Submitted by Captain Qalypso on
"The House of Commons reconvenes on Tuesday to elect the speaker, after which MPs, old and new, will be officially sworn in, a process that can take several days."
https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/jul/06/labour-starmer-rig...
"Each of these pre-eminent technologies shaped the societies that they enveloped. Print shaped the world for four and a half centuries, followed by broadcast, which ruled for 50 years or so. None of this would have surprised a biologist, who would see human culture as something that grows in an enveloping nutrient. Change the nutrient and you change the culture that grows in it."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/29/closing-th...
"To make things worse, we also invented a technology that enables every Tom, Dick and mad Harry to publish whatever they like on opaque global platforms, which are incentivised to propagate the wildest nonsense. And to this we have now added powerful tools (called AI) that automate the manufacture of misinformation on an epic scale. If you were a malign superpower that wanted to screw up the democratic world, you’d be hard put to do better than this."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9gOQgfPW4Y
"Starmer’s first session answering prime minister’s questions, probably with Rishi Sunak putting the questions as leader of the opposition, has been pencilled in for 24 July, the week after the state opening of parliament on 17 July."
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/07/commons-334-roo...
4 Comments
'Sounds like a Plan'
Submitted by Captain Qalypso on
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cp9zrg128get
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3a4OTh2Y8w
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/mar/24/end-of-an-era-for-b...
Yawwwnn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJL-lCzEXgI
https://news.sky.com/story/cyclist-creates-halloween-themed-ride-by-taki...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5ebkj9x5Ko
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpvzn3vxlxno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9z0e1Wm64M
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/oct/30/scare-tactics-scientists...
lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M43wsiNBwmo
"She thanks Bank of England staff for their help...."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw4ywl7w820o
Stranger Things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPudE8nDog0
"The chancellor has lifted employers' National Insurance Contributions, but the drop in the threshold at which businesses start paying it is pretty startling - from £9,100 to £5,000. It will raise £25bn, she says."
What staff, I see no staff...
"From 2028-29, personal tax thresholds will be uprated in line with inflation, she says."
This is a write old pen pushers punish the poor budget innit. Thresholds should be pushed out to £15k.
"Although increasing employers' National Insurance (NI) by 1.2%, and reducing the threshold at which employers pay it to £5,000 from £9,100 - the chancellor said she would extend the amount employers can claim back from their National Insurance bill from £5,000 to £10,500."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIs5StN8J-0
I would not recommend this to the House.
The sneakiest of stealth taxes...
Go Rishi...
Working people? Who are they then?
"Sunak says that, as Labour's plans became clear, survey after survey showed business confidence plummeting. He says the government's own assessment show its "French-style" labour laws will impose a £5bn cost on business. Tax rises on jobs and enterprise announced in the Budget will "hobble growth", he says."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N92SdfUyARg
"Taxes are going up across the board, Sunak says. Taxes will rise for small business owners, for the energy sector, for young couples saving for their first home, and for families, he says. “They’re taxing your job, they’re taxing your business, they’re taxing your savings. You name it, they’ll tax it," Sunak says."
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/31/10-flops-that-became-classi...
Interesting.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw0dz3yyg23o
'Organic Frameworks'
Submitted by Captain Qalypso on
Never Count your Chickens...
"Just half a pound of the stuff may remove as much carbon dioxide as a tree can, according to early tests. Once the carbon is absorbed by the powder, it can be released into safe storage or be used in industrial processes, like carbonizing drinks."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/11/27/angela-rayner-meets-pope...
"Following his Budget, the head of McVitie’s has said that it has been harder to understand what the case for investment in the UK is."
Broomsticks.
"We define political consciousness as a way of seeing, caring about and acting in the world. It is guided by a commitment to human rights and justice and an understanding of power and inequity in social, political and economic systems, relations and values."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/25/san-francisco-navy-lab-h...
The Ironic.
"“Speak not of the wild animal, lest he should appear,” because you're simply too afraid of seeing one. The name bear is a euphemism; it's a good word substituted for a bad one. It's probably the oldest known euphemism in world ."
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/nov/30/how-is-glitter-made...
Sleep Tight.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/29/covalent-organic-fra...
Hmmm...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjbQEEdVcDI
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qdj80py3no
lol
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/nov/29/houseplant-of-the-w...
Straight Face.
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/national/uk-today/24759156.nandos...
The Silence.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/understanding-plants/how-plants-breathe
"“There’s one thing for sure, whatever political position I hold, I will always fight for the coast and moors and the opportunities of the renewable sector.”"
Best not mention Harry Potter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52chF7DWJcY
""I always bring some different elements - improvisation, the piano, the flute, the jazz harmonisation - so that the music is going through another process of creolisation."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg7vwlg8rmo
'Out of the Loop'
Submitted by Captain Qalypso on
"The odds of the space rock hitting Earth’s nearest neighbour have since risen to 4.3%, according to data from the James Webb space telescope."
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jun/23/giant-asteroid-could-cra...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpKxoiAj5K8&list=RDNpKxoiAj5K8&start_rad...
"So let’s start with one that’s soft on the inside, crisp on the outside and oozing melted cheese…"
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jun/23/forever-now-review-timeles...
Poem of the Meek.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jun/23/poem-of-the-week-the-song-...
""It's really exciting how fast the space sector in our region has grown and how much faster it is likely to grow in the next few years with big organisations now taking a real interest in the area," she said."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4ge7e62ljwo
It's a real sign of Ambition...
The Quietly Annoyed.
'Green & Pleasant'
Submitted by Captain Qalypso on
"The Green Party's Hannah Spencer has won the Gorton and Denton by-election, becoming the first Green candidate to win a Westminster by-election - as well as the party's first ever MP in northern England."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cp8rjk02r0jt
"Our struggles might not be the same... but we stick up for each other," she tells the people of Gorton and Denton. "Earning your trust starts now," she says, adding that she will "work hard" for those who didn't vote for her too. She calls out "politicians and divisive figures" who she says "scapegoat" others, saying people have "underestimated how similar we all actually are". To those who feel "left behind", she says: "I see you and I will fight for you". Spencer then apologises to any customers who have booked her in for plumbing jobs. "I'm heading to Parliament," she says."
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/26/martin-clunes-planning-b...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWDNMmzvNB4&list=RDjWDNMmzvNB4&start_rad...
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/feb/26/new-image-milky-way-galaxy