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m-holms-coats.bsky.social
architect, educator, European citizen. politics cannot be avoided. often post thematically in batches. blocking misinformation
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Two historical analyses of protest movements published in recent years—one lamenting their political defeats, the other celebrating cultural transformations—help us understand barriers to effective resistance today, as well as the possibilities for long-term societal change:

Trump is proving an existential threat to US democracy. Is there any actual #resistance in the USA? #politicsUSA www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"... Today, on my celebrity podcast, I will explain why the man I supported for President is such a danger to the world. For more insights, you can catch me on BBC Politics, read my column in The Times and buy my book: "How to Save the World" (revised edition)..."

freedom? while Trump's regime is busy, domestically dominating media, controlling cultural institutions and silencing academics, their VP lectures European leaders on freedom of speech. manifest #doublespeak. 1/ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

[Vance] vergleiche Zustände in Teilen Europas mit denen in autoritären Regimen. „Das ist nicht akzeptabel“, so Boris Pistorius [deutsche Verteidigungsminister] unter lang anhaltendem Beifall. „Das ist nicht das Europa, nicht die Demokratie, in der ich lebe.“ www.faz.net/aktuell/poli...

German Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius rebuffs J.D. Vance's criticism. www.reuters.com/world/europe...

existing volume house-builders cannot (and will not) do all that's needed for the affordable and climate-literate housing needed. #HousingCrisis

shortage of skills, shortage of labour. house building plan needs a re-think. @matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social #HousingCrisis www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

by (Portuguese) cartoonist, Zez Vaz. @zezvaz.bsky.social

I’m in Munich and people keep asking me to decode Vance’s speech. OK: In Vance English “free speech” means “Let Musk run your elections” and “democracy” means “let Russia run your elections.” Now move on. 2025 is about what Europeans do, not what Americans say.

“Within a generation, we’ve lost a sense of public assets and public housing. But that means we can also get it back in a generation.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Posted without comment ... www.standard.co.uk/homesandprop...

Since we installed our £100k MMC prototype last Friday, London boroughs have spent £28m on housing families in temporary accommodation. 280 of these homes could have been built for the same money that councils spent this week on TA: 1,000 people could now have a warm, comfortable place to live.

Renters' Rights Bill must finally fix renting. Please join me in demanding three key changes to the bill, so renters can finally get the security and stability we deserve. 1/2 #RentersRights campaigns.shelter.org.uk/rent-stabili...

I've always been a renter, so I'm genuinely excited to vote for the #rentersrights bill again tonight. We're giving stability & security to over 11 million renters by ending "no-fault" evictions, introducing the Decent Homes Standard, and empowering renters to challenge dangerous conditions.

I suppose it's *possible* that the way to make government more efficient is to let a few people high on their own self-regard rampage about sacking people and cancelling projects they don't understand on the basis they don't like the look of them. Or, well, it could be a really stupid thing to do.

You may be looking to pundits to tell you where all this is going. Well, I have not a clue, other than US is nearing a constitutional crisis. And if so: nobody can know what will happen next. For that is the nature of any genuine crisis: it is a situation the outcome of which cannot be foreseen.

On the front line of the redundancy crisis in UK higher education: “I found myself sobbing every time I came into the office. It felt unimaginable that an intellectual project into which so many people had invested so much of their lives would simply fade away” #AcademicSky #EduSky

urgent action needed from government to rescue British #universities. rise in tuition fees cap won't address overall problem. new settlement desperately needed – why starve a sector delivering key public good to the nation? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The government’s overall Oh well that’s how it is now attitude when one of the main pillars of your economy crumbles right there for everyone to see is quite difficult to comprehend.

Gulf of Misjudgment. #Google

In The Observer, @robfordmancs.bsky.social makes an important point that is not heard often enough in the current political debate.

Putting Brexit to one side, it's silly to say the reasons for weak UK growth are "fundamentally domestic". The country is a net energy importer, hence high bills. Tight global monetary conditions are keeping UK borrowing costs high.