Thomas Bell
@realthomasbell.bsky.social
Getting through this with everyone else.
Reposted by Thomas Bell
Given the amount of briefing against Miliband in the RW media, they must view him as a serious threat. No wonder The Times is praising McSweeney's political acumen, since he's managed to undermine Labour support and agitated for Miliband to be moved.
February 14, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Given the amount of briefing against Miliband in the RW media, they must view him as a serious threat. No wonder The Times is praising McSweeney's political acumen, since he's managed to undermine Labour support and agitated for Miliband to be moved.
…ribeye?
Romance alert: Trump's reckless tariffs have Valentine’s Day costs up across the board:
Roses 🌹16.6%
Chocolates🍫 18.7%
Ribeye 🥩 25.4%
Restaurant meals 🍽️ 4.9%
Roses 🌹16.6%
Chocolates🍫 18.7%
Ribeye 🥩 25.4%
Restaurant meals 🍽️ 4.9%
February 15, 2026 at 2:41 AM
…ribeye?
The London School of Economics! That is surely the *least* woke UK university.
Hegseth to US military: if you get into MIT, we won't let you attend because of the risk that you will be exposed to ideas hostile to MAGA when you study there.
February 15, 2026 at 2:03 AM
The London School of Economics! That is surely the *least* woke UK university.
Reposted by Thomas Bell
Reposted by Thomas Bell
Reposted by Thomas Bell
we live in the ruins of a greater civilization
February 13, 2026 at 3:12 AM
we live in the ruins of a greater civilization
Reposted by Thomas Bell
Reposted by Thomas Bell
Again, in actual democracies, ministers resign all the time, under threat of a no confidence vote in the parliament. We have a system where legislative confirmation totally fails ex ante to screen out wildly unqualified people, & ex post accountability depends on a toothless extraordinary measure.
There must be a dozen fireable offenses listed in this piece:
*Noem firing civil servants without cause
*Her boyfriend using govt resources to boost her profile, punishing officials who would not give him a gun
*Massive waste on ads, planes, delayed contracts, pushing favored firms
*Noem firing civil servants without cause
*Her boyfriend using govt resources to boost her profile, punishing officials who would not give him a gun
*Massive waste on ads, planes, delayed contracts, pushing favored firms
The full story with a gift link (it's such a mess):
February 13, 2026 at 5:32 AM
Again, in actual democracies, ministers resign all the time, under threat of a no confidence vote in the parliament. We have a system where legislative confirmation totally fails ex ante to screen out wildly unqualified people, & ex post accountability depends on a toothless extraordinary measure.
Reposted by Thomas Bell
February 13, 2026 at 2:18 AM
Reposted by Thomas Bell
"A 2025 Siena poll found that forty-eight percent of all [American] men aged 18-49 have an active online sports betting account" is one of those stats that reminds me my social circles are not normal. I think I could name one or two people I regularly talk to who *might* do sports betting?
I see no reason not to look at the online gambling and prediction market craze as a new opioids crisis.
It will wreak havoc on lower-income Americans and leave a trail of destruction and despair in its wake.
The companies are just Purdue Pharma 2.0
www.liberalcurrents.com/from-pill-mi...
It will wreak havoc on lower-income Americans and leave a trail of destruction and despair in its wake.
The companies are just Purdue Pharma 2.0
www.liberalcurrents.com/from-pill-mi...
From Pill Mills to Prop Bets: Prediction Markets and Mobile Sports Betting Apps Are Fueling America’s Next Addiction Crisis
Against the gamblification of the world.
www.liberalcurrents.com
February 12, 2026 at 3:45 PM
"A 2025 Siena poll found that forty-eight percent of all [American] men aged 18-49 have an active online sports betting account" is one of those stats that reminds me my social circles are not normal. I think I could name one or two people I regularly talk to who *might* do sports betting?
This man is a hero
“I’ve reviewed over 50 sticky toffee puddings” is an incredibly powerful way to begin a video
February 13, 2026 at 12:40 AM
This man is a hero
Reposted by Thomas Bell
I think something breaks in 2016 when you have 'a campaign that can be completely unburdened by having to acknowledge trade-offs and everyone else starts emulating it'.
February 12, 2026 at 12:48 PM
I think something breaks in 2016 when you have 'a campaign that can be completely unburdened by having to acknowledge trade-offs and everyone else starts emulating it'.
Reposted by Thomas Bell
If nothing else, it would probably be worth putting the fact he's just wrong about every individual detail into the headline.
February 11, 2026 at 6:41 PM
If nothing else, it would probably be worth putting the fact he's just wrong about every individual detail into the headline.
Can’t fire who did this if you’ve already fired everyone.
Correction: A previous version of this post misidentified the South Caucasus as belonging to Russia. The region, made up of territory in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, is not part of Russia. We deleted the previous post.
February 12, 2026 at 11:49 AM
Can’t fire who did this if you’ve already fired everyone.
Reposted by Thomas Bell
real question is why notepad needed to be a WYSIWYG markdown editor
fire the person who made that decision
fire the person who made that decision
February 11, 2026 at 11:01 PM
real question is why notepad needed to be a WYSIWYG markdown editor
fire the person who made that decision
fire the person who made that decision
Reposted by Thomas Bell
A good example of how strangely unpolitical this government is at times.
The Economist is fretting that trade union laws have been tilted (sharply!) back towards strengthening unions.
But is the government making an argument around this to progressive voters? No.
economist.com/britain/2026...
The Economist is fretting that trade union laws have been tilted (sharply!) back towards strengthening unions.
But is the government making an argument around this to progressive voters? No.
economist.com/britain/2026...
February 7, 2026 at 12:59 PM
A good example of how strangely unpolitical this government is at times.
The Economist is fretting that trade union laws have been tilted (sharply!) back towards strengthening unions.
But is the government making an argument around this to progressive voters? No.
economist.com/britain/2026...
The Economist is fretting that trade union laws have been tilted (sharply!) back towards strengthening unions.
But is the government making an argument around this to progressive voters? No.
economist.com/britain/2026...
They’ve discovered El Paso uses Canadian planes.
Why did the FAA just close the airspace over El Paso for the next several days?
FAA grounds all flights to and from El Paso until Feb. 20
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a temporary flight restriction halting all flights to and from El Paso, including commercial, cargo, and ge
kfoxtv.com
February 11, 2026 at 12:10 PM
They’ve discovered El Paso uses Canadian planes.
People are being antisemitic in the replies to this skeet.
I have to say, I do not love this new trend of large liberal accounts with millions of followers identifying Jews.
February 11, 2026 at 5:29 AM
People are being antisemitic in the replies to this skeet.
Reposted by Thomas Bell
Storage unit I rented in Chicago went from $110 to $270 a month within a year, that’s more expensive than my coworking space for the smallest unit they had
"Bills allegedly spiked from $120 to $320 in a single month or rose nearly that far within the first 30 days of moving in." I had this exact experience with Public Storage: completely random rate changed and outright lying as to my rate.
www.curbed.com/article/mamd...
www.curbed.com/article/mamd...
Mamdani Takes on the Self-Storage Wild West
A new suit filed by the city alleges price hikes seem to have “no correlation to any market conditions or costs.”
www.curbed.com
February 11, 2026 at 5:22 AM
Storage unit I rented in Chicago went from $110 to $270 a month within a year, that’s more expensive than my coworking space for the smallest unit they had
Reposted by Thomas Bell
This would have been a good point for someone to have asked, is that really how things work? Or is vacuum in fact an excellent insulator? www.ft.com/content/a5cf...
February 10, 2026 at 1:24 PM
This would have been a good point for someone to have asked, is that really how things work? Or is vacuum in fact an excellent insulator? www.ft.com/content/a5cf...
Reposted by Thomas Bell
It’s really surprising to see how much increased fare enforcement has benefited BART.
Keeping transit facilities clean and safe is very important for transit riders to get around. And using agency time on preventable maintenance is waste that could be reallocated to more service.
Keeping transit facilities clean and safe is very important for transit riders to get around. And using agency time on preventable maintenance is waste that could be reallocated to more service.
February 10, 2026 at 5:35 AM
It’s really surprising to see how much increased fare enforcement has benefited BART.
Keeping transit facilities clean and safe is very important for transit riders to get around. And using agency time on preventable maintenance is waste that could be reallocated to more service.
Keeping transit facilities clean and safe is very important for transit riders to get around. And using agency time on preventable maintenance is waste that could be reallocated to more service.
NPR has just discovered athletes.
For most people, the pandemic days of masking are behind us. In certain corners of the Winter Olympics, though, things still look a lot like they did in Covid times. Some athletes are taking extreme measures to stay healthy. n.pr/4akK70l
Olympic Covid restrictions are gone, but some athletes still self-quarantining
For most people, the pandemic days of masking are behind us. In certain corners of the Winter Olympics, though, things still look a lot like they did in Covid times. Some athletes are taking extreme measures to stay healthy.
n.pr
February 10, 2026 at 7:41 AM
NPR has just discovered athletes.
This is an interesting combination of a new sort of imaginary idea, voting Trump for immigration reform and easier legal pathways, combined with the old classic imaginary idea, voting Republicans to cut the deficit.
one thing that will always be a mystery to me is the number of trump voters who basically thought they were electing george bush again reut.rs/3Mc4h4H
As Trump presidency enters second year, his voters share hopes – and concerns
Trump voters urge him to tone down the rhetoric and focus more on domestic issues, especially clearer pathways to legal status for law-abiding immigrants, healthcare reform, curbing waste and fraud, a...
reut.rs
February 10, 2026 at 4:58 AM
This is an interesting combination of a new sort of imaginary idea, voting Trump for immigration reform and easier legal pathways, combined with the old classic imaginary idea, voting Republicans to cut the deficit.
Reposted by Thomas Bell
“The verticality is just jarring to me, those long lines are out of scale, it is architecturally jarring”
“This building is too tall, it is an attack on my lifestyle”
NIMBYism is the last grasp of boomers who don’t have any productive hobbies so they want to make everything worse for everyone
“This building is too tall, it is an attack on my lifestyle”
NIMBYism is the last grasp of boomers who don’t have any productive hobbies so they want to make everything worse for everyone
February 10, 2026 at 12:17 AM
“The verticality is just jarring to me, those long lines are out of scale, it is architecturally jarring”
“This building is too tall, it is an attack on my lifestyle”
NIMBYism is the last grasp of boomers who don’t have any productive hobbies so they want to make everything worse for everyone
“This building is too tall, it is an attack on my lifestyle”
NIMBYism is the last grasp of boomers who don’t have any productive hobbies so they want to make everything worse for everyone
Reposted by Thomas Bell
Images presented without comment.
February 10, 2026 at 12:26 AM
Images presented without comment.