The Other David Harper

A striking feature of Trump and his team is: they somehow imagine a world in which they are the only actors, only ones with power, and whether it's Tehran or Minneapolis are surprised when it turns out others do. There are many kinds of power and many nations with power.

British tourist among 20 charged in Dubai over videos of Iranian missile strikes UAE cybercrime law means sharing images or footage of war can bring jail, prison time and deportation

No doubt the Free Speech loving Isabel Oakeshott will be all over this and down the nick in Dubai protesting against it...

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power They’re saying the quiet part out loud now.

"Palantir CEO Alex Karp thinks his AI technology will lessen the power of 'highly educated, often female voters, who vote mostly Democrat' while increasing the power of working-class men."

Remind me again why Labour is shoving vast public contracts down its throat?

There was also the fact that -- until the Thatcher years -- a much higher proportion of the workforce was in a trade union, which meant that HR/Personnel knew there were limits to what they could get away with.

Maybe we should rename it Daphneday?

This has been my experience, certainly. And always remember that HR are not on the side of the employee. They exist solely to implement management decisions whilst minimising the organisation's legal liability.

No, but I do get some weirdly inappropriate conference invitations. Agriculture, for example. I'm an astronomer by training, working in bioinformatics. I like carrots, but I'm not sure I could present a keynote lecture on them.

Be brave, handsome George!

clearly *this* is what the tenner should look like

Nobody should be surprised by this. Here in Europe, we've seen this before, and that's why we're refusing to get involved.

Not to diss Ariel Waldman, but here in Britain we have David Attenborough, who has been doing this stuff for more than half a century. We win.

The Underhanded Underground Entrepreneur YouTube video by Jago Hazzard

I'm still waiting for the Cambridge Underground railway network that we were promised a few years ago. Where's Charles Tyson Yerkes when you need him? (For those of you unfamiliar with this magnificent scoundrel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MraW...)

He's also colossally ignorant of history. He should be locked in a room with a copy of Robert Winder's excellent "Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain".

Like a fluffy little Harley-Davidson!

Until eventually you reach the Planck length, presumably?

Maybe Wankbadger Radio was already taken?

Wow. Back in 1989, I travelled from Vancouver, B.C. to Toronto on Via Rail and that only took 72 hours!

Coin used as Leeds bus fare was 2,000‑year‑old currency The coin was handed down to Peter Edwards from his grandfather in the 1950s.

This is the sort of thing a cashless society robs us of, the opportunity to try to get away with paying the bus fare in Carthaginian currency www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

But if they didn't actually start to sprout, are you *really* woke?

Damn, we should get T-shirts printed for the next IAU GA.

Pluto: More planet than Mercury!

This is going to be an even bigger disaster than Iraq.

I sometimes wonder whether that infamous resolution at the IAU 2006 GA would have passed so easily if the New Horizons images had been available. It's clearly a world where complex geological processes are occurring. More active than Mercury.

Scene is a suburban street. A green RANGE ROVER is parked on the kerb. We see two men approach it. We'll call them MAN 1 and MAN 2. MAN 1 [showing Man 2 the Range Rover] So yeah here it is 59,000 on the clock Nice racing green MAN 2: Looks lovely MAN 1: It's got the heated seats, auto headlights [Man 2 looks in the front seat] MAN 2: Really nice [man 2 now opening the back door] MAN 1: Reverse camera, air quality sensor Leather upgrade - MAN 2: What's that? MAN 1: What  MAN 2: There's something on the back seat there  [we now see what he is looking at on the back seat. it is the tiny, shrivelled, calcified form of ANDREW MOUNTBATTEN WINDSOR, claw-like hands laced, his tiny body all grey, his hunted eyes glowing red] MAN 1: I can't see anything. MAN 2: You've got Andrew Mountbatten Windsor MAN 1: That's just light wear MAN 2: It's not light wear mate, it's the former Prince  It's completely ingrained in the leather [he scratches disdainfully at the melted form of the royal wraith] MAN 2: Is this why you didn't show the back seat on the listing? MAN 1: It's a design feature. MAN 2: I've come down from Suffolk mate. [Ends]

This is (almost) an argument in favour of letting Scotland do its own thing if England and Wales ever decided to try permanent summer time again (we tried it once before, between 1968 and 1971).

The bridge over the Snake River at Riggins, Idaho. On the right side of the road (looking south) is a sign which says "Entering Mountain Time Zone".

Fun fact: Idaho spans two time zones, but the split is north/south, not east/west. If you're travelling from north Idaho to the state capital Boise on Hwy 95, you have to set your watch back an hour as you cross the Snake River just north of Riggins (pop. 372). There's a roadside sign to remind you.

Also known as Daylight Confusion Time.

Not in Europe, though. We don't switch for another three weeks. Meanwhile, we have to endure Daylight Confusion Time when dealing with our American family and colleagues.

Truly, the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable.

Today marks the start of Daylight Confusion Time. The US and Canada put their clocks forward an hour today, but Europe doesn't do so until 29 March. For the next three weeks, Europeans scheduling Zoom calls with Americans have to stop and think "wait, are they 8 hours behind, or 7?".