David Barber

Chart showing an increase in likelihood of committing a crime after a cancer diagnosis, rising over the next 10 years.

Researchers in Denmark have found a 'Breaking Bad' effect - people with a cancer diagnosis are more likely to commit crimes after their diagnosis.

Starmer vows to avoid ‘mistakes of Iraq’ that have haunted Labour for decades Prime minister does not believe US has a plan beyond ‘shock and awe’ stage, as some MPs dread what lies ahead

Paraphrased from
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Keir Starmer assured MPs that the UK would operate on a “lawful basis” and with a “viable thought-through plan”

The implication: he does not think the initial US and Israeli strikes against Iran were either legal or considered. “This government does not believe in regime change from the skies"

Over 100 children dead. It's exactly the targets you'd expect from the war crime duo of Israel and Trump

Refugee status to be temporary as Shabana Mahmood rips up rules on UK asylum Home secretary announces 30-month protection limit, with refugees required to leave if their home countries are later judged safe

I swear to goodness what is WRONG with this labour government?!
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Folks who know will be unsurprised to learn that Tom Cotton is on the Sunday news shows crowing about how Trump is bringing peace and prosperity to Iran, in defiance of all rational understanding of what's actually about to happen. #arpx

Trump vies for Bush’s crown for worst foreign policy decision in history The US president upended half a century of US foreign policy in an eight-minute video with another attempt at Middle Eastern regime change

Winning!
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Inside the cutthroat competition for the best baguette in Paris The Grand Prix de la Baguette de Tradition Française, Paris’s most revered bread competition, saw dozens of bakers competing for the title of best baguette.

The tastiest competition on earth
wapo.st/46rKYLB

Vegetarians have ‘substantially lower risk’ of five types of cancer Study shows lower risk for multiple myeloma as well as pancreatic, prostate, breast and kidney cancers

This correlates nicely with what we know about processed meat
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Only a matter of time before Paramount digitally erases Indiana Jones from all of his movies & has the Nazis have an Ewoks-style party after opening The Ark.

Chart from The Economist showing that Arkansas and other Southern States have the highest road deaths in America

Just another thing we ought to address (but won't)

"Seeming...less like the House speaker than a house elf, Mike Johnson sat perched over Mr Trump’s left shoulder, grinning eagerly at his faintest witticism; the president has learned that Mr Johnson will serve as his loyal whip rather than the leader of a coequal branch of government."
The Economist

Leave big tech behind! How to replace Amazon, Google, X, Meta, Apple – and more A handful of companies monopolise the web, with unprecedented access to our data. But there are many more ethical – and often distinctively European – alternatives

Good information here for escaping the tech giants
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

This is a Nazi move. Stripping people of rights, invalidating their IDs, setting them up for criminalization and imprisonment.

If you don't support trans rights, you support fascism.

Facial recognition error prompts police to arrest Asian man for burglary 100 miles away Exclusive: Alvi Choudhury claiming damages against Thames Valley police after biased technology confused him with man looking ‘10 years younger’

So long as there are not serious consequences for misuse of this type of technology, it will continue to be misused. We cannot deploy it anywhere until this issue is resolved.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Definitely the first State of the Union where the president talked about the military killing unarmed fishermen as a laugh line

Still going? Good Lord!

Wow! I just got an advance copy of Trump’s State of the Union remarks for tonight:

“Biden. Obama. Hillary. Democrat hoax. Witch hunt. Rigged. Biden. Obama. Hillary. Democrat hoax. Witch hunt. Rigged. Biden. Obama. Hillary. Democrat hoax. Witch hunt. Rigged. Biden.”
#TrumpStateOfDelusion

I remember wondering why all those despots liked to give six hour rambling speeches. Perhaps tonight I'll find out.

Trump to deliver State of the Union – but what is the union’s actual state? Speech comes as midterms loom and opinion polls show more voters disapprove than approve of his performance

An actually objective state of the union
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Met police using AI tools supplied by Palantir to flag officer misconduct Exclusive: Police Federation condemns deployment of US firm’s tech to analyse behaviour as ‘automated suspicion’

Now THIS is funny! Cops like spying on others, not so much being spied on!
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

He made a fake ICE deportation tip line. Then a kindergarten teacher called. A Nashville comedian’s deportation hotline, set up as a joke, has gone viral among viewers who say it shows the “banality of evil personified” in the U.S. immigration crackdown.

The banality of evil (gift article)
wapo.st/4kM4qbF

The evil and the good in the American civil war Our report from 1861

Taken from "The evil and the good in the American civil war"
www.economist.com/interactive/...
From The Economist

“The Southern leaders have unquestionably the whole responsibility of this fatal step. The blood which has at length begun to flow must be upon them... They originated the quarrel by their passionate desire to extend the shameful institution of which they are so proud." (The Economist in 1861)

UK bank bosses plan to set up Visa and Mastercard alternative amid Trump fears Exclusive: First meeting to be held over domestic payments system aimed at reducing reliance on US networks

Well here's an interesting development
www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Four images of people sucking on a plastic tube. Text 'make your weekend memorable'

I do love a good marketing image. Came across this one looking for a hydration backpack.

Republican State Legislators Rush to Limit Their Own Regulators

This is your reminder that Republicans want to take away your right to stop data centers from raising electricity prices. Go out today and find a state-level Democrat to support!
(gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/u...

HOOOOOO boy.

Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.): "Do you consider yourself a religious man?"

Lyons: "Yes ma'am."

McIver: "How do you think Judgement Day will work for you with so much blood on your hands?"

"Do you think you're going to hell, Mr. Lyons?"

Trump administration removes Pride flag from Stonewall gay rights monument The Trump administration removed a gay pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument, birthplace of the gay rights movement.

Some would assert this just proves that violent rebellion is the only way to have your voice heard in Trump's America (gift article)
wapo.st/4r9FQnz

Irish man with valid US work permit held in ICE detention for five months Seamus Culleton has lived in US for two decades, married a citizen and runs a plastering business but faces deportation

So now ICE is just outright falsifying documents. No surprise, really
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...