Astonishing. But unfortunately unsurprising.

Crossing the Divide

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/w...

Amber and George too. Ambridge once and done.

Ambridge one shot and… Amber and Kirsty. Tum te tum.

Who was asking about Ambridge kids the other day. They’re going to be popping out everywhere. #TheArchers

Ruminants and Dane #TheArchers

The true gentleman should… etc.

The manners of mores of my Italian textbook are archaic.

Shabana Mahmood swears at ‘white liberal’ hecklers over Reform remarks Home secretary accuses protesters of trying to ‘delegitimise’ concerns people have over immigration

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Divert, blame, claim she’s the real victim. Classic tactics from a disingenuous politician.

I have been cajoled by medical folk, but never humoured. And I am too much in awe of the power they hold to attempt my own.

“I could see he was about to launch into one of those bons mots for which he is notorious among senior consulting staff and I hurriedly directed him to…”

Well you were a graphics journalist.

Dog leads man on walk

One man and his dog…
(It’s not the process, it’s the decision to appoint the man in the first place).

A Blue-Blooded Dynasty Falls to a ‘Blood-Red’ Century in This Novel

And to continue my curmudgeonly takes. The NYT book section is an industrial enterprise whose fires need to be fed. They literally want to own your reading.
I feel as though I have read this book many times before.

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/12/b...

Honey in the wound novel

Does prompt the question… why does anybody need Korean magical realism?
You can get that from a bowl of makgeolli.
Perhaps it’s a great novel and I am being dismissive, but it does feel as though we’re being old rice wine in new bottles. And makgeolli will give you the worst hangover of your life.

Robbins struck me as intelligent, articulate and dedicated. He’s been thrown under the bus.

Fidesz orange

Not to mention everyone’s favourite European liberals turned looters. Although there are other references in there too - Magyar Narancs.

Korean chicken burger tho’. Vaguely in the right direction. Revenge for Dokdo perhaps.?

Outrage over Israeli soldier's vandalism of Jesus statue in Lebanon The Israeli military says it views with

They’ve killed 3.000 people in Lebanon in less than a month and displaced a million more.

Outrage over Israeli soldier's vandalism of Jesus statue in Lebanon www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I am team anti-Adam. 🐜

Any Welshman visiting England should always travel with his dragon.

Viva Hate The arrival of the Derby often throws into sharper focus the question of how to deal with the neighbours. While Liverpool remain an ever-present problem, like a chronic health condition, the Derby …

But whatever the result on Sunday, the one thing that is certain is that our hate will endure. Success or failure, it is the one constant. A vital part of being a Blue, as natural as breathing.

jimkeoghanwriter.wordpress.com/2026/04/17/l...

A different stadium with different sounds but a Merseyside derby with a familiar result (Gift Article) The Merseyside derby was held at the Hill Dickinson Stadium for the first time, so how did the atmosphere compare to Goodison Park?

The self-styled peoples club.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/720...

Kemi seems to frame government in the terms of the ethos of St Bunion’s School for wayward ladies.

He is so shocked that I do it… he goes silent and still. And sits there, no response to anything.
I appear to have been forgiven. Phew!

Shabana: Ever so slightly…

Puss cat returns home after unwelcome outing.

Poor Bob no longer believes in the healing power of ham after a trip to vet for his injections.
After 84 quid to the vet just as well as I can no longer afford it.

Bank report details Peter Mandelson’s apparent contact with Jeffrey Epstein JP Morgan report from 2019 found Epstein seemed to keep ‘particularly close relationship’ with Labour peer

I am still struggling with the idea that giving the job to Petie M was all some civil servant’s fault and that Sir Keir was blithely unaware when he announced the appointment in public.
Perhaps Keir doesn’t do much reading.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023...

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Labubu

Can an LRB branded labubu be far behind? All in the best possible literary taste of course.

Step forward Dr Ranganathan.