Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
Dannythefink
It’s interesting that @jdvance thinks this gap is a predictor of failure. What IQ does Donald Trump think he has? And what IQ does he actually have?
He may well be correct that people thinking they are smarter than they are is a big problem, but arrogance really is one of those things that doesn't restrict itself to one side only, he has to know that. An argument could be attempted about sides being worse, but is rarely made.
Morning all from the sunny west coast of the South Island of Aotearoa
From the dining room window of brother-in-law Stodge’s enormous property, the Tasman can be seen lapping gently against the shore. I’m sure some dimwitted future Government in Canberra will try to rename it the Sea of Australia.
Meanwhile, Mrs Stodge is scoffing a vegemite sandwich for breakfast as civilisation teeters on the edge of the abyss….
On topic, as I’ve said before, Sadiq Khan made an enormous personal political misjudgment in early 2022. He believed at that point Labour could not win the next GE and rather than spend five to ten years impotently on the Opposition benches in the Commons, he would stay on as Mayor of London which gave him at least some national political profile and more power.
He no more reckoned on the spectacular implosion of the Conservative Party than the rest of us but he had said he would run again and couldn’t back out. He now finds himself an irrelevance with a huge Labour majority and no place in the Starmer Government. Even if he quit and tried to get in to Parliament via a by election, there’s every chance in the current climate he would fail.
Mrs Stodge and many of her friends loathe him - I’m fairly ambivalent. The London Mayoralty is all froth with very little substance. The transport network is effectively run by Rachel Reeves and beyond that much of the real power sits with the Boroughs or with Whitehall.
The 2026 local elections will be very informative as to the possible direction of travel for a future Mayoral contest in 2028 but there is a growing anti-Sadiq vote which could make his re-election problematic in a way it might not be for an alternative Labour candidate.
I dunno, I think he quite enjoys being London Mayor over possibly a middling cabinet role. He gets to do the fun stuff and can speak his mind without worrying about diplomacy - which has been important when a large part of the international right is explicitly anti-Muslim. He's a lot more comfortable where he is than if he was, say, attorney general and having to field questions about Musk's ravings without causing an international incident
As for whether he can win in 2028 if he stands, well, I think it depends on two things - can the Tories select a high profile enough London-friendly candidate? Sadiq was unpopular last time but won handily because Susan Hall was a disaster and the Tories national messaging looked like it hated London. I wouldn't be optimistic the current Tory Party can find a good candidate given the state of them.
Secondly, does a Corbynite challenge materialise from the left? There's clearly space and Livingstone managed it. Corbyn is probably a bit too lazy and getting on to do it himself - plus would be a wrench to lose his constituency.
Burnham's the one who made a miscalculation IMV, if he hadn't run off to Manchester, a city he's not actually a native of, he might well be Prime Minister now and if not would be the heir apparent.
What would Corbyn's message be?
"Defeat the evil Sadiq Kahn. Because he is evil for being the blandest Mayor on the menu? errrrrr...."
A Corbynite would run on the idea that London is a progressive city but needs a Mayor who isn't Labour because it's been captured by the dreaded centrists, and needs someone who will stand up to Labour on issues like the Gaza protests, relations with Trump, be more pro-immigration.
It'd be the same 'Red Tories' guff they always come out with but could prove effective in a climate where you have an unpopular mayor who may have outstayed his welcome and an unpopular Labour government trying to tailor its appeal to keep the majority of its red wall seats.
I just don't see Khan as that unpopular. He's too bland to be hated.
Oh some people absolutely loathe Khan, it's very much a thing. As to why, it's a bit of inner and outer London, Khan being a mayor from and for the inner bits, and dare I say some disagreement curdles into hatred because of who he is.
But yeah, that's not enough people to oust him when the alternative is a really crap Tory. If it were one who could eat into his support among those who aren't really fussed about him but vote for him because a bland mayor is better than a mad one, then he'd be in trouble.
His approval ratings weren't great at the last mayoral election - he should have been eminently beatable. But the Tories chose an awful candidate and were in the middle of their doomed effort to win round Reform types by hating on that there London.
Asteroid fragments upend theory of how life on Earth bloomed Samples from Bennu contain the chemical building blocks of life — but with a twist. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00264-3 … Not only does Bennu contain all 5 of the nucleobases that form DNA and RNA on Earth and 14 of the 20 amino acids found in known proteins, the asteroid’s amino acids hold a surprise. On Earth, amino acids in living organisms predominantly have a ‘left-handed’ chemical structure. Bennu, however, contains nearly equal amounts of these structures and their ‘right-handed’, mirror-image forms, calling into question scientists’ hypothesis that asteroids similar to this one might have seeded life on Earth...
The presence of amino acids wasn’t really unexpected - it’s long been theorised, and we’ve even detected the presence of simple organic chemistry beyond our galaxy. The different proportion of left/right chirality is notable, though.
Sinister!
Recovered with some dexterity, though.
On the original point - I've never bought into the "asteroids seeded life" thing as an explanation. It may of happened, but it's only adding another step in the quest for "Where did life start?". It doesn't explain how it started.
Among the theories is that space actually can provide a pretty good environment for generating complex carbon chemistry, without life being involved at all. Smoosh some large lumps of such space junk into a planet in the temperate zone, containing lots of water, and it doesn’t seem silly.
It looks like you can generate the stuff in a "primodorial atmosphere" pretty easily, as well.
So we have lots of building blocks. Then what?
Yes, but on a planet with lots of water, and lots of weather, anything generated tends to diluted/disrupted fairly quickly. Adding a large, fairly concentrated lump of ‘stuff’ to the environment might just have provided the required kickstart.
Speculation, sure. But we’re only just starting to tase out any detail of how chemistry can work in space. The conditions might provide a significant advantage for this.
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
Presumably Trump and Vance are showing us what true arrogance looks like.
Insert “Starmer and Reeves” for “British state”, and it’s still pretty well true.
Whenever I worry that the British state might be falling behind on innovation and international competitiveness, I remind myself of the EU's inexplicably named 'competitiveness compass' https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1884922183480156536
Insert “Starmer and Reeves” for “British state”, and it’s still pretty well true.
Whenever I worry that the British state might be falling behind on innovation and international competitiveness, I remind myself of the EU's inexplicably named 'competitiveness compass' https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1884922183480156536
It's a weird graphic because the compass can only point in one direction at a time so it implies confusion about what the EU should be doing.
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
FFS. You're the Vice=President of the most powerful state on Earth and you're arguing with a podcaster? And based on that tweet his grasp of the basic tenets of the religion he purports to follow are lacking. A perusal of Luke 10:25-37 might be in order. Augustine's Ordo Amoris in De Trinitate means that all things should be loved. Love attracts through partial knowing. We never love anything entirely unknown. We love things we have some understanding of. Proper love comes, then, in order or knowledge and understanding. So if you understand the suffering of someone 1000s of miles away then yes you should love them and yes you have duties to them.
Insert “Starmer and Reeves” for “British state”, and it’s still pretty well true.
Whenever I worry that the British state might be falling behind on innovation and international competitiveness, I remind myself of the EU's inexplicably named 'competitiveness compass' https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1884922183480156536
It's a weird graphic because the compass can only point in one direction at a time so it implies confusion about what the EU should be doing.
Neither the metaphor, nor the labels actually mean anything. It’s just shit.
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
Vance needs to familiarize himself with the 'drowning child' thought experiment.
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
Vance needs to familiarize himself with the 'drowning child' thought experiment.
Why does JD Vance even know who Rory Stuart is? Why would he be in his Twitter feed? He’s an unsuccessful British politician who now has a domestically focused podcast.
It’s like Vance himself. I am fairly politically engaged and do follow US politics but I had never heard of him until Trump announced him.
It’s like Musk - why are these people so interested in us?
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
FFS. You're the Vice=President of the most powerful state on Earth and you're arguing with a podcaster? And based on that tweet his grasp of the basic tenets of the religion he purports to follow are lacking. A perusal of Luke 10:25-37 might be in order. Augustine's Ordo Amoris in De Trinitate means that all things should be loved. Love attracts through partial knowing. We never love anything entirely unknown. We love things we have some understanding of. Proper love comes, then, in order or knowledge and understanding. So if you understand the suffering of someone 1000s of miles away then yes you should love them and yes you have duties to them.
The tax return thing is silly. It’s a free hit for Labour. The public [edit] assume Tories have complex tax affairs and won’t hold it against them because it’s already priced in. That’s why Boris releasing his and showing he was PAYE when Ken wasn’t was so devastating to Ken.
If Khan did leak heavily to the Greens over the Heathrow expansion that would certainly help Cleverly if he stands for London Mayor under its FPTP system now
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
FFS. You're the Vice=President of the most powerful state on Earth and you're arguing with a podcaster? And based on that tweet his grasp of the basic tenets of the religion he purports to follow are lacking. A perusal of Luke 10:25-37 might be in order. Augustine's Ordo Amoris in De Trinitate means that all things should be loved. Love attracts through partial knowing. We never love anything entirely unknown. We love things we have some understanding of. Proper love comes, then, in order or knowledge and understanding. So if you understand the suffering of someone 1000s of miles away then yes you should love them and yes you have duties to them.
If Khan did leak heavily to the Greens over the Heathrow expansion that would certainly help Cleverly if he stands for London Mayor under its FPTP system now
I hadn’t thought about him doing that. Become king over the water? If the left split, I also wonder whether Boris could still win on FPTP in London….
The tax return thing is silly. It’s a free hit for Labour. The police assume Tories have complex tax affairs and won’t hold it against them because it’s already priced in. That’s why Boris releasing his and showing he was PAYE when Ken wasn’t was so devastating to Ken.
The tax return thing is silly. It’s a free hit for Labour. The police assume Tories have complex tax affairs and won’t hold it against them because it’s already priced in. That’s why Boris releasing his and showing he was PAYE when Ken wasn’t was so devastating to Ken.
The police ?
Eek! Should read “public”.
Ducking autocorrect and me being crap at proof reading.
Of course it's nothing new, but Trump is a fucking disgrace. Are any of his apologists going to defend what he said today?
Trump said variously that the helicopter pilot should have seen and avoided the plane, that the crash was caused by the FAA under Biden hiring psychiatrically unsuitable air traffic controllers in the name of diversity, and that controllers' warnings were too late.
And surely many Americans will also be wondering why the helicopter pilot did not look out the window.
Since then, there have also been reports of a late runway change, and an understaffed air traffic control meaning one person was doing two jobs.
So what's the complaint about what Trump said? Except that other presidents would have waited for the investigation before commenting.
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
I expect Rory will double his twitter followers after that response about him from the US VP
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
Vance needs to familiarize himself with the 'drowning child' thought experiment.
Are you an effective altruism follower yourself?
No, I'm not a Singerian, but people are, which shows that Vance needs to widen his outlook.
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
It’s interesting that @jdvance thinks this gap is a predictor of failure. What IQ does Donald Trump think he has? And what IQ does he actually have?
The highest IQ President since WW2 was probably Nixon closely followed by Carter and the highest IQ defeated presidential candidate was probably Hillary Clinton so high IQ alone does not guarantee success in political leadership
The tax return thing is silly. It’s a free hit for Labour. The police assume Tories have complex tax affairs and won’t hold it against them because it’s already priced in. That’s why Boris releasing his and showing he was PAYE when Ken wasn’t was so devastating to Ken.
The police ?
Eek! Should read “public”.
Ducking autocorrect and me being crap at proof reading.
For a moment, I though you might be onto a political scoop…
If Khan did leak heavily to the Greens over the Heathrow expansion that would certainly help Cleverly if he stands for London Mayor under its FPTP system now
The Conservative selection contest will be interesting and presumably it won’t be the farce it was last time. Obviously, a strong Conservative showing at the 2026 locals will help but that’s far from certain and at the last GE, around 25% of votes went to Greens, Reform and Independents.
As to the runners and riders, I imagine Susan Hall will want to try again - what about Peter Fortune, who brings GLA experience to the table?
Morning all from the sunny west coast of the South Island of Aotearoa
From the dining room window of brother-in-law Stodge’s enormous property, the Tasman can be seen lapping gently against the shore. I’m sure some dimwitted future Government in Canberra will try to rename it the Sea of Australia.
Meanwhile, Mrs Stodge is scoffing a vegemite sandwich for breakfast as civilisation teeters on the edge of the abyss….
On topic, as I’ve said before, Sadiq Khan made an enormous personal political misjudgment in early 2022. He believed at that point Labour could not win the next GE and rather than spend five to ten years impotently on the Opposition benches in the Commons, he would stay on as Mayor of London which gave him at least some national political profile and more power.
He no more reckoned on the spectacular implosion of the Conservative Party than the rest of us but he had said he would run again and couldn’t back out. He now finds himself an irrelevance with a huge Labour majority and no place in the Starmer Government. Even if he quit and tried to get in to Parliament via a by election, there’s every chance in the current climate he would fail.
Mrs Stodge and many of her friends loathe him - I’m fairly ambivalent. The London Mayoralty is all froth with very little substance. The transport network is effectively run by Rachel Reeves and beyond that much of the real power sits with the Boroughs or with Whitehall.
The 2026 local elections will be very informative as to the possible direction of travel for a future Mayoral contest in 2028 but there is a growing anti-Sadiq vote which could make his re-election problematic in a way it might not be for an alternative Labour candidate.
I dunno, I think he quite enjoys being London Mayor over possibly a middling cabinet role. He gets to do the fun stuff and can speak his mind without worrying about diplomacy - which has been important when a large part of the international right is explicitly anti-Muslim. He's a lot more comfortable where he is than if he was, say, attorney general and having to field questions about Musk's ravings without causing an international incident
As for whether he can win in 2028 if he stands, well, I think it depends on two things - can the Tories select a high profile enough London-friendly candidate? Sadiq was unpopular last time but won handily because Susan Hall was a disaster and the Tories national messaging looked like it hated London. I wouldn't be optimistic the current Tory Party can find a good candidate given the state of them.
Secondly, does a Corbynite challenge materialise from the left? There's clearly space and Livingstone managed it. Corbyn is probably a bit too lazy and getting on to do it himself - plus would be a wrench to lose his constituency.
Burnham's the one who made a miscalculation IMV, if he hadn't run off to Manchester, a city he's not actually a native of, he might well be Prime Minister now and if not would be the heir apparent.
What would Corbyn's message be?
"Defeat the evil Sadiq Kahn. Because he is evil for being the blandest Mayor on the menu? errrrrr...."
A Corbynite would run on the idea that London is a progressive city but needs a Mayor who isn't Labour because it's been captured by the dreaded centrists, and needs someone who will stand up to Labour on issues like the Gaza protests, relations with Trump, be more pro-immigration.
It'd be the same 'Red Tories' guff they always come out with but could prove effective in a climate where you have an unpopular mayor who may have outstayed his welcome and an unpopular Labour government trying to tailor its appeal to keep the majority of its red wall seats.
I just don't see Khan as that unpopular. He's too bland to be hated.
Oh some people absolutely loathe Khan, it's very much a thing. As to why, it's a bit of inner and outer London, Khan being a mayor from and for the inner bits, and dare I say some disagreement curdles into hatred because of who he is.
But yeah, that's not enough people to oust him when the alternative is a really crap Tory. If it were one who could eat into his support among those who aren't really fussed about him but vote for him because a bland mayor is better than a mad one, then he'd be in trouble.
His approval ratings weren't great at the last mayoral election - he should have been eminently beatable. But the Tories chose an awful candidate and were in the middle of their doomed effort to win round Reform types by hating on that there London.
My wife can't stand Khan, and it's totally irrational. She's never met him. She is a Tory though, and I suspect it goes with her territory. I can take him or leave him really.
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
Vance needs to familiarize himself with the 'drowning child' thought experiment.
Are you an effective altruism follower yourself?
No, I'm not a Singerian, but people are, which shows that Vance needs to widen his outlook.
Those are the people he appears to be attacking. I don't think he unfamiliar with the arguments.
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
Vance needs to familiarize himself with the 'drowning child' thought experiment.
Are you an effective altruism follower yourself?
No, I'm not a Singerian, but people are, which shows that Vance needs to widen his outlook.
Those are the people he appears to be attacking. I don't think he unfamiliar with the arguments.
The tax return thing is silly. It’s a free hit for Labour. The police assume Tories have complex tax affairs and won’t hold it against them because it’s already priced in. That’s why Boris releasing his and showing he was PAYE when Ken wasn’t was so devastating to Ken.
The police ?
Eek! Should read “public”.
Ducking autocorrect and me being crap at proof reading.
That poll gives Reform 212 MPs, Labour 196, Conservatives 106 and LDs 72.
So Farage could become PM if he gets confidence and supply from or can agree a coalition deal with Kemi (though it is Goodwin who has Reform higher than other pollsters)
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
Vance needs to familiarize himself with the 'drowning child' thought experiment.
Are you an effective altruism follower yourself?
No, I'm not a Singerian, but people are, which shows that Vance needs to widen his outlook.
Those are the people he appears to be attacking. I don't think he unfamiliar with the arguments.
If Khan did leak heavily to the Greens over the Heathrow expansion that would certainly help Cleverly if he stands for London Mayor under its FPTP system now
The Conservative selection contest will be interesting and presumably it won’t be the farce it was last time. Obviously, a strong Conservative showing at the 2026 locals will help but that’s far from certain and at the last GE, around 25% of votes went to Greens, Reform and Independents.
As to the runners and riders, I imagine Susan Hall will want to try again - what about Peter Fortune, who brings GLA experience to the table?
They might but Cleverly would almost certainly be Tory candidate if he runs
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
It’s interesting that @jdvance thinks this gap is a predictor of failure. What IQ does Donald Trump think he has? And what IQ does he actually have?
The highest IQ President since WW2 was probably Nixon closely followed by Carter and the highest IQ defeated presidential candidate was probably Hillary Clinton so high IQ alone does not guarantee success in political leadership
Why are right wing people so obsessed with IQ tests these days? Where has it come from? People used to talk about intelligence, or intellect, or wisdom, or being bright. Now it’s all IQ, and bizarrely specific. I mean who the fuck has actually done an IQ test since the age of about 8?
That poll gives Reform 212 MPs, Labour 196, Conservatives 106 and LDs 72.
So Farage could become PM if he gets confidence and supply from or can agree a coalition deal with Kemi (though it is Goodwin who has Reform higher than other pollsters)
We are a long way from thinking those numbers are “real”, given the contradictory polling from those with more pedigree. But I suspect that anything resembling those numbers would break the current predictors.
That poll gives Reform 212 MPs, Labour 196, Conservatives 106 and LDs 72.
So Farage could become PM if he gets confidence and supply from or can agree a coalition deal with Kemi (though it is Goodwin who has Reform higher than other pollsters)
Sorry to disappoint but these polls are meaningless.
There will almost certainly be a major pandemic before Starmer faces the electorate and so no polling now is relevant.
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
It’s interesting that @jdvance thinks this gap is a predictor of failure. What IQ does Donald Trump think he has? And what IQ does he actually have?
The highest IQ President since WW2 was probably Nixon closely followed by Carter and the highest IQ defeated presidential candidate was probably Hillary Clinton so high IQ alone does not guarantee success in political leadership
Why are right wing people so obsessed with IQ tests these days? Where has it come from? People used to talk about intelligence, or intellect, or wisdom, or being bright. Now it’s all IQ, and bizarrely specific. I mean who the fuck has actually done an IQ test since the age of about 8?
SATs tests school leavers do in the US for college admission are closely linked to IQ tests but yes there is a lot more to intelligence than just IQ nor does it really measure depth of knowledge over a wide range of subjects
A tradition that started in 2017 is not much of a tradition. I really could not tell you anything about anyone's tax return.
The whole tax return gotcha thing is silly. Either have everyone’s returns publicly available, or all MPs, or let them have their privacy. Rather than making it this tabloid nonsense. If Kemi doesn’t want to publish what I assume is a very boring return, then that’s up to her.
A tradition that started in 2017 is not much of a tradition. I really could not tell you anything about anyone's tax return.
Hmm, all traditions were young once. But my point was her unerring ability to take aim at her feet and fire. I'm not a fan of hers and I'm not unduly distressed by her continuing failures, but there is an itch in the back of my brain that's annoying me. Surely she should be better than this?
The tax return thing is silly. It’s a free hit for Labour. The public [edit] assume Tories have complex tax affairs and won’t hold it against them because it’s already priced in. That’s why Boris releasing his and showing he was PAYE when Ken wasn’t was so devastating to Ken.
I believe she is entitled to keep her financial affairs to herself, it is none of our business. There is no public interest issue here.
I think in Trump's case there was a public interest case, primarily because I suspect he never paid his share of tax as a result of chicanery and smoke and mirrors.
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
It’s interesting that @jdvance thinks this gap is a predictor of failure. What IQ does Donald Trump think he has? And what IQ does he actually have?
The highest IQ President since WW2 was probably Nixon closely followed by Carter and the highest IQ defeated presidential candidate was probably Hillary Clinton so high IQ alone does not guarantee success in political leadership
Just been watching Brian and Maggie on C4. Very interesting viewing. I was a student and junior doctor then, so rather busy with important things like drinking and chatting up girls, so it filled a few gaps.
I was in a cheap backpackers hostel in Borneo when Maggie resigned. When the owner came in in shock and announced the news there was a spontaneous cheer from the British and Irish guests.
The tax return thing is silly. It’s a free hit for Labour. The public [edit] assume Tories have complex tax affairs and won’t hold it against them because it’s already priced in. That’s why Boris releasing his and showing he was PAYE when Ken wasn’t was so devastating to Ken.
I believe she is entitled to keep her financial affairs to herself, it is none of our business. There is no public interest issue here.
I think in Trump's case there was a public interest case, primarily because I suspect he never paid his share of tax as a result of chicanery and smoke and mirrors.
I think it longstanding practice in the USA, as are presidential medical reports being released.
Just been watching Brian and Maggie on C4. Very interesting viewing. I was a student and junior doctor then, so rather busy with important things like drinking and chatting up girls, so it filled a few gaps.
I was in a cheap backpackers hostel in Borneo when Maggie resigned. When the owner came in in shock and announced the news there was a spontaneous cheer from the British and Irish guests.
Yes it was 2 good episodes and captured them both well
That poll gives Reform 212 MPs, Labour 196, Conservatives 106 and LDs 72.
So Farage could become PM if he gets confidence and supply from or can agree a coalition deal with Kemi (though it is Goodwin who has Reform higher than other pollsters)
If Badenoch has any possibility of returning 106 MP'S and 21% of the vote and third on both metrics, then there is no prospect of her being allowed to fight a GE, let alone negotiate with anyone.
The tax return thing is silly. It’s a free hit for Labour. The public [edit] assume Tories have complex tax affairs and won’t hold it against them because it’s already priced in. That’s why Boris releasing his and showing he was PAYE when Ken wasn’t was so devastating to Ken.
I believe she is entitled to keep her financial affairs to herself, it is none of our business. There is no public interest issue here.
I think in Trump's case there was a public interest case, primarily because I suspect he never paid his share of tax as a result of chicanery and smoke and mirrors.
Trump probably paid no tax because his businesses didn't make money. The only guy to own a casino that went bust...
The tax return thing is silly. It’s a free hit for Labour. The public [edit] assume Tories have complex tax affairs and won’t hold it against them because it’s already priced in. That’s why Boris releasing his and showing he was PAYE when Ken wasn’t was so devastating to Ken.
I believe she is entitled to keep her financial affairs to herself, it is none of our business. There is no public interest issue here.
I think in Trump's case there was a public interest case, primarily because I suspect he never paid his share of tax as a result of chicanery and smoke and mirrors.
Trump probably paid no tax because his businesses didn't make money. The only guy to own a casino that went bust...
I vaguely remember you hinting about something coming out that would finish Trump off once and for all. Did it not come out or did he just manage to brush it off?
That poll gives Reform 212 MPs, Labour 196, Conservatives 106 and LDs 72.
So Farage could become PM if he gets confidence and supply from or can agree a coalition deal with Kemi (though it is Goodwin who has Reform higher than other pollsters)
Nah, would still be short of a majority at 318 seats.
The tax return thing is silly. It’s a free hit for Labour. The public [edit] assume Tories have complex tax affairs and won’t hold it against them because it’s already priced in. That’s why Boris releasing his and showing he was PAYE when Ken wasn’t was so devastating to Ken.
I believe she is entitled to keep her financial affairs to herself, it is none of our business. There is no public interest issue here.
I think in Trump's case there was a public interest case, primarily because I suspect he never paid his share of tax as a result of chicanery and smoke and mirrors.
There's several possibilities here...
1. Fukker voters like their politicians to be rich and deceitful so she's apeing DJT and NF in an attempt to win those voters over. Third place in the polls behind the Fukkers means she has to do something in this regard.
2. She genuinely believes she should be able to keep it private as a matter of principle. This seems highly unlikely.
3. Whatever's in the tax return is politically more damaging than refusing to release the information.
Just been watching Brian and Maggie on C4. Very interesting viewing. I was a student and junior doctor then, so rather busy with important things like drinking and chatting up girls, so it filled a few gaps.
I was in a cheap backpackers hostel in Borneo when Maggie resigned. When the owner came in in shock and announced the news there was a spontaneous cheer from the British and Irish guests.
Yes it was 2 good episodes and captured them both well
Coogan has turned out (like Hugh Grant), a much more talented character actor than he seemed when younger.
The whole piece seemed very authentic to my memories of the Eighties.
The tax return thing is silly. It’s a free hit for Labour. The public [edit] assume Tories have complex tax affairs and won’t hold it against them because it’s already priced in. That’s why Boris releasing his and showing he was PAYE when Ken wasn’t was so devastating to Ken.
I believe she is entitled to keep her financial affairs to herself, it is none of our business. There is no public interest issue here.
I think in Trump's case there was a public interest case, primarily because I suspect he never paid his share of tax as a result of chicanery and smoke and mirrors.
There's several possibilities here...
1. Fukker voters like their politicians to be rich and deceitful so she's apeing DJT and NF in an attempt to win those voters over. Third place in the polls behind the Fukkers means she has to do something in this regard.
2. She genuinely believes she should be able to keep it private as a matter of principle. This seems highly unlikely.
3. Whatever's in the tax return is politically more damaging than refusing to release the information.
I know what my money is on.
I suspect 2 is correct. She is arrogant enough to believe it.
A tradition that started in 2017 is not much of a tradition. I really could not tell you anything about anyone's tax return.
The whole tax return gotcha thing is silly. Either have everyone’s returns publicly available, or all MPs, or let them have their privacy. Rather than making it this tabloid nonsense. If Kemi doesn’t want to publish what I assume is a very boring return, then that’s up to her.
I agree with the sentiment, I think it is silly, but it's such an easy attack line I wonder if it is sustainable.
Reeves says that LHR3 could be built in 10 years, which she thinks is a good estimate but it's fucking shite. We should have shovels in the ground within months, buyouts done by the end of the year and foundations being laid at the start of next year for a 2027/28 opening of the runway and 2030 for the new terminal building which will allow for T3 to be shut down and refurbed by 2033. The lack of ambition is what's going to kill the economy in the long term. 10 years to build one runway is a joke.
Reeves says that LHR3 could be built in 10 years, which she thinks is a good estimate but it's fucking shite. We should have shovels in the ground within months, buyouts done by the end of the year and foundations being laid at the start of next year for a 2027/28 opening of the runway and 2030 for the new terminal building which will allow for T3 to be shut down and refurbed by 2033. The lack of ambition is what's going to kill the economy in the long term. 10 years to build one runway is a joke.
It will take much longer than that.
In fairness I don't know what a good target date would be for such a thing. But 10 years seems like it wouldn't even be listed as 'ambitious' or 'aspirational', the usual buzzwords for 'not going to happen'.
That poll gives Reform 212 MPs, Labour 196, Conservatives 106 and LDs 72.
So Farage could become PM if he gets confidence and supply from or can agree a coalition deal with Kemi (though it is Goodwin who has Reform higher than other pollsters)
Nah, would still be short of a majority at 318 seats.
The tax return thing is silly. It’s a free hit for Labour. The public [edit] assume Tories have complex tax affairs and won’t hold it against them because it’s already priced in. That’s why Boris releasing his and showing he was PAYE when Ken wasn’t was so devastating to Ken.
I believe she is entitled to keep her financial affairs to herself, it is none of our business. There is no public interest issue here.
I think in Trump's case there was a public interest case, primarily because I suspect he never paid his share of tax as a result of chicanery and smoke and mirrors.
There's several possibilities here...
1. Fukker voters like their politicians to be rich and deceitful so she's apeing DJT and NF in an attempt to win those voters over. Third place in the polls behind the Fukkers means she has to do something in this regard.
2. She genuinely believes she should be able to keep it private as a matter of principle. This seems highly unlikely.
3. Whatever's in the tax return is politically more damaging than refusing to release the information.
I know what my money is on.
I think 2 is quite plausible and many politicians may genuinely believe they should be able to keep it private. But they probably wouldn't actually try it without some amount of 1, 3, or unknown 4.
That poll gives Reform 212 MPs, Labour 196, Conservatives 106 and LDs 72.
So Farage could become PM if he gets confidence and supply from or can agree a coalition deal with Kemi (though it is Goodwin who has Reform higher than other pollsters)
Nah, would still be short of a majority at 318 seats.
Not that it is going to happen.
Not once you add the 7 DUP, TUV and UUP NI Unionist MPs unless SF take their seats
That poll gives Reform 212 MPs, Labour 196, Conservatives 106 and LDs 72.
So Farage could become PM if he gets confidence and supply from or can agree a coalition deal with Kemi (though it is Goodwin who has Reform higher than other pollsters)
If Badenoch has any possibility of returning 106 MP'S and 21% of the vote and third on both metrics, then there is no prospect of her being allowed to fight a GE, let alone negotiate with anyone.
Doesn't necessarily mean her likely replacements of Stride or Philp would do much better, it would still be a very hung parliament
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
It’s interesting that @jdvance thinks this gap is a predictor of failure. What IQ does Donald Trump think he has? And what IQ does he actually have?
The highest IQ President since WW2 was probably Nixon closely followed by Carter and the highest IQ defeated presidential candidate was probably Hillary Clinton so high IQ alone does not guarantee success in political leadership
Why are right wing people so obsessed with IQ tests these days? Where has it come from? People used to talk about intelligence, or intellect, or wisdom, or being bright. Now it’s all IQ, and bizarrely specific. I mean who the fuck has actually done an IQ test since the age of about 8?
It provides a metric you can measure people against I suppose (in theory anyway), rather than some mealy mouthed 'X is very smart'. The precise nature of a number (spurious though it may be) seeming more 'real' or objective perhaps.
Sounds like twaddle, like those idiotic personality tests people sometimes still have to go through as part of recruitment processes, which just teach you to assess people (and yourself) like a sociopath with no experience of human nature.
That poll gives Reform 212 MPs, Labour 196, Conservatives 106 and LDs 72.
So Farage could become PM if he gets confidence and supply from or can agree a coalition deal with Kemi (though it is Goodwin who has Reform higher than other pollsters)
Nah, would still be short of a majority at 318 seats.
Not that it is going to happen.
Not once you add the 7 DUP, TUV and UUP NI Unionist MPs unless SF take their seats
I'd be willing to make a market in days for how long that coalition would last!
Reeves says that LHR3 could be built in 10 years, which she thinks is a good estimate but it's fucking shite. We should have shovels in the ground within months, buyouts done by the end of the year and foundations being laid at the start of next year for a 2027/28 opening of the runway and 2030 for the new terminal building which will allow for T3 to be shut down and refurbed by 2033. The lack of ambition is what's going to kill the economy in the long term. 10 years to build one runway is a joke.
It will take much longer than that.
I doubt it'll ever be built due to never-ending legal challenges.
The significance of the Priti Patel interview can’t be underestimated. The Tories have made a decision to defend their liberal record on immigration unapologetically, parking their tanks on Labour and the Lib Dems’ lawn.
Patel is doing what Starmer is unwilling to.
If that's the position of the Tories, I will be voting Reform.
I think to be fair, it's just a symptom of the Tory policy vacuum. Nobody knows what the Tories under Kemi actually want to do, so you have everyone freelancing - former Sunak Ministers like Mel Stride defending their records and acting as spokespeople for the ex-Government, Patel defending her own Ministerial record, Robert Jenrick pushing his more right wing agenda. Patel's intervention can't be seen as reflective of Kemi's policies because Kemi doesn't have any policies.
While not great that's somewhat understandable, however, Kemi needs to give Patel a rebuke for defending her shit record on immigration.
The last government set out to alienate everybody, apart from pensioners who favour mass migration.
The Rory-JD discourse will probably further drag the UK into a shared political space with the US. There is no escape from the Anglosphere.
True, but we don't need to fully integrate the worst of each of our political cultures with each other either.
What annoyed me about Rory Stewart was presenting his wishful thinking about the US election as serious analysis.
He was guessing, as everyone was. He did have reasons behind his 'wishful thinking'; they were just not as strong as he believed. And some of the people who thought differently, that Trump would win, also had good reasons behind their 'wishful thinking'.
Reeves says that LHR3 could be built in 10 years, which she thinks is a good estimate but it's fucking shite. We should have shovels in the ground within months, buyouts done by the end of the year and foundations being laid at the start of next year for a 2027/28 opening of the runway and 2030 for the new terminal building which will allow for T3 to be shut down and refurbed by 2033. The lack of ambition is what's going to kill the economy in the long term. 10 years to build one runway is a joke.
SEVENTEEN years between Crossrail Bill first being put before Parliament (2005), and the Elizabeth Line finally opening in 2022.
That was a hugely complex train line built mostly underground in parts of London with huge underground developments already. I can forgive a long timeframe for Crossrail. This is mostly above ground, get the M25 tunnel started now so it's ready to go when the runway is being constructed in 2-3 years.
I would imagine the first decade will be spent on the extremely slow drafting of plans, followed by endless objections to those plans crawling through our slow and overburdened courts. It's going to end up like East West Rail: a glacially slow project, fought tooth and nail by determined NIMBY groups.
I live near Cambridge and find the idea of a day trip by train to Oxford that doesn't involve shelling out £60 a head, for the dubious delights of spending three hours in each direction slogging in and out of central London, to be rather appealing - but I don't expect this to become a reality in my lifetime. I am currently aged just under 50.
Hopefully Bicester to Bletchley will open later this year!
"We're getting there!"
I've not been following it especially closely, but AIUI the project is causing severe ructions in Bedford and nobody can make up their minds where to build the remainder of the route into Cambridge (although I do know that there are already large placards along one of the likely routes near Cambridge, because I've seen them. The pitchforks are ready beside the front doors of all the posh houses. The torches are primed and waiting to be lit.)
Practically everyone, everywhere loathes development. I harbour serious doubts about whether the link between Bedford and Cambridge will ever be built.
"nobody can make up their minds where to build the remainder of the route into Cambridge"
*Very* detailed proposals are already available; not just of a preferred route, but other items as well. The route is now fairly well set-in. There is about zero chance of the northern route being selected, which a lot of the antis wanted.
Of course it's nothing new, but Trump is a fucking disgrace. Are any of his apologists going to defend what he said today?
Trump said variously that the helicopter pilot should have seen and avoided the plane, that the crash was caused by the FAA under Biden hiring psychiatrically unsuitable air traffic controllers in the name of diversity, and that controllers' warnings were too late.
And surely many Americans will also be wondering why the helicopter pilot did not look out the window.
Since then, there have also been reports of a late runway change, and an understaffed air traffic control meaning one person was doing two jobs.
So what's the complaint about what Trump said? Except that other presidents would have waited for the investigation before commenting.
That's the point - that's evidence free garbage, designed to pander to their own prejudices.
There's no evidence presented that the existing system hired under-qualified people.
IMO that's now the greatest threat to the USA people, as I mentioned before - Trump's chumps will act on the basis of lies they have told themselves, and believed. They are currently busily removing checks and balances from the systems - such as subject area experts - to let them do this.
Morning all from the sunny west coast of the South Island of Aotearoa
From the dining room window of brother-in-law Stodge’s enormous property, the Tasman can be seen lapping gently against the shore. I’m sure some dimwitted future Government in Canberra will try to rename it the Sea of Australia.
Meanwhile, Mrs Stodge is scoffing a vegemite sandwich for breakfast as civilisation teeters on the edge of the abyss….
On topic, as I’ve said before, Sadiq Khan made an enormous personal political misjudgment in early 2022. He believed at that point Labour could not win the next GE and rather than spend five to ten years impotently on the Opposition benches in the Commons, he would stay on as Mayor of London which gave him at least some national political profile and more power.
He no more reckoned on the spectacular implosion of the Conservative Party than the rest of us but he had said he would run again and couldn’t back out. He now finds himself an irrelevance with a huge Labour majority and no place in the Starmer Government. Even if he quit and tried to get in to Parliament via a by election, there’s every chance in the current climate he would fail.
Mrs Stodge and many of her friends loathe him - I’m fairly ambivalent. The London Mayoralty is all froth with very little substance. The transport network is effectively run by Rachel Reeves and beyond that much of the real power sits with the Boroughs or with Whitehall.
The 2026 local elections will be very informative as to the possible direction of travel for a future Mayoral contest in 2028 but there is a growing anti-Sadiq vote which could make his re-election problematic in a way it might not be for an alternative Labour candidate.
I don't know.
If Sadiq Khan completes the changes in London's Transport System that he is half way through, that will be transformational and enough for one lifetime.
The strategy is laid out until 2040 currently. Along the way it will go sonme way to civilising London.
Susan Hall and the conspiraloon goon review have not yet gone away.
Reeves says that LHR3 could be built in 10 years, which she thinks is a good estimate but it's fucking shite. We should have shovels in the ground within months, buyouts done by the end of the year and foundations being laid at the start of next year for a 2027/28 opening of the runway and 2030 for the new terminal building which will allow for T3 to be shut down and refurbed by 2033. The lack of ambition is what's going to kill the economy in the long term. 10 years to build one runway is a joke.
SEVENTEEN years between Crossrail Bill first being put before Parliament (2005), and the Elizabeth Line finally opening in 2022.
That was a hugely complex train line built mostly underground in parts of London with huge underground developments already. I can forgive a long timeframe for Crossrail. This is mostly above ground, get the M25 tunnel started now so it's ready to go when the runway is being constructed in 2-3 years.
I would imagine the first decade will be spent on the extremely slow drafting of plans, followed by endless objections to those plans crawling through our slow and overburdened courts. It's going to end up like East West Rail: a glacially slow project, fought tooth and nail by determined NIMBY groups.
I live near Cambridge and find the idea of a day trip by train to Oxford that doesn't involve shelling out £60 a head, for the dubious delights of spending three hours in each direction slogging in and out of central London, to be rather appealing - but I don't expect this to become a reality in my lifetime. I am currently aged just under 50.
Hopefully Bicester to Bletchley will open later this year!
"We're getting there!"
I've not been following it especially closely, but AIUI the project is causing severe ructions in Bedford and nobody can make up their minds where to build the remainder of the route into Cambridge (although I do know that there are already large placards along one of the likely routes near Cambridge, because I've seen them. The pitchforks are ready beside the front doors of all the posh houses. The torches are primed and waiting to be lit.)
Practically everyone, everywhere loathes development. I harbour serious doubts about whether the link between Bedford and Cambridge will ever be built.
A visit to the EWR website, specifically the latest update on the proposed station at Tempsford (which I believe was mentioned in the Chancellor's speech today) contains the following gem: "Under our current proposals, if consent is received, we would look to have the full East West Rail route open in the mid 2030s." So, this is a national infrastructure project that the Government has identified as a priority, which appears to be proud of the fact that it'll take somewhere around another decade to deliver a new railway line between Bedford and Cambridge. And that's assuming the job is done on time, which is an heroic assumption for anything to do with building stuff in Britain, let alone train stuff.
The distance between these two places by road is around 30 miles, so it's a reasonable assumption that the railway wouldn't be very much longer than that, certainly not more than 40 miles. What Brunel would make of a railway construction effort that crawls from A to B at an average of three or four miles per year can only be guessed at. We are useless at this stuff. Useless.
Well, things were simpler in Brunel's day. He was not making a 100MPH railway, for one thing, the rules were more lax, land ownership simpler and the countryside not so crowded. But let's look at it.
The GWR was founded in 1833. The act enabling construction was granted in August 1835. The first stage (Paddington to Maidenhead Bridge) opened in June 1838. Just under three years after the act. Through trains to Bristol started in 1841.
So it took three years for the first section to open, and six years from getting the act through parliament. It did not happen overnight.
Paddington to Maidenhead is about thirty miles, and it took them three years to build it after the act.
In addition, around 100 people died during the construction of Box Tunnel alone. Are you calling for us to go back to those days? How about the Roman mosaics that were cut through without being properly surveyed?
How an AI written book shows why the tech 'terrifies' creatives ... ...sold around 150,000 personalised books, mainly in the US, since pivoting from compiling AI-generated travel guides in June 2024. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8k5gezykyo
AI writes books and travel guides but can it post to pb? Until then, we shall still need Leon.
How an AI written book shows why the tech 'terrifies' creatives ... ...sold around 150,000 personalised books, mainly in the US, since pivoting from compiling AI-generated travel guides in June 2024. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8k5gezykyo
AI writes books and travel guides but can it post to pb? Until then, we shall still need Leon.
Well I got it very wrong yesterday about political fallout from plane crashes.
Turns out there’s been a number of whistleblowers trying to get stories out about under-resourced and overworked air traffic controllers for at least a year, including specifically at Reagan airport.
Only the day before this accident, another pilot on approach to Reagan broke off and went around because of an helicopter directly in his path.
There are stories of controllers working 10 hour days six days a week, which would be totally illegal in the UK.
I feel very, very sorry for those who were working the tower in Regan on Wednesday night. They will need extensive counselling and it’s sadly unlikely they will ever be fit to return to work in the same role.
Oh, and yes, someone needs to tell the President that, even if he gets briefed on the politics of any given situation, he’s better off taking a much more neutral attitude in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Not a good day for Trump, there’s a time and a place for the politics, which is after the search and rescue operation has finished, and the families of those affected have been informed.
Well I got it very wrong yesterday about political fallout from plane crashes.
Turns out there’s been a number of whistleblowers trying to get stories out about under-resourced and overworked air traffic controllers for at least a year, including specifically at Reagan airport.
Only the day before this accident, another pilot on approach to Reagan broke off and went around because of an helicopter directly in his path.
There are stories of controllers working 10 hour days six days a week, which would be totally illegal in the UK.
I feel very, very sorry for those who were working the tower in Regan on Wednesday night. They will need extensive counselling and it’s sadly unlikely they will ever be fit to return to work in the same role.
Oh, and yes, someone needs to tell the President that, even if he gets briefed on the politics of any given situation, he’s better off taking a much more neutral attitude in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Not a good day for Trump, there’s a time and a place for the politics, which is after the search and rescue operation has finished, and the families of those affected have been informed.
I’m afraid we have to get used to this total war politics for the time being. It’s everywhere, driven by the mob on social media. It’s happening here.
Reeves says that LHR3 could be built in 10 years, which she thinks is a good estimate but it's fucking shite. We should have shovels in the ground within months, buyouts done by the end of the year and foundations being laid at the start of next year for a 2027/28 opening of the runway and 2030 for the new terminal building which will allow for T3 to be shut down and refurbed by 2033. The lack of ambition is what's going to kill the economy in the long term. 10 years to build one runway is a joke.
SEVENTEEN years between Crossrail Bill first being put before Parliament (2005), and the Elizabeth Line finally opening in 2022.
That was a hugely complex train line built mostly underground in parts of London with huge underground developments already. I can forgive a long timeframe for Crossrail. This is mostly above ground, get the M25 tunnel started now so it's ready to go when the runway is being constructed in 2-3 years.
I would imagine the first decade will be spent on the extremely slow drafting of plans, followed by endless objections to those plans crawling through our slow and overburdened courts. It's going to end up like East West Rail: a glacially slow project, fought tooth and nail by determined NIMBY groups.
I live near Cambridge and find the idea of a day trip by train to Oxford that doesn't involve shelling out £60 a head, for the dubious delights of spending three hours in each direction slogging in and out of central London, to be rather appealing - but I don't expect this to become a reality in my lifetime. I am currently aged just under 50.
Hopefully Bicester to Bletchley will open later this year!
"We're getting there!"
I've not been following it especially closely, but AIUI the project is causing severe ructions in Bedford and nobody can make up their minds where to build the remainder of the route into Cambridge (although I do know that there are already large placards along one of the likely routes near Cambridge, because I've seen them. The pitchforks are ready beside the front doors of all the posh houses. The torches are primed and waiting to be lit.)
Practically everyone, everywhere loathes development. I harbour serious doubts about whether the link between Bedford and Cambridge will ever be built.
A visit to the EWR website, specifically the latest update on the proposed station at Tempsford (which I believe was mentioned in the Chancellor's speech today) contains the following gem: "Under our current proposals, if consent is received, we would look to have the full East West Rail route open in the mid 2030s." So, this is a national infrastructure project that the Government has identified as a priority, which appears to be proud of the fact that it'll take somewhere around another decade to deliver a new railway line between Bedford and Cambridge. And that's assuming the job is done on time, which is an heroic assumption for anything to do with building stuff in Britain, let alone train stuff.
The distance between these two places by road is around 30 miles, so it's a reasonable assumption that the railway wouldn't be very much longer than that, certainly not more than 40 miles. What Brunel would make of a railway construction effort that crawls from A to B at an average of three or four miles per year can only be guessed at. We are useless at this stuff. Useless.
Well, things were simpler in Brunel's day. He was not making a 100MPH railway, for one thing, the rules were more lax, land ownership simpler and the countryside not so crowded. But let's look at it.
The GWR was founded in 1833. The act enabling construction was granted in August 1835. The first stage (Paddington to Maidenhead Bridge) opened in June 1838. Just under three years after the act. Through trains to Bristol started in 1841.
So it took three years for the first section to open, and six years from getting the act through parliament. It did not happen overnight.
Paddington to Maidenhead is about thirty miles, and it took them three years to build it after the act.
In addition, around 100 people died during the construction of Box Tunnel alone. Are you calling for us to go back to those days? How about the Roman mosaics that were cut through without being properly surveyed?
Technology has also moved on just a bit since the days when everything had to be done by navvies. What I'm calling for is for stuff to be built just occasionally that can be used by us rather than being an intergenerational project. And yes, I appreciate that's an exaggeration, but nonetheless it will have taken about twenty years from the point at which EWR began work to deliver the complete line, even if all the remaining work actually gets done within the timeframe for which they are aiming. And it's not as if we are dealing either with novel technology or difficult mountainous terrain here.
This is, undeniably, slow. Quite how we're meant to deal with full scale decarbonisation, including converting the whole country to wean it off domestic natural gas use and ICE vehicles, and resolve the housing shortage in any sort of reasonable timescale, if it takes twenty-plus years to reinstate a second tier regional railway line, is beyond me. There seems to be precious little sense of urgency to anything.
Reeves says that LHR3 could be built in 10 years, which she thinks is a good estimate but it's fucking shite. We should have shovels in the ground within months, buyouts done by the end of the year and foundations being laid at the start of next year for a 2027/28 opening of the runway and 2030 for the new terminal building which will allow for T3 to be shut down and refurbed by 2033. The lack of ambition is what's going to kill the economy in the long term. 10 years to build one runway is a joke.
SEVENTEEN years between Crossrail Bill first being put before Parliament (2005), and the Elizabeth Line finally opening in 2022.
That was a hugely complex train line built mostly underground in parts of London with huge underground developments already. I can forgive a long timeframe for Crossrail. This is mostly above ground, get the M25 tunnel started now so it's ready to go when the runway is being constructed in 2-3 years.
I would imagine the first decade will be spent on the extremely slow drafting of plans, followed by endless objections to those plans crawling through our slow and overburdened courts. It's going to end up like East West Rail: a glacially slow project, fought tooth and nail by determined NIMBY groups.
I live near Cambridge and find the idea of a day trip by train to Oxford that doesn't involve shelling out £60 a head, for the dubious delights of spending three hours in each direction slogging in and out of central London, to be rather appealing - but I don't expect this to become a reality in my lifetime. I am currently aged just under 50.
Hopefully Bicester to Bletchley will open later this year!
"We're getting there!"
I've not been following it especially closely, but AIUI the project is causing severe ructions in Bedford and nobody can make up their minds where to build the remainder of the route into Cambridge (although I do know that there are already large placards along one of the likely routes near Cambridge, because I've seen them. The pitchforks are ready beside the front doors of all the posh houses. The torches are primed and waiting to be lit.)
Practically everyone, everywhere loathes development. I harbour serious doubts about whether the link between Bedford and Cambridge will ever be built.
"nobody can make up their minds where to build the remainder of the route into Cambridge"
*Very* detailed proposals are already available; not just of a preferred route, but other items as well. The route is now fairly well set-in. There is about zero chance of the northern route being selected, which a lot of the antis wanted.
Hilariously, someone where I used to live was objecting to the route because it would increase rail disturbance to their property. Mate, you bought a flat next to the railway line, so close to the station you can hear the announcements.
And note Kwasi's final line to Conservatives: They should not simply indulge in a grotesque cosplay of an idealised Thatcher who only ever existed in their imagination.
Apropos of nothing, the same paper last week treated us to:-
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: the problem with Rory and people like him is that he has an IQ of 110 and thinks he has an IQ of 130. This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years.
This is interesting to me. This is Vance as the Roman Catholic Right wing of Trumpism, alongside the Trumpvangelical wing.
Here's a speech from Nat Con 2022 laying out "ordo amoris" ('Rightly Ordered Love') as part of the America First ideology. I'm interested how old all the references are - notably CS Lewis, GK Chesterton, and some 19C, and the presentation as 'this is how society should be ordered'. It's drawing on quite narrow roots. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/a-christian-case-for-america-first/
To my eye (thanks @DougSeal ) Vance reimagines ordo amoris from St Augustine (admittedly: not my forte), to remove consideration of the other, and (in the way he starts with 'family') to leave out love of God, which is the root. That is an Amercia First version, which takes out balance, and gives a defensive, inward looking narrative, which justifies hostility to those outside. I'm not sure whether this theological method was present in the 1920s/1930s.
I also note that JD Vance's first response is towards attacking Stewart, rather than debate his position. That reminds me of Trump's response to Bishop Budde when she reminded him of the requirement to consider people on the margins:
'Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!'
That I think is one direction which they will be receiving a cogent critique.
A number of people will be reminding them of James 1:27, which they seem to have forgotten: Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress, and refusing to let the world corrupt you. And they seem to be quite frightened of it.
Reeves says that LHR3 could be built in 10 years, which she thinks is a good estimate but it's fucking shite. We should have shovels in the ground within months, buyouts done by the end of the year and foundations being laid at the start of next year for a 2027/28 opening of the runway and 2030 for the new terminal building which will allow for T3 to be shut down and refurbed by 2033. The lack of ambition is what's going to kill the economy in the long term. 10 years to build one runway is a joke.
SEVENTEEN years between Crossrail Bill first being put before Parliament (2005), and the Elizabeth Line finally opening in 2022.
That was a hugely complex train line built mostly underground in parts of London with huge underground developments already. I can forgive a long timeframe for Crossrail. This is mostly above ground, get the M25 tunnel started now so it's ready to go when the runway is being constructed in 2-3 years.
I would imagine the first decade will be spent on the extremely slow drafting of plans, followed by endless objections to those plans crawling through our slow and overburdened courts. It's going to end up like East West Rail: a glacially slow project, fought tooth and nail by determined NIMBY groups.
I live near Cambridge and find the idea of a day trip by train to Oxford that doesn't involve shelling out £60 a head, for the dubious delights of spending three hours in each direction slogging in and out of central London, to be rather appealing - but I don't expect this to become a reality in my lifetime. I am currently aged just under 50.
Hopefully Bicester to Bletchley will open later this year!
"We're getting there!"
I've not been following it especially closely, but AIUI the project is causing severe ructions in Bedford and nobody can make up their minds where to build the remainder of the route into Cambridge (although I do know that there are already large placards along one of the likely routes near Cambridge, because I've seen them. The pitchforks are ready beside the front doors of all the posh houses. The torches are primed and waiting to be lit.)
Practically everyone, everywhere loathes development. I harbour serious doubts about whether the link between Bedford and Cambridge will ever be built.
"nobody can make up their minds where to build the remainder of the route into Cambridge"
*Very* detailed proposals are already available; not just of a preferred route, but other items as well. The route is now fairly well set-in. There is about zero chance of the northern route being selected, which a lot of the antis wanted.
Hilariously, someone where I used to live was objecting to the route because it would increase rail disturbance to their property. Mate, you bought a flat next to the railway line, so close to the station you can hear the announcements.
Well quite. If you buy a house next to a railway line, motorway, nightclub, car racing track, airport, or anywhere similar, then that’s on you.
If the government does nothing else in the next five years, a serious go at taking a scythe to the planning process should be enough to get them re-elected. Sometimes the national interest is going to inconvenience a small number of people. Just pay them off properly (say 1.5x or 2x the value of their property) and be done with it.
How would we ever have built the railway network or the motorway network today?
If Khan did leak heavily to the Greens over the Heathrow expansion that would certainly help Cleverly if he stands for London Mayor under its FPTP system now
I hadn’t thought about him doing that. Become king over the water? If the left split, I also wonder whether Boris could still win on FPTP in London….
Hasn’t the Gvt already said that the old system is coming back?
Reeves says that LHR3 could be built in 10 years, which she thinks is a good estimate but it's fucking shite. We should have shovels in the ground within months, buyouts done by the end of the year and foundations being laid at the start of next year for a 2027/28 opening of the runway and 2030 for the new terminal building which will allow for T3 to be shut down and refurbed by 2033. The lack of ambition is what's going to kill the economy in the long term. 10 years to build one runway is a joke.
SEVENTEEN years between Crossrail Bill first being put before Parliament (2005), and the Elizabeth Line finally opening in 2022.
That was a hugely complex train line built mostly underground in parts of London with huge underground developments already. I can forgive a long timeframe for Crossrail. This is mostly above ground, get the M25 tunnel started now so it's ready to go when the runway is being constructed in 2-3 years.
I would imagine the first decade will be spent on the extremely slow drafting of plans, followed by endless objections to those plans crawling through our slow and overburdened courts. It's going to end up like East West Rail: a glacially slow project, fought tooth and nail by determined NIMBY groups.
I live near Cambridge and find the idea of a day trip by train to Oxford that doesn't involve shelling out £60 a head, for the dubious delights of spending three hours in each direction slogging in and out of central London, to be rather appealing - but I don't expect this to become a reality in my lifetime. I am currently aged just under 50.
Hopefully Bicester to Bletchley will open later this year!
"We're getting there!"
I've not been following it especially closely, but AIUI the project is causing severe ructions in Bedford and nobody can make up their minds where to build the remainder of the route into Cambridge (although I do know that there are already large placards along one of the likely routes near Cambridge, because I've seen them. The pitchforks are ready beside the front doors of all the posh houses. The torches are primed and waiting to be lit.)
Practically everyone, everywhere loathes development. I harbour serious doubts about whether the link between Bedford and Cambridge will ever be built.
A visit to the EWR website, specifically the latest update on the proposed station at Tempsford (which I believe was mentioned in the Chancellor's speech today) contains the following gem: "Under our current proposals, if consent is received, we would look to have the full East West Rail route open in the mid 2030s." So, this is a national infrastructure project that the Government has identified as a priority, which appears to be proud of the fact that it'll take somewhere around another decade to deliver a new railway line between Bedford and Cambridge. And that's assuming the job is done on time, which is an heroic assumption for anything to do with building stuff in Britain, let alone train stuff.
The distance between these two places by road is around 30 miles, so it's a reasonable assumption that the railway wouldn't be very much longer than that, certainly not more than 40 miles. What Brunel would make of a railway construction effort that crawls from A to B at an average of three or four miles per year can only be guessed at. We are useless at this stuff. Useless.
Well, things were simpler in Brunel's day. He was not making a 100MPH railway, for one thing, the rules were more lax, land ownership simpler and the countryside not so crowded. But let's look at it.
The GWR was founded in 1833. The act enabling construction was granted in August 1835. The first stage (Paddington to Maidenhead Bridge) opened in June 1838. Just under three years after the act. Through trains to Bristol started in 1841.
So it took three years for the first section to open, and six years from getting the act through parliament. It did not happen overnight.
Paddington to Maidenhead is about thirty miles, and it took them three years to build it after the act.
In addition, around 100 people died during the construction of Box Tunnel alone. Are you calling for us to go back to those days? How about the Roman mosaics that were cut through without being properly surveyed?
Technology has also moved on just a bit since the days when everything had to be done by navvies. What I'm calling for is for stuff to be built just occasionally that can be used by us rather than being an intergenerational project. And yes, I appreciate that's an exaggeration, but nonetheless it will have taken about twenty years from the point at which EWR began work to deliver the complete line, even if all the remaining work actually gets done within the timeframe for which they are aiming. And it's not as if we are dealing either with novel technology or difficult mountainous terrain here.
This is, undeniably, slow. Quite how we're meant to deal with full scale decarbonisation, including converting the whole country to wean it off domestic natural gas use and ICE vehicles, and resolve the housing shortage in any sort of reasonable timescale, if it takes twenty-plus years to reinstate a second tier regional railway line, is beyond me. There seems to be precious little sense of urgency to anything.
Technology has indeed moved on. But what we are building is also much more complex, and the technology costs more.
We should also not underestimate how expensive that 'technology' is, and how cheap work (and life...) was back then.
A new JCB 3CX backhoe (a small machine by large works' standards) costs £90-100K (*), On top of that, you need an operator, and to pay for fuel and maintenance. You could employ Navvies for a pittance (they got paid more than a countryside labourer, but the employers used tricks like a company scrip system...), and for much of the time they were essentially a disposable item. Yes, a digger does much more work than a Navvy, but you could employ hundreds or thousands of Navvies and work them around the clock.
The line is not being built for low-weight locos trundling along at under 50 MPH (blisteringly fast at the time...), but passenger and freight trains running at 100MPH. We know much more about the geotechnical and civil engineering, so the finished line will require little of the fettling and rework that the 'old' mainlines did when first built (this is often neglected in histories...).
Construction can also be fast. The CHUMMS Huntingdon to Cambridge A14 upgrade was delivered *before* time and on budget, after three years. That was quite a complex project, involving interacting with existing roads.
What seems to take the time is the planning of these projects; and there's a risk that if we speed this up, the construction will take longer and be more problematic.
(*) I've just found it hard to actually find a price online...
Sad news. If you listed 10 people to personify the 60s in London she'd be on it.
Mick Jagger Marianne Faithfull Michael Caine Mary Quant David Bailey Dusty Springfield Ray Davies Cathy McGowan Vidal Sassoon Jean Shrimpton
You've missed out Terrence Stamp, Twiggy and Julie Christie. But who goes from your list?
Bobby Moore, the Kray twins and Christine Keeler.
The sixties wasn’t just the swinging sixties, the second half of the decade. Every name I have seen is based on the second half of the sixties.
1960-1964 was also part of the sixties.
The sixties didn't start on January 1st 1960. It started on the release of Love me do. We missed out the Beatles, but to paraphrase Mandy Rice-Davies "I would say that wouldn't I?" Oh and George Best.
Comments
But yeah, that's not enough people to oust him when the alternative is a really crap Tory. If it were one who could eat into his support among those who aren't really fussed about him but vote for him because a bland mayor is better than a mad one, then he'd be in trouble.
His approval ratings weren't great at the last mayoral election - he should have been eminently beatable. But the Tories chose an awful candidate and were in the middle of their doomed effort to win round Reform types by hating on that there London.
Adding a large, fairly concentrated lump of ‘stuff’ to the environment might just have provided the required kickstart.
Speculation, sure.
But we’re only just starting to tase out any detail of how chemistry can work in space. The conditions might provide a significant advantage for this.
Whenever I worry that the British state might be falling behind on innovation and international competitiveness, I remind myself of the EU's inexplicably named 'competitiveness compass'
https://x.com/dc_lawrence/status/1884922183480156536
https://bsky.app/profile/mikeysmith.com/post/3lgvhnsaegc2m
It’s just shit.
It’s like Vance himself. I am fairly politically engaged and do follow US politics but I had never heard of him until Trump announced him.
It’s like Musk - why are these people so interested in us?
Ducking autocorrect and me being crap at proof reading.
Vow of silence for next 24hrs.
As to the runners and riders, I imagine Susan Hall will want to try again - what about Peter Fortune, who brings GLA experience to the table?
But that's my tired brain playing tricks on me.
So Farage could become PM if he gets confidence and supply from or can agree a coalition deal with Kemi (though it is Goodwin who has Reform higher than other pollsters)
There will almost certainly be a major pandemic before Starmer faces the electorate and so no polling now is relevant.
I think in Trump's case there was a public interest case, primarily because I suspect he never paid his share of tax as a result of chicanery and smoke and mirrors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3MyAxzOZqg
I was in a cheap backpackers hostel in Borneo when Maggie resigned. When the owner came in in shock and announced the news there was a spontaneous cheer from the British and Irish guests.
metrics, then there is no prospect of her being allowed to fight a GE, let alone negotiate with anyone.
Not that it is going to happen.
1. Fukker voters like their politicians to be rich and deceitful so she's apeing DJT and NF in an attempt to win those voters over. Third place in the polls behind the Fukkers means she has to do something in this regard.
2. She genuinely believes she should be able to keep it private as a matter of principle. This seems highly unlikely.
3. Whatever's in the tax return is politically more damaging than refusing to release the information.
I know what my money is on.
The whole piece seemed very authentic to my memories of the Eighties.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/
You are going down.
https://www.gbnews.com/politics/matt-goodwin-pollster-damning-labour-statistic-reform-uk
Sounds like twaddle, like those idiotic personality tests people sometimes still have to go through as part of recruitment processes, which just teach you to assess people (and yourself) like a sociopath with no experience of human nature.
Since 1955, good high school students in the US routinely have taken the National Merit Test, qualifying as semi-finalists, finalists, or even winners of scholarships: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Merit_Scholarship_Program
Think of it as a sort of public IQ test. (The winners usually get their names in local newspapers.)
Here's a list of prominent people who have done well on it:
https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/interior.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&pgid=416
(For the record: In judging elected officials, I prefer, where possible, to look at their achievements -- if any.)
They were lucky to win 24%.
*Very* detailed proposals are already available; not just of a preferred route, but other items as well. The route is now fairly well set-in. There is about zero chance of the northern route being selected, which a lot of the antis wanted.
e.g.
https://eastwestrail-production.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/public/2024-con-docs-/Route-section-maps/EWR-PP-6-Croxton-to-Toft.pdf
There's no evidence presented that the existing system hired under-qualified people.
IMO that's now the greatest threat to the USA people, as I mentioned before - Trump's chumps will act on the basis of lies they have told themselves, and believed. They are currently busily removing checks and balances from the systems - such as subject area experts - to let them do this.
If Sadiq Khan completes the changes in London's Transport System that he is half way through, that will be transformational and enough for one lifetime.
The strategy is laid out until 2040 currently. Along the way it will go sonme way to civilising London.
Susan Hall and the conspiraloon goon review have not yet gone away.
The GWR was founded in 1833.
The act enabling construction was granted in August 1835.
The first stage (Paddington to Maidenhead Bridge) opened in June 1838. Just under three years after the act.
Through trains to Bristol started in 1841.
So it took three years for the first section to open, and six years from getting the act through parliament. It did not happen overnight.
Paddington to Maidenhead is about thirty miles, and it took them three years to build it after the act.
In addition, around 100 people died during the construction of Box Tunnel alone. Are you calling for us to go back to those days? How about the Roman mosaics that were cut through without being properly surveyed?
...
...sold around 150,000 personalised books, mainly in the US, since pivoting from compiling AI-generated travel guides in June 2024.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8k5gezykyo
AI writes books and travel guides but can it post to pb? Until then, we shall still need Leon.
Turns out there’s been a number of whistleblowers trying to get stories out about under-resourced and overworked air traffic controllers for at least a year, including specifically at Reagan airport.
Only the day before this accident, another pilot on approach to Reagan broke off and went around because of an helicopter directly in his path.
There are stories of controllers working 10 hour days six days a week, which would be totally illegal in the UK.
I feel very, very sorry for those who were working the tower in Regan on Wednesday night. They will need extensive counselling and it’s sadly unlikely they will ever be fit to return to work in the same role.
Oh, and yes, someone needs to tell the President that, even if he gets briefed on the politics of any given situation, he’s better off taking a much more neutral attitude in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Not a good day for Trump, there’s a time and a place for the politics, which is after the search and rescue operation has finished, and the families of those affected have been informed.
Five Nobel prize winners, except there are at least six because they do not note Ben Bernanke's 2022 prize in economics.
This is, undeniably, slow. Quite how we're meant to deal with full scale decarbonisation, including converting the whole country to wean it off domestic natural gas use and ICE vehicles, and resolve the housing shortage in any sort of reasonable timescale, if it takes twenty-plus years to reinstate a second tier regional railway line, is beyond me. There seems to be precious little sense of urgency to anything.
Speaking of Milton Friedman, did pb see Kwasi on Mrs T?
Kwasi Kwarteng: I learnt the hard way, Thatcher's politics don't belong in 2025
The circumstances that gave rise to Thatcher couldn’t have been more different to today
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/kwasi-kwarteng-margaret-thatcher-politics-dont-belong-2025-3509499
And note Kwasi's final line to Conservatives: They should not simply indulge in a grotesque cosplay of an idealised Thatcher who only ever existed in their imagination.
Apropos of nothing, the same paper last week treated us to:-
Truss goes full Maga to show Trumpists she's 'a new Thatcher cut off in her prime'
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/liz-truss-plan-woo-trump-fanatics-maga-thatcher-3491922
Here's a speech from Nat Con 2022 laying out "ordo amoris" ('Rightly Ordered Love') as part of the America First ideology. I'm interested how old all the references are - notably CS Lewis, GK Chesterton, and some 19C, and the presentation as 'this is how society should be ordered'. It's drawing on quite narrow roots.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/a-christian-case-for-america-first/
To my eye (thanks @DougSeal ) Vance reimagines ordo amoris from St Augustine (admittedly: not my forte), to remove consideration of the other, and (in the way he starts with 'family') to leave out love of God, which is the root. That is an Amercia First version, which takes out balance, and gives a defensive, inward looking narrative, which justifies hostility to those outside. I'm not sure whether this theological method was present in the 1920s/1930s.
I also note that JD Vance's first response is towards attacking Stewart, rather than debate his position. That reminds me of Trump's response to Bishop Budde when she reminded him of the requirement to consider people on the margins:
'Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!'
That I think is one direction which they will be receiving a cogent critique.
A number of people will be reminding them of James 1:27, which they seem to have forgotten: Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress, and refusing to let the world corrupt you. And they seem to be quite frightened of it.
If the government does nothing else in the next five years, a serious go at taking a scythe to the planning process should be enough to get them re-elected. Sometimes the national interest is going to inconvenience a small number of people. Just pay them off properly (say 1.5x or 2x the value of their property) and be done with it.
How would we ever have built the railway network or the motorway network today?
1960-1964 was also part of the sixties.
We should also not underestimate how expensive that 'technology' is, and how cheap work (and life...) was back then.
A new JCB 3CX backhoe (a small machine by large works' standards) costs £90-100K (*), On top of that, you need an operator, and to pay for fuel and maintenance. You could employ Navvies for a pittance (they got paid more than a countryside labourer, but the employers used tricks like a company scrip system...), and for much of the time they were essentially a disposable item. Yes, a digger does much more work than a Navvy, but you could employ hundreds or thousands of Navvies and work them around the clock.
The line is not being built for low-weight locos trundling along at under 50 MPH (blisteringly fast at the time...), but passenger and freight trains running at 100MPH. We know much more about the geotechnical and civil engineering, so the finished line will require little of the fettling and rework that the 'old' mainlines did when first built (this is often neglected in histories...).
Construction can also be fast. The CHUMMS Huntingdon to Cambridge A14 upgrade was delivered *before* time and on budget, after three years. That was quite a complex project, involving interacting with existing roads.
What seems to take the time is the planning of these projects; and there's a risk that if we speed this up, the construction will take longer and be more problematic.
(*) I've just found it hard to actually find a price online...
Maybe it’s a shout out for Profumo and Alec Douglas Home.