Apparently Trump is now opposed to the senate housing bill because of its inclusion of an anti-institutional ownership measure that he pushed for in the first place!

Trump is remaking America in his image—Some historians say such self-aggrandisement echoes the communication strategies of 20th-century dictators. www.ft.com/content/78d6... Guy Chazan @financialtimes.com

Real impact of reignition of war today is in bond markets and oil markets (up ~6%) not in the shrug-it-off equity markets "Treasury yields also rose, with the 30-year yield at its highest level in nearly a year, as inflation and interest rate expectations rose with energy prices."

Why is the government recklessly trying to push your savings into the stock market just when it might crash? youtu.be/ZFo_i8ky4d8?...

New post: UK decline and stylised empirical facts mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2026/05/uk-d... Any story about low growth in UK living standards needs to account for the two or three decades when UK growth was comparable with other major economies.

Listening to Anna Foster on #r4today in her Sunderland homeland. Lots of positive developments but the council getting the blame for things beyond their control - deindustrialisation, poverty, migration, NHS, housing shortages. Nobody mentions Brexit!

As these things go - and it obviously won't impact on his diehard fans - this, from the Tories, is actually quite an impressive effort.

This will probably come as no surprise to anyone but .. “seven in 10 Americans said Trump was not honest and trustworthy, while about six in 10 said he did not have the mental sharpness to serve as president” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

That's a proper collar 👀 #MetGala2026

This one reminds me of Cylons #MetGala2026

Britons sick in ‘hantavirus outbreak’ on Atlantic cruise ship

I'm getting a bumble bee vibe with this outfit #MetGala2026

Now that's a face mask #MetGala2026

A pair of eye masks #MetGala2026

Taxation of billionaires and their companies would be much better for the public than to hope for charitable crumbs. Source: buff.ly/KpQbBvF

Visa rules ‘will force construction firms to rely on illegal immigration’

Grim but important new story in @kyivindependent.com The realities of this war is that soldiers, particularly Russian ones, seem to have a declining chance of evacuation if wounded. It means that dying is now the most likely result of getting hit. kyivindependent.com/russian-loss...

Consumers face more pain as companies threaten price rises ft.trib.al/dSTa82I

Pension schemes are playing a dangerous game with your money

Also note that due to X algorithm, the reach of official, not attention screaming posing on X is getting close to zero

Dangerous baby-sleep advice given to parents by self-described experts, secret filming reveals

Just looking over some data ahead of our elections webinar later and Zack Polanski’s net approval rating has fallen by a fairly chunky 14 points over the last week. Still far ahead of Starmer but also puts him now well below the top three of Badenoch, Davey and Farage.

Reeves responded angrily by telling Bessent she did not work for him and disliked how he had spoken to her.

One of the long-term strategic failures of Labour is not having indelibly tied the disappointments of Brexit to Nigel Farage. He has incurred virtually no political cost for its failure to deliver the change and agency people were promised.

Reform unveiled proposals to place migrant detention centres in Green-controlled areas this weekend - causing a stir in the process.

President Trump, "When I get out of office in say 8 or 9 years from now" 👀

‘Mythos is only an incremental improvement on previous models, but its abilities in coding, reasoning and autonomy are significantly greater. It is incredibly good at finding weaknesses in existing software systems.’ @paul3548.bsky.social on AI and programming. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

High Street, Hull Old Town. With the "Ye Olde Black Boy" Pub in the foreground. #hull #yorkshire #history #architecture #photography #eastcoastkin #photographersofbluesky #photographersunited #blueskymonday

The second Conservative candidate whose far-right posts I exposed has now been suspended. The party failed to respond when Byline Times first reported their posts last month

This is the candidate who has just been suspended bylinetimes.com/2026/04/20/c...

And this is the other candidate I exposed last month bylinetimes.com/2026/04/13/c...

It seems like at least a couple haven’t fully absorbed what a Reform government plans to do.

Fox News halts for Trump as he 'stumbles' down stairs and health fears soar 'not well' www.msn.com/en-gb/news/w...

To be absolutely clear: there is no excuse for you to continue posting on X. None. You are doing it out of convenience, maybe habit, because you don‘t want to give up your followers. “If we all leave, it’s going to be worse” stopped making sense a long time ago.

For those claiming bluesky is equally bad. When I still posted on X, I was called a f*ggot, goat f*cker, told to go back where I am from, that I‘d be the first to be deported on nearly all tweets that generated some reach. If you think bluesky and X feel the same, it‘s a sign of your privilege.

Farage government could cause Truss-style chaos, says renewables industry Good to see businesses speak out about what a fucking disaster it would be to have fossil fuel lobbyists Reform UK Ltd in power www.theguardian.com/environment/...

It is.

Because the “we buy more from them than they do from us” strategy worked so well during the Brexit negotiations. Thanks for reminding us, Mr Davis.

Little Moreton Hall, near Congleton, Cheshire; built 1504-1610. Not sure it would meet current building regs.

Left: Trump's White House posts, "In a galaxy that demands strength - America stands ready" Right: Grogu powered by Grok, "The greatest strength is to avoid war by searching out peace"

AI spontaneously developing consciousness remains a lot less worrisome than human beings anthropomorphizing non-sentient AI, though the former gets more attention.

German SPD, Greens, and Linke will stop posting on X. An important step and signal. X and its owner have long become a megaphone for the far right, a venue that is actively used to encourage abuse and violence. It‘s simply shameful how many in politics, media, and academia still actively post there.

Wow, that was quick. UAE oil production now bottled up. Not sure how much spare torage is available

I’ve read this graf 3 times and I still don’t understand how Trump’s Hormuz Escort Service is supposed to work, and I’m starting to worry that no one else does either.

Oil prices jumped on Monday as Trump’s war on Iran drags on and the navigability of the Strait of Hormuz remained uncertain.

Trump’s spiritual advisor Paula White celebrated her 60th birthday at Mar-a-Lago

Russia has tightened security around Putin amid Kremlin fears of assassination by drone or even a coup, leaving him more often in a bunker and even more isolated, report Anastasia Stognei @maxseddon.bsky.social and @labboudles.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/fe70...

“.. The U.S. cost of primary aluminum from smelters is nearly 90% higher than a year ago. @wsj.com #$F www.wsj.com/business/aut...

The fossil fuels industry is ignoring Trump's call to boost production, because this would bring prices down

GOLDMAN: “.. three key ways in which AI is boosting consumer prices. First, .. key electronics inputs, .. “.. upward pressure on software prices .. “.. increasing electricity prices in some US regions, and we expect it to continue boosting inflation over the next couple of years.”