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Robert Reiner

@waylon18.bsky.social

1.5K followers 2.4K following 3.2K posts

Retired criminology professor. Democratic Socialist.Written on political economy of crime, criminal justice and policing 1970s until severe COVID 2021. Last book Social Democratic Criminology. Love old mysteries, Westerns, country music, music 1930-70

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · Feb 19

www.routledge.com/Social-Democ...

Social Democratic Criminology

This book argues that ‘social democratic criminology’ is an important critical perspective which is essential for the analysis of crime and criminal justice and crucial for humane and effective policy...

www.routledge.com

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Reposted by Robert Reiner

Jace @rapturedemon.bsky.social · 1d

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Reposted by Robert Reiner

Dee Lomas @deelomas.bsky.social · 13h

If I were a betting woman (I’m not) I would bet my fucking house on the odds that not one bloke in this photo could successfully tell us the opening lines in the Book of Genesis chapter 1.

Just sayin…

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 13h

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Such a sad story

Survivor of 7 October Nova festival attack in Israel found dead

Roei Shalev, 30, whose girlfriend and best friend were killed in front of him at festival, took his own life on Friday night

www.theguardian.com

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 16h

observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
Incisive amusing critique of Badenoch attack on ‘rip off’ degrees. The humanities and social sciences have value in every sense including economic. If the worthy degrees are those acquired by the Conservative leaders they are reviving their old ‘stupid party’ image

In praise of “rip-off” degrees | The Observer

Kemi Badenoch’s attack on the arts and humanities isn’t just culturally short-sighted, it’s economically illiterate

observer.co.uk

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 16h

observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Provocative witty destruction of anti intellectualism and pretentiousness

Welcome to dumb Britain, where anti-intellectualism is on...

From performative males to Taylor Swift analysis, pretentious intelligence is increasingly a turn-off

observer.co.uk

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 16h

observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Dolly P shows you can be successful and good

Queen Dolly ‘ain’t ready to die yet’. Phew, we need her i...

Some may wonder what reaction there may be to their death; others are treated to a preview. Country music legend Dolly Parton just had to put out a video...

observer.co.uk

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 16h

observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Powerful advocacy of innovative national pension fund to support growth and security within existing Treasury constraints.

How Labour can unpick the triple lock | The Observer

The British Pension Plan would guarantee every child born from today a decent pension as a right. It is not too good to be true

observer.co.uk

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 16h

observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Stirring paean to history of working class intellectual and artistic culture, largely built on self education. Eroded by New Labour materialistic notions of relevance and Conservative disdain

It’s not opera that’s elitist but the idea that art is to...

The myth that culture has not been for the masses is debunked in a new book

observer.co.uk

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 1d

Nigel Farage’s declaration of war on teachers is a war on compassion, empathy and kindness www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/10...
Farage’s war isn’t with Marxism in education. It’s with the values of Judaea Christianity - love the stranger etc. This really does inspire the many empathetic educators

Nigel Farage’s declaration of war on teachers is a war on compassion, empathy and kindness

According to The Guardian, Nigel Farage, speaking at an event at a private Christian college in Michigan, USA, has accused teachers in the UK of “poisoning our kids” and predicted that they would go o...

www.taxresearch.org.uk

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 1d

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Surveys have always recorded the public as believing crime is worsening, irrespective of whether official statistics are rising or not. This is because media report the most dramatic violent or property crimes. Meanwhile crimes by the powerful remain mainly hidden

Is London in the grip of a crime wave? It’s not so simple

Perception of runaway crime partly blamed for ‘driving away the super-rich’ but in reality some high-profile offences such as watch theft are falling

www.theguardian.com

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 1d

mailchi.mp/be870d49560c...
Has Atlas shrugged as the poster people for free market true believers fail successively? Probably not given that their think tanks like Atlas remain influential and generously supported by the billionaires they celebrate as holding the world up.

Chainsaws, chaos and crashing polls: Tories’ Javier Milei infatuation faces a reality check

mailchi.mp

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 1d

edition.independent.co.uk/edition/uk.c...
As a boomer I can see where this critique of boomer memoirs is coming from. But I think analysis based on generations is a distraction. The sources of deprivation and insecurity for the majority of subsequent generations lie in greed and folly of elites

Boomer memoirs... the least they could do is say sorry

edition.independent.co.uk

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 1d

www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Ideally Labour should not be trapped by financial bullying of bond markets and OBR. Resuscitate Keynes if you can do it you can afford it. Real resource availability is the crucial constraint. Financial orthodoxy primarily favours the wealthy

Rachel Reeves v the OBR: chancellor aims to loosen the watchdog’s grip

Labour embraced the forecaster’s powerful role, but now finds itself scrambling in the face of gloomy projections

www.theguardian.com

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 2d

tribunemag.co.uk/2025/10/labo...
Starmer Labour is betraying so many core principles and committing so many unforced errors
Never supported any other party but sorely tempted now

Labour’s War on Protest

Labour’s plan to criminalise recurring protests strikes at the heart of democratic life, transforming political freedom into a privilege granted by the state.

tribunemag.co.uk

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 2d

rwer.wordpress.com/2025/10/10/w...
Arguments for markets creating optimal outcomes presuppose perfect competition, a fair contest between equally placed individuals in which victory goes to the fittest. But once inequality has thus been introduced it becomes perpetual. And now oligarchy is obvious

Weekend read: Democracy and Economics

from Peter Radford Demos kratia People power. This is about economics and its role in undermining democracy. Let’s begin with Martin Wolf. He gives us, in this morning’s Financial Times, an excelle…

rwer.wordpress.com

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 2d

frdhfirstroughdraftofhistory.substack.com/p/quarterly-...
The whole is more than the parts. This first draft of history charts the headlong rush to Trumpian tyranny

QUARTERLY REPORT: 90 DAYS THAT MAY WELL HAVE ENDED THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT

A Summary Rough Draft of History of the Summer Quarter of 2025

frdhfirstroughdraftofhistory.substack.com

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 3d

jacobin.com/2025/10/trum...
Why the Left are against individual acts of violence. Trump’s list of indicia of terrorism fails to understand that Marxist and other socialist critiques of capitalism target structures of oppression not the individuals who carry them, however obnoxious they might be.

Trump Classifies “Anti-Capitalism” as a Political Pre-Crime

Donald Trump’s new security directive labels anti-capitalist beliefs as a predictor of political violence. The irony: left-wing structural analysis actually pushes people away from lone-wolf attacks a...

jacobin.com

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 3d

The shocking truth about the photograph of the ‘ordinary’ Nazi and its chilling message for us today - The Independent
Excellent article probing an iconic mass murder

Reposted by Robert Reiner

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 3d

From the companies profiting off the administration's dragnet to the hell of Alligator Alcatraz, our reporters trace the brutal rollout of President Donald Trump's police state.

That includes the tiny, inexperienced firm that somehow landed a $1.3 billion detention deal to hold 5,000 human beings.

How a tiny, inexperienced firm landed a $1.3 billion detention deal

To hold 5,000 human beings.

www.motherjones.com

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 3d

newsroom.observer.co.uk/cr/AQjcjBUQt...
Trump tyranny deepens

Imperator Trumpus

newsroom.observer.co.uk

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 3d

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The best thing about Thatcher is that she was not a Thatcherite. She was more intelligent and pragmatic than her acolytes. Nonetheless her policies did the country enormous harm, apart from the wealthy few. Real incomes have stagnated, public services in freefall

Thatcher was born 100 years ago and her reign feels a lifetime away. Why is her effect on the country still so huge? | Martin Kettle

Today’s politicians need to learn that she is not the answer to contemporary problems, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle

www.theguardian.com

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 3d

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Starmer’s Labour is in thrall to tabloid headlines jumping to the latest Right wing panic. It’s the economy stupid and learn to count remain the wisest political mantras. The trouble is they also remain wedded to Treasury orthodoxy. Remember Keynes and read MMT

Worried about rising bills and getting by? Keir Starmer has the answer: try chewing a flag! | Aditya Chakrabortty

The PM wants to talk about patriotism when the issue that is really affecting people is the cost of living. If he doesn’t wise up, that dissonance will sink him, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrab...

www.theguardian.com

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Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 4d

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
How antisemitism has been used as shield against antizionism. Important empirical evidence

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

Robert Reiner @waylon18.bsky.social · 4d

app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/71213/...
A brilliant balanced scholarly analysis of Israel/Palestine and its origins over the last century.

A state of denial

Netanyahu’s onslaught against Gaza has been genocidal, but Israelis refuse to see it. This has historical parallels—and roots in Israel’s foundation

app.prospectmagazine.co.uk

Reposted by Robert Reiner

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 4d

Calling English a 'rip-off degree' is one of the most blatant exhibitions of personal barbarism I've ever seen. You've demonstrated nothing but the poverty of your own mind.

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