DBurx
@dburx.bsky.social
Londoner. Was Montrealer. Also Italian. Commercial Banker. Citizen of leisure. Trying to make jokes and find light humour. Quarreler. Can't be pigeonholed.
While a paradox of sorts, while bad for HMG it is excellent news for governance of the UK and the power of parliament and MPs. It ought to become a precedent for scrutiny committees.
February 10, 2026 at 11:34 AM
While a paradox of sorts, while bad for HMG it is excellent news for governance of the UK and the power of parliament and MPs. It ought to become a precedent for scrutiny committees.
100%. Next to "It should be banned", "It should be on the National Curriculum" is silly & lazy, but super popular.
February 10, 2026 at 11:19 AM
100%. Next to "It should be banned", "It should be on the National Curriculum" is silly & lazy, but super popular.
Making the tiny minority of antisocial users obey the rules is good...
San Francisco’s new anti-fare-dodging gates haven’t just increased revenues, they’ve dramatically reduced vandalism and the cost of maintaining the network
February 10, 2026 at 11:06 AM
Making the tiny minority of antisocial users obey the rules is good...
This first point of George's is largely underrated or ignored by much of the press. Wes's point to the Lab party in the FT, in releasing his Mandelson messages, is he not like Starmer on the Gaza question.
1. Many here seem bemused by the anger and disappointment this government attracts. Please bear with me while I try to explain it.
Let’s begin with Gaza. Starmer’s complicity is one of the major reasons so many people are disillusioned.
rethinkingsecurityorguk.wpcomstaging.com/2025/10/07/i...
🧵
Let’s begin with Gaza. Starmer’s complicity is one of the major reasons so many people are disillusioned.
rethinkingsecurityorguk.wpcomstaging.com/2025/10/07/i...
🧵
Is our Government Complicit in Genocide?
The Genocide Convention imposes obligations on states and individuals not just to punish the crime of genocide but to actively prevent it. Two years into the war in Gaza and over 20 months since th…
rethinkingsecurityorguk.wpcomstaging.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:56 AM
This first point of George's is largely underrated or ignored by much of the press. Wes's point to the Lab party in the FT, in releasing his Mandelson messages, is he not like Starmer on the Gaza question.
Reposted by DBurx
This is torture. The US is torturing children. Children whose words and whose art contain infinitely more humanity than the people keeping them detained.
5/ “I have already spent more than 60 days waking up eating the same repetitive meals…going to the doctor and that the only thing they tell you is to drink more water and the worst thing is that it seems like the water is what makes people sick here…”
From 12-year-old Ender, detained 60+ days
From 12-year-old Ender, detained 60+ days
February 9, 2026 at 1:38 PM
This is torture. The US is torturing children. Children whose words and whose art contain infinitely more humanity than the people keeping them detained.
I think, in line with an earlier David post, the significance is less Nat Security specifics than the evolution of the Scrutiny committee: this one has teeth. That's a constitutional precedent; at least I hope it is! Members, um, taking back oversight.
February 8, 2026 at 5:41 PM
I think, in line with an earlier David post, the significance is less Nat Security specifics than the evolution of the Scrutiny committee: this one has teeth. That's a constitutional precedent; at least I hope it is! Members, um, taking back oversight.
Cameron, very gentlemanly in my view, brought the decision to bomb Syria/Assad to the commons and lost. That made no impact on his survival as PM.
February 8, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Cameron, very gentlemanly in my view, brought the decision to bomb Syria/Assad to the commons and lost. That made no impact on his survival as PM.
I know nothing about the olive oil harvest, but any talk of a "price collapse" is pretty silly stuff from the standpoint of a London consumer...it's been years of record price growth!
www.ft.com/content/0ad6...
www.ft.com/content/0ad6...
Italian olive oil farmers say flood of imports is causing price collapse
Cheaper supplies from Tunisia are forcing producers to sell at a loss, industry group says
www.ft.com
February 8, 2026 at 4:36 PM
I know nothing about the olive oil harvest, but any talk of a "price collapse" is pretty silly stuff from the standpoint of a London consumer...it's been years of record price growth!
www.ft.com/content/0ad6...
www.ft.com/content/0ad6...
Reposted by DBurx
Since #bbclaurak is trending, let’s remind ourselves that ONE MONTH ago, the BBC invited Mandelson on for a soft-ball interview on her show. While HIS CLIENT , Palantir’s Louis Moseley appeared as a pundit
Both, as I wrote at time, were ‘abject failures of journalism’
1/
Both, as I wrote at time, were ‘abject failures of journalism’
1/
February 8, 2026 at 10:13 AM
Since #bbclaurak is trending, let’s remind ourselves that ONE MONTH ago, the BBC invited Mandelson on for a soft-ball interview on her show. While HIS CLIENT , Palantir’s Louis Moseley appeared as a pundit
Both, as I wrote at time, were ‘abject failures of journalism’
1/
Both, as I wrote at time, were ‘abject failures of journalism’
1/
Reposted by DBurx
February 8, 2026 at 4:15 AM
Reposted by DBurx
It *is* extremely odd. Not least that the LA is not commenting.
February 8, 2026 at 9:06 AM
It *is* extremely odd. Not least that the LA is not commenting.
Reposted by DBurx
Whoever imports fancy booze there is likely to have good times, for sure
February 8, 2026 at 9:23 AM
Whoever imports fancy booze there is likely to have good times, for sure
Reposted by DBurx
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
February 7, 2026 at 2:45 PM
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
Reposted by DBurx
I'm sorry the guy changing the rules on the fly is named what
I stand with County Executive Calvin Ball as he signs emergency legislation today prohibiting privately owned buildings from being used as ICE detention centers.
Howard County chose dignity, accountability, and its people. Tune into our event now:
bit.ly/4a2VtHw
Howard County chose dignity, accountability, and its people. Tune into our event now:
bit.ly/4a2VtHw
Redirecting...
bit.ly
February 7, 2026 at 2:34 PM
I'm sorry the guy changing the rules on the fly is named what
Reposted by DBurx
Spanish PM Sanchez: "Social media has become a failed state, and when democracies start to impose order, their owners get nervous. We will move forward despite their threats."
February 7, 2026 at 12:04 AM
Spanish PM Sanchez: "Social media has become a failed state, and when democracies start to impose order, their owners get nervous. We will move forward despite their threats."
Reposted by DBurx
Absolutely tremendous work here, no notes.
(Apart from to say that this proposal is by the actual president of RIBA)
(Apart from to say that this proposal is by the actual president of RIBA)
February 7, 2026 at 9:24 AM
Absolutely tremendous work here, no notes.
(Apart from to say that this proposal is by the actual president of RIBA)
(Apart from to say that this proposal is by the actual president of RIBA)
Reposted by DBurx
Just amazing how meekly IPSA fall in line to get the press off the back of a man who was not only in cahoots with the leader of a paedophile ring, but allegedly a traitor and a security risk.
www.thenational.scot/news/2583451...
www.thenational.scot/news/2583451...
Peter Mandelson issues secret notice demanding press leave him alone – read in full
LATE on Friday evening, this notice was circulated from representatives of Peter Mandelson, via press regulator IPSO and the Press Association news…
www.thenational.scot
February 7, 2026 at 12:26 AM
Just amazing how meekly IPSA fall in line to get the press off the back of a man who was not only in cahoots with the leader of a paedophile ring, but allegedly a traitor and a security risk.
www.thenational.scot/news/2583451...
www.thenational.scot/news/2583451...
Good humour for the morning coffee break in this newsletter
February 6, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Good humour for the morning coffee break in this newsletter
Reposted by DBurx
China brought cheap solar energy to the world and Europe still complains it undermined "our" companies.
Because our narrative is now being told by the protectionists, the miserabilists, the fearful.
And they don't want to tell the story that adapting is what brought us prosperity.
Because our narrative is now being told by the protectionists, the miserabilists, the fearful.
And they don't want to tell the story that adapting is what brought us prosperity.
February 6, 2026 at 9:39 AM
China brought cheap solar energy to the world and Europe still complains it undermined "our" companies.
Because our narrative is now being told by the protectionists, the miserabilists, the fearful.
And they don't want to tell the story that adapting is what brought us prosperity.
Because our narrative is now being told by the protectionists, the miserabilists, the fearful.
And they don't want to tell the story that adapting is what brought us prosperity.
Read the speech. Its anodyne stuff. No new thought. No wonder the media don't cover it. Also, proper paragraphs in a PMs speech might be a good idea.
February 5, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Read the speech. Its anodyne stuff. No new thought. No wonder the media don't cover it. Also, proper paragraphs in a PMs speech might be a good idea.
I'm reading a biography of Franco at the moment, and the below makes me oddly sympathetic to the, 'well, they all have to be dealt with then, large number though it is'.
very weird “I am Spartacus” thing happening right now with the worst people on earth
February 5, 2026 at 5:20 PM
I'm reading a biography of Franco at the moment, and the below makes me oddly sympathetic to the, 'well, they all have to be dealt with then, large number though it is'.
ISC letter has teeth. It's an opportunity for real scrutiny. For parliament to take back unchecked power from the executive; a precedent. Interesting.
February 5, 2026 at 5:16 PM
ISC letter has teeth. It's an opportunity for real scrutiny. For parliament to take back unchecked power from the executive; a precedent. Interesting.
Reposted by DBurx
That‘s the spirit.
February 5, 2026 at 10:46 AM
That‘s the spirit.