Conor

The Strait of Hormuz is open for transit

I love the "could this be a solution" post because it's a perfect example of Founder brain. You have to be a special kind of stupid to imagine that you are the first person to come up with the idea of driving around the Strait of Hormuz. It's being so dumb that you think everyone else is even dumber

Just seen the "I'll just have the one" glass of wine that keeps getting topped up as the "sip o' Theseus" and, folks, this is a nation of considerable poetic genius.

As an IR professor, it's depressing that this is outperforming all others as the best theory of US foreign policy

Would it have been so much worse if it had been a nuke? Consider the fact that birth deficiencies and rates of leukemia and cancer in Iraq, post 2003- invasion, are worse than what was observed in Hiroshima. In Japan, rates of leukemia rose by 660% in the years following the bomb. In Falluja, it increased by 2,200%. The toxicity of war has never been greater, and we are in no way reckoning with the scope of the horror that's been unleashed.

The real damage comes years later, with elevated cancer rates, leukemia clusters, respiratory disease, cardiovascular failure, neurological damage, reproductive issues.

This is chemical warfare, with delayed carnage. Worse than radiation sickness.

I am ashamed to be American today.

2/2

a picture of a huge, low, heavy cloud of black oil over Tehran

This is the cloud of oil currently hovering over Tehran, released when the US bombed the city's oil depots. A stew of particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, heavy metals & volatile organic compounds is raining down into the city right now. 1/2

"Are you a Kamala athiest or a Trump athiest?"

Or to not be the only cis white guy under 55 in the audience...

I will conceed, opera, I don't have much direct interaction with the musicians, I'm probably going off the attendees. But I do get brought along to ballet, and I'm waiting to find anyone getting limelight on stage who doesn't have *titanium* white skin.

And maybe there's a reason why the conversation is "Timothée" and "his mother" rather than two named individuals. Could it be about the relative levels of cultural relevance of their corresponding art forms? Scientists will never know.

Pissed off the snootiest artists who look down on other art forms, by looking down on them instead. They're not taking it well.

They're going to regret not running Burnham at the end of all this, just not for the reason his supporters expected.

That loss completely broke the narrative that you're just stuck with Labour and just have to lump it.

Eh, close enough 👋 from within an hour travel time

anti-trans Dems ate shit last night

It can go more specific than that. The enemies of the drone company's CEO. Or of a certain politician. Or opposition parties. Or the guy investigating you. Or just the family of the enemies. Or someone who just cut you off in traffic.

It's basically a technological implementation of Death Note.

Congratulations to our winner Emerson, MoE of 0.2%. *chefs kiss*

Or if we elected a fella named Healy-Rae to replace a fella named Healy-Rae who replaced a fella named Healy-Rae.

Just a bit bigger of a role than Kerry CC.

Or someone named Murphy in Cork.

May want to add "Average with UT from the calculation". Z-score puts that as quite the outlier.

🚨 The Competition watchdog has been ordered to review the retail energy market, after some home heating and motor fuel suppliers seemed to rise prices long before any oil or gas shortage would kick in. Peter Burke’s instruction to CCPC is to identify whether all levers are being used to manage costs

A headline from GB News stating: Motorists switch to using public transport to avoid paying £5 daily congestion charge

In shock news, motorists have switched to public transport to avoid paying the Oxford Congestion Charge.
A spokesperson* said: "This is exactly what was meant to happen, and it did."

Guilty

UK Labour may have empowered an exodus to viable electable competition on their left nationwide that they will be fighting for the remainder of this governement. But look, at least they have a Manchester mayor and no obvious leader succession plan. Priorities.

Big Jim, you're hoping to be the leader of FF not FG. I know I know, a tenuous difference, but maybe figure out that the only thing the FF brand has going for it is "no no, we're the cunts you'd at least still have a pint with and can chat for two minutes".

"Prediction Markets"

Gambling. It's gambling, but bypassing gambling regulations.

Polymarket is Airbnb and Uber all over again, where regulators play catch-up while a software company plays in grey area technicalities.

Excellent analysis by @gavreilly.com on whether voter registrations could put Gerry Hutch into the Dáil: gavreilly.substack.com/p/could-a-vo...

I plotted Hutch’s vote share in Dublin Central against every other GE2024 candidate using these tally data. ⤵️

And due to that better than "pretty much" is needed and move on to just "is".

No no no no "Bored of Peace"

things every single republican president of your lifetime has done

- started a war in the middle east
- completely destroyed the economy