David May

A used book I ordered online arrived today (Boxing Day). I noticed this written inside it.

@Panagiotou90St Yanis Varoufakis is the conventional communist university lecturer with political ambitions—the stereotype of the modern Greek intellectual. Why are they all like this?

Varoufakis has harmed Greece immeasurably as the worse than useless finance minister that he was. He is an A-class grifter who got elected with the promise of ‘nationally proud negotiation” while also playing the far-leftist game of branding anything he disagrees with as far right extremism; the whole package really. He is against patriotism for Europeans and pro patriotism for anti-westerners. When bases in Cyprus were hit recently, and Greece came to Cyprus’ aid for defensive purposes, he opposed it. He is an oikophobe who thinks it is cool, progressive, and virtuous to hate his own country. That is why he thinks that the only reason why Greece would come to Cyprus’ aid could only be done because ‘Israel’. I don’t take lectures from anti-western communist oikophobes like him.

@cquilty52 Get on board! Here come the Double Deckers!

i've never seen a photograph so perfectly encapsulate what it doesn't mean to be British

@Tom_Rowsell @s8mb Were they random or were they closely associated with the place?

@s8mb A lot of English towns are named after random Saxon dudes

Crass, unimaginative and, in the case of “Seacole”, desperate. English towns are not named after historical figures - this isn’t America.

@Empireaesth The lady wielding the axe is Mrs Helena Dance, the wife of Captain William Dance. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Found…

The Foundation of Perth (1829) - George Pitt Morison (1929)

@AjaTheEmpress They don't have "911" in France. Why do Americans always assume this?

In France you can beat a woman to death and then throw her body out of a window you'll be let off completely free as long as you've had a joint before you do it.

@sappholives83 > I can’t say how long it took neighbors to call 911. There's your problem! They obviously dialled the wrong number. France does not have "911". Their number for emergency assistance is 112.

French courts have allowed a Muslim migrant to go free after the brutal murder of Sarah Halimi,his 65 year old Jewish neighbor. Halimi, a retired doctor, teacher, and widowed mother of 3, was beaten to death on 4 April 2017. For more than an hour, her screams echoed around her apartment building, while her murderer alternated between shrieking “Allahu Akbar!” and howling verses from the Quran. He then threw her lifeless body from a third story window. The French courts have ruled that this man cannot be held criminally responsible for his brutal act because he’d smoked marijuana before beating Sarah to death. I don’t speak French, so I can’t say how long it took neighbors to call 911. I don’t know why the beating was allowed to reach its fatal conclusion with what appears to have been no attempt at any kind of meaningful intervention by French police. The suspect was unarmed and outnumbered, and trapped in the victim’s apartment, but he was permitted to go on beating her for an hour. I have almost 20 years’ experience in law enforcement. I cannot explain why. I don’t want to think that Sarah’s Judaism played a part in the length of the torture she was allowed to endure, or in the lackadaisical response by French police. I don’t want to think that French courts simply don’t care about dead Jews, or that Europe as a whole has given up all attempts at enforcing the law within the Muslim migrant community. I don’t want to - but what other conclusion is there to draw?

What’s at stake in the fight against age verification is not just a single bill in a single state. It’s about whether “protecting children” becomes a legal pretext for embedding government control online that reinforces specific moral and religious worldviews. eff.org/deeplinks/2026…

Message from a German friend: Germany is over. If you have time, read the following post from Reddit. Bear in mind, Germany's only resource was always education and good institutions. r/DePi Experiences as a teacher at a school with a high proportion of refugees - it is even worse than you think Hello everyone, I studied mathematics and am currently working as a secondary school teacher in the Ruhr area, partly due to the current precarious labor market situation. The proportion of refugees at my school, as at many other schools here in the region, is quite high. Most refugees are taught in separate integration classes, as integration into regular classes is simply not possible due to the desolate level of education. I teach two such integration classes several times a week and just wanted to share my experiences with you here. Even before starting my current job, I was extremely critical of the current migration, but my experiences in the teaching profession make my worst fears at the time seem like a benevolent utopia. For context: A large proportion of the integration classes consist of Marrocans born in Spain, but Syrians, Afghans and Roma are also strongly represented. The rest is a wild potpourri of Ukrainians and refugees from other Arab or Muslim countries such as Lebanon or Somalia. One class consists mainly of younger students between 11 and 13 years of age, the other class consists mainly of teenagers around 16 years of age. Now a small summary of my observations: In about half of the classes there is no significant literacy in their own language, just over half understand, even after years in the local school system, in about as good a German as I understand Mandarin. At least in math (I can only judge the other subjects to a very limited extent), the level of education is an absolute fiasco, even among older students. Truly the simplest arithmetic problems (5+6 or 7-4) are already very difficult. The cause often seems to be cognitive, because even if I illustrate the numbers with objects, many students are unable to solve corresponding tasks. It is currently Ramadan. Ukrainian students who do not fast must leave the room if they want to have a drink or eat. On the one hand, this is a rule imposed by the classes themselves, but on the other hand it is also tolerated or even actively supported by large parts of the other teaching staff and the social worker. Some male students refuse to sit next to female students for religious reasons. This is also tolerated. Fights are commonplace and that is no exaggeration. In fact, there is at least one fight almost every day. There are no properly maintained school folders or generally a careful handling of school materials. Most come to class wearing only the clothes they wear on their bodies. About half of the class with the older students is always delayed by at least 10 minutes at the first lesson, or sometimes 20 or 30 minutes. Even after the breaks, the class is actually only 10 minutes late each time. During Ramadan, also tolerated by other school staff, a good proportion sleep regularly in class by placing their head on the table. Female students are regularly labeled with highly obscene terms. The punishment of such statements either does not take place at all or is so restrained that repetition is encouraged. On parent-teacher conferences, 90 percent of parents, even after several years of residence in Germany, can only communicate via interpreters. A few days ago, some students proudly told me what new cell phone models their siblings and parents have, which, mind you, receive almost exclusively transfer payments. Female colleagues generally have it more difficult than my gender counterparts, who are usually at least rudimentarily respected. Some students often do not show up at school for months without apology. A rejection of other religions is very clear in many situations. For group work in other subjects that spans weeks, the results have a scope that can be achieved by those with normal abilities within five minutes. There is no mixing with other students. You like to keep to yourself. Even among refugees, groups usually form according to their respective origins. With all the negative impressions, there are a few positive experiences. A handful of students are actually making an effort and progress. These students are also the only reason why work doesn't seem completely pointless. I myself try to counteract this to the best of my ability, but this is hardly possible if there is no support from the staff and the school administration. I have already capitulated on some points because a corresponding commitment only breaks your nerves without changing anything. Many of the older students are leaving our education system anytime soon, and with that, the state is losing pretty much the only way to exert any influence. I fear that the situation in other schools often looks little better. This leads us to send school leavers into the wild year after year who neither write, read nor master the most basic primary school mathematics. Such people are not fit for any kind of work and are doomed to languish in our welfare system for life. Muslim and African students, in particular, often have an absurd number of siblings by German standards. If one assumes that this reproduction rate will not break with the current generation, but perhaps even increase given the fantastic conditions here in Germany compared to their countries of origin (not for locals, but certainly for people from countries with a per capita GDP of $800), the problems are compounded exponentially. I lack any imagination as to how the catastrophe that lies ahead could be averted in any way, and this is increasingly frustrating me. Just wanted to share this with you. Thanks to those who stuck with it until the end of the text and gave themselves my whining.

It must be understood that the slide towards third-worldism is precisely because we have so many laws but so little enforcement. Enforcement cannot be done on the cheap, and it cannot be done without a functioning court system. If you want to live in a first world country then these are the corners you don’t cut.

last time I was in Mumbai, I dared walk beyond the walls of the Four Seasons just to see the… sights. concierge almost physically tried to stop me: “saar! saar! no walking around here!” two dead bodies, just laying forgotten in the street within a few blocks. in the oven-hot air, I couldn’t tell whether they’d been there an hour or a week. open sewers in all directions. 3-feet-tall people living in tragic hovels, regarded by the upper classes as almost no different than rodents. sure, it’s nice inside the Four Seasons. and it’s nice in the tony exclusive neighborhoods of old Bombay, the capital area of Delhi, in Chennai or Bangalore, and in (very Portuguese) Goa. Chandigarh’s capital complex, designed by a very European architect, is incredible. otherwise, India is an absolute shithole, a dogpile of immense human suffering, of hideous filth and inequality, of preening awful moralizing prideful spiteful rich people who treat their servants like garbage, and a middle class whose best option is to become scammers. it’s a place that breeds parsimonious, stingy, ugly souls who derive more satisfaction believing they’ve ripped someone off in any transaction, large or small, than from building durable, fruitful connections. there are, indeed, many beautiful things in India, but all were built by people long, long ago from an altogether different civilization. unfortunately, they have all been buried in the literal and figurative shit.

There are no umlauts in English. The nation that occupies Byzantium and its capital Constantinople is called, “Turkey.” Once you start spelling Munich, München, and Cologne Köln, then we can discuss otherwise.

@EdwardJDavey, you have misread the argument so comprehensively that one has to wonder whether it is deliberate. Nobody is objecting to freedom of worship. Nick Timothy did not say Muslims should not be allowed to pray. He said mass ritual prayer in a shared national civic space is an act of domination, and cited the former extremist turned scholar Ed Husain, who has spent his career documenting exactly this phenomenon. The Adhan, the call to prayer, declares there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger. That is by definition a theological repudiation of every other faith. When projected into Trafalgar Square, a national memorial to British sovereignty and independence, it is not equivalent to a celebration. It is a declaration. The distinction is theological, not political, and it is precise. You invoke freedom of worship as though Timothy had called for mosques to be closed. He did not. You invoke British values as though observing that the domination of public spaces is straight from the Islamist playbook is somehow un-British. It is not. It is documented, sourced and supported by scholars who have spent decades inside Islamist movements. This week, thousands of people gathered on the Embankment chanting death to America and death to Israel. Bobby Vylan led chants of death death death to the IDF, cleared by the CPS last year and back on a London stage doing it again. The Islamic Human Rights Commission, named in a Lords report as part of Iran's soft power network in Britain, addressed the crowd. Thirty six Labour MPs wrote to the Parliamentary Commissioner demanding the investigation of a man for pointing out what every serious student of Islamism already knows. The Attorney General deployed his Jewish identity to defend a declaration that, by its own theological logic, repudiates Judaism. And your contribution to all of it is a tweet accusing people who raise these questions of stoking fear, hatred and division. You lead a party that voted consistently to keep Britain in the European Union against the democratic will of the British people. A party that has positioned itself as the political home of progressive appeasement, that has never met an Islamist grievance it would not accommodate, and whose response to every act of cultural intimidation is to accuse those who name it of bigotry. The Liberal Democrats have no record of defending British values under pressure. They have a record of redefining British values to mean whatever is least likely to cause offence to the most vocal pressure group in the room. Freedom of worship is indeed a fundamental British value. So is freedom of speech. So is the freedom to observe, without being accused of racism, that a theological declaration of exclusive truth projected into a national monument is not the same as lighting a menorah or performing a Passion play. Nick Timothy exercised that freedom. The full weight of the parliamentary and political establishment descended on him within twenty four hours. That is the state of British politics today, Ed. And you are part of the problem, not the solution. "Nick Timothy didn't say Muslims shouldn't be allowed to pray. He said mass ritual prayer in a shared national civic space is an act of domination, and cited the former extremist turned scholar Ed Husain, who has spent his career documenting exactly this phenomenon."

Lord Hermer's False Equivalence and the Week That Proved Timothy Right Lord Hermer, the Attorney General, is a Jewish man. Today he asked whether Nick Timothy would object to a Jewish prayer event in public, suggesting that Timothy and Badenoch only had a problem with Muslim prayer. It was a clever intervention. It was also a dishonest one. And Hermer knows why. The Adhan declares there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger. That is a theological repudiation of every other faith, including Judaism. It is not private devotion made public. It is a declaration of exclusive religious truth projected into shared civic space. A Jewish prayer in public contains no equivalent assertion. The Nicene Creed begins I believe. The Adhan begins there is no god but. The distinction is not subtle. It is the entire argument. Hermer, as a trained lawyer and a Jewish man, understands it perfectly. He has chosen to ignore it because the government he serves needs the question closed rather than answered. That is the week in miniature. Nick Timothy named something accurately. The Prime Minister reached for Tommy Robinson. Thirty six Labour MPs wrote to the Parliamentary Commissioner demanding Timothy's investigation. The Attorney General deployed his Jewish identity as a shield. And the Parliamentary Commissioner rejected the referral, which means the government's most powerful legal officer spent political capital defending a position that collapsed within hours. Meanwhile the actual week unfolded. Thousands gathered on the Embankment chanting death to America and death to Israel. Bobby Vylan led chants of death death death to the IDF, cleared by the CPS last year, back on a London stage doing it again. The Islamic Human Rights Commission, named in the Walney report as part of Iran's soft power network, addressed the crowd. Khamenei's autobiography sold for seventeen pounds a copy. The Metropolitan Police closed Lambeth Bridge and deployed marine units on the Thames. It was, we are told, a normal Sunday. Charles Moore noted this week that Jesus himself addressed the question of public prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, warning against praying in public to be seen by men rather than to commune with God. Nick Timothy, citing the former extremist turned scholar Ed Husain, pointed out that the total Islamisation of public space is an expression of power and intimidation, and that the domination of shared civic spaces comes straight from the Islamist playbook. Both are right. Neither has been answered. Both have been accused of Islamophobia. The most significant unreported story of the week comes from Rakib Ehsan's new Policy Exchange report. British Muslims hold warmer views on Iran than on Saudi Arabia. They hold warmer views on China and Russia than the general public, despite both countries having histories of persecuting their own Muslim citizens. The UAE has restricted state funding for its citizens seeking to enrol at British universities over concerns they will be radicalised by Islamists on campuses. Arab Muslim states are alarmed by what is happening in British institutions. The British government is busy investigating the people who say the same thing. Hermer asked whether he as a Jewish man would be welcome praying in public. The answer is yes. The question nobody in government will answer is whether a Jewish man would be welcome leading a crowd in chants that repudiate Islam as false, in Trafalgar Square, with the full support of the Mayor of London and the applause of the Prime Minister. That asymmetry is the argument. It has been the argument all week. And the Attorney General, who knows exactly what it is, has chosen to answer a different one. "[Lord Hermer] asked whether Nick Timothy would object to a Jewish prayer event in public, suggesting that Timothy and Badenoch only had a problem with Muslim prayer. It was a clever intervention. It was also a dishonest one. And Hermer knows why."

This is not a "cost of living" crisis—it is a civilizational crisis. "Cost of living is going up" does not begin to measure the gravity of the current, unprecedented situation—a situation where many young Australian people will never own a home, never have a secure job, and are on course to become a dispossessed minority in their own land.

Australia has fallen to its lowest-ever ranking in the World Happiness Report, dropping out of the top 10 amid an ongoing cost-of-living crisis. noticer.news/australia-lowe…

As part of the forward defensive effort, IDF troops continue targeted ground operations in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah and have struck +2,000 terror targets struck: 📍~120 Hezbollah command posts 📦100+ weapons storage facilities 🚀130+ missile launchers 🔴570+ Hezbollah terrorists were eliminated The IDF will continue to operate against Hezbollah after they chose to join the conflict in defense of the Iranian terror regime.

@mercoglianos @magisterium17 @tiktok_us @YouTube 👍🏻 Theory debunked.

@mayd @magisterium17 @tiktok_us @YouTube Ships off Fujariah.

Where are all the photos of the ships in the sea? I want to see them, shouldn't one person go viral with images or video of them?

The man has a point. I would have expected, by now, to see lots of actual video clips of stranded ships and complaints from the crews. All I have seen is motionless dots on computer-generated maps. It is weird in this day of video saturation on @tiktok_us and @youtube that there is nothing to see. Is there a media blackout?

@magisterium17 Do you think that there are not ships in the Persian Gulf?

@jonathan2hale @Maks_NAFO_FELLA Run the experiment! I bet you run out of PACs long before the Iranians run out of Shaheds.

This argument keeps coming up, and it’s based on the wrong comparison. It’s not $3M versus $70k. It’s interceptor cost versus expected damage avoided. If a $70k drone can impose hundreds of millions in losses, then a multi-million dollar intercept is economically rational. Air defense is a loss-prevention problem, not a unit-cost comparison.

🇺🇦❗️“I have no idea what the allies have been looking at for four years while we have been at war,” — Ukrainian military instructors who went to help counter Iranian missiles and UAVs are shocked by the way the US shoots down “Shaheds,” writes The Times – First, the Persian Gulf countries launched as many as 8 Patriot missiles at one (!) enemy target, each costing more than $3 million. – They often used a ship-based SM-6 missile, worth about $6 million, to shoot down a “Shahed” worth $70,000. – The US and its allies often literally “shine” their radars like beacons — without proper camouflage. Ukrainians work differently: mobile radars constantly change positions. For example: just three (!) cheap Shahed drones destroyed the AN/FPS-132 early warning radar (~$1 billion) and another air defense radar (~$300 million), which had been standing in one place for months and were perfectly “readable” from satellites.