I like the dancing, but I don’t like the camera trying to join in.

YouTube video by Guardian News Boris Johnson condemns Trump after Capitol attack: 'Completely wrong'

In 2020, Boris Johnson said that Trump "encouraged people to storm the Capitol ... I believe that that was completely wrong. ... I unreservedly condemn encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way that they did in the Capitol".

Does he still think that?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgCi...

A generic (Jenrick?) Conservative Party / Kemi Badenoch / Conservative Home / Daily Telegraph flowchart:
Was the deplorable event / policy:
A: before 1997: goto D;
B: in 1997-2010: goto D;
C: after 2010: goto D;
D: throw a fair die:
*1-4: blame Tony Blair
*5: blame Keir Starmer
*6: blame both

OpenAI in Danger After Authors Suing It Gain Access to Its Internal Slack Messages Authors and publishers, who are suing OpenAI, secured access to internal Slack messages and emails discussing the deletion of pirated books.

“authors & publishers who filed a lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led firm have secured access to internal Slack messages… discussing the mass deletion of a pirated books dataset… A NY district court ordered OpenAI to hand over the communications regarding data deletion”
futurism.com/artificial-i...

My degrees are in CS, not law. So like my granny said, if she tells me a mosquito can pull a plow, then hook that mf up!

Snoops had a great time, very good Julius Caesar with 5 actors. Great staging. Snoops is a proud friend of the director. Chap next to Snoops thought it should be at the National Theatre!

America’s Future Is Hungary MAGA conservatives love Viktor Orbán. But he’s left his country corrupt, stagnant, and impoverished.

In honor of Viktor Orban's visit to Washington, here's a reminder that Orban has made his country corrupt, stagnant, and impoverished:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Just watched episode 1. Brilliant -superb telling of history -very engaging. And salutary.

"If I could prove by logic that you would die in five minutes, I should be sorry you were going to die, but my sorrow would be very much mitigated by pleasure in the proof."
--Reported by Bertrand Russell as said by Hardy, probably said to Russell!

I should add I think it extremely unlikely that Hardy actually believed this would work, and that it was probably Hardy being intentionally a tad eccentric.

Mathematician & convinced aetheist G H Hardy had what he called his "anti-God battery" when watching cricket: an umbrella, thick sweaters, papers to referee, etc. The idea was God would think Hardy expected rain so he could get on with his work so God would have the sun shine all day to spite Hardy.

Crucial thing to watch: The Dem blowout wins suggest it'll be way more risky for GOPers to gerrymander, because the GOP safer seats may become more vulnerable than expected. Rs in those seats will now be very nervous.

Exchange on this w/Dem operative Jessica Post:

newrepublic.com/article/2028...

I feel like I could live with the brass neck - it is the seemingly successful way that he and others have brainwashed themselves into thinking “our crumbling justice system” has an explanation beyond “we didn’t spend enough money on it” that I can’t stand.

'It is true that none of us is personally responsible for the events and activities of our varied ancestors. But take care, if disowning any possible connection to events before you were born, to check if you are content to sever any sense of identification with Shakespeare or winning WW2 too' (!)

Without DEI, we would only make merit-based hires, like the genius strategist who decided to pick a fight with his boss’s new young wife.

Ah, you noticed!
I was about to point that out with a devastatingly funny riposte, but fortunately for all of us I've forgotten what it was.

Taking the think out of tank

Careful Marge, the 'Gazpacho police' will be after you with Commie talk like that.

(For those who don't remember amidst all the MAGA chaos, Ms Taylor Greene once confused the Spanish soup with Hitler's secret police.)

I suspect you may find Irish Murdoch is yet another alter-ego of the multi-pseudonymous Brian O'Nolan aka Flann O'Brien aka Myles na gCopaleen and that in an old desk drawer is a post-post-post modern short story under that name with prominent roles played by railway steam engines and poppet valves

(L to R) Frances Green, Margaret (Peg) Kirchner, Ann Waldner and Blanche Osborn leaving their plane, "Pistol Packin' Mama," at Lockbourne AAF in Ohio. All were WASP pilots who had been trained on B-17 "Flying Fortresses." c. 1944.
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gr...

Harvard Gazette: Gazette: “You are the mother of two In ten years you have produced three novels and two short-story collections. Can you talk about your process and how you manage work and family?” Groff: “I understand that this is a question of vital importance to a lot of people, particularly to other mothers who are artists trying to get their work done, and know that I feel for everyone in the struggle. But until I see a male writer asked that question, I am going to respectfully decline to answer it.”

@barristersecret.bsky.social l suspect this instruction manual may prove useful in dealing with uncooperative - even hostile?- witnesses in court, or disarming any rogue judge who attacks you with their gavel?

I think a one indicator of a good observer is when they can appreciate at least some aspects of something that they dislike.

Spray tan = $150
Waxing = $100 half leg, $200 full leg
Complimentary prosecco 🥂
Walk-ins accepted!! 💝

@publicradionerd.bsky.social @davidcolquhoun.bsky.social
1995-ish reading The Independent I read a letter to the paper & thought that's good & makes an interesting point.
Then: what a coincidence - its writer has the same name as me.
Then realization dawned: oh yes, I wrote it 3 days ago.

...Kemi’s Conservatives are indeed smart. They range from Nigel Biggar, Andrew Roberts and Toby Young to John Gray and Simon Heffer. With such intellectual firepower at her disposal, this warrior queen is quite capable of leading a Conservative comeback.

Toby Young - "intellectual firepower" ?????

"a little world of his own"
--Often(?) said in Hancock's Half Hour radio programme by Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock about the William Kerr character after Galton & Simpson had (gradually?) changed him from being streetwise to being dim-witted.
(A change I, for one, regret.)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Wikiquote

Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word serious that I wasn't previously aware of.

(c) Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with "safe" changed to "serious".
en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Hit...

Brave actress Maureen O'Hara speaking out about sexual harassment and big Hollywood producers & directors misbehaving, back in 1945.
www.newspapers.com/article/live...

@publicradionerd.bsky.social
CBP agent: "You could smell the onions & mustard"
in the sandwich thrown at him.

A grand jury refused to indict the perpretator on a felony assault so he's charged with a misdemeanour.
With that testimony why hasn't the Trump junta charged him with chemical warfare?