Again, I doubt anyone in this country will hear, but Starmer is explicitly criticising the US action not only in Iran but also Venezuela. A significant rupture with Trump is taking place.

Computers, LSD and the old neighborhood In which I stumble on the story of how certain grownups in our circles were inventing the personal computer while dropping acid.

Do you want to watch, without interruption, Trump blowing up the world? Or may I entertain you for a moment? A short chapter from my memoir, now on Substack, free:
open.substack.com/pub/frederic...

Ch 20 The Roundhouse My winding path to Explanation must take us out of California briefly, to retrace the steps taken by my friend Cynthia who, years later when I came to know her, told me how in 1967 or 1968 – she would...

Another short chapter (20, if you're counting) of my Up and Down the Coast. This one's set in London's Roundhouse in 1967, no I wasn't there, but I followed an old friend's mention of it down the rabbit hole. On Substack, subscriptions free - enjoy!
open.substack.com/pub/frederic...

Table of Contents: a navigation aid for Up and Down the Coast Dear reader,

or see the Table of Contents, with links to the chapters posted so far (the subscription is free - it just gets you each new chapter in your email)
frederickguy.substack.com/p/table-of-c...

Ch 19 Hair and the Hippie Question Another short one, a chapterette, continuing on from Little Boxes and, the week before that, Ventotene. Enjoy!

On Substack, chapter 19 of that memoir
open.substack.com/pub/frederic...

Canada is the extreme case of vulnerability to Trump's bullying and volatility. How do you propose that he should respond?

“Welfare” is other people’s benefits, not mine, so the dissonance may not register

Mark Carney's full speech at the World Economic Forum YouTube video by National Post

An important speech by Mark Carney at Davos. Wake up, Europe!
youtu.be/btqHDhO4h10?...

Same thing really: he could control without invading so long as his threat to invade was credible; had Ukraine joined NATO, the threat would no longer have been credible.

this is the simple answer to people who keep saying NATO expansion matters. Sure, it matters because it presented an obstacle to Russian imperial ambitions. Putin didn't invade because he hated NATO expansion, he hated NATO expansion because he wanted to invade

I don't know her and I don't need to. I appreciate the work she has done to save the consistency and accuracy of UK official statistics with regard to sex - something she wanted to talk about in Bristol, where the Uni effectively sided with the nah nah nah nah nah self-righteous spoiled child veto.

Could drink a case of you and still be on my feet...

That's such a powerful argument, my friend. Hope you're enjoying your Christmas Eve as well.

NOT threatening legal action over people shouting: over failure of Uni, which expected the shouting, to plan or to respond, effectively supporting a heckler's veto. See her letter before action:
t.co/mTER473pzG

Details in letter before action: claim is they anticipated disruption - first wanted the talk just online, then severely restricted size of audience - but put the talk in a place where disruption was hard to control, and then didn't control it. In effect, facilitated hecklers' veto.
t.co/mTER473pzG

She is not threatening to sue over protests: she is threatening to sue over the university's handling of the protests, at each of several stages essentially supporting a hecklers' veto. Read, if you doubt that, her letter before action, available here:
t.co/mTER473pzG

What academic talking about their work would you not belittle as a a self-publicist? Some political science professor who is a prolific social media poster, perhaps?
And: wouldn't take what advice? Have you read through her letter before action?
t.co/mTER473pzG

Your claim is false. Her complaint (detailed in her letter before action, linked below) is not about those who disagree with her, but about the way Bristol University, as an institution, created the whole situation.
t.co/mTER473pzG

Far from the specifics of an investigative story, this post sees Bari Weiss stooping to the tawdry - and sadly, standard - practice of our social media world, taunting a faceless collective other, "they": good for nothing but the corrosion of public discourse.

Never forget who sold us out:

Hassan
King
Cortez-Masto
Shaheen
Kaine
Fetterman
Durbin
Rosen

What a strange career Sachs has had - a clever man with the most incredibly bad judgement. But this is so bad, I have to ask whether he's well paid, or insane. Blackmail would have been 3rd possibility, but what revelation could be more damaging to his reputation than appearing in that lineup?

when you let Ernst Rohm run the twitter account

Surely that can't be real - Alex Jones, Errol Musk...

Ch 5 The separateness of the West Coast Kenny’s death was my first encounter with mortality, because I and most of my friends had grown up in a world without grandparents, without extended family: my parents’ generation had moved to Califor...

Chapter 5 of my memoir, Up and Down the Coast - now on Substack!
frederickguy.substack.com/p/ch-5-the-s...

Ah, so she's not a racist, she just thinks there too many non-white people on TV and she finds it upsetting.

Ch 4 To Big Sur with Kenny Kids, by Greyhound and by thumb, down the coast.

Fourth chapter of my memoir. Free to read - hit the subscribe button if you want each chapter by email. And if you're enjoying it, do share this post!
frederickguy.substack.com/p/ch-4-to-bi...

It's not just music - the big digital platforms have devastated journalism (the ad revenue goes to the platforms), and control production and distribution of films. This shouldn't be allowed. The tech oligarchs lined up behind Trump in order to preserve this extortionate privilege.

Ch 3 Migrating without a clue To quibble again with Patrick White, from whom I’ve borrowed a memorable image, those souls might make a raftful if they were all in one place, but the point is rather that they aren’t, they can’t be ...

Chapter 3 of my memoir, Up and Down the Coast. Free on Substack. Enjoy!
frederickguy.substack.com/p/ch-3-migra...

I went home with the waitress
Just like I always do
How was I supposed to know
She was with the Russians too?
Send lawyers guns and money...