Eh, some do. Others need to keep their powder dry. It’s a long 4 years. There needs to be some people he still sort of listens to.

It should also be pointed out that Germany saying anything at all about foreign military intervention is a big deal, given their longstanding policy against it.

Although the US has spent more on bangs than Europe, which has spent on bangs but also helmets and armour and transport.

He doesn’t have the range. He’d be entertaining for an episode or two but it would wear thin very quickly.

Anyone who saw Rings of Power knew this.

Brexit wasn’t left/right wing. Eurosceptics on both sides. I’d also point out France where right-wing populism ultimately lost out despite an increase in protest votes.

There’s also a greater tradition of public service broadcasting, meaning politicians are more rigorously interrogated than in the highly commercial, partisan American system.

The EU and EC are somewhat stabilising influences too. An EU member government simply wouldn’t be allowed to do some of the stuff Trump is doing.

Public opinion? Whose? Europe’s, who look down on rampant American capitalism and Trump? Africa’s, who have just been screwed by Trump and Musk? The Middle-East, who have been screwed by America for decades? Asia, who are waiting to hear what China says?

Trade waste too. Got 20 tons of rubble but don’t want to pay the processing fees? Dump it on a farm somewhere.

Vincent Price was quite the chef. He even had a cookery show on British TV in the early 70s.

They’re still nefarious if they are incompetent. See: Fascist Italy.

Pity SpaceX doesn’t believe it has to obey the law, and thinks it can just buy land and dump waste on it.

And a ceasefire does not mean the war is over.

Ticket prices in Britain aren’t due to privatisation. They were a side-effect of the unexpected success of British Rail in its final years at attracting more passengers. As demand went up, the ailing infrastructure struggled to cope. Upgrades can take decades to plan and execute correctly, so the answer was to raise prices to ease off demand.

This also fulfilled the longstanding policy of both parties for rail users to carry the financial burden of rail operation and maintenance. So, under privatisation, 40% of tickets were priced directly by the Department for Transport. The rest were priced by the train operators, who often engaged in price wars that lowered prices compared to the controlled fares.

Now of course privatisation is effectively over and 100% of tickets are priced by government. Prices will still be maintained high because of the desire to make passengers pay for the system, and to keep demand manageable. Already some routes have reached saturation.

Did the title and the photo have to match up with “sniper choosing his nest” vibes?

When you let anyone make a “TV channel” even when they don’t have a legal team.

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V

• Netherlands - Holmes’ Bonfire, 1666, 1944
• Belgium - Napoleonic wars — Waterloo
• France - (as England) 1230, 1337-60, 1369-89, 1373, 1415-53, 1562, (as Britain) 1794, 1795, 1813, 1815, 1944
• Germany - 1914-18, 1944-5
• Spain - 1808-13
• Italy - 1944-45
• Austria - 1945

Please calm down and would the outstanding 22 form an orderly queue.

Not sure I follow their sums on this. The poorest families aren’t living in the buildings with large roof spaces. So whatever the average saving from having solar fitted, they won’t ever approach anywhere near that, if anything. Who gets the savings from blocks of flats? Presumably the council would take the profit from panels on their properties to prop up their failing budgets. Housing associations are also being squeezed.

I wasn’t particularly impressed by this one. 5/10. Agreed Thornton is the main reason to keep watching.

Predictability

This show exists to promote oil, access the flyover state audience, and to rehabilitate Paramount for the right-wing ahead of a major merger. As such, it is an old-fashioned show where boxes are to be ticked, not to be thought outside of.

You have the brave workers in constant danger, you have the battered cowboy keeping it together, you have the Mexicans playing the role of drug dealers. You have the eye candy by the pool, and just the semblance that “if there was a better way we’d do it”. As if.

So yes, the composition and lighting are pretty, the locations are different, and there’s plenty of scaffolding and machinery to pan slowly across while the music swells. But what do you actually leave with after an hour? Very little.

Wafer-thin characters

Billy-Bob is the dour fixer who knows the real way the world works. He delivers at least one lecture per episode about this, without contradiction or growth. A recurring theme is how oil will always be king, always.

His daughter is, apparently, a tight little butt with a girl attached. Or that’s how every other character and the camera treat them. See the excruciating “comedy” bits with Billy-Bob’s roommate.

His son is an oil worker. He reacts to situations, but doesn’t instigate them. He’s a passive character who only serves to justify the audience being told how Tab A fits into Slot B and why that’s important to make the oil come out.

His ex-ex-wife exists to deliver Quippy innuendos. Curiously, she’s the only character who almost gets development, but that’s quickly swept away and forgotten about.

The company owner is a businessman. He likes money. He owns a pool. He’s often at dinner with other businessmen. Or playing golf. Really breaking the mould here.

The company lawyer is a predictable city-type woman, who is good at what they do (which is apparently still a shock to other characters because were essentially in an 80’s throwback show). She starts out rough but softens up because that’s original.