@wazzock.eurosky.social Following you because I’m guessing you’re not thick as a brick 😉

Interesting reference just now to "the left-leaning Daily Mirror" on the Today Programme. I hope this practice is going to become routine, & that we'll be reminded of the political affiliations of The Daily Telegraph, The Mail, The Sun, The Express & The Times. It would actually be quite healthy.

Happy birthday, William Shakespeare. 462 today, and still going strong. And you always will ✊

Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s cover of Born to Run is better than Bruce Springsteen’s original. There. I said it.

@ppfideas.bsky.social David, remember how this week you said we can now see the downside to politics without hypocrisy? I was reminded of it myself when I saw Trump’s reaction today to the death of Robert Mueller:

@paulkirkley.bsky.social Just saw Your Week in Food while in Waitrose and didn’t pick it up. It’s like a roast with no gravy now…

I love the way that in the very last minute of an episode of Past Present Future, the guest, Australian academic Luke Kemp, tells us his father was the leader of a gang of Hell’s Angels 😉 @ppfideas.bsky.social

Gee, thanks, DJT: Allies of US in the Gulf bear brunt of Iran attacks www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

@empirepoduk.bsky.social - I am a club member and I’m listening to Episode 334. Why am I hearing ads? 😳

The rest of the family has remained silent for years about Andrew. They knew. They had to know. Only now do Charles and the rest attempt to distance themselves from him. Shameful. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c7...

Arrested and taken away in a convoy of Discoveries and Volvos. A shame it wasn’t in a modest family hatchback. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c7...

“Deeply concerned.” “Focussed on the victims.” Hmm. Andrew and Fergie’s relationships with Epstein must have been public knowledge in the royal households for years. Their silence until now speaks volumes. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I’m a big fan of @empirepoduk.bsky.social - 331 episodes + bonuses, and I haven’t missed one. But re the latest mini-series on present-day Iran: I know the hosts are at Jaipur Lit Fest and are pumped, but please could they let their fascinating guests speak a little more? Saying this out of love 😊

People in Britain know how serious the Andrew thing is - because he’s been packed off to Norfolk

Black History Month is a time to recognize the lived, shared experience of all Black folks who have fundamentally shaped, challenged, and ultimately strengthened America. It’s about taking an unvarnished look at the past so that we can create a better future.

Why is the Mirror the only UK paper to lead with this angle? Most of the others focus on Andrew, who is not only small potatoes, but old-news potatoes:

Instagram is introducing new terms of service in this region, which seem to distil down to: ‘Pay to remove ads or we’ll sell your personal data to advertisers.’ You can’t simply opt out of personalised ads. Your only other option is to leave the platform altogether. Anyone else see this?

I know Trump generates news on many fronts, but I must say I’m surprised that the hurt and outrage he has caused in Europe over his remarks on Afghanistan haven’t been more of a news item in the US

Worth reading these texts. It’s like writing to an adult and getting a reply from a seven-year-old 😳 www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cx...

No one really needs an air fryer. There. I said it.

Surprising that the Titanic didn’t float when the last port it visited was Cork.

@williamryanpubs.bsky.social Beer? Crosswords? The Dewey Decimal system? Let us swear long-distance friendship 🤝

Happy New Year, @ppfideas.bsky.social. Oh alright then: I’ll rewatch It’s A Wonderful Life. You’ve made me do it. Maybe I’ll like it this time 😉

@willdalrymple.bsky.social I’m really enjoying the Julia Margaret Cameron episode. We saw several of her portraits at Farringdon’s House this summer. Please can you recommend a biography? There are several books out there, so any help would be welcome 😊 @empirepoduk.bsky.social

I have a theory that physical exercise and health treatments don’t make us feel better. What we feel instead is relief when we stop.

“Many clever Babylonians, many clever Egyptians, many clever men at the end of Rome. Can you tell me, in a world that is flagrant with the failures of civilisation, what there is particularly immortal about yours?” GK Chesterton, The Napoleon of Notting Hill

For crying out loud. It’s 8:00pm on Christmas Eve. Can we please not give all the royal soft-sell PR non-news stories a rest? Princess Charlotte plays the piano with Kate for family carol service www.thetimes.com/article/e300...

The more that emerges about Andrew, the worse it becomes for the family. Such behaviour, over so many years, some of it in royal residences, can’t have gone unnoticed. And yet they only cut him loose this year? Come on.

We’ve reached the stage at which Christmas cards arrive from people we forgot and to whom it’s too late to reply

I think Denmark should appoint a Maine envoy Denmark furious as Trump appoints ‘totally unacceptable’ Greenland envoy www.thetimes.com/article/f987...

Andrew-Epstein, side by side on the BBC News app with a manufactured royal story. So much momentum behind this scandal I’m not sure the Buckingham Palace PR machine will win this time. Sandringham? Balmoral? Over so many years? How can the rest of the family hierarchy plausibly deny knowledge?

#BarackObama: The Audacity of Hope #DonaldTrump: The Mendacity of Dope

The BBC offers UK people a Royal Watch news service - but I don’t see any way we can do the opposite, and turn it all off www.bbc.co.uk/newsletters/...

I’m reading about the Edwardian era in the excellent Little Englanders by @alwynturner.bsky.social. The Parliament act of 1911: “It is intended to substitute for the House of Lords as it at present exists a second chamber constituted on a popular instead of hereditary basis.” We’re still waiting…

@empirepoduk.bsky.social @willdalrymple.bsky.social @anitaanand.bsky.social A big chunk of the British Empire & Commonwealth collection has been stolen from the Bristol Museum archive, including East India Company artefacts. Thought you’d like to know www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

You know how some children (and adults tbf) have a problem with maths logic? I just read the deets on today’s World Cup draw, and it would make a great entry point in a classroom lesson… www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

Last week, ICE arrested and separated a father and son after a routine check-in. Six-year-old Yuanxin had just enrolled in the first grade at an elementary school in Astoria. Now he's in custody, alone. ICE won't say where. This cruelty serves no one. It must end.

Happy St Andrew’s Day, everyone. Scotland: the only home nation to have its saint’s day at this time of year. “We don’t p*ss around with springtime, pal.” 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Listening to Thatcher Part 1 on @ppfideas.bsky.social. Re the U-turn speech, I heard once she didn’t get the joke: she had to be persuaded not to say “you can turn if you want to” 😉

Just finished today’s episode of @ppfideas.bsky.social: The Rise and Fall of Homo Sapiens Part 2. Oh my goodness: the species is doomed to decline, but what a wild ride. Worth subscribing to PPF+ for this episode alone - but there are so many other gems here…

Just opened the photos of atrocities in the Belgian Congo in today’s newsletter from @empirepoduk.bsky.social and there’s one there (9 of 12) that I can’t unsee. Just awful

Let’s imagine Russia invaded the USA from the NW and after 2-3 yrs China said it had brokered a deal: Russia would pull out of Oregon, N California, and W Montana, and in exchange the US would let them keep Alaska. What would any US President say to that? And why should Ukraine be any different?

NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen. Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.

I hear @samiraahmeduk.bsky.social is in the running to succeed Melvyn Bragg on In Our Time. I can’t think of a safer pair of hands.

Trump's White House & fawning hacks here don't really care about the 0.001% that the BBC gets wrong. They care about all the stuff it gets right.

We are so far through the looking glass that the man who tried to overthrow an election becomes president, the people who attacked the Capitol are turned into martyrs, & it's the BBC that gets punished - cheered on by the worst news outlets in the UK & the two most dishonest politicians of our age.

What’s infuriating about the departures of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness is that the Telegraph and the Mail etc will crow over them. The BBC resigns over things for which they wouldn’t even apologise.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness and dozens of emails each day announcing Black Friday deals

A film you’ve seen more than seven times with a GIF