War disruption forces world’s biggest condom maker to raise prices by up to 30% Malaysia’s Karex says it has to pass on higher cost of raw materials to customers

Lots more of this kind of thing to come.
Loads of (understandable) focus on energy and fertilisers but a large range of wider petrochemical supply chains are messed up.

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... War disruption forces world’s biggest condom maker to raise prices by up to 30%

Memory, places, people: an interview with Peter Ross Marking the publication of Peter's latest book, Upon a White Horse, in paperback

"Writing, for me, is a chance to put something good into the world ... Life is hard. I like to soften it."
I'm pleased to have been interviewed by @mathewlyons.bsky.social. Upon A White Horse: Journeys in Ancient Britain and Ireland is published in paperback tomorrow.
substack.com/home/post/p-...

One of the MANY strange things about Blue Labour is that it's not at all transparent about its membership. It's an ideological movement and an internal lobbying group rather than an identifiable faction group of socially conservative MPs and Parliamentary staffers wrapped in the flaaaag.

BBC Newsnight ® @BBCNewsnight X.com "There's nothing wrong with friends saying 'are there any jobs around?'" Labour peer Baroness Hodge responds to reports that Downing Street considered giving a diplomatic role to the prime minister's then-director of communications Matthew Doyle. #Newsnight

As I said: your crank Facebook auntie, a ridiculous and self-serving bullshit artist

The underlying structural problems of UK politics that the country doesn't have the resources to do everything expected of it and a Westminster class in denial about this doesn't go away in the event of a new PM.

Heatwaves, floods and wildfires pose rising threat to democracy, report finds Research shows natural hazards linked to climate crisis disrupted 23 elections in 18 countries in 2024

Heatwaves, floods and wildfires pose rising threat to democracy, report finds #Climate

Washington Post Editorial Board headline: “The Texas gerrymander freak out. What’s happening in Texas is not a threat to democracy.”

Washington Post Editorial Board headline: “Virginia plunges America deeper into the gerrymandering abyss. The redistricting scheme was always a power grab by Democrats. Voters went along with it.”

The Washington Post Editorial Board was fine with Republicans gerrymandering in Texas.

But when Democrats responded in Virginia, it’s a “power grab” that “plunges America deeper into the gerrymandering abyss.”

Trump learning how wars work one mistake at a time.

Starting a mid-decade redistricting war only to end up with -1 seats is the same fine strategic genius and subtle grasp of game theory that brough us the Strait of Hormuz.

AOC talking to RFK Jr. Her facial and hand gesture has the spiritual energy of that Italian hand gesture where you pinch your fingers and wave your hand (the "ma che vuo" gesture).

how it feels to say "sprezzatura"

[pic of trump talking with his hand out ] Five-Time Draft Dodger Claims He Would Have Won Vietnam if He Hadn't Been Busy Assaulting Children Satire

#satire #vietnam

Politico report the Home Secretary was asked who out of Zack Polanski, Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch or Ed Davey she would taser or deport.

Mahmood replied: “All of the above.”

So Home Secretary is herself able to joke about deporting Badenoch, Polanski & Farage.

(Farage ought not to reciprocate)

Kind of agree. But I do think they need a different type of leader to be able to make common ground with a broad alliance of centre/left voters and the other parties in order to stop the fascists in 2029.

Trump’s incessant (and false) claims that Iran is making massive concessions in negotiations signal desperation and sabotage the talks. Talking on CNN.

8th May.

Two months before the first GOP primary in 2016, Donald Trump granted a long, friendly interview to Alex Jones. Any semblance of a reality-based GOP died that day. youtu.be/upo2zsqpEM4?...

Can't the real estate 'businessman' and the uber-grifter do it all without him?

Biopic sur Michael Jackson : le film sur le roi de la pop est une hagiographie ridicule d’un artiste dépeint en génie immature, expurgée de toutes les accusations de pédocriminalité.

Lire : bit.ly/42gIVr8

I'm not sure my French is good enough to understand the full subtleties of Libé's review of the Michael Jackson biopic

Emails show Amazon colluding with other firms to raise prices, California authorities allege The previously redacted messages were unveiled as part of an antitrust battle with California attorney general Rob Bonta

Amazon doing a good ole price fixing conspiracy, apparently www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

The ‘Pale Rider’ of 1918/19 likes this

Secretary of War Pete Hegs... # © • 39m The War Department is once again restoring freedom to our Joint Force. We are discarding the mandatory flu vaccine requirement, effective immediately.

Make this make sense.

What’s the bets that many of the residents now go and vote for Thatcher fanboy Farage?

And here it is: the Republican project in a nutshell.

@arianajasmine__ - Sorry but the Iranian government’s LEGO depiction of Kash Patel is fucking frying me 🤣🤣🤣🤣 [digital rendering of a LEGO-style minifigure intended to represent Kash Patel. The figure is seated in a high-backed black chair. It has tan skin, a salt-and-pepper beard, and dark, wavy hair. Most notably, the figure has oversized, bulging white googly eyes with large black pupils and holding a brown LEGO bottle labeled "ICE COLD" with a frosted beer mug graphic.]

Northampton couple who met on bus ride double decker to wedding The pair are now married after meeting during their commute last summer.

Everything is terrible. So here is a NICE THING.

Say what you will about the worst members of the Roberts Court, but they all make sure their wives are in on the grift.

Jane Roberts, Martha Alito and Ginni Thomas are equal partners with their husbands in the grand project of destroying the United States and enriching themselves in the process.

TRUMP: I WOULD HAVE WON VIETNAM VERY QUICKLY

Skux life!

I love Sam Neill. And also I can’t think of a more appropriate plot for a late period Sam Neill movie.