Best Of

Polanski is a man whose ambitions exceed his talents.

He is a deeply unserious figure, and will eventually be tested and found wanting.

Being unserious hasn't inhibited other politicians. Which party leader is serious right now? Maybe Starmer somewhat. But only somewhat.

Having seen Badenoch yesterday I'd say Polanski is considerably more appealing. People like politicians who can think on their feet and who are articulate. He fits both she fits neither

On the other hand, he’s a geeky, quite ugly man; Badenoch is notably attractive

As a trivial lightweight person who spent a career in tampon advertising, you should know the importance of that

Incidentally, it looks like Dubai got hit quite badly hit last night. It’s difficult to be sure with their brutal censorship but it looks like the biggest Iranian attack yet

I thought they were meant to be running out of missiles and drones? This has echoes of all the “Putin has no more ammunition” stories, from the PB Dads, back in 2024

I hope Sandpit is OK. Perhaps he can give us an honest update

I hope he doesn't - wouldn't want him to end up on the wrong side of the law.

I can be honest. Those finding themselves in trouble are either posting fake news or taking photographs of military activity.

One example from yesterday, someone posting a six-year-old video of a marketplace fire in the city of Ajman, but saying that it was a current event in Dubai caused by a missile attack.

There is a verified video from Al Jazeera of drones (I think) being intercepted right over Dubai. People forget that interceptions don't take away the entire problem, the intercepted drone falls to the ground

I experienced exactly this in Odessa. I was strolling back to my hotel and I heard - honestly - the loudest, most frightening noise I have ever heard in my life. Everyone on the street reflexively ducked (never a good sign in Odessa, where they shrug off air sirens)

We turned around and saw a puff of smoke and a lot of crushed metal. It was an intercepted drone and it had fallen on to a kid's playground, obliterating the swings - happily the playground was empty at the time (there aren't many small children left in Odessa). The metal smouldered and did not burn. We all got on with the day, I immediately went into the next shop and bought a load of jamon iberica de bellota, having been reminded that life is short

However, I really would not like to live in a city where "interceptions" like this happen all the time. Once, is an anecdote, twice or thrice and it's a sign to get the fuck out

Well we’d all rather be living somewhere without flying bombs around the place, but we are where we are.

No-one is quitting jobs and getting out, although tourism is abviously down with Western governments advising against travel to the region. But day-to-day, life goes on. There’s fewer fatalities than days in the conflict so far, in a country of 11m people, so the chance of being affected is tiny. We’re working from home as much as possible, and not hanging around outside when the alerts go off, but apart from that we continue as usual.

Ukraine was an order of magnitude worse.