I'm a fan of Meg Hillier, who spoke after Badenoch. Kemi is scary and stupid - makes me long for the days of Theresa May - and as an immigrant married to an immigrant, that is saying something...
A bunch of clowns indeed - the implosion of the GoP is quite funny to watch (or should we actually be worried ...?) in the way the downfall of the GDR was quite funny to watch (but the there was the, still ongoing, decades-long hangover...) :
Some Republicans are now finding themselves in the extraordinary position of clarifying what long seemed obvious: Nazis are evil.
“It’s something that we all should know, but the fact of the matter is, it had to be said,” said Representative David Kustoff of Tennessee, explaining why he felt the need to denounce Nazis and antisemitism at a recent gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition. He was joined there by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who declared, “I’m in the ‘Hitler sucks’ wing of the Republican Party.” And even Laura Loomer, the far-right activist, who is Jewish, has argued on social media that “the GOP has a Nazi problem.”
I have a lot of stress factors in my life at the moment, not least a late career pivot to become a teacher. At least I feel on most days that I'm doing something useful, though I don't really know what I'm doing yet. The kids can be a real pain but also funny and sweet, and while the pay is middling, it's stable.
My daughter makes me happy everytime I see her, she is extremely bright, funny and kindhearted. I worry about the future our generation will have left her with: rampant capitalism, global warming and a continous deterioration of democracy, the rule of law and basic human decency.
Reading (books, TLS and NYRB) watching French films and TV series and running helps me relax a bit.
wj, if you're into this type of thing don't miss out on the Chester Beatty museum and library. Among many other artefacts, they have a lot of ancient books, illustrations and manuscripts. Incidentally, they have an exhibition on "Manuscripts and the Mind" at the moment:
I think we should take all their money and use it for education, infrastructure and health care.
It's all a big scam and at the root of the class society which is detrimental to the nation's psyche. (And it's not only them: look at the Duke of Westminster etc.)
How do you get coverage, online or otherwise, for the other side of that story?
Good question. My feeling is that much of the media is being played by the savviest manipulators of the news cycle. Trump gets way too much air time for what amounts to disinformation, so do Netanyahu and the IDF, Farage and previously Johnson.
Call me crazy, but the US needs to get out of the ME - it has caused a lot of terrible misery there and besides what justification is there for its presence anyway?
It's almost tragic to see how Campbell seems to be incapable of understanding that the problems we face now regarding a post-truth public have their root in the handling of the Iraq war by the US/UK.
Though he seems to have some opinions that I might agree with, I refuse to listen to or read Campbell because of his role in the Iraq war and his lack of contrition and insight since. To put it bluntly, he's just an arrogant f@ck who can get away with anything and still be a member of the media/political elite. Like Blair.
In fact, that might one good definition of elite: you just stay at the top whatever you do.
Denazification both did and didn't go well: many Nazis slipped through the cracks, were quietly let back into the fold or even more or less openly embraced (operation paperclip / south America). However, from the mid-sixties onwards a Nazi-past was pretty much a kiss of death in the public eye (though that was 20 years too late).
The berserkers were apparently Norse or Germanic warriors:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserker
Going ape-shit
I have no idea regarding the etymology...
On a more positive note, Farsi can be quite dramatic and poetic even when it cones to everyday expressions.
So you might hear "ghorbunet beram" 10 times a day, especially when there are children around. It literally means "I would sacrifice myself/die for you" but translates as "I love you (so much" or "you are so lovely / sweet" :)
Firstly, the essay GftNC linked above is really and expresses pretty much my view on the matter:
What the Public Memory of Charlie Kirk Revealed
For those who felt denigrated by his rhetoric, the bipartisan tributes to him as a champion of free speech augured something dangerous: the mainstreaming of formerly extremist views.
Secondly, I have started working at a school recently and I wonder more and more what this mainstreaming of extremism will do to our kids one day - to those who will be victims, to those who will just live in a world with different values than previously accepted and to those who will be perpetrators. This reactionary hate speech Kirk peddled is just diametrically opposed to any humanism and basic decency. Basically we spend half the day in one form or another telling kids to show respect and empathy for others and maybe some manners. And then these crazy people come along telling everyone the opposite is true:
You can tell the pupil sitting next to you she's stupid because she's black and her mother only got that job because she's black. You can crash the LGBT meeting and tell them they are disgusting child molesters. You can tell the Jewish boy that he's part of a vast conspiracy to rule the world and subdue the white race. You can tell the girls they are inferior, cannot get an abortion under ny cricumstances and have to submit to their husbands. You can tell the boy from Sudan, Ukraine, Mexico or wherever that he and his family are disgusting parasites feeding on the body of white America.
And then Klein tells us that we should somehow get onboard with all this because the Overton window has shifted and we have to embrace some weird version of doublethink. Let's just ditch all the values people have thought about and fought for hundreds of years and move to the ever rightward drifting "center". I rather think it's time for a "have you no decency" moment (though that was actually staged ... but pretty well).
Questions that should be asked more often when it comes to evaluating Iran's place in the international community is:
"What has Iran actually done geopolitically to deserve its reputation in, say, the past 25 years, what have other nations operating in the ME done and how does it compare? What is the death toll that resulted from Iran's actions and how does it compare to that of other nations operating in the ME?"
I think any objective observer will find that, if you set aside the rhetoric, the actual actions of the Iranian regime amount to very little compared to those of other nations. The operative phrase here is "setting aside the rhetoric" because since the hostage crisis and later Ahmadinejad, a narrative has emerged that describes the "islamofascist theocracy" in Iran as the "greatest danger to ME peace". This is completely unjustified if you look at the historical facts.
The geopolitical argument against Iran is then often bolstered by bringing up the domestic policies of the Iranian regime, which are certainly deplorable. However, they are sadly not unique in the region and elsewhere and despite claims to the contrary the regime does not have totalitarian grip on the very complex and multilayered society of Iran.
What is also almost completely ignored is the fact that the regime is more about money and power than about religion. Most observers simply are ignorant of or choose to ignore the vast amount of wealth the ruling elite from Khamenei down to the rannk and file revolutionary guard member control and their understandable desire to hold on to it. One tool to perpetuate this control is religion, but I would say in and of itself it is actually secondary.
Finally, as much as parts of Iranian society are westernised, even they don't want a society determined by US money and influence - many might hate the regime but they want to do their own thing and understandably view foreign interference with strong suspicion. And that is much more so the case with much of the conservative, religious population who just have different ideas about how to live.
I think Wood is actually better postioned than most to comment on Iran because of his educational background and having actually travelled in the country, though that seems to have been a while ago. However, he seems to succumb in part to the usual US foreign policy establishment groupthink which prioritises regime change narratives. I would just challenge everyone fixated on this to tell me what an Iran post-regime change would look like, especially considering the many different ethnic groups that make up the country.
As for Iran being an old civilization, that's certainly one source of the national pride, though it depends on who you talk to, because it can sit uneasily with the grim current relity. It's also kind of a running gag among some, who make fun of this tendency to trace back every invention and accomplishment of the past 2000 years to the Persian empire. I heard the Greeks do the same and there is apparently a scene in "My big fat Greek wedding" making fun of this.
Ages ago I took part in a seminar at uni that looked at autism within the context of the philosophy of mind, specifically the old problem of naturally assuming but not being able to prove that others have mental states ("other minds"). The question was that if autism is characterised in part by having difficulties conceptualising other people's mental states, can that tell us anything about how "normal people" do this. I remember "mindblindness" being a term used to characterise autism and Simon Baron-Cohen (not the comedian) drawing some interesting if controversial conclusions regarding ethical responsibility. Back then it seemed fascinating, but also a but like autism research was being instrumentalised by philosophers to liven up age old debates, rather than to help those who have to deal with the condition.
It seems that the debate has moved on since then towards a more inclusive view:
I still think it is important though to hold on to the diagnostic category of autism, while being aware of all the caveats and avoiding stigmatising those falling under it, in order to support those displaying signs of the condition especially children.
I felt oddly at home while visiting London many years ago.
While London can feel like you are permanently swimming upriver, oddly enough it also feels like home to so many different people because of its diversity. That word has been thrown around unthinkingly a lot in recent years (along with "vibrant", real estate agent speak for "deprived", argh) but I don't think there are that many cities that are actually as truly diverse as London. Among other factors 40%+ of the people are foreign born so there is no one group dominating the city in any significant way and despite the crazy prices there are still council flats in Hampstead. And Londoners are by and large a nice bunch. I have different "homes" in my head as well, but feel this is it for now.
I go running some 2 times a week and have been doing this for decades. No major problems so far, but I seem to be one of the younger ones here. What's really annoying is that additionally to my myopia, which I have had since childhood, I have developed far-sightedness as well in recent years. Also, I get the feeling that I'm slowing down when it comes to planning, multitasking and such things, feeling a bit overwhelmed at times of high stress, but generally I can handle it.
I was very disappointed that Ezra Klein succumbed to both-sideism in that article, especially since he just had taken a firm stance on Gaza (together with Phillipe Sands). But this recent book review in tge TLS made it clearer for me where he's coming from. It's just good old fashioned status quo affirming 'centrism'.
https://app.the-tls.co.uk/212578/content.html
(I would love to be a centrist since I'm conflict averse by nature, it's just that the Overton window has shifted so far to the right.)
That is equivalent to supporting former RAF members to overthrow the German government (ok, the German government isn't as bad as the Iranian but the MEK/RAF comparison is apt).
On “Am I missing something?”
Badenoch really is a character: apparently the welfare state is "unchristian" because, wait for it:
In early Christian times, there was no state or welfare, so I think that you can argue that, actually.
https://www.cityam.com/rachel-reeves-benefit-handouts-are-unchristian-badenoch-says/
"
I'm a fan of Meg Hillier, who spoke after Badenoch. Kemi is scary and stupid - makes me long for the days of Theresa May - and as an immigrant married to an immigrant, that is saying something...
On “An openish thread featuring the comedy stylings of Steve Witkoff”
A bunch of clowns indeed - the implosion of the GoP is quite funny to watch (or should we actually be worried ...?) in the way the downfall of the GDR was quite funny to watch (but the there was the, still ongoing, decades-long hangover...) :
Some Republicans are now finding themselves in the extraordinary position of clarifying what long seemed obvious: Nazis are evil.
“It’s something that we all should know, but the fact of the matter is, it had to be said,” said Representative David Kustoff of Tennessee, explaining why he felt the need to denounce Nazis and antisemitism at a recent gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
He was joined there by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who declared, “I’m in the ‘Hitler sucks’ wing of the Republican Party.”
And even Laura Loomer, the far-right activist, who is Jewish, has argued on social media that “the GOP has a Nazi problem.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/us/politics/republicans-antisemitism-carlson-fuentes-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3U8.2zff.86d5NwQCde2M&smid=url-share
(gift link; not sure it's ethical to contribute to Bret Stephens' salary, but hey ho)
On “Shabana burns the cakes”
London’s foreign-born population is 41%.
Yeah, what a hellhole. I increasingly run into US citizens relocating here...
On “I got depressed so I bought hydrangeas”
Thank you, nous, lj and pb.
"
I have a lot of stress factors in my life at the moment, not least a late career pivot to become a teacher. At least I feel on most days that I'm doing something useful, though I don't really know what I'm doing yet. The kids can be a real pain but also funny and sweet, and while the pay is middling, it's stable.
My daughter makes me happy everytime I see her, she is extremely bright, funny and kindhearted. I worry about the future our generation will have left her with: rampant capitalism, global warming and a continous deterioration of democracy, the rule of law and basic human decency.
Reading (books, TLS and NYRB) watching French films and TV series and running helps me relax a bit.
On “Something Different”
wj, if you're into this type of thing don't miss out on the Chester Beatty museum and library. Among many other artefacts, they have a lot of ancient books, illustrations and manuscripts. Incidentally, they have an exhibition on "Manuscripts and the Mind" at the moment:
https://chesterbeatty.ie/exhibitions/manuscripts-and-the-mind/
On “Monarchy in the UK”
I think we should take all their money and use it for education, infrastructure and health care.
It's all a big scam and at the root of the class society which is detrimental to the nation's psyche. (And it's not only them: look at the Duke of Westminster etc.)
On “Politics thread”
How do you get coverage, online or otherwise, for the other side of that story?
Good question. My feeling is that much of the media is being played by the savviest manipulators of the news cycle. Trump gets way too much air time for what amounts to disinformation, so do Netanyahu and the IDF, Farage and previously Johnson.
On “The Qatar that plays like butter”
Call me crazy, but the US needs to get out of the ME - it has caused a lot of terrible misery there and besides what justification is there for its presence anyway?
On “Brought to you by your latest captain of industry”
It's almost tragic to see how Campbell seems to be incapable of understanding that the problems we face now regarding a post-truth public have their root in the handling of the Iraq war by the US/UK.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WEzvesJUAuc
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bxs-dmb9nY
"
Though he seems to have some opinions that I might agree with, I refuse to listen to or read Campbell because of his role in the Iraq war and his lack of contrition and insight since. To put it bluntly, he's just an arrogant f@ck who can get away with anything and still be a member of the media/political elite. Like Blair.
In fact, that might one good definition of elite: you just stay at the top whatever you do.
On “Where are the 5 words?”
Denazification both did and didn't go well: many Nazis slipped through the cracks, were quietly let back into the fold or even more or less openly embraced (operation paperclip / south America). However, from the mid-sixties onwards a Nazi-past was pretty much a kiss of death in the public eye (though that was 20 years too late).
On “WTF moments at cultural borders”
Going berserk
The berserkers were apparently Norse or Germanic warriors:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserker
Going ape-shit
I have no idea regarding the etymology...
On a more positive note, Farsi can be quite dramatic and poetic even when it cones to everyday expressions.
So you might hear "ghorbunet beram" 10 times a day, especially when there are children around. It literally means "I would sacrifice myself/die for you" but translates as "I love you (so much" or "you are so lovely / sweet" :)
On “Jane Goodall RIP”
There's a very good documentary about her:
https://films.nationalgeographic.com/jane-the-movie
There is also somewhat related a classic from the 80s about Diane Fossey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorillas_in_the_Mist
On “Ezra Coates DESTROYS Ta-Nehisi Klein!!!”
Firstly, the essay GftNC linked above is really and expresses pretty much my view on the matter:
What the Public Memory of Charlie Kirk Revealed
For those who felt denigrated by his rhetoric, the bipartisan tributes to him as a champion of free speech augured something dangerous: the mainstreaming of formerly extremist views.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/magazine/charlie-kirk-rhetoric.html?unlocked_article_code=1.pU8.E_Qk.vE_VAYwg6Chi&smid=url-share
Secondly, I have started working at a school recently and I wonder more and more what this mainstreaming of extremism will do to our kids one day - to those who will be victims, to those who will just live in a world with different values than previously accepted and to those who will be perpetrators. This reactionary hate speech Kirk peddled is just diametrically opposed to any humanism and basic decency. Basically we spend half the day in one form or another telling kids to show respect and empathy for others and maybe some manners. And then these crazy people come along telling everyone the opposite is true:
You can tell the pupil sitting next to you she's stupid because she's black and her mother only got that job because she's black. You can crash the LGBT meeting and tell them they are disgusting child molesters. You can tell the Jewish boy that he's part of a vast conspiracy to rule the world and subdue the white race. You can tell the girls they are inferior, cannot get an abortion under ny cricumstances and have to submit to their husbands. You can tell the boy from Sudan, Ukraine, Mexico or wherever that he and his family are disgusting parasites feeding on the body of white America.
And then Klein tells us that we should somehow get onboard with all this because the Overton window has shifted and we have to embrace some weird version of doublethink. Let's just ditch all the values people have thought about and fought for hundreds of years and move to the ever rightward drifting "center". I rather think it's time for a "have you no decency" moment (though that was actually staged ... but pretty well).
/rant
On “Ran, ran, ran, I blog Iran”
Questions that should be asked more often when it comes to evaluating Iran's place in the international community is:
"What has Iran actually done geopolitically to deserve its reputation in, say, the past 25 years, what have other nations operating in the ME done and how does it compare? What is the death toll that resulted from Iran's actions and how does it compare to that of other nations operating in the ME?"
I think any objective observer will find that, if you set aside the rhetoric, the actual actions of the Iranian regime amount to very little compared to those of other nations. The operative phrase here is "setting aside the rhetoric" because since the hostage crisis and later Ahmadinejad, a narrative has emerged that describes the "islamofascist theocracy" in Iran as the "greatest danger to ME peace". This is completely unjustified if you look at the historical facts.
The geopolitical argument against Iran is then often bolstered by bringing up the domestic policies of the Iranian regime, which are certainly deplorable. However, they are sadly not unique in the region and elsewhere and despite claims to the contrary the regime does not have totalitarian grip on the very complex and multilayered society of Iran.
What is also almost completely ignored is the fact that the regime is more about money and power than about religion. Most observers simply are ignorant of or choose to ignore the vast amount of wealth the ruling elite from Khamenei down to the rannk and file revolutionary guard member control and their understandable desire to hold on to it. One tool to perpetuate this control is religion, but I would say in and of itself it is actually secondary.
Finally, as much as parts of Iranian society are westernised, even they don't want a society determined by US money and influence - many might hate the regime but they want to do their own thing and understandably view foreign interference with strong suspicion. And that is much more so the case with much of the conservative, religious population who just have different ideas about how to live.
I think Wood is actually better postioned than most to comment on Iran because of his educational background and having actually travelled in the country, though that seems to have been a while ago. However, he seems to succumb in part to the usual US foreign policy establishment groupthink which prioritises regime change narratives. I would just challenge everyone fixated on this to tell me what an Iran post-regime change would look like, especially considering the many different ethnic groups that make up the country.
As for Iran being an old civilization, that's certainly one source of the national pride, though it depends on who you talk to, because it can sit uneasily with the grim current relity. It's also kind of a running gag among some, who make fun of this tendency to trace back every invention and accomplishment of the past 2000 years to the Persian empire. I heard the Greeks do the same and there is apparently a scene in "My big fat Greek wedding" making fun of this.
On “Un morceau de blog”
Ages ago I took part in a seminar at uni that looked at autism within the context of the philosophy of mind, specifically the old problem of naturally assuming but not being able to prove that others have mental states ("other minds"). The question was that if autism is characterised in part by having difficulties conceptualising other people's mental states, can that tell us anything about how "normal people" do this. I remember "mindblindness" being a term used to characterise autism and Simon Baron-Cohen (not the comedian) drawing some interesting if controversial conclusions regarding ethical responsibility. Back then it seemed fascinating, but also a but like autism research was being instrumentalised by philosophers to liven up age old debates, rather than to help those who have to deal with the condition.
It seems that the debate has moved on since then towards a more inclusive view:
https://www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/theory-of-mind-in-autism-a-research-field-reborn/
https://embrace-autism.com/autism-and-theory-of-mind-whats-new/#:~:text=Theory%20of%20mind%20(ToM)%20refers,of%20our%20social%20communication%20struggles.
I still think it is important though to hold on to the diagnostic category of autism, while being aware of all the caveats and avoiding stigmatising those falling under it, in order to support those displaying signs of the condition especially children.
On “Rule Six, there is NO … Rule Six!…”
I felt oddly at home while visiting London many years ago.
While London can feel like you are permanently swimming upriver, oddly enough it also feels like home to so many different people because of its diversity. That word has been thrown around unthinkingly a lot in recent years (along with "vibrant", real estate agent speak for "deprived", argh) but I don't think there are that many cities that are actually as truly diverse as London. Among other factors 40%+ of the people are foreign born so there is no one group dominating the city in any significant way and despite the crazy prices there are still council flats in Hampstead. And Londoners are by and large a nice bunch. I have different "homes" in my head as well, but feel this is it for now.
On “Time for a makeover: a webpage design thread”
Thank you. I would love to tinker with WP but have very little spare time at the moment, sorry.
"
The font size is a bit too small for me. Otherwise all good.
On “We are all Usain Bolt now”
I go running some 2 times a week and have been doing this for decades. No major problems so far, but I seem to be one of the younger ones here. What's really annoying is that additionally to my myopia, which I have had since childhood, I have developed far-sightedness as well in recent years. Also, I get the feeling that I'm slowing down when it comes to planning, multitasking and such things, feeling a bit overwhelmed at times of high stress, but generally I can handle it.
On “Precursors”
I was very disappointed that Ezra Klein succumbed to both-sideism in that article, especially since he just had taken a firm stance on Gaza (together with Phillipe Sands). But this recent book review in tge TLS made it clearer for me where he's coming from. It's just good old fashioned status quo affirming 'centrism'.
https://app.the-tls.co.uk/212578/content.html
(I would love to be a centrist since I'm conflict averse by nature, it's just that the Overton window has shifted so far to the right.)
On “The Schadenfreude Express”
That is equivalent to supporting former RAF members to overthrow the German government (ok, the German government isn't as bad as the Iranian but the MEK/RAF comparison is apt).
"
If John Bolton appears to be comparatively reasonable we're in trouble...
cf. e.g. his staunch support for the Mujahideen-e-Khalq, or MEK
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/3/29/meks-violent-past-looms-over-us-lobby-for-regime-change-in-iran
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.