Doctors say that measles is one of the deadliest and most contagious infectious diseases in the world. A guy who snorts cocaine off toilet seats and cuts penises off raccons says you'll be fine if you drink raw milk and bathe in raw sewage. For busy parents, it can be hard to know who to trust.
An illustration of a man carrying a camera walking through the forest with a fox as magical creatures surround them.
🎵 The Parade 🎶
[ #art ]
"average New Labour minister causes 3 scandals" factoid actualy just statistical error. average minister causes 0 scandals. Scandals Peter, who lives in cave & causes over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted
At the start of this Labour gov't, I wanted Starmer to make the case for rejoining the EU. Now I do not want him to touch that issue. His involvement is now too toxic. Someone else must make the case.
I mean...
bsky.app/profile/twmc...
Hard to overstate just how massive this change will be. I doubt it will be the nail in the coffin for gas (the inertia of installed capacity is real), however it will be a very significant step towards a better energy mix.
Me, logging off from work for the day: What a rough day. Very busy and very demanding.
Me, seeing what went down in the House of Commons: I love the very relaxed and easy day I just had. May tomorrow be more of the same.
17-yr-old Ukrainian chess player Roman Dehtiariov has won the 2026 European Individual Chess Championship.Congratulations!
Roman from Kharkiv was ranked 126th on the starting list of players.But he scored 9 points out of 11,becoming the first European champion in history who is not a grandmaster.
I would also like us to stop pretending that gov'ts/states, even those who normally try to hold themselves to some basic standards, don't engage in some pretty dark shit from time to time. This isn't excusing or advocating for it, merely observing that it happens and we should act accordingly.
Not to be too conspiratorial, but I do think we should ask more questions than just the obvious when it comes to a situation involving a UK-US diplomat, who was formerly an incredibly power political figure, and who has connections to an international honey pot/paedo-ring that sold intelligence.
Lots of people may have wanted to prevent Mandelson from getting access to what I'm sure will be a lot of very sensitive information passing between the UK and US.
Mandelson himself may have been nothing more than a vehicle to get at Starmer.
I don't mean 'who reported it first?'. Journos/reporters are often a convenient catspaw in these cases, they don't always come across the information themselves (consider the regularity of leaks). I'm specifically wondering who started the ball rolling on Operation Minced Mandelson.
Something that I would very much like a god's-eye-view on (and this is just my curiosity): who staged the initial intervention? Was it basic opposition research? Was it a journo who just happened to be going through the Epstein files anyway? Or did someone in the FCDO/intelligence call time.
Was someone within Starmer's advisory group (McSweeney being the obvious candidate, but not the only one) also compromised and thus pushing for M'son's appointment? Maybe.
Did someone in intelligence quietly suggest that this may be a path forward? Maybe, though we will definitely never know.
From Team Starmer's point of view: idea was clearly to weaponise that corrupt connection within the context of a deeply corrupt, personalistic regime.
Was there anything more? As in, were Starmer's crowd being played by other actors who may have had connections to M'son via Epstein? It's possible.
Regarding this whole Mandelson affair: it would be much, much easier if we all stopped pretending that Mandelson was appointed despite his Epstein connections and not specifically because he was connected to Trump via Epstein. I am just so tired of the faux-naivete.
So reading this, I think you want to add a requirement where they need to apply for and submit to you a weekly additional permission slip to be away from your command, then you need to apply for and submit an additional confirmation slip explaining why you've allowed this to continue. Anything else?
Ancient oak tree, drawn in pen and ink
New work! May Day, an ancient oak tree. Drawn in pen and ink, coloured in Procreate #SciArt #treeart #treeartist #oaktree #ancientoak #illustration #penandink #inkdrawing #handdrawn
again, if you want competent people in government the salaries have to be broadly competitive, or even publicly spirited people are going to put themselves and their families first. paying badly is also a way to get only people with private incomes *or* who look to corruption.
The Inflation Reduction Act was the single most aggressive investment in rural America since the New Deal.
Direct investment, high wage jobs, energy security, you name it. It was all there.
Too bad it happened 200 years ago and all the records of it are lost forever.
Then again, my now ex-colleagues bought me a flask and a bottle of whiskey as a leaving present so I know what their prediction market bets look like regarding my long term trajectory.
Went full time at my new job this week. First Saturday I haven't worked (or had to book leave) for in 13 years. I have just polished off a bottle of wine (red - Portuguese), which is unusual because I very rarely drink. Maybe things can improve in small ways.
Ok to explain why this is important:
1) doing this under cover of exercise confirms what a lot of folks have thought: larger exercises are precursors for an invasion
2) it reveals a confidence in PLA SOF not previously seen in public
3) makes deterrence even harder if operators are already on ground
Hey, Germany, it's not too late -> www.baesystems.com/en/product/g...
Roads are being constructed and artillery positions established along the Belarus-Ukraine border - President Zelenskyy
"We are observing attempts by the Russian contingent to regroup forces—most likely to compensate for a shortage of personnel.
Mixed media Edinburgh tenements sketch
study of a mountain landscape with sharp rocks and clouds
call of the wild (2025)
Exactly one year ago today:
Into the Storm
Painting study
URGENTE: Influenciador Raphael Sousa Oliveira, criador da página Choquei, que tem 27 milhões de seguidores no Instagram, é preso pela PF suspeito de envolvimento em esquema de lavagem de dinheiro. Criminosos teriam movimentado 1,6 bilhão em dois anos. Também foram presos MC Ryan e MC Poze do Rodo.