John Lappin

I want to read a book about droplets v aerosols. How on earth did we get policy so wrong here and at WHO level? Terrible policy mistakes including in hospitals and the nature of lockdowns. How absurd is the libertarian and conservative received wisdom on what happened?
But that's a bit dredgie.

The Scottish Parliament Parlamaid na h-Alba John Swinney MSP First Minister of Scotland Scottish Government, St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH13DG Monday 4th August 2025 Dear John, After careful thought over the summer recess, I have informed the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch Constituency Association today that I intend to step down from the Scottish Parliament at the next election. It has been an incredible privilege to serve the people of the Highlands since 2016 as the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch. In that time, I have also been grateful for the opportunity to serve in Government, initially as Minister for Public Finance, then as Cabinet Secretary for Finance and more recently as Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic. I am in no doubt about the scale of my duties as a local representative, an activist and campaigner, and a Government Minister. Quite rightly this job entails long days far from home, constant attention and total dedication. As I consider the upcoming election and the prospects of another term, I have concluded that I do not wish to seek re-clection and miss any more of the precious early years of family life. I remain wholly supportive of you today just as when I backed you to be Leader of the SNP and First Minister of Scotland, and I will continue to serve my constituents and the public with diligence over the next year. I look forward to campaigning for the SNP at the next election, to return you as First Minister for another term and lead Scotland to independence. Yours for Scotland, Tatefat. Kate Forbes MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch

Former SNP leadership contender Kate Forbes is not seeking reelection to the Scottish Parliament next year.

“We take vaccines so for granted in the United States” ...“Women in the developing world know the power of [vaccines]. They will walk 10 kilometers in the heat with their child and line up to get a vaccine because they have seen death.”

Melinda Gates

isn’t the NY Times adorable? one might ask, who’s paying these tariffs?

For weird street-furniture connoisseurs: a few unwary drivers coming up Hellihole Road in Stromness must have braked hard on encountering these two red lights on the roadside.
They are actually ‘leading lights’ for mariners - get them lined up and you’re on course for the safe route into Hamnavoe.

Who needs the Caledonian Sleeper lounge (we are travelling too low a class to be admitted) when you have the best waiting room in the form of the Bhel Poori House on Drummond Street, two minutes walk from Euston?

There's a big difference between using voice-to-text technology to help with getting your thoughts into printed words and just putting a prompt into an AI generator for it to write a story for you.

Here's an absolutely batshit version of the World of Sport theme which, astonishingly, is by the same guy who actually composed it.

youtu.be/LQ_NrZRYb3E

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey: “Trump has no respect for allies. To show our Canadian friends we stand with them, the PM should host a Commonwealth economic summit.

“Closer Commonwealth ties will strengthen all our nations against Trump’s trade war and help deliver the growth Britain urgently needs.”

Nice to meet REM on my Cowboy adventure...

All the evidence points to underlying growth rates across Western economies slowing because of structural factors and no one is prepared to discuss what that implies.

Turfing out the chair of the Competition and Markets Authority because he believed in enforcing competition - the damn fool.

The Trumpian flight from reality began earlier in the UK.

Labour’s tax, business and economic policies are a nonsense yet everyone pretends the debate is only about detail.

Similarly Reform and savings, the Greens with well everything and the Tories with immigration.

That Melanie Phillips is a lunatic conspiracist bigot and racist is not remotely shocking. But the fact that the Times continues to employ her should be.

True but essentially a disgrace.

A total case.

Not Northern Ireland. In my view.

Yikes. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Euros. Pounds.

Sorry. Also the Pensions Regulator.
Oh yes. Whatever you say.

Not exactly Hungary or Turkey but terribly unhealthy.

And if I have to read another obsequious letter from Nikhil Rathi to Reeves. Yes my lady.
My word.
At least Andrew Bailey remembered his job description.

It couldnae happen here. LOL. Etc.

How does PM get away with his nonsense?
However preparing the ground for his elevation...
The UK did turf out an ONS chair. Sorry he's leaving? Lost a chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service, Baroness Manzoor. Time to go?
Also a chair of the CMA Marcus Bokkerink.
Competition fanatic?

Trump Shoots the Messenger Firing the BLS Commissioner moves us into banana republic territory

New, from me:
Trump just fired the head of the BLS, accusing her of rigging data.
The reality is that by shooting the messenger reporting on the negative effects of his economic policies, Trump pushed America further into banana republic territory.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/trump-shoo...

On the one hand, heartening that only six per cent of us give a different answer. On the other, at least the six per cent have the excuse that bigotry has made them dumb as rocks. What’s the 26 per cent’s excuse?!

Modernity represented by what looks like an old 405-line VHF aerial, a type that was phased out from the mid 1980s! Any you still see on chimneys are long forgotten relics of the Ireland of The Riordans. #speirgorm

We and other schools had USAID students forced to disenroll and leave without a diploma just weeks before the semester ended. Navy was even willing to pay for them to stay the remaining weeks and graduate but State refused.

I mean I saw the worst of hockey on various summer tours. The names on the shirts say.
Enjoyed watching Bristol Uni being expelled from the tournament and just failing to comprehend.
So maybe I do understand now I think about it.

:-(

Grr