The fire curtain at the Theatre Royal Newcastle

Does this mean that there is an earth curtain somewhere?

Nick Robinson shilling for Big Oil and climate deniers on #r4today yet again.

His interviews with paid industry lobbyists are exercises in pat-a-cake. His interviews with anyone interested in net zero is like a rottweiler attacking a steak-covered child.

My daughter got off at Durham - a stop too early - on her way home to Newcastle. Fortunately it was easily remedied, but we still remind her of it over a decade later.

My beloved son was so engrossed in the book he was reading, he didn't get off the train at the right station, where I was waiting to pick him up.

If the UK government wants to spend more on defence, this is where they can get it from:

Higher rate pension tax relief - you need to be earning £50k+ to qualify for this - £38bn

ISA tax relief - 7% of people used the full allowance of £20k, but get most of the relief - £9.4bn.

£47.4bn a year.

I'm quite concerned as to Ten Pole Tudor's intentions as he comes over the hill with the swords of a thousand men.

A VCR never sold my private info to a nazi

Trojan Horse? Rupert Lowe’s Far-Right Restore Britain Is Standing 13 Candidates as ‘Independents’ in One Council Anti-racist campaigners accuse the ex-Reform MP of seeking to "disguise" the extreme views and affiliations of his candidates

Latest for @bylinetimes.bsky.social

Lots more digging to come
bylinetimes.com/2026/04/17/t...

Staggering change on this when I put in 'post-graduate'. Swung from strong Reform to strong Labour with a single answer.

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand."

Seems curiously apposite this morning. I don't know why.

Allbirds shares soar 580% after pivot from shoes to AI The company is selling off its shoe brand as it plans to shift to providing technology infrastructure.

You're welcome. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This is glorious.

Also, don't do drugs, kids.

Music: Arrested Development, BCUC, Fulu Miziki, The Proclaimers, Blue Rose Code, Flamy Grant, Grace Petrie, Martyn Joseph, Penguin Cafe, Rose Betts, Rumac, St Catherine's Child, Shlomo & The Gob Orchestra, Anserine, Alya Isha & The Ra Kholectiv, Capyac, Crys Matthews, Daraa Tribes, David Benjamin Blower, Deva St. John, Dub Colossus, Dustbowl Revival, Flat Moon, Gecko, Generation Feral, Hang Linton, Harry Bird, Hope & Social, Irked, Jarmouse, Joseph Tawadros, Junior Brother, Lee Bains, Lizzy Hardingham, Luke Wallace, Martha May & The Mondays, Pambele, Serin, Siskin Green, Soapbox, Speit, Stebee, TC & The Groove Family, Withered Hand, Xray Vez, Yakkie. Ideas & Activism: Cathy Newman, Charlotte Church, Jordan Stephens, Martin Shaw, Michael Sheen*, Mina Smallman, Mobeen Azhar, Ann Pettifor, Belle Tindall-Riley, Ben Rawlence, Bill McKibben*, Cheer Up Luv, Cole Moreton, Fatima Ibrahim, Jay Griffiths, Lambros Fatsis, Lamma Mansour, Liz Bucar*, Lucy Winkett, Nick Lowles, Omar Barghouti, Refugee Tales, Robin Ince, Ruth Valerio, Shane Claiborne*, Sonita Alleyne, Sue Parfitt, Vandal Factory Podcast. Poetry & Spoken Word: Harry Baker, The Hot Poets, Desree, Erin Bolens, Hannah Davies, Jasmine Gardosi, Pádraig Ó Tuama, Paul Cookson, Rensoll, Yasmin Jenkins. Theatre & Comedy: Ancestors by Peter Brathwaite, Comedy Club with Jonathan Mayor, Kayleigh Jones, Matt Green, Ria Lina, Folk On, Hug by Levantes Dance Theatre, Luisa Omielan with God is a Woman the Musical, Matt Winning with Solastalgia, No Direction Home, Rec.on(struction) by Max Calaf & Lucas Ruiz, Reggie Watts, Roll Play by Simple Cypher, Saints on the Bridge by Testament, Sorry (I Broke Your Arms and Legs) by Maybe You Like It, The Light House by Alys Williams. Worship & Spirituality: Andy Squyres, Carrie Grant, Francesco by Daniel Zappi, Sekrit, Wilderthorn. Visual Arts: Malak Mattar, Musson+Retallick Migration. Children & Families: Bungalow Bill, Circus Kaos, Dizzy O'Dare, DJ Jozzy, Family Twist, Fiery Jacks, Fischy Mus…

This year’s line-up has just landed and she's a beauty! We’re going to let it all go one more time at Boughton, so we hope you’re as hungry for this summer’s festival smorgasbord as we are.

Have been called to attend a police security briefing for election candidates and agents.

This is ... new? And unwelcome? It's not happened before.

Honestly surprised that Vance has time to give speeches given the number of Hail Marys and Paternosters his confessor is imposing.

Minion

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Let's surround our heat-producing data centres with the perfectly insulating vacuum of space."

When I got married, we could afford a house on 1 wage (x3 multiplier) and we could just about afford for me to be a stay-at-home dad.

My daughter and SIL can barely afford a house on 2 good wages (30y mortgage) and are struggling with childcare costs.

They are poorer than we were in the 90s.

I have never been declared bankrupt owing £4.4m, nor have I 'lost track' of where my car(s) are.

Gateshead deserves better. Please vote accordingly.

Ahead of the Senedd Elections in May 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿, here is what each party hoping to form the next Welsh Government have to say in their manifestos about trans people 🏳️‍⚧️...

A Thread 🧵👇

Meanwhile most of us are struggling to think of something worth fighting for.

D6 has something to say on this - essentially, the flask needs to be deliberately designed to be robust enough to throw, and fragile enough to break. Throwing them against people will usually mean it bounces off. Throwing them against soft ground, ditto. So cost/effect ratio is high.

Prompted to look it up - price I'm being quoted is 127.7, which is about +50p/l from the 77 it was before the Trump/Netanyahu war.

So, yes, I can see why, it's a significant increase, but the farmers would be better off blockading US airbases and the Israeli embassy.

If you return unwanted Reform local election leaflets to their party headquarters using their free post address, then it will cost the party £2.50 per envelope.

Please don’t share this information; it could cost Nigel Farage a fortune.

Bearing false witness? You'd better believe that's a dozen Hail Marys.

When do we get to the Butlerian Jihad? Please tell me it's soon.

Missing the point. Much like Spurs.

Runrig - Hearts of Olden Glory (Official Lyric Video) YouTube video by Chrysalis Records

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGNv...

Runrig's Hearts of Olden Glory. It's only 2:15 long, so the whole song, but specifically the repeat of the chorus at 1:52. Full-on gospel singing cradling Donnie Monroe's voice.