The Glass is Empty
@theglassisempty.bsky.social
I used to think the glass was half full.
Pinned
It’s ironic that a nation which for decades sanctimoniously trumpeted the superiority of it’s democratic ideals around the world, while simultaneously undermining and overthrowing democratically elected governments, now faces an existential threat to those “ideals”.
Reposted by The Glass is Empty
Keir Starmer - "I’ve always wanted a Labour government but I’ve never worried about the future of our country under a Tory government."
The words of a man so insulated from the harm done by the Tories he felt no compulsion not to continue the harm not being done to him and his.
The words of a man so insulated from the harm done by the Tories he felt no compulsion not to continue the harm not being done to him and his.
December 7, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Keir Starmer - "I’ve always wanted a Labour government but I’ve never worried about the future of our country under a Tory government."
The words of a man so insulated from the harm done by the Tories he felt no compulsion not to continue the harm not being done to him and his.
The words of a man so insulated from the harm done by the Tories he felt no compulsion not to continue the harm not being done to him and his.
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In fact, the NATO line didn't work on Corbyn, any more than the Euroscepticism line did, hence 2017. What worked was the all-channels focus on antisemitism & the suggestion post-Salisbury that he was a Russian asset. That strategy is now being deployed against Farage more than Polanski.
FWIW, the NATO line worked on Corbyn which is why I suspect that Starmer thinks that it will work on Polanski.
Ahh a low-salience issue and then a vote for Bart is a vote for anarchy. You can see the political geniuses behind the present disaster at work.
December 7, 2025 at 10:06 PM
In fact, the NATO line didn't work on Corbyn, any more than the Euroscepticism line did, hence 2017. What worked was the all-channels focus on antisemitism & the suggestion post-Salisbury that he was a Russian asset. That strategy is now being deployed against Farage more than Polanski.
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Discrediting the centre and right on policy isn't exactly difficult, given [gestures expansively at everything]. But it's never going to be achieved purely by combative confidence and a slick messaging style. You either back that up with genuine substance or the facade will crumble pretty quickly.
December 3, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Discrediting the centre and right on policy isn't exactly difficult, given [gestures expansively at everything]. But it's never going to be achieved purely by combative confidence and a slick messaging style. You either back that up with genuine substance or the facade will crumble pretty quickly.
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He doesn't need a PhD. Doesn't need to become a pseudo-technocratic policy "wonk". He just needs to become a knowledgeable and highly competent generalist in the key areas. Anyone can do that if they have the willingness to put the work in and learn.
December 3, 2025 at 8:21 AM
He doesn't need a PhD. Doesn't need to become a pseudo-technocratic policy "wonk". He just needs to become a knowledgeable and highly competent generalist in the key areas. Anyone can do that if they have the willingness to put the work in and learn.
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There's a large eco-system of progressive left NGOs, think tanks, charities, etc out there, full of serious experts in a range of policy fields. If Polanski wanted to get up that learning curve fast, the resources are there to help him do it. I'd say he has a responsibility to do that.
December 3, 2025 at 8:17 AM
There's a large eco-system of progressive left NGOs, think tanks, charities, etc out there, full of serious experts in a range of policy fields. If Polanski wanted to get up that learning curve fast, the resources are there to help him do it. I'd say he has a responsibility to do that.
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Parts of the UK left significantly over-emphasise "comms", "messaging" etc at the expense of policy substance. No doubt those things are very important. But if you look closely at e.g. AOC & Mamdani they have a serious grasp of the relevant subject areas, without which their messaging wouldn't work
December 3, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Parts of the UK left significantly over-emphasise "comms", "messaging" etc at the expense of policy substance. No doubt those things are very important. But if you look closely at e.g. AOC & Mamdani they have a serious grasp of the relevant subject areas, without which their messaging wouldn't work
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In less than 4 years Polanski could hold the balance of power in parliament. He could have a senior position in a coalition cabinet or be making big, consequential calls in a confidence and supply scenario. So he needs to get right up that learning curve pretty damn quickly
December 3, 2025 at 7:57 AM
In less than 4 years Polanski could hold the balance of power in parliament. He could have a senior position in a coalition cabinet or be making big, consequential calls in a confidence and supply scenario. So he needs to get right up that learning curve pretty damn quickly
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At one level, yes its pretty galling seeing centrists & right-wingers mocking Polanski's lack of economic knowledge in those podcast clips, given that the ultimate legacy of their own economic traditions is a likely terminal climate catastrophe. But the point remains that he needs to do much better.
December 3, 2025 at 7:54 AM
At one level, yes its pretty galling seeing centrists & right-wingers mocking Polanski's lack of economic knowledge in those podcast clips, given that the ultimate legacy of their own economic traditions is a likely terminal climate catastrophe. But the point remains that he needs to do much better.
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We're watching the wholesale burning of every scrap of dignity afforded to trans people in the UK, their rights, their medical services, their employment, their place within society, their bodily functions.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.
December 3, 2025 at 11:54 AM
We're watching the wholesale burning of every scrap of dignity afforded to trans people in the UK, their rights, their medical services, their employment, their place within society, their bodily functions.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.
It is a disgrace, and a disgusting stain on the government and media of this country.
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British trans people had to go to the European Court of Human Rights in 1986, 1990, 1992, 1997, 1998 and 2002 before the UK was finally forced to pass the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
How much work to regain lost rights will they need this time?
www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/...
How much work to regain lost rights will they need this time?
www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/...
December 3, 2025 at 11:14 AM
British trans people had to go to the European Court of Human Rights in 1986, 1990, 1992, 1997, 1998 and 2002 before the UK was finally forced to pass the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
How much work to regain lost rights will they need this time?
www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/...
How much work to regain lost rights will they need this time?
www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/...
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Joanne will never run out of money because people keep buying her stuff, and so this will keep happening. SLAPP after SLAPP until trans people are completely drummed out of public existence and nobody will do a thing about it
December 3, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Joanne will never run out of money because people keep buying her stuff, and so this will keep happening. SLAPP after SLAPP until trans people are completely drummed out of public existence and nobody will do a thing about it
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There is absolutely nothing left to the UK but bigotry and spite. A hateful place, you can almost taste it in the air, makes it hard to breathe.
December 3, 2025 at 10:49 AM
There is absolutely nothing left to the UK but bigotry and spite. A hateful place, you can almost taste it in the air, makes it hard to breathe.
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Again: do you see how this is worse than what’s happening in Trump’s America? It’s like this because Britain is in some ways much further down the elite radicalisation spiral, because we have the most toxic and malicious media outlets on Earth.
December 3, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Again: do you see how this is worse than what’s happening in Trump’s America? It’s like this because Britain is in some ways much further down the elite radicalisation spiral, because we have the most toxic and malicious media outlets on Earth.
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Nice organisation you have here. It’d be a real shame if a gaggle of flag-waving fascists harassed your staff, the Mail and the Sun ran a hysterical hate campaign against you and then crack team of very expensive legal crackpots annihilated your finances. Yes, that’s right, do as you’re told.
December 3, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Nice organisation you have here. It’d be a real shame if a gaggle of flag-waving fascists harassed your staff, the Mail and the Sun ran a hysterical hate campaign against you and then crack team of very expensive legal crackpots annihilated your finances. Yes, that’s right, do as you’re told.
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There’s no democratic element to any of this: it’s Britain’s astonishingly poisonous media outlets and their tame politicians, who they can destroy whenever they want, hand in hand with billionaire-funded crackpot activists. Gangsters, musing about one carelessly dropped match.
December 3, 2025 at 11:01 AM
There’s no democratic element to any of this: it’s Britain’s astonishingly poisonous media outlets and their tame politicians, who they can destroy whenever they want, hand in hand with billionaire-funded crackpot activists. Gangsters, musing about one carelessly dropped match.
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I wouldn’t go expecting anyone to stand up to legal threats or the British press. Everyone knows where power lies and we have all seen over and over what happens to anyone who puts up even token resistance against them. The whole system will fold, with lip service and nothing more.
December 3, 2025 at 10:58 AM
I wouldn’t go expecting anyone to stand up to legal threats or the British press. Everyone knows where power lies and we have all seen over and over what happens to anyone who puts up even token resistance against them. The whole system will fold, with lip service and nothing more.
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A real trend now for columnists spotting things that were very obviously broken and fucked ten years ago, without themselves ever having been wrong about anything at any point.
Fear of facing the future has British politics stuck in the past | Rafael Behr
Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves claim to be dealing with the world as it is, but seem to yearn for a world that has disappeared, says the Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:19 AM
A real trend now for columnists spotting things that were very obviously broken and fucked ten years ago, without themselves ever having been wrong about anything at any point.
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Not that anything matters anymore but just on a personal level that mid 2010s period where these people got to feel like staunch antiracists by opposing the only viable left wing alternative to the shitshow we’re facing now was some of the most galling stuff I’ve ever lived through
November 28, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Not that anything matters anymore but just on a personal level that mid 2010s period where these people got to feel like staunch antiracists by opposing the only viable left wing alternative to the shitshow we’re facing now was some of the most galling stuff I’ve ever lived through
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I wish this was an exaggeration, but it isn’t. They appear to have actively worked to block their purported allies being granted asylum, so they couldn’t be called to give evidence in Britain.
The British government and forces left their local translators and interpreters to be killed by the Taliban so they couldn't give evidence in any war-crimes trials
December 1, 2025 at 8:45 AM
I wish this was an exaggeration, but it isn’t. They appear to have actively worked to block their purported allies being granted asylum, so they couldn’t be called to give evidence in Britain.
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The British government and forces left their local translators and interpreters to be killed by the Taliban so they couldn't give evidence in any war-crimes trials
December 1, 2025 at 6:25 AM
The British government and forces left their local translators and interpreters to be killed by the Taliban so they couldn't give evidence in any war-crimes trials
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Just think it’s a bit weird that society has been brainwashed in to thinking that rich people and massive corporations having a bit less money is the main thing we need to avoid no matter what.
November 30, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Just think it’s a bit weird that society has been brainwashed in to thinking that rich people and massive corporations having a bit less money is the main thing we need to avoid no matter what.
Reposted by The Glass is Empty
They will never stop
BREAKING: Israeli forces have stormed the town of Sebastia, northwest of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, report our colleagues on the ground.
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/oapeu6
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/oapeu6
November 30, 2025 at 3:23 PM
They will never stop
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Imagine you have a choice between doing simple, popular things that will see your popularity soar but lead to bad headlines or between milquetoast technical tweaks that win no support but also lead to bad headlines. Imagine you could implement a popular Inquiry recommendation to regulate the press.
How the right-wing newspapers still manage to dictate BBC coverage.
Almost all of the Beeb's big post-Budget interview with the Chancellor devoted to asking whether she is a liar.
Next to nothing on any of the big measures announced this week
www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-real-b...
Almost all of the Beeb's big post-Budget interview with the Chancellor devoted to asking whether she is a liar.
Next to nothing on any of the big measures announced this week
www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-real-b...
The Real 'Benefits Street' Protecting Britain's Wealthiest
The sheer scale of outrage about plans to lift children out of poverty, by taxing millionaire homeowners, tells you everything you need to know about the priorities of the British press
www.adambienkov.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Imagine you have a choice between doing simple, popular things that will see your popularity soar but lead to bad headlines or between milquetoast technical tweaks that win no support but also lead to bad headlines. Imagine you could implement a popular Inquiry recommendation to regulate the press.
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I appreciate that it is difficult for senior political figures to acknowledge that the Israeli military routinely murders civilians for sport, but that is how it is.
November 29, 2025 at 1:19 PM
I appreciate that it is difficult for senior political figures to acknowledge that the Israeli military routinely murders civilians for sport, but that is how it is.
Reposted by The Glass is Empty
The IDF blew the head off a guy in the street who had been talking to an ITV camera crew, the moment they stopped filming, very obviously just as a fuck you. Calling for them to investigate themselves is just saying Oh no, this looks bad, then doing nothing.
November 29, 2025 at 1:17 PM
The IDF blew the head off a guy in the street who had been talking to an ITV camera crew, the moment they stopped filming, very obviously just as a fuck you. Calling for them to investigate themselves is just saying Oh no, this looks bad, then doing nothing.