@philiphewlett.bsky.social
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The Nobel Peace Prize becoming so prestigious that wars are fought over a head of state coveting it is some real monkey paw stuff for Alfred Nobel.
January 19, 2026 at 8:47 AM
The Nobel Peace Prize becoming so prestigious that wars are fought over a head of state coveting it is some real monkey paw stuff for Alfred Nobel.
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Fairly sure it’s unintentional, but the end date on this mug being sold by the Smithsonian does make it sound a little like they’re saying America dies in 2026…
January 19, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Fairly sure it’s unintentional, but the end date on this mug being sold by the Smithsonian does make it sound a little like they’re saying America dies in 2026…
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Targeting boats is likely in breach of the law anyway. But the addition of perfidy specifically puts US civilians around the world at additional risk.
January 13, 2026 at 12:20 AM
Targeting boats is likely in breach of the law anyway. But the addition of perfidy specifically puts US civilians around the world at additional risk.
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The reason this is a war crime, incidentally, is that without it, combatants have a valid excuse to target and kill civilians – because they might be military in disguise.
Breaking NYT:
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.
That is a war crime called "perfidy."
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.
That is a war crime called "perfidy."
U.S. Attacked Boat With Aircraft That Looked Like a Civilian Plane
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:19 AM
The reason this is a war crime, incidentally, is that without it, combatants have a valid excuse to target and kill civilians – because they might be military in disguise.
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Black holes be like:
We’ve completely imploded.
January 8, 2026 at 9:43 PM
Black holes be like:
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I don't begrudge Vance et al seeking to prioritise Asia over Europe. I'd make same choice in their shoes. But what's happened is not a prioritisation (we see a new chimerical long war in the Americas), it's a chaotic & short-termist approach to Ukraine, and a needles diplomatic war on Euro allies.
Yet more evidence in the NYT long read on Ukraine that JD Vance, a heartbeat away from the US presidency and probable 2028 Republican presidential nominee, would be a disaster for European security. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
December 31, 2025 at 11:57 AM
I don't begrudge Vance et al seeking to prioritise Asia over Europe. I'd make same choice in their shoes. But what's happened is not a prioritisation (we see a new chimerical long war in the Americas), it's a chaotic & short-termist approach to Ukraine, and a needles diplomatic war on Euro allies.
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Tomorrow marks 10 years since the greatest piece of art of our generation
December 30, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Tomorrow marks 10 years since the greatest piece of art of our generation
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Bleak update by @olliecarroll.bsky.social. Ukraine on front foot at Kupiansk, but struggling elsewhere. 'A source in Ukraine’s general staff said during first half of 2025 Russia’s army grew by average of 8-9k a month...while Ukr struggled to replace its casualties' www.economist.com/europe/2025/...
Ukraine scrabbles for handholds against Russia’s massive assault
A counter-attack in Kupiansk is promising, but the overall outlook is not
www.economist.com
December 18, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Bleak update by @olliecarroll.bsky.social. Ukraine on front foot at Kupiansk, but struggling elsewhere. 'A source in Ukraine’s general staff said during first half of 2025 Russia’s army grew by average of 8-9k a month...while Ukr struggled to replace its casualties' www.economist.com/europe/2025/...
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With negotiations in Germany most recently, Ukraine's war with Russia has been getting less attention on battelfield moves, at least in the west. Careful what you Google - dates matter. Just a few weeks ago Putin was boasting Russia had taken Kupiansk, No they haven't...
www.kyivpost.com/post/66367
www.kyivpost.com/post/66367
Russian Troops Pinned Down in Kupyansk as Ukraine Moves to Clear the City
Russian troops remain trapped in Kupyansk as Ukraine advances, cutting supply routes and tightening control over the city that Russians had infiltrated weeks earlier.
www.kyivpost.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:09 PM
With negotiations in Germany most recently, Ukraine's war with Russia has been getting less attention on battelfield moves, at least in the west. Careful what you Google - dates matter. Just a few weeks ago Putin was boasting Russia had taken Kupiansk, No they haven't...
www.kyivpost.com/post/66367
www.kyivpost.com/post/66367
Pretty sure a drummer sent this one in.
All jazz albums would be improved immeasurably by the removal of everything except the drums. Just listen to the drums. The rest of it is masturbatory, self-indulgent, shapeless, maddening guff. All you need are the drums.
December 16, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Pretty sure a drummer sent this one in.
This is the worst argument ever written.
“Those of us on the left should be fighting to improve protections for workers of all races, and thereby for the betterment of people’s material conditions regardless of their views,” Arash Azizi argues:
Why the Cinnabon Story Doesn’t Make Me Happy
The left should be promoting working-class solidarity, not delighting in seeing workers summarily dismissed.
bit.ly
December 13, 2025 at 1:09 PM
This is the worst argument ever written.
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Still laughing at this. Cannot imagine a more self-discrediting argument for socialism than “under socialism, you should be able to gesture to your crotch, tell a customer to suck it and keep your job”.
“Those of us on the left should be fighting to improve protections for workers of all races, and thereby for the betterment of people’s material conditions regardless of their views,” Arash Azizi argues:
Why the Cinnabon Story Doesn’t Make Me Happy
The left should be promoting working-class solidarity, not delighting in seeing workers summarily dismissed.
bit.ly
December 12, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Still laughing at this. Cannot imagine a more self-discrediting argument for socialism than “under socialism, you should be able to gesture to your crotch, tell a customer to suck it and keep your job”.
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Oh wow, absolute power corrupted you absolutely? That’s so weird, I got absolute power last year and my subjects say I’ve only gotten wiser and more virtuous
December 13, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Oh wow, absolute power corrupted you absolutely? That’s so weird, I got absolute power last year and my subjects say I’ve only gotten wiser and more virtuous
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God this stuff is so embarrassing. There is so much about modern Britain that *should* offend conservative Christians, yet we get this complete wibble instead. The 'true' meaning of Christmas is being cancelled by consumerism, not 'the woke liberati'.
The UK far right is increasingly infiltrating the Anglican church so this is bang on trend.
December 13, 2025 at 11:56 AM
God this stuff is so embarrassing. There is so much about modern Britain that *should* offend conservative Christians, yet we get this complete wibble instead. The 'true' meaning of Christmas is being cancelled by consumerism, not 'the woke liberati'.
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On the one hand, I’ve seen Zarah Sultana with my own eyes. On the other, everything else increasingly suggests she can’t possibly be a real person.
Zarah Sultana voted with the Tories in every vote on the Employment Rights Bill last night.
That includes voting to keep the Lords' wrecking amendments on strike ballot thresholds and to keep the 2016 Trade Union Act's restrictions on unions' political funds.
That includes voting to keep the Lords' wrecking amendments on strike ballot thresholds and to keep the 2016 Trade Union Act's restrictions on unions' political funds.
December 9, 2025 at 12:15 PM
On the one hand, I’ve seen Zarah Sultana with my own eyes. On the other, everything else increasingly suggests she can’t possibly be a real person.
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Depends how you pronounce it
December 5, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Depends how you pronounce it
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Sorry but anyone who gives an interview slandering a family member in front line politics is what we used to call a rum cove, if not a blackguard or a knave. Doesn’t deserve attention, deserves a horsewhipping.
‘It’s a disgrace’ — Rachel Reeves’s uncle gives budget verdict ⬇️
‘It’s a disgrace’ — Rachel Reeves’s uncle gives budget verdict
‘It’s a disgrace’ — Rachel Reeves’s uncle gives budget verdict
www.thetimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Sorry but anyone who gives an interview slandering a family member in front line politics is what we used to call a rum cove, if not a blackguard or a knave. Doesn’t deserve attention, deserves a horsewhipping.
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Empires will come and go, mountains will become dust, great cities will rise from ruins… but British voters will always want Scandinavian public services for American tax rates.
Hiking tax is much more than merely the breach of a manifesto commitment. It is the death of the idea at the heart of Starmer’s project: that Labour would leave its comfort zone and govern by reform and growth, not tax and spend.
economist.com/britain/2025...
economist.com/britain/2025...
November 11, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Empires will come and go, mountains will become dust, great cities will rise from ruins… but British voters will always want Scandinavian public services for American tax rates.
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god imagine these people reading any forum post in 2003
November 6, 2025 at 5:16 PM
god imagine these people reading any forum post in 2003
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Looks like extraordinary cowardice. "...following pressure from the Chinese state and a separate defamation law suit against the university, Sheffield Hallam decided not to publish a final piece of research by Prof Murphy and her team into forced labour." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
November 3, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Looks like extraordinary cowardice. "...following pressure from the Chinese state and a separate defamation law suit against the university, Sheffield Hallam decided not to publish a final piece of research by Prof Murphy and her team into forced labour." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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Happy Longest Day Of The Year
October 26, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Happy Longest Day Of The Year
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Films: We need to hack a keycard, obtained by seducing one of the guards. We then need to drop in from the skylight after jumping from a plane, and dodge all of the lasers and traps, carefully switching the jewels for fakes that weigh the same to avoid tripping the alarm.
Real life:
Real life:
October 19, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Films: We need to hack a keycard, obtained by seducing one of the guards. We then need to drop in from the skylight after jumping from a plane, and dodge all of the lasers and traps, carefully switching the jewels for fakes that weigh the same to avoid tripping the alarm.
Real life:
Real life:
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you know I wouldn't say I had high hopes for "the Spectator interviews the Tate brothers" anyway but somehow the piece is worse than I thought it would be
September 18, 2025 at 9:12 AM
you know I wouldn't say I had high hopes for "the Spectator interviews the Tate brothers" anyway but somehow the piece is worse than I thought it would be