Why is air conditioning so crap in the UK? My hotel in London seems to have two settings: 3C and 40C. I didn't bring the right clothes for either.
Old guy with a beard. Unhealthy obsession with the state of democracy in the world. Teaches data visualisation. Talks on mental health. Publishes the Substack 'Untethered' about motivation, addiction and recovery. North Wales, UK.
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Why is air conditioning so crap in the UK? My hotel in London seems to have two settings: 3C and 40C. I didn't bring the right clothes for either.
This should shake things up in a good way. The Green Party in the UK has elected Zack Polanski as their new leader. His more direct approach will take on far-right Farage.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/02/green-party-not-nigel-farage-zack-polanski?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
No new oil. No delays. Invest in clean energy and a liveable future. #ClimateAction #NetZero www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Desperate to make a splash, Kemi Badenoch is going the way of Trump. Here's what I think. Scrapping net zero rules for North Sea oil & gas is climate sabotage. The IPCC says we’ve nearly used up the 1.5°C carbon budget — new fossil fuel projects only lock in more harm.
I am soooooo tired of Starmer's timidity around every important issue. It's high time to name BREXIT as Nigel Farage's terrible legacy. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
On Tuesday Nigel Farage will publish his proposals for mass deportations, Prison camps, leaving the European Convention on Human Rights & scrapping the Human Rights Act, quitting the Refugee Convention and the UN Convention against Torture - is that a country we want? youtu.be/-UvfvAYytZY?...
Trump is also giving permission for parties in other countries to copy him. In the UK, Nigel Farage's party is encouraging hostility towards Muslim immigrants and he has even suggested bringing back coal mining!
Looks like a tart's boudoir. Probably smells like it too.
Looks like a tart's boudoir. Probably smells like it too.
“I was r*ped sometimes 3 times a day on that island… and I was not the only girl on that island… Ghislaine must die in prison, because I’ve been in hell and back for the last 17 years.” Listen to the survivors.
So much effort to persuade a toddler to behave. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CBT...
Trump is the sofa: he forms the shape of the last person who sat on him. So let's hope that Zelenskyy and the European leaders continue to sit on him for as long as possible.
The USA has not had the right to call itself an open society (in Popper's sense) for some time.
Where is free speech more under threat, in the UK or the US? Looks pretty clear to me. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiWV...
Here is a considered comparison by Tony Karan, a Jewish journalist, between the dehumanisation of the Jews by the Nazis and the dehumanisation of the people of Gaza by the Israelis. The parallels are real. www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5y0...
The US is starting to look like Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge also recruited teenage soldiers.
P.S. 'Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it', George Bernard Shaw.
With the Pledge of Allegiance, the US public doesn't see any reason to look outside the USA to see whether there might be better ways to do things and, believe me America, there are.
the US media might have a less cosy relationship with the politicians they interview and actually hold them to account in interviews without fear that the interviewee will refuse to return, they will lose ratings and advertising revenue, and that their bosses will fire them.
Without the Pledge of Allegiance the US might even have a democratic system in which the party that is not in power (what is called 'the opposition' in other countries) is organised and challenges the party in power with coherent alternatives. Finally, without the Pledge of Allegiance,
I believe that without the Pledge of Allegiance the US might have decent, good-value healthcare, like other developed nations. Without the Pledge of Allegiance the US probably wouldn't have its unique and appalling gun problem.
Get the kids to stand and do a symbolic gesture: stand erect with their hand on their heart, facing the flag. Then recite some words about your country's superiority and repeat as often as possible before school.
It would look like the Pledge of Allegiance. Start them at a young enough age that they won't question what you are asking them to do, say between five and seven. Use the powerful symbol of your country's flag as the centre of the ritual.
US citizens on here, I have a question for you. Does the Pledge of Allegiance make America stronger or weaker? If you were asked to create a powerful ritual that would indoctrinate children into unquestioning belief that their country is the best in the world, what would it look like?
People who say 'Haitch' for 'aitch'.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IXX...
'It is I, Mr Cholmondley-Warner'. The point, if this isn't clear, is that language changes and relying on what it says in the dictionary, or on the once-great Fowler's Modern English Usage, is likely to make our writing seem as dated as this Harry Enfield sketch. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gou1...
I teach a course for Learning Tree about Technical Writing. There is an section about using 'correct' grammar. When you knock on someone's door and they ask 'Who is it', should you reply 'It's me' or 'It is I'? I always illustrate the point by putting on a 1950's accent:
Palestinian children in the hospitals are labelled WCNSF, which stands for 'Wounded Child No Surviving Family'.
If you won't trust the Palestinians themselves, then trust the foreign medics in Gaza. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t0M...
ICE GOONS draw guns on humanitarian aid workers
One clear case of war crimes by the IDF in Gaza that is emerging is of the deliberate shooting of civilians by the drone pilots. We often hear about people being 'shot by drones' but remember that there is a pilot flying it and pressing the trigger. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyCu...
It's not hard to imagine a pantless Farage spending his lonely evenings slavering over hardcore content. But why would he want it to be freely available to children? I think the minister was spot on. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
there they will start to leave in great numbers to third countries.' What do you think? Is this extermination of the people of Gaza planned and deliberate?
[i.e., you don't warn the civilian population]. Period.' - Bezalel Smotrich, 6 May 2025: 'Gaza will be entirely destroyed, civilians will be sent to … the south to a humanitarian zone without Hamas or terrorism, and from
We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly'. - Omer Tishler, 11 October 2023: 'Our airstrikes are very broad, but [sic] not surgical. In all of these areas of terror there's substance…. Where there is an enemy and where you want to kill an enemy—you don't do a ‘tap on the roof’
killed by the IDF as by the Bosnian Serbs in Srebrenica. Is this action planned and deliberate? - Yoav Gallant, 9 October 2023: 'We are imposing a complete siege on the city of Gaza. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, everything is closed.
In the current Gaza conflict roughly 60,000 Gazans have been killed by the IDF, 70% of which have been women and children, i.e. about 42,000 women and children killed by the IDF. That is over five times as many civilians (just counting the women and children)
Srebrenica seems a good baseline to take when analysing what is happening in Gaza. Srebrenica was a planned and deliberate massacre of over 8,000 unarmed Bosniak men and boys, with the explicit goal of ethnic cleansing, carried out by Bosnian Serb forces under Ratko Mladić.
A food distribution centre in Gaza is not a safe place to be, intentionally. www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
Gaza is suffering a man-made famine, a famine made by Netanyahu and his government. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnoC...
Whose bright idea was it to proscribe Palestine Action anyway? When the UK Labour Government is struggling to retain its reputation for competence, this was an act of self-sabotage that could so easily have been avoided. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Oh America! Would you prefer Christo-fascism or white nationalist fascism? www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8iK...
When Led By Donkeys are being arrested by order of the British government you can be sure that the British government has got it wrong.
I realise that Trump is really good at keeping the focus on him, but could Americans please cast their eyes outside the USA for a moment and tell their country to stop arming Netanyahu's psychotic regime?
While America is distracted by their criminal sex-offending president being accused of being a paedophile (surprise!) Israel continues to intentionally kill hundreds of Palestinian kids at aid distribution centres as a twisted computer game, shooting them with quadcopters.
A British surgeon on the injuries of teenage Palestinian boys in Gaza. youtu.be/Mr6KTccuA7Q?...
Reposting this and a few other things for no particular reason today. Maybe I’ll do it tomorrow and the next day, too.
The prospect of a dessicated dick-waving contest between Trump and Murdoch might, actually, be something we want. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
At least they are trying to be consistent. An AI system that praises Hitler and was trained by a guy who does Nazi salutes should fit in just fine in Trump's regime.
This report was delivered 9 months ago to the UK International Development Committee of the UK House of Commons. David Lammy, the British Foreign Secretary, must know of this report. Why has he not responded to it? www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgsK...
This is the testimony of the British doctor explaining about the Israeli drones that come down after a bomb has been dropped by the IDF and 'pick off civilians, children' by shooting distinctive cuboid pellets at them. He says, 'this is the persistent, deliberate targeting of civilians'.
David Lammy the UK Foreign Secretary, still seems to doubt that this is a genocide, despite the definition of genocide having a small list of points that, as a lawyer, he should easily be able to check. It's high time for European politicians to step up. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZvT...
trying to get food for their families and being shot by quadcopters. This is a story we have heard before from a UK doctor working in Gaza. Under Trump the US is complicit in these crimes, but Canada and Europe still have the power to intervene. Where is the UK government?
The statements about Gaza by Francesca Albanese have made a big impact, but she is not the only senior UN official speaking out about the Israeli atrocities. Here is an interview with James Elder, UNICEF's Global Spokesperson, in which he talks about Palestinian children
Analysis of donations to #ReformUK in 2024 found 40% was from people who've “openly questioned climate change or have investments in fossil fuel or other climate polluting industries," with 38 funders who could profit significantly from Reform’s anti-climate policies novaramedia.com/2025/05/09/r...
Author Michael Wolff says Jeffrey Epstein showed him photos of topless girls sitting on Donald Trump’s lap by Epstein’s pool, and one “with a stain on the front of Trump’s pants with 3 or 4 girls laughing and pointing at it.”
At last it looks as if the EU is waking up to Israel's crimes in Gaza. Will the UK listen? The US certainly won't. youtu.be/N7HMRk1g-s0?...
The Nobel Peace Prize should go to the doctors of Gaza and Francesca Albanese, not the orange felon. secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/...
Following the report by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese on companies profiting from the genocide in Gaza, there is a helpful list of some of those companies here. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
As you might expect, her response has been measured but direct. www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2UX...
What do you think about the sanctioning by the US of Francesca Albanese? Looks like they are doing everything they can to silence her. www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0tG...
I have started going to the gym after a break of about 20 years. You know those men who like to drop their weights with a great 'CLANG'? There is one at my gym, but my intense irritation with him has worn off slightly since I christened him 'Major Clanger'.
Where is the moral panic? Where are @lisanandy and @Keir_Starmer? Or are we saying Rod Liddle can use his national platform to call for state violence and it’s fine But if Bob Vylan chants about actual state violence it’s “incitement”? At least try to be consistent.
I think we had all expected that, hadn't we?
Dear oh dear. Rather than blame Trump for defunding the weather service that led to the lack of warning of the flash flooding, these nuts are blaming 'Directed Energy Weapons', presumably being fired by Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama! The stupidity is off the scale.
Farage is a performance politician like Trump and hjs enablers. Whether he intends to try to do these things is secondary to the excitement he is trying to create among the gammon. It'll get him some votes with the reactionary change-negative folks.
In Trump world, facts and science don't exist. But actually, they do. And they don't care what Trump and his band of idiot supporters think.
Also, don't ask the shop assistant for permission to smell their melons, in case this leads to a misunderstanding.
Why are people so inhibited about smelling melons to check whether they are ripe? It's the only way.
Even Nigerian politicians would be too embarrassed to flaunt their moneymaking scams like the Trump family! youtu.be/FyGvNUdE6f0?...
So today we will find out which Labour MP’s have the cohoolies to stand up for what’s right. . If your fed up with U turns and want real progress then INDEPENDENCE is the only route. Vote SNP #snp #independence #scotland #labour #welfare #balls
between THE JEWISH PEOPLE on the one hand and THE ISRAELI STATE or THE IDF on the other. It is extremely lazy journalism to say that criticising the IDF is antisemitic. So come on Mr Davie. Pull your socks up and do your job.
not to say what the most powerful might want them to say. Despite their attempts to keep out journalists, the evidence of Netanyahu and Israel's genocide in Gaza is strong and comparable to the behaviour of the Serbs in the Bosnian war. Also can I ask you to get your newscasters to distinguish
Under Tim Davie the BBC are far too risk-averse. I understand that the stakes are high for them. If they get it wrong, in one direction or the other, there will be a pile-on of powerful people criticising them. But their role is to lead the way in impartial news coverage,
@yvettecooper-mp.bsky.social This is the thread with the Monbiot video I was referring to. Please watch it.
@yvettecooper-mp.bsky.social please watch Monbiot's video. Many people's lives and your reputation depend on how you respond.
decision to proscribe the protest group Palestine Action for drawing attention to it. She has things backwards: it is the IDF that are the terrorists, not Palestine Action. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyG1...
If there is one lesson that the British Government takes from its recent humiliating defeat by back-benchers, it is that they need to listen more. The next issue that they urgently need to address is the treatment of the people of Gaza by the Israeli State and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's
Excellent! How can we help?
Guess which side is regarded as 'terrorists' by the UK Government? George Monbiot breaks it down for us in this video. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECkV...
On one side we have the Israeli Government and the IDF, which is starving and shooting Palestinian woman and children every day. On the other we have Palestine Action, a group that is protesting against the actions of the Israeli Government by spraying paint on some UK warplanes.
Brownshirt ICE rolled up to my local Home Depot today and got the F-off treatment. Shoutout to this woman because this is exactly how it’s done. No badge, face covered = F*ck all the way off. 📌 It’s on us citizens to stand up for our vulnerable brothers and sisters.
are carrying out in front of our eyes 80 years later. The holocaust was terrible, but it does not give Netanyahu permission to brutalise the entire Palestinian people.
Sure. But the Israeli state (as opposed to Jews in general) are hiding their atrocities behind that. I still remember my 1980s visit to the Dachau concentration camp museum and the horrific photos there. But that doesn't make me blind to the atrocities that the Israeli state
I find it difficult to ignore the fact that for every Israeli that Hamas killed, the IDF has killed 45 (forty-five) Palestinians, most of them women and children. Is that a proportionate response?
I have never been a fan of American gun culture, but if there were ever a time for the Second Amendment, it is now.
Why does the West have such a peculiar fetish with Israel? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Certified first-born, eldest daughter bringing you an update on Covid from the White House-run website and it is BLEAK 🥴 This website looks like it was made by an actual tinfoil hat wearing raw milk-drinking conspiracy loon not the federal government bc WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS??!
Eh? Not sure what you mean. The NYT just runs an aggregate of all the recent polls. It's factual information.
Before we get too delighted about the average American seeing sense, Trump's approval ratings according to the NYT, show that currently, after all the incompetence, flagrant self-enrichment and cruelty, 45% of Americans think that Trump is dong a good job. Are they living in some twisted fantasy?
UK Abortion Vote: Still Illegal. Still Screwed. “Abortion is decriminalised!” No it fucking isn’t. NC20 is shelved as Farage circles like a vulture, just waiting to implement evangelical MAGA style restrictions on women’s bodies. This isn’t progress. youtu.be/wjA42C-mdUk
This is how Proud Boys get a job.
Yes, exactly. They are living some fantasy from a Holywood action film.
And this is what Reform UK, surging in the polls, seem to want for the UK. There must be less brutal ways to run a country.
The greta video
business. Money motivates entrepreneurs, but it is also the currency of corruption. In the UK, business investors are making a brazen attempt to allow the water companies to escape prosecution for their environmental crimes, all for a few quid. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
There is no way to spin your way out of experimental results contradicting your pet theory. You must accept it, publish and move on. What is the group of professions with the lowest ethical standards? Having spent most of my professional life as a management consultant, I have to admit that it is /2
I have had many jobs, including driving lorries, making fresh pasta, teaching mathematics, management consultancy and IT training. On my travels, the profession that I have seen as having the greatest integrity is that of the academic scientist: it's necessary for the job. /1