Quite an interesting piece from Lord Frost in the Telegraph.
He's become a Roman Catholic, in a process which I think would bear comparison with Tony Blair's motivations. In the sense of Cardinal JH Newman, he is looking for something more comprehensive and 'fully orbed' than he has known before. Brits, especially High or liberal catholic Anglicans, can feel an attraction to the RC world which is almost magnetic in its feel.
Britain is quietly awakening to full-fat supernatural Christianity I have turned to Rome and I am not alone in wanting to be part of an ethereal reality sustained by a creator God
(Personally I think he is a little confused in some of the background he puts forward, and reacting more to his own perceptions eg about "woke", and not that well informed - but it is worth a read nonetheless. As is his habit he is on there replying to commenters at 10am ie now.)
I know the Catholic Church has had its low points in recent years but they must wonder what they did to deserve Vance, Frost and similar alt-right converts. Amusingly the Pope's advisor was musing openly a few days ago whether Peter Thiel should be burnt at the stake.
The Roman Catholic church still only has male clergy and bishops, still opposes same sex marriage, still opposes abortion and still opposes divorce except with an annulment, so there is much for social conservatives to find there that draws them to Rome.
Roman Catholics are not interested in prosperity gospel like Christian conservative evangelicals though and back charity and strong welfare for the poor and oppose the death penalty, so Trump still does best with conservative evangelicals, winning them in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Though Trump also won the Roman Catholic vote in 2024 having lost the Catholic vote to Biden in 2020
Electoral Calculus has an interesting new April projection with Reform first on 266 seats, the Tories second on 107 and Greens third on 74. Followed by the LDs on 69 MPs and Labour on 63
Sorry Electoral Calculus, but Labour is not going from first with a sqillion seat majority to fifth in one election.
I agree, not least as in most seats Labour as the incumbents will be the focus of anti Reform tactical votes, would be laugh out loud hilarious if it did though
One question I would like answered on North Sea oil. Would any public subsidy be involved?
No.
They do get tax relief for various activities, which a lot of people describe as subsidy, even if it's really not.
If a particular sector gets preferential tax treatment it absolutely is a subsidy. I appreciate the general public thinks of direct grants only, but there are loads of ways government can support a sector other than just cash transfers.
If a particular sector is generating considerable net tax revenue, then for me at least it seems inaccurate to call it subsidised.
Some of its activities (exploration at one end, and remediation at the other) are subsidised by the tax relief. For public benefit.
Preferential tax relief counts as a subsidy under WTO definitions.
THE LORD HAS COMETH, AND HE SHALL BE OUR SALVATION
I have just discovered, while pootling away online, that I am exempt from Making Tax Digital. Why? Because I receive foreign royalties on my flints, and these are subject to foreign tax (and double tax treaties etc). This is simply too much of a mind-feck for MTD so it has made anyone in this situation exempt
1. Lack of good quality information. Who is actually in the running and who is a "wasted vote"? 2. A dislike of all the parties, even the one that is less bad. 3. What difference is 1 vote going to make anyway? 4. If you are fortunate enough to have found a party with an agenda that you broadly approve of they should be encouraged to keep that agenda, even if they don't win. 5. It feels better to make a positive vote than just trying to stop someone else.
Reasons for voting tactically: A. There are some really bad choices out there, yes Reform, SNP and Green, I am looking at you. B. Amongst the centrist parties how much difference does it actually make? C. If your choice wins you feel your time and effort was not wasted.
I've probably missed a few reasons for each category but in my experience to vote tactically you need to be seeking to stop A in a situation where C is a real possibility and that is enough to overcome 4 and 5 in particular. I have done it and will no doubt do it again but the odds are against it in any particular election.
THE LORD HAS COMETH, AND HE SHALL BE OUR SALVATION
I have just discovered, while pootling away online, that I am exempt from Making Tax Digital. Why? Because I receive foreign royalties on my flints, and these are subject to foreign tax (and double tax treaties etc). This is simply too much of a mind-feck for MTD so it has made anyone in this situation exempt
O GLORY BE, O GLORY GLORY BE
Technically Leon you should only really wish Happy Easter on Sunday once Our Lord has Risen, today we are contemplating with prayer his crucifixion as it is Good Friday. Though I agree with the sentiment
Quite an interesting piece from Lord Frost in the Telegraph.
He's become a Roman Catholic, in a process which I think would bear comparison with Tony Blair's motivations. In the sense of Cardinal JH Newman, he is looking for something more comprehensive and 'fully orbed' than he has known before. Brits, especially High or liberal catholic Anglicans, can feel an attraction to the RC world which is almost magnetic in its feel.
Britain is quietly awakening to full-fat supernatural Christianity I have turned to Rome and I am not alone in wanting to be part of an ethereal reality sustained by a creator God
(Personally I think he is a little confused in some of the background he puts forward, and reacting more to his own perceptions eg about "woke", and not that well informed - but it is worth a read nonetheless. As is his habit he is on there replying to commenters at 10am ie now.)
I've said if I were a Christian, I would choose to be a Catholic as confession would be perfect for me. Once a week I get the opportunity to brag about my sins, then all I have to do is say 100 Hail Marys and I'm forgiven.
Russian Orthodoxy for me. I love the ancient icons and smoky mysticism and the singing can be epic. That said, I love English churches and cathedrals and the Anglican choral tradition is unexampled so ideally the two churches would fuse, just for me. Not much to ask
I am getting more religious as I age. And it’s not just the greater proximity of death. It becomes evermore obvious, to me, that the universe is shaped with a purpose. Fuck knows what it is, but ineffability is part of the deal
Yesterday I had a call from an old friend. He and his wife have joined a church (quite unexpectedly). I wonder if there is a subtle return to faith out there, even tho the data is disputed
Happy Easter, PB
I had the whole epiphany thing more than a decade ago. But now lapsed for the whole of this decade. I went Anglican which was great at the time but was lacking and is a mess up here north of the wall.
Old Mother Church? Who needs therapy (and I do) when you have the Confessional?
They should do a deal for Easter. 20% off when you switch.
I don’t need a structured church. I just go into churches (and other religious buildings) wherever I am in the world. Nothing beats an ancient Christian church for noom (unless we count stone circles) tho some Hindu and Buddhist shrines can be powerful
I get nothing out of synagogues or mosques. Even when they are outstandingly beautiful - as some historic mosques can be. Dunno why. They just leave me cold
IMO stone circles (though they are great and I live near one) lose out on noom to churches etc because stone circles don't have a roof. Noom escapes in unenclosed spaces. The noomy enclosed building's sense of spacialness is amazing. Salle or Walpole St Peter for example. Or compare the noominess of monastic buildings that remain roofed and in use, usually as a parish church - Boxgrove or Binham for example - with even the finest roofless ones like Fountains or Castle Acre.
That's not true, Callanish has incredible noom, likewise Castlerigg. The Ring of Brodgar in Orkney too. Grey Wethers in Dartmoor - tremendous noom of two adjoining circles, of just modest stone humps, yet the remoteness and strangeness is epic
There is one row of stones in west ireland, Uragh, which is just five stones facing a loch and it's a noomgasm
THE LORD HAS COMETH, AND HE SHALL BE OUR SALVATION
I have just discovered, while pootling away online, that I am exempt from Making Tax Digital. Why? Because I receive foreign royalties on my flints, and these are subject to foreign tax (and double tax treaties etc). This is simply too much of a mind-feck for MTD so it has made anyone in this situation exempt
O GLORY BE, O GLORY GLORY BE
You are indeed blessed.
We are finding ourselves locked out of the Gateway at the moment having received a letter from HMRC which is even more incomprehensible than usual telling us that we should have made certain payments in January and July 2025, figures that are really quite different from what our accountant told us at the time and which do not show any cognisance of what we actually did pay. Several hours filling in endless details to confirm my identity have so far been wasted without success. As usual, we pay more and more for less and less of a service.
Quite an interesting piece from Lord Frost in the Telegraph.
He's become a Roman Catholic, in a process which I think would bear comparison with Tony Blair's motivations. In the sense of Cardinal JH Newman, he is looking for something more comprehensive and 'fully orbed' than he has known before. Brits, especially High or liberal catholic Anglicans, can feel an attraction to the RC world which is almost magnetic in its feel.
Britain is quietly awakening to full-fat supernatural Christianity I have turned to Rome and I am not alone in wanting to be part of an ethereal reality sustained by a creator God
(Personally I think he is a little confused in some of the background he puts forward, and reacting more to his own perceptions eg about "woke", and not that well informed - but it is worth a read nonetheless. As is his habit he is on there replying to commenters at 10am ie now.)
I've said if I were a Christian, I would choose to be a Catholic as confession would be perfect for me. Once a week I get the opportunity to brag about my sins, then all I have to do is say 100 Hail Marys and I'm forgiven.
Russian Orthodoxy for me. I love the ancient icons and smoky mysticism and the singing can be epic. That said, I love English churches and cathedrals and the Anglican choral tradition is unexampled so ideally the two churches would fuse, just for me. Not much to ask
I am getting more religious as I age. And it’s not just the greater proximity of death. It becomes evermore obvious, to me, that the universe is shaped with a purpose. Fuck knows what it is, but ineffability is part of the deal
Yesterday I had a call from an old friend. He and his wife have joined a church (quite unexpectedly). I wonder if there is a subtle return to faith out there, even tho the data is disputed
Happy Easter, PB
I had the whole epiphany thing more than a decade ago. But now lapsed for the whole of this decade. I went Anglican which was great at the time but was lacking and is a mess up here north of the wall.
Old Mother Church? Who needs therapy (and I do) when you have the Confessional?
They should do a deal for Easter. 20% off when you switch.
I don’t need a structured church. I just go into churches (and other religious buildings) wherever I am in the world. Nothing beats an ancient Christian church for noom (unless we count stone circles) tho some Hindu and Buddhist shrines can be powerful
I get nothing out of synagogues or mosques. Even when they are outstandingly beautiful - as some historic mosques can be. Dunno why. They just leave me cold
IMO stone circles (though they are great and I live near one) lose out on noom to churches etc because stone circles don't have a roof. Noom escapes in unenclosed spaces. The noomy enclosed building's sense of spacialness is amazing. Salle or Walpole St Peter for example. Or compare the noominess of monastic buildings that remain roofed and in use, usually as a parish church - Boxgrove or Binham for example - with even the finest roofless ones like Fountains or Castle Acre.
This depends on the stone circle. The wider landscape they are in can greatly enhance them.
So, for example, there's a stone circle in West Cork with a winter solstice alignment that we go to set in a landscape of dairy farming in gentle hills, which doesn't compare that well to a stone circle in the middle of Dartmoor.
Scorhill on Dartmoor is well noomy.
Yes, it is. Also a great place to walk to and back, ending with cream tea at Gidleigh Park, with that awesome view down the valley
A U.S. Air Force HC-130J “Combat King II” Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) Aircraft seen flying extremely low over the countryside of Southern Iran, as the search continues for the crew of a downed American F-15E Strike Eagle.
Looks like AI theft of independent music is really ramping up into a big problem. Came across a story of a musician who had someone train an AI on her YouTube videos, create new videos based on that, and then lodged copyright claims so that YouTube took down her videos.
It's far too hard for ordinary people to use the legal system to obtain remedy for such theft, and to hold accountable the platforms like YouTube and Spotify who are enabling it.
This is how AI will kill human creativity. Not by producing anything better, but by stealing and suppressing any human creativity that does not have a corporation behind it. We urgently need to find ways of stopping this.
And the problem there is as much about differential access to legal redress as the generation of slop by AI.
And legal processes leading to unfair outcomes is a whole other sermon for today.
Right- I'm off to find somewhere quiet to reread Francis Spufford's account of Holy Week in Unapologetic. It's awfully good.
I’m struck by a poignant juxta this GF morning. Artemis breaks the Earth’s orbit and heads for the dark side of the moon. Intention: the furthering of human knowledge. Bombs rain down in the Middle East. Intention: destroying people and things. A noble uplifting deployment of our technological prowess right alongside its very opposite. You look at the first and you wonder at how far we have come. You look at the second, soundtracked by the bloodthirsty inanities of Trump and Hegseth, and you realize we’ve hardly evolved at all. Take your choice. A suitable muse for Easter, I think.
The Apollo moon program occurred alongside wars in Vietnam and the Middle East and a near nuclear exchange between China and the Soviet Union.
Indeed. I bet even in the earliest times you'd find men sharpening stones to cut meat and feed the multitude whilst others used theirs to bash people on the head. It's a hardy perennial.
THE LORD HAS COMETH, AND HE SHALL BE OUR SALVATION
I have just discovered, while pootling away online, that I am exempt from Making Tax Digital. Why? Because I receive foreign royalties on my flints, and these are subject to foreign tax (and double tax treaties etc). This is simply too much of a mind-feck for MTD so it has made anyone in this situation exempt
O GLORY BE, O GLORY GLORY BE
You are indeed blessed.
We are finding ourselves locked out of the Gateway at the moment having received a letter from HMRC which is even more incomprehensible than usual telling us that we should have made certain payments in January and July 2025, figures that are really quite different from what our accountant told us at the time and which do not show any cognisance of what we actually did pay. Several hours filling in endless details to confirm my identity have so far been wasted without success. As usual, we pay more and more for less and less of a service.
Yes, it is a total mess. I can see why they are trying to do it, bu the fact this has been continuously postponed for years (MTD was meant to start in 2018!) shows what a bombzilla it is. And even now they are forced to offer multiple exemptions (as above)
It was all Geo Osborne's whizzy idea, apparently. But it's a case of pious Whitehall policy being unable to cope with - or even comprehend - the complexity of the real world. People with multiple sources of income (some foreign), people who still pay and earn in cash (not cause they are fraudsters, but because this still happens, legitimately), people who have wildly varying incomes over years, and so on
The US military reportedly committed a "double tap" strike in Iran. The "two strikes had hit the bridge around an hour apart, the second arriving while emergency responders were assisting the wounded," even though rescue workers are protected civilians. https://x.com/KenRoth/status/2039827657278226831
THE LORD HAS COMETH, AND HE SHALL BE OUR SALVATION
I have just discovered, while pootling away online, that I am exempt from Making Tax Digital. Why? Because I receive foreign royalties on my flints, and these are subject to foreign tax (and double tax treaties etc). This is simply too much of a mind-feck for MTD so it has made anyone in this situation exempt
O GLORY BE, O GLORY GLORY BE
Isn't it only applicable to people who earn more than £50k a year? Which means most people won't be affected.
Quite an interesting piece from Lord Frost in the Telegraph.
He's become a Roman Catholic, in a process which I think would bear comparison with Tony Blair's motivations. In the sense of Cardinal JH Newman, he is looking for something more comprehensive and 'fully orbed' than he has known before. Brits, especially High or liberal catholic Anglicans, can feel an attraction to the RC world which is almost magnetic in its feel.
Britain is quietly awakening to full-fat supernatural Christianity I have turned to Rome and I am not alone in wanting to be part of an ethereal reality sustained by a creator God
(Personally I think he is a little confused in some of the background he puts forward, and reacting more to his own perceptions eg about "woke", and not that well informed - but it is worth a read nonetheless. As is his habit he is on there replying to commenters at 10am ie now.)
I've said if I were a Christian, I would choose to be a Catholic as confession would be perfect for me. Once a week I get the opportunity to brag about my sins, then all I have to do is say 100 Hail Marys and I'm forgiven.
I don't think one should choose one's religion (insofar as it is a choice instead of a calling) based on utility. It's a way of understanding God and what is the best way forward given that understanding.
The US military reportedly committed a "double tap" strike in Iran. The "two strikes had hit the bridge around an hour apart, the second arriving while emergency responders were assisting the wounded," even though rescue workers are protected civilians. https://x.com/KenRoth/status/2039827657278226831
Apparently even the Marines are calling the Pentagon the War Crimes department. We shame ourselves by not calling this out in exactly the same way as we do with Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
THE LORD HAS COMETH, AND HE SHALL BE OUR SALVATION
I have just discovered, while pootling away online, that I am exempt from Making Tax Digital. Why? Because I receive foreign royalties on my flints, and these are subject to foreign tax (and double tax treaties etc). This is simply too much of a mind-feck for MTD so it has made anyone in this situation exempt
O GLORY BE, O GLORY GLORY BE
Isn't it only applicable to people who earn more than £50k a year? Which means most people won't be affected.
But next year it's down to £30k, and then after than £20k. They intend to snag everyone, ultimately
But I wonder if they will ever be able to smoth out bumps like mine - multiple foreign incomes. I can easily see this exemption lasting a few years anyway (ins'allah)
Electoral Calculus has an interesting new April projection with Reform first on 266 seats, the Tories second on 107 and Greens third on 74. Followed by the LDs on 69 MPs and Labour on 63
The US military reportedly committed a "double tap" strike in Iran. The "two strikes had hit the bridge around an hour apart, the second arriving while emergency responders were assisting the wounded," even though rescue workers are protected civilians. https://x.com/KenRoth/status/2039827657278226831
Apparently even the Marines are calling the Pentagon the War Crimes department. We shame ourselves by not calling this out in exactly the same way as we do with Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
Or Israeli war crimes in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
Quite an interesting piece from Lord Frost in the Telegraph.
He's become a Roman Catholic, in a process which I think would bear comparison with Tony Blair's motivations. In the sense of Cardinal JH Newman, he is looking for something more comprehensive and 'fully orbed' than he has known before. Brits, especially High or liberal catholic Anglicans, can feel an attraction to the RC world which is almost magnetic in its feel.
Britain is quietly awakening to full-fat supernatural Christianity I have turned to Rome and I am not alone in wanting to be part of an ethereal reality sustained by a creator God
(Personally I think he is a little confused in some of the background he puts forward, and reacting more to his own perceptions eg about "woke", and not that well informed - but it is worth a read nonetheless. As is his habit he is on there replying to commenters at 10am ie now.)
I've said if I were a Christian, I would choose to be a Catholic as confession would be perfect for me. Once a week I get the opportunity to brag about my sins, then all I have to do is say 100 Hail Marys and I'm forgiven.
Russian Orthodoxy for me. I love the ancient icons and smoky mysticism and the singing can be epic. That said, I love English churches and cathedrals and the Anglican choral tradition is unexampled so ideally the two churches would fuse, just for me. Not much to ask
I am getting more religious as I age. And it’s not just the greater proximity of death. It becomes evermore obvious, to me, that the universe is shaped with a purpose. Fuck knows what it is, but ineffability is part of the deal
Yesterday I had a call from an old friend. He and his wife have joined a church (quite unexpectedly). I wonder if there is a subtle return to faith out there, even tho the data is disputed
Happy Easter, PB
I had the whole epiphany thing more than a decade ago. But now lapsed for the whole of this decade. I went Anglican which was great at the time but was lacking and is a mess up here north of the wall.
Old Mother Church? Who needs therapy (and I do) when you have the Confessional?
They should do a deal for Easter. 20% off when you switch.
I don’t need a structured church. I just go into churches (and other religious buildings) wherever I am in the world. Nothing beats an ancient Christian church for noom (unless we count stone circles) tho some Hindu and Buddhist shrines can be powerful
I get nothing out of synagogues or mosques. Even when they are outstandingly beautiful - as some historic mosques can be. Dunno why. They just leave me cold
IMO stone circles (though they are great and I live near one) lose out on noom to churches etc because stone circles don't have a roof. Noom escapes in unenclosed spaces. The noomy enclosed building's sense of spacialness is amazing. Salle or Walpole St Peter for example. Or compare the noominess of monastic buildings that remain roofed and in use, usually as a parish church - Boxgrove or Binham for example - with even the finest roofless ones like Fountains or Castle Acre.
This depends on the stone circle. The wider landscape they are in can greatly enhance them.
So, for example, there's a stone circle in West Cork with a winter solstice alignment that we go to set in a landscape of dairy farming in gentle hills, which doesn't compare that well to a stone circle in the middle of Dartmoor.
Scorhill on Dartmoor is well noomy.
I was up at the Grey Wethers in thick low cloud and that was amazing.
The US military reportedly committed a "double tap" strike in Iran. The "two strikes had hit the bridge around an hour apart, the second arriving while emergency responders were assisting the wounded," even though rescue workers are protected civilians. https://x.com/KenRoth/status/2039827657278226831
Apparently even the Marines are calling the Pentagon the War Crimes department. We shame ourselves by not calling this out in exactly the same way as we do with Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
Or Israeli war crimes in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
The US military reportedly committed a "double tap" strike in Iran. The "two strikes had hit the bridge around an hour apart, the second arriving while emergency responders were assisting the wounded," even though rescue workers are protected civilians. https://x.com/KenRoth/status/2039827657278226831
Despicable behaviour. Attacking any medical personnel is disgusting.
One question I would like answered on North Sea oil. Would any public subsidy be involved?
No.
They do get tax relief for various activities, which a lot of people describe as subsidy, even if it's really not.
If a particular sector gets preferential tax treatment it absolutely is a subsidy. I appreciate the general public thinks of direct grants only, but there are loads of ways government can support a sector other than just cash transfers.
If a particular sector is generating considerable net tax revenue, then for me at least it seems inaccurate to call it subsidised.
Some of its activities (exploration at one end, and remediation at the other) are subsidised by the tax relief. For public benefit.
Preferential tax relief counts as a subsidy under WTO definitions.
That is a red herring; they also get taxed at far higher rates than other sectors.
THE LORD HAS COMETH, AND HE SHALL BE OUR SALVATION
I have just discovered, while pootling away online, that I am exempt from Making Tax Digital. Why? Because I receive foreign royalties on my flints, and these are subject to foreign tax (and double tax treaties etc). This is simply too much of a mind-feck for MTD so it has made anyone in this situation exempt
O GLORY BE, O GLORY GLORY BE
Technically Leon you should only really wish Happy Easter on Sunday once Our Lord has Risen, today we are contemplating with prayer his crucifixion as it is Good Friday. Though I agree with the sentiment
Yes this is a sombre reflective day. You don't celebrate minor tax return victories on Good Friday. Surprised to see that from a supposedly pious individual.
The US military reportedly committed a "double tap" strike in Iran. The "two strikes had hit the bridge around an hour apart, the second arriving while emergency responders were assisting the wounded," even though rescue workers are protected civilians. https://x.com/KenRoth/status/2039827657278226831
Despicable behaviour. Attacking any medical personnel is disgusting.
I don't believe the Geneva Convention rules of engagement applies to Bibi or Trump/ Hegseth.
The US military reportedly committed a "double tap" strike in Iran. The "two strikes had hit the bridge around an hour apart, the second arriving while emergency responders were assisting the wounded," even though rescue workers are protected civilians. https://x.com/KenRoth/status/2039827657278226831
Despicable behaviour. Attacking any medical personnel is disgusting.
I don't believe the Geneva Convention rules of engagement applies to Bibi or Trump/ Hegseth.
The US military reportedly committed a "double tap" strike in Iran. The "two strikes had hit the bridge around an hour apart, the second arriving while emergency responders were assisting the wounded," even though rescue workers are protected civilians. https://x.com/KenRoth/status/2039827657278226831
Despicable behaviour. Attacking any medical personnel is disgusting.
I don't believe the Geneva Convention rules of engagement applies to Bibi or Trump/ Hegseth.
After the Midterms, I could see criminal charges being laid at the door of those who launched a pointless war with maximum brutality and stupidity- and I think by then the national mood in the US will turn very ugly indeed against the traitor President and his verminous, criminal helpers.
Electoral Calculus has an interesting new April projection with Reform first on 266 seats, the Tories second on 107 and Greens third on 74. Followed by the LDs on 69 MPs and Labour on 63
Interesting to see an article by Richard Rose on there. He was ITN's election expert on their 1974 election night show. He was around 40 then so must be about 92 now.
Iran’s state-run Mehr News Agency calls on Iranian civilians to help capture the pilot and weapons officer of an American F-15E Strike Eagle that was allegedly shot down this morning over Southern Iran.
Looks like AI theft of independent music is really ramping up into a big problem. Came across a story of a musician who had someone train an AI on her YouTube videos, create new videos based on that, and then lodged copyright claims so that YouTube took down her videos.
It's far too hard for ordinary people to use the legal system to obtain remedy for such theft, and to hold accountable the platforms like YouTube and Spotify who are enabling it.
This is how AI will kill human creativity. Not by producing anything better, but by stealing and suppressing any human creativity that does not have a corporation behind it. We urgently need to find ways of stopping this.
And the problem there is as much about differential access to legal redress as the generation of slop by AI.
And legal processes leading to unfair outcomes is a whole other sermon for today.
Right- I'm off to find somewhere quiet to reread Francis Spufford's account of Holy Week in Unapologetic. It's awfully good.
Yes. And without that access to the legal system the rule of law is weaker and less meaningful - a fundamental foundation of democracy.
The current democratic deficit is as much about corporations exploiting this imbalance to take the piss as it is about the ineffectiveness of our politicians.
A U.S. Air Force HC-130J “Combat King II” Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) Aircraft seen flying extremely low over the countryside of Southern Iran, as the search continues for the crew of a downed American F-15E Strike Eagle.
Didn't the US military deny that one of their aircraft had been shot down?
Seems such a daft thing to lie about. Not even Russia can suppress the truth about lost aircraft.
We should treat this [the U.S. withdrawal from NATO] as a possible scenario and take it seriously - us in Poland, especially on the eastern flank, and all of us, across the political spectrum.
I remind you, when I said in my Sejm exposé just a few weeks ago that Poland needs two “insurance policies” instead of putting all our cards on one option, some were surprised. And today it turns out that we must consider alternatives.
Of course, NATO is the cornerstone of our security. Of course, we want to be a good, loyal ally of the United States, but we cannot pretend that the U.S. President isn’t saying what he is saying.
It is not a Good Friday. Picked up what i thought was a lovely little herb planter for the garden at a bargain price, delivered this morning flat packed. Now constructed. What an appalling bit of old tat. Sad Woolie.
So why is Christians praying in Trafalgar Square not “dominating”?
All public demonstrations are dominating. That's the point of them.
People are naturally more comfortable with acts of domination by their side (e.g. I was more comfortable about the anti-Iraq War demonstrations than I was about the Countryside Alliance one) so obviously Christians doing so is seen as less threatening in a Christian country than Muslims.
The way to reconcile this is to build bridges across communities so that others different from us do not feel so jarring. I'm sure if I went to a few vintage tractor runs, or the threshing, then I'd be more relaxed when the farmers were out demonstrating and trying to coerce the government into granting them preferential treatment.
That's why schools always used to do visits to Mosques and other various places of worship, so that they would be demystified and feel more normal and less alien.
The US military reportedly committed a "double tap" strike in Iran. The "two strikes had hit the bridge around an hour apart, the second arriving while emergency responders were assisting the wounded," even though rescue workers are protected civilians. https://x.com/KenRoth/status/2039827657278226831
Despicable behaviour. Attacking any medical personnel is disgusting.
I don't believe the Geneva Convention rules of engagement applies to Bibi or Trump/ Hegseth.
The three should be rotting in a jail cell .
Nah, just Bibi should be in jail, Trump should be in a padded psychiatric cell never having entered politics, and Hegseth would fit in best starting fights in country bars.
One question I would like answered on North Sea oil. Would any public subsidy be involved?
No.
They do get tax relief for various activities, which a lot of people describe as subsidy, even if it's really not.
If a particular sector gets preferential tax treatment it absolutely is a subsidy. I appreciate the general public thinks of direct grants only, but there are loads of ways government can support a sector other than just cash transfers.
If a particular sector is generating considerable net tax revenue, then for me at least it seems inaccurate to call it subsidised.
Some of its activities (exploration at one end, and remediation at the other) are subsidised by the tax relief. For public benefit.
Preferential tax relief counts as a subsidy under WTO definitions.
That is a red herring; they also get taxed at far higher rates than other sectors.
As long as Hormuz stays closed, yes. The expectation at least prior to this was North Sea revenues would essentially disappear over the next five years. There's no reason for believing authorising new licences will materially add to revenue in the medium term.
We seem to have gone from a £25 billion bonanza and fuel bills in pennies to will it need subsidy in a few dozen comments but such are the byways of PB.com.
Anyhow the discussion at that moment was well as my observation were about definitions. Preferential tax treatment is a subsidy as far as WTO is concerned. A subsidy doesn't require you to hand over cash
So why is Christians praying in Trafalgar Square not “dominating”?
All public demonstrations are dominating. That's the point of them.
People are naturally more comfortable with acts of domination by their side (e.g. I was more comfortable about the anti-Iraq War demonstrations than I was about the Countryside Alliance one) so obviously Christians doing so is seen as less threatening in a Christian country than Muslims.
The way to reconcile this is to build bridges across communities so that others different from us do not feel so jarring. I'm sure if I went to a few vintage tractor runs, or the threshing, then I'd be more relaxed when the farmers were out demonstrating and trying to coerce the government into granting them preferential treatment.
That's why schools always used to do visits to Mosques and other various places of worship, so that they would be demystified and feel more normal and less alien.
I feel this is unfair to the overwhelming majority participating in the iftar and Christ's Passion. A sharing of faith in most, curiosity in some and generally friendly atmosphere.
A U.S. Air Force HC-130J “Combat King II” Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) Aircraft seen flying extremely low over the countryside of Southern Iran, as the search continues for the crew of a downed American F-15E Strike Eagle.
Didn't the US military deny that one of their aircraft had been shot down?
Seems such a daft thing to lie about. Not even Russia can suppress the truth about lost aircraft.
The US government has lied to the press in the past, when they have a downed aircraft and are trying to rescue the crew. Happened over multiple administrations.
Breaking headline: "Trump says JD Vance is responsible for fraud in the US"
I thought, wow that's a schism in the regime.
But on investigation no, it's a big new job for the VP. He's now the Fraud Czar tasked with rooting out the misuse of taxpayer dollars by state officials outside Washington.
As a matter of time management, and in order to get the most bang for the buck, he'll start by looking exclusively at fraud in Democrat run states.
Breaking headline: "Trump says JD Vance is responsible for fraud in the US"
I thought, wow that's a schism in the regime.
But on investigation no, it's a big new job for the VP. He's now the Fraud Czar tasked with rooting out the misuse of taxpayer dollars by state officials outside Washington.
As a matter of time management, and in order to get the most bang for the buck, he'll start by looking exclusively at fraud in Democrat run states.
You'll like this one. Trump looking for JD Vance in the audience:
Breaking headline: "Trump says JD Vance is responsible for fraud in the US"
I thought, wow that's a schism in the regime.
But on investigation no, it's a big new job for the VP. He's now the Fraud Czar tasked with rooting out the misuse of taxpayer dollars by state officials outside Washington.
As a matter of time management, and in order to get the most bang for the buck, he'll start by looking exclusively at fraud in Democrat run states.
You'll like this one. Trump looking for JD Vance in the audience:
Quite an interesting piece from Lord Frost in the Telegraph.
He's become a Roman Catholic, in a process which I think would bear comparison with Tony Blair's motivations. In the sense of Cardinal JH Newman, he is looking for something more comprehensive and 'fully orbed' than he has known before. Brits, especially High or liberal catholic Anglicans, can feel an attraction to the RC world which is almost magnetic in its feel.
Britain is quietly awakening to full-fat supernatural Christianity I have turned to Rome and I am not alone in wanting to be part of an ethereal reality sustained by a creator God
(Personally I think he is a little confused in some of the background he puts forward, and reacting more to his own perceptions eg about "woke", and not that well informed - but it is worth a read nonetheless. As is his habit he is on there replying to commenters at 10am ie now.)
I've said if I were a Christian, I would choose to be a Catholic as confession would be perfect for me. Once a week I get the opportunity to brag about my sins, then all I have to do is say 100 Hail Marys and I'm forgiven.
Russian Orthodoxy for me. I love the ancient icons and smoky mysticism and the singing can be epic. That said, I love English churches and cathedrals and the Anglican choral tradition is unexampled so ideally the two churches would fuse, just for me. Not much to ask
I am getting more religious as I age. And it’s not just the greater proximity of death. It becomes evermore obvious, to me, that the universe is shaped with a purpose. Fuck knows what it is, but ineffability is part of the deal
Yesterday I had a call from an old friend. He and his wife have joined a church (quite unexpectedly). I wonder if there is a subtle return to faith out there, even tho the data is disputed
Happy Easter, PB
I had the whole epiphany thing more than a decade ago. But now lapsed for the whole of this decade. I went Anglican which was great at the time but was lacking and is a mess up here north of the wall.
Old Mother Church? Who needs therapy (and I do) when you have the Confessional?
They should do a deal for Easter. 20% off when you switch.
I don’t need a structured church. I just go into churches (and other religious buildings) wherever I am in the world. Nothing beats an ancient Christian church for noom (unless we count stone circles) tho some Hindu and Buddhist shrines can be powerful
I get nothing out of synagogues or mosques. Even when they are outstandingly beautiful - as some historic mosques can be. Dunno why. They just leave me cold
IMO stone circles (though they are great and I live near one) lose out on noom to churches etc because stone circles don't have a roof. Noom escapes in unenclosed spaces. The noomy enclosed building's sense of spacialness is amazing. Salle or Walpole St Peter for example. Or compare the noominess of monastic buildings that remain roofed and in use, usually as a parish church - Boxgrove or Binham for example - with even the finest roofless ones like Fountains or Castle Acre.
That's not true, Callanish has incredible noom, likewise Castlerigg. The Ring of Brodgar in Orkney too. Grey Wethers in Dartmoor - tremendous noom of two adjoining circles, of just modest stone humps, yet the remoteness and strangeness is epic
There is one row of stones in west ireland, Uragh, which is just five stones facing a loch and it's a noomgasm
We have loads of Neolithic stone tombs/dolmens and big menhirs marking graves that were excavated. I have stumbled across many on walks I never even knew existed and they have immense noom. There is one especially in the middle of a large dunes area that just looks out to the vast Atlantic. The noom is incredible whether it’s sunny or moody skies and I can stand there and you cannot help but to think of who was buried there, how important they were, why that site was special as the sea would have been further away at the time but it would have still likely had the see in the distance after a large flat plain. It moves me so much it’s where I want my ashes scattered to be part of its story.
Just an aside to add to the comments earlier regarding Badenoch.
I hadn't seen the pictures of her on the oil rig earlier in the week., Having now seen it I am rather amused.
The rig in question - The Well-Safe Protector - is no longer a drilling rig. It is one of three rigs owned by Well-Safe and converted specifically to do well abandonments.
Delighted to report that my Gas Engineer finally left after her 4th visit, and after 3 days and laying siege to the energy company for 24 hours flat to get an emergency engineer in to replace their dead Smart Meter (and the electric one because they have both to be SMETS 1 or SMETS 2 generations, my T now has a brand new Gas Safety certificate for his house, which means he has his hot water and heating (which he won't need) back.
My plumber/gas engineer now has 3 more jobs to do this afternoon before getting away for Easter Weekend (as of an hour ago), and her daughter's birthday next week, Daughter is 21 so has already started celebrating.
And I will have an invoice slightly larger invoice than I would relish.
US military prisoners of war in Iranian jails is going to add somewhat to the headache.
Meanwhile, Trump is raving this morning about taking all the oil in Hormuz.
With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE. IT WOULD BE A 'GUSHER' FOR THE WORLD???"
I wonder how bad it has to get before he receives some medical attention.
Whilst dealing with the plumber, I was listening to Nat Con Squad on their podcast - it consists of USA people like Amber Duke, who is editor of the Daily Caller and a Spectator Columnist.
They are still twisting themselves into pretzels to convince themselves that they are Useful for Trump, rather than Useful idiots for Trump.
00:00 - Intro 01:14 - Iran, Cuba and Geopolitical Shift 15:38 - Changes at Border Patrol Command 28:41 - Consent Decree in Missouri vs. Biden 37:45 - Are Women leaving the Right? 48:58 - Final Thoughts
With Ben Weingarten, Inez Stepman, Will Chamberlain and Amber Duke.
Quite an interesting piece from Lord Frost in the Telegraph.
He's become a Roman Catholic, in a process which I think would bear comparison with Tony Blair's motivations. In the sense of Cardinal JH Newman, he is looking for something more comprehensive and 'fully orbed' than he has known before. Brits, especially High or liberal catholic Anglicans, can feel an attraction to the RC world which is almost magnetic in its feel.
Britain is quietly awakening to full-fat supernatural Christianity I have turned to Rome and I am not alone in wanting to be part of an ethereal reality sustained by a creator God
(Personally I think he is a little confused in some of the background he puts forward, and reacting more to his own perceptions eg about "woke", and not that well informed - but it is worth a read nonetheless. As is his habit he is on there replying to commenters at 10am ie now.)
I've said if I were a Christian, I would choose to be a Catholic as confession would be perfect for me. Once a week I get the opportunity to brag about my sins, then all I have to do is say 100 Hail Marys and I'm forgiven.
Russian Orthodoxy for me. I love the ancient icons and smoky mysticism and the singing can be epic. That said, I love English churches and cathedrals and the Anglican choral tradition is unexampled so ideally the two churches would fuse, just for me. Not much to ask
I am getting more religious as I age. And it’s not just the greater proximity of death. It becomes evermore obvious, to me, that the universe is shaped with a purpose. Fuck knows what it is, but ineffability is part of the deal
Yesterday I had a call from an old friend. He and his wife have joined a church (quite unexpectedly). I wonder if there is a subtle return to faith out there, even tho the data is disputed
Happy Easter, PB
I had the whole epiphany thing more than a decade ago. But now lapsed for the whole of this decade. I went Anglican which was great at the time but was lacking and is a mess up here north of the wall.
Old Mother Church? Who needs therapy (and I do) when you have the Confessional?
They should do a deal for Easter. 20% off when you switch.
I don’t need a structured church. I just go into churches (and other religious buildings) wherever I am in the world. Nothing beats an ancient Christian church for noom (unless we count stone circles) tho some Hindu and Buddhist shrines can be powerful
I get nothing out of synagogues or mosques. Even when they are outstandingly beautiful - as some historic mosques can be. Dunno why. They just leave me cold
IMO stone circles (though they are great and I live near one) lose out on noom to churches etc because stone circles don't have a roof. Noom escapes in unenclosed spaces. The noomy enclosed building's sense of spacialness is amazing. Salle or Walpole St Peter for example. Or compare the noominess of monastic buildings that remain roofed and in use, usually as a parish church - Boxgrove or Binham for example - with even the finest roofless ones like Fountains or Castle Acre.
That's not true, Callanish has incredible noom, likewise Castlerigg. The Ring of Brodgar in Orkney too. Grey Wethers in Dartmoor - tremendous noom of two adjoining circles, of just modest stone humps, yet the remoteness and strangeness is epic
There is one row of stones in west ireland, Uragh, which is just five stones facing a loch and it's a noomgasm
It’s a shame that the UK government didn’t develop its oil and gas industry in a similar way to Norway .
Well yes: a relatively high tax environment, but consistent, and with a structure that actually encourages speculative drilling and new entrants. (Risk sharing, I believe, is the best way to describe it.)
Why are UK North Sea hydrocarbons more environmentally damaging than the rest of the World's hydrocarbons?
Unfortunately, most people don't understand economics. They don't understand that demand creates supply. Preventing the most efficiently produced oil from being produced doesn't stop oil coming out the ground, it merely means that the oil that comes out it likely to be more expensive, and more pollluting.
If you want to do your bit to reduce carbon emissions, then focus on reducing demand for oil. So, encourage energy conservation measures, solar panels, electric cars, battery projects, etc.
I only posted the photo trying to work out who Farage is playing?
Joseph of Arimathea, Simon of Cyrene, or somebody else?
Joseph of Arimathea followed Jesus in secret, which isn't how Farage follows Trump.
Simon of Cyrene carried the cross, whereas Farage is better-known for being cross.
So I think we're into the "don't go there, not today" list of alternatives.
I'm not going there (perhaps I am, slightly), but I note that Humpty-Trumpty has a Crown of Thorns on his head, so it is a post-Resurrection appearance of the risen Christ in the analogy,
So even on Planet Wherever, this is for post Easter Sunday conversation.
(And the other disciples are present, including Judas D Vance, so we are probably into Simon Peter or Doubting Thomas in the analogy.)
I'm not particularly offended; for me it is just "they are deranged nutjobs and this is how they behave".
Just an aside to add to the comments earlier regarding Badenoch.
I hadn't seen the pictures of her on the oil rig earlier in the week., Having now seen it I am rather amused.
The rig in question - The Well-Safe Protector - is no longer a drilling rig. It is one of three rigs owned by Well-Safe and converted specifically to do well abandonments.
Just an aside to add to the comments earlier regarding Badenoch.
I hadn't seen the pictures of her on the oil rig earlier in the week., Having now seen it I am rather amused.
The rig in question - The Well-Safe Protector - is no longer a drilling rig. It is one of three rigs owned by Well-Safe and converted specifically to do well abandonments.
Why are UK North Sea hydrocarbons more environmentally damaging than the rest of the World's hydrocarbons?
Unfortunately, most people don't understand economics. They don't understand that demand creates supply. Preventing the most efficiently produced oil from being produced doesn't stop oil coming out the ground, it merely means that the oil that comes out it likely to be more expensive, and more pollluting.
If you want to do your bit to reduce carbon emissions, then focus on reducing demand for oil. So, encourage energy conservation measures, solar panels, electric cars, battery projects, etc.
In other words be... yes... more like Norway.
Don’t they also move a lot of water uphill, like we ought to?
Why are UK North Sea hydrocarbons more environmentally damaging than the rest of the World's hydrocarbons?
Ironically they are less damaging by almost every measure. Including how they are extracted. The UK and Noway have just about the strictest environmental rules in the world governing North Sea operations. They are so strict about pollution we have to collect the rain water that falls on the rig and send it back to the beach for processing in case it has picked up any hydrocarbons.
Just an aside to add to the comments earlier regarding Badenoch.
I hadn't seen the pictures of her on the oil rig earlier in the week., Having now seen it I am rather amused.
The rig in question - The Well-Safe Protector - is no longer a drilling rig. It is one of three rigs owned by Well-Safe and converted specifically to do well abandonments.
Just an aside to add to the comments earlier regarding Badenoch.
I hadn't seen the pictures of her on the oil rig earlier in the week., Having now seen it I am rather amused.
The rig in question - The Well-Safe Protector - is no longer a drilling rig. It is one of three rigs owned by Well-Safe and converted specifically to do well abandonments.
Twitter saying Iranian media saying they have US POWs.
I really hope the Iranians make a song and dance about the Geneva Convention etc etc. Deeply cynical given their record but that’s the best outcome for the pilots, Iran and the rest of the world.
That it would show up the Israelis and Americans as malignant, violent thugs is a nice bonus.
Why are UK North Sea hydrocarbons more environmentally damaging than the rest of the World's hydrocarbons?
Unfortunately, most people don't understand economics. They don't understand that demand creates supply. Preventing the most efficiently produced oil from being produced doesn't stop oil coming out the ground, it merely means that the oil that comes out it likely to be more expensive, and more pollluting.
If you want to do your bit to reduce carbon emissions, then focus on reducing demand for oil. So, encourage energy conservation measures, solar panels, electric cars, battery projects, etc.
In other words be... yes... more like Norway.
I would love to be able to vote for the "Be more like Norway" party generally.
Just an aside to add to the comments earlier regarding Badenoch.
I hadn't seen the pictures of her on the oil rig earlier in the week., Having now seen it I am rather amused.
The rig in question - The Well-Safe Protector - is no longer a drilling rig. It is one of three rigs owned by Well-Safe and converted specifically to do well abandonments.
Shame her advisors didn't do their research.
To be fair - 99.9% of people looking at the pictures wouldnt know the difference between a survey rig and a production platform.
Why are UK North Sea hydrocarbons more environmentally damaging than the rest of the World's hydrocarbons?
Unfortunately, most people don't understand economics. They don't understand that demand creates supply. Preventing the most efficiently produced oil from being produced doesn't stop oil coming out the ground, it merely means that the oil that comes out it likely to be more expensive, and more pollluting.
If you want to do your bit to reduce carbon emissions, then focus on reducing demand for oil. So, encourage energy conservation measures, solar panels, electric cars, battery projects, etc.
In other words be... yes... more like Norway.
Don’t they also move a lot of water uphill, like we ought to?
Well, they have a *lot* of hydroelectric production.
But, they don't have a lot of pumped storage. They don't do a lot of pumping water uphill, because they don't need to. They are fortunate to have such a lot of mountains, and such a lot of precipitation, that they simply dam the snow melt, and use that to generate electricity. There's only just over a GW of pumped storage in total.
Why are UK North Sea hydrocarbons more environmentally damaging than the rest of the World's hydrocarbons?
Unfortunately, most people don't understand economics. They don't understand that demand creates supply. Preventing the most efficiently produced oil from being produced doesn't stop oil coming out the ground, it merely means that the oil that comes out it likely to be more expensive, and more pollluting.
If you want to do your bit to reduce carbon emissions, then focus on reducing demand for oil. So, encourage energy conservation measures, solar panels, electric cars, battery projects, etc.
In other words be... yes... more like Norway.
I would love to be able to vote for the "Be more like Norway" party generally.
Integration and immigration: check Hydrocarbobon exploration: check Renewables: check ...
Twitter saying Iranian media saying they have US POWs.
That's an important moment. By Trump and Hegseth's and the current USA's declared ethical values, Might is Right, and the Geneva Conventiona by implication have no meaning.
Why are UK North Sea hydrocarbons more environmentally damaging than the rest of the World's hydrocarbons?
Ironically they are less damaging by almost every measure. Including how they are extracted. The UK and Noway have just about the strictest environmental rules in the world governing North Sea operations. They are so strict about pollution we have to collect the rain water that falls on the rig and send it back to the beach for processing in case it has picked up any hydrocarbons.
As I said earlier my wife lost a nephew in Piper Alpha and no doubt lessons were learnt but I just cannot see any sense in Miliband destroying jobs and tax revenues on an increasingly isolated idealistic position
Just an aside to add to the comments earlier regarding Badenoch.
I hadn't seen the pictures of her on the oil rig earlier in the week., Having now seen it I am rather amused.
The rig in question - The Well-Safe Protector - is no longer a drilling rig. It is one of three rigs owned by Well-Safe and converted specifically to do well abandonments.
Shame her advisors didn't do their research.
To be fair - 99.9% of people looking at the pictures wouldnt know the difference between a survey rig and a production platform.
Very true but it does leave her open to some ridicule if and when someone points it out.
Why are UK North Sea hydrocarbons more environmentally damaging than the rest of the World's hydrocarbons?
Ironically they are less damaging by almost every measure. Including how they are extracted. The UK and Noway have just about the strictest environmental rules in the world governing North Sea operations. They are so strict about pollution we have to collect the rain water that falls on the rig and send it back to the beach for processing in case it has picked up any hydrocarbons.
As I said earlier my wife lost a nephew in Piper Alpha and no doubt lessons were learnt but I just cannot see any sense in Miliband destroying jobs and tax revenues on an increasingly isolated idealistic position
Why are UK North Sea hydrocarbons more environmentally damaging than the rest of the World's hydrocarbons?
Unfortunately, most people don't understand economics. They don't understand that demand creates supply. Preventing the most efficiently produced oil from being produced doesn't stop oil coming out the ground, it merely means that the oil that comes out it likely to be more expensive, and more pollluting.
If you want to do your bit to reduce carbon emissions, then focus on reducing demand for oil. So, encourage energy conservation measures, solar panels, electric cars, battery projects, etc.
In other words be... yes... more like Norway.
I would love to be able to vote for the "Be more like Norway" party generally.
Integration and immigration: check Hydrocarbobon exploration: check Renewables: check ...
Food: NO NO NO NO
Long time ago, I was working in a company where a group of Indian IT contractors were working.
They insisted on their right to bring in some pretty smelly fish curries and cook them up in the microwave. This was especially OTT, since the kitchen wasn't completely sealed off from the rest of the office.
One of the Norwegian guys just smiled. Then he warned us about his next lunch. That was on a Friday, so the office aired out over the weekend...
Why are UK North Sea hydrocarbons more environmentally damaging than the rest of the World's hydrocarbons?
Unfortunately, most people don't understand economics. They don't understand that demand creates supply. Preventing the most efficiently produced oil from being produced doesn't stop oil coming out the ground, it merely means that the oil that comes out it likely to be more expensive, and more pollluting.
If you want to do your bit to reduce carbon emissions, then focus on reducing demand for oil. So, encourage energy conservation measures, solar panels, electric cars, battery projects, etc.
In other words be... yes... more like Norway.
I would love to be able to vote for the "Be more like Norway" party generally.
Integration and immigration: check Hydrocarbobon exploration: check Renewables: check ...
Just an aside to add to the comments earlier regarding Badenoch.
I hadn't seen the pictures of her on the oil rig earlier in the week., Having now seen it I am rather amused.
The rig in question - The Well-Safe Protector - is no longer a drilling rig. It is one of three rigs owned by Well-Safe and converted specifically to do well abandonments.
Shame her advisors didn't do their research.
To be fair - 99.9% of people looking at the pictures wouldnt know the difference between a survey rig and a production platform.
Very true but it does leave her open to some ridicule if and when someone points it out.
Didn’t the Wellsafe Chairman donate £250,000 to the Tory party ?
Why are UK North Sea hydrocarbons more environmentally damaging than the rest of the World's hydrocarbons?
Unfortunately, most people don't understand economics. They don't understand that demand creates supply. Preventing the most efficiently produced oil from being produced doesn't stop oil coming out the ground, it merely means that the oil that comes out it likely to be more expensive, and more pollluting.
If you want to do your bit to reduce carbon emissions, then focus on reducing demand for oil. So, encourage energy conservation measures, solar panels, electric cars, battery projects, etc.
In other words be... yes... more like Norway.
I would love to be able to vote for the "Be more like Norway" party generally.
Integration and immigration: check Hydrocarbobon exploration: check Renewables: check ...
Food: NO NO NO NO
Long time ago, I was working in a company where a group of Indian IT contractors were working.
They insisted on their right to bring in some pretty smelly fish curries and cook them up in the microwave. This was especially OTT, since the kitchen wasn't completely sealed off from the rest of the office.
One of the Norwegian guys just smiled. Then he warned us about his next lunch. That was on a Friday, so the office aired out over the weekend...
The Indian guys changed their ways after that.
Presumably the fermented fish you see in viral videos being opened and people vomiting.
Why are UK North Sea hydrocarbons more environmentally damaging than the rest of the World's hydrocarbons?
Unfortunately, most people don't understand economics. They don't understand that demand creates supply. Preventing the most efficiently produced oil from being produced doesn't stop oil coming out the ground, it merely means that the oil that comes out it likely to be more expensive, and more pollluting.
If you want to do your bit to reduce carbon emissions, then focus on reducing demand for oil. So, encourage energy conservation measures, solar panels, electric cars, battery projects, etc.
In other words be... yes... more like Norway.
I would love to be able to vote for the "Be more like Norway" party generally.
Integration and immigration: check Hydrocarbobon exploration: check Renewables: check ...
Food: NO NO NO NO
Long time ago, I was working in a company where a group of Indian IT contractors were working.
They insisted on their right to bring in some pretty smelly fish curries and cook them up in the microwave. This was especially OTT, since the kitchen wasn't completely sealed off from the rest of the office.
One of the Norwegian guys just smiled. Then he warned us about his next lunch. That was on a Friday, so the office aired out over the weekend...
The Indian guys changed their ways after that.
Presumably the fermented fish you see in viral videos being opened and people vomiting.
Quite an interesting piece from Lord Frost in the Telegraph.
He's become a Roman Catholic, in a process which I think would bear comparison with Tony Blair's motivations. In the sense of Cardinal JH Newman, he is looking for something more comprehensive and 'fully orbed' than he has known before. Brits, especially High or liberal catholic Anglicans, can feel an attraction to the RC world which is almost magnetic in its feel.
Britain is quietly awakening to full-fat supernatural Christianity I have turned to Rome and I am not alone in wanting to be part of an ethereal reality sustained by a creator God
(Personally I think he is a little confused in some of the background he puts forward, and reacting more to his own perceptions eg about "woke", and not that well informed - but it is worth a read nonetheless. As is his habit he is on there replying to commenters at 10am ie now.)
I've said if I were a Christian, I would choose to be a Catholic as confession would be perfect for me. Once a week I get the opportunity to brag about my sins, then all I have to do is say 100 Hail Marys and I'm forgiven.
Russian Orthodoxy for me. I love the ancient icons and smoky mysticism and the singing can be epic. That said, I love English churches and cathedrals and the Anglican choral tradition is unexampled so ideally the two churches would fuse, just for me. Not much to ask
I am getting more religious as I age. And it’s not just the greater proximity of death. It becomes evermore obvious, to me, that the universe is shaped with a purpose. Fuck knows what it is, but ineffability is part of the deal
Yesterday I had a call from an old friend. He and his wife have joined a church (quite unexpectedly). I wonder if there is a subtle return to faith out there, even tho the data is disputed
Happy Easter, PB
Have you done your London Churches rabbit holes? Given you, I'm assuming you would visit one sometimes.
St Dunstan-in-the-West on Fleet Street is a City Church with a real (Romanian Orthodox) iconostasis inside (they share the building), from St Antim Monastery in Bucharest, installed in 1966. They also have the oldest public clock in London from 1671, with Gog and Magog striking the hours, and the oldest outdoor public statue of Queen Elizabeth I.
If I recommended a visit to one other City Church, it would be the Roman Catholic one of St Mary Moorfields (1791), which is almost camouflaged in a row of buildings on Eldon Street near Finsbury Circus, and is such a surprise to see the inside. https://maps.app.goo.gl/vrDMzvgm42krcGnCA
Yes - happy Easter to all PB.
Yes I love London churches. I know the first of the ones you mention but not the second. Will check, ta
Hawksmoor is possibly my favourite. My heart leaps every time I see Christ Church Spitalfields, the concentrated power.
For pure noom, however, St Bartholomew the Great is great. And personally St Sepulchre-without-Newgate has a special place. I went in there alone to pray on the first day of my rape trial at the Old Bailey across the road, like many Londoners for centuries before me. Because the Bailey was Newgate, of course
Marcus Walker, the Vicar of St Bartholomew, is also one of the few staunch Tory vicars still in the C of E. As you say Newgate was round the corner, William Wallace, Wat Tyler and the Protestant martyrs were all executed at Smithfield round the corner.
Christ Church Spitalfields is also worth a visit, my father did the accounts there for a few years before retiring and Florence and the Machine filmed a video there
It was interesting Frosty's article being illustrated by Great St Barts, and the associated irony.
Frost states that the "Quiet Revival" (such as it is which is something but nothing like the claims, which Frost recognises) is amongst Roman Catholics, Anglo-Catholics and Protestant evangelicals (which is a slightly strange category).
Yet Great St Barts is a thriving theologically liberal *, and liturgically traditional, parish where one of the first same sex marriages was held between two Church of England priests in 2008 by the Rector Martin Dudley - illegally. But they also maintained St Barts the Less open throughout Covid for prayer which I surmise Frosty would approve.
So his "it's the supernaturalists" claim somewhat collapses.
* Or he has come interesting category definitions, which is quite possible. He may not be differentiating between theology and style of worship, both of which can be liberal or traditionalist.
Comments
Roman Catholics are not interested in prosperity gospel like Christian conservative evangelicals though and back charity and strong welfare for the poor and oppose the death penalty, so Trump still does best with conservative evangelicals, winning them in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Though Trump also won the Roman Catholic vote in 2024 having lost the Catholic vote to Biden in 2020
https://x.com/EricSpracklen/status/2039749292345172423
THE LORD HAS COMETH, AND HE SHALL BE OUR SALVATION
I have just discovered, while pootling away online, that I am exempt from Making Tax Digital. Why? Because I receive foreign royalties on my flints, and these are subject to foreign tax (and double tax treaties etc). This is simply too much of a mind-feck for MTD so it has made anyone in this situation exempt
O GLORY BE, O GLORY GLORY BE
1. Lack of good quality information. Who is actually in the running and who is a "wasted vote"?
2. A dislike of all the parties, even the one that is less bad.
3. What difference is 1 vote going to make anyway?
4. If you are fortunate enough to have found a party with an agenda that you broadly approve of they should be encouraged to keep that agenda, even if they don't win.
5. It feels better to make a positive vote than just trying to stop someone else.
Reasons for voting tactically:
A. There are some really bad choices out there, yes Reform, SNP and Green, I am looking at you.
B. Amongst the centrist parties how much difference does it actually make?
C. If your choice wins you feel your time and effort was not wasted.
I've probably missed a few reasons for each category but in my experience to vote tactically you need to be seeking to stop A in a situation where C is a real possibility and that is enough to overcome 4 and 5 in particular. I have done it and will no doubt do it again but the odds are against it in any particular election.
There is one row of stones in west ireland, Uragh, which is just five stones facing a loch and it's a noomgasm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uragh_Stone_Circle
We are finding ourselves locked out of the Gateway at the moment having received a letter from HMRC which is even more incomprehensible than usual telling us that we should have made certain payments in January and July 2025, figures that are really quite different from what our accountant told us at the time and which do not show any cognisance of what we actually did pay. Several hours filling in endless details to confirm my identity have so far been wasted without success. As usual, we pay more and more for less and less of a service.
A U.S. Air Force HC-130J “Combat King II” Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) Aircraft seen flying extremely low over the countryside of Southern Iran, as the search continues for the crew of a downed American F-15E Strike Eagle.
And legal processes leading to unfair outcomes is a whole other sermon for today.
Right- I'm off to find somewhere quiet to reread Francis Spufford's account of Holy Week in Unapologetic. It's awfully good.
It was all Geo Osborne's whizzy idea, apparently. But it's a case of pious Whitehall policy being unable to cope with - or even comprehend - the complexity of the real world. People with multiple sources of income (some foreign), people who still pay and earn in cash (not cause they are fraudsters, but because this still happens, legitimately), people who have wildly varying incomes over years, and so on
https://x.com/KenRoth/status/2039827657278226831
But I wonder if they will ever be able to smoth out bumps like mine - multiple foreign incomes. I can easily see this exemption lasting a few years anyway (ins'allah)
Reform Senedd candidate blamed Nato for Ukraine war
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70dxwg0zq7o
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/blogs/ec_rrose_20260403.html
Iran’s state-run Mehr News Agency calls on Iranian civilians to help capture the pilot and weapons officer of an American F-15E Strike Eagle that was allegedly shot down this morning over Southern Iran.
The current democratic deficit is as much about corporations exploiting this imbalance to take the piss as it is about the ineffectiveness of our politicians.
Seems such a daft thing to lie about. Not even Russia can suppress the truth about lost aircraft.
I remind you, when I said in my Sejm exposé just a few weeks ago that Poland needs two “insurance policies” instead of putting all our cards on one option, some were surprised. And today it turns out that we must consider alternatives.
Of course, NATO is the cornerstone of our security. Of course, we want to be a good, loyal ally of the United States, but we cannot pretend that the U.S. President isn’t saying what he is saying.
| Deputy PM @sikorskiradek on the U.S. withdrawal from NATO
https://x.com/PolandMFA/status/2039778759402734065
Now constructed.
What an appalling bit of old tat.
Sad Woolie.
I think that I’ve just invented this dinner..
People are naturally more comfortable with acts of domination by their side (e.g. I was more comfortable about the anti-Iraq War demonstrations than I was about the Countryside Alliance one) so obviously Christians doing so is seen as less threatening in a Christian country than Muslims.
The way to reconcile this is to build bridges across communities so that others different from us do not feel so jarring. I'm sure if I went to a few vintage tractor runs, or the threshing, then I'd be more relaxed when the farmers were out demonstrating and trying to coerce the government into granting them preferential treatment.
That's why schools always used to do visits to Mosques and other various places of worship, so that they would be demystified and feel more normal and less alien.
We seem to have gone from a £25 billion bonanza and fuel bills in pennies to will it need subsidy in a few dozen comments but such are the byways of PB.com.
Anyhow the discussion at that moment was well as my observation were about definitions. Preferential tax treatment is a subsidy as far as WTO is concerned. A subsidy doesn't require you to hand over cash
*Checks Surrey's score*
Oh dear...
Speculation Miliband will approve drilling new oil and gas field 'unfounded' government says
A fairly good mission overview with 3D plots of the location etc
Haven't been for years. Buying success.
Not as bad as Notts though, parasites
Proper County Cricket is still played at places like Worcester great academy, Taunton, Derby, Leicester
I thought, wow that's a schism in the regime.
But on investigation no, it's a big new job for the VP. He's now the Fraud Czar tasked with rooting out the misuse of taxpayer dollars by state officials outside Washington.
As a matter of time management, and in order to get the most bang for the buck, he'll start by looking exclusively at fraud in Democrat run states.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01083zj/episodes/player
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b01083zj
https://x.com/clashreport/status/2039484894519108013
Oh, JD. He’s lost weight. He got a little thinner. And I’m looking for a heavyset gentleman, and now I find a perfect — a perfect-looking specimen.
Meanwhile, Trump is raving this morning about taking all the oil in Hormuz.
I wonder how bad it has to get before he receives some medical attention.
I hadn't seen the pictures of her on the oil rig earlier in the week., Having now seen it I am rather amused.
The rig in question - The Well-Safe Protector - is no longer a drilling rig. It is one of three rigs owned by Well-Safe and converted specifically to do well abandonments.
Shame her advisors didn't do their research.
My plumber/gas engineer now has 3 more jobs to do this afternoon before getting away for Easter Weekend (as of an hour ago), and her daughter's birthday next week, Daughter is 21 so has already started celebrating.
And I will have an invoice slightly larger invoice than I would relish.
They are still twisting themselves into pretzels to convince themselves that they are Useful for Trump, rather than Useful idiots for Trump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0QYy2X7PCA
This week, the NatCon Squad discusses:
00:00 - Intro
01:14 - Iran, Cuba and Geopolitical Shift
15:38 - Changes at Border Patrol Command
28:41 - Consent Decree in Missouri vs. Biden
37:45 - Are Women leaving the Right?
48:58 - Final Thoughts
With Ben Weingarten, Inez Stepman, Will Chamberlain and Amber Duke.
I quite like "The Ring of Brodgar", which sounds like a ring given to his betrothed by a dwarf from JRR Tolkien.
If you want to do your bit to reduce carbon emissions, then focus on reducing demand for oil. So, encourage energy conservation measures, solar panels, electric cars, battery projects, etc.
In other words be... yes... more like Norway.
So even on Planet Wherever, this is for post Easter Sunday conversation.
(And the other disciples are present, including Judas D Vance, so we are probably into Simon Peter or Doubting Thomas in the analogy.)
I'm not particularly offended; for me it is just "they are deranged nutjobs and this is how they behave".
I respect @Richard_Tyndall and he makes a fair point
However, Kemi and others are winning the argument and Jackdaw and Rosebank will be approved
That it would show up the Israelis and Americans as malignant, violent thugs is a nice bonus.
But, they don't have a lot of pumped storage. They don't do a lot of pumping water uphill, because they don't need to. They are fortunate to have such a lot of mountains, and such a lot of precipitation, that they simply dam the snow melt, and use that to generate electricity. There's only just over a GW of pumped storage in total.
Hydrocarbobon exploration: check
Renewables: check
...
Food: NO NO NO NO
https://x.com/IranInThailand/status/2040048729227743447
They insisted on their right to bring in some pretty smelly fish curries and cook them up in the microwave. This was especially OTT, since the kitchen wasn't completely sealed off from the rest of the office.
One of the Norwegian guys just smiled. Then he warned us about his next lunch. That was on a Friday, so the office aired out over the weekend...
The Indian guys changed their ways after that.
So no conflict of interest there ……
Frost states that the "Quiet Revival" (such as it is which is something but nothing like the claims, which Frost recognises) is amongst Roman Catholics, Anglo-Catholics and Protestant evangelicals (which is a slightly strange category).
Yet Great St Barts is a thriving theologically liberal *, and liturgically traditional, parish where one of the first same sex marriages was held between two Church of England priests in 2008 by the Rector Martin Dudley - illegally. But they also maintained St Barts the Less open throughout Covid for prayer which I surmise Frosty would approve.
So his "it's the supernaturalists" claim somewhat collapses.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/a803b660da36bac3
* Or he has come interesting category definitions, which is quite possible. He may not be differentiating between theology and style of worship, both of which can be liberal or traditionalist.
I wonder how that is going to work out?
Public executions? That's the sort of content he likes, right?