We can also expect significant US interference in European elections going forward.

The headline, the main takeaway from a European viewpoint is this:

The transatlantic relationship as we know it is over. Yes, we kinda knew this. But this is now official US White House policy. Not a sppech, not a statement. The West as it used to be no longer exists.

I thought they'd been kicked out for selecting a racist who couldn't control his temper, or was that last year?

My wife is a singer and a pediatrician. She took our then preschool daughter to work to help with medical students' exams. One, examining our daughter, asked her to count. She said, "1, 2, 3." The student said, "Great, can you go higher?" To which the girl repeated "1, 2, 3" in a higher pitch!

A more relaxed attitude to who gets access to organizations like Girl Guides (and Brownies, etc.) removes a secure environment.

The steelman argument is that at school girls are increasingly exposed to behaviour by boys that they should be protected from. There are plenty of reports covering the ammount of hardcore porn accessed by school bots, typically, and shown to school girls against their will and to theor distress.

We're in an (increasingly difficult) situation because self regulation did not work, accross the board. This is not unique to this issue. When regulation is imposed, the light touch disappears.

But if you'd watched any US war movie from Platoon onwards, you'd know at the very least this was questionable!

There must be more to this. I can believe Hegseth is stupid enough. But am genuinely staggered tge US chain of comand lets this happen.

A conspiracy that not only included the head of the OBR, but bound him so tightly that even after he was sacked he dressed that up as a resignation and stuck to the party line.

I think we can all agree Land Rover Defenders should all be taken off the roads and their owners banned from driving (hope my neighbour doesn't see this!)

"What part of "seize" is causing you a problem, Owen?"

Yeah, that's why I only reluctantly raise the point. The actual subject matter is very charged. It was more their previous relationship and comparable profiles. But I take Twlldun's point, not the best example.

(At the risk of kicking a hornets' nest) this is what irked me about the cast members speaking out about JKR. It is possible to just say nothing, and some occasions demand it.

"They worked their entire lives to afford it. You therefore have to work your entire life because we can no longer afford it" is weird maths.

Move your whole house to the Gorbals.