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I’m back in hospital

On my second day back at work on Thursday I got a pain in my ribs, but not on the side that I broke them three months ago. I managed the pain with ibuprofen and paracetamol, and managed to get through all four days ending yesterday. I imagined the pain was just a bad side strain

This morning the pain was ten times worse. My painkillers made no difference and breathing more than the shortest shallowest breath was agony. I called my Dad who drove me straight to Great Western Hospital in Swindon. The ECG, X-ray and CT scan seemed to indicate that the pain was just a bad strain, not heart or lung problems, and they were set to give me loads of morphine and send me home to take a week off

Then the blood test results came in. Apparently some inflammation measure and my white blood cell count were both worryingly high. So they’ve insisted I stay overnight so they can pump me full of antibiotics, because it might be sepsis

Unfortunately fourteen hours into my visit they still haven’t found a bed for me

I’m back in hospital

On my second day back at work on Thursday I got a pain in my ribs, but not on the side that I broke them three months ago. I managed the pain with ibuprofen and paracetamol, and managed to get through all four days ending yesterday. I imagined the pain was just a bad side strain

This morning the pain was ten times worse. My painkillers made no difference and breathing more than the shortest shallowest breath was agony. I called my Dad who drove me straight to Great Western Hospital in Swindon. The ECG, X-ray and CT scan seemed to indicate that the pain was just a bad strain, not heart or lung problems, and they were set to give me loads of morphine and send me home to take a week off

Then the blood test results came in. Apparently some inflammation measure and my white blood cell count were both worryingly high. So they’ve insisted I stay overnight so they can pump me full of antibiotics, because it might be sepsis

Unfortunately fourteen hours into my visit they still haven’t found a bed for me

That sucks: I hope they find you a bed, and I hope they are able to sort out whatever is causing you problems.

I’m back in hospital

On my second day back at work on Thursday I got a pain in my ribs, but not on the side that I broke them three months ago. I managed the pain with ibuprofen and paracetamol, and managed to get through all four days ending yesterday. I imagined the pain was just a bad side strain

This morning the pain was ten times worse. My painkillers made no difference and breathing more than the shortest shallowest breath was agony. I called my Dad who drove me straight to Great Western Hospital in Swindon. The ECG, X-ray and CT scan seemed to indicate that the pain was just a bad strain, not heart or lung problems, and they were set to give me loads of morphine and send me home to take a week off

Then the blood test results came in. Apparently some inflammation measure and my white blood cell count were both worryingly high. So they’ve insisted I stay overnight so they can pump me full of antibiotics, because it might be sepsis

Unfortunately fourteen hours into my visit they still haven’t found a bed for me

Get well soon.

Selling us down the river is not an exaggeration.

So basically, translating from Kremlin-speak into human language:

Putin wants to be given what he has failed to conquer in 11 years (including nearly 4 years of full-scale war) -- and in return, he’ll promise not to conquer what he’s already written into his constitution as part of Russia, but has also failed to capture after almost 4 years of all-out war.

And this, apparently, is only the condition for a “ceasefire.”

After that, to reach a “peace treaty” and an “ultimate resolution of the Ukrainian question,” Ukraine would need to satisfy his “root causes of the crisis” demands: disarmament and dismantling of its defense forces, no NATO membership, replacing the legitimate Ukrainian government in Kyiv with a pro-Russian puppet one, banning all military aid, and abandoning further reforms, national revival, and alignment with the West...
https://x.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1979873368523370734

That would be a suicide note.

And yet. It is less than he was asking for at Alaska. He is responding to the pressure of the attacks on the oil refineries.

If we can at least get Trump to keep the existing sanctions in place, then there's potential for Putin to be forced into a genuine negotiation.

It’s taking time but Putin is slowly moving his long list of demands, as almost every day another Russian oil refinery or storage facility goes up in smoke. At some point he’ll need to negotiate in good faith, although there’s little sign of it so far.

Meanwhile, the Russian autumn offensive has gone nowhere at the cost of many men and materiel, and the reality of war is now obvious to ordinary Russians in the form of queuing and rationing of petrol, which has gone up by 50% in recent weeks. The protest earlier in the week in St. Petersberg was also good to see.

The frustration in the frontline states when Trump rowed back on the Tomahawks was very obvious. Thing is, the Ukrainians have already split open Russian air defences and its getting worse for Russia by the day. Putin pulled out all the stops to get Trump to change course, which is a tribute to the pressure that Russia is now under. However, across the US the political climate has turned positive for the Ukrainians- Putin keeps playing Trump and Hegseth, but the voters don't like it, so pretty soon Trump will be between a rock and a hard place.

In Tallinn we are pretty weary- I got a question from the foreign office of a country I am close to asking if it was safe to travel in Estonia- which of course it is, but counteracting Russian threats and propaganda is a full time job. The Saatse "boot" (a 1km access road across Russian territory) has just been closed and a by pass road is being constructed in double quick time so that the Estonians can close the fence. Now the details of the air incursion have been released, it seems that the Russians delayed leaving, even after they were intercepted by the Italians- hence the loud discussion in NATO about the rules of engagement. At least now, the Finns will be able to intercept, providing that the Amari air police squadron have the Finnish planes in the friendly list. Defences are being updated, the "drone wall", mined death strip, and all, but investment is low and the Estonian economy is under pressure- the current government is likely going to get a kicking in the local elections announced later tonight.

Putin is being badly hurt, and yet is still trying to go all in, especially with the draft being extended to Moscow and St Petersburg, but it is all beginning to look a bit Black Knight- massive casualties, growing shortages of equipment, and the mincing machine spitting out thousands of dead Russians every week. So Trump's pathetic shilly-shallying is getting pretty short shrift and more military aid to Kyiv will be announced in the coming days.

Estonians know whose side they are on even if Trump doesn't.

Kruger delivers.

Reform are getting some thinkers behind them.

Keith Joseph of 2030s?



Zia Yusuf

@ZiaYusufUK

I’m delighted to welcome James Orr to Reform UK.

James is a brilliant academic, theologian, thinker.

He has been a bastion of common sense and patriotism at Cambridge University.

He has become a close friend, and is someone who I believe will have a pivotal role in shaping the future of this country.

James is now a senior member of our team, a senior advisor to
@Nigel_Farage
and he will bring even more talented patriots to the Reform family.


https://x.com/ZiaYusufUK/status/1979886492706037993

I’m sure he was on the Today programme as a Reform “brain” well before Kruger defected.

Nigel Farage appoints right-wing anti-abortion theologian as Reform senior adviser
Professor James Orr is understood to be close to JD Vance and influential in Donald Trump’s administration with his right-wing views on abortion and immigration
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/farage-james-orr-rightwing-theologian-reform-b2848126.html

1 in 3 women in the UK have an abortion during their life. Who here wants to send 1 in 3 women to jail?

Unless that's an exceptionally wide definition of abortion, including things like the morning after pill, I find that figure hard to believe.

Might be true, but it just doesn't feel right.

There are about 600 000 births and 250 000 abortions each year in the UK.

To really get a handle on the scale of the problem, we need to also include all the male emissions where the primary purpose is not procreation. Each one of those sperm could have gone onto to be a human. When men casually abort their sperm, it is little different in effect to physically murdering babies.

There might be a song in that...

How much you need to earn, to net take home 10k a month

🇬🇧 United Kingdom £205,000

🇮🇹 Italy £198,000

🇫🇷 France £172,000

🇺🇸 United States £165,000

🇨🇳 China £161,000

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates (Dubai) £120,000

No wonder so many people are leaving the U.K. for Dubai
https://x.com/robprogressive/status/1979438750737346981

I've no idea if the figures are accurate or even representative. What struck me is the cluster of France, USA & China, and the higher 2-node cluster of Britain and Italy.

It's a load of bollocks.

In the various debunkings I've seen online, the most interesting was that the UK median worker pays less in tax than a US median earner. A bit of a mindfuck given the narrative around tax at the moment:

https://x.com/DanNeidle/status/1979580442237170080

The UK in recent years has shifted to taxing the rich more and middle income earners less.

Yes. We have a remarkably progressive system of taxation of income, though coupled with a regressive tax on housing (council tax).

We have a very regressive system of taxation at the low end when you include UC taper and NICs.

Our tax rate is quite U bend shaped.

The real problem with our tax system is NI which warps the whole thing atrociously. There should be no reduced rate over £50K and it should apply to all income, earned and unearned even after retirement.

In the spirit of Peter the Punter, £11K a month after tax and 60 years old. I am one who would end up paying a huge amount more if my own suggestions were adopted.

How much you need to earn, to net take home 10k a month

🇬🇧 United Kingdom £205,000

🇮🇹 Italy £198,000

🇫🇷 France £172,000

🇺🇸 United States £165,000

🇨🇳 China £161,000

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates (Dubai) £120,000

No wonder so many people are leaving the U.K. for Dubai
https://x.com/robprogressive/status/1979438750737346981

I've no idea if the figures are accurate or even representative. What struck me is the cluster of France, USA & China, and the higher 2-node cluster of Britain and Italy.

It seems entirely unsourced and an exaggerated claim as far as I can see, which is the guys Twitter habit.

And he's leaving out minor factors such as UK healthcare and other costs being from taxes as compared to take home such as say the USA, never mind currency conversions.

I'd say it's not worth debunking time.