Ben Van der Velde
@vanderlaugh.bsky.social
Half-man, Half-beast, Half-Mop. Terrible at fractions.
Have a gander here: www.benvandervelde.com
Photo (c) Andy Hollingworth Archive
Have a gander here: www.benvandervelde.com
Photo (c) Andy Hollingworth Archive
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
Myself and @andrewhickey.500songs.com have worked out a system of replacing oxygen with helium for those who wish to end their life painlessly, but without dignity.
October 4, 2026 at 8:45 PM
Myself and @andrewhickey.500songs.com have worked out a system of replacing oxygen with helium for those who wish to end their life painlessly, but without dignity.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
'Which taxes do you want to raise instead?' should be the default question to anyone who calls for reductions in immigration.
Good thing that this couldn’t have been predicted almost a year ago and the government didn’t just blithely carry on doing the same thing.
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/718...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/718...
September 28, 2026 at 7:35 AM
'Which taxes do you want to raise instead?' should be the default question to anyone who calls for reductions in immigration.
Fuck me, the CV of this guy. What a body of work.
Jackie Jackson died two days ago. His death did not get the fanfare that the big celebrities get but I assure you he was no less than any of them: a titan astride the earth. In this thread, a few of the songs he played bass on. You know these songs. You know their bass parts.
youtu.be/DKVB_CtU8XQ
youtu.be/DKVB_CtU8XQ
Pressure Drop
YouTube video by Toots & The Maytals - Topic
youtu.be
September 25, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Fuck me, the CV of this guy. What a body of work.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
Think it shows both the confused position of the govt and the relative powers of new/old media that the PM won't speak to The Sun but still uses the CSAM & disinformation app owned by the guy who advocates for the overthrow of the government.
🗳️ IN LONDON PLAYBOOK PM TONIGHT ...
🗳️ Burnham kills all the SW1 snap election babble
🗳️ That and ALL the other key lines from the PM's mammoth regional interview round in the newsletter
🗳️ Burnham kills all the SW1 snap election babble
🗳️ That and ALL the other key lines from the PM's mammoth regional interview round in the newsletter
September 25, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Think it shows both the confused position of the govt and the relative powers of new/old media that the PM won't speak to The Sun but still uses the CSAM & disinformation app owned by the guy who advocates for the overthrow of the government.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
My five year old has the soul of Orson Welles.
We were outside school and he 'put a kiss in my pocket for later.'
Extremely touched by this, I gave him two back.
He dug out the second one, THEATRICALLY CRUSHED IT IN HIS FIST and said 'one is enough.'
We were outside school and he 'put a kiss in my pocket for later.'
Extremely touched by this, I gave him two back.
He dug out the second one, THEATRICALLY CRUSHED IT IN HIS FIST and said 'one is enough.'
September 25, 2026 at 9:09 AM
My five year old has the soul of Orson Welles.
We were outside school and he 'put a kiss in my pocket for later.'
Extremely touched by this, I gave him two back.
He dug out the second one, THEATRICALLY CRUSHED IT IN HIS FIST and said 'one is enough.'
We were outside school and he 'put a kiss in my pocket for later.'
Extremely touched by this, I gave him two back.
He dug out the second one, THEATRICALLY CRUSHED IT IN HIS FIST and said 'one is enough.'
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
Did you know that producing one pound of beef is 25-50x worse for climate change than burning a pound of coal?
In fact, it’s one of the most polluting things we can consume.
And grass-fed beef is usually *even worse* — thanks to its much higher land use and methane emissions.
In fact, it’s one of the most polluting things we can consume.
And grass-fed beef is usually *even worse* — thanks to its much higher land use and methane emissions.
September 25, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Did you know that producing one pound of beef is 25-50x worse for climate change than burning a pound of coal?
In fact, it’s one of the most polluting things we can consume.
And grass-fed beef is usually *even worse* — thanks to its much higher land use and methane emissions.
In fact, it’s one of the most polluting things we can consume.
And grass-fed beef is usually *even worse* — thanks to its much higher land use and methane emissions.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
Picturing Erling Haaland being sold at police auction like a drug lord's speedboat.
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Manchester City found guilty on virtually all charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial regulations. #MCFC expected to appeal against verdict issued by independent commission. Sanctions undecided, process ongoing
@theathleticfc.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...
@theathleticfc.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...
Manchester City found guilty on almost all Premier League charges relating to financial breaches
City were charged by the Premier League in February 2023.
www.nytimes.com
September 25, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Picturing Erling Haaland being sold at police auction like a drug lord's speedboat.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
This is the Stolen Neighbors Quilt. Each of the 11,000 squares represents a person taken by ICE in Minnesota.
September 24, 2026 at 2:42 PM
This is the Stolen Neighbors Quilt. Each of the 11,000 squares represents a person taken by ICE in Minnesota.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
Jim Henson would have been 90 (yup, you read that right: NINETY) years old today. You can celebrate his life by celebrating creativity, diversity, peace, imagination, and silliness.
September 24, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Jim Henson would have been 90 (yup, you read that right: NINETY) years old today. You can celebrate his life by celebrating creativity, diversity, peace, imagination, and silliness.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.
September 23, 2026 at 8:49 PM
The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
i genuinely think about this every time theres any mention of narnia. one of the funniest things that have ever happened
September 22, 2026 at 10:45 AM
i genuinely think about this every time theres any mention of narnia. one of the funniest things that have ever happened
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
Great thread. Most racists are "genuinely concerned" because they are genuinely prejudiced. Their sincerity is not the issue
I would love to ask a prominent BBC journalist to give me an example of an illegitimate concern. Is seems to me that it has become a question not of fact, logic, or ethics but of volume. If a big enough proportion of a village was anxious about Bigfoot or Chemtrails, BBC would cover it in a way...
September 17, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Great thread. Most racists are "genuinely concerned" because they are genuinely prejudiced. Their sincerity is not the issue
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
The promise of Israel is somewhere that Jews can be safe, no matter what else happens in the world. The mobs and death threats against the filmakers and their families suggest that, under Netanyahu, this only applies to Jews who support the government and armed forces.
September 17, 2026 at 10:17 AM
The promise of Israel is somewhere that Jews can be safe, no matter what else happens in the world. The mobs and death threats against the filmakers and their families suggest that, under Netanyahu, this only applies to Jews who support the government and armed forces.
Final scene of Paddington 2 always has me in bits. Perfectly deployed emotion bomb
September 16, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Final scene of Paddington 2 always has me in bits. Perfectly deployed emotion bomb
Shares this everywhere. Put it on billboards. Have schoolchildren recite it every day before class.
September 13, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Shares this everywhere. Put it on billboards. Have schoolchildren recite it every day before class.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
Really good chicken helmet. Best chicken helmet I’ve ever seen maybe.
September 13, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Really good chicken helmet. Best chicken helmet I’ve ever seen maybe.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
Not so smug about the believability of them continuing to build Jurassic Parks now are we
September 13, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Not so smug about the believability of them continuing to build Jurassic Parks now are we
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
it’s easier to just say “whole planet’s doomed”. it takes away any agency or responsibility you have to fight for a better future, or even to just accept one you can’t imagine or won’t recognize.
it’s suicidal ideation.
it’s suicidal ideation.
September 11, 2026 at 4:34 PM
it’s easier to just say “whole planet’s doomed”. it takes away any agency or responsibility you have to fight for a better future, or even to just accept one you can’t imagine or won’t recognize.
it’s suicidal ideation.
it’s suicidal ideation.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
i try to brighten my friends’ days by sharing good news whenever i see it, but this now being the third time i’ve seen very positive climate news lately, i’m gonna get a lil mean:
climate doomerism is misinformation and spreading it, even just in jest, is antithetical to the values you espouse.
climate doomerism is misinformation and spreading it, even just in jest, is antithetical to the values you espouse.
Something to cling to and promote the hell out of: leveraging POSITIVE TIPPING POINTS www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Climate solutions most likely to reach ‘positive tipping points’ revealed by scientists
Global shift towards clean electricity could trigger ‘cascade’ of progress, helping reduce air pollution, cut waste and revive oceans
www.theguardian.com
September 11, 2026 at 4:30 PM
i try to brighten my friends’ days by sharing good news whenever i see it, but this now being the third time i’ve seen very positive climate news lately, i’m gonna get a lil mean:
climate doomerism is misinformation and spreading it, even just in jest, is antithetical to the values you espouse.
climate doomerism is misinformation and spreading it, even just in jest, is antithetical to the values you espouse.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
It's easy to succumb to doomerism, but it's a lie. If we were able to get to the moon in <10 years, we can do this too. Hope is a verb.
Climate scientist here. 👋
We are NOT fucked. BUT we are behind where we should be.
The good news is that we have the solutions we need to stop climate change. We just need to get busy deploying them!
And here’s the proof. Almost 120 solutions, with more coming.
drawdown.org/explorer
We are NOT fucked. BUT we are behind where we should be.
The good news is that we have the solutions we need to stop climate change. We just need to get busy deploying them!
And here’s the proof. Almost 120 solutions, with more coming.
drawdown.org/explorer
Drawdown Explorer™
We know what we need to do: stop climate change as quickly as possible. Now, with the Drawdown Explorer, we know how to do it.
Drawdown.org
September 10, 2026 at 6:10 PM
It's easy to succumb to doomerism, but it's a lie. If we were able to get to the moon in <10 years, we can do this too. Hope is a verb.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
The majority of Israeli PMs were secular Jews including David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir. *Netanyahu* is known to eat non-kosher meals. It's beyond absurd.
For a sign of how absurd this is, *Theodor Herzl* did not observe dietary laws particularly closely, did not keep Shabbat, and was not in any way religious!
Ed Miliband’s parents survived the Holocaust, Ed Miliband is Jewish - that is immutable
Questioning his Jewishness like this tells you all you need to know about people like this, and what their values are - and what they truly think about Jewish people that don’t behave how they want them to
Questioning his Jewishness like this tells you all you need to know about people like this, and what their values are - and what they truly think about Jewish people that don’t behave how they want them to
September 9, 2026 at 1:41 PM
The majority of Israeli PMs were secular Jews including David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir. *Netanyahu* is known to eat non-kosher meals. It's beyond absurd.
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
For a sign of how absurd this is, *Theodor Herzl* did not observe dietary laws particularly closely, did not keep Shabbat, and was not in any way religious!
Ed Miliband’s parents survived the Holocaust, Ed Miliband is Jewish - that is immutable
Questioning his Jewishness like this tells you all you need to know about people like this, and what their values are - and what they truly think about Jewish people that don’t behave how they want them to
Questioning his Jewishness like this tells you all you need to know about people like this, and what their values are - and what they truly think about Jewish people that don’t behave how they want them to
September 9, 2026 at 1:18 PM
For a sign of how absurd this is, *Theodor Herzl* did not observe dietary laws particularly closely, did not keep Shabbat, and was not in any way religious!
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
Bill Bryson’s words seem appropriate to post right now
September 8, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Bill Bryson’s words seem appropriate to post right now
Reposted by Ben Van der Velde
On Andy Burnham's sudden bout of shyness. thecritic.co.uk/sanc...
September 8, 2026 at 6:33 PM
On Andy Burnham's sudden bout of shyness. thecritic.co.uk/sanc...