Thomas Penny

Trump's family has made billions off the presidency while working families can't afford groceries. And Republicans in Congress? They've done nothing to stop it. Not one thing. Voters will not forget that at the ballot box.

The School Library Association will celebrate 90 years in 2027, and we recently revealed our #anniversary campaign plans at an event at @bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Find out more about what's in store next year: bit.ly/4zNEMd4 #SchoolLibraries #SchoolLibrarians #CelebratingSchoolLibraries #90years

For Nigel Farage, it undoubtedly has. That £5 million "reward" for a start...

Another story impossible to imagine in any other administration: the president's son goes hunting with a Russian criminal who is part of Putin's security entourage

Really fabulous to be at the launch of this last night. I saw the Dead in the US 36 years ago and came home to discover nobody had a clue who I was talking about. To be in a venue full of young Deadheads in London last night for a transcendent performance of Dark Star was magnificent.

"The harder they come, The harder they fall, One and all..."

We once again remind the president that American Jews don't need to be "loyal" to a candidate or party to be both American and Jewish and it's unconscionable to say they should be "ashamed" or cast out for failing to do so.

Too many American Jewish organizations will not call out the blatant antisemitism of a non-Jewish president saying that Jews are being "disloyal" if they vote for Abdul El-Sayed. I am so grateful we have this organization that will.

The Ramaswamy ad has pushed the largest newspaper in Ohio, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, to reverse its position on endorsements. "A candidate who uses childhood sexual abuse as a weapon against the person who endured it has crossed a line that Ohioans should defend, whatever their party."

New Liz Truss book doesn't disappoint. Thrust is blaming the Bank of England for the Sept 2022 market fallout, especially its quantitative tightening announcement the day before the mini-budget. She claims that she and Kwarteng were "caught off-guard", blindsided by the BoE's announcement.

Dejan Šoškić, the former head of Serbia's central bank, is one of the more serious candidates to be the country's new PM. He has suggested lustration, in particular of Vucic's expansive party-oligarchs, will be a priority for the/his new government.

This went on for the rest of the full hour, at which point the BBC apologised for having to go to the weather and urged viewers to follow continuing live coverage on iPlayer. Forty-one minutes of unfiltered, unchallenged propaganda by a far right party with 8 MPs, now third in the polls. Discuss.

⚡️️ US holding up air defense missiles for Ukraine for nearly a month, Zelensky says. A senior Ukrainian official previously told the Kyiv Independent that the batch awaiting U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's approval was "significant."

Elon Musk not only controls the satellite systems that the Ukrainian army - and other European armies - rely upon, he also controls the algorithms that govern a large swathe of the European information space. Europe needs to decouple from this clear and present threat to their security. My latest

If Americans need our little southern recipe for how to defeat fascism it goes like this: - Put people in the streets by standing for popular demands (wages, healthcare, public services) - Do not engage with fascists online - Do not succumb to doomsayers or media-driven narratives - Be happy

After the first round elections, Congressman André Janones created a WhatsApp channel titled “Lula’s Army.” It ballooned to 10 million people following his commands on how to behave online to counteract Meta’s far-right-favouring algorithms. The right knows how to use socials. We must learn, too.

Atlanticists Assemble! (With a terrific opening anecdote.)

When the algorithms are against you, you take the long way round. How long before Zuckerberg finds a way to limit WhatsApp to stop this happening again?

It seems even Grok knows.

"We got lines fly like an eagle The rhythm it smokes more than a beagle..." (PWEI)

Still ageing like milk

Trump and Musk are just stringing Ukraine along and letting Russia attack it with impunity. And the American press is foolishly falling for blue smoke and mirrors, arguing whether Musk or Trump are responsible. Hint, they both are!

MIND-BLOWING STATS: A record two-thirds of new cars in China are now electric (NEVs*), while combustion-car sales have fallen by two-thirds since they peaked in 2017 – In 2020, ~95% of sales were combustion-engine cars – By Sep 2026, they crashed to 33% – On the flip side, NEVs hit a record 67% 🧵

Atlanticists Assemble! (With a terrific opening anecdote.)

Spheres of Influence Won’t Help the US | "Sacrificing small nations to please the world’s biggest countries is a dead end. The US in particular has much more to lose than to gain." CEPA https://cepa.org/article/spheres-of-influence-wont-help-the-us/

Hey everyone, gather around! Elon Musk, the trillionaire defense contractor currently spending >$400m on political campaigns to prop up the party of a deeply unpopular president who launched the Iran War has some thoughts about Ukraine, elites, and money in politics.

There's a different side of this story that nobody's talking about.

I've just had my first mince pie, and I'm not ashamed.

A piece about the US, to be sure, but interesting if you've ever wondered about the Fathers For Justice / Right Wing nexus in the UK.

There's still time to get your white poppies. Order them from the Peace Pledge Union here: shop.ppu.org.uk

theonion.com/thats-not-fu...

sigmund? sigmund it's your cousin marvin... marvin freud... you know the thing you've been talking about where there's some libidinal force inside us that seeks egoic shattering even unto death... well you're not gonna believe this but I'm looking at the news and im thinking, call it the death drive

Cartoonist: Daniel Boris

You don’t fight fascists by pretending their ‘concerns’ are ‘legitimate’.

Some raw material produced by Irish refinery ‘undoubtedly’ supplying Russian military, EU’s sanctions envoy says

Czech President Petr Pavel says a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was “quite close” – until Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel. 🔗 vist.ly/5pjp8

22 October 1881 | A Dutch Jewish woman, Reintjen van Gelder-de Jong, was born in Apeldoorn. She arrived at #Auschwitz on 5 September 1944 in a transport of 1,019 Jews deported from #Westerbork. She was murdered in a gas chamber right after the selection.

NEWS: Robert De Niro delivers a blistering rebuke of Trump and the Supreme Court in a new video condemning threats to voting rights. “I’ve got a message for them: no f**king way.” He urges Americans to vote early and protect their right to vote. Watch.

Somehow they know when it’s going to rain

Fantastic. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before Trump and Putin get to share the FIFA Sakharov Prize.

International Criminal Court wins EU's 2026 Sakharov prize reut.rs/4Bmgb0v

Big moment for my family in yesterday's Wordle... (I hope it's no longer the current puzzle in any timezone... if it is, sorry!)

"Ordinarily, moving historical items within the building is a deliberate process overseen by curators. Hegseth’s staff dispatched its own team to relocate an Eisenhower globe. They dropped it...The resulting gash appears to be several inches wide." wapo.st/3WF2YQo

Up here in the English Peak District it is pretty wet, hence the reservoirs But this is what Ladybower looks like now - nearly two-thirds of the way through Autumn This bodes very badly for summer 2027 Standpipes in the street would be no surprise at all www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Leominster Apple Fair is a fantastic celebration of Herefordshire's wonderful apple heritage! Hundreds of varieties, juice, cider, chutney and more - and I had a brilliant time morris dancing too! 🙂

Somewhat telling that although the BBC turned a blind eye to the brilliant ITV expose of Reform's rank bigotry and racism, it did see fit to report that Reform had reported ITV to the police for doing so. The BBC's news editorial is back to front at this point.