So it's I'm winning, rather than we're winning. In his head, this is probably just a game of Risk in the middle East

I can't helping thinking that sentence may need a little more clarity. I'd hate there to be any misunderstanding

"Oh how high the scaffold grows
The plant life of your widow
In black lace curtains brought you near
From out the plate glass window"

The Scaffold - Elton John/Bernie Taupin

Always nice to start the day with good news!

Lonnie Donegan - Rock Island Line (Live) 15/6/1961 YouTube video by Paul Griggs

For some reason, it's brought this to mind... www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI4n...

Thyme Travellers 2 – Call for Submissions Roseway, an imprint of Fernwood Publishing, will be publishing a sequel to the award-winning and acclaimed anthology Thyme Travellers featuring speculative fiction by Palestinian writers. Editor So…

Please share as widely as possible.

This is open to Palestinians anywhere in the world, published or not.

Call for Palestinian fantasy, science fiction, and horror stories! Pro rate pay: soniasulaiman.com/thyme-travel...

Salò Press are now publishing short stories under a new imprint named Infidelities (with poetry distinct under the Flirtations imprint). The first five are up for pre-orders (including my short story, The Good Men), available individually or in a bundle. Check out the link: www.salopress.com/store/

Meanwhile, China echoes with the sound of laughter.

1000% tariffs to be announced in 3...2...

How Charles de Gaulle Broke The American Empire : The True Story YouTube video by Cinematic History Tales

For those unfamiliar with the Bretton Woods agreement, this is a useful primer... www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtre...

Or tying your own shoelaces together, which might be even funnier

State owned petrol stations

Hegseth's days are probably numbered too, then. Got to have someone to blame.

Charles should rehearse the phrase, 'My brother used to talk about you a lot.'

He was at the bottom of Reform's list for the Senedd constituency, meaning that it would take a landslide for him to get elected. I'm not saying that this is a case of sour grapes, but it certainly sounds like it.

Damaged U.S. Jet’s Nearest Replacement Will Cost More Than $700 Million The E-3 Sentry jet damaged by an Iranian attack this week was part of a dwindling American fleet of early-warning aircraft with no easy replacement

Replacement cost more than $700 million though, according to the WSJ. Investors will no doubt be piling into Boeing shares which are currently undervalued. www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

Good afternoon Womble. A bit of a change this week - currently reading Domination by Professor Alice Roberts, a study of the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity. Interesting stuff.

Reform UK's Holyrood campaign in meltdown as fifth candidate quits James Glen said he had “withdrawn” his candidacy a week after he had been unveiled as one of the party’s hopefuls.

www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politic...

'Bad money drives out good.' Gresham's Law gets a new twist.

You're clearly having an impact already!

Bets on US-Iran ceasefire show signs of insider knowledge, say experts Number of new online accounts on Polymarket platform betting a total of $70,000 suggest ‘some degree of inside info’

Here you g... www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Good Evening Womble. I'm currently racing through 'The Shattering Peace' by John Scalzi. Great fun!

Distancing himself from Trump? 'Nothing to do with me guv, I wasn't even in the country.'

Makes a change from planes falling off, I suppose.

I think they're frit

Sure, but it wouldn't prevent them from pursuing whoever the leader is, as they have threatened.

Even if Trump decides that it's all over and withdraws the US, will Israel stop? I'm not sure.

There was a schedule?

I'm currently reading Alan Garner's 'Where Shall We Run To?', a beautiful memoir of childhood.