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Reposted by Ralph Clayton

Russ Jones

@russincheshire.bsky.social

Cover of one of my favourite bits of one of my favourite Bowie songs - the remarkable Mike Garson solo, maybe the most astonishing piano part in rock.

If this isn't your thing, nothing about this will make any sense at all.

youtu.be/G6Yyxv5cPVo?...

Aladdin Sane Piano Solo

YouTube video by The Rock'n'Roll Alien

youtu.be

September 14, 2025 at 6:54 PM

Reposted by Ralph Clayton

Adam Posen

@adamposen.bsky.social

My article The New Economic Geography is out today in @foreignaffairs.com
Please read!
(Ungated link, suitable for sharing)

shared.outlook.inky.com/link?domain=...

The New Economic Geography

Who profits in a post-American world?

shared.outlook.inky.com

August 19, 2025 at 11:53 AM

Ralph Clayton

@theralphclayton.bsky.social

@deserterblog.bsky.social You're probably aware already 🙄

Martin Calladine @uglygame.bsky.social · Aug 16

It's a measure of how much the Evening Standard gave up on proper reporting that, until the advent of @thelondoner.bsky.social and @londoncentric.media, I had never heard of Asif Aziz, let alone begun to understand what a baleful influence he is on the capital.
www.the-londoner.co.uk/exclusive-th...

Exclusive: The billionaire developer closing London's pubs

Companies linked to Asif Aziz have been buying up and shutting down some of the capital’s most beloved boozers. Now, we’ve mapped them.

www.the-londoner.co.uk

August 17, 2025 at 7:40 AM

Reposted by Ralph Clayton

Ralph Clayton Music

@ralphclaytonmusic.bsky.social

Pleased to be included in ‘One Minute Wonders’ broadcast at noon tomorrow 26th July on the DeXter Bentley #HelloGoodByeShow on @resonancefm.bsky.social 104.4 FM, D.A.B. in Greater London and worldwide on-line.
This was my one minute contribution from 2023:
ralphclayton.bandcamp.com/track/one-mi...

One Minute in Summer, by Lemon

track by Lemon

ralphclayton.bandcamp.com

July 25, 2025 at 6:13 PM

Ralph Clayton

@theralphclayton.bsky.social

@vetchling.bsky.social ⬇︎

dag @davidallengreen.bsky.social · Jul 7

NEW

How a recent US Supreme Court judgment is an immense blow to the Rule of Law - even more than the presidential immunity decision.

Longer piece than usual.

On the universal injunctions case, by me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...

There is a gap in the constitution of the United States where the rule of law used to be.

That there is a gap has been set out by the majority of the US Supreme Court in the recent judgment of Trump v Casa, where it was held that US federal district courts are not able to issue universal injunctions that apply more widely than to just the parties to the case before the court.

In the majority opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett stated that the judiciary does not have “unbridled authority” to ensure that the executive follows the law. Her view is that the executive can do unlawful things that the courts cannot then do anything to prevent. This is because, she says, there is no universal jurisdiction where the courts can issue orders to ensure that the federal government complies with the constitution or federal law generally.

The reason for this gap, Justice Barrett and the majority insist, is that the federal courts themselves only have powers allocated to them by the constitution and federal law. A court cannot thereby act outside of the powers provided by the empowering law. If a federal court purports to do so even when faced by government illegality, then the court is acting unlawfully. As Justice Barrett puts it, “When a court concludes that the Executive Branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too.”

This means that even where the federal government has acted unlawfully, there are now situations where a court can do nothing about it. This statement is not some liberal or progressive take or caricature. This is the considered, open position of the US Supreme Court. Just as last year the same court decided to widen presidential immunity from prosecution, it has now held that there are other ways in which the law cannot bind the federal government.

This is a subtle, almost artful move by the Supreme Court justices. While many onlookers were worried about the federal government ignoring court orders, the highest court has arranged it so that many of the most irksome court orders for the government cannot be made in the first place.

July 7, 2025 at 4:18 PM

Ralph Clayton

@theralphclayton.bsky.social

@vetchling.bsky.social 🤔

John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch.ft.com · Mar 14

But outcomes are a function of both potential and execution. And the signs are that for too many of us the digital environment is hampering the latter.

Here’s my article again in full: www.ft.com/content/a801...

Have humans passed peak brain power?

Data across countries and ages reveal a growing struggle to concentrate, and declining verbal and numerical reasoning

www.ft.com

March 14, 2025 at 1:47 PM

Ralph Clayton

@theralphclayton.bsky.social

@vetchling.bsky.social 🤣 - you just couldn't make it up

Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · Mar 14

Oh dear

March 14, 2025 at 11:24 AM

Ralph Clayton

@theralphclayton.bsky.social

Following a feature on BBC South Today on 25th Jan about Tuckton House in Bournemouth and the part it played in the early life of Melita Norwood I've written a bit more about it and recall the unlikely friendship with my gran when they both lived in Bexleyheath:
www.ralphclayton.com/post/tuckton...

Tuckton House / Melita Norwood

Prompted by a feature on BBC South Today about Tuckton House in Bournemouth and the part it played in the early life of Melita Norwood

www.ralphclayton.com

February 7, 2025 at 4:39 PM

Reposted by Ralph Clayton

Ralph Clayton Music

@ralphclaytonmusic.bsky.social

Pleased to announce a couple of new songs hot off the press to start 2025. Featuring Chess on vocals the official release date is 5th Feb but you can hear them now on Bandcamp via the link below:
ralphclayton.bandcamp.com/album/post-d...