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John Barrett

@northorchi

Trying to make sense of a muddled world. Immigration Detention visitor for near 30 years and still learning.

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22.12.2023
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Latest posts by John Barrett @northorchi

We are days away from the Israeli expulsion of a million people from Gaza city

The second largest since this Oct 23

This time would be much more violent and deadly

It can be stopped

It must be stopped

05.09.2025 08:40 πŸ‘ 149 πŸ” 76 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

The billionaire press barons must be having a right laugh…

Here we are distracted & arguing over asylum seekers (0.2% of the population)

Meanwhile, billionaires (just 0.0002% of the population) hoard more wealth than half the UK

Immigration isn’t draining us

Inequality is.

28.08.2025 19:25 πŸ‘ 1263 πŸ” 398 πŸ’¬ 27 πŸ“Œ 5
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Vaccine warning for England as one in five children start school unprotected Experts say country needs β€˜wake up call’ with levels far below those needed for herd immunity

Measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, polio, tetanus.

Diseases that used to terrorise families, killing children & babies in their thousands.

Now we have vaccines - safe & miraculous life savers.

Please, parents, use them.

Protect your precious children 🩷

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

28.08.2025 20:59 πŸ‘ 427 πŸ” 183 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 5

Ever the scientist Jim!
No bucket chemistry here.
Cheers.

14.08.2025 13:09 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

A very bad idea because I doubt it will have a broad enough data input to understand how different folk around the world look at say 15 years of age. Home Office officials and others have been blind to that over many years.

22.07.2025 15:56 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Ali Smith: β€˜Refugee Tales is a small bright spot in dark ... In 2015 the novelist Ali Smith was invited to tell the story of a former detainee. Ten years on, she explains why the project is more necessary than ever

Ali Smith writes in @theobserver.bsky.social β€˜Ten years on, in even darker times for the people rendered voiceless and used as political expedience every day, Refugee Tales is more necessary than ever.’ shorturl.at/Fl5Z7 @rsliterature.bsky.social @commapress.bsky.social @aviddetention.bsky.social

05.07.2025 23:12 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Arbeit Macht Frei

27.06.2025 14:50 πŸ‘ 536 πŸ” 120 πŸ’¬ 47 πŸ“Œ 3

Oh Jim, you have been listening in to me shouting just that at the radio / television.
Say swimming pools if you absolutely must but simply add metres cubed after.

22.05.2025 22:03 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

"That's equivalent to..."
Wales. Blue whales. Football pitches. Running X appliance for Y hours. A city the size of Z. Olympic swimming pools.

FFS journalists we have units. An international system of units. Recognised throughout the civilised world. Just give us the damn units.

22.05.2025 21:03 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Butter churn

08.05.2025 06:39 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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26.04.2025 15:01 πŸ‘ 10921 πŸ” 3127 πŸ’¬ 165 πŸ“Œ 109
Elliott & Thompson | Anywhere But Here

I spent the weekend utterly absorbed by π‘¨π’π’šπ’˜π’‰π’†π’“π’† 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆, Nicola Kelly’s outstanding new book in which she walks the reader chapter-by-chapter through the various stages of the UK’s asylum process.

1/5
@nicolakellywrites.bsky.social
eandtbooks.com/books/anywhe...
amzn.to/3XuF7Q8

07.04.2025 14:53 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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AOC: Fox News and the right-wing would have you believe that these American values are something out of The Communist Manifesto. But let me tell you Fox News, I don’t believe in healthcare, labor, and human rights because I’m a Marxist.. I believe it because I was a waitress.

20.03.2025 21:27 πŸ‘ 50200 πŸ” 10963 πŸ’¬ 686 πŸ“Œ 712
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Kemi Badenoch Ditches Net Zero Target After Taking Donations From Funders of Tufton Street Climate Denial Group The Conservative leader and her Shadow Net Zero Secretary took funding from key backers of lobby groups campaigning to curb action against climate change

Kemi Badenoch ditched the Tories’ commitment to reaching Net Zero by 2050 after accepting donations from funders of the Global Warming Policy Foundation and Net Zero Watch, both of which have campaigned for the target to be scrapped.

@adambienkov.bsky.social

18.03.2025 08:21 πŸ‘ 166 πŸ” 86 πŸ’¬ 13 πŸ“Œ 10
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Also London.

13.03.2025 10:09 πŸ‘ 97 πŸ” 34 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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London doesn’t waste any time πŸ€£πŸ’€

12.03.2025 18:59 πŸ‘ 5029 πŸ” 1352 πŸ’¬ 72 πŸ“Œ 67

They should go on strike for better terms & conditions. I’m sure all the right-wing gobshites clutching their pearls about VAT will be right behind them…

10.03.2025 15:38 πŸ‘ 1484 πŸ” 215 πŸ’¬ 88 πŸ“Œ 2
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How can we be heard when they are not ready to hear us? It is six days away from King Charles’ birthday, and four months have already passed since we sent him the letter detailing the colonial roots of immigration detention, our shared lived experience in ...

Today is #CommonwealthDay, as UK celebrates β€œCommonwealth values” while detaining and deporting people from these very nations.

2 yrs ago, we asked: How can we be heard when they are not ready to hear us? Today, that question still stands.
Read below:
www.aviddetention.org.uk/article/how-...

10.03.2025 14:57 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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4.6K views Β· 105 reactions | Jeremy Irons Reads Shakespeare's Plea For The Humane Treatment... | The actor Jeremy Irons visited Southbank Centre with The Refugee Tales on 08/07/16. He read from the l... The actor Jeremy Irons visited Southbank Centre with The Refugee Tales on 08/07/16. He read from the last surviving play script handwritten by William...

This from William Shakespeare bears constant repeating:

www.facebook.com/southbankcen...

10.03.2025 14:31 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Just catching up on a couple of episodes today and learning a lot.
Thank you.
(the background ’music’ can be irritating to old ears)

26.02.2025 09:57 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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A set of countries hates us; another is bewildered/dismayed/horrified; a third group is laughing at us; and the last group is working the angles to fleece us by flattering the weak-minded senile dope who occasionally shows up at the White House to sign stuff. NOBODY respects us.

25.02.2025 01:51 πŸ‘ 12509 πŸ” 2713 πŸ’¬ 1320 πŸ“Œ 238

And here we go. Mostly a PR stunt for now, but cumulative radicalization is a thing and we have it going mainstream. Once it fully does, rolling it back would be extremely hard.

06.02.2025 11:01 πŸ‘ 134 πŸ” 60 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 3
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Tories pledge to expel low-paid and unemployed migrants from UK Time before applicants may qualify for indefinite leave to remain would double from five to 10 years

Kemi Badenoch was born British in 1980 before birthright citizenship was abolished in 1983.

Today’s announcements are just the next iteration of cruel, costly and ineffective policies that stoke division in communities.

People move, always have & always will.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

06.02.2025 11:04 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
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If she can do it, we can all do it.

22.01.2025 10:43 πŸ‘ 93902 πŸ” 13325 πŸ’¬ 1678 πŸ“Œ 835

Priest preaches the Gospel. Shock! Horror!

22.01.2025 08:54 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Musk just had a "perfectly square bit of black dirt on his window" media reports

21.01.2025 08:54 πŸ‘ 78 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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It’s only…time! 🫢

01.12.2024 22:01 πŸ‘ 206 πŸ” 56 πŸ’¬ 10 πŸ“Œ 1
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Musk could sidestep overseas donation laws by donating to Farage through UK branch of X Elon Musk could sidestep overseas donation laws by donating to Nigel Farage and the Reform UK Party through the UK branch of X.

Let’s grow @bsky.app with a passion. Let’s grow it quickly & with urgency. Let’s make it the biggest social media platform on the planet & TOGETHER lets say boll**** to Musk

www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/musk-co...

02.12.2024 14:38 πŸ‘ 2222 πŸ” 652 πŸ’¬ 86 πŸ“Œ 22

Radical but a humane solution.

26.11.2024 11:13 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0