Breaking news: The Justice Department will begin sharing records related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, the House Oversight Committee chairman said in a statement.
Blimey! What a lot of Democrats, and oh my God, what a turn up, Trump doesn't appear once.
The phrase "land swap" is being used to mean "Ukraine concedes land illegally occupied by Russia and also concedes territory that is not even occupied." That is not a swap. https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1957170932448928179
Trump is set to pledge a US military presence in Ukraine as part of a larger western contingent. Finland and Sweden joined @NATO Things once unthinkable come to pass. Putin the strategic genius achieved this in exchange for Ukrainian territory he turned into wasteland
Phillips P. OBrien @PhillipsPOBrien · 47m The most interesting thing to come out of today is Trump's incessant whining about the pro-Ukraine and anti-Putin political pressure he is getting. It clearly irritates him, but its also something he seems to be thinking about alot.
Trump is set to pledge a US military presence in Ukraine as part of a larger western contingent. Finland and Sweden joined @NATO Things once unthinkable come to pass. Putin the strategic genius achieved this in exchange for Ukrainian territory he turned into wasteland
The only way a security guarantee holds is if Russia seriously believes breaching it will lead to WWIII. I fear things are too equivocal for them to be scared of that. In time as European capabilities ramp up, maybe.
Phillips P. OBrien @PhillipsPOBrien · 47m The most interesting thing to come out of today is Trump's incessant whining about the pro-Ukraine and anti-Putin political pressure he is getting. It clearly irritates him, but its also something he seems to be thinking about alot.
He’s a bit like that unpopular kid at school who wants to be liked. He gets his fun day out with the cool kids (Putin) who he doesn’t realise walk all over him and laugh behind his back, then has to come home and listen to his eminently sensible parents sit him down and explain why he needs to be careful about getting involved with the wrong crowd.
The situation of the Druzhba pipeline is actually far worse. Last night NASA FIRMS confirmed that the hub and pump station in Novonikolske, Tambov region, in Russia was burning. Satellite pictures show that large parts of the facility are completely destroyed.
Together with the successful strikes against two Druzhba pump stations in the Bryansk region it is obvious that the entire Druzhba pipeline from the Tambov region in Russia all the way to the west is rendered inoperative for quite some time.
The operation was conducted by the Ukrainian 14th UAV regiment.
I have been very busy all day, so what has happened with Trump and big Z meeting with the European leaders hovering around in the background? Anything positive?
Jenrick’s boasts of procuring hotels fur asylum seekers to stay in whilst immigration minister must surely make him less likely to be next Tory leader than before the clips were released. Farage & Labour are all over it. Lay the 2.54?
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
Jenrick’s boasts of procuring hotels fur asylum seekers to stay in whilst immigration minister must surely make him less likely to be next Tory leader than before the clips were released. Farage & Labour are all over it. Lay the 2.54?
Whilst he's slick and seemingly intelligent he's always been a political chameleon, so I've never really understood why he was such a darling of Reform-leaning Tories, and find it hard to predict whether they would now turn on him fully.
Phillips P. OBrien @PhillipsPOBrien · 47m The most interesting thing to come out of today is Trump's incessant whining about the pro-Ukraine and anti-Putin political pressure he is getting. It clearly irritates him, but its also something he seems to be thinking about alot.
He's managed to turn a lot of formerly pro-Ukrainian americans into anti-Ukrainians - because unfortunately he is a powerful political leader who can sway representatives and regular people - but there is at least still some pressure on him to work for a deal they can live with, rather than just cut a deal with Putin and call it a day. I imagine he'll get to something, it is just taking more effort than he wanted.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
Some bang on about ‘woke’ not having a definition. One feature for me is often how intolerant the most ‘woke’ are to people who disagree with them.
Just as John Coyne has the right to be a TERF (and that's what he calls himself) then people who don't like TERFs have the right to refuse to share a platform with him. You can't be a freedom of speech defender and seek to restrict people's freedom of speech.
Jenrick’s boasts of procuring hotels fur asylum seekers to stay in whilst immigration minister must surely make him less likely to be next Tory leader than before the clips were released. Farage & Labour are all over it. Lay the 2.54?
Don't think it will have an impact. Jenrick's record as Immigration Minister under Braverman is pretty decent.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
Some bang on about ‘woke’ not having a definition. One feature for me is often how intolerant the most ‘woke’ are to people who disagree with them.
Woke is an overused term, which undermines its use, and it can be hard to precisely define or have multiple interpretations, but many things are hard to precisely define yet still exist - political ideas being amongst them. So I do think it exists.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
Some bang on about ‘woke’ not having a definition. One feature for me is often how intolerant the most ‘woke’ are to people who disagree with them.
Just as John Coyne has the right to be a TERF (and that's what he calls himself) then people who don't like TERFs have the right to refuse to share a platform with him. You can't be a freedom of speech defender and seek to restrict people's freedom of speech.
They are attending to make it untenable to have non approved views
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
Some bang on about ‘woke’ not having a definition. One feature for me is often how intolerant the most ‘woke’ are to people who disagree with them.
LOL. That's the case for many politically-interested people, from the left, right and middle.
That is true enough, to be specifically 'woke' I think would probably additionally require adherence to a loose if identifiable political strand of thought, not merely general intolerance, even if intolerance is a big part of the vibe.
Probably easier to separate out political tribes based on primary emotion or characteristic, like which is angriest, which is smuggest, which is the most patronising, etc.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
Some bang on about ‘woke’ not having a definition. One feature for me is often how intolerant the most ‘woke’ are to people who disagree with them.
Just as John Coyne has the right to be a TERF (and that's what he calls himself) then people who don't like TERFs have the right to refuse to share a platform with him. You can't be a freedom of speech defender and seek to restrict people's freedom of speech.
They are attending to make it untenable to have non approved views
Essentially declaring him a heretic
You are allowed to call people bad, evil, etc for having different views. How is that making someone untenable. I'm sure that John Coyne is very happy as his books have got plenty of publicity and more sales.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
Some bang on about ‘woke’ not having a definition. One feature for me is often how intolerant the most ‘woke’ are to people who disagree with them.
Just as John Coyne has the right to be a TERF (and that's what he calls himself) then people who don't like TERFs have the right to refuse to share a platform with him. You can't be a freedom of speech defender and seek to restrict people's freedom of speech.
They are attending to make it untenable to have non approved views
Essentially declaring him a heretic
You can't make somebody stand next to you nor like you
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
The literary world at that level is somewhat entwined with the higher academia. They’re all off-the-scale woke and have no understanding of why men playing in women’s sports is a problem.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
The literary world at that level is somewhat entwined with the higher academia. They’re all off-the-scale woke and have no understanding of why men playing in women’s sports is a problem.
So these authors shouldn't be allowed to say what they think?
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
The literary world at that level is somewhat entwined with the higher academia. They’re all off-the-scale woke and have no understanding of why men playing in women’s sports is a problem.
So these authors shouldn't be allowed to say what they think?
They can of course say what they wish, but the problems occur when they try to exclude others for their own views.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
The literary world at that level is somewhat entwined with the higher academia. They’re all off-the-scale woke and have no understanding of why men playing in women’s sports is a problem.
So these authors shouldn't be allowed to say what they think?
They can of course say what they wish, but the problems occur when they try to exclude others for their own views.
Who's excluded apart from the authors who withdrew their name for the prize?
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
Some bang on about ‘woke’ not having a definition. One feature for me is often how intolerant the most ‘woke’ are to people who disagree with them.
Just as John Coyne has the right to be a TERF (and that's what he calls himself) then people who don't like TERFs have the right to refuse to share a platform with him. You can't be a freedom of speech defender and seek to restrict people's freedom of speech.
They are attending to make it untenable to have non approved views
Essentially declaring him a heretic
You can't make somebody stand next to you nor like you
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
The literary world at that level is somewhat entwined with the higher academia. They’re all off-the-scale woke and have no understanding of why men playing in women’s sports is a problem.
So these authors shouldn't be allowed to say what they think?
They can of course say what they wish, but the problems occur when they try to exclude others for their own views.
Who's excluded apart from the authors who withdrew their name for the prize?
The organisers have withdrawn the prize. So anyone on the list who might have won, for a start. Such as someone with banned views.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
Some bang on about ‘woke’ not having a definition. One feature for me is often how intolerant the most ‘woke’ are to people who disagree with them.
Just as John Coyne has the right to be a TERF (and that's what he calls himself) then people who don't like TERFs have the right to refuse to share a platform with him. You can't be a freedom of speech defender and seek to restrict people's freedom of speech.
They are attending to make it untenable to have non approved views
Essentially declaring him a heretic
You are allowed to call people bad, evil, etc for having different views. How is that making someone untenable. I'm sure that John Coyne is very happy as his books have got plenty of publicity and more sales.
I didn’t say making him untenable, I said having non approved views is untenable
If a prize can’t be awarded if someone unapproved is on the long list then how long before only people who share their views are on the list?
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
Some bang on about ‘woke’ not having a definition. One feature for me is often how intolerant the most ‘woke’ are to people who disagree with them.
Just as John Coyne has the right to be a TERF (and that's what he calls himself) then people who don't like TERFs have the right to refuse to share a platform with him. You can't be a freedom of speech defender and seek to restrict people's freedom of speech.
They are attending to make it untenable to have non approved views
Essentially declaring him a heretic
You can't make somebody stand next to you nor like you
No. But they have effectively made it impossible for a prize to be awarded to someone who’s views they dislike
Who is this lady? Why is she special? Where does she dance?
Ergotism?
lol that's actually quite close!
Indeed, close enough for me to reveal the answer
Also it's 11pm and tomorrow I'm out with the offspring so I gotta go bed
That is a genuine witch's poppet from the eerie Egyptian oasis town of Siwa, known for its dark Berber magic, which is sincerely feared by Arab Egyptians. I bought it from the Witch's Poppet Monger in weird Siwa market about two years ago
But even cooler is maybe her stage. She is standing on a little wooden dais, as you can see
What is it? It is a delicately engraved cross section of mature ayahuasca vine, from the Amazonian jungle, where I took ayahausca. A couple of years ago. In the Amazonian jungle
So this is a spooky Berber witch's poppet, sourced from the shrine-town where Alexander the Great was ordained as a God, dancing on a slice of the Amazonian source of the most feared hallucinogen on earth, where I did that same hallucinogen
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
The literary world at that level is somewhat entwined with the higher academia. They’re all off-the-scale woke and have no understanding of why men playing in women’s sports is a problem.
So these authors shouldn't be allowed to say what they think?
They can of course say what they wish, but the problems occur when they try to exclude others for their own views.
Who's excluded apart from the authors who withdrew their name for the prize?
The organisers have withdrawn the prize. So anyone on the list who might have won, for a start. Such as someone with banned views.
That was the organisers' decision. Viewcode pointed out the case of Lissa Evans who withdrew from the Women's Prize for Fiction because trans women were eligible, She's allowed to do that isn't she?
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
The literary world at that level is somewhat entwined with the higher academia. They’re all off-the-scale woke and have no understanding of why men playing in women’s sports is a problem.
So these authors shouldn't be allowed to say what they think?
They can of course say what they wish, but the problems occur when they try to exclude others for their own views.
Who's excluded apart from the authors who withdrew their name for the prize?
The organisers have withdrawn the prize. So anyone on the list who might have won, for a start. Such as someone with banned views.
That was the organisers' decision. Viewcode pointed out the case of Lissa Evans who withdrew from the Women's Prize for Fiction because trans women were eligible, She's allowed to do that isn't she?
You see we are on pb discussing this, and no one is calling for bans, writing letters to Robert about how we will no longer post because person X is etc.
Of course people can hold and express different opinions. But this is not what’s happening. It’s about shutting out people who don’t agree with the prevailing narrative. The world of trans (mainly trans women, if we’re honest) is in uproar because a legal judgement has come down ‘against’ them. And things have become needlessly nasty.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
Some bang on about ‘woke’ not having a definition. One feature for me is often how intolerant the most ‘woke’ are to people who disagree with them.
Just as John Coyne has the right to be a TERF (and that's what he calls himself) then people who don't like TERFs have the right to refuse to share a platform with him. You can't be a freedom of speech defender and seek to restrict people's freedom of speech.
They are attending to make it untenable to have non approved views
Essentially declaring him a heretic
You can't make somebody stand next to you nor like you
That young lady turned out to be a star. The one on the right.
Riley Gaines, now the poster girl for the “women in sports” movement in the US.
Looks like we might be getting that 0.5% property tax to replace stamp duty that I & a few others have been suggesting, if this Guardian article is to be believed:
Honestly, the Guardian article is so hopelessly wrong that I suspect they shoved the text of that report into ChatGPT & asked it to summarise it, because it’s confused in a very LLM-like way. Whither modern journalism? Because throwing documents into ChatGPT & printing whatever it spits out regardless of whether it makes any sense is an insult to your readers.
Councils spend £1 in every £5 on interest payments
Debt has increased by 60 per cent since 2015 as local authorities struggle to cope without government grants and face increased demand for their services With pension contributions for staff accounting for a further 23 per cent of council tax revenues on average, the typical council is now seeing about £2 in every £5 they raise from residents effectively disappear before a penny is spent on essential services.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
The literary world at that level is somewhat entwined with the higher academia. They’re all off-the-scale woke and have no understanding of why men playing in women’s sports is a problem.
So these authors shouldn't be allowed to say what they think?
They can of course say what they wish, but the problems occur when they try to exclude others for their own views.
Who's excluded apart from the authors who withdrew their name for the prize?
The organisers have withdrawn the prize. So anyone on the list who might have won, for a start. Such as someone with banned views.
That was the organisers' decision. Viewcode pointed out the case of Lissa Evans who withdrew from the Women's Prize for Fiction because trans women were eligible, She's allowed to do that isn't she?
You see we are on pb discussing this, and no one is calling for bans, writing letters to Robert about how we will no longer post because person X is etc.
Of course people can hold and express different opinions. But this is not what’s happening. It’s about shutting out people who don’t agree with the prevailing narrative. The world of trans (mainly trans women, if we’re honest) is in uproar because a legal judgement has come down ‘against’ them. And things have become needlessly nasty.
OK, I'll bite. What would needfully nasty look like?
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
The literary world at that level is somewhat entwined with the higher academia. They’re all off-the-scale woke and have no understanding of why men playing in women’s sports is a problem.
So these authors shouldn't be allowed to say what they think?
They can of course say what they wish, but the problems occur when they try to exclude others for their own views.
Who's excluded apart from the authors who withdrew their name for the prize?
The organisers have withdrawn the prize. So anyone on the list who might have won, for a start. Such as someone with banned views.
That was the organisers' decision. Viewcode pointed out the case of Lissa Evans who withdrew from the Women's Prize for Fiction because trans women were eligible, She's allowed to do that isn't she?
You see we are on pb discussing this, and no one is calling for bans, writing letters to Robert about how we will no longer post because person X is etc.
Of course people can hold and express different opinions. But this is not what’s happening. It’s about shutting out people who don’t agree with the prevailing narrative. The world of trans (mainly trans women, if we’re honest) is in uproar because a legal judgement has come down ‘against’ them. And things have become needlessly nasty.
OK, I'll bite. What would needfully nasty look like?
Needless as in it didn’t need to happen. You could argue that much of it is mindfully nasty - it’s on purpose, they are hurt and lashing out.
Looks like we might be getting that 0.5% property tax to replace stamp duty that I & a few others have been suggesting, if this Guardian article is to be believed:
Honestly, the Guardian article is so hopelessly wrong that I suspect they shoved the text of that report into ChatGPT & asked it to summarise it, because it’s confused in a very LLM-like way. Whither modern journalism? Because throwing documents into ChatGPT & printing whatever it spits out regardless of whether it makes any sense is an insult to your readers.
The Reformy-graph have a quote from the Treasury saying the Guardian article isn't correct. Their report is Chancellor is looking at going for a load more council tax bands.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
The literary world at that level is somewhat entwined with the higher academia. They’re all off-the-scale woke and have no understanding of why men playing in women’s sports is a problem.
So these authors shouldn't be allowed to say what they think?
They can of course say what they wish, but the problems occur when they try to exclude others for their own views.
Who's excluded apart from the authors who withdrew their name for the prize?
The organisers have withdrawn the prize. So anyone on the list who might have won, for a start. Such as someone with banned views.
That was the organisers' decision. Viewcode pointed out the case of Lissa Evans who withdrew from the Women's Prize for Fiction because trans women were eligible, She's allowed to do that isn't she?
The persecuted right’s relentless claim to victimhood can’t be bargained with, can’t be reasoned with and won’t stop till we’re all dead.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
The literary world at that level is somewhat entwined with the higher academia. They’re all off-the-scale woke and have no understanding of why men playing in women’s sports is a problem.
So these authors shouldn't be allowed to say what they think?
They can of course say what they wish, but the problems occur when they try to exclude others for their own views.
Who's excluded apart from the authors who withdrew their name for the prize?
The organisers have withdrawn the prize. So anyone on the list who might have won, for a start. Such as someone with banned views.
That was the organisers' decision. Viewcode pointed out the case of Lissa Evans who withdrew from the Women's Prize for Fiction because trans women were eligible, She's allowed to do that isn't she?
You see we are on pb discussing this, and no one is calling for bans, writing letters to Robert about how we will no longer post because person X is etc.
Of course people can hold and express different opinions. But this is not what’s happening. It’s about shutting out people who don’t agree with the prevailing narrative. The world of trans (mainly trans women, if we’re honest) is in uproar because a legal judgement has come down ‘against’ them. And things have become needlessly nasty.
Looks like we might be getting that 0.5% property tax to replace stamp duty that I & a few others have been suggesting, if this Guardian article is to be believed:
Honestly, the Guardian article is so hopelessly wrong that I suspect they shoved the text of that report into ChatGPT & asked it to summarise it, because it’s confused in a very LLM-like way. Whither modern journalism? Because throwing documents into ChatGPT & printing whatever it spits out regardless of whether it makes any sense is an insult to your readers.
Ah, but imagine how many articles could be spawned by having an article written by an LLM for The Guardian. Thought pieces. Comment is Free - filled to the brim. Then the spin-off BBC Sounds programme reporting on the ongoing drama over at the Guardian. With special guests from the Times and 'i', And some 'senior' BBC correspondent you've never heard of. Tie in to some US focussed BBC Sounds programme you've also never heard of or care about.
Could keep them in GPT-generated content for months.
Looks like we might be getting that 0.5% property tax to replace stamp duty that I & a few others have been suggesting, if this Guardian article is to be believed:
Honestly, the Guardian article is so hopelessly wrong that I suspect they shoved the text of that report into ChatGPT & asked it to summarise it, because it’s confused in a very LLM-like way. Whither modern journalism? Because throwing documents into ChatGPT & printing whatever it spits out regardless of whether it makes any sense is an insult to your readers.
Ah, but imagine how many articles could be spawned by having an article written by an LLM for The Guardian. Thought pieces. Comment is Free - filled to the brim. Then the spin-off BBC Sounds programme reporting on the ongoing drama over at the Guardian. With special guests from the Times and 'i', And some 'senior' BBC correspondent you've never heard of. Tie in to some US focussed BBC Sounds programme you've also never heard of or care about.
Could keep them in GPT-generated content for months.
Tim’s come a long way since he taught me microeconomics.
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
However, some other nominated authors asked to be removed from the longlist, objecting to an article Boyne wrote defending JK Rowling's stance on trans issues and women's rights. More than 800 figures in the publishing industry also signed an open letter criticising his nomination
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
The literary world at that level is somewhat entwined with the higher academia. They’re all off-the-scale woke and have no understanding of why men playing in women’s sports is a problem.
So these authors shouldn't be allowed to say what they think?
They can of course say what they wish, but the problems occur when they try to exclude others for their own views.
Who's excluded apart from the authors who withdrew their name for the prize?
The organisers have withdrawn the prize. So anyone on the list who might have won, for a start. Such as someone with banned views.
That was the organisers' decision. Viewcode pointed out the case of Lissa Evans who withdrew from the Women's Prize for Fiction because trans women were eligible, She's allowed to do that isn't she?
You see we are on pb discussing this, and no one is calling for bans, writing letters to Robert about how we will no longer post because person X is etc.
Of course people can hold and express different opinions. But this is not what’s happening. It’s about shutting out people who don’t agree with the prevailing narrative. The world of trans (mainly trans women, if we’re honest) is in uproar because a legal judgement has come down ‘against’ them. And things have become needlessly nasty.
I agree about pb.com but if anyone decided that pb.com wasn't for them, they are not obliged to post here. You make it sound like the authors had an obligation to remain in contention for a prize they were no longer interested in winning. Kathleen Stock hasn't been silenced, JK Rowling is richer than ever, Graham Linehan was on the most successful podcast on the planet the other week. No-one is being persecuted unless comments about them are persecution.
Looks like we might be getting that 0.5% property tax to replace stamp duty that I & a few others have been suggesting, if this Guardian article is to be believed:
Honestly, the Guardian article is so hopelessly wrong that I suspect they shoved the text of that report into ChatGPT & asked it to summarise it, because it’s confused in a very LLM-like way. Whither modern journalism? Because throwing documents into ChatGPT & printing whatever it spits out regardless of whether it makes any sense is an insult to your readers.
The Reformy-graph have a quote from the Treasury saying the Guardian article isn't correct. Their report is Chancellor is looking at going for a load more council tax bands.
Looks like we might be getting that 0.5% property tax to replace stamp duty that I & a few others have been suggesting, if this Guardian article is to be believed:
Honestly, the Guardian article is so hopelessly wrong that I suspect they shoved the text of that report into ChatGPT & asked it to summarise it, because it’s confused in a very LLM-like way. Whither modern journalism? Because throwing documents into ChatGPT & printing whatever it spits out regardless of whether it makes any sense is an insult to your readers.
The Reformy-graph have a quote from the Treasury saying the Guardian article isn't correct. Their report is Chancellor is looking at going for a load more council tax bands.
Slight flaw there - I don’t think the dataset of actual valuations in 1988 exists to allow those higher bands to be created.
We get to the point that the only solution will be a revaluation and the nightmare that will create in the south
It says this in the article,
"Sources close to HMRC also signalled that even simple reforms such as introducing new council tax bands could take more than a year to implement because it would take time for the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to get up to speed."
Looks like we might be getting that 0.5% property tax to replace stamp duty that I & a few others have been suggesting, if this Guardian article is to be believed:
Honestly, the Guardian article is so hopelessly wrong that I suspect they shoved the text of that report into ChatGPT & asked it to summarise it, because it’s confused in a very LLM-like way. Whither modern journalism? Because throwing documents into ChatGPT & printing whatever it spits out regardless of whether it makes any sense is an insult to your readers.
The Reformy-graph have a quote from the Treasury saying the Guardian article isn't correct. Their report is Chancellor is looking at going for a load more council tax bands.
Looks like we might be getting that 0.5% property tax to replace stamp duty that I & a few others have been suggesting, if this Guardian article is to be believed:
Honestly, the Guardian article is so hopelessly wrong that I suspect they shoved the text of that report into ChatGPT & asked it to summarise it, because it’s confused in a very LLM-like way. Whither modern journalism? Because throwing documents into ChatGPT & printing whatever it spits out regardless of whether it makes any sense is an insult to your readers.
The Reformy-graph have a quote from the Treasury saying the Guardian article isn't correct. Their report is Chancellor is looking at going for a load more council tax bands.
Slight flaw there - I don’t think the dataset of actual valuations in 1988 exists to allow those higher bands to be created.
We get to the point that the only solution will be a revaluation and the nightmare that will create in the south
Can't we just introduce a South East Property Inflation Tax?
I mean most of the relevant seats are LibDem or Tory anyway.
Apart from London, where there’s dozens of Labour seats and they’ll be asking the average worker to be paying £5k or so in whatever is this new tax.
You have to have a local house price scale for a property tax, paid locally to fund the local authorities in your area. Trying to implement a national scale could quite literally crash the economy.
The UK’s net zero plan targets zero emissions by 2050, despite its <1% global emissions compared to China’s >30%. I can’t help but critique the economic cost to agriculture and industry. Subsidies must balance sustainability and rural livelihoods.
What are your thoughts?
My thoughts. Given China's population is twenty times the size of the UK, Clarkson doesn't do maths.
Err the maths would indicate that China is producing more than 150% more emissions than the UK per UK population on that basis.
What they need is an Ed Miliband so that they stop making things and import them from somewhere else instead. But I think they would just shoot him and invoice his family for the bullet.
Still, exporting him seems a promising idea.
It's not either/or. We can export him, they can shoot him. Ricardo's law applies
Looks like we might be getting that 0.5% property tax to replace stamp duty that I & a few others have been suggesting, if this Guardian article is to be believed:
Honestly, the Guardian article is so hopelessly wrong that I suspect they shoved the text of that report into ChatGPT & asked it to summarise it, because it’s confused in a very LLM-like way. Whither modern journalism? Because throwing documents into ChatGPT & printing whatever it spits out regardless of whether it makes any sense is an insult to your readers.
The Reformy-graph have a quote from the Treasury saying the Guardian article isn't correct. Their report is Chancellor is looking at going for a load more council tax bands.
Slight flaw there - I don’t think the dataset of actual valuations in 1988 exists to allow those higher bands to be created.
We get to the point that the only solution will be a revaluation and the nightmare that will create in the south
It says this in the article,
"Sources close to HMRC also signalled that even simple reforms such as introducing new council tax bands could take more than a year to implement because it would take time for the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to get up to speed."
Based on dealing with the VOA over a simple change to some business premises, (now over 15 months since I first raised the issue), I would think that a wholesale rebanding would be many years in the making unless the VOA gets a massive shake up.
Looks like we might be getting that 0.5% property tax to replace stamp duty that I & a few others have been suggesting, if this Guardian article is to be believed:
Honestly, the Guardian article is so hopelessly wrong that I suspect they shoved the text of that report into ChatGPT & asked it to summarise it, because it’s confused in a very LLM-like way. Whither modern journalism? Because throwing documents into ChatGPT & printing whatever it spits out regardless of whether it makes any sense is an insult to your readers.
The Reformy-graph have a quote from the Treasury saying the Guardian article isn't correct. Their report is Chancellor is looking at going for a load more council tax bands.
Slight flaw there - I don’t think the dataset of actual valuations in 1988 exists to allow those higher bands to be created.
We get to the point that the only solution will be a revaluation and the nightmare that will create in the south
It says this in the article,
"Sources close to HMRC also signalled that even simple reforms such as introducing new council tax bands could take more than a year to implement because it would take time for the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to get up to speed."
Based on dealing with the VOA over a simple change to some business premises, (now over 15 months since I first raised the issue), I would think that a wholesale rebanding would be many years in the making unless the VOA gets a massive shake up.
Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky have apparently agreed to sit down for a one-on-one meeting within the next two weeks.
Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, told reporters that Putin had agreed to a summit with the Ukrainian leader following a phone call with Donald Trump on Monday.
Always an angle shot with the Trumpster. He is like the Las Vegas hospitality scene these days, there is always just one more extra charge on top of the other charges.
Ukraine offers $100bn weapons deal to Trump to win security guarantees
The deal, said to be financed by Europe, would also see Kyiv and Washington strike a $50bn agreement to produce drones with Ukrainian companies. It is unclear which weapons Ukraine would seek to buy, but Kyiv has been open about its desire to procure at least 10 Patriot air defence systems to protect its cities from Russian bombardments.
Comments
Well I wasn't expecting that!
https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1957170932448928179
@bopanc
Trump is set to pledge a US military presence in Ukraine as part of a larger western contingent. Finland and Sweden joined
@NATO
Things once unthinkable come to pass. Putin the strategic genius achieved this in exchange for Ukrainian territory he turned into wasteland
Phillips P. OBrien
@PhillipsPOBrien
·
47m
The most interesting thing to come out of today is Trump's incessant whining about the pro-Ukraine and anti-Putin political pressure he is getting. It clearly irritates him, but its also something he seems to be thinking about alot.
https://x.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1957533940706865583
Who is this lady? Why is she special? Where does she dance?
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10434981/#:~:text=In the United States, for,a 36% increase from 2020.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyvme385e6o
Some people don't seem very tolerant that other people might have conflicting views.
Well it’s properly broken.
https://x.com/tendar/status/1957540968737173728
The situation of the Druzhba pipeline is actually far worse. Last night NASA FIRMS confirmed that the hub and pump station in Novonikolske, Tambov region, in Russia was burning. Satellite pictures show that large parts of the facility are completely destroyed.
Together with the successful strikes against two Druzhba pump stations in the Bryansk region it is obvious that the entire Druzhba pipeline from the Tambov region in Russia all the way to the west is rendered inoperative for quite some time.
The operation was conducted by the Ukrainian 14th UAV regiment.
Seems a bit extreme. Is the publishing industry particularly sensitive on these issues for some reason?
Only slightly less polite obvs.
What make our resident super patriots of this development?
Essentially declaring him a heretic
https://xcancel.com/LissaKEvans/status/1313150157953826817
(see also https://bsky.app/profile/patricknessbooks.bsky.social/post/3lwcnlncyrk2z )
Probably easier to separate out political tribes based on primary emotion or characteristic, like which is angriest, which is smuggest, which is the most patronising, etc.
https://x.com/DiaperDiplomacy/status/1957523900776268211
https://x.com/donaldpond6/status/1957454182564204597
If a prize can’t be awarded if someone unapproved is on the long list then how long before only people who share their views are on the list?
Indeed, close enough for me to reveal the answer
Also it's 11pm and tomorrow I'm out with the offspring so I gotta go bed
That is a genuine witch's poppet from the eerie Egyptian oasis town of Siwa, known for its dark Berber magic, which is sincerely feared by Arab Egyptians. I bought it from the Witch's Poppet Monger in weird Siwa market about two years ago
But even cooler is maybe her stage. She is standing on a little wooden dais, as you can see
What is it? It is a delicately engraved cross section of mature ayahuasca vine, from the Amazonian jungle, where I took ayahausca. A couple of years ago. In the Amazonian jungle
So this is a spooky Berber witch's poppet, sourced from the shrine-town where Alexander the Great was ordained as a God, dancing on a slice of the Amazonian source of the most feared hallucinogen on earth, where I did that same hallucinogen
I did say I was building a shrine to myself
Of course people can hold and express different opinions. But this is not what’s happening. It’s about shutting out people who don’t agree with the prevailing narrative. The world of trans (mainly trans women, if we’re honest) is in uproar because a legal judgement has come down ‘against’ them. And things have become needlessly nasty.
Riley Gaines, now the poster girl for the “women in sports” movement in the US.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/aug/18/rachel-reeves-stamp-duty-property-tax-council-tax
Note that the article appears to be wildly confused about the details of the suggested system. If you want to know what’s being discussed, then read the original report published by Tim Leenig: https://www.ukonward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Onward-A-Fairer-Property-Tax.pdf
Honestly, the Guardian article is so hopelessly wrong that I suspect they shoved the text of that report into ChatGPT & asked it to summarise it, because it’s confused in a very LLM-like way. Whither modern journalism? Because throwing documents into ChatGPT & printing whatever it spits out regardless of whether it makes any sense is an insult to your readers.
Debt has increased by 60 per cent since 2015 as local authorities struggle to cope without government grants and face increased demand for their services With pension contributions for staff accounting for a further 23 per cent of council tax revenues on average, the typical council is now seeing about £2 in every £5 they raise from residents effectively disappear before a penny is spent on essential services.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/councils-spend-one-in-every-five-pounds-on-interest-payments-r0q6hg8js
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/08/18/reeves-eyes-property-tax-raid-on-the-wealthy/
Not that this has stopped Japan economically stagnating for about 30 years
The UK has had high inflation, it has dropped, but its now ticking up again (especially on things like food).
Now, you can end up screwing bondholders through the miracle of inflation, but that's usually better than the alternative.
And the group of the same name strangely don't seem to think so any more.
Could keep them in GPT-generated content for months.
https://github.com/trailofbits/algo
https://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/insa.htm
We get to the point that the only solution will be a revaluation and the nightmare that will create in the south
"Sources close to HMRC also signalled that even simple reforms such as introducing new council tax bands could take more than a year to implement because it would take time for the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to get up to speed."
I mean most of the relevant seats are LibDem or Tory anyway.
You have to have a local house price scale for a property tax, paid locally to fund the local authorities in your area. Trying to implement a national scale could quite literally crash the economy.
Would it be wrong of me to insert a comment along the lines of "How severe was the effect?" "It wrecked'em" (rectum)
It would. It would indeed.
If everyone else loses confidence in your economy, politics and currency you are effectively insolvent even if the money-mint still whirrs
"Sultana: Corbyn 'capitulated' on antisemitism definition"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c79lr40rqelo
Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, told reporters that Putin had agreed to a summit with the Ukrainian leader following a phone call with Donald Trump on Monday.
Ukraine offers $100bn weapons deal to Trump to win security guarantees
The deal, said to be financed by Europe, would also see Kyiv and Washington strike a $50bn agreement to produce drones with Ukrainian companies. It is unclear which weapons Ukraine would seek to buy, but Kyiv has been open about its desire to procure at least 10 Patriot air defence systems to protect its cities from Russian bombardments.
https://www.ft.com/content/8dad9c67-59da-4f38-b43a-3d6ba5f1df57