Ross
@rc1991.bsky.social
Firm believer in Hanlon's razor.
Likes = interesting; Retweets = very interesting; Interesting ≠ endorsement
Views are my own.
Likes = interesting; Retweets = very interesting; Interesting ≠ endorsement
Views are my own.
Reposted by Ross
Yeah, British politics is simple. You just need to improve public services without any meaningful tax increases, reduce immigration without any labour market impacts, and deliver growth and you'll be hugely successful.
Right, but if you strip out the hyperbole it's just "the public are angry about the cost of living, immigration and the NHS and don't particularly understand any of them" which, sure, but what do I do with that?
You may not like it, but strip out the hyperbole and abuse and it's quite hard to argue with this Cummings asssessment of the public mood
February 10, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Yeah, British politics is simple. You just need to improve public services without any meaningful tax increases, reduce immigration without any labour market impacts, and deliver growth and you'll be hugely successful.
Reposted by Ross
Can we make the abyss prime minister?
I hope the abyss in @stephenkb.bsky.social's newsletter becomes a returning character
February 6, 2026 at 11:56 AM
Can we make the abyss prime minister?
Reposted by Ross
if I don't get weepy when the elves turn up at Helm's Deep then please assume my soul has died and throw me into the nearest pit
January 29, 2026 at 10:41 PM
if I don't get weepy when the elves turn up at Helm's Deep then please assume my soul has died and throw me into the nearest pit
Reposted by Ross
Orchard in Blossom (Plum Trees), 1888 #vangogh #postimpressionism
January 28, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Orchard in Blossom (Plum Trees), 1888 #vangogh #postimpressionism
Reposted by Ross
this also raises the frankly wonderful prospect of some Uruk Hai running a nice little boulangerie deep in the bowels of Isengard
much is made of "meat's back on the menu boys" but personally I'm quite compelled by the Uruk Hai complaining about days-old bread, man's been alive for at most two weeks, was grown from some revolting fleshy underground alien womb and already he yearns for a warm baguette
January 28, 2026 at 10:28 PM
this also raises the frankly wonderful prospect of some Uruk Hai running a nice little boulangerie deep in the bowels of Isengard
Reposted by Ross
Final paragraph here is brutally astute.
December 24, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Final paragraph here is brutally astute.
Reposted by Ross
The "don't have an extra kid if you can't afford it" brigade get awfully upset when you suggest they don't stay in their £2m house if they can't afford it, don't they?
November 27, 2025 at 6:09 PM
The "don't have an extra kid if you can't afford it" brigade get awfully upset when you suggest they don't stay in their £2m house if they can't afford it, don't they?
Reposted by Ross
Nowhere in the hysterical pile-on against the BBC in the British press has anyone mentioned that BBC News now has 77 million viewers & listeners in the US and has established itself as the second most trusted news source there.
November 11, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Nowhere in the hysterical pile-on against the BBC in the British press has anyone mentioned that BBC News now has 77 million viewers & listeners in the US and has established itself as the second most trusted news source there.
Reposted by Ross
Australia to introduce power cuts... no, wait, free power for 3 hours a day, as the solar boom has reached its, what's the new word?, abundance phase.
HT @volts.wtf www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
HT @volts.wtf www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
Australian households to get free electricity three hours a day
Saying there is enough solar power for everyone in the daytime, the federal government will direct retailers to provide three hours of free power every day to consumers.
www.abc.net.au
November 3, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Australia to introduce power cuts... no, wait, free power for 3 hours a day, as the solar boom has reached its, what's the new word?, abundance phase.
HT @volts.wtf www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
HT @volts.wtf www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Ross
My point is that we are engaged in a fundamentally moral argument about how society ought to be, not a factual argument about how reality is. I am very wise. Now, if you'll excuse me, I forgot to bring underpants and socks on a trip to Glasgow so I have to go and buy some.
It seems pointless to fact check someone saying "curry isn't proper British food like fish and chips", just like it's futile to correct someone saying "there are no pronouns in the Bible". They haven't made a mistake. What they're saying is, "Britain is a white country".
October 18, 2025 at 3:03 PM
My point is that we are engaged in a fundamentally moral argument about how society ought to be, not a factual argument about how reality is. I am very wise. Now, if you'll excuse me, I forgot to bring underpants and socks on a trip to Glasgow so I have to go and buy some.
Reposted by Ross
Pope Leo quotes Hannah Arendt:
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."
www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."
www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
Pope Leo calls for news agencies to stand as bulwark against "post-truths," lies and manipulation
Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.
www.cbsnews.com
October 12, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Pope Leo quotes Hannah Arendt:
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."
www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."
www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
Reposted by Ross
I know statistics are poorly understood and are misused. But facts matter
Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them
Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them
October 7, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I know statistics are poorly understood and are misused. But facts matter
Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them
Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them
Reposted by Ross
Excited to spend the next 4 years watching the British right pull their most serious face as they talk about the perilous state of government finances while never suggesting what they would actually change (or suggesting that their fiscal discipline could somehow totally fix it).
October 4, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Excited to spend the next 4 years watching the British right pull their most serious face as they talk about the perilous state of government finances while never suggesting what they would actually change (or suggesting that their fiscal discipline could somehow totally fix it).
Reposted by Ross
Sky News says police are "overwhelmed by the numbers". Met coped perfectly well with 2x as many at the pro-Gaza rally, 5x as many at the anti-Brexit march, and 15x as many at London Pride.
They're not overwhelmed by the numbers. They're overwhelmed by the ratio of violent thugs in those numbers.
They're not overwhelmed by the numbers. They're overwhelmed by the ratio of violent thugs in those numbers.
September 13, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Sky News says police are "overwhelmed by the numbers". Met coped perfectly well with 2x as many at the pro-Gaza rally, 5x as many at the anti-Brexit march, and 15x as many at London Pride.
They're not overwhelmed by the numbers. They're overwhelmed by the ratio of violent thugs in those numbers.
They're not overwhelmed by the numbers. They're overwhelmed by the ratio of violent thugs in those numbers.
Reposted by Ross
My favourite Galbraith quote:
"All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership."
"All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership."
September 12, 2025 at 11:08 AM
My favourite Galbraith quote:
"All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership."
"All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership."
Reposted by Ross
NB: This is literally what is happening to people arriving in Trump's America. And I understand that unlike the UK, you can count the US cases on more than 1 finger.
Farage says what happened to Graham Linehan "could happen to any American man or woman that goes to Heathrow, that has said things online that the British government and British police don't like".
September 3, 2025 at 4:10 PM
NB: This is literally what is happening to people arriving in Trump's America. And I understand that unlike the UK, you can count the US cases on more than 1 finger.
Reposted by Ross
Happy 45th birthday to the Tyne and Wear Metro! First paying passengers travelled on this day in 1980. In honour of my local transport system, a bit of a 🧵 about it 1/
August 11, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Happy 45th birthday to the Tyne and Wear Metro! First paying passengers travelled on this day in 1980. In honour of my local transport system, a bit of a 🧵 about it 1/
Reposted by Ross
I think true crime is basically just bad and morally corrosive most of the time, and I appreciate that people tried to do "oh it's about women trying to process living in a violent sexist world" but I actually think that's only a small part of it, true crime is mostly just dehumanising and grim
this inadvertently gets at why I find The Yogurt Shop Murders so much more thoughtful and effective than a typical true-crime doc. Why on earth would you expect a series about the brutal murder of four teenage girls to be “enjoyable”?
August 25, 2025 at 9:03 PM
I think true crime is basically just bad and morally corrosive most of the time, and I appreciate that people tried to do "oh it's about women trying to process living in a violent sexist world" but I actually think that's only a small part of it, true crime is mostly just dehumanising and grim
Reposted by Ross
“Abase yourself in statements and with gifts” is visibly the right approach as a Trump hedge, but it needs to be paired with “wean yourself off US dependency so you aren’t going to have to still be doing this in 2048”.
August 16, 2025 at 1:31 PM
“Abase yourself in statements and with gifts” is visibly the right approach as a Trump hedge, but it needs to be paired with “wean yourself off US dependency so you aren’t going to have to still be doing this in 2048”.
Reposted by Ross
Very enjoyable column by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on 'the Diet Coke test' for restaurants:
What’s your test of a bad restaurant?
With food, one should be tolerant. But there is no need to be pretentious about fizzy drinks
www.ft.com
August 8, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Very enjoyable column by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on 'the Diet Coke test' for restaurants:
Reposted by Ross
The bullet train in 🇯🇵-as glorious as everyone says. A reminder the Japanese built their first high speed train for the 1964 Olympics and it became national by the 80s. They’re now building Maglevs (floating trains).
Meanwhile in 🇬🇧 we can’t be sure we’ll connect HS2 to Euston. Pathetic.
Meanwhile in 🇬🇧 we can’t be sure we’ll connect HS2 to Euston. Pathetic.
July 28, 2025 at 6:13 AM
The bullet train in 🇯🇵-as glorious as everyone says. A reminder the Japanese built their first high speed train for the 1964 Olympics and it became national by the 80s. They’re now building Maglevs (floating trains).
Meanwhile in 🇬🇧 we can’t be sure we’ll connect HS2 to Euston. Pathetic.
Meanwhile in 🇬🇧 we can’t be sure we’ll connect HS2 to Euston. Pathetic.
Reposted by Ross
think this is sort of interesting as actually.....no you probably didn't need to do "more research" into it? you just had to trust the state and local authorities to know better than you when it came to vaccinating your child? not good that the internet has killed faith in institutions!
July 28, 2025 at 8:09 AM
think this is sort of interesting as actually.....no you probably didn't need to do "more research" into it? you just had to trust the state and local authorities to know better than you when it came to vaccinating your child? not good that the internet has killed faith in institutions!
Reposted by Ross
In "Legitimate Concerns" news.
41% of the 899 arrested for taking part in Farage Riots last year had been reported for crimes associated with intimate partner violence.
For those arrested by one police force, this figure was 68%.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
41% of the 899 arrested for taking part in Farage Riots last year had been reported for crimes associated with intimate partner violence.
For those arrested by one police force, this figure was 68%.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Two in five arrested for last summer’s UK riots had been reported for domestic abuse
Police data indicates overlaps between public violent disorder and domestic violence and abuse
www.theguardian.com
July 26, 2025 at 12:32 PM
In "Legitimate Concerns" news.
41% of the 899 arrested for taking part in Farage Riots last year had been reported for crimes associated with intimate partner violence.
For those arrested by one police force, this figure was 68%.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
41% of the 899 arrested for taking part in Farage Riots last year had been reported for crimes associated with intimate partner violence.
For those arrested by one police force, this figure was 68%.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Ross
Can’t comment on the tel article as I’ve not read it. But the “tinder box” thing (also “powder keg”) has been said to me by so many MPs, charities and council people over the last week I don’t think it can be dismissed as some kind of alt right/McSweeney/Faragist fever dream
July 26, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Can’t comment on the tel article as I’ve not read it. But the “tinder box” thing (also “powder keg”) has been said to me by so many MPs, charities and council people over the last week I don’t think it can be dismissed as some kind of alt right/McSweeney/Faragist fever dream