There’s an element also that fiction has become *too* democratic; the cloying, obvious allegory of Prophet’s Song, for one, or the simpsons_dancing_meme.jpg utopia of Orbital shouldn’t be considered belles letters in any shape or form

I think my most capital C Conservative position is that 'edtech' is almost always an expensive con that distracts us from what we know works best in education and that there really is absolutely no harm in a classroom looking broadly the same as it did 20 years ago most of the time.

Completed the Mid-Sussex Marathon Weekend. It’s very fun, three trail races over three days that add up to a full marathon distance (2x10 miles + 1x10k). Tricky bit is the 600m elevation gain over rutted fields. Photos cred to wife and Sussex Races

Not my political party, oppose their policy for multiple reasons, but solidarity with the Greens on this one. If you listen very closely you can hear the jackboots clicking on Reform here

The whole private jet discourse is really boring ngl. Ban them for now; trivial amount of jet fuel consumption but good populist we’re all in it together signalling. The hard part is doing demand destruction for commercial flights and that will be interesting as to how and why

Like, a lot less stuff. “Private jets” absolutely should be first on the list for demand destruction (and if I were advising anyone with a private jet I would be going “things are gonna get quite bad, ostentatiously do this voluntarily first”), but it’s not going to save v many people’s holidays.

My biggest conspiracy theory is that telling working class people that engagement in the arts is a middle / upper class thing and to do so makes you a class traitor is a psyop to make them disengaged with themselves and the world and the beauty of being human, so that they accept worse treatment.

A rare incorrect take from Dov. For personal reasons (a graduate of my school!), for his own self-identification (he didn’t want to be Russian and naturalised as British but felt deep attachment to Poland). Best story about him is when he got stuck in the Tatras with family because of World War I

Yes correct

I take your utilities and I raise you DPD

Strip back enough layers and the base problem for a lot of people on the left is they believe the groups they join and the causes they support make them moral people in and of themselves.

Sometimes, I think to myself what a privilege it is to have Polish as my native language and how truly great our literary heritage is. Here’s Miłosz just in clear, simple language spelling out the beauty of a deontic moral understanding of being

EXCL: Nigel Farage was given an undisclosed £5m by crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in general election @annaisaac.bsky.social reveals www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Did some leafletting this week - for Labour obviously - in my new ends and was struck again by how, one week from local elections in a very newly LibDem area, the only posters are Green.

I am sure this will cause no problems at all, and further restricting immigration will have no impact on growth,tax receipts or public service provision *looks at camera*

Everyone’s an internationalist until it’s more expensive to fill up your tank or buy eggs and then national Darwinism it is

That should put the “Shabana Mahmood is a credible leadership contender” takes to bed then

Anecdata entirely but the only local election posters I’ve seen around town are Green (we have a LibDem council). Wonder if the Greens are cannibalising some of the yellow vote and that’s why LDs are standing still

What an excellent series. Wife and I rewatch it periodically. And some of the early, short ones are real gems!

The reason why some leftists think the Falklands should be a part of Argentina rather than the UK, despite Falkland Islanders feeling no allegiance to Argentina, is because their entire political worldview is based on an imagined struggle between Cringe vs Not Cringe.

Green: In work, renting Labour: In work, mortgage Lib Dem: In work, mortgage but a nicer house Tories: retired, paid off. Reform: dead of natural causes.

Ahh but have you been to Birley’s, which is arguably the silliest sandwich shop purchasing system in existence. I half believe they’re like this so you pay and then give up and they don’t have to make the actual sandwich

Ah, I see someone has found a document labelled “Labour Party economic policy”

Starmer’s self image is “I never lie, I always follow the rules”. Jeremy’s self image was “I have been an anti-racist all my life”. Look at the sniffy fury both of them display when their self-image is challenged. That inability to accept criticism and grow is their original sin.

Confirm I didn’t wasn’t told not to announce someone before the vetting finished or the llama gets it

They said I’m a fine girl? Is that all they said about me? -Brandy

Absolutely stealing this one from my wife but Song of Songs 7, 7-8 is some the filthiest stuff in ancient literature and it’s beautiful.

peter mandelson failed his vetting? wow. i didn’t know that - you’re telling me now for the very first time. what can you say? the permanent secretary did a terrible job. a terrible man doing a terrible job. i’m actually absolutely furious to hear that. i am furious.

Hear me out - PM is currently is like the Emperor in Warhammer 40000, kept sort of alive and in post by constant sacrifice of underlings

what was keir starmers mistake? loving too much? caring too much? believing too much in an obviously corrupt man while also employing close allies of that same man in high-up positions in the british government and not providing any of the oversight and responsibility expected from the pm? yes

I am following Hungarian politics like it's a political thriller. I have never seen a democratically-elected leader enact You Can Just Do Things on this level, and it's absolutely riveting.

“It’s not about a summer of sex, it’s about a year-round focus on cost of living”

This may be the best quote I’ve ever read in the Times. Particularly the first two sentences

Not a bad view walking back to London Bridge tonight station innit

Quite a flex to turn up at the presidential palace, get him to confirm you as prime minister, call him unfit to serve with no moral authority, tell him to resign, and then pose for a picture

Reform, in theory, could have been a gift to Labour: they divided the Right-wing vote. All Labour had to do was govern in a way that held their Center-Left coalition together Instead, they chose to act foolishly and blow up their own coalition in pursuit of a voting base with no interest in them

In a way, the solution to the worst of politics on the right and Bluesky/ social media on the left is the same:

Imagine if this were good again *muted awoo* then we might need to think about other things

In all fairness to the Sage of Westminster, this is undeniably true. Excellent Kemiism to add to the “Pope is WEAK on crime” on a list of great political statements of the past week

One of the tricks to buy booze underage in Kraków was to order it in English or any other foreign accent. We had bilingual classes at school so people used English, French, German and Spanish. Very educational!

Zbigniew Ziobro looking at flights to Uruguay right about now

Have I ever talked about how Józef B/ Bem József/ Murad Paşa went to my school (seriously!)

Lengyel, magyar – két jó barát, együtt harcol, s issza borát

Lads Lads it's happening