FFS People on the neighbourhood whatsapp group cheerfully recomnending glue traps for mice. (They are illegal unless you're a licensed pest controller but apparently surprisingly easy to buy.)

By "quieter work that appears in print" she means the most shocking things are happening where people can't film now, not right in view of dozens of people with cameras, and the details will only come out when people can investigate

Seamus Culleton speaks with Kieran Cuddihy. He said that detainees have been killed by staff where he is being held. The conditions in which he is being held are appalling. www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

Women in public life, part 74485

Fuair sé post le Labour i Sasana nuair a sheas comhleacaí ar thairne. Bhí sé ag obair ar an mbínse fáiltithe agus chuir sé aithne ar mhaithe mhóra an pháirtí, Peter Mandelson ina measc. jrnl.ie/6951327t

Whatever people want to say about Gordon Brown, we owe him a lot.

Congrats to the editors at the Irish Times for their timing in publishing two news pieces this morning: Shannon Airport has been used for ICE deportation flight refuelling; an Irish man with no criminal record and a valid work permit has been held at an ICE centre in Texas ***since September 2025***

become less attached Francis Ponge, ‘The Trees Decompose in a Sphere of Fog’, tr C.K. Williams.

la subtilité, la précision:

Just saw a post with George Clinton citing the Beatles as his favorite band, which reminded me of this quote he once gave me

Portrait of Guercino, his mother Elena Ghisellini, black cat, and their totally A+ Lagotto Romagnolo dog. Here we also see his troubled eye from which he got his nickname. Today is his birthday.

Here’s the situation in the Twin Cities: Random Bovino-style tear-gassing: Way down Relentless persecution of immigrants: Unchanged Thuggish violence against observers: Way up

That’s EVERY Friday.

Andre Ventura of Chega (change) running on anti-immigratiom slogans like "this isn't Bangladesh" and "Portugal is ours" has lost the Portugal presidential election in a landslide. He was second on 23% to 31% in the first round but losing about 30-70 in the run-off to socialist António José Seguro

Monk is one of, possibly the main reference point of contemporary jazz but the stride aspect of his music is afaics very neglected. I think it's fundamental, it's not just a style he dips into.

"On this day 100 years ago, The Plough and the Stars by Sean O'Casey premiered at the Abbey Theatre."

This is like something out of a horror movie, my god

#OnThisDay 100 years ago, The Plough and the Stars by Sean O'Casey premiered at the Abbey Theatre. At its original production in February 1926, the audience rioted. Now regarded as a masterpiece, this provocative play is an essential part of our understanding of Irish history and Irish theatre.

Second half of the 1964 Monk concert kicks off with Epistrophy with a stride piano theme statement. www.radiofrance.fr/francemusiqu...

"Eighty-two years after his execution by the Gestapo on June 16, 1944, the Jewish historian and resistance fighter Marc Bloch will be inducted into the Pantheon on June 23... His family requested that 'the far right, in all its forms, be excluded from any participation in the ceremony.'"

It's not over for this guy. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Stay classy, lads...

One to look out for - Family Resources Survey going to be linked to admin & could make a substantive difference to relative poverty measures. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

True. A large majority of people with dependent children are net recipients from the tax, benefit and public services system already, as shown by ONS's Effect of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income reports. The opposite holds for people without children.

Happy #SuperbOwl 🦉 Sunday to all who celebrate.

Hate-filled fake videos about London are everywhere. We've obtained a recording of a TikToker confessing to secretly filming Londoners in their homes for clicks. He says it's not political. He just wants to make money from far-right anger. Read what he says: www.londoncentric.media/p/london-tik...

Watergate, but if someone was killed.

Dear Northern Ireland, I think you need to investigate your former Prime Minister Sean Woodward for his relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Your attention to this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Yep, I saw Duke Ellington in Newcastle in the early 60s with Hodges Gonzavles, Anderson etc. mind-blowing

Just listened to Miss Thing by the 1939 Count Basie Orchestra and was reminded of the almost unbelievable fact that I saw Harry 'Sweets' Edison play in the Gresham hotel in Dublin in my youth. Closest I've come to that extraordinary period in the music.

This is a wonderful interview. Putting Considering Genius: Writings on Jazz on my birthday wishlist.

This band is jumping. Charlie Rouse, Butch Warren, Ben Riley.

👂https://www.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/podcasts/les-legendes-du-jazz/thelonious-monk-en-concert-le-23-fevrier-1964-au-studio-104-de-la-maison-de-la-radio-a-paris-1-2-1664180

This is nonsense because an early election isn’t in Starmer’s hands. The King would surely refuse a dissolution of Parliament on the grounds that someone else would be able to form a majority. The PLP would close ranks to ensure it.

To be fair, do they even have food in Italy?

I don't think we have to engage properly with Matt Goodwin talking about birth rates, he's just trying to signal that he wants more white people, it's not really anything beyond that.

A good example of how strangely unpolitical this government is at times. The Economist is fretting that trade union laws have been tilted (sharply!) back towards strengthening unions. But is the government making an argument around this to progressive voters? No. economist.com/britain/2026...

Great reporting from Amelia Gentleman, brilliantly complemented by Marina Hyde's op-ed. Grim. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Absolutely tremendous work here, no notes. (Apart from to say that this proposal is by the actual president of RIBA)

ICE seems to have grabbed several people early Thursday morning at a few spots in my town. News spread quickly but hours after the fact. Lots of rumors. Also looks to be genuinely galvanizing local action.

Richard Lloyd just announced that Television bassist Fred Smith died in hospice today RIP to one of the greats

This made me laugh out loud, which *sweeping gesture* is not a frequent occurrence these days.

5/5 PMs with approval ratings of measles isn't just a feature of failed leadership. It's Brexit Britain. There's no money for anything people want and were promised they would have, and no one can blame the people who got us into this mess because they got 52% of the vote (let alone reverse it).

Starmer's reported condition - incredibly unpopular, shorn of authority, probably un-reelectable and yet will stagger on for want of an alternative - is just the new normal of how Britain is governed. It was also true for two-thirds of May's premiership, half of Johnson's and all of Sunak's.

I hope the abyss in @stephenkb.bsky.social's newsletter becomes a returning character

For those of us of a certain age this would be a big scalp for the Epstein files.

🔴 BREAKING: Labour Together paid controversial PR firm £30k to investigate journalists who were digging into how its undeclared funding Reporters from Sunday Times, Guardian and other outlets targetted *And* Morgan McSweeney knew about it Full story: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/exclusive-...

Make social media platforms criminally accountable for sex abuse images that they allow to be posted. Please support Labour’s bill Sign below 👇

Even when there is no political scandal, voters often (overall) think the PM/ministers should resign. The numbers here for Labour supporters are decidedly lukewarm, though,

- I was lying in bed the other night - was you - yes Dud, and I heard this tap, tap, tap on the window - who was it? - bloody Jim Pickard of the FT - no - yes Dud, "Peter, Peter" he said, "tell me about Jeffrey Epstein" - and what did you say? - I told him to 'fuck off' - that told him - it did Dud