It’s a shame the USA’s 250th anniversary comes when it’s clearer than ever that the project (as outlined by the founders, not in terms of economic or military might) has failed on its own terms. The 200th fell in the aftermath of Watergate so maybe these anniversaries are jinxed

15 top TV shows ever, gut instinct edition (in no particular order) Shogun HBO's Rome The Good Place Friends Firefly Star Trek TNG Reacher The X-Files (S1-3) Elementary Stargate SG1 House Mad Men Simpsons (S2-10) Ted Lasso (S1) How I Met Your Mother

Yeah I think this is the more nuanced take. C suite types don't like HR because they're the ones who stop them from harassing the interns. Line staff don't like HR because they're the ones who pass on the message that they're fired.

The EU is perhaps also a factor in Orbàn not going down the Erdoğan route and simply arresting Magyar. Just enough space was left for this, because Hungary has some external checks & balances

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

To position this a little bit, and assuming some exaggeratiion: For every 2 Russian boys born last month, 1 Russian man was killed or maimed in Ukraine For comparison, in 1968 during the height of the Vietnam war, for every 100 US boys born, one American man was killed in Vietnam.

This seems entirely typical of the Israeli approach. Theoretically blowing up militia stations would reduce the regime’s control, but doing it with a 900kg bomb & so deliberately slaughtering dozens of other civilians strengthens regime support. It’s just crazed murder www.bbc.com/news/article...

Destroying ambulances run by a Jewish group does not make you a good person: it makes you an anti-semite. And wanging on about "but Israel" as you seek to defend destroying ambulances run by a Jewish group similarly makes you an anti-semite.

One of my favourite facts is that the spiky tail of a stegosaurus didn't used to have a specific name, until Gary Larson published this Far Side cartoon, at which point "thagomizer" was adopted by paleontologists.

The last thing here is redolent of one the most famous sci-fi novels of this century, Liu Cixin's Dark Forest. In which an overwhelmingly technologically outmatched and surveilled humanity must give complete autonomy to its commanders to avoid plans being leaked

Europeans when asked to help unblock the strait of Hormuz

I am forever grateful that Terry Pratchett was with us as long as he was and it was not even close to enough his work made me a better person, and I do not think I'm alone in that GNU Terry Pratchett, we are so much poorer without you

This is hilarious. Also, completely enraging.

US officers are concerned because these posts are not posts of warriors, they're the posts of executioners. And nobody respects executioners, themselves least of all

So there's been a 'war' on for a week now, during which the aggressors have suffered 6 deaths (from two hits) and their victims have suffered thousands. As van Creveld once said, at these proportion of loss it's not war, it's massacre. People involved are not warriors but butchers.

as far as I can tell the US wants Iran to become Venezuela, while Israel wants it to become Libya

At least the 'strategic analysis' community' seems happy with the recent turn of events. I appreciate that the rule 'don't go around attacking other countries' was dull for them, but they don't seem to think it was *good* dull. I mean, 1900 was a very interesting time strategically....

Speaking as a private EU citizen, I am beyond embarrassed that our leaders and representatives criticise Iran while staying silent on the US and Israel. Values are supposed to be universal and if the EU has a point it has to be to defend universal values. That’s my EU.

Very much this. Westminster relying on muscle memory of two-party politics is in no fit shape for politics as it is now playing out in the country.

If criticism of breach of an ethical code only ever results in closed ranks with the offender against those complaining, there is no ethical code, simply lipstick on a pig of self-interest against the laity. Compare and contrast lawyers, who criticise ethical breaches *all the time*.

If nothing else, I think we can say that giving power to people who say the country’s problems are easy to fix has provided conclusively that the country’s problems are not in fact easy to fix - and that those people couldn’t arrange a mess in a kindergarten

If you see this, quote with a robot that isn’t from “Star Wars”, “Star Trek”, “Dr. Who”, or “Transformers.”

The sad thing about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is that the actors, the writers & the characters are well suited to a 22 episode/year format (The actors have charisma & are game, the writers like experimenting, and the characters are strong enough that just their interaction is good TV)

A message from Greenland…

*wisely, in my "I have read ten million books" voice If a bad person does a bad thing and nobody stops him, he will do a bad thing because he was not stopped.

tragically, we actually have great internet

CARNEY: “.. You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.” 🔥

Words cannot express what an absolute unit of a chicken I just walked past. 5-10 the volume of its buddy

Presumably most of Britain's cartoonists are already preparing something with Jenrick as a scorpion and Farage as a frog. 🦂 🐸

Well, I LoLd

The imperial presidency is just rolling the dice hoping you don’t throw a mad king. Sooner or later, you *will* throw a natural mad king.

Let the record show I have a lovely wife, four interesting kids, a house in a pleasant village, a job, enough money in the bank and a Christmas tree. It is enough, I want no more.

Happy to live in a country a) that's economically competitive and b) where our trashiest newspaper cheerfully leads with that news

Jesus - this toy remake has literally the best, widest cast of anything ever. Why is not more famous? It's a little masterclass in actors redoing classic scenes. And yes, the ending is suddenly even more moving

Surely 12 monkeys escaped...

This is the problem with Europe that needs solving. A leading EU citizen has been kidnapped at sea by the thugs of a small, crappy neighbouring country and tormented by them. If this is to be borne, what is not be borne? It's pathetic.

On the one hand polls 4 years before an election don't say much, on the other, every poll for a year as consistently warned of disaster for FPTP

I think this is philosophically true, and to some extent a traditional Leftwing belief. However although many people here on BSky believe it, I've rarely seen it argued out in publicly. And it needs to be, given that most people now, and almost everyone in the past, believe ethnicity is a thing

"From Churchill to *this*. Christ."

Which movie do you consider perfect?

Europe will never be taken seriously in security circles until it has a scary animal. American eagle, Russian bear, Chinese dragon, Indian tiger. I back the gryphon, traditionally valid and currently unclaimed

Everyone, from big business CEOs to small business owners to highly paid professionals and lowly paid service staff, has urged the Chancellor to tax someone else. From the new Private Eye, out now.

Politics in most democratic countries today Voters: "We want free lunches" Opposition: "free lunches coming up!" One year later New government: "We can offer a pricey paid lunch" (left)/ "free absence of lunch plus some tasty fascism" (right)" Voters: "You're fired!" [Repeat cycle]

He's doing it with a characteristically British light touch, but Sunder Katwala is drawing attention to the fact that the UK tabloids seem almost determined to will mass race riots into existence. Seems bad.

This is both (with small changes in terminology) the political system of most small towns throughout most of recorded history, and an annoying system to live in. The Chinese Civil War is a striking example of how eventually the victims of such people ganged up to take frightful revenge.