keep Jesus’ name out of your mouth.
December 19, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I don't this could be better said.
And wait till Mike Johnson reads Matthew 25.
And wait till Mike Johnson reads Matthew 25.
Well worth it for the unpaywalled intro alone, on Putin's 'narrative power'. What @ldfreedman.bsky.social says here about Narrative Power is something worth considering in US and UK politics as much as in Ukraine. But read it for Ukraine.
samf.substack.com/p/why-kupyan...
samf.substack.com/p/why-kupyan...
Why Kupyansk Matters
Undermining the Russian narrative
samf.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Well worth it for the unpaywalled intro alone, on Putin's 'narrative power'. What @ldfreedman.bsky.social says here about Narrative Power is something worth considering in US and UK politics as much as in Ukraine. But read it for Ukraine.
samf.substack.com/p/why-kupyan...
samf.substack.com/p/why-kupyan...
Those who predict it in the UK are likewise being dismissed, particularly those who warn of the incipient fascism of the conservative UK Church. Farage and Robinson aren't fools; they know the Christian element of their constituency and they know the pollling.
those who predicted authoritarianism were both dismissed, & deeply misunderstood, by the media
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
The Americans Who Saw All This Coming—but Were Ignored and Maligned
Call them the Cassandras: the people—mostly not white and male—who smelled the fascism all over Trump from jump street. Why were they “alarmists,” and how did “anti-alarmism” become cool?
newrepublic.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Those who predict it in the UK are likewise being dismissed, particularly those who warn of the incipient fascism of the conservative UK Church. Farage and Robinson aren't fools; they know the Christian element of their constituency and they know the pollling.
we all know what it's like to be screwed by non-payment (in this case the artist's partner). Non-artists, there is really no way to 'support the arts' that doesn't involve putting your hand in your pocket. This crowdfunder is nearly there, a fiver from a few of you will do it.
Donate to Support for a Family Facing Urgent Financial Crisis, organized by Robyn Hoke
One of my fellow art challenge hosts on BlueSky needs help to avoid los… Robyn Hoke needs your support for Support for a Family Facing Urgent Financial Crisis
gofund.me
December 17, 2025 at 7:04 PM
we all know what it's like to be screwed by non-payment (in this case the artist's partner). Non-artists, there is really no way to 'support the arts' that doesn't involve putting your hand in your pocket. This crowdfunder is nearly there, a fiver from a few of you will do it.
gin ye spik the #Scots leid, or yer lairnin, hae a luik at Linda Bruce's thesis aboot Adult Lairners. Interviewees are pure dead brilliant so they are.
Yours, 'Simon'.
oro.open.ac.uk/107147/
Yours, 'Simon'.
oro.open.ac.uk/107147/
The Open University
oro.open.ac.uk
December 17, 2025 at 4:17 PM
gin ye spik the #Scots leid, or yer lairnin, hae a luik at Linda Bruce's thesis aboot Adult Lairners. Interviewees are pure dead brilliant so they are.
Yours, 'Simon'.
oro.open.ac.uk/107147/
Yours, 'Simon'.
oro.open.ac.uk/107147/
Wes Streeting compares the BMA strike to doctors marching against the foundation of the NHS. #Newsnight
The government 'stuffed the doctors' mouths with gold' back in the 1940s. This time it's the private medicine lobby that's stuffed Streeting's mouth with gold, hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The government 'stuffed the doctors' mouths with gold' back in the 1940s. This time it's the private medicine lobby that's stuffed Streeting's mouth with gold, hundreds of thousands of pounds.
December 15, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Wes Streeting compares the BMA strike to doctors marching against the foundation of the NHS. #Newsnight
The government 'stuffed the doctors' mouths with gold' back in the 1940s. This time it's the private medicine lobby that's stuffed Streeting's mouth with gold, hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The government 'stuffed the doctors' mouths with gold' back in the 1940s. This time it's the private medicine lobby that's stuffed Streeting's mouth with gold, hundreds of thousands of pounds.
esp. good for Marina Henke (@mephenke.bsky.social) on a three-way split among Trump's goons on state / foreign policy:
1. Techno-Libertarian-Isolationist-Authoritarians (Thiel, Musk etc.)
2. White-Supremacist-Fascists (Stephen Miller, Tucker Carlson, Vance)
3. Normie Republicans (Marcio Rubio usw.)
1. Techno-Libertarian-Isolationist-Authoritarians (Thiel, Musk etc.)
2. White-Supremacist-Fascists (Stephen Miller, Tucker Carlson, Vance)
3. Normie Republicans (Marcio Rubio usw.)
December 15, 2025 at 3:09 PM
esp. good for Marina Henke (@mephenke.bsky.social) on a three-way split among Trump's goons on state / foreign policy:
1. Techno-Libertarian-Isolationist-Authoritarians (Thiel, Musk etc.)
2. White-Supremacist-Fascists (Stephen Miller, Tucker Carlson, Vance)
3. Normie Republicans (Marcio Rubio usw.)
1. Techno-Libertarian-Isolationist-Authoritarians (Thiel, Musk etc.)
2. White-Supremacist-Fascists (Stephen Miller, Tucker Carlson, Vance)
3. Normie Republicans (Marcio Rubio usw.)
The trajectory we're on in the West can be articulated as 'from democracy to authoritarianism' even 'fascism', but much of the debate strikes me as reality-avoidance.
The trajectory we're on is 'towards violence'.
🧵 on memorialisation & conceptualisaton versus physicality
bsky.app/profile/munr...
The trajectory we're on is 'towards violence'.
🧵 on memorialisation & conceptualisaton versus physicality
bsky.app/profile/munr...
For years, on Germany 1919-45, I've made a point of saying 'National Socialism' rather than the Nz word, and 'The leader' rather than the Htr name. It's rarely necessary to use the boo words. I saw that the Nz and Htr words had become 'reality avoidance' rather than reality confrontation.
December 14, 2025 at 4:25 PM
The trajectory we're on in the West can be articulated as 'from democracy to authoritarianism' even 'fascism', but much of the debate strikes me as reality-avoidance.
The trajectory we're on is 'towards violence'.
🧵 on memorialisation & conceptualisaton versus physicality
bsky.app/profile/munr...
The trajectory we're on is 'towards violence'.
🧵 on memorialisation & conceptualisaton versus physicality
bsky.app/profile/munr...
For years, on Germany 1919-45, I've made a point of saying 'National Socialism' rather than the Nz word, and 'The leader' rather than the Htr name. It's rarely necessary to use the boo words. I saw that the Nz and Htr words had become 'reality avoidance' rather than reality confrontation.
December 14, 2025 at 4:01 PM
For years, on Germany 1919-45, I've made a point of saying 'National Socialism' rather than the Nz word, and 'The leader' rather than the Htr name. It's rarely necessary to use the boo words. I saw that the Nz and Htr words had become 'reality avoidance' rather than reality confrontation.
thinking about church: hit by a wave of sadness
Why is it that nobody, inside or outside the church, is ever surprised at horrible behaviour by church leaders.
Why is it that nobody, inside or outside the church, is ever surprised at horrible behaviour by church leaders.
December 11, 2025 at 3:59 PM
thinking about church: hit by a wave of sadness
Why is it that nobody, inside or outside the church, is ever surprised at horrible behaviour by church leaders.
Why is it that nobody, inside or outside the church, is ever surprised at horrible behaviour by church leaders.
love this: the composition works as an abstract, both the line and the distribution of light and dark, but there's just enough information in the image to give it a specific location, and there's a sense of the person in the image, who they are. To have all of that in one image is wonderful.
Part 4 – The Long Wait
A hush on the platform — one person, one pause, the city caught mid-breath.
#UrbanEchoes #BWPhotography #StreetPhotography #TherapyThroughMyLens
A hush on the platform — one person, one pause, the city caught mid-breath.
#UrbanEchoes #BWPhotography #StreetPhotography #TherapyThroughMyLens
December 7, 2025 at 3:48 PM
love this: the composition works as an abstract, both the line and the distribution of light and dark, but there's just enough information in the image to give it a specific location, and there's a sense of the person in the image, who they are. To have all of that in one image is wonderful.
oldie: 2003 I got a semester at the art college in #Karlsruhe. Beautiful city, fountains everywhere. I shot almost everything with old folder cameras, mainly Zeiss Ikons at 6 x 9.
This is from the fountain in the big square behind the post office.
#streetphotography and #fineartnude all in one
This is from the fountain in the big square behind the post office.
#streetphotography and #fineartnude all in one
December 6, 2025 at 9:45 PM
oldie: 2003 I got a semester at the art college in #Karlsruhe. Beautiful city, fountains everywhere. I shot almost everything with old folder cameras, mainly Zeiss Ikons at 6 x 9.
This is from the fountain in the big square behind the post office.
#streetphotography and #fineartnude all in one
This is from the fountain in the big square behind the post office.
#streetphotography and #fineartnude all in one
Trump's US National Security Strategy (NSS) for 2025.
HT @hcrichardson.bsky.social
Bigly 'America First'; multi-swipes at NATO: members going 'non-European'; Nato, EU etc. 'sovereignty-sapping'; pro-Putin so Nato mustn't expand. usw.
All very Brexity. Here's an update of Bruce Mackinnon's classic.
HT @hcrichardson.bsky.social
Bigly 'America First'; multi-swipes at NATO: members going 'non-European'; Nato, EU etc. 'sovereignty-sapping'; pro-Putin so Nato mustn't expand. usw.
All very Brexity. Here's an update of Bruce Mackinnon's classic.
December 6, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Trump's US National Security Strategy (NSS) for 2025.
HT @hcrichardson.bsky.social
Bigly 'America First'; multi-swipes at NATO: members going 'non-European'; Nato, EU etc. 'sovereignty-sapping'; pro-Putin so Nato mustn't expand. usw.
All very Brexity. Here's an update of Bruce Mackinnon's classic.
HT @hcrichardson.bsky.social
Bigly 'America First'; multi-swipes at NATO: members going 'non-European'; Nato, EU etc. 'sovereignty-sapping'; pro-Putin so Nato mustn't expand. usw.
All very Brexity. Here's an update of Bruce Mackinnon's classic.
Donnarumma & Guardiola
Rule 12: Cautionable Offences: Unsporting Behaviour
"attempts to deceive the referee e.g. by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (simulation)"
Tell me how the fake injury / time out doesn't fit this.
#LUFC #FA #MOTD
@fwaofficial.bsky.social
Rule 12: Cautionable Offences: Unsporting Behaviour
"attempts to deceive the referee e.g. by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (simulation)"
Tell me how the fake injury / time out doesn't fit this.
#LUFC #FA #MOTD
@fwaofficial.bsky.social
November 29, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Donnarumma & Guardiola
Rule 12: Cautionable Offences: Unsporting Behaviour
"attempts to deceive the referee e.g. by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (simulation)"
Tell me how the fake injury / time out doesn't fit this.
#LUFC #FA #MOTD
@fwaofficial.bsky.social
Rule 12: Cautionable Offences: Unsporting Behaviour
"attempts to deceive the referee e.g. by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (simulation)"
Tell me how the fake injury / time out doesn't fit this.
#LUFC #FA #MOTD
@fwaofficial.bsky.social
something has to be done about this or we're in a situation where a team can call a time out whenever they want. #LUFC
58 - Donnarumma goes down and the City team sprint to the touchline to get tactical instructions.
Not sure I've ever seen a more obviously cynical ploy but not sure the referee can do much about it. A compliment to Leeds' second half so far, if anything.
2-1
#lufc
Not sure I've ever seen a more obviously cynical ploy but not sure the referee can do much about it. A compliment to Leeds' second half so far, if anything.
2-1
#lufc
November 29, 2025 at 5:31 PM
something has to be done about this or we're in a situation where a team can call a time out whenever they want. #LUFC
Dorigo comments that we can now pressurise the City side and I'm stuck with the mental image of Ampadu with a bicycle pump trying to inflate Haaland. #LUFC
November 29, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Dorigo comments that we can now pressurise the City side and I'm stuck with the mental image of Ampadu with a bicycle pump trying to inflate Haaland. #LUFC
On authoritarianism in the UK.
"More people now believe Britain needs a strong leader willing to break the rules. 43% agreed, while 31% disagreed. Last year, 39% agreed, and an equal proportion disagreed."
38% of Labour voters agreed.
www.electoralcommission.org.uk/research-rep...
"More people now believe Britain needs a strong leader willing to break the rules. 43% agreed, while 31% disagreed. Last year, 39% agreed, and an equal proportion disagreed."
38% of Labour voters agreed.
www.electoralcommission.org.uk/research-rep...
Public attitudes 2025
Our research looks at public attitudes towards elections and democracy in the UK. We conducted our latest study in December 2024
www.electoralcommission.org.uk
November 29, 2025 at 3:15 PM
On authoritarianism in the UK.
"More people now believe Britain needs a strong leader willing to break the rules. 43% agreed, while 31% disagreed. Last year, 39% agreed, and an equal proportion disagreed."
38% of Labour voters agreed.
www.electoralcommission.org.uk/research-rep...
"More people now believe Britain needs a strong leader willing to break the rules. 43% agreed, while 31% disagreed. Last year, 39% agreed, and an equal proportion disagreed."
38% of Labour voters agreed.
www.electoralcommission.org.uk/research-rep...
Introduce yourself with five gigs you've seen
Leonard Cohen
Richard Hawley
Van Morrison
Half Man Half Biscuit
The Corries
Leonard Cohen
Richard Hawley
Van Morrison
Half Man Half Biscuit
The Corries
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen:
Rolling Stones - Voodoo Lounge tour at the Skydome
Leonard Cohen - Hummingbird Centre
The Cure - Molson Amphitheatre/Bud Stage (twice, 25 years apart)
Springsteen - Hope Estate Winery
Tanya Tagak and Owen Pallett - Massey Hall
Rolling Stones - Voodoo Lounge tour at the Skydome
Leonard Cohen - Hummingbird Centre
The Cure - Molson Amphitheatre/Bud Stage (twice, 25 years apart)
Springsteen - Hope Estate Winery
Tanya Tagak and Owen Pallett - Massey Hall
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen
Metallica
Orbital
Rem
Paul Oakenfold
Aurora
Metallica
Orbital
Rem
Paul Oakenfold
Aurora
November 28, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Introduce yourself with five gigs you've seen
Leonard Cohen
Richard Hawley
Van Morrison
Half Man Half Biscuit
The Corries
Leonard Cohen
Richard Hawley
Van Morrison
Half Man Half Biscuit
The Corries
Reposted by Harry Smart
I wrote about a novel approach to tackling misinformation currently being discussed in Wales--and which some say Canada should try, too. What if we made a rule so politicians couldn't lie? www.thestar.com/politics/fed...
Is it time to make it illegal for politicians to lie to us?
That’s the question currently on the table in Wales, which has just released a draft of the “globally pioneering” sanctions for politicians.
www.thestar.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:28 PM
I wrote about a novel approach to tackling misinformation currently being discussed in Wales--and which some say Canada should try, too. What if we made a rule so politicians couldn't lie? www.thestar.com/politics/fed...