Cristen

Out of curiosity I looked up "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" and Alton Towers comes below the fold, although there is a reference to "popular culture" (with its own linked page) in the opening section

This is correct but it goes deeper; I remember reading 20 years ago in a friend's business studies textbook that the ideal C21st business is one unencumbered by customers and products, those pesky inconveniences in the process of revenue generation

Fair enough

I'm not familiar enough with Serbia to comment, but I meant as a defence of a conflict that was otherwise unjustifiable

I think part of the problem is that his self-justification for Iraq is "the leader was a baddie and removing leaders who are baddies is a good thing" which, even though it's unlikely he would have accepted that logic pre-2003, now blinkers his judgement of all wars

(I was lucky enough to be on an early SLC plan. Repayment would be a different story today.)

After traumatic teenage years, I left school with no A-levels. By 22, life was more stable and I decided to go to university (technically as a "mature" student). I got a 2:1, went on to complete a Masters, am mid-way through a satisfying career, and have fully repaid my loans. Fuck this noise

Agree, the whole story crosses a red line for conservatives / soft royalists, and QEII's payoff to a victim who never recovered isn't going to go away.
Also suspect Charles's relationship with Savile may have a long-term impact that hasn't yet been fully realised

aka the Blair defence: it's fine to do this because the leaders are baddies. That's not how international law works.

They're also typically the people most opposed to intervention on climate change, another creator of large numbers of refugees. It's almost as if they don't do logic

Lots relatable here but surely the serious takeaway, for every creative field, is "making loads". Just keep making loads. It's all we can really do

I suspect most voters didn't buy the 'giving drugs to kids' line. Whatever your views on the Greens' drugs policy, it's pretty obvious that's not what they're arguing for, which makes the attacks sound a bit unhinged

I make no apologies for this. 30C and 10C are both stupid temperatures. It should be 15 - 25C at all times, otherwise I will complain

Meme of a little girl saying "porque no los dos", meaning "why not both?"

Even some of the more grownup-style sets are good value. In the last couple of years I've bought an SLR style camera with several moving parts for £13, and a pretty good imitation of my motorbike for £9

Applewood smoked in a toastie is great, and a couple of the "soft cheese" ones, but otherwise yes, I agree

Plus these same voters are likely spending almost none of their money on the high street. They want the town centre to be vibrant and buzzing with other people buying things, while they themselves shop online and out of town

I speak from experience when I say this is what evangelical Christianity primes you for: you are taught that "persecution" (read: people calling you out) is proof that you are on the right side.
Everyone being against you is not challenging, it's desirable, it's the thing you are told to hope for.

A social media post from the Daily Telegraph promoting a column by James Jeffrey, entitled "It's time to start mansplaining again", illustrated with a picture of Jordan Peterson

The Telegraph picture editor choosing to illustrate this thinkpiece with an image of the most idiotic man alive is first class subversion

"Partly" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there

I've never understood the media studies hate. Media literacy is probably in the top 5 skills necessary to navigate the modern world, and even for functionalists, the media and communications industries are two of the UK's biggest, with plenty of media graduates finding their way into eg PR.

Naughty, naughty, very naughty

AI de-aging is fairly trivial now (although it's more involved and time-consuming, and demands greater human input, than an AI techbro might like us to believe)

I mean, I don't fantasise about it but when it happens I don't hate it

Dare I confess that although the rest are terrible, I don't mind the "two brains" line. It has a kind of absurdist charm

George Carlin with the caption "it's a big club, and you ain't in it"

This was Homer's answer to that dilemma