Ben J. Clarke

Mike Huckabee: US ambassador to Israel says UK would have lost WW2 with Starmer as leader Mike Huckabee's comments come after the UK prime minister condemned Israel's Gaza City military takeover plan.

Subtext: US politician admits it was Britain that won WW2

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I’d suggest Warwick lead with an Inbetweeners quote, but only Brits would get it, and the rest of Bluesky would have me banned.

Cacio e pepe: Good Food pasta recipe sparks fury in Italy

That the BBC needs to run an article on this, principally to point out that the BBC no longer owns the Good Food website and isn’t responsible, is hilarious.

It’s almost as funny as the UK ambassador being contacted (the website’s in a German holding company now).

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

NHS England told to keep patients in Powys waiting for operations One woman says the Welsh NHS

While this is a lesson in rage-bait headline writing - imply that England is mistreating the Welsh… then reveal in the article that Wales has asked England to delay treating Welsh patients - the politics here is so backwards and baffling, it’s well worth a read:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The British and Irish Lions must be the greatest proof that team building takes time. You can push together the strongest squad, with several players being the world’s best in their position, but it won’t be the world’s best team.

Trump orders firing of statistics chief after weak jobs report and data revisions - live updates The Bureau of Labour Statistics reported earlier on Friday that the US had added 73,000 jobs in July, far lower than expected.

What’s that joke about Soviet statisticians? Two give genuine answers and are shot. The third asks “what do want the statistics to say?”

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cp...

Trump’s demand that pharma charges the US the same prices as other nations is ostensibly fair (subject to - logistics, tariffs, etc).

But other countries have centralised price negotiation. In the US insurers and providers buy drugs. Charging the US fairly first requires a defined US buyer.

I don’t understand the fascination with foreign investment. We get this all the time from politicians in Britain, and Trump’s touring it as the “wins” from his tariffs.

Doesn’t it actually mean selling your economy to foreigners?

If I could change one easy thing on the web, I’d get rid of the overlay on BBC short-form video. It’s infuriating to click a video of a sports moment and not be able to see it because the stupid overlay takes so long to disappear.

Sarina Wiegman duetting with Burna Boy to celebrate English football is my favourite symbol of how internationally collaborative modern England really is.

Oh, and stop letting house builders throw up new estates without large enough schools, adequate play areas, car-free spaces, communal buildings, leisure centres, and transport links.

5) The only expensive (very expensive!) part, and the most crucial - fund after school activities, build more parks, sponsor kids’ sports, chess, debate (everything!) teams, and keep kids active in body and mind.

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3) Education programs aimed at parents, so they can use those GUIs (more important!)

4) Public awareness campaigns on the importance of keeping internet-enabled devices restricted and in communal areas of the house where children’s use can be monitored.

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In case my objections to the UK Online Safety Act seem “soft on tech”, let me outline my alternative proposal:

1) A ban on smartphones for under sixteens

2) Mandatory easy-use GUIs for mobile devices and routers that give parents the ability to restrict apps and websites

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Online Safety matters! But getting it requires legislation that makes sense (like most implementations of GDPR do). This act, as written, is a worse tangle of incompetence than the infamous (and lame duck) Cookie Law.

The British online tech sector is on hiatus until this is fixed.

3) Foreign scale-ups won’t be targeted as much because they’re largely American, Chinese or European, and those economies hilariously outgun Britain’s and mean too much as trading relationships

4) All start-ups (including those by British citizens) will be nudged away from Britain

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Everybody with any kind of senior experience in the tech space knows exactly how the UK Online Safety Act will play out:

1) Big tech is immune - their lawyers outgun the government’s

2) British scale-ups will be targeted and have to divert money from innovation to lawyers

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VPNs top App Store charts as UK age verification kick in Experts say free versions of such apps or services may carry potential security and privacy risks.

Yup. Labour currently demonstrating that governments are so technologically illiterate that you don’t even have to stop touching yourself to beat them.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Absolutely hoping an England-Spain rivalry in women’s football turns into a centuries long sporting institution like England-Australia in cricket.

Also, China and the US dwarf everyone on historical emissions, and you’d need to squint really bloody hard to imagine them complying with this.

Top UN court says countries can sue each other over climate change The decision from the world's highest court has been welcomed by developing nations at most risk from climate change.

The problem here is if China burns Australian coal to make American iPhones that are shipped to Swedish customers on Greek vessels that run on Saudi oil, who is responsible for the emissions?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Football would be improved immeasurably if officials could have a rugby attitude…

It’s time to say it - Sarina Wiegman is the greatest manger in international sport. Not just football - sport!

To curry favour with Trump and advance his “wind culture back to the past” agenda, King Charles III should buy the Washington Commanders, rename it the Washington Redcoats, make it a football with your feet team, and fill it with German players. I’m confident this will make all sides happy.

16 and 17-year-olds to be able to vote in next general election - live updates Lowering the voting age across the UK means around 1.5 million 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote at the next general election.

I agree with this, but by definition it ought to mean full adulthood starts at 16 - if you can vote and join the military, you should be able to drive and buy beer.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c9...

How will age verification for porn work and what about your data? Anyone in the UK wanting to access online porn will soon have to undergo more rigorous age checks.

Arguably, a fantastic way of ensuring young people are tech savvy and fit for tomorrow’s labour market is to make smut difficult to access. This time next year, almost every teenage Brit will know what a VPN is.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This Salt Path thing could have been avoided if publishers stopped hunting for “real” stories that readers might find “authentic” and instead looked for fiction that’s good enough for readers to suspend disbelief.

The easiest dev question is “am I over-engineering this?” If you have to ask, the answer is yes.

Wiaan Mulder declares 33 short of Brian Lara's iconic Test innings record of 400 South Africa’s Wiaan Mulder declares on 367 not out, passing up the opportunity to break Brian Lara’s record for the highest individual score in a Test innings.

I’m all for being a self-sacrificing team player, but come on, so close to place in history:

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...

I’m convinced there are now more “prospecting” agencies offering to secure clients for me than there are potential clients out there.