Best Of

Putin has Merthyr Tydfil in his cross hairs. Perhaps he has been there and seen the carnage for himself?

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2117023/russias-sends-threat-strike-23?utm_source=taboolamktg&utm_medium=taboolamktg_2025&utm_campaign=taboolamtkg_Oct_25&tblci=GiA5eh_L-eo18MVLZHxW15f-AyCs2WGNSflPevsIIJLAgCCanXYouZrDwLnQqp98MKnfQQ#tblciGiA5eh_L-eo18MVLZHxW15f-AyCs2WGNSflPevsIIJLAgCCanXYouZrDwLnQqp98MKnfQQ

Neville Chamberlain wanted to destroy Merthyr Tydfil as well.

So clearly Putin is a technocratic politician of the 1930s with no idea of how to wage a war.

I am remi ded of the old Mike Harding joke that Hitler didn't bomb Wath on Derne because he wanted to be able to see where he had bombed.

Allegedly the aftermath of a Russian attack on the Kyiv Dam this morning.

https://x.com/nafovoyager/status/2004909075637977249

Now they were probably looking to take out the power lines rather than the dam itself, but if that dam goes the Ukranian capital gets flooded. Add to the list of Russian war crimes.

Russia are apparently so weak that some argue they are no threat to Britain and Europe at all, and yet Britain and Europe have been unable - in nearly four years - to provide sufficient support to Ukraine so that they can protect themselves from the threat of a catastrophe that would kill many thousands.

There's something missing there.

I fear that Britain is not at all prepared for the destruction that Russia could inflict upon the country, should they so choose.

Russia has more nuclear weapons than any nation on earth. If Russia had no nukes it would likely have been forced out of Ukraine even before Biden left office.

If Putin floods much of Ukraine that just ensures Zelensky rejects any peace deal

Allegedly the aftermath of a Russian attack on the Kyiv Dam this morning.

https://x.com/nafovoyager/status/2004909075637977249

Now they were probably looking to take out the power lines rather than the dam itself, but if that dam goes the Ukranian capital gets flooded. Add to the list of Russian war crimes.

Russia are apparently so weak that some argue they are no threat to Britain and Europe at all, and yet Britain and Europe have been unable - in nearly four years - to provide sufficient support to Ukraine so that they can protect themselves from the threat of a catastrophe that would kill many thousands.

There's something missing there.

I fear that Britain is not at all prepared for the destruction that Russia could inflict upon the country, should they so choose.

Re your last paragraph I’m sure that was said about Britain at the outset of WW2. I would think it’s very different when you are directly at war as a govt can turn huge parts of the economy and production to war footing which would be unpalatable to the electorate when the war is “far off”.

I remember asking my grandfather if he was growing up expecting to spend the war flying a B-25 bombing Europe and he said that clearly he didn’t, he never thought about it and him and his brothers expected to go to university, become lawyers etc but when it happened it happened and they had a huge mindset change. He was lucky as was one of his brothers but another died being shot down in Libya.

There is only so much preparation people will take when we have been relatively “safe”.

a

MarqueeMark will be happy with this!

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/27/london-eye-architect-proposes-14-mile-tidal-power-station-off-somerset-coast

The problem is that a project like this will be aggressively opposed by the Enquiry Industrial Complex. Minimum 20 years to get approval.

No. Swansea got through planning in 2 years, with 80-odd% local support.

The bigger issue is that Minhead was always one of the more complex options. It has not been improved by Hinkley C going for a tidal cooling system of it own, as their "fish scarer" - part of the planning requirement - didn't work.

Plus the stated numbers are notywhere near as good as Cardiff. That would be the sensible first build. All the twiddly bits they are talking about for Minehead that make it more appealling were already incorporated into the Swansea proposal.

Good morning and seasons greetings to all.

Albanian criminal can stay in UK because his partner cannot speak Albanian https://share.google/HNqRcl07p0GsZX1IR

This sort of bollocks decision by the tribunal plays into the hands of those who believe the Human rights act needs reviewing.

The decision isn't just bollocks its effing ludicrous.

I can't read the article but it seems the premise is that unless conditions are essentially perfect in all regards, with no grounds for appeal, you don't get deported.

The system working as intended then.

Politicians spoute shite about stopping this. They could. They never do.

If I was PM, I'd read Private Eye every fortnight, drag the appropriate ministers and civil servants in, and tell them to f***ing sort it out

Have you read Rory Stewart’s autobiography?

Or wondered why Starmer complains things can’t get done?

Overcoming systemic culture is hard. It requires knowledge, time and a certain kind of polite savagery.

Doesn't it really require a knowledge of behaviourism - ie find out what has motivated/motivates humans to make this mess, work out what will motivate them to fix it, and produce the desired political outcomes, and put those systems in place.

For a start, there can and should be a permanent system in place that makes civil service and political remuneration dependent on individual and departmental performance, but also on positive markers in the economy.

What if every civil servant was going to get less money in their pay packet and pension pot if GDP per capita went down? How would that affect the efficiency of the immigration system and levels of deportations? How would it affect things like the Chagos giveaway?

Ha

I worked in a bank where they tried to change the traders behaviour via the bonus.

So they capped the bonus component for profit and added in a component for growing market share.

The traders took mad risks to maximise profit, then used the “excess” profit to sell derivatives at a loss. So they finished the year with maximum profit bonus and increased bank market share.

Be careful what metrics you use.

To be fair, those are savvy traders and exactly the sort that you want to keep around…

I giggled about that, when I heard.

You hire people with PhD in maths and greed, then get surprised when they optimise the output of a simple algorithm to maximise their advantage?

Oh dear. The Tories are up to their necks in it too. He actually linked to his twitter feed, so there can be no excuse of ignorance about his social media output.

https://x.com/JamesCleverly/status/1588114772519796736

Last night I spoke to the sisters of @Alaa

We will continue to work tirelessly for his release.

Two things can be true simultaneously:

1) Some people are bellends who say disgusting things on Twitter;

2) They can still be wrongfully imprisoned and deserve to be released.

Lucy Connolly can probably explain this better than I can.

I know you’re not a Stan for her or sticking up for her but if she didn’t want to go inside she shouldn’t have pleaded guilty to an offence which as eek, IIRC, explained her sentence was the lowest for that crime and she got the max reduction.

Reserve judgement

He’s a great guy

Pt. 94

https://x.com/basilthegreat/status/2004940944735695015?s=61

Grok has this to say in response to a question as to whether he would be arrested.

"Based on reports, Alaa Abd El-Fattah arrived in the UK on Dec 26, 2025, without arrest. His 2011-2013 tweets, if genuine, include sarcastic remarks (e.g., with smileys) on racism/privilege, which may not meet UK hate speech thresholds under the Public Order Act (requiring intent to stir hatred). Recent arrests targeted incitement during riots. No ongoing probe reported."

I think Grok is contending that it was possibly all banter. Personally I hate banter.

People I worked with who thought they were banter lords were just bullies.

Banter is just en excuse for being an arsehole or mitigating deeply unpleasant comments.

If,people want to see his comments, and there is a pattern here, as banter. So be it.

My Arabic isn’t up to scratch, so can’t be 100% confident of the translation, or context, but…

Getting this bloke here was one of Sir Keir’s priorities

The sayings of Labour’s favourite Egyptian dissident Alaa Abd El-Fattah in English are terrifying, but here’s what he says in Arabic:
‘If we can't kill the officers anyway ... fine. We'll find a terrorist cell to kill their children and torture their mothers. Peaceful is stupid.’

https://x.com/joerichlaw/status/2004930203202834614?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q

He’s clearly The Archbishop of Banterbury.