One from the archives: "What about university tuition fees then, will you remain committed to scrapping them?" "They're all pledges Andrew, so the answer to these questions is yes." "So university tuition fees being scrapped will be in a Starmer manifesto?" "Yes. Thats why its a pledge"

Giving some cash now, only what you can afford, is a good idea IMO secure.avaaz.org/campaigns/su...

Going from “Getting caught setting private investigators on the Sunday Times and trying to report them as Russian stooges”, to “inexplicably pardoned then given a Times column to knife his pals and promote a new PM” and then “oh wow, uh, Head of government policy unit” is quite the career path.

Where did the universe come from? Is time travel possible? Are genetically designed babies morally acceptable? 'A vivid, enlightening introduction to clear thinking' Philip Pullman. 25 short adventures in thinking. In all good bookshops!

The Sky presenter on Russia bombing an apartment block: "This is a deliberate pattern, isn't it, from Moscow" Can you imagine the presenter saying: 'This is a deliberate pattern, isn't it, from Tel Aviv'. Of course you can't, even when theres video footage of double tap strikes.

"a big Q is how to cut the welfare bill, I think theres an agreement it has to be cut" Yes theres an effort by politicians/media to convince us it has to be cut, when the reality is welfare spend is c.10.6% of GDP & as a proportion thats lower than most other European countries.

Portes "Theres a lot of nonsense talked, including on Sky, about the spiralling welfare bill.. as a proportion of our national income.. its lower than it was 15yrs ago & its pretty much back to what it was under Thatcher.. this idea its out of control is just wrong" Spot on!

Following in the footsteps of France and Switzerland's Government who banned Palantir from Government contracts, Spain has now banned Palantir from signing ANY contracts in Spain. Lets get Palantir OUT.

When I ask BBC/Guardian/Newsagent-news-reliant friends what they think re McSweeney starting fake orgs like Center for Countering Digital Hate to cripple left-wing news source @thecanaryuk.bsky.social & Lloyds now debanking them they've no idea what I'm talking about. See orbooks.com/catalog/the-...

We've just launched a brand new short film starring our President Janet Ellis! #AllWeHaveIsEachother explores making sense of the world through reason and evidence, finding meaning in this one life, and living with kindness and compassion. Watch it today! humanists.uk/janetellisfi...

Via Ferrata Constantini today

On Via Ferrata Constantini today.

"NHS England has also... admitted that an assertion that only its staff had access to directly identifiable patient data was 'an error' and apologising for the confusion. "The admission... follows reports... that some Palantir staff had 'unlimited access' to identifiable patient information."

Mike nr top of Tomaselli.

Rodas at top of Tomaselli.

"He's [Burnham] talked largely about renationalising key industries.. water, energy" No he hasn't. He talks about 'public control', not nationalisation Still, what could possibly go wrong with a msm not scrutinising the policy platform of someone who wants to be Labour leader?

VF Punta Anna

Punta Anna VF with Marmolada in background

Arrived Dolomites.

LK introduces John Hutton as a former Labour cabinet minister. No mention of what he does today - chair of an arms manufacturer & the trade body representing investors in public-private partnerships! I guess he sums up New Labour rather well - killing people & privatisation.

H/t @thegoldfishmind.bsky.social

Via Ferrata Dolomites itinerary for this week: *Punta Anna *Tomaselli *Sorapis *Constantini plus bits n bobs.

Who could have guessed that progressive, 3D-chess-playing, master strategist and human rights lawyer Starmer would turn out to be an unprincipled, authoritarian, genocide-facilitating, establishment stooge in the pocket of the donors?

The Labour Together folk backing Burnham will want him installed much nearer to the GE so that the public don't have time to realise it's going to be much the same status-quo-friendly policies under both.

Burnham pays tribute to Josh Simons, who he says recognised it couldnt continue to be business as usual If theres anyone who understands what business as usual meant under the Labour right, its the man who arranged a smear campaign against journalists who were investigating them

Hezbollah offered an equal withdrawal from Southern Lebanon. Israel wouldn't respond. Hezbollah stopped firing each time a peace deal was reached. Israel continued to attack. Hezbollah stopped firing for 2 years. Israel dropped over 10,000 bombs.

Reed, who helped co-found Labour Together, the organisation that ran a secret campaign to destroy the then Lab leadership & regain control of the party, allowing the Lab right to then purge its opponents & hollow out the membership, warns that the party mustn't pull itself apart

Much like how much of the shenanigans of politics is completely invisible to commentators until they’re retired, I find that living three thousand miles away seems to give journalists the required perspective to judge whether or not the British public are being told the truth, or bullshat.

Teachers - if interested in me speaking at your school, get in touch. Philosophy IB and Al evel, Religious Studies, Gifted and Talented, etc. Entertaining, mind-expanding stuff tailored for your students. email: stephen (AT) thinking-big.uk

Defend Democracy from the Frontlines - Support the Observatory chuffed.org/project/1852...

Yesterday Israel announced that it will never leave the areas in Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank or Syria (Who they haven't been at war with) that they illegally occupy. Western Media didn't even mention it.

Who are they trying to convince with this nonsense? It's just so unpleasant. They're not even worth arguing with. Just join the Green Party. Join.greenparty.org.uk

This is what Labour have become.

Mike Tapp MP asks Zack Polanski: “Do you support Palestine Action?” When answering a political question could risk arrest, that's not confidence in democracy. It's a power saying, "Know your place." That's not a healthy direction for any democratic society.

Report on Israeli's prisons: Sexual torture is organized state policy It is endorsed by the highest authorities Women are raped for days Men are raped by dogs Fire extinguisher nozzles are inserted into bodies A 42 year old woman from Gaza was bound to a metal table & repeatedly raped by 2 men

Mind-blowing stat from Lizzie Dearden. (Also, give it up for the progressive middle-aged white women!)

I have seen law experts defend the judge tacking on terrorism to justify much harsher sentencing to be ok cos its same as considering mitigating factors. but the latter - age, remorse, etc - have nothing to do with seriousness or nature of the offence, which should be determined by the jury, surely?

While not wanting to diminish injury to PC in Filton case, the widespread description of it as a 'smashed spine' is absurd. Is this a 'smashed vase' (has a tiny hairline fracture)? The fracture was to a small fin on a vertebra, too small to show on X-ray, typically treated with rest & paracetemol

While not wanting to diminish injury to the PC in Filton case, the media's description of it as a 'smashed spine' is absurd. Is this a 'smashed vase' (has a tiny hairline fracture)? The fracture was to a small fin on a vertebra, too small to show on X-ray, typically treated with rest & paracetemol.

The idea all humans deserve equal rights/dignity cos all made in God's image either undermines mainstream religious views or else is dangerous. First, if being made in God's image means having observable features such as e.g. being rational, then

The Evil God Challenge as a short animation. vimeo.com/186237056?fl...

Worth remembering that suspecting similar attempts by UK Gov and Intelligence to try to damage Zack Polanski is not unhinged leftist paranoia.

While we're focused on Russian interference in elections, remember when the UK Government and Intelligence specialists set up a secret org - The Integrity Initiative - to smear Corbyn as a Russian stooge? They worked with leading British journalists. www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politic...

If you were to count out a million seconds, it would take you 11 and a half days. A billion seconds would take you 31.7 years. But a trillion seconds would take 31,700 years — to reach that point today, you would have needed to start counting around the time that neanderthals went extinct.

".. where does the money come from, because of course the welfare bill is huge.." Except as Kevin Maguire pointed out on #GMB last month, welfare spending is about 10.6% of GDP, as a proportion thats lower than most other European countries, & the majority of it goes on pensions

It's pretty disgraceful that there has been absolutely no mention of this from the Prime Minister. It's increasingly clear that some attacks, correctly, warrant disgust, emergency measures and days of media coverage. Others seem to be met with silence.

We all know that what Israel is doing is barbaric. How could we not. The divide is between those who want to shine a spotlight on its actions and those who want to turn that spotlight off.

As a 65+, I suggest it might be best if everyone 65+ were put down. Perhaps like in Midsommar.

The 'We need Judeo-Christian culture as a moral foundation' argument seems to be getting more of an airing suddenly. Dawkins didn't help with his suggestion that we need cultural Christianity as a bulwark against encroaching Islam. bridge.georgetown.edu/research/civ...