The other day at the NATO Leaders' summit, oine of \trump's mushrooms popped up to rebuke Europe for buying fewer weapons from the USA.
But then Trump & Co are weird.
Truth, meet consequences.
Entirely consistent. The demand is both Europe buys weapons from the US (often that the US maintains control over when they can be used) and that Europe replaces US forces in conventional defence of Europe.
From a fairness point of view the second part is actually completely fine. From a protecting the peaceful legacy we have enjoyed under NATO for decades to come point of view however, it is a clear escalation in risk, that ultimately benefits Putin the most.
An ambivalent America also increases the risk of nuclear war. Avoiding it is rooted in the expectation an attack on (say) the Baltics or Taiwan would result in a US military response. If the calculation becomes that a response is doubtful it makes such an attack more likely. Then you've taken that first step on the escalator.
Hence my proposal for restructuring public services in the U.K.
If the traffic wardens and the CCF at the local schools have tactical nuclear weapons, then we can really democratise defence.
Yes let's all have one. Go totally and utterly MAD. No more crime no more violence.
Ah yes. "If". Paris 68 in an English public school. Sort of.
I recall thinking it a bit pseudy. A better drama in that setting and period imo was on tv and called Good and Bad at Games. A study of the long term mental impact of bullying (are you listening, Nigel Farage?) although the scene which has stayed with me to this day was a pleasant one showing a group of boys in their dorm playing air guitar to Badge by Cream.
Good and Bad at Games was written by William Boyd, probably my favourite or second favourite author (competing with J L Carr). Having Badge as the theme song just compounded it. That song is eternally linked to being dumped by my first girlfriend. Oh the pain of rejection!
On the subject header, personally I think those are stupid odds, Reform have peaked, the inconsistencies in Farage will begin to show - he can't play to both his left and right. The Tories I suspect will comfortably beat the LD's. Has nobody commented that despite the intense unpopularity of both the traditional big parties, the LD share in polling has not changed. Davey is a really poor leader and his head honcho's Cooper and Moran just come over as bossy schoolmistresses.
The short-odds favourite only comes in if the 1st past the post produces some very strange results.
Well I'm sorry to have brought that all back. Her loss, I'm sure.
I keep trying to convince my wife that driving on a motorway is safer and much less stressful than driving on a winding country road that isn't always wide enough for two vehicles to pass.
We'll never agree on this.
A few months back I was driving and we ended up taking a ridiculous route to end up at a destination about half a mile from a junction of the M62. I was not pleased!
I often take one route to go somewhere and a different route back. I don't know why.
I prefer winding roads to motorways as I enjoy driving them and hate motorways. If I'm on a long journey I use the motorway but get very bored very quickly. I am not capable of driving long distances on a motorway and don't know how people manage that.
In the past I drove quite often from Llandudno to Lossiemouth in the day using motorways, the infamous A9, and county roads from Aviemore
A distance of 456 miles and I could do all of that and back to Perth on a tank of diesel
It is now way beyond my ability
I think the furthest I've driven in one day is SE London to Campbelltown, about 550 miles.
My dad drove us from Ilford (east London) to Aviemore in a single day, back in 1989.
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NEW THREAD WITH SUBTLE JAMES BOND REFERENCE
Over a pint in Oxford, we may have stumbled upon the holy grail of agriculture
George Monbiot
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/05/agriculture-revolution-soil-farming-earth-rover-program
The Conservatives are polling at 20% for the first time since the Local Elections - with Reform and the LDs at recent lows.
➡️ RFM: 29.3% (Lowest since Jul)
🌹 LAB: 20.5%
🌳 CON: 20.0% (Highest Since Apr)
🔶 LDM: 12.5% (Lowest Since Feb)
🌍 GRN: 12.2%
electionmaps.uk/polling/vi
https://x.com/electionmapsuk/status/1996939225749406150?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q