Alexander Pitlarge
@pitlarge.bsky.social
Crazy that when I open X the first thing I see is a post by the leader of Britain First. I don't go on it often anymore, but I'm genuinely amazed that that's something I'm so easily and casually exposed to cf a few years ago.
Anyway. Back to revision.
Anyway. Back to revision.
May 27, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Crazy that when I open X the first thing I see is a post by the leader of Britain First. I don't go on it often anymore, but I'm genuinely amazed that that's something I'm so easily and casually exposed to cf a few years ago.
Anyway. Back to revision.
Anyway. Back to revision.
Regretting the few years I underappreciated Steely Dan's Two Against Nature. Found it a bit too slick but this year it hits the spot — What a Shame About Me is impeccable.
(restraining myself from a thread on the song. contract final tmrw is not looking in the 'write a thread on steely dan' state!)
(restraining myself from a thread on the song. contract final tmrw is not looking in the 'write a thread on steely dan' state!)
May 27, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Regretting the few years I underappreciated Steely Dan's Two Against Nature. Found it a bit too slick but this year it hits the spot — What a Shame About Me is impeccable.
(restraining myself from a thread on the song. contract final tmrw is not looking in the 'write a thread on steely dan' state!)
(restraining myself from a thread on the song. contract final tmrw is not looking in the 'write a thread on steely dan' state!)
Reposted by Alexander Pitlarge
We're seeing a pattern in local elections / by-elections where Tories will vote tactically for Reform (like Runcorn) but Reform voters won't vote tactically for the Tories (like here where they've just completely split the right vote).
✅ Liberal Democrat HOLD
Last week's Carshalton South and Clockhouse (Sutton) council by-election result:
LDEM: 52.6% (+12.5)
CON: 24.1% (-18.0)
REF: 18.0% (+18.0)
LAB: 2.8% (-5.4)
GRN: 2.5% (-7.1)
+/- 2022
Estimated turnout: ~41% (-11)
andrewteale.me.uk/previews
Last week's Carshalton South and Clockhouse (Sutton) council by-election result:
LDEM: 52.6% (+12.5)
CON: 24.1% (-18.0)
REF: 18.0% (+18.0)
LAB: 2.8% (-5.4)
GRN: 2.5% (-7.1)
+/- 2022
Estimated turnout: ~41% (-11)
andrewteale.me.uk/previews
Andrew’s Previews | Andrew Teale | Substack
"All the right votes, but not necessarily in the right order". Click to read Andrew’s Previews, by Andrew Teale, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
andrewteale.me.uk
May 27, 2025 at 8:45 AM
We're seeing a pattern in local elections / by-elections where Tories will vote tactically for Reform (like Runcorn) but Reform voters won't vote tactically for the Tories (like here where they've just completely split the right vote).
Lots of cases/thought experiments/literature on why we treat and react to acts/omissions differently.
Brexit in some tabloids a good one rn! Doing nothing (damaging farmers+other exporters due to onerous checks) is ignored, whilst the active step of opening up fishing to the EU is unacceptable!
Brexit in some tabloids a good one rn! Doing nothing (damaging farmers+other exporters due to onerous checks) is ignored, whilst the active step of opening up fishing to the EU is unacceptable!
May 19, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Lots of cases/thought experiments/literature on why we treat and react to acts/omissions differently.
Brexit in some tabloids a good one rn! Doing nothing (damaging farmers+other exporters due to onerous checks) is ignored, whilst the active step of opening up fishing to the EU is unacceptable!
Brexit in some tabloids a good one rn! Doing nothing (damaging farmers+other exporters due to onerous checks) is ignored, whilst the active step of opening up fishing to the EU is unacceptable!
@themountaingoats.bsky.social currently sat in a small restaurant in the Italian village my mum’s from. The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton just came on — cue an explanation to my Italian family as to why they should be excited!
April 21, 2025 at 6:48 PM
@themountaingoats.bsky.social currently sat in a small restaurant in the Italian village my mum’s from. The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton just came on — cue an explanation to my Italian family as to why they should be excited!
lol at liberation day s&p500 futures
April 2, 2025 at 9:18 PM
lol at liberation day s&p500 futures
no. no.
A white witch has to live up to Tilda Swinton as the WW and this just won’t.
A white witch has to live up to Tilda Swinton as the WW and this just won’t.
April 2, 2025 at 12:55 PM
no. no.
A white witch has to live up to Tilda Swinton as the WW and this just won’t.
A white witch has to live up to Tilda Swinton as the WW and this just won’t.
An on today's episode of 'what were the instructions' — CUBC goes to silk and (conveniently) gets an opinion that agrees with the position they want to argue. Silly stuff as ever by the media.
www.thetimes.com/uk/society/a...
www.thetimes.com/uk/society/a...
James Cracknell says Boat Race is discriminatory — a KC agrees
The former Olympian, the oldest to compete in the race between Oxford and Cambridge universities, said the row was a result of ‘in-built pettiness’
www.thetimes.com
March 22, 2025 at 11:50 AM
An on today's episode of 'what were the instructions' — CUBC goes to silk and (conveniently) gets an opinion that agrees with the position they want to argue. Silly stuff as ever by the media.
www.thetimes.com/uk/society/a...
www.thetimes.com/uk/society/a...
If we eliminated the intellectually lazy habit *some* have of equating 'thinking for oneself' to 'disagreeing with the majority' the world would be a far easier place to discuss things.
March 21, 2025 at 10:37 AM
If we eliminated the intellectually lazy habit *some* have of equating 'thinking for oneself' to 'disagreeing with the majority' the world would be a far easier place to discuss things.
Reposted by Alexander Pitlarge
wow I just spent four hours catching up with people whose company I enjoy without looking at my phone at all and I feel a lot better than when I spend four hours staring at my phone instead? amazing finding, maybe you'll find it useful also
March 20, 2025 at 10:41 PM
wow I just spent four hours catching up with people whose company I enjoy without looking at my phone at all and I feel a lot better than when I spend four hours staring at my phone instead? amazing finding, maybe you'll find it useful also
Been listening to a lot of the Barbican live version of If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle and Sebastian. Honestly better than the og version, some songs just have a level more energy than they did in the studio and have come to love songs that I'd merely liked! (Mayfly, Me&Major, SeeingOtherPpl)
March 12, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Been listening to a lot of the Barbican live version of If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle and Sebastian. Honestly better than the og version, some songs just have a level more energy than they did in the studio and have come to love songs that I'd merely liked! (Mayfly, Me&Major, SeeingOtherPpl)
Reposted by Alexander Pitlarge
In a time of crisis, there is just one who can save America:
March 10, 2025 at 7:40 AM
In a time of crisis, there is just one who can save America:
Reposted by Alexander Pitlarge
🇪🇺🇬🇧 Through my first set of meetings in Brussels. The praise for Starmer is overwhelming: “What he has managed to do is not just good for him. It's good for all of us. Absolutely top notch. This is the UK at its best. The UK we have always admired.
March 3, 2025 at 8:03 AM
🇪🇺🇬🇧 Through my first set of meetings in Brussels. The praise for Starmer is overwhelming: “What he has managed to do is not just good for him. It's good for all of us. Absolutely top notch. This is the UK at its best. The UK we have always admired.
Reposted by Alexander Pitlarge
(on a personal note it's quite striking how quickly I've gone from "generally a bit of a pinko on defence issues" to "and could I just do a monthly direct debit to BAE Systems, would that help")
February 28, 2025 at 6:46 PM
(on a personal note it's quite striking how quickly I've gone from "generally a bit of a pinko on defence issues" to "and could I just do a monthly direct debit to BAE Systems, would that help")
The bits of us constit law I know are quite basic + more along the lines of general principle. Tend to prefer private law too but god I’d love a us constit module rn.
February 21, 2025 at 6:31 PM
The bits of us constit law I know are quite basic + more along the lines of general principle. Tend to prefer private law too but god I’d love a us constit module rn.
Reposted by Alexander Pitlarge
This is a poor headline from the BBC. The US aren't offering a "deal" - they want the minerals in return for support already given. It's straight up extortion.
February 21, 2025 at 2:09 PM
This is a poor headline from the BBC. The US aren't offering a "deal" - they want the minerals in return for support already given. It's straight up extortion.
Reposted by Alexander Pitlarge
“I don't want any other foreign secretary of this country to be talked to or at by a secretary of state in the United States as I have just had in my discussions with Mr Byrnes. We've got to have this thing over here whatever it costs. We've got to have the bloody Union Jack on top of it."
Just Russia points.
Why has an invaded country not held an election (cf the UK 1935-1945)?
When did Russia last hold genuinely free elections?
Just about as bad as could be.
Europe is on its own.
Why has an invaded country not held an election (cf the UK 1935-1945)?
When did Russia last hold genuinely free elections?
Just about as bad as could be.
Europe is on its own.
Trump says Ukraine must hold new elections if it wants a seat at the negotiating table.
Odd how Trump is not demanding Russia hold a democratic election for long-time dictator Putin to have a seat at the negotiating table.
Odd how Trump is not demanding Russia hold a democratic election for long-time dictator Putin to have a seat at the negotiating table.
February 18, 2025 at 10:45 PM
“I don't want any other foreign secretary of this country to be talked to or at by a secretary of state in the United States as I have just had in my discussions with Mr Byrnes. We've got to have this thing over here whatever it costs. We've got to have the bloody Union Jack on top of it."
Reposted by Alexander Pitlarge
It continues to amaze me that those who know & have suffered under Putin know who he is & what he does, while too many Americans still believe we can “strike a deal.”
‘No Point Negotiating’ With Putin, Says Navalny’s Widow
On Friday, Navalnaya spoke on a panel at the conference with exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
www.kyivpost.com
February 19, 2025 at 12:13 PM
It continues to amaze me that those who know & have suffered under Putin know who he is & what he does, while too many Americans still believe we can “strike a deal.”
Reposted by Alexander Pitlarge
Like if you haven't picked up I think it would be bad if Kemi Badenoch became PM, sorry, you just aren't thinking critically enough about any of the media you *choose* to consume! It's alarming!
February 19, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Like if you haven't picked up I think it would be bad if Kemi Badenoch became PM, sorry, you just aren't thinking critically enough about any of the media you *choose* to consume! It's alarming!
Reposted by Alexander Pitlarge
Or, bear with me here, a reason to increase defence spending *could be* that Russia has sought to remake the borders of Europe by force.
February 17, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Or, bear with me here, a reason to increase defence spending *could be* that Russia has sought to remake the borders of Europe by force.
Reposted by Alexander Pitlarge
If you missed today's newsletter, in which I said 'look, come on, we really do need to be increasing spending back to 1966 to 1990 levels and it's mad to think you can get political consent for that without increasing spending elsewhere', don't worry: I will be saying it for most of the year I think
Labour will have to ditch tax pledges sooner or later
Spending cuts to fund increased defence spending will not impress UK voters and something will have to give
www.ft.com
February 18, 2025 at 1:00 PM
If you missed today's newsletter, in which I said 'look, come on, we really do need to be increasing spending back to 1966 to 1990 levels and it's mad to think you can get political consent for that without increasing spending elsewhere', don't worry: I will be saying it for most of the year I think
Reposted by Alexander Pitlarge
There'll be no deal about Ukraine without Ukraine. America has no ability to enforce it, any more than it has the right to enforce it. If it attempts to insist on one, it will be one of the most shameful moments in its history. And one of the most humiliating.
NEW: Ukraine has NOT been invited to Ukraine peace talks.
Zelenskyy to NBC just now:
“I will never accept any decisions between United States & Russia about Ukraine. Never.”
Clear message. Trump has NO mandate.
Zelenskyy to NBC just now:
“I will never accept any decisions between United States & Russia about Ukraine. Never.”
Clear message. Trump has NO mandate.
February 16, 2025 at 3:46 PM
There'll be no deal about Ukraine without Ukraine. America has no ability to enforce it, any more than it has the right to enforce it. If it attempts to insist on one, it will be one of the most shameful moments in its history. And one of the most humiliating.
“Plans have been submitted for a council’s radical multimillion-pound scheme to revamp a town centre bus station - despite fears it will encourage drug users and anti-social behaviour”
… by replacing it with a park. Every day I’m more radicalised against nimbys
www.kentonline.co.uk/folkestone/n...
… by replacing it with a park. Every day I’m more radicalised against nimbys
www.kentonline.co.uk/folkestone/n...
‘It's going to be a nightmare - no one will know where to get their buses'
Plans have been submitted for a new park to replace a town centre bus station, despite fears it will encourage drug users and anti-social behaviour.
www.kentonline.co.uk
February 16, 2025 at 4:09 PM
“Plans have been submitted for a council’s radical multimillion-pound scheme to revamp a town centre bus station - despite fears it will encourage drug users and anti-social behaviour”
… by replacing it with a park. Every day I’m more radicalised against nimbys
www.kentonline.co.uk/folkestone/n...
… by replacing it with a park. Every day I’m more radicalised against nimbys
www.kentonline.co.uk/folkestone/n...