with @billybragg.bsky.social performing to a SOLD OUT crowd at The Spire last night. Fans heard #cityofheroes #Fascists #shield #greetings #alltheclassics #KPPCONCERTS Stuart Roberts - Kingston, ON #havecamerawilltravel #supportartistsontour #supportlocalmusicvenues #experiencethemusicjourney

It's been months now but my mind keeps returning to that guy who wasn't Chappell Roan's bodyguard but he wanted to be so he shouted at a little girl in the vicinity of Chappell Roan. Manifestation king, freelance dreamer

Some reflections on the Semiquincentennial of the United States open.substack.com/pub/braggb/p...

The stars finally aligned! Wilco and I finally got the play those Mermaid Avenue songs together at Solid Sound last weekend. You can stream the whole set here www.nepm.org/podcast/the-...

Paul Robicheau at #Wilco's #SolidSoundFestival: a @billybragg.bsky.social reunion, festival deep cuts, and a weekend of discovery turn #massmoca into a communal music feast. artsfuse.org/331012/music...

"Steve Darnall and @alexrossart.bsky.social find Uncle Sam out on the street, help him to his feet, and send him off to confront those who believe that they alone speak for the Founding Fathers." - @billybragg.bsky.social What's he talking about? Find out at www.abramsbooks.com/product/uncl...

Uncle Sam Special Election Edition

The long-awaited reissue of the classic Vertigo miniseries Uncle Sam by Steve Darnall and Alex Ross is a sharp political fever dream praised by Kirkus as a "truly subversive graphic novel" and "a damn...

abramsbooks.com

Some thoughts on the difference between pride and prejudice and an alternative anthem for the 4th of July open.substack.com/pub/braggb/p...

“The Rainbow-Striped Banner”

An alternative anthem for a land of empathy

open.substack.com

An effective push back against GOP culture war tactics? Seems to me it should be.

Trump said that repairs to the DC Reflecting pool would cost $1.8 Million. Now? The price tag is $13.1 million. The company doing the repairs got a no-bid contract for the project after previously working on pools at Trump's properties. Where’s the uproar about waste, fraud, and abuse now?

When did we normalize this? When did it become okay for a president to tell a female reporter she’s a ‘dumb person’ for asking a totally legitimate question about his contradictory answers? Was there a specific date and time it become okay? Normal? Normalized?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3mo ago

TRUMP: We have a ballroom that's under budget. It's going up right here. I've doubled the size of it because we obviously need that. REPORTER: The price doubled TRUMP: I doubled the size of it, you dumb person. You are not a smart person.

The new Supreme Court case about mifepristone is about more than just one abortion drug. It’s about whether conservatives can enforce a nationwide ban and we need to all be aware of the details. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Mifepristone and the Court

This is an update on an item we covered in Sunday’s Week Ahead post, when we discussed the mifepristone case that has landed on the Supreme Court’s shadow docket.

open.substack.com

Here’s the full documentary “Following the Ninth” which begins with @billybragg.bsky.social explaining how he rewrote the lyrics to Ode to Joy and the Queen requested an autographed copy.😂 I guarantee this documentary will lift your spirits.

Following The Ninth: In The Footsteps of Beethoven's Final Symphony

YouTube video by Ode To Joy Foundation

youtu.be

Mark Ashton, central character in the film 'Pride', worked at the Red Wedge office in 1986/7 where his radical energy kept us all on our toes. I'll be performing at a celebration of his life and activism at The Vauxhall Tavern in south London on Thursday May 21st. link.outsavvy.com/80f7cb6p

Looking forward to this being entered as an exhibit in the Comey case.

MeidasTouch@meidastouch.com · 3mo ago

Good to know these are all indictable offenses

The Daily Mail are losing their sh/t over the rise in popularity of Zack Polanski's Green Party.

The Bard of Barking meets royalty - the Pearly Queen of Fulham - to launch 'The story of England in 50 objects' for #StGeorgesDay promoting an inclusive sense of English national identity. More at www.averyEnglishchat.org.uk @billybragg.bsky.social

"From a legal standpoint, this indictment is crap. From a political standpoint, it’s an effort to avenge the KKK and enshrine white supremacy in America. Both should be dismissed with prejudice." — @lizdye.bsky.social

Trump DOJ will avenge the KKK by taking out SPLC

The racism is not subtle.

publicnotice.co

The Republican men who pretend to care about women’s sports standing in front of the actual athletes really sums their whole charade up perfectly

Imagine, if you will, how Fox would have reacted had Hunter Biden bragged about something like this on CNN.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3mo ago

Eric Trump -- the president's son -- is on Maria Bartiromo's show bragging about one of his companies landing a $24 million Pentagon contract

Two and a half decades of Tea Party work, down the drain.

Leah McElrath@leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Americans prefer Democrats to Republicans for “maintaining a strong economy” for the first time since 2010:

wild stuff.

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 3mo ago

Trump wants US taxpayers to bail out UAE, a middle-eastern petro-autocracy, because he & his family have a lot of private deals going on in UAE & they need to make their money back.

Happy St George’s Day! Here’s a poster of 50 objects telling the story of England, based on suggestions of over 3000 people compiled with the aim of creating an inclusive sense of Englishness against those who promote division Join the fun by listing your five objects at www.averyenglishchat.org.uk

"logic of Musk’s empire is total. X shapes the discourse. Grok automates it. Grokipedia rewrites the historical record. Starlink can deliver it all, everywhere, to everyone. Each layer reinforces the others. It’s not about winning arguments in the public sphere. It’s about building a replacement."

Astra Taylor@astra.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Muskism by @bentarnoff.com and @quinnslobodian.com is now out. My endorsement: “A wholly original and insightful analysis that deserves to be read by the billions of people impacted by Musk’s pathological quest for power and wealth.”

BREAKING: We’re taking the government to court over Palantir. The government is refusing to hand over important briefings given to Wes Streeting about the £330m NHS data contract with Peter Thiel’s surveillance firm So we’re taking legal action. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/breaking-w...

BREAKING: We're taking the government to court over Palantir

Peter Thiel's surveillance firm is embedded in the NHS. Wes Streeting won't show us the briefings - so we have launched a legal challenge.

democracyforsale.substack.com

Sometimes the callout blazes like a white hot sun.

Wajahat Ali@wajali.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I had the opportunity to confront Pete Hegseth's bigoted spiritual mentor, Pastor Doug Wilson, and call him out on his history of hate, his misreading of the Bible, his hijacking of Jesus, and his cosplay Crusading. It was worth it.

Translation: If JD Vance (Peter Thiel) & MAGA are in control after 2028 they will try to *force* our children to serve in the military to implement their Manifest Destiny BS: “We should…seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force...” x.com/palantirtech...

No Left Field this summer, but you can recharge your activism at the Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival. It's a celebration of worker's power with music, talks, workshops and a whole weekend of radical solidarity. Get down to Dorset and get organised! Tickets and details here: www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk

Sorry to hear that my old sparring partner Andy Kershaw has passed away. His eclectic taste in music and enthusiastic promotion of the artists he loved made him a brilliant broadcaster

Very grateful to Senator Bernie Sanders for bringing U.S. unions together to create a common front in the face of the threat AI poses to workers and much else. Sometimes it takes an 84-year-old to do the high tech stuff! www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...

LIVE: Sanders, Labor Leaders Call on Congress to Protect Workers from AI

YouTube video by Senator Bernie Sanders

youtube.com