Jim Parton

why do photos like this sometimes have areas blocked out in red?

"a reported 67,000 killed" ... and where did that information come from? The "Hamas run health ministry" as the BBC refers to most information coming out of Gaza. Which is fair, because there are no other sources for this number except Hamas. Israel stopped journalists going in, of course

the image I prefer is swinging gently in the breeze from a lamp post

this is a big so what. No suggestion that the migrants were problem neighbours. Just... neighbours

new to this. What this will means is, Russia can no longer fund its debt by recourse to foreigners? Foreigners (or overseas oligarchs?) just won't buy RF bonds? Making the Ruble functionally worthless externally as unit of exchange, even if you can buy potatoes with them inside Russia?

it's a problem with the Substack business model which will eventually prove fatal to it. A Medium subscription buys you everyone. But the pros have gone to Substack. For now. They need to introduce some sort of 5 for the price of one scheme and share revenues among writers

the BBC is clear they report only a fraction of the total. Those they find in death notices, social media etc. They don't attempt to give a total. So you are being deliberately misleading here, vatnik troll

are you a non-native speaker? The alternative is "sucker" which has two meanings, so sycophant is more precise. I've been using it since my teens. I'm 65...

That's like sanctions! Like the USA withdrawing USAID or aid from Ukraine

Europe's doing fine. Eurosceptics like to do it down

do they get serious in France? Will they follow through with the sentence and the political ban?

I'd think Britain does, but I don't live there. She voted for the legislation? Brilliant!

I just googled. So many senior French polticians convited of something. Chirac. Melenchon. Sarkhozy. Alain Juppe. Le Pen, pere. The notion that it's "so unfair" (Harry Enfield's teenage Kevin) is hilarious

glorious gotcha moment

this is a Women's Day speech, right? So they went to hear a Beta man tell them what to think

You can only judge them by their inactions.

Is there much ambiguity now? It's not so much abandoning Ukraine and lifting some sanctions. It could be a lot worse ... rearming Russia. Is that a mad thought? I hope so. Not an expert, but it just seems like the natural next step for Trump

OMG! "Write off!"

I think we have to right off the USA completely for the foreseeable. No longer a serious ally. Gone rogue. Remains to be seen whether the internal coup - that's what it is - can be staved off by the USA's constitutional checks and balances. Not looking good

haha~! I must admit, not an expert...
just, seems more batshit crazy than a case of cognitive decline

very nice, but can you explain why no European leader - including Starmer - has challenged Trump's lies about Zelenskiy? We need to know

Trump: not the full picnic. There is a pattern, but I can't work it out. It's not dementia. The spectrum for sure, but where and on which spectrum? Bipolar? Some sort of paranoid delusion thing going on? Is there a psychiatrist in the house? We need answers.

Trump has a screw loose, doesn't he. I don't mean metaphorically. He's visibly not the full picnic. He spouts mad stuff because he's unhinged. Dementia, whatever, he has a mental condition of some kind

why even ask to prove it? He's in maniac shock jock territory now. This is all about Carlson seeking attention. We're in "Don't mud wrestle the pig, the pig enjoys it" territory with this sort of statement. If you can't ignore - I seem to be joining the argument - mock the idiot

how do you justify prisoners being taken in the first place? And the murders and the rapes

something like this. I live at the bottom of the red bit, by the Czech border

presumably not roubles. Who'd want those?

so our mayor has sent me all the academic papers about our local geology. All in Polish, so it's going to take me a while, but looks promising

stoppress 70C. That's very usable

you'd think the Russians would have banned cigarettes at these sensitive sites by now...