So much for the Theban hegemony.

Dw i'n deall. Pob lwc a nerth i chi!

Mae'n ofnadwy. Ble mae hwn?

Yes, I do know Chris, of course! Sounds like you'll have a great discussion, with two externals. All the best for it!

Oh wow, good luck with the viva! You may find you enjoy it, talking about stuff you're interested in and know lots about! Who's your external? All fine with me, busy with Forster and too many other things!

Very interesting, Lawrence. How are things?

'Oh no, we don't want our kids to discover there are other ways of looking at the world.'

Signalling to hedgehogs? Signalling with hedgehogs?

Hedgehog semiotics

Man (30s) arrested over alleged assault on women canvassing with Mary Lou McDonald The man assaulted two women amongst a group of canvassers, including Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald

Man (30s) arrested over alleged assault on women canvassing with Mary Lou McDonald The man assaulted two women amongst a group of canvassers, including Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald

Man (30s) arrested over alleged assault on women canvassing with Mary Lou McDonald The man assaulted two women amongst a group of canvassers, including Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald Independent TD Michael Healy-Rae has denounced "outrageous" and "hurtful" online abuse and called for action against 介 Home Most Read Latest Sections.

Man convicted of abusing refugees tells Leo his 'days are numbered' Debbie McCann 05/10/2025 A convicted criminal and far-right agitator sinisterly told former Taoiseach Leo

Harassment, personal abuse, & threats have become an endemic part of Irish political life. & it’s by & large driven by social media, which has played a major part in all of these incidents.

All of these incidents have been shocking but pale into insignificance compared to what happened this week.

Whatever happened to 'Education, education, education'?

On this day, 16 April, I think particularly of my parents, Elizabeth (d. 16.04.2003, aged 73) and Jim (d. 16.04.2024, aged 99). Same day, 21 years apart. Never forgotten. Byth anghofio.

Yes, the Grimshaw painting is a masterstroke for this cover!

When you aggregate the comments of various Reform UK candidates, you find they:
Hate the NHS
Hate immigrants
Hate Black people
Hate Brown people
Hate Muslims
Hate Jews
Hate women
Hate students
Hate LGTBQ people
Hate the unemployed
Hate disabled people
Hate everyone ...
But claim to love the country.

There are only 44 female TD’s in the Dáil. Each female Minister who stood up to speak during the confidence motion was heckled and shouted over during their speaking time by Independent Ireland. It is not acceptable.

Reform’s temper tantrum about slavery reparations shows it doesn’t understand Britain’s place in the modern world | Kojo Koram The party’s talk of visa bans for countries seeking reparative justice is not just undemocratic – it displays staggering ignorance about geopolitics, says professor of law and political economy Kojo K...

On why reparations are (a) right, (b) expedient. Good article.

Reform’s temper tantrum about slavery reparations shows it doesn’t understand Britain’s place in the modern world | Kojo Koram www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Llongyfarchiadau, Kate!

Oh yes, far worse, because of the multiplicity of parties garnering support. FPTP is a disaster in that situation. Reform, of course, was in favour of PR until the party started to do so well in the polls.

I don't think it has much to do with the US at all. More about not paying proper attention, a general dissatisfaction and boredom with the 2 main traditional parties (both of which have been poor in government the last decade), nostalgia for 'Great' Britain, and an underlying dislike of the 'other'.

So: Reform, 331 seats and an overall majority on 25% of the total vote; Labour and Conservative 48 seats between them on a combined 33% of the total vote. You'd think Lab and Con would want PR out of self-preservation.

Very important. The Welsh history I was taught in Welsh primary and secondary schools in the 1960s/1970s extended as far as the Red Lady of Paviland and 'Edward I gave us a prince'.

Back in the Cold War era, we were less concerned about the US and the Soviet Union having nuclear weapons than about the prospect of a madman (say, Idi Amin) getting hold of them. And look where we are now.

Want to know capitalism’s endgame? Just look at private equity – it has captured our everyday lives | Hettie O'Brien These companies now own everything from nurseries to care homes, squeezing vital services for profit while we foot the bill, says Hettie O’Brien, author of The Asset Class: How Private Equity Turned C...

Excellent article. Private equity eating up e.g. the care sector has turned it into a machine for making profits. The state must do better.

Want to know capitalism’s endgame? Just look at private equity – it has captured our everyday lives | Hettie O'Brien www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Fire Brigade incensed

Great decision!

Has everyone in the Trump orbit simply traded in their minds for a status that's going to be beyond worthless when all this is over?

I was a founder member of the revived Society for the Abolition of the Death Penalty in South Africa in the late 1980s. Practice there was extremely discriminatory. But it was not enshrined in law. This is much worse.

Israel passes law to give death penalty to Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks Knesset approves measure that has been criticised by European countries and rights groups

The death penalty is an abomination. The discriminatory application of the death penalty denies common humanity.

Israel passes law to give death penalty to Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

(de)generative