😂

I think both a cause and effect of the slide towards authoritarianism is information systems slipping from an attempt to inform towards an attempt to enflame; a consequence of slowly losing a world where events are rational, rationality is persuasive, and that persuasion worth engaging in

I have free health care but I still can't hike all day! What am I doing wrong??

What he had was a gun.

I remember how happy I was when Boris Johnson announced the first lockdown. All my responsibilities seemed to melt away and I was free, free at last! No more making small talk with acquaintances! I did enjoy my lockdown, but I really really REALLY don't want to go back to that now.

I still don't get it? Couldn't you have hiked all day regardless? What choices did you make before Covid to prevent hiking? I love to hike, so I'd like to know how I can hike more. Should I move to a less capitalist country? I already live in England.

The wisteria has bloomed very early this year. Not even close to May and it's in full bloom. I would bemoan the climate change that is making this occur, but I can't regret the return of these magnificent racemes.

Our eucalyptus tree fell down last winter or I would know that smell!

the basic theory of DOGE was that if powerful people said it was fine it didn’t matter what the law said.

I think proving that theory wrong is worth significant effort

Same way Brexit passed, same way Boris Johnson was elected with a huge swathe of Parliament. The power of populist messages.

It's easier to give up beef than to buy a new electric car. A lot cheaper too!

I mean, if we're going to live under a far right regime can't we at least have cheap beef and gas? More seriously, I think it's fairly silly to tell people to accept high food prices rather than focusing on all of the parts of our economy that use far more emissions for a far less useful purpose. Aaron van Dorn @aaronvandorn.bsky.s... 19h If you're complaining about the price of beef you never, not for one moment, cared about climate change. 2 1 1 000

Cattle ranching constitutes around 15% of total greenhouse gas emissions globally.

If you're complaining about the price of beef you never, not for one moment, cared about climate change.

Orbán’s Ouster Doesn’t Prove His Critics Wrong Many dictatorships have ended peacefully, so the end of Orbán’s rule in Hungary isn’t proof he was never really taking the country in an authoritarian direction, writes James Kirchick.

Polish communism was also defeated, in the end, by an election.
www.thefp.com/p/orbans-ous...

No tax on tips …. An outsider’s view.

If salaries were good, and tips a bit of a bonus, maybe fair enough.

If there is barely any salary and workers rely on tips, then an entire workforce isn’t paying any tax.

Solution? Company should pay a decent basic salary which is taxed in the normal way.

Vegan Lemon Blueberry Lavender Cake Lemon, blueberry and a hint of lavender come together in this moist and fluffy vegan lavender cake. The perfect cake for any special occasion!

Recipe here: www.noracooks.com/vegan-lavend...

I made the Lemon Blueberry Lavender Cake. Tips: Use the smallest blueberries you can find, and fewer than the recipe calls for. It also might work better in the smaller cake pans she used; I used 2 8-inch. This is due to the blueberries affecting the structure of the cake. But it tastes amazing!

For my birthday we went to the David Hockney exhibit at the Serpentine. I especially love his seasons works. They are just so relatable. As if every tree, every branch, is familiar to me. And to him.

I frankly don't see this administration being capable of doing real diplomacy.

You don't just show up, talk for a few hours, and expect real results.

We forgot the dogs’ leads today but fortunately they didn’t need them!

At Cliveden with three golden retrievers. Bluebell season is the best season.

Hungary election live: Viktor Orbán concedes defeat in Hungarian election after 16 years in power Long-serving prime minister beaten by opposition after early results showed clear lead

Orban concedes defeat. The support of Trump, Vance, Putin, Lavrov, Weidel, Milei, Le Pen, Fico, Babis and many others could not overcome Hungarian anger at a stagnant, corrupt regime

www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

There is a staggering gap between Trump’s confidence in his extraordinary talents, so that a great power’s strategy can be safely left to his mood of the moment, and the harsh reality of his limited grasp of the meaning of the events unfolding around him. As he starts from the assumption that there is none more powerful, his default tactics always involve bullying. When the targets are unresponsive all he can do is either double down, with ever more lurid threats, or else move on, as if there was never an issue, without acknowledging defeat.

@ldfreedman.bsky.social's apt assessment of how Trump's bullying leads him to fail.

samf.substack.com/p/the-causes...

If we had continued on with Obamas investments in solar ,wind, clean energy and electric cars the straight of Hormuz could have gone and fucked itself by now.

“'I’ve never experienced anything like this in my entire life,' the congresswoman said, fighting back tears.

"She described the way people were laying down inside as “like sardines.”

“'It is frightening in there,' she said. 'It is disgusting'..."

azmirror.com/2026/04/10/i...

Imagine trusting science to bring astronauts to the moon and back but not trusting science to develop safe vaccines.

NARRATOR: WE DID NOT IN FACT GET IT TOGETHER IN TIME

The woman is sending ICE operational intelligence to Will Stancil

Contrary to public perception a huge % of pregnant teenagers in the 1990s were impregnated by adult men. The younger they were, the larger the average age gap between mother and father was. Fixing teen pregnancy was in part a clampdown on statutory rape. That's what conservatives want to reverse.