Separation of church and state going well

July September

70% of athletes say climate change is impacting their training and competition schedules www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athlet...

I wrote about a growing crime dynamic in London: thieves are swiping unlocked phones and then somehow managing to drain the owner's crypto wallet. Worth reconsidering your phone security options! www.ft.com/content/dfbc...

I guess Trump just doesn't like bus drivers' sons!

throwback Friday

Do rivers and whales have legal rights? (And what does it mean if they get them?) www.ft.com/content/d8ed...

On Today, the top story was 'second migrant returned to France!' (government talking point!) but that just provided a peg to talk about the three boats that had left France. Don't think Labour can win while immigration is the focus of debate.

Corbyn's new party is making the Tiggers seem like a roaring success www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Netanyahu: ‘These So-Called Genocide Experts Have Probably Never Committed A Genocide In Their Lives’

I don't really go in for 'the BBC is biased'. But there can be a worrying contrast between how the media treats populists (as if it's overly-grateful for their attention) and how it lays into moderates. We shouldn't lose perspective: only one side is committed to democracy!

Right-wing attacks on free speech are nothing new. I wrote this five years ago. Yes, the left sometimes over-reached, but it's wrong to claim that the right's attacks are solely in response to that. www.ft.com/content/c966...

Woah. It's one thing for Trump to ban journalists from White House press conferences; it's another for Downing Street to do his bidding on UK soil.

Very cool film imagining the use of AI with dementia sufferers, and the possible tensions (written by David Baddiel, starring Stephen Fry and Gemma Whelan, 13 mins long) www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ztA...

you know I wouldn't say I had high hopes for "the Spectator interviews the Tate brothers" anyway but somehow the piece is worse than I thought it would be

Listen carefully to what Jimmy Kimmel said...

Bit strange to hear the Today programme interviewing the CEO of Newsmax like he's a public intellectual, then interviewing a Labour minister like he's a war criminal

SWALWELL: Did you ever tell the AG that Trump's name is in the Epstein files PATEL: The AG and I have had numerous discussions about the entirety of the Epstein files S: Did you tell AG that Trump's name is in the files? P: *crashes out* S: We'll take your evasiveness as consciousness of guilt

'don't kick Israel out of Eurovision, the arts aren't political' variety.com/2025/film/gl...

This is a direct result of EU's carbon tariffs. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Yo, if John Yoo is saying you might be committing war crimes… decent chance you’re committing war crimes

Superb. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

I feel like this is the only update I need.

The government is less popular than Meghan and Harry, more popular than Prince Andrew.

These words from a Tory activist in Kruger's seat deserve some attention.

Q: Do you think it would've been fitting to lower the flags to half staff when Melissa Hortman, the Minnesota House Speaker, was gunned down by an assassin? TRUMP: I'm not familiar. The who?

Strange how legal experts keep concluding the same thing www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It may be distasteful but it is not illegal to mock someone's death and it should not warrant arrest, ever. The 1st Amendment exists specifically to protect disfavored speech and what is happening now is one of the greatest threats to free speech in the United States.

The revolution will have an Eton education

not good www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

America is in a dark place

Surely everyone involved in Eurovision (and probably some other cultural events) looks at this, and starts moving towards the inevitable www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cyclin...

You can take one life lesson from the Epstein birthday book: if you find yourself wishing someone happy birthday while musing how they’ve avoided jail, maybe skip the first part? A column on this week's shamelessness from Trump and Murdoch www.ft.com/content/dc6b...

Absolutely !!!insane!!! to me that the UK government, lobby and newspapers litigate at length every minor infraction by the BBC, rival newspapers, or what some random columnist has posted. But all of them just carry on not even commenting about this media owner. He’s not hiding, he’s telling you!

You can take one life lesson from the Epstein birthday book: if you find yourself wishing someone happy birthday while musing how they’ve avoided jail, maybe skip the first part? A column on this week's shamelessness from Trump and Murdoch www.ft.com/content/dc6b...

He was radicalised by professors he found so boring that he could only stand one term of their teaching.

Update: Civil War cancelled due to shooter being demographically uncooperative

The 16-year-old who shot two students in a Colorado high school on the same day Charlie Kirk was killed was a virulent white supremacist and antisemite www.denverpost.com/2025/09/11/e...

Would be amazed if Israel isn't banned from Eurovision. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It is genuinely difficult to opine about a tragedy in a way that is original, interesting and as quick as the media demands. Sometimes pundits get it wrong. And Ezra Klein is a truly superb journalist.

You guys put podcast hosts in charge of the FBI and fired all the competent agents because you thought they were woke.

A reminder of what Mandelson said to the FT's questions about Epstein in February this year

His killing was a tragedy, and we should say so. But let's not go so far as to airbrush out his spreading of antisemitism, Islamophobia and disinformation: this is not "practicing politics the right way".

Gregg Wallace is available

Britain has been a lot readier to punish Epstein's friends (Mandelson, Prince Andrew) than the US. www.ft.com/content/b5c3...

definitely top 20?

what is the opposite of news you can use

One of those "it's hard to be shocked in 2025, but...." stories. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...