For decades the Omanis (who are neither Sunni nor Shia) have acted as (usually) discreet go-betweens keeping the channels of diplomacy open between Iran and its sworn enemies such as the US and the Saudis, and I bet they're absolutely furious at being used like this by Trump. What a betrayal.

Time for inclusive scouting organisations including the UK's Scout Association to call for the suspension of Scouting America from WOSM. It's true that many other members of WOSM have never accepted trans kids, but accepting them before surrendering them to appease bigoted thugs is unforgiveable.

One of the worst things which I can blame on ADHD is that it's probably why I've found it very hard to keep friends over the last 30 years or so. I'm intensely hard work in person. So I'd just like to say a big "thank you" to all those people who have remained friends with me nonetheless. Thank you!

Interesting loophole in Democracy Volunteers' FAQ - "In order to observe an election with Democracy Volunteers you cannot be a member of a UK political party." So if you're a "member" of Reform UK, which is a private company and not a political party, can you still be an observer?

So "family voting" was made a criminal offence in the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023 via a Private Member's Bill based on a report by.. Democracy Volunteers, and now the only group claiming to have seen "widespread family voting" in Gorton (without reporting it to police) is... Democracy Volunteers. Right.

Excellent @secondmentions.bsky.social here - chickenpox, "the itchy childhood affliction".

In am so glad that we Gen-Xers never did anything as stupid as this, not because we are in any way wiser or smarter than succeeding generations but because most of us were into our 20s and 30s by the time social media came to mean more than IRC, Usenet and maybe ICQ.

Seems to me that Ukraine would not have survived this long against Russia without the efforts of a bunch of electrical engineers to rush the project to resynchronise Ukraine and Moldova’s grids with the European grid rather than Russia’s to completion in the first month of the war. 1/3

a year is a long time in politics

When you put it together the whole "AI coding" revolution is basically a way to move money companies are currently spending on junior developers to the profits of the silicon manufacturers and hosting providers who have all been cranking their prices up because of demand from AI vendors. Er, yay?

There are strong "Salt Bae somehow gets himself onto the pitch after Argentina wins the World Cup and grabs the trophy" vibes around Kash Patel's presumably uninvited imposition of himself upon the US men's hockey team, aren't there? "I am the main character! Everybody pay attention to meeee!".

Got the annual electricity bill and according to Wien Energie our electricity supply last year was 61.6% from solar and wind with another 32% hydro and the rest "other renewables", all generated in-country. And the country isn't covered in turbines and solar panels. You barely even see them.

If he really wants to help people who can't access medical care, maybe he should be sending it to New Orleans or Mobile Bay instead? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Re last post: It's worth noting that "Short Ride in a Fast Machine" was originally on the bill for the Last Night of the Proms 1997 but was removed after Princess Diana died following just such a short ride only a few days before the concert. They also planned to perform it in 2001, on Sept 15th..

This has been sitting in my download folder for so long I've completely forgotten where it came from but I have to repost it because every time I see it it makes me laugh.

"Some parliamentarians who have been critical of the monarchy told the BBC they were less convinced [changing the line of succession] was required - in part because it is so unlikely the former Duke of York would ever get near to the throne." - has any sentence ever tempted Fate more blatantly?

I think I hear the sound of ketchup hitting the wall...

One pleasing side effect of yesterday's news is that a number of Americans seem to have been introduced via social media threads to the term "thick as pigshit", as in "Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is...".

By the way - it should be noted that maximum penalty under English law for misconduct in public office is life imprisonment. It doesn't only cover bribery and leaks but also covers abuse of position for sexual purposes or for exploiting vulnerable people. Andrew is in big, big trouble.

Hoping that today's police questioning will also provide an answer to Mountbatten-Windsor's claim of being unable to sweat once they get into talking about Virginia Giuffre.

Pleasantly surprised to see Andrew having his collar felt, but to see his brother the King’s statement referring to him only as “Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor” and not as, say, “my brother Andrew” or “my brother”… now that is cold. He's not my brother, he's just some asshole.

Former Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol sentenced to life imprisonment with labour for insurrection after his illegal declaration of martial law. He was lucky not to get the death penalty (and I'm fine with that because the death penalty is wrong in all cases, no exceptions). You listening, America?

A vendor just asked if we had any actual use cases for why some machines we’re renting from them should have valid reverse DNS. A slap in the face of all that is good and right and holy.

POKEY IS TWENTY EIGHT YEARS OLD yellow5.com/pokey

It's good to know that however stupid my self-inflicted injury today was the A&E doctors would likely not even rank it in the top 200. It didn't even give them the chance to write a paper for the prestigious "Things inserted in rectums" track at the next European Congress on Emergency Medicine.

Discovered today that even at 52 you're never too old to be so stupid that you attempt to cut a plastic pipe with a Stanley knife and end up putting an 8cm long / 1cm deep gash in your thigh requiring performing first aid on myself before 1.5 hours in A&E getting it taken care of with 9 stitches.

Q: Why is there so much sex at the Winter Olympics? A: Because of all the bi athletes!

Another way in which the Winter Olympics seem to outperform the summer games: the 10,000 condoms made available for participants have already run out and it only took three days.

Now I am citizen I will start a petition to pass a law requiring McDonald's Austria to serve the Sausage & Egg Muffin and the McRib. It is an absolute disgrace that politicians are simply sitting back and allowing Germany to one-up Austria in the area of porky fast food goodness. #austria #vienna

Hairy blighter dicky-birded, feathered back on his Sammy, took a waspy, flipped over on his Betty Harper's and caught his can in the Bertie.

A twofer for @secondmentions.bsky.social here - "the German-born Belgium-representing Meylemans" and "Brazil's sliding-sport pioneer Silveira". www.olympics.com/en/milano-co...

Surprised that the Dutch aren't stronger in the skeleton bob - it's basically speed-skating in a slightly different form. On the other hand, it requires a hill.

Today's mood: deep well of misanthropy.

One way the Winter Olympics are more fun than the summer version is the way you’ll see someone who just finished 45th in their event and they’ll still be all smiling and “squee, I’m at the Olympic Games!”. Two contestants in the women’s skeleton (from different countries) are married to each other.

Watching the women's skeleton bob and it's definitely one of the top candidates for a sport which overconfident men who are sure they could go faster because "how hard is that really?" should definitely be encouraged to have a go at.

I have little sympathy for the IOC but can see how they got engineered into a scandal - there were published rules, people were aware of those rules, and if they had allowed one derogation from the rules there would be nothing to stop e.g. Confederate flags or pictures of Charlie Kirk appearing too.

!! … ah

I know that album sequencing is a dark art and very hard to get right, but the Police opening side 2 with "Synchronicity II" and following it with "Every Breath You Take" is certainly a... bold and adventurous move. The former is an absolute banger of alienation and paranoia, the latter is.. not.

Whoever wrote the headline for the Grauniad’s review of “Wuthering Heights” deserves a pay rise: “Wuthering Heights review: too hot, too greedy adaptation guarantees bad dreams in the night”

Definitively one of the most momentous events in legal history. It should be a public holiday.

Many of us are tired due to having to deal with so much right wing bullshit right now - but just think, many right-wingers must be exhausted and angry all the time because their identity is based on being constantly outraged at so many petty things nobody else cares about. Hate really tires you out.

Apropos of nothing at all, Ed Miliband's speech at the Labour conference last year was great. Cut off the first minute which is the obligatory noises about how great the PM is. :) youtu.be/7qPXwDixvn0?...

Everything you need to know about American football: the NFL posted a video of "The Final Two Minutes of Super Bowl LX" and it's five minutes long.

The funniest thing about the rediscovery of some Kid Rock lyrics about having sex with kids is not that #MAGA will simply wave away any suggestions of hypocrisy but that literally nobody noticed these lyrics for >10 years. Clearly the sign of a great artist, a true titan of the music industry.

"I wouldn't buy green bananas if I were you" is going to live in my brain for years

Proposal for the next Winter Olympics: keirin speed-skating. Might need to find a way for the pace moto to stay upright, though..

just a heads up for @bjornfr.bsky.social - apparently a billion LinkedIn users are being advised to move to Iceland and expecting to pay “no taxes”.

Can't help but think the Austrian tourist board and the ÖBB missed a trick by not getting Arnold Schwarzenegger to do the "This train terminates here" recording for the on-train announcements. #oebb #austria

Thread of the year.