James Vaughan
@equusonthebuses.bsky.social
Historian of UK-Israel relations, British decline, and propaganda. Hittites. Blues harmonica. Aberystwyth Cricket Club. Just posting stuff that interests me really.
New second hand bookshop acquisition. 1938 1st edition of 'Poor Knight's Saddle', Douglas V. Duff's account of the troubled situation in Mandatory Palestine. I appear to have acquired a copy previously belonging to Sir Montague Burton, founder of the famous menswear retail chain...
December 7, 2025 at 3:15 PM
New second hand bookshop acquisition. 1938 1st edition of 'Poor Knight's Saddle', Douglas V. Duff's account of the troubled situation in Mandatory Palestine. I appear to have acquired a copy previously belonging to Sir Montague Burton, founder of the famous menswear retail chain...
Reposted by James Vaughan
I'm especially partial to Liz Everton's article on masculinity and caricature during the Dreyfus Affair
December 6, 2025 at 8:15 PM
I'm especially partial to Liz Everton's article on masculinity and caricature during the Dreyfus Affair
Reposted by James Vaughan
Dear god, give me patience. These people...
December 6, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Dear god, give me patience. These people...
Or maybe that overly large MNC's owned by people like, er, Musk, should be broken up so that the markets can operate more equitably in the interests of ordinary consumers...
This is pretty much exactly like a European saying the United States should be abolished, so that the governments of individual states can better represent their people.
It’s a take, you’re entitled to it, but what’s it got to do with you, buddy?
It’s a take, you’re entitled to it, but what’s it got to do with you, buddy?
December 6, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Or maybe that overly large MNC's owned by people like, er, Musk, should be broken up so that the markets can operate more equitably in the interests of ordinary consumers...
Reposted by James Vaughan
Odd how you never hear "We should run business like a university."
Especially since the original model for corporate charters was much more university-like: specifically justified for a public good.
Especially since the original model for corporate charters was much more university-like: specifically justified for a public good.
the reason its bad to run universities like businesses is that almost all businesses fail on any reasonable timeline of evaluation.
hudson's bay made it the longest and even they only got to about half an oxford of longevity
hudson's bay made it the longest and even they only got to about half an oxford of longevity
They claim financial exigency, but then turn down $4 million pledges to keep the PhD programs open and disregard financial analyses that point to the real problem—bad real estate deals, spending on consultants, and their own salaries 2/2
December 6, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Odd how you never hear "We should run business like a university."
Especially since the original model for corporate charters was much more university-like: specifically justified for a public good.
Especially since the original model for corporate charters was much more university-like: specifically justified for a public good.
I get this, because the failure to deal with Farage's racism and antisemitism is indeed infuriating. On another level, it rather misses the point that Corbyn would never have done that because it's a form of antisemitism he recognised and condemned. His problem was the antisemitism he didn't see.
Imagine the reaction to allegations that Corbyn had made hissing gas noises to Jewish kids as a schoolboy - and then if he had responded to those allegations by shouting 'Bernard Manning!' at the journalists
The radio silence about Farage from people who are usually supremely vocal about antisemitism is so so telling.
December 6, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I get this, because the failure to deal with Farage's racism and antisemitism is indeed infuriating. On another level, it rather misses the point that Corbyn would never have done that because it's a form of antisemitism he recognised and condemned. His problem was the antisemitism he didn't see.
Reposted by James Vaughan
There is a big assymetry between the media's ability to report on Nigel Farage's racist slurs as a teenager and the lack of interest in reporting Lowe's decisions about legitimising the overtly racist right.
December 5, 2025 at 3:43 PM
There is a big assymetry between the media's ability to report on Nigel Farage's racist slurs as a teenager and the lack of interest in reporting Lowe's decisions about legitimising the overtly racist right.
@alan160755.bsky.social Cheers pal. That’s a much appreciate laugh you’ve provided there.
December 6, 2025 at 4:40 PM
@alan160755.bsky.social Cheers pal. That’s a much appreciate laugh you’ve provided there.
I'd post about the Villa result, but I'm not sure I can handle a war with Arsenal FC and the Green Party on the same afternoon.
December 6, 2025 at 2:36 PM
I'd post about the Villa result, but I'm not sure I can handle a war with Arsenal FC and the Green Party on the same afternoon.
It appears that the Greens are a wee bit angry.
December 6, 2025 at 2:25 PM
It appears that the Greens are a wee bit angry.
I don’t know how much Zack Polanski knows about the history of allegations of divided loyalties against British Jews, but I’d suggest it’s probably something he doesn’t want to add a chapter to.
A brief history of an antisemitic trope… 🧵 /1
A brief history of an antisemitic trope… 🧵 /1
December 6, 2025 at 1:16 PM
I don’t know how much Zack Polanski knows about the history of allegations of divided loyalties against British Jews, but I’d suggest it’s probably something he doesn’t want to add a chapter to.
A brief history of an antisemitic trope… 🧵 /1
A brief history of an antisemitic trope… 🧵 /1
Good to see the Glamorgan lads doing so well in the Ashes. Shame they're Aussies, mind...
December 6, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Good to see the Glamorgan lads doing so well in the Ashes. Shame they're Aussies, mind...
Here's a fun interview from a different world #OnThisDay 1993.
"Was it not a bit anti-climactic, I asked, to fight the Russians and end up road-building in Sudan?" Robert Fisk on the Saudi businessman "on the road to peace" - some lad called Osama Bin Laden...
"Was it not a bit anti-climactic, I asked, to fight the Russians and end up road-building in Sudan?" Robert Fisk on the Saudi businessman "on the road to peace" - some lad called Osama Bin Laden...
December 6, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Here's a fun interview from a different world #OnThisDay 1993.
"Was it not a bit anti-climactic, I asked, to fight the Russians and end up road-building in Sudan?" Robert Fisk on the Saudi businessman "on the road to peace" - some lad called Osama Bin Laden...
"Was it not a bit anti-climactic, I asked, to fight the Russians and end up road-building in Sudan?" Robert Fisk on the Saudi businessman "on the road to peace" - some lad called Osama Bin Laden...
Reposted by James Vaughan
Guy Fawkes signature before and after watching this World Cup Draw
December 5, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Guy Fawkes signature before and after watching this World Cup Draw
Handsome Nuthatch in the back garden the other day…
December 5, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Handsome Nuthatch in the back garden the other day…
I see Donald Trump has finally recognised the reality of climate change and global warming
December 5, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I see Donald Trump has finally recognised the reality of climate change and global warming
Rainbow over Llyfrgell Hugh Owen, @aberuni.bsky.social
December 5, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Rainbow over Llyfrgell Hugh Owen, @aberuni.bsky.social
#OnThisDay 1947: letter to The Spectator on Mosley's attempts to relaunch British fascism in the post-WW2 era. Wise counsel that, in various different contexts, the British political class has been roundly ignoring ever since...
December 5, 2025 at 11:33 AM
#OnThisDay 1947: letter to The Spectator on Mosley's attempts to relaunch British fascism in the post-WW2 era. Wise counsel that, in various different contexts, the British political class has been roundly ignoring ever since...
Tonight’s Cold Moon, the last supermoon of 2025…
December 4, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Tonight’s Cold Moon, the last supermoon of 2025…
Reposted by James Vaughan
December 4, 2025 at 10:39 AM
One of my favourite insights into Conservative Party approaches to foreign policy and international trade. John Nott reports on visiting Saddam Hussein's Iraq #OnThisDay 1979.
Observation #1: It's a bit like Nazi Germany.
Observation #2: Major opportunities to do business.
Extracts below...
Observation #1: It's a bit like Nazi Germany.
Observation #2: Major opportunities to do business.
Extracts below...
December 4, 2025 at 9:47 AM
One of my favourite insights into Conservative Party approaches to foreign policy and international trade. John Nott reports on visiting Saddam Hussein's Iraq #OnThisDay 1979.
Observation #1: It's a bit like Nazi Germany.
Observation #2: Major opportunities to do business.
Extracts below...
Observation #1: It's a bit like Nazi Germany.
Observation #2: Major opportunities to do business.
Extracts below...
Can't let that headline pass. This was Human Intelligence, not AI.
"The breakthrough began when a retired teacher contacted Matthäus, convinced that the man in the photograph was his wife’s uncle."
All AI did was some photo-matching after they had a suspect.
www.jewishnews.co.uk/ai-finally-i...
"The breakthrough began when a retired teacher contacted Matthäus, convinced that the man in the photograph was his wife’s uncle."
All AI did was some photo-matching after they had a suspect.
www.jewishnews.co.uk/ai-finally-i...
AI identifies Nazi in one of the Holocaust’s most haunting images - Jewish News
Jakobus Onnen, a teacher from the town of Tichelwarf, uncovered as SS gunman in 1941 photograph ‘The Last Jew in Vinnitsa’
www.jewishnews.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Can't let that headline pass. This was Human Intelligence, not AI.
"The breakthrough began when a retired teacher contacted Matthäus, convinced that the man in the photograph was his wife’s uncle."
All AI did was some photo-matching after they had a suspect.
www.jewishnews.co.uk/ai-finally-i...
"The breakthrough began when a retired teacher contacted Matthäus, convinced that the man in the photograph was his wife’s uncle."
All AI did was some photo-matching after they had a suspect.
www.jewishnews.co.uk/ai-finally-i...
Not always remembered these days, but there were still World War II refugees stuck in DP camps 15 years after the end of the war. Zec cartoon in the Daily Herald #OnThisDay 1959…
December 3, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Not always remembered these days, but there were still World War II refugees stuck in DP camps 15 years after the end of the war. Zec cartoon in the Daily Herald #OnThisDay 1959…
Reposted by James Vaughan
I wrote about Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to call off his own corruption trial, which is really the story of how one incredibly compromised man has repeatedly sacrificed his country's national interest and its people's preferences rather than cede power. Gift link:
Netanyahu Just Admitted He’s Unfit to Lead Israel
In attempting to call off his corruption trial, Netanyahu didn’t incriminate himself, but he did something just as damning.
www.theatlantic.com
December 3, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I wrote about Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to call off his own corruption trial, which is really the story of how one incredibly compromised man has repeatedly sacrificed his country's national interest and its people's preferences rather than cede power. Gift link: