Stephen Baker
@stephenbaker.bsky.social
Socialist. Trade unionist. Strummer of strings. Co.Down. Researches, writes & teaches. Radical whore of sociology. "...clean living under difficult circumstances." Proudly Paddystinian.
Reposted by Stephen Baker
Endless Restoration and the Soviet Clasp of Blairism bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/12/29/e...
Endless Restoration and the Soviet Clasp of Blairism
There’s a new wave of hyper-nostalgia for a mythical ‘Britain’ that needs addressing, because it’s based on a number of false, and often rotten assumptions, as the state dec…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
December 29, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Endless Restoration and the Soviet Clasp of Blairism bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/12/29/e...
Starkey, Lowe & co… These people, and their bleak and ridiculous ideas, and desperate search for a mythical past, need to be defeated.
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/12/29/e...
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/12/29/e...
Endless Restoration and the Soviet Clasp of Blairism
There’s a new wave of hyper-nostalgia for a mythical ‘Britain’ that needs addressing, because it’s based on a number of false, and often rotten assumptions, as the state dec…
bellacaledonia.org.uk
December 29, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Starkey, Lowe & co… These people, and their bleak and ridiculous ideas, and desperate search for a mythical past, need to be defeated.
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/12/29/e...
bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/12/29/e...
Reposted by Stephen Baker
Please enjoy this picture of a sheep I took today
December 28, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Please enjoy this picture of a sheep I took today
Top Gun is such a turd of a film - so appalling bad - it’s hard to look away.
December 28, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Top Gun is such a turd of a film - so appalling bad - it’s hard to look away.
Reposted by Stephen Baker
Iconic.
French photographer Giles Caron took this photograph of Anne Kelly in Derry in August 1969 at the time of The Battle of the Bogside.
French photographer Giles Caron took this photograph of Anne Kelly in Derry in August 1969 at the time of The Battle of the Bogside.
December 28, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Iconic.
French photographer Giles Caron took this photograph of Anne Kelly in Derry in August 1969 at the time of The Battle of the Bogside.
French photographer Giles Caron took this photograph of Anne Kelly in Derry in August 1969 at the time of The Battle of the Bogside.
Reposted by Stephen Baker
Completely correct; O'Callaghan has in reality achieved the square root of fuck all but he's done a lot of anti-migrant rhetoric and inside baseball bullshit so that'll do I guess?
Also, "no obvious winners"? Catherine Connolly???
Also, "no obvious winners"? Catherine Connolly???
With my tinfoil hat on, I detect an effort to normalise talk on immigration that would have been considered extreme a few years ago. No mention of any achievements or the like, just wishy washy statements like "he hasn’t shied away from the thorny issue of immigration"
December 27, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Completely correct; O'Callaghan has in reality achieved the square root of fuck all but he's done a lot of anti-migrant rhetoric and inside baseball bullshit so that'll do I guess?
Also, "no obvious winners"? Catherine Connolly???
Also, "no obvious winners"? Catherine Connolly???
“Race riots in Belfast, Ballymena and other towns in the past two years might have extinguished the last of that faith but instead Hamblin, who is originally from Kenya, stumbled upon hope.”
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
‘It restored my hope’: how community action is confronting racism in Belfast
An initiative linking people across race, class and faith offers an antidote to silence, hate and growing division Donate to the charity appeal here
www.theguardian.com
December 27, 2025 at 4:16 PM
“Race riots in Belfast, Ballymena and other towns in the past two years might have extinguished the last of that faith but instead Hamblin, who is originally from Kenya, stumbled upon hope.”
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Stephen Baker
There are probably many fewer racists now. The trouble is we’ve created a climate where the racists aren’t isolated and feel it is their right to spout abuse. And much of the noise around “free speech” aims to foster just this
‘The NHS would collapse within hours’: BME staff say Britain fails to appreciate their roles
Long-serving workers say they faced racism as they helped build health service – but it ‘seems things have got worse’
www.theguardian.com
December 27, 2025 at 8:34 AM
There are probably many fewer racists now. The trouble is we’ve created a climate where the racists aren’t isolated and feel it is their right to spout abuse. And much of the noise around “free speech” aims to foster just this
“It’s been over 50 years and nobody has learned any lessons. Nobody has seen fit to congratulate or to thank the multi-ethnic people who have come – in our generation to ‘rebuild the country’, that was how it was put to us.”
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
‘The NHS would collapse within hours’: BME staff say Britain fails to appreciate their roles
Long-serving workers say they faced racism as they helped build health service – but it ‘seems things have got worse’
www.theguardian.com
December 27, 2025 at 9:01 AM
“It’s been over 50 years and nobody has learned any lessons. Nobody has seen fit to congratulate or to thank the multi-ethnic people who have come – in our generation to ‘rebuild the country’, that was how it was put to us.”
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Stephen Baker
Largesse for the few, austerity for the rest. Spending at UK universities mirroring the UK fiscal state
Ulster University senior management spends freely in the skies
Three trips to Qatar cost £83114, attended by Vice-Chancellor & other senior figures including pro-VCs
St Patrick’s Day visit to Washington added another £61000 — or ~£12400 per head
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/educati...
Three trips to Qatar cost £83114, attended by Vice-Chancellor & other senior figures including pro-VCs
St Patrick’s Day visit to Washington added another £61000 — or ~£12400 per head
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/educati...
Ulster University under fire for £83k cost of Qatar trips after telling Stormont it is ‘feeling the squeeze’ of cuts
Ulster University has been criticised over an £83,000 bill for trips to Qatar.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
December 24, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Largesse for the few, austerity for the rest. Spending at UK universities mirroring the UK fiscal state
To everyone cooking Christmas dinner for the extended family and friends tomorrow, remember, you only get one shot a year at it. Don't fuck it up and ruin everyone's Crimbo.
December 24, 2025 at 12:56 PM
To everyone cooking Christmas dinner for the extended family and friends tomorrow, remember, you only get one shot a year at it. Don't fuck it up and ruin everyone's Crimbo.
Reposted by Stephen Baker
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a beautiful reminder that rich people will never do anything benevolent or charitable unless they’re frightened into it.
December 24, 2025 at 7:37 AM
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a beautiful reminder that rich people will never do anything benevolent or charitable unless they’re frightened into it.
Reposted by Stephen Baker
I am a video essayist now! My second video is out now, about that terrible OU gender studies essay and what it means when power stops bothering with an argument.
youtu.be/GvCmeuJyT9g?...
youtu.be/GvCmeuJyT9g?...
That OU Essay Is Supposed to Be Bad | An Editor’s Note
YouTube video by Ana Marie Cox
youtu.be
December 22, 2025 at 6:06 PM
I am a video essayist now! My second video is out now, about that terrible OU gender studies essay and what it means when power stops bothering with an argument.
youtu.be/GvCmeuJyT9g?...
youtu.be/GvCmeuJyT9g?...
Reposted by Stephen Baker
Great video by @anamariecox.bsky.social: www.youtube.com/watch?si=gYx...
That OU Essay Is Supposed to Be Bad | An Editor’s Note
YouTube video by Ana Marie Cox
www.youtube.com
December 23, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Great video by @anamariecox.bsky.social: www.youtube.com/watch?si=gYx...
Reposted by Stephen Baker
look at how little effort it takes for someone on the conservative grievance circuit to destroy a life
millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on
but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get
millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on
but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get
Worth noting that the student admits that she just threw the thing together in 30 minutes without reading the paper she was supposed to be responding to.
December 23, 2025 at 5:53 PM
look at how little effort it takes for someone on the conservative grievance circuit to destroy a life
millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on
but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get
millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on
but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get
Reposted by Stephen Baker
Nobody is going to look at your AI generated images 60 years from now and say “wow!”
A man walks towards the steelworks in Hartlepool in 1963 by Don McCullin. Industrial scenes like this had a grim majesty to them.
I love everything about this photo, it is a masterful capture of a bygone age.
I love everything about this photo, it is a masterful capture of a bygone age.
December 18, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Nobody is going to look at your AI generated images 60 years from now and say “wow!”
To educate is always to take a side, either with democracy or against it. In dark times, higher education must develop a compelling vision; reclaim its democratic vocation: to unsettle power, challenge conformity and cultivate civic courage and moral witnessing.
www.laprogressive.com/education-re...
www.laprogressive.com/education-re...
Resisting Authoritarianism in Today’s Classrooms
Appeals to neutrality, civility and “balance” can easily become mechanisms for silencing critique and avoiding responsibility.
www.laprogressive.com
December 21, 2025 at 12:17 AM
To educate is always to take a side, either with democracy or against it. In dark times, higher education must develop a compelling vision; reclaim its democratic vocation: to unsettle power, challenge conformity and cultivate civic courage and moral witnessing.
www.laprogressive.com/education-re...
www.laprogressive.com/education-re...
Reposted by Stephen Baker
Far right scum have been out harrassing the homeless on the streets & they are proud of it.
The folks at @calaisappeal.bsky.social are doing everything they can to stand up to the hate 🙏 please stand with us 🙏
www.youtube.com/shorts/bxFVG...
The folks at @calaisappeal.bsky.social are doing everything they can to stand up to the hate 🙏 please stand with us 🙏
www.youtube.com/shorts/bxFVG...
Far Right SCUM harass the HOMELESS
YouTube video by Zoe Gardner
www.youtube.com
December 20, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Far right scum have been out harrassing the homeless on the streets & they are proud of it.
The folks at @calaisappeal.bsky.social are doing everything they can to stand up to the hate 🙏 please stand with us 🙏
www.youtube.com/shorts/bxFVG...
The folks at @calaisappeal.bsky.social are doing everything they can to stand up to the hate 🙏 please stand with us 🙏
www.youtube.com/shorts/bxFVG...
I think similarly. The breach opened by the Iraq war was widened by the crash of 2008.
The more I think about it, the more I reckon the 2003 Iraq War began the process that let Trump win. The blatant lies we were told by our governments, the disregard for public opinion and mockery of international law created a rupture that never healed. Trust, consent and cohesion were smashed.🧵 1/3
December 19, 2025 at 8:51 AM
I think similarly. The breach opened by the Iraq war was widened by the crash of 2008.
Trump v BBC highlights the challenge facing the UK. While there have long been independence movements in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, the Far Right is the revenant of Haw Haw. For all its bellyaching about sovereignty and migrants, it welcomes seeing Britain threatened and cowed by forces abroad.
December 17, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Trump v BBC highlights the challenge facing the UK. While there have long been independence movements in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, the Far Right is the revenant of Haw Haw. For all its bellyaching about sovereignty and migrants, it welcomes seeing Britain threatened and cowed by forces abroad.
"...many of the students turned to essay-writing companies, which were easy to find online and charged about £20 for 1,000 words.'
It’s a strange world to live in, where workers in the black market economy of ‘model essays’ industry might face redundancy because of AI
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
It’s a strange world to live in, where workers in the black market economy of ‘model essays’ industry might face redundancy because of AI
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Essay cheating at universities an 'open secret' despite new law
An essay mill owner says he's made millions, while an ex-lecturer says he quit due to rife cheating.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 17, 2025 at 9:34 AM
"...many of the students turned to essay-writing companies, which were easy to find online and charged about £20 for 1,000 words.'
It’s a strange world to live in, where workers in the black market economy of ‘model essays’ industry might face redundancy because of AI
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
It’s a strange world to live in, where workers in the black market economy of ‘model essays’ industry might face redundancy because of AI
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon leading a carol service in London. I wonder how deep his faith goes. If there's no political capital to be made from aligning himself with Christ, my money is on Yaxley Lennon just moving on to the next public stunt.
December 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon leading a carol service in London. I wonder how deep his faith goes. If there's no political capital to be made from aligning himself with Christ, my money is on Yaxley Lennon just moving on to the next public stunt.
The far right just want to make itself (and the rest of us) vassals of some or other bullying power. It imagines itself enjoying limited privileges in exchange for its loyalty and obedience. Its a miserable, cowardly, undemocratic way to live as a human being.
December 16, 2025 at 9:16 AM
The far right just want to make itself (and the rest of us) vassals of some or other bullying power. It imagines itself enjoying limited privileges in exchange for its loyalty and obedience. Its a miserable, cowardly, undemocratic way to live as a human being.
Lawyers and loved ones of hunger strikers linked to the protest group Palestine Action are warning the activists could die in prison as they accuse British prison officials of a lack of care and the justice secretary of ignoring their demands for a meeting.
www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...
www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...
Palestine Action hunger strikers could die in prison: Families, lawyers
Lawyers and relatives of the remand prisoners refusing food fear for their lives as they seek meeting with top minister.
www.aljazeera.com
December 15, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Lawyers and loved ones of hunger strikers linked to the protest group Palestine Action are warning the activists could die in prison as they accuse British prison officials of a lack of care and the justice secretary of ignoring their demands for a meeting.
www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...
www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...
Reposted by Stephen Baker
WTF are we doing here, BBC?
December 15, 2025 at 12:35 PM
WTF are we doing here, BBC?