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Brief fun and games in the Hawkwind camp of late, social media indicating they're rehearsing a new live set and everything's fine though some social media (unofficial and now removed) indicated their whole 2025 tour had been called off. 83-year-old Dave Brock himself showed up on FB to indicate that was shite. I have a ticket to see them in August, by which point he'll be almost 84

Amongst the greatest hits today accusing a bank that has 70 million customers of not serving conservatives, you only need to and do the maths on American citizens, then deduct the kids and really poor to realise that doesn't add up. Elsewhere he's declassifying files on the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King, encouraging government workers to grass any colleague attempting to continue running pro-diversity operations under another guise (though he's also suggesting anyone seeing this and not reporting it could be prosecuted), then there's the small matter of him suggesting to the World Economic Forum that Canada could become a state of the US and that would free them from the tariffs they'll face otherwise. There are protocols for removing an incapacitated president which apply to mental as well as physical incapacity, but he's obviously sane because he had the sense to stack the highest court with a Republican majority.

Nebraska is a great film, he was Oscar nominated, won a couple of other acting awards and the film got about 20 awards from over 100 nominations

He can blather about the Hitler thing being "Sooo tired" all he wants, this is politics now and any idiot (though apparently not him or Trump) has to calculate for the inevitable drop in support once a new administration takes office. The optics on this are a total gift to any opponent seeking to push back on the incoming government, so too Trump putting people on paid leave immediately. It smacks of people who barely understand nuances in a society and will likely keep this thread alive.

Bannon's apparant favoured insider status was fried inside 100 days last time because of the combined power of "Jarvanka" - Trump had prepared this time but the initial fusilade of legislation will hit serious protests and responses from around the world he doesn't want and that'll have them doubling down soon in the White House, albeit with the inside team having prepared for it. There's already friction between politicos and the tech bros, largely because the first lot think the second lot don't have any political agenda beyond shaping the administration to their own profits and freedom to do what is good for their business. Yeah, I'm expecting fireworks. Be interesting if Zuckerberg or Musk get cast aside quickly to see how far they'll open up their platforms to piling pressure on the Donald.

That book I keep mentioning, the Fire and the Fury about his first 100 days in office in 2017 makes it clear he told her he wouldn't win, she never wanted him to win and she resented it, particularly the light it shone on their "arrangement" of a marriage.

That's a statement, specifically saying "don't fucking come near me!"

Going to the inauguration, apparently - given that she "campaigned" at a decidedly c-list event and only got the briefest of handshakes with JD Vance (not a sniff of the Donald) I'm assuming her holiday snaps this time around will be underwhelming too.

My bad but also a major case of life getting in the way of dead pooling over the last week. Anyway, in traditional style of almost all previous winners Summer in Transyvania has generously suggested a charitable donation as a prize and nominated the William Templeton Foundation for Your People's Mental Health as the recipients. Finally done and dusted, evidence below, link to his chosen charity at the end of this message, and - thankfully - I'm spared anymore totting up of the points (Yarrow, Black Bart and Nolan were all mightily fancied choices hereabouts). That charity: https://www.ypmh.org/about-us/

Yeah, similar feeling - she's second on my sub's bench after Kanya King (who's in play since Johnnie Walker didn't make the start). I'm guessing she's a Drop 40 bonus too.

Always useful to see yourself the way others do. Last week's episode of the estimable Skeptoid podcast (which cites peer reviewed sources most of the time and takes a skeptical look at popular culture, claims of the paranormal etc.) dealt with economic nationalism. Clearly inspired to do so by the incoming Trump administration, not that they discussed that. Instead they lined up three high profile and recent examples of this kind of popular protectionism in action and outlined where it had gone to shit in practice. Here, in its totality, is example two: 2. Brexit Perhaps the most famous case of populist-driven economic nationalism in recent years is Brexit, the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union in 2020. For 27 years, the UK's membership in the EU provided seamless access to the entire European market. Exports were tariff-free, trade was streamlined. There were no customs duties or controls between nations, trucks could just deliver the goods from one nation to another. If you wanted to do business, there was no easier and more profitable way. Democratic values and the rule of law are upheld within the EU, and the standard of living is higher from shared consumer protection, healthcare, and environmental standards. Economically, membership in the EU is a no-brainer. But membership also provides for unrestricted access to live, work, and study in any member nation; and the UK is a pretty attractive place to live. By the time of the referendum in 2016, over half a million non-citizens were immigrating to the UK each year. Some British populists saw them as lawless, unwilling to adopt British culture, and a drain on national resources. Many wanted stronger borders. Also many Britons felt the UK contributed too much to the EU without other nations ponying up their fair share. Many saw EU officials as elitists who were out of touch with ordinary British people. Overall, the voters who passed Brexit saw it as an issue of reclaiming control over their own laws, finances, and borders — leaving the EU was the ultimate act of nationalism. The UK did indeed regain control over their ability to negotiate trade independently and to establish their own immigration rules. They did so. The result was that sectors like agriculture, hospitality, and healthcare suddenly faced severe labor shortages. Britons wishing to travel internationally found it difficult and complicated. Small businesses faced enormous new paperwork and customs delays. Many had to give up doing business internationally, whether they were trying to import or export. Processes that used to be seamless became unmanageable. Even here at Skeptoid, for several years we were forced to stop shipping USB drives and store merchandise to our members in the UK. To comply, we would have had to set up a VAT account with the UK government and file quarterly returns which were far too burdensome and expensive for our small team. The result was predictable. Soon after the referendum, polls have indicated that a growing majority of Britons feel leaving was the wrong choice; and today, a plurality think they should rejoin, with just under 50% favoring rejoining and around 35% favoring staying out. If they do rejoin, Brexit will have proven to be history's most wasteful experiment in populism-driven nationalism. Economists estimate that by 2035, the UK will have 3 million fewer jobs, 32% lower investment, 5% lower exports, 16% lower imports, and be £311 billion worse off than if they had remained in the EU.

Trump may be in third place on this poll, but he'll likely be the only one on that list in the DDP Drop 40, easily the most likely to come to a sudden and violent end amongst that company

A meme, but what a fucking meme!!

Tyson Fury quits for the third time, not much evidence anyone believes it, Eddie Hearn - for one - appears convinced he'll be back for more dosh https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/articles/c1wejqevx1wo