The greatness and the emotion. Watch a good movie this festive season.

"The lives of the Palestine Action-affiliated remand prisoners now on hunger strike are at growing risk. On Friday, two reached day 48 without food. (In 1981, one IRA prisoner – 29-year-old Martin Hurson – died on the 46th day.)" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

When those who hate trans people win - or pretend to win, cf Sandie Peggie - it's all over the media, even if it's just a tribunal decision. But when they lose, even in the Court of Appeal, it's absolute bloody tumbleweed. So here's our blog about Allison Bailey latest loss. goodlaw.social/3uyd

German prosecutors bring criminal charges against three Greensill Bank officials for role in the 2021 collapse of the lender. UK would have given them public honours, crony contracts, buried prosecutions; just like the Post Office and Grenfell scandals.

Wanna see something crazy? Drone warfare in Ukraine has changed the frontline dramatically. A huge, chaotic grey zone with no clear “line” demarking armies as individual soldiers hunker down, pinned by drone attack. EW initially helped defend against drone attack by jamming or spoofing signals

One of the greatest things about the US is its incredible data, which are available at high frequency and in great detail. But here we are. There's essentially no CPI data for October and the November data point looks highly suspect. Banana Republic USA... robinjbrooks.substack.com/p/banana-rep...

when you're a little kid and there's a big fight scene happening on TV

Jesus.

Sen. Blumenthal making a very good point.

Thread:

Inuk artist Pitseolak Ashoona, Girl chased by dog, 1961 #WomensArt #ArtAdvent

It’s exactly this kind of dismal, prejudiced bollox from the Daily Mail that’s got us into the ruinous Brexit mess we’re in. What a moronic response to us rejoining Erasmus and all the benefits that brings. If they’re really worried about cost, they should push to cancel Brexit altogether.

"If you need growth to balance the budget and shore up crumbling public services, but you insist on preventing growth that might come from migration or Europe, then something will ultimately have to give. Possibly your time in government."

We also found that 12 Labour ministers attended events involving ex-Tory MP Howlett and his consultancy that were never declared in transparency records

#5albums25 Probably the album I've played most this year. Inspired by, and featuring audio from a box of old home movies Powers found from his childhood. Rarely Do I Dream - Youth Lagoon

This thread shows that we have known about the relationship between Brexit and Putin for nearly a decade If sensitivities around the EU referendum make it impossible to be clear about this, then Putin has already won

In the year of David Lynch’s passing, one of his lesser-known films perfectly rejects our ugly, fake, and barbarous moment. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/9gH7mx

You lot need Dick Van Dyke singing Let's Go Fly a Kite on his 100th birthday more than you know.

YouTube channels spreading fake, anti-Labour videos viewed 1.2bn times in 2025. Using fake AI-generated content to profit from political division in the UK. Give everyone enforceable copyright over their voice, face, body parts to counter AI abuses. Shut down platforms that host them.

Virginia Heffernan wrote this shortly after the 2016 election and it still holds true

This is excellent on the fundamental incompatibility between Starmer’s focus on “growth” and his determination to reduce the number of migrants. As Ben concludes, something will have to give and that’s likely to Starmer’s time in government app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/71810/...

Even worse is the framing of Fuentes as another manosphere influencer. He’s a neo-Nazi Holocaust denier. That’s what his followers like. No need for “lost boys” excuses in this case

Just your regular reminder that there are no illegal ways for people who claim asylum to enter the U.K. That’s the law.

Once again, it all should have ended when he started monetizing his own hotel in 2017, three blocks from the White House. The Constitution is more clear & specific about corruption & emoluments than about literally any other topic.

The Japanese are the absolute kings of Making Shit That Works, aren’t they?

This line rankled in the Beeb's write-up of tributes to Rob and Michele Reiner. It flows into Trump saying the deaths were "very sad", as if it were a tribute like the others. And as for "a swipe" - 90% of Trump's post was mockery and boasting.

I’m finding it increasingly hard to report anything delivered by “official sources” in the US. Could be true, could be a coverup, could be completely made up for nefarious ends. It’s a country now where no one really has any idea what’s actually going on.

AI imagery is the equivalent of Plato’s prisoner being bored of sunlight, clambering down into a cave, shackling himself to a rock to watch shadows cast by firelight and forgetting that the world above exists.

Bob Dylan meets the drum machine circa 1985 (via Mike Campbell’s recent memoir)

It's Friday. It's the shortest amount of time anyone has ever owned a trouser press. youtu.be/tNqn5bKmKNc?...

Hi folks, we’ll take a little mid season break from the debut albums poll, as it’s that time of year when we traditionally vote on the best album of the current year, so it’s time for #5albums25 Voting for this one will commence on Monday 29th December at 7pm. Use the hashtag for recommendations 👍

GOV. COX: “.. If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at the social media companies. These are the wealthiest and most powerful companies in the history of the world, and they’re profiting off of destroying our kids and destroying our country.” @politico.com www.politico.com/news/magazin...

The Times looks at how Trump business interests overlap with SEC crypto cases in the second term. NYT finds that the SEC inherited 23 crypto cases, of which 14 were dropped, frozen, settled, or conceded. All of those had Trump ties. None of the remaining nine cases do www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/u...

Lord Rothermere's wife has donated £50,000 to Reform UK. I wonder which party the Daily Mail will endorse at the next election.

“Parental resources seem to play an outsize role in who gets help.”

Margaret Macdonald, The Three Perfumes, 1912, Glasgow School artist who was believed to have influenced Klimt #womensart

Incredibly brave. Imagine the faceless bores the BBC will have making their programmes if they continue down this path.

reality has an unfair anti-Trump bias

I also wrote something for Mr. Porter, which touches on the same topic. The general gist: choosing a gift is not about imposing your (I'm sure superior) taste on others, but rather showing someone you value them and recognize their inner world. www.mrporter.com/en-gb/journa...

And now...part two of Rosy Overdrive's Top 100 Albums of 2025!

The moral and intellectual poverty of the USA today in one exchange.

Eight people are on hunger strike, several apparently at imminent risk of dying, because our law punishes more harshly those opposing genocide than those supporting it. (And under a so-called Labour Government.) How on earth did we get here? www.vashtimedia.com/hunger-strik...

None of us who watched as the BBC tried to explain away as normal Boris Johnson's attempted Parliamentary coup in 2019 will be remotely surprised at its unprincipled attacks on a minoritised group and any Judge who has the temerity to find it has rights under the Equality Act.

Private hired guns The secretive Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) – the anti-state, anti-climate pressure group – received £640,000+ from fossil fuel companies & Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate between 1957 and 2005. The aim is to subvert public choices for the benefit of paymasters.

Good Lord

How the BBC upholds fossil fuel industry narratives, 09/12/2025: an article about a battery storage project featuring one (1) person objecting to the scheme. The opinion is presented as indicative of popular opposition. No other viewpoint is offered.

Sign our petition to keep the UK in the ECHR here:

BREAKING: Chancellor Rachel Reeves: 'The Budget had too much speculation, there were too many leaks' The Chancellor is being questioned by the Treasury committee over her Budget 'Leaks are unacceptable', she insisted and said a leak inquiry was underway