Ian McClellan

Ian McClellan

@ianmac.bsky.social

TV addict, nerdy fan of Dystopian drama. Love a bit of ScandiNoir, Science-Fiction, Aviation, Military History and Cold War Radars & Bunkers. Wellbeing Walks Leader and Community Volunteer in Barrow-in-Furness with Active Cumbria. #ParkRun #LoveParkRun

2.4K followers2.1K following18.7K posts

Ian McClellan reposted

Humanists UK
@humanists.uk

Most people in the UK see the humanist approach to life as common sense, not as something 'demonic' or 'evil.' Andrew Copson featured on The Thinking Atheist podcast. You can listen to the full episode on YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx-6...

Ian McClellan reposted

Molly Warsh
@mwarsh.bsky.social

Do you teach early modern history? Check out the 2 new (free, adaptable, peer-reviewed) modules available from #H21, one authored by Jesse Spohnholz on Utopian Thinking in the 16th Century, and the other authored by Libi Sundermann on colonial collecting and British science, 1660-1833 #earlymodern

History for the 21st Century@hist21.bsky.social

H21 recently published 2 new modules: Collecting in the Colonies - Hidden Histories of British Science (1660-1838) & Utopian Thinking in the 16th Century. Interested in using these adaptable modules in your classroom? Check them out--link in our bio. #H21 #earlymodern #skystorians #worldhistory

Ian McClellan reposted

Guy Shrubsole
@guyshrubsole.bsky.social

Big day today for ending centuries of secrecy about who owns our land! A new government consultation will propose revealing who owns the vast majority of England and Wales. To get this over the line, I’ll need your help to send in supportive evidence! www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

theguardian.comLandowners could scupper free Land Registry access plans, campaigners warnProposed lifting of paywall would reveal who owns vast majority of land in England and Wales

Ian McClellan reposted

Simon Jones
@simonjones.bsky.social

In 1914, the town of Ypres, a jewel of medieval and renaissance Flanders, was nearing the end of a major restoration. By 1918, it was utterly destroyed. The ruins of the 14th century Cloth Hall & Cathedral, #OTD 27 October. US Signal Corps cameraman. Source: catalog.archives.gov/id/24775

Ian McClellan reposted

👻 Jack Djinn Wail 🧞
@jacktindale.bsky.social

Again, Japan is fucking class, who’d have thunk it? Normalise reforming planning laws so you can have a ten story building that has a post office, a tourist information centre, a barbers, a brothel, a manga cafe, the headquarters of a Doomsday Cult, and a craft beer place on each successive floor.

Ian McClellan reposted

Aaron Rupar
@atrupar.com

Trump is BIG MAD about Obama saying the White House now looks like Saddam opened a Cheesecake Factory: "He's not a smart guy. He's not smart at all ... for you to say it's a Cheesecake Factory, that just shows why you were a lousy president"

Ian McClellan
@ianmac.bsky.social

How do Republicans sleep at night? The next thing will be that Harp is sitting in on National Security Council meetings! She needs therapy before it’s too late.

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com

A newly filed court document reveals extensive communications between Kennedy Center management and President Trump’s advisers, including presidential aide Natalie Harp, around pivotal court rulings and board votes over the institution’s future.

washingtonpost.comLawmaker seeks dozens of messages between Kennedy Center and Trump aidesA newly filed court document reveals extensive communications between Kennedy Center management and President Donald Trump’s advisers. But exactly what they're saying remains secret.

Ian McClellan reposted

ProPublica
@propublica.org

In August, President Trump announced he had signed the “biggest oil deal in world history.” ProPublica reviewed the deal and found it gives a small group of people largely handpicked by the Trump administration long-term control of the enterprise.

propublica.orgThe Secret Terms of Trump’s Venezuelan Oil DealThe Trump administration committed the U.S. to taking a large stake in a Venezuelan company, some of whose owners and investors are shielded from public view. The exact details of the agreement over o...
Ian McClellan
@ianmac.bsky.social

Humans have to be in the loop somewhere, unless the Chief of the Air Staff is advocating handing the entire Kill Chain to AI? Technology can help speed the process of DRI up, but somewhere a human being has to make a decision. And I’m not sure the Second World War analogy mentioned works…

The Guardian@theguardian.com

‘Autonomy, not flesh’: RAF chief outlines AI drone-powered future

theguardian.com‘Autonomy, not flesh’: RAF chief outlines AI drone-powered futureAir Chief Marshal Harv Smyth says technological advances will reduce need for human involvement in warfare A future Royal Air Force will rely on “autonomy not flesh”, its chief said on Monday as he described plans in which Typhoon fighters are accompanied by four AI-enabled drones capable of patrolling hundreds of miles in the distance. The technological shift would revolutionise warfare, limit the role of military personnel “towards the outside” and ease the pressure on recruitment, Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth said in a speech in London. Continue reading...
Ian McClellan
@ianmac.bsky.social

He does mention humans, but I’m still not won over by his argument: “The aim, he added, was to mirror the Anglo-American second world war model of “steel, not flesh” – relying on tanks and combat aircraft rather than infantry – to avoid the bloody trench warfare that had led to millions of deaths…”

Ian McClellan
@ianmac.bsky.social

Except we still needed ‘flesh’ to land on the beaches of Normandy and in the Far East, and to fight their way in to Berlin. ‘Steel’ only gets you so far, and Ukraine has shown that. Technology will only take you so far imho.

Ian McClellan reposted

NBC News
@nbcnews.com

For years, Dennis West’s family had no idea he had died. When they learned of his death in 2024, nothing seemed unusual. Now, they are outraged to learn that a Florida police officer who helped find his body allegedly stole his identity and took possession of his home.

nbcnews.toFor years, relatives didn’t know their uncle had died. Then they learned a cop was accused of stealing his house and identity.“We don’t know what happened to his remains,” Edna Annette Williams said after learning of her uncle’s death. “We have no information at all regarding that.”
Ian McClellan
@ianmac.bsky.social

I’ve been doing some training with Macmillan Cancer Support as I start to volunteer with a rehab group. There’s a few PDFs of information that I’ve been reading and every time I open one of the files in Adode Reader I get a popup asking me if I want to use AI to ‘read it’ as it’s a large document!

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Ian McClellan
@ianmac.bsky.social

No. I want to read it at my own pace and without AI because it’s important information to help me deliver rehab to people. Why would Adobe want me to use AI?

Ian McClellan
@ianmac.bsky.social

If Trump carries on like this they’ll be re-carving Berlin up, rebuild the Wall and the Inner German Border. Can the other NATO countries kick the US out? At the moment the US makes Turkey seem reasonable, this is insane if it’s true.

Olga Nesterova@onestpress.onestnetwork.com

Per Telegraph, Putin and Trump admin are discussing the “need” for NATO withdrawal back to its 1997 borders as part of the “peace plan”. That means withdrawal of NATO forces from Poland, Baltics and Finland.

Ian McClellan reposted

FRANCE 24 English
@en.france24.com

UN cites 'ethnic cleansing' concerns around Israel's Palestinian displacement operation in Hebron

f24.myUN cites 'ethnic cleansing' concerns around Israel's Palestinian displacement operation in HebronThe United Nations on Monday raised "ethnic cleansing" concerns following Israel's operation to displace by force more than 3,000 Palestinians from their homes in Hebron in the West Bank after two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near the city on Friday. UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement that the "aggressive operation" must end, and that "collective punishment is a grave violation of international law".

Ian McClellan reposted

Phil Lewis
@phillewis.bsky.social

I spoke to the mom of the 3-year-old soccer star who was left "thinking he did something wrong" after a league official called police "due to a disturbance between parents" The youth sports league said they launched a review and reached out to the family

huffpost.comViral 3-Year-Old Soccer Star ‘Traumatized’ After Police Were Called In The Middle Of The Game“They called the police on a 3-year-old because he’s too good,” Nevada’s father, Don, can be heard saying in the video.
Ian McClellan
@ianmac.bsky.social

Such a great show and it featured an array of British actors.

archivetvmusings@archivetvmusings.bsky.social

Colditz - Missing, Presumed Dead by Ian Kennedy Martin (26th October 1972). Flight Lieutenant Simon Carter (David McCallum) is the latest recalcitrant prisoner of war dispatched to Oflag IV-C.

Ian McClellan reposted

Andrew Spratt
@dirleton.bsky.social

Haddington, East Lothian (Scotland) Canmore image and rough overlap of outline of my old watercolour of earth and timber fort raised by English forces in 1548/49 within the Townwalls & around Donjon (likely where the George Hotel sits in modern times) #HistoricHaddington

Ian McClellan
@ianmac.bsky.social

Good morning lovely people of BlueSky and a special thanks this morning to @madmaxinexx.bsky.social who has made a massive contribution to my Brain Tumour Trust fundraiser. I’m speechless. Many many thanks Maxine. 🥰 Assuming of course that it’s from you? I don’t know anyone else of that name.