Orange Catholic Bible

A cartoon from the New Yorker. Its title is “Extreme Knitting”. A person in a space suit is falling through the sky, behind them billows a parachute which they are busy knitting from a ball of yarn on their back.

Coming soon to Channel 4

I am once again asking

I hear Canossa has a lovely golf course

The US enforcing a blockade puts China and the US in direct and immediate conflict 👇

Israeli strike kills infant girl in south Lebanon during father's funeral Wrapped in bloodied bandages, Aline Saeed, 7, barely survived an Israeli strike on her home. She was there to bury her father when a new strike killed her infant sister and other relatives.

“Israeli strike kills infant girl in south Lebanon during father’s funeral” — headline that tells you all you need to know about Israel’s war on Lebanon

You are probably spelling the prime minister's name wrong.

Let AI correct you:

I voted for Brexit. Now I face a red tape nightmare to retire in Spain Gone are the days when any Brit could leave their old life behind in the UK and head for the Spanish sun

It's not abnormal redtape. It's entirely normal globally for non-citizens to face these restrictions.

It was the advent of Europe that eliminated these problems. That was genius.

People forgot that the lack of redtape that was in actual fact not the norm.

#ThankEU

20 years ago??? How did I miss this?? I literally walk past it at least once a week 😂

They did what???

Blair is like the mirror image of Portillo, a politician who went from being universally reviled to being actually quite well liked after retiring.

Thing is, they’d actually hate it because Singapore is extremely well run with a tight grip on the rule of law and against corruption.

Singapore will hang Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj on Thursday for possessing cannabis. Yes, cannabis.

(Mandatory death sentence when you’re caught with over 500g)

By: Express Global Desk Updated: Apr 12, 2026 11:07 PM IST US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened China of imposing a "staggering" 50% tariff if Beijing provides weapons or military assistance to Iran amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

but of course Russia continues to get a free pass

it’s completely mad how Republicans allow this to go on

The real lesson is not that Orbanism doesn't work - it plainly does, for a while. It is good at arousing tribes, at winning elections. The neverending wars, the mass-production of enemies, is custom-made for the social media era. And in Orban's defence the problems he pointed to were real. People do want to see borders protected; they do look to the nation state for protection. They do worry about globalist elites. All populists need to succeed is for centrists to obsess about them - and not the voters. Hungary had this for too long: dire alternatives to Orban.

Ivan Krastev and Stephen Holmes, in their brilliant book 'The Light That Failed', offered a memorable description of the Orban method. While Hungarian liberals were preoccupied with rights, checks and balances, Orban was interested in using power to upend the political order. While they wanted to win arguments, he wanted to win elections. His passion for football, they wrote, taught him that what matters in any contest is killer instincts and unwavering loyalty. It is a recognisable portrait - and not only of Orban. This is the mentality now on offer from populists across the West. It carries a certain charisma. But in Hungary, where it has been tested longest, the people have now seen through it. Orban's model did not produce prosperity, or demographic renewal, or cultural revival. It produced a mafia state dressed up in the language of civilisational struggle. The same formula is now being marketed in Washington, in London, in Paris, in Berlin. Hungarians have just provided the consumer review.

Again from Nelson - wise caution against liberal triumphalism. I probably don’t agree with Nelson’s answer, but the challenge he identifies is the right one.

Which is what I thought until I saw that she’s already in the picture literally just below

That’s not Guildford

Indeed, EU law *literally* protected Magyar from prosecution by Orbán, who wanted to prosecute him - but Magyar is an MEP, and the European Parliament refused to waive his immunity balkaninsight.com/2025/10/10/m...

Talked to someone today who said he didn't want to pay taxes because illegal immigrants get free bikes. That was so odd that I liked it up and damn there are charities that fix up old bikes and give them to asylum applicants so they can get around the place while on a waiting list. That so great

Donated

Two weeks is a long time in US politics. Seems I was two years and one presidency too late.

Hannah Waddingham as Septa the Shame Nun in GoT and in a rainbow dress presenting Eurovision.

X this evening vs Bsky this evening

A series of posts from journalist Mark Chadbourn reporting on the acceptance speech of Péter Magyar after Hungarian elections: Péter Magyar: "Our country wants to live again. It wants to be a European country again." Mark Chadbourn• @chadbourn.bsky.social • 24m Magyar's speech is powered. From a contact in the audience: "He's basically just asked all the puppets, all the supreme justices, all the heads of media, all the heads of the ministries to leave their jobs tomorrow and not wait to be fired." •.. Mark Chadbourn• @chadbourn.bsky.social • 22m He's announced that Hungary will join the European Prosecution Office so anyone in the country can be charged. Mark Chadbourn• @chadbourn.bsky.social • 21m Magyar: "No mercy, they will need to take responsibility for all their actions." ... Mark Chadbourn• @chadbourn.bsky.social • 20m Magyar says he's starting work with the EU and NATO immediately. "The EU doesn't have to worry anymore."

From new Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar's acceptance speech tonight. This is the absolute BARE MINIMUM platform for any Democrat running for President in 2028.

People will be closely studying how Hungary's opposition pulled off their win in such a pro-incumbent system. Important to note that the theme was corruption. Democrats need to get much better at calling out Trump's corruption.

Chagos Islands: an explainer A former Director of Overseas Territories writes: the Chagos Islands are a problem left over by history. But without US support, the proposed 2024 deal can't happen.

Intriguingly, @bsky.app turns out to be by far the best social media app for spreading the word about my new “what the hell is all this about the #Chagos Islands” Substack: open.substack.com/pub/writerle...

Didn’t know about this, thanks!

I also once had a particularly difficult negotiation with Uzbekistan about its territorial claims in coastal waters 🤷‍♂️

Donald Trump Jr doing some online stumping for Loser Orban earlier today.

JD Vance is rightly getting a lot of stick this evening, but we shouldn’t forget America’s Most Mediocre Failson either.

as it happens I had lunch with the Laotian coastguard a couple of weeks ago 😅 #truestory

I had a 50% success rate with my kids, the two oldest watched and loved Ivor and Bagpuss on DVD; the two youngest bounced off it (though they enjoyed the Clangers reboot)