Peter Walsh

This is bad.

The hometown newspaper that I read as a teenager through Watergate and Vietnam and made me crave the life of a reporter is now being butchered by a billionaire who had $75 million to bribe and flatter a president and his wife but nothing to save journalism, an bulwark of the republic itself. Got it.

Narco Warriors The true story of how the narcotics trade went global and how a secret war, fought for more than 50 years, still shapes our world - told by the international investigators who lived it.

Starting tomorrow ... audioboom.com/channels/516...

I think you are Labour supporter, Kate? You know Keir Starmer has written opinion pieces for The Sun, don't you?

Well I remember a beer-drinking features sub at the Coventry Evening Telegraph who did dry Jan and that was back in 1989. He made up for it the rest of the year though.

Have you ever read the story in The Sun? The lady in question (not an "innocent woman" but a reporter who approached him to write a story) said the hypnosis actually worked. Just saying.

I don't think they understand journalists if they think this will intimidate them.

Alex Pretti was an American hero. He saved lives. He protected people. He cared deeply about his community, unlike the murderous thugs who killed him.

The very last thing he did was try to help a woman who had been pepper-sprayed and violently shoved to the ground by ICE. 1/

Maybe he's just trying to communicate with the public? We're not all policy wonks with a craving for "intellectual tradition". But he also regularly submits to longform podcast interviews and debates - unlike a single senior Labour figure I can think of.

Gabriel Zucman on the shocking concentration of extreme wealth in the United States….
gzucman.substack.com?r=nle0&utm_c...

No one does it better than the man himself

media1.tenor.com/m/K1TNUqHQjl...

I hated Hamnet Chloé Zhao's Oscar-tipped film paddles in a golden pond of five-star reviews - but I was entirely unmoved

Saw Hamnet last night. Subtle it is not. I actually liked the titular "shining-faced young whippersnapper" but otherwise have to side with this rare dissenting review from the iPaper: inews.co.uk/culture/film...

Oh yes.

“Credited” FFS

Reminiscent of the incredible extended scene on Liverpool docks in the episode “George’s Last Ride” in Alan Bleasdale’s landmark series Boys From The Blackstuff.

The edited versions are better. You can see why they cut the scenes they did.

David Mamet is a great playwright but his prose is surprisingly poor.

Labour, a supply side explanation for the rise of populism, and the growing acceptability of xenophobic discourse in the UK I never cease to be amazed at how bad Labour politicians are at politics. It may seem arrogant for an economist to say that, but it’s not ...

Y'days post: Labour, a supply side explanation for the rise of populism, and the growing acceptability of xenophobic discourse in the UK mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/12/labo...
Voters haven't suddenly become more xenophobic/racist. So the reason public discourse has is due to politicians + media

But Farage does "look credible" (sadly). That's partly why his party is soaring. Maybe your biases are clouding your judgement, but your loathing of Polanski seems almost unhinged. Why not channel your energies against those who would make your life worse, not those who want to make it better?

Fair point. Still sceptical though.

People who are going to vote against Labour to keep the Greens out of power (if they even exist) aren’t going to vote Labour anyway.

But who are these people whose main reason for voting would be to “stop the Greens”? Are you sure they exist?

Christmas idea: if someone you know enjoyed A Line In The Sand they will like this. Or treat yourself!

Maybe lay off the Fosters, Shakey, it’s messing with your comprehension.

Just read Michael McFaul’s book about his time as ambassador to Russia and to say he suffers from over-optimism would be understatement of the year - he even admits it (blames it on coming from Montana). Good read though.

Our 2024 General Election Manifesto - Green Party Real hope.Real change. Millions of people in our country are feeling insecure and deeply worried about the future. We live in one of the richest countries on the planet, yet nurses are using food bank...

This was the manifesto at the last election. Since then they have made some changes: policies are voted on by membership at annual conference. greenparty.org.uk/about/our-ma...

It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;

This is very good

Uploading and announcing is not a leak though, is it? My initial comment was response to Tom Roberts’s about the budget leak, and I think I saw the same effect in the 2017 manifesto leak. But I admit two contested examples don’t really make firm data. Interesting though - will watch out for more.

The biggest story in Europe today but I can't see it prominently on a single UK news site or outlet.