Hitchen's perspective is the kind you only get if you dont engage much with the outside world. When I talk to people from other Euro & Anglo nations about issues in their countries, guess what? They talk about rent, house prices, poor public services, high cost of living, poor job markets etc etc.

I genuinely think a big reason 343 never did a Halo 3 Anniversary Edition remake is because Halo 3 still looks gorgeous almost 20 years later. Those later levels (The Ark, The Covenant, Halo) are a perfect blend of the eerie space future of Halo: CE and the military grittiness of Halo 2.

This This 1000x This. They've already lost! And lost *badly*! We've had non-white heads of government across all the nations of GB! Every great office of state has had a non-white holder! We've had a muslim Mayor of London for almost ten years! This is a reaction to successful integration.

I feel this in my bones. Veilguard's story is the kind of thing that's mostly just bad on its own, but managed to gum up the entire setting to the point that the series probably needs a reboot. It's a Rise of Skywalker/Halo 5 level situation, but unlike those DA:O would be quite easy to remake...

Sun coming through the archway tonight at sunset. Have a fabulous weekend everyone.

Yeah I think this has been the most shocking development of the 2010s/2020s. The idea that you could get a sizeable chunk (if not an outright majority) of the middle class vote by being economically left wing would have got you laughed out of town even 20 years ago.

I never realised that the first openly gay elected official in the UK was a Liberal! It does make sense given the Liberal Party's support for social issues in the 20th century. Annoyingly I can't find who he won his seat from, but given that it was in Durham it was probably a Labour councillor.

London is wonderful.

Great day in Parliament supporting the important work of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Respiratory Health. Our chair Jim Shannon organised a Westminister Hall debate for World COPD Day, raising awareness of a disabling condition suffered by up to 2.3 million people in the UK.

This is a great article by a new Labour thinker who is well worth subscribing to! There is a deep tradition of liberal (and Liberal) thought within Labour, running all the way back to the 1920s. If given the space to breathe, this tradition could help Labour recover electorally and politically.

👏 UK on US peace plan: Russia can end war by withdrawing its troops

This is both immoral and utterly unworkable.

New Substack! Over the weekend I travelled to the Co-op Party Conference in central london. Read my reflections below to find out what's happening inside Britain's fourth largest parliamentary party, and what this could mean for the Labour gov. thepartyanimal.substack.com/p/the-people...

While I understand this perspective I disagree, progressive does have a meaning in UK politics that is distinct from the US. That's because it refers to the broad swathe of centre-left liberals that exist across the three main left parties (Lab, Lib, Grn). It's mainly used in a cross-party context.

Many congratulations @joshbabarinde.bsky.social 🌻💚

“We welcome migrants, we don’t scapegoat them". How Keir Starmer promised Labour MPs and members he would lead his party on immigration

This is absolutely true, but i do wonder if the move away from traditional (lol) public facing social media and towards internal group chats may reverse this trend, at least within small social structures (and let's be real, most old school party pamphlets and journals had a very small reach).

The murder rate in London is now the lowest in decades, perhaps centuries. (The Times)

Generally speaking, political types don't give the public enough credit for how easily they see through political gimmicks. If you're putting forward a policy you don't believe in just to shut people up, those people will often recognise that as insincere pandering and get even madder about it.

Depending on how the next few years shake out, I do think this is one of those charts that could end up looking very important in hindsight.

So as of now I'm going to the @coopparty.party.coop party conference on Saturday and Sunday this week! Drop a line if you're going and fancy a chat, It's always great to meet new people interested in devolution, community policy and reviving local areas :)

I also do think there is a rhetorical argument here as well. Everyone is so fed up with the funk around the economy and society at the moment. A government willing to stand up and make a dramatic change would get a better (and a stress *better* not *good*) hearing on tax rises than one that fudges.

The other thing is that Labour have already raised National Insurance! They've *already* broken their tax pledge, so while raising Income Tax wouldn't be popular, I dont see why it'd been seen as any greater a manifesto breaking pledge than what they've already done.

Watched Lightyear (2022) with my flatmate tonight, and for the first half I was quite surprised at its negative reception. It's really quite ambitious for an animated sci fi film, and reframes classic Pixar themes in interesting ways. Then the 'twist' happens, and I thought "oh dear, I get it now".

I made this point to both the Lib Dem and Lab canvassers that have been round in the last week (not gonna lie it is nice to live in an area that's actually politically competitive!). Ultimately I know that both parties would have very limited funds to help people like me, so what else can they do?

While I do think there is something to the idea that social media and the internet has had a direct impact on how people think, I also wonder how people who think the rise of the modern far right is tied directly to it think fascism developed in the 20s and 30s, when the hip new tech was radio.

While I understand why the US gov is frustrated that the UK chose not to use an US manufacturer the gov has a stake in for these new SMRs: 1) Governments having a direct stake in export businesses creates perverse incentives 2) Approaching allies like you're a clingy, smothering ex doesn't work

Ok so this confirms for me that Nightreign is just From Software smashing all of their action figures together. I don't hate it, but when the big *wow* moment is the return of a boss we last saw 13 years ago...it's not exactly screaming 'fresh and interesting'. youtu.be/X6xQKNM1xA8?...

One of my favourite things I learnt during historical research is that one of the earliest references we have to Robin Hood comes from a local priest in the medieval period complaining that his parishioners weren't going to church because they were too busy listening to the tales of Robin Hood.

when you wear a size 9.5 shoe but the 8.5 was on sale

So as of now I'm going to the @coopparty.party.coop party conference on Saturday and Sunday this week! Drop a line if you're going and fancy a chat, It's always great to meet new people interested in devolution, community policy and reviving local areas :)

This is the right move, obviously. But my god it says nothing good about the direction of US foreign policy that major allies pulling away from intelligence sharing isn't enough to get them to change course.

I think a big issue here is the need of many 'internet personalities' to make everything they experience into part of a broader narrative. And once they've done that, it becomes very difficult to walk it back because its now an ingrained part of your ideology, rather than just a one-off experience.

As fun as a Doctor Who/James Bond crossover would be, I don't think anyone would argue that it should be done by *making* James Bond into The Doctor.

We remember today those who fought for this freedom. "No man who knows aught can be so stupid to deny that all men were naturally born free," John Milton

So I'd say it is and it isn't It's a bit like the English language, in that the baseline rules aren't that hard to grasp, but there's endless nuances to understand IMO it comes down to two things: Uni education, and inherited wealth If you have one (or both) of those, you're seen as middle class

'I am not a number, I am a free man!' Ah, my favourite TV show! A true classic, and one that's stood the test of time.

Totally agree on both points (although IMO the growth of multi-party politics would have eroded Labour's voteshare over time regardless). The future may look like a 'progressive' centre-left majority formed of a variety of major and minor parties. Ofc this assumes the Right won't recover...

Sixth is Blasphemous 2 by @thegamekitchen.com Release Year: 2023 Genre: Metroidvania Playthrough length: 45hrs A sequel to the 2019 hit, Blasphemous 2 takes place generations after the end of the first game, with the Penitent One being revived to prevent the birth of the child of the Miracle.

Positives: Area Variety - B2 is more of a traditional Metroidvania than the first game, and that shows in the gameplay variety Weapon Variety - B2 allows switching between 3 (4 w/DLC) weapons unlike the first game Boss Fights - Although not as good as the original, the bosses remain great

Negatives: Writing - The plot is confusing, the lore is convoluted and the game's writing feels significantly less evocative Visual Design - Lacking the unifying catholic imagery of B1, B2 feels much more like generic fantasy Enemy Reuse - Far, far too much, both between areas and between B1 & B2

Final Thoughts: A muddled follow-up to a 10/10 game, B2 feels like a compromise between the searing clarity of the original's vision and a traditional fantasy Metroidvania. It's still a good game, but it feels overwritten and lacks the punch and urgency of the original. Final Score: 7/10

Something I find strangely cute is the way that Wikipedia hasn't yet got to grips with what colour the Lib Dems are supposed to be. I've been looking through the councils up for election in 2026, and some have the Lib Dems in their new 'Liberal orange', while most still have them as yellow.

Kyle Ren as a cargo-cult/fanboy fascist was always the best part of the sequel trilogy (even if his motivations were kinda wonky). The idea of him essentially being a manchild fanboy of Vader, but lacking any of Vader's strengths as a Sith Lord was honestly a stroke of genius.

It's really notable to me that pretty much everyone I know under 35 that I'd consider culturally conservative (in terms of habit, interests and outlook) votes Lib Dem. That is potentially a long term issue for the Libs, but it's a really really bad sign for the British right.

This article made me so angry. You can see ChatGPT parroting back his worst thoughts and instincts, he's treating it like a confidant but in reality it's more like a mirror to his own mind. I've almost lost friends to suicide. This is genuinely evil.

Reminds me of one of my favourite moments from my favourite TV episode of all time www.youtube.com/watch?v=pETc...

BBC really burying the lede there

Good thread, I'd also note that this has happened before. The alliance between extreme modernism and reactionary pre-modernism was the driving force behind interwar European Fascism, along with a big dollop of cultural relativism that acted as the glue that bound those disparate groups together.