Eddie Crust

If Starmer becomes Prime Minister he will be like a little child sitting in one of those coin operated cars you find at supermarkets that go backwards and forwards, turning the steering wheel round thinking he’s driving but not actually in control of anything

I sent ChatGPT an audio file of a series of FART sound effects and asked what it thinks of "my music" and this is what it said

The FT's longtime Tehran correspondent Najmeh Bozorgmehr has written an anti-war manifesto that is simultaneously intimate and epic, heart-breaking and hopeful. A reminder how war is an assault on humanity itself.

This is the sharpest, shortest and coolest dismantling of the myth of the grammar school i've come across –– which, considering Reform want to bring them back, is more needed than ever

When the Israelis say they’re bombing “terrorists,” this is who they mean

Ilan Pappé on Israel's regional strategy: 'Even Netanyahu’s detractors must admit that he is possessed of "patience, cunning, determination and unwavering focus" in his steady destruction of the enemy – total war on Hamas, then Hezbollah, now Iran – and curtailment of Trump’s foolish attempts to negotiate with the Mullahs and devise a peace plan for Gaza.' newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/…

Just when you thought @DavidLammy couldn't disappoint more throughly than he did on Gaza...

MEE has collected 61 names and ages of many of the 168 victims killed in a "double tap" strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, Iran. The identified victims include students, staff, and siblings, including a two-month-old baby. Hana Dehqani, 8 years old Fatemeh Salari, 34 years old Reza Habashian, 7 years old Arya Bahadori, 9 years old Ali Asghar Zaeri, 8 years old Zahra Bahrami, 7 years old Ahmad Soltani, 8 years old Hamed Par-ashegh-nezhad, 7 years old Fatemeh Yazdan-panah, young girl, age unknown Mahdis Nazari, 7 years old Athena Chamani-nezhad, 6 years old Amirghasem Zaeri, 7 years old Fatemeh Dorazehi, 10 years old Arad Ahmadizadeh, 8 years old Saman Karimzadeh, 7 years old Fatemeh Shahdadi, age unknown Nadia Shahmiri, 9 years old Parham Ranjbari, 9 years old Mahmoud Gholamyani, 35 years old Fatemeh Rahdar, 10 years old Amir-Hassan Rasouli, 8 years old Zahra Behrouzi, 8 years old Mohammadhatam Raisi, 10 years old Asna Raisi, 12 years old Benyamin Jangjou, 8 years old Mohammad-Sadra Zarei, 8 years old Maryam Pazark, 10 years old Liana Mohammadi, 7 years old Mandana Salari, 29 years old Sara Shayesteh, 5 years old Zoha Pasand, 8 years old Esra Zakeri, 9 years old Salma Zakeri, 6 years old Fatemeh Taherifard, 29 years old Zahra Ansari, 7 years old Fatemeh Fadavi, 10 years old Mahna Zarei, 2 months old Athareh Zarei, 10 years old Alireza Zarei, 9 years old Mohammadreza Shahsavari, 8 years old Samira Basarde, 38 years old Ehsan Saleminia, 6 years old Fatemeh Zahra Karimi, 7 years old Zeynab Bahrami, 10 years old Mohammad Shah-dousti, eight years old Reza Barani, seven years old Athena Ahmadzadeh, 10 years old Khadijeh Darvishi, 9 years old Roqayyeh Karimi, 42 years old Reza Ranjbar, 6 years old Marzieh Bashiri-far, 38 years old Mohammad-Mehdi Chegini, 10 years old Mohammadian Bahrami, 17 years old Ali-Akbar Karyani Pak, 8 years old Hananeh Mehdikhah, 7 years old Fereshteh Sangarzadeh, 44 years old Mohammad-Ali Karyani Pak, 7 years old Parsa Mokhtari-nasab, 12 years old Arina Arab-Kish, 8 years old Makan Nasiri, 12 years old Esra Farahi-Zadeh, young girl, age unknown

My interview with @ForeignPolicy on what is Iran's strategy of war, why is it attacking the Gulf states, and how is it gaming the outcome foreignpolicy.com/live/iran-afte…

YouGov / Sky News / Times voting intention *Greens leapfrog Labour into second place* RefUK 23% (-1) GRN 21% (+4) LAB 16%(-2) CON 16%(-2) LDEM 14%(nc), Pollster note: This is the highest we've had the Greens, the first time we've had them in second. It is also the lowest we have had Labour. In terms of how meaningful this is, it is obviously likely driven to a significant extent by the publicity from the Denton & Gorton by-election, as well as any impact it has from the Greens appearing a more viable option and less of a wasted vote. It remains to be seen to what extent it sticks, or whether it fades again as the immediate publicity boost recedes. Sunday/Monday

“Small Children Who Knew Nothing of Politics or Wars” Mahmoud Aslan reports for @DropSiteNews from the scene of a bombing at a girls' school in Minab, Iran: dropsitenews.com/p/iran-minab-e…

What happens when the straight of Hormuz closes.

Some observations and comments on Trump and Israel's war on Iran: 1. Tehran is not looking for a ceasefire and has rejected outreach from Trump. The reason is that they believe they committed a mistake by agreeing to the ceasefire in June - it only enabled the US and Israel to restock and remobilize to launch war again. If they agree to a ceasefire now, they will only be attacked again in a few months. 2. For a ceasefire to be acceptable, it appears difficult for Tehran to agree to it until the cost to the US has become much higher than it currently is. Otherwise, the US will restart the war at a later point, the calculation reads. 3. Accordingly, Iran has shifted its strategy. It is striking Israel, but very differently from the June war. There is a constant level of attack throughout the day rather than a salvo of 50 missiles at once. Damage will be less, but that isn't a problem because Tehran has concluded that Israel's pain tolerance is very high - as long as the US stays in the war. So the focus shifts to the US. 4. From the outset, and perhaps surprisingly, Iran has been targeting US bases in the region, including against friendly states. Tehran calculates that the war can only end durably if the cost for the US rises dramatically, including American casualties. After the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran says it has no red lines left and will go all out in seeking the destruction of these bases and high American casualties. 5. Iran understands that many in the American security establishment had been convinced that Iran's past restraint reflected weakness and an inability or unwillingness to face the US in a direct war. Tehran is now doing everything it can to demonstrate the opposite - despite the massive cost it itself will pay. Ironically, the assassination of Khamenei facilitated this shift. 6. One aspect of this is that Iran has now also struck bases in Cyprus, which have been used for attacks against Iran. Iran is well aware that this is an attack on a EU state. But that seems to be the point. Tehran appears intent on not only expanding the war into Persian Gulf states but also into Europe. Note the attack on the French base in the UAE. For the war to be able to end, Europe too has to pay a cost, the reasoning appears to be. 7. There appears to be only limited concern about the internal situation. The announcement of Khamenei's death opened a window for people to pour onto the streets and seek to overthrow the regime. Though expressions of joy were widespread, no real mobilization was seen. That window is now closing, as the theocratic system closes ranks and establishes new formal leadership. Again: The question "How will this end?" should have been asked before this war was triggered. It wasn't.

First MP to appear in The Guardian's best dressed of Glastonbury 2013 article

@TomBaldwin66 I’m not sure losing a by-election does us any good either, Tom.

It sounds like the Labour Party should be thinking about how to appeal to those left wing voters it drove out, then? Ah, but it's only lost voters to the right who get honey - the left always gets vinegar. Well, there are consequences.

“There will be huge sympathy for McAsh, who is understood to have quit his job as a primary school teacher upon being declared the leader last week, and claimed he only learned that his victory had been called in by the regional party after he was informed by this newspaper”. !

Labour councillor wins a democratic vote. But he wasn’t meant to win… So there’s another vote, this time online and, lo and behold, the favoured candidate of the local MP wins. Labour are a bent, corrupt organisation in so many places…. southwarknews.co.uk/area/southwark…

Starving people in a concentration camp, then letting tiny amount of food in, then shooting hundreds of desperate people dead when they try to get the food—it’s the most sick, evil shit many have ever seen. We see what’s happening and will never look at things the same way again.