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Wit and wisdom, Early June 2025
The halfway post
BREAKING: Donald Trump is reportedly demanding the FBI compile a list of everyone who uses the #TACO hashtag referencing "Trump Always Chickens Out."
Doc
Just heard that the government is banning Roman numerals!!
Not on my watch!
Me
Nice one, Doc. IV or IIII ?
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I awake to the rumbling of a large vehicle pulling up outside my front drive. My bedside alarm says 5.30am.
Had my cover been blown?
I had been expecting something every day for months since my messages to one address remain unanswered.
My pretence of ignoring visible security measures in a neighbourhood of otherwise securely-barricaded houses had always been no more than a hopeful option.
I retreat into the bathroom and out of my bed clothes. I dress in the sports kit I had set out for my morning tennis match and pocket the emergency pack of medication, and phone...
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Bigger than Hollywood. Bigger than Bollywood. The romance between the most powerful political leader in the world and the richest man in the world crashed and burned in the space of a few days.
Closest friends have always whispered that it was always a matter of time before, in the words of the song, they would have to call the whole thing off.
Why? The gossip sheets of Washington DC are putting it down to a clash of two of the strongest egos the world has ever known.
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"We all know someone who avoids the items on the front shelf in supermarkets”. This proposition was put forward recently by a friend of mine who writes under the pseudonym of Shoab Molvi.
Shoab“ specialises in quirky puns of the kind which appeals to those with whom he shares his sense of humour.
Writing on one of his favourite outlets, namely X formally known as Twitter, he offered the insight with a photograph of one such shelf-searcher almost dislodging the items at the front of the shelf in search of the freshest possible product behind.
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Eco’s fourteen features of fascism
In a much-quoted article in the New York Review of Books, in 1995, the philosopher and novelist Umberto Eco reflects on his direct experience of fascism.
Eco typically refuses refuses patronise his readers, which can make him difficult to follow. In one of his own books he advised readers not to bother unless they were prepared to work hard at it.
In this review, he approaches the notion of Fascism with a relatively few references. But he does explain one term which he calls
Ur-fascism, he contends the understanding of which is a game which
QUOTE can be played in many forms and the name of the game does not change. The one game is called Ur-Fascism.END QUOTE
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TACO stands for "Trump Always Chickens Out," a mischievous phrase coined by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong in an opinion piece on May 2, 2025.
He was referring to Trump's pattern of announcing steep tariffs only to backpedal in the face of market turmoil.
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Apologies for even more flubs than usual
TR
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Gary Lineker’s departure from the BBC: The uneasy relationship between sport and politics.
The uneasy relationship between sport and politics is demonstrated by the case of Gary Lineker, a former international football star who became the BBC’s highest paid sports journalist.
Linacre’s engaging style contributed to a high profile career after his retirement from football, which included widespread media visibility including a lucrative advertising contract with a crisps company...
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What’s more boring than watching paint dry? Answer: Attending the AGM of a Chess league.
This audio record of one such experience has two purposes. It is a summary of my attendance at the annual general meeting of Stockport chess league which took place on Wednesday, the 14th of May It is also an attempt at catharsis on my part of the experience.
I may have exaggerated some points in the hope of retaining your attention.
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Doc continues his punning streak…
I taught my four year old son how to use the word abundance in a sentence. He said: Thanks Dad that really means a lot!
I’ve been meaning to mention this often-repeated tweet which seems designed to convince very dim people how they may be able to conceal their dimness.
"My friends think I'm a crypto genius, (I'm not) it's because I read WAGMI’s weekly newsletter (and they have no idea it exists)" - Every Crypto Degen
Republicans against Trump
Tucker Carlson pleads with Trump to “rescue” his friend Russell Brand, who’s been charged with rape, sexual assault, and indecent assault saying:
“Brand…now faces life in prison. He has no shot at a fair trial because Britain is no longer a free country… Say a prayer that the Trump administration comes to his rescue.”
From the publisher's feed