While Rome Burns

@while-rome-burns.bsky.social

426 Followers 591 Following

Anarchism, anti-fascism, history The past "flashes up at a moment of danger" (Benjamin, 1940) Also at whileromeburns_ on Insta https://whileromeburnsjournal.wordpress.com

Cover of the book If Russia Wins by Carlo Masala showing spreading red across the map of the world…
Front cover of the tabloid with the headline FASCISM IS EVERYBODY’S PROBLEM over a kind of steampunky zeppelin boat thing.
Facebook post from Bristol Patriots Public Announcement from Bristol Patriots Following Saturday's protest, I first want to say a huge thank you to the true patriots who turned up to stand with us. Your support means everything. I also want to offer an apology regarding some of the other groups who were invited to the march by certain individuals within our community. While Bristol Patriots has always believed in welcoming anyone who shares our core views, some of those who attended on Saturday do not align with our mission. We are aware of some of the content currently circulating online; we want to be clear that this does not represent what Bristol Patriots is about. While everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, many of the views displayed on Saturday do not align with our movement.
It’s an advert for their demo. It’s got a cross, Star of David, Hindu Om and a Sikh Khanda. It calls itself a march for unity.
40 far right with union flags surrounded by cops on every side boxes into a small huddle
Tweet from @nickschifrin NEW: @potus letter to @jonasgahrstore links @NobelPrize to Greenland, reiterates threats, and is forwarded by the NSC staff to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. I obtained the text from multiple officials: Dear Ambassador: President Trump has asked that the following message, shared with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, be forwarded to your [named head of government/state] "Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a "right of ownership" anyway? There are no written documents, it's only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT"
How much are EU member states spending on defence? Taken from the European council In 2024, member states' defence expenditure reached €343 billion, rising for the 10th consecutive year. In 2025, it is expected to reach an estimated €381 billion. Defence expenditure in 2025 increased by 11% compared to the previous year and by 62.87% compared to 2020.
Graph of defence spending by country 2024 taken from Statistica.com modified to show collective EU and UK plus EU numbers United States 997bn UK + EU 424bn EU TOTAL 343bn China* 314bn Russia* 149bn Germany 88.5bn India 86.1bn United Kingdom 81.8bn Saudi Arabia* 80.3bn Ukraine 64.7bn France 64.7bn
Ramsay Bolton
Helicopters and explosions from bombing over Caracas during the recent illegal abduction of Maduro.
Masked ICE agents take away a handcuffed person in Minneapolis.
UK confirms support to US seizure of Russian flagged oil tanker The UK Ministry of Defence has just confirmed the UK has provided "enabling support" to the US during its operation to seize the Bella 1 / Marinera vessel. Its statement said: "UK Armed Forces provided pre-planned operational support, including basing, to U.S. military assets interdicting the Bella 1 in the UK-Iceland-Greenland gap following a U.S. request for assistance. RFA Tideforce provided support for U.S. forces pursuing and interdicting the Bella 1, while the RAF provided surveillance support from the air. The UK and U.S. defence and security relationship is the deepest in the world and the UK provided enabling support in full compliance with international law."
Original 1935 edition of War is a Racket. Slim volume, red hardback with the title in bold black
Black and white photo of Butler In uniform
Highlighted section: When dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez was overthrown in 1958, Venezuela was one huge oil well, surrounded by jails and torture chambers and importing everything from the United States: cars, refrigerators, condensed milk, eggs, lettuce, laws, and decrees.
Highlighted section: the profits milked from this wonderful cow, in proportion to capital invested, are only comparable with those obtained by old-time slave merchants and pirates. No country has yielded as much for world capitalism in so short a time: the wealth drained from Venezuela, according to Domingo Alberto Rangel, exceeds what the Spaniards took from Potosi or the English from India.
Front cover of The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano
Guardian headline • Venezuela Venezuelan president Maduro captured and flown out of country following large scale' US attack, Trump says - live US president says the United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela' • Full report: Trump confirms attack on Venezuela and says Maduro captured Amy Sedghi (now) and Hamish Mackay (earlier) Sat 3 Jan 2026 10.07 GMT
Image advertising the book talk for Disclosure at the Cowley Club in Brighton Kate Wilson discussing her book Disclosure: Unravelling the Spycops Files and what we have learnt from the ongoing Undercover Policing Inquiry. Following revelations about Mark Kennedy and the growing spycops scandal, Kate took on the Metropolitan Police for breach of human rights - and won. She had a one-year relationship with 'Mark Stone in 2003, but years later discovered he was a police officer, part of a unit that infiltrated political groups, forming sexual relationships and spying on hundreds of innocent civians. Hear her discuss how it took her over a decade to uncover part of the eerie truth about Britain's secret political police, what we have learnt from the disclosure of thousands of secret police files, and why her story and fight matter to all of us. Kate Wilson is a life-long campaigner and her landmark victory in the trial Wilson v the Commissioner' established that British undercover police operations targeting her movements were unlawful and 'unnecessary in a democratic society', and consistently violated basic human and political rights.
Aerial shot of the Tommy Robinson rally showing the stage with two huge crosses either side and a sparse crowd thinning out towards the back.
Homophobic Christian Nationalist mob targets London's gay district 9 October, 2025 Photo of men in matching black tracksuits with KING’S ARMY in gold A homophobic religious mob calling themselves the 'King's Army' organised an intimidating mob in the streets of London's Soho - the heart of London's LGBT + community, home to many LGBT+ bars, clubs, and meeting places - shouting anti-gay and Christian Nationalist slogans to passersby. The group marched in a military formation wearing black tracksuits while shouting 'Jesus Saves' repeatedly on Old Compton Street, London's busiest street for LGBT+ venues.
Front cover of the latest issue of Dope. A beautiful illustration of a woman holding a blue parrot on a bright red background with the large yellow words WE ARE THE ANSWER. Cover art by Dinelli.
Trump's praise for Mamdani upends Republican talking points, explodes heads across political spectrum Republicans and pro-Trump media outlets were gravely disappointed by the lack of fireworks at Friday’s Oval Office meeting between New York’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, and Queens native Donald Trump, who had attacked the democratic socialist as “a 100% Communist lunatic,” before showering him with praise at the meeting Mamdani requested.
Facebook holding page: This content isn't available at the moment When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people or changed who can see it, or it's been deleted. Go to Feed Go back Visit Help Centre
Billboard in front of some office buildings Billboard has giant AI face of a woman staring straight ahead Billboard says: STOP HIRING HUMANS The Era of Al Employees Is Here ARTISAN
Two men were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Police said they were a 32-year-old black British national and a 35-year-old British national of Caribbean descent. Both were born in the UK.
Painted windows at the Amnesty Bookshop. Shows outlines of people linked arm in arm, with text saying “Together we can stop the rise of authoritarianism” with a trans flag and a Palestinian flag behind it.
Truth Social post from @realDonald Trump l am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS! DONALD J. TRUMP PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Shaken by 'racially aggravated' rape, Sikhs fear rising hate Racist abuse was already happening in Oldbury when a young Sikh woman was attacked. Now community leaders are starting their own patrols Jatinder Singh says everyone is shocked by the attack, which police are treating as racially aggravated In broad daylight this month, a young Sikh woman in her twenties was attacked while walking to work in Oldbury, a town west of Birmingham. She was alone on a quiet residential street, approaching a motorway flyover, when she was raped in a wooded area beside the road.
Demo outside Home Office. Lots of people behind a big RMT banner saying Stronger Together. Other smaller banner from TSSA and Camden Against Racism.
Front cover of the i newspaper reading Prisoners will help to build warships under new plan to boost UK defences
Charlie Kirk on mass shooting victims: 'We cannot allow them to emotionally hijack the narrative'
It’s a green mural. It shows the stuff I say. It’s too much to describe again.
A man entirely covered in union jacks. On his face, hat, glasses, suit, bow tie, bag. You get the idea.
Person holding a large cardboard sign saying POSIE PARKER ON WOMENS RIGHTS -Reproductive rights are "worth setting aside" -Neo-Nazis are "Welcome" @ LWS - Sterilisation is oKay (forced) - Armed men in women's spaces -Women's bodies should be judged SHE ISN'T PRO-WOMEN SHE IS ANTI-TRANS
Worthing today: Very successful opposition to Posie Parker's anti-trans and far-right shtick About 100 antifascists and supporters of trans rights totally surrounded and drowned out about 30 bigots Image of trans rights activists behind police lines holding trans flags
Front cover of the zine. It’s a beautiful collage that’s hard to describe. The text says: Thousands of years of small boats Back when the Rhine used to flow into the Thames and we were a NW corner of Europe, the different peoples known as ancient Britons wandered in and out on multiple occasions. When the seas rose and we became an island again in 6000 BC roughly 5000 people were on the island. Pretty much no one is related to those mesolithic hunter-gatherers, like those at Star Karr or Cheddar man here (our earliest complete Homo sapiens skeleton, whose DNA showed brown skin and blue eyes). Your ancestors came on a small boat.
Front page of the mail with all time high for asylum claims headline side by side w Lucy Connolly’s ‘prison torment’
A painting titled : SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY ALIAS JOHN THOM. THE PRETENDED MESSIAH, AND HIS CREDULOUS FOLLOWERS It shows troops opening fire on Courtenay and his followers at very close range
Old newspaper clipping: Critics attack Sinn Fein TV ban loopholes Hurd silences the voice of Irish terrorism Broadcasting of interviews with the representatives of 11 organizations, including Sinn Fein, has been banned • Government officials immediately pointed to exemptions and grey areas which critics dubbed loopholes • Broadcasters described the ban as a "damaging precedent", with the exclusion of newspapers being unjustified • Opposition parties condemned the move, first of a series of measures planned after a lengthy security review
What does the statutory instrument say? The instrument said that Cooper, the home secretary, was making the proscription order under the Terrorism Act 2000, and that the organisations named were "concerned in terrorism". It uses the plural, "organisations", because two other groups are also named - Maniacs Murder Cult (MMC) and Russian Imperial Movement (RIM).
Headline from The Guardian Iran: Hegseth defends Iran strike amid doubts over Trump's 'obliteration' claims Trump's defense chief says US bombings degraded Iran's nuclear sites, citing Al models over leaked intel doubts
The anonymous Home Office briefing about Iran came two days after the advocacy group We Believe in Israel tweeted: "Behind Palestine Action's theatre of resistance stands a darker puppeteer: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ... Palestine Action is the mask. The IRGC is the face." The only evidence it provided was saying that the IRGC's vocabulary "echoes in Palestine Action's slogans". We Believe in Israel launched a campaign to ban Palestine Action this month and language from a report it published was similar to that used by Cooper in her statement.
Thumbnail taken from The Guardian website “Why is Iran's nuclear programme so essential to its identity?” Iran is scratched out and replaced with Britain
The exact toll over the last 12 days is unclear. Medical authorities in Gaza say about 450 have died and thousands more have been injured. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admit that some have been hurt by their fire but have not admitted any deaths in shootings, which they say are directed at “suspects” who have posed a threat to their forces and only ever follow warning shots.
Condemnation of apartheid was sharpened by the shootings at Sharpeville in 1961 when white South African police used automatic weapons against black South Africans demonstrating against the pass laws, killing 67 and wounding almost 200. After Sharpeville, Richard Dimbleby, introducing the flagship BBC television current affairs programme Panorama, compared the events there to ‘places like Guernica and Lidice, Belsen and Hola and Little Rock’.In 1965,
Sir Hugh Greene, Director General of the BBC, referring to the BBC’s high standards of impartiality, claimed that there were some respects in which it was not neutral or impartial, and that these included ‘racialism’. As Smith comments, this clearly included the policy of the South African government.
The chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Jon Boutcher, said the recent disorder in Northern Ireland was "absolutely race-motivated". Speaking at a news conference he said 41 police officers had been injured and 14 arrests had been made so far. Addressing targeted communities, Boutcher said: "We stand shoulder to shoulder with you. These bigots and racists will not win the day."
Plans for the Brit Card have been put forward by the think tank Labour Together. In the foreword to their report on the ID, two new Labour MPs say that it "will not be a silver bullet to the problem of illegal migration" but "should form an important part of Labour's enforcement strategy" Jake Richards and Adam Jogee said: "There can be no doubt that this is the kind of ambitious, progressive project a Labour government should pursue to protect our borders and empower our citizens."
Image of a mobile phone screen with a mocked up BritCard showing a man’s right to work and rent. It says BritCard at the top with a big flag
The attacks on Monday damaged two police vehicles and injured 15 officers, some who required hospital treatment. Four houses were damaged by fire and three people evacuated from their homes amid what are being investigated as racially motivated hate attacks. Liam Kelly, the chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, which represents officers, said the injuries told a "frightening story of a mob fully intent on inflicting great harm". He said officers worked tirelessly to defuse a potentially explosive situation and uphold the law. "I have no doubt whatsoever that police officers - far too few, because the service is starved of resources and officer numbers - prevented a pogrom with consequences too painful to contemplate. What we saw was totally mindless, unacceptable and feral," Kelly said.
A crowd filling the street all facing looking at what is probably a car or cars on fire.
Jim Allister, the Traditional Unionist Voice leader and MP for North Antrim, condemned the violence and said tension had been building in the town, which is 25 miles north of Belfast. "Within Ballymena there has been rising concerns about the sheer scale of migration into the town, and that would have been a factor in the wholly peaceful protest," he said. A spokesperson for Keir Starmer said the disorder was very concerning. "Obviously, the reports of sexual assault in the area are extremely distressing, but there is no justification for attacks on police officers while they continue to protect local communities." Politicians across Northern Ireland's political spectrum condemned the violence. "There is absolutely no place in our society for such disorder," said Naomi Long, the justice minister. The health minister, Mike Nesbitt, on Tuesday visited homes that had been damaged. "I understand people have concerns about immigration. There are legitimate ways to express those concerns - last night was not one of them," he said.
FUCK ICE! graffitied on a window through which you can see a burning car.
One half of the front of the demo Big banner says STOP THE
@brightonofficialblm 5 YEARS ON COMMUNITY EVENING OF ACTION SAVE THE DATE! 13/06/25 6рm - 9pm EVENT LINE UP COMING SOON The Level Park Richmond Terrace Brighton
The Guardian revealed in December that Thames Water intentionally diverted millions of pounds pledged for Winep environmental clean-ups towards bonuses and dividends, sparking an Ofwat investigation. Customers have already paid for those projects via their bills. Thames Water failed to deliver more than 100 of 812 Winep schemes it was due to between 2020 and 2025.
Tweet from Tommy Robinson @TRobinsonNewEra Make your plans now. 13th of September, London. The biggest free speech event that the world has ever seen. Huge names from around the globe, United under one banner, our most important freedom!
Tesla's profits were down 71 percent in the first quarter of this year, and sales are continuing to fall around the globe- down 15 percent in California, down 49 percent in Europe, and down 2 percent in China-all while EV sales in general are rising.
From the guardian Israel-Gaza war Netanyahu accused of slander after criticising Macron, Carney and Starmer Israeli leader's antisemitism claim labelled defamatory as he is warned against pursuing a war without end
Caption reads A rare find. I wonder how many people will be borrowing this from the bookswap for their kids to read? Image of Andrew and Sarah royal wedding commemorative ladybird book in a free phone box book swap library thing