NetherSchot 🇪🇺🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇳🇱

UK citizens pay a license fee for broadcast TV, though I think a generalised tax would be better. That begs a question though. Why are all print media privately funded? They rely on ads and subs, begging on socials, billionaires. Would it be better to fund a chartered press, local and national?

Diego Poncelet setting a record speed on skateboard: amazing. Have to be honest though, I didn't feel adrenaline until the camera zoomed out a bit and showed the camera car inches behind him. Yeah it's the cars that worry me most. #BikerAnxieties

I put out a FB post in my local community group, asking what it might take for them to vote in local elections. It's a ward of a big town in Greater Manchester, which is landlocked. Facing housing shortages. Small boats. HMOs. I despair.

Writers.. What devices do you use, unless you're entirely analogue? I'm tempted by a e-writer maybe, as laptops are a bit full of distractions and ink/paper a bit messy. Curious

If we're renaming it to anything, it'd have to be The Billionaire Obsessive Reckless Gigacomputer Resistance may be futile in their eyes. It isn't, especially at this stage.

Fact.. Humanists abide by the 10 commandments better than the Christian Right.

One of my favourite accounts on Twitter was @therealyplac.bsky.social which seems a thing here too? I'm at a hospital in Oldham, UK. There are plenty parking spots, but parking on double yellows is free. And apparently fine, if you block the pavement rather than the road.

A grumpy old Scotsman with a penchant for trenchcoats challenges a notorious Russian atheist ahead of a gathering in New York.

Absolutely this, and while losing such a rare gem is incredibly sad, I hope America honours her. You better get to livin'. Rhinestones shine brighter than diamonds, and the only thing for the taking is endless giving.

In her book "Nobody's Girl", Virginia Giuffre describes being recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago. She later supported Trump though, hoping he'd release rather than redact the Epstein files. He ran a workplace so badly that this friends could enslave some of his staff on the side.

I need to shift 60 last tickets for my Fringe show to break even. I’m a Scottish folksinger, performing self-penned, trad ballads and translations in Scots My shows are 21 and 23. Any support/reposts would go a long way. ❤️ 🎟️ Tickets → bit.ly/fringeif

I got annoyed during COVID that people on busy buses weren't wearing masks. The current PM assumed this was anti-Mancunian.

I'm in mind to come out on LinkedIn as anti-AI and anti Big Tech, but as an IT project manager it probably means I'm shooting myself in the foot. There's not many jobs out there, and I'm not wealthy. Fuck this enshittified sell-out though. The daily grind is becoming ever more pointless.

We need to show rightwing newspapers that actions have consequences. Add your name: goodlawproject.org/s/abb8a1

It stayed 0-0 in Piraeus and it irked me every time a Dutch commentator said Olympia Kos instead of Olympi Akos, but well done NEC Nijmegen! Great debut in the Champions League prelim. #OLYNEC

I am genuinely worried that Reform UK will win the Greater Manchester mayoral election. The Labour candidate mentions HMOs in her flyers. A bit of xenophobia never harmed anyone, right? The Green candidate is probably lovely but I hear nothing from or about them. The others seem also-rans.

Labour; always expecting the left to vote for them, then swivelling to the right. Forgive me if I quote from my own feelings in the words of another splendid political commentator, Tattoo Dave: Get in the bin, Labour. Bite my banger.

My platform is tiny, but I wanted to give this a shout out anyway. This Dutch platform for collaborative writing organised its first workshop and was lauded for it. If you're a writer, even in English, have a look. Looking forward to seeing Helpalot in the UK in the bear future!

Just a reminder: the SNP on its own won more seats than all the London parties combined. Now tell me why it has no mandate to call an independence referendum.

Back in the 90s I wondered why prostitutes started getting referred to as sex workers. Increased respect perhaps - all good. Now I wonder why con artists get called influencers, citizen journalists or presidents. Let's not go that far. Scum doesn't deserve respect. The Tates are grifters at best.

If you’re wondering why UK press has suddenly woken up to Farage, please read this. It’s because: Brexit. The r/w press refused to scrutinise the money behind Farage & the lawsuit against me scared off the rest. But this isn’t a new scandal. It’s the same one I’ve been reporting on for a decade

Just saw an M&S advert with two farmers waxing lyrical about growing strawberries more sustainably. It ended with a lingering shot of a fistful of them packed in plastic. Is irony dead?

Sliders. Loved it.

Happy hopping Tuesday 😺

Henry's brutal murder and the failures of the police have been appalling. His father's words are vital: "We don't want Henry's murder to be used to create further hatred, division or tension."

Keir Starmer was at his best at PMQs today as he berated Farage’s attempt to whip up fury over the tragic murder of Henry Nowak

Sorry. I love them both. And this isn't really my place to say. But this is Twitter's only proper replacement, so I'll say something quite this pointless anyway. Bill Nighy and Rosamund Pike ought to play father and daughter in some film.

Not a fan of Burnham anyway, but seriously, what is the point of changing leader if they are going to keep the same inhumane and hostile policies Starmer supports which have pushed so many voters away from Labour. Whoever takes over needs to u-turn on them, fast. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Anyone who says these are the same on opposite sides of the political spectrum.. Wouldn't know what to do with the power they crave.

Both Streeting and Burnham are playing the old right wing Labour trick of making left wing sounding promises when they want support and votes. Labour will not learn from defeat. A Scottish Labour MP is still hailing Sarwar as the next FM although he ran a presidential campaign & got humped.

@joshsimonsmp.bsky.social spoke well on LK this morning, but his voluntary resignation as MP to trigger a by-election for Andy Burnham exposes a lie. When an MP crosses the floor or we're told they were elected, not the party. They retain the seat. They represent the people first, party second 😄

Repost if you’d like me to represent the UK at #Eurovision 2027.

#r4today #labour #grifting - Not the right choice is he? We need a chat about the last 16 years and that company, is right smack bang in the middle of it all. - dispatch.the-citizens.com/wes-streetin...

If Westminster would accept First Past The Post election results, I suppose they would declare Scotland is no longer part of the UK. But don't worry, London parties will interpret this result in a unionist way.

Dutchies celebrated King's Day yesterday. I'd join in from abroad if it was just about a bank holiday, a party, an open flea market and a national coming together. It's not though. It's a PR exercise for one of the wealthiest monarchs, in a country that was established (and thrived) as a republic.

Perhaps I watch too much TV and I don't read enough newspapers really. But on the other hand I now refer to right wing hacks as writing arsicles, which are quite different from articles. Watch #Norsemen on Netflix for Orm's explanation, then you too can think big thoughts like me and Arvid.

Someone tell me when? When will we realise that celebrating millionaire-ball in Murican Maralagoland is not for us? You cannot win at football when fascism is on the field. The Netherlands know that since 1978, but they're going too. Why?!

@marina-purkiss.bsky.social said on TV that Trump is the anti-christ. True. Anyone calling themselves anointed prophets in Jesus' day were called such. The church decided whose teachings were faith vs heresy. Antichrists were legion. This new one leads another cult. Not a devil. An antichrist.

I usually lack the patience for someone preaching to the converted. Gary breaks through that. His analysis is bleak, his view hopeful. Government is hollowed out through privatisation, and a race to the bottom on wealth taxes. 'The left' need to be radical, or we'll be cannon fodder in asset grabs.

Bluesky isn’t perfect but at least its owner isn’t demanding violent insurrection in the UK from thousands of miles away

Government is treating human beings like pawns on a chess board, indifferent to the human suffering caused by this inhumane system. The idea we would keep someone apart from their family, who they're entitled to join in the UK, as a negotiation tactic, is heartbreaking. www.ft.com/content/f40a...

Die Nachricht aus #Örebro erschüttert mich zutiefst. Wenn ein Ort des Lernens zum Schauplatz tödlicher Gewalt wird, macht das fassungslos. In diesen schweren Stunden sind meine Gedanken bei den Opfern & ihren Familien. Unser ganzes Mitgefühl gilt unseren Freunden in #Schweden.