mormont

No, Boris, the bombs were dropped from B-52s. Concorde's a different kind of plane entirely.

The man who notoriously sacrificed his beard to his political career. You still rarely see an MP with a beard, despite their increasing ubiquity.

Why? Genuine question. It is certainly difficult for Ukraine to hold elections due to the war, for example. But here, I don't see the problem. The only real reason it would be difficult that I can see if the belief that it would be difficult, which politically has become a truism, but I can't see that other than the political belief, there is an actual practical reason.

Is there any really good reason why Israelis can't get rid of Netanyahu right now?

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/more-people-risk-death-disease-than-bombings-gaza-who-2023-11-28/

It's wildly optimistic. The serious deaths among civilians, from disease for example, have not yet really begun. Whoever you blame for this whole debacle, it is unarguable that the scale of suffering among Gazan civilians is already enormous and only stands to grow much, much worse.

I think the real insult is offering the Greek PM a meeting with Oliver Dowden instead. That's surely a serious diplomatic offence.

Folks, in those cases, you didn't ask.

My colleague had to cancel a trip to Lisbon this weekend. Sounds like she dodged a bullet, literally!

On that point:

Given that the plot twist was revealed in 1980, I don't feel that the writers were relying on the element of surprise there.

I'd have two points to make that I think everyone should bear in mind: - first, as I've said before, please try not to make negative inferences from others' posts. Instead try to give them the benefit of the doubt. Not because they personally necessarily deserve it, but because it helps to avoid unnecessary arguments. React to, and argue with, the bare content of the post, insofar as possible, instead of attacking an inference that might be incorrect and in any case can't be tackled directly. There's no down side to doing things this way, I assure you. - second, if you find yourself sick and tired of this thread at any time, there's also no down side to taking a break from reading it. Good for your mental health, good for calming the discussion down. I do it. I encourage others to do it too.

I think you're being too harsh on it, and I say that as a noted Donna hater. (Weirdly, I really like all of Donna's family, including those introduced in this episode. It's just Donna herself I can't get on with.) Nice to see Pat Mills finally getting some of that Disney cheddar. And Dave Gibbons, of course, but he got paid for Watchmen.

Kidnapping, to me, implies taking someone for exchange - money, concessions, whatever. That's not what Israel is doing. What Israel is doing is abhorrent, don't get me wrong. And you're right, getting into a 'which atrocity is worse' contest is usually unproductive. But equally, the comparison invites equivalence here, and that offers nothing of value to the argument.

That’s going too far. You’re not wrong that these kids are detained without trial or even in many cases knowing what they are charged with: you’re also not wrong that ther is substantial evidence that they, like adult Palestinian detainees and prisoners, have been subjected to abuse that has increased in intensity since October 7. Their detention is likely illegal and certainly wrong, and Israel should be ashamed of it. I would expect any person with a genuine interest in justice to condemn it. But the Hamas kidnappings were not the same. Israel should be ashamed of these detentions but they are not being carried out on four year olds. The comparison weakens, rather than strengthening, the valid criticism of Israel here.