if you’ve never seen Interview with the Vampire, it ends with the vampire being told he’s made it through to a second interview

the point of the ballroom obvs has nothing to do with aesthetics. it's to create an architectural structure to honor the patronage networks that currently dominate US politics. previous WH venues hosted maybe a couple of hundred people; this hosts nearly 1,000 rich donors.

Dutch intelligence suspends sharing arrangements with the US after concluding that high level intel was routinely being shared by the White House with their friends in the Kremlin. www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/n...

Delighted to announce that I will be interviewing the mighty @johnrobb at AB on Sunday, 7 December talking about his new book on Oasis. John is a great speaker and the evening will be full of anecdotes about the brothers. www.abconcerts.be/nl/agenda/bo...

New post just out: The relationship between Russia and the European radical right goes well beyond Reform's Nathan Gill being bribed. In this post I trace the history back to the 1990s and look at the threat it poses now. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/r...

I didn't know until we buried my mother, so probably most people here don't know: Jewish cemeteries strongly recommend that you get insurance for the headstone. Because the cemeteries are so often desecrated, the gravestones smashed.

Wow, just wow. At one stage reading this, I thought I’d been whacked by a flying carp.

I'm sorry, what?

"experts say" www.cnn.com/2025/08/11/b...

The Brookings Institute found that Charlie Kirk was the 2nd largest misinformation spreader among podcasts they analysed. "Mr. Kirk, a conservative activist and the founder of Turning Point USA, ranked second, with 17 percent of his episodes containing an unsubstantiated or false claim." Gifted:

The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, on Wednesday announced that his department will return to the treasury billions of dollars set aside for green projects, calling climate action a “green new scam” that makes people’s lives worse.

RIP to the great Danny Thompson. Here he is on 2024's "So Quietly" by Paul Weller, his final recording session. Weller "Danny said it was his “last plonk”, which was a very sad thing in a way but what a life man. We felt very honoured to be part of that final recording performance."

Returning Jesus Christ Downed By U.S. Missile Defense 30,000 Feet Before Making Landfall

Having pondered it all morning, I'm still incredulous that all that Today programme coverage of migrant hotels at no point (unless I missed it) mentioned why people were here, what they might be fleeing from etc.

Lib Dems conf, leader offers alternative to Reform/Farage & says BBC simply cut & paste Reform press releases & fail to scrutinise. So the BBC sends Chris Mason, recently pilloried for his breathless coverage of Reform's conf, to interview Davey for 3min segment. Followed by 6min piece on Reform.

This speech is such an extraordinary combination of lies, delusions, narcissism, hatefulness, ignorance and lunacy that it could have been given by no other person than the president of the United States. It could well be the low point of US public diplomacy in our history.

What on Earth is this? An "in depth" BBC article about free speech in the UK that only cites examples of right-wing/ 'anti-woke' speech being suppressed. How can you mention Lucy Connolly but completely ignore Palestine Action / Just Stop Oil? Gob-smacking. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Why are the American president's claims about autism the first item on British news bulletins? He's not our president, the advice doesn't apply here and he's not presented any evidence to support his assertions. So why spread these claims? What make this the biggest story in the UK?

Does anyone know why Congolese singing legend M'Bilia Bel postposned her show at La Madeleine in Brussels last night? Illness, poor ticket sales? Did the venue communicate about it?

America plunges headlong into Onion territory Oklahoma lawmakers introduce legislation requiring every public university in the state to construct “a Charlie Kirk Memorial Plaza”, with a statue and a sign calling him a “modern civil rights leader" Or get fined www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

It feels like there was a refusal here and it has been taken very personally.

The media - no, we're not going to report on serious Lib Dem policies The media - yes, we will report on fun stunts The media, also - the Lib Dems need to show they've got serious policies

James Dyson lives in Dodington Park - a 35000 sqare foot mansion he paid 15 million for in 2003. He is not, in any sane reality, vacuuming his own home.

So I found out Stephen miller lives in my general neighborhood.

Lib Dems: We have 12x Reform's MPs, can we have the same coverage? BBC: But Reform has 2x your poll rating. If there were an election tomorrow, they'd be running the country. Lib Dems: So you're putting their people and policies under scrutiny, right? BBC: Lib Dems: Right?

Lefto will be playing a 30-hour set for Kiosk Radio next Saturday and a special 30th anniversary show at l'Ancienne Belgique on 30 November.

Really enjoyed talking to legendary DJ @Lefto for @BrusselsTimes. A big mate of Giles Peterson, he has been at the cutting edge of hip-hop and jazz for 30 years.

Really enjoyed talking to legendary DJ #lefto for The Brussels Times. A big mate of Giles Peterson, he has been at the cutting edge of hip-hop and jazz for 30 years.

George Louis-Bouchez, president of francophone Liberals MR, has promised to dismantle “antifa” in Belgium, in yet another example of him copying Trump’s playbook. I can’t wait for him to start using fake tan and having a combover.

If vaccines aren't safe. Neither is botox.

Martin Daubney proving that there really is a lower tier in life than being a former Loaded editor.

They just tear-gassed us. They tried to run us over in a van holding a peaceful protester. They shot us with pepper balls. They dragged another protester into the facility.

Slava Ukraini one punnet at a time

An actual quote from the Secretary of State for Business and Trade Too often people go to university to ‘explore research and knowledge’ Look forward to Wes S saying 'too often people go to hospital to have operations' or Heidi Alexander saying 'too often people go to the station to catch a train'

Politico has done it again, writing that the EU has new sanctions rather than that the Commission has proposed a new package which member states (including Putinversteher Hungary and Slovakia) have to approve. @timgwynnjones.bsky.social @stevepeers.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/eu-c...

Looking forward to the third season of #Andor on Disney+, in which the Emperor Palpatine threatens Disney+ and gets them to cancel the third season of #Andor.

It's not just the authoritarianism — it's how shameless, how *gleeful* this administration is about it

This is the biggest attack on free speech since the McCarthy era but it also has significantly less popular consensus behind it than the second Red Scare. It's being done on behalf of a minority faction led by the most unpopular president in modern history. Organizing against this can win.

NEW: A company with active NHS contracts paid for a Labour health minister's luxury trip to California, The National can reveal Palo Alto Networks, which supplies cybersecurity tools to the NHS, covered Stephen Kinnock and his wife's expenses of £12,873 www.thenational.scot/news/2547567...

Heard from a friend at Disney+ that there are multiple levels of freakout internally, both from internal dissatisfaction, concerns about subscription cancelations, and of course the big one: concern about a boycott spilling over into parks and cruises.

Andrea Jenkyns has awarded herself an increase of £150K to “run her office” as Mayor of Lincolnshire. Council taxpayers will now have to fork out £262K per annum for her immense talent and expertise. Reform U.K. Ltd, always knowingly grifting.

Swalwell: There’s going to be a Democratic majority in just over a year. To the FCC chairperson and anyone in involved in these dirty deals: get a lawyer and save your records because you’re going to be in this room answering questions

I gave my heart and soul to that place. Built entire sections for journalists pushed out of their home countries. When the writer I hired, Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi Arabia, they paraded me around as a symbol for press freedom. I put MY LIFE on the line to defend journalism and WaPo.

Just now, 11 state and city lawmakers were arrested by DHS police on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza after a hour of demanding access to the ICE lock up on the same floor. @thecity.nyc

Hey all Disney + subscribers. How about we cancel our subscriptions unless Jimmy Kimmel’s show is reinstated?

It’s almost like Kimmel suggested murdering the homeless.