Reading now A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot Combat Magicks, by Steve Cole
Coming soon (perhaps): Troll Bridge, by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan De Terugkeer van de Wespendief, by Aimee de Jongh Dark Lord of Derkholm, by Diana Wynne Jones A Sunless Sea by Anne Perry Feersum Endjinn, by Iain M Banks The Ginger Man, by J. P. Donleavy Bland Ambition, by Steve Tally Nebula Awards Showcase 2011, ed. Kevin J. Anderson In Another Light, by Andrew Greig Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney, by Dennis O'Driscoll
“Goat Song”, by Poul Anderson The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Graham 1913: The World before the Great War, by Charles Emmerson The Making and Remaking of the Good Friday Agreement, by Paul Bew Sovereign by R.M. Meluch The Weather on Versimmon, by Matthew Griffiths
Sat, 12:56: RT @jeannette_ng: Whenever someone disses Mary Sues, I think about how Tolkien and his wife Edith are buried under their middle earth OC na…
Sat, 14:18: RT @richardpbacon: I honestly think Radio 4 should have a moratorium on interviewing Ian Duncan Smith and David Davis about Brexit. They mi…
Sat, 17:50: RT @Dublin2019: The Dublin Access team has an important message to anyone with access needs, specifically those requiring mobility scooter…
Sat, 19:17: RT @kevinhorourke: This is the kind of headline that Varadkar should never have allowed to emerge. It is potentially toxic but unsurprising…
Sat, 20:00: My week on Twitter : 62 Mentions, 11.5K Mention Reach, 445 Likes, 124 Retweets, 464K Retweet Reach. See yours with… https://t.co/qT2uRhmUkZ
Fri, 12:29: RT @damonwake: Interesting perspective from a man who knows Brussels inside out. A counterpoint to the Brexiteers queuing up to tell @BBCr4…
Fri, 13:15: RT @AndrewDuffEU: Labour’s posturing is preposterous. There may well be valid criticisms of the WA, but the Opposition is not finding them.…
Fri, 13:15: RT @purves_peter: Exciting day today. A round trip of about 16 hours but worth it to attend the screening of Mission to the Unknown at UCLA…
Fri, 15:43: RT @Peston: .@theresa_may loses her Withdrawal Agreement by 286 to 344. Now backbench MPs have to take control of Brexit or it’s no-deal Br…
Fri, 15:43: RT @faisalislam: Government DEFEATED on Approval of Brexit Withdrawal Agreement: Ayes 286 Noes 344
Fri, 15:44: RT @eucopresident: In view of the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to call a European Council…
Fri, 15:52: RT @davidallengreen: The UK will now be leaving the EU by automatic operation of law on 12 April, without a deal, unless something not curr…
Fri, 15:54: RT @tconnellyRTE: Breaking: EU source says: Following the negative vote in the HoC today, Art. 50 will now be extended until 12 April as de…
Fri, 16:08: RT @mwarhurst: The Westminster bubble – ignorant/uninterested in the EU and obsessed by its own internal conflicts – has been unable to neg…
Fri, 16:21: RT @jarwisniewski: Brexiteers reject Brexit on the Brexit day. You can’t make this stuff up
Fri, 16:22: RT @JenniferMerode: European commission spokesman: Commission regrets negative vote Article 50 extended until 12 April “It will be for…
Fri, 16:34: RT @DmitryOpines: It’s heartrending watching the UK stumbling spasmodically and needlessly ever closer to an abrupt severing of the Europea…
Fri, 17:11: RT @Forbes: A photo of 8 of the last remaining Apollo astronauts rocketed to the top of Reddit this week, just a few months before the 50 y…
Fri, 19:23: RT @UKandEU: Sir Ivan Rogers says he is “probably the least surprised person in Britain” about how this has turned out. #2yrsArticle50 http…
Fri, 19:23: RT @UKandEU: “There wasn’t a clear, single, unitary Brexit destination, even among the @vote_leave people,” says UK’s former permanent repr…
Fri, 19:23: RT @UKandEU: The earliest a trade deal could be reached would be the “early to mid 2020s,” says Sir Ivan Rogers. “Nobody internalised that…
Fri, 19:23: RT @UKandEU: “The prime minister has announced her own mortality. It’s unimaginable to me that the Conservative party would want a general…
Fri, 19:23: RT @UKandEU: “Dominic Cummings is right,” says Sir Ivan Rogers, “a second referendum wouldn’t be about Brexit. It would be about the establ…
Fri, 19:23: RT @UKandEU: Sir Ivan Rogers doesn’t believe the prime minister would feel mandated by any indicative votes, and adds that the EU is negoti…
Fri, 19:24: RT @UKandEU: “If you go to no deal by accident, you’re in a lot of trouble,” says Sir Ivan Rogers. He says both the EU and eurosceptic poli…
Fri, 22:37: RT @larsloekke: House of Commons did not seize their third chance to secure an orderly #Brexit. Very discouraging. UK must now show a way t…
Sat, 09:45: RT @piris_jc: With a plan, an objective, and an appropriate delay. Participation to EP elections not sufficient, I think. https://t.co/qXyK…
Thu, 13:05: RT @mattbxl: This is a very good thread indeed. Broadly agree with the 3 key issues. I’d also flag Parliamentarians and ministers not bothe…
Thu, 20:48: RT @MaryRobinette: Let’s talk about spacesuits, specifically Extravehicular Mobility Units, and being a #ladyastronaut. The EMUs on the IS…
Fri, 07:48: RT @davidallengreen: Two years ago today I was (rightly) mocked, as I had contended that a government would not be mad enough to make the A…
Fri, 09:06: RT @davidallengreen: Mrs May regrets that the United Kingdom is unable to leave the European Union by automatic operation of law today.
Fri, 09:41: RT @Bergmann_Mat: Quite a good take on the many catastrophic british mistakes in the #brexit negotiations. What is missing again is the asp…
Fri, 09:48: This is true; of course they have also made a hard Brexit a very real possibility, if not on the schedule originall… https://t.co/PJiI2OgkVN
Fri, 10:20: RT @EU_Taxud: It is increasingly likely that the UK will leave the EU without a deal on 13 April (00h00). Take action and prepare you…
Fri, 10:45: RT @simongerman600: I find the Panama Canal endlessly fascinating. I’m very glad that a crew member of this ship brought along his drone to…
Fri, 10:55: RT @RhianWi74515396: Really interesting and hard hitting thread. Original politico article also interesting but starts on the wrong foot by…
Fri, 11:02: RT @tpgcolson: Sir Ivan Rogers brutal on Theresa May’s Brexit strategy: “You can start with a tub-thumping speech to your party and be de…
Fri, 11:02: RT @tpgcolson: Ivan Rogers also criticises the UK’s secretive approach to negotiations: “You can’t run a trade negotiation in a bunker or a…
Fri, 11:02: RT @tpgcolson: Rogers contrasts EU negotiating competence to UK’s: “You’ve got to think arond corners.” “Throughout this process they’ve l…
Fri, 11:02: RT @tpgcolson: Ivan Rogers says May’s attempt to separate withdrawal agreement from political declaration is undemocratic, as it would leav…
Fri, 11:02: RT @tpgcolson: Roger’s on today’s withdrawal agreement vote: “We’d go into the blindest of blind Brexits.This is supposedly in the name of…
Fri, 11:02: RT @tpgcolson: Ivan Rogers says a no-deal Brexit is “a very likely outcome.”
Fri, 11:02: RT @tpgcolson: Ivan Rogers says the UK is heading for a general election: “I think it’s quite likely the prime minister would refuse to fol…
Fri, 11:02: RT @tpgcolson: Should Brussels give the UK an extension? Ivan Rogers: “If we ended up with a more Brexiteer PM, the EU might regret it, bu…
Fri, 11:02: RT @tpgcolson: Rogers: There’s “an idea the backstop is some ghastly trap to keep us permanently aligned … If we want to end up with a Ca…
Fri, 11:02: RT @tpgcolson: On no-deal, Ivan Rogers says most Cabinet ministers and ex-Cabinet ministers “don’t understand WTO and doesn’t know what it…
Fri, 11:19: RT @MichelBarnier: Important vote today in @HouseofCommons. As a reminder, approval of Withdrawal Agreement by 29 March will secure extensi…
Fri, 11:42: RT @PatMcGovern16: A very good article mapping out how the UK failed in the #Brexit negotiations at every turn (as recommended by @BrigidLa…
Wed, 12:56: RT @DPhinnemore: “The world contains three economic superpowers: the US, the EU (without the UK) and China. These generated about 60 per ce…
Wed, 13:46: RT @ProfMarkElliott: .@BillCashMP is wrong to suggest that the UK Government acted unlawfully in agreeing an Article 50 extension with the…
Wed, 15:04: RT @Mij_Europe: @eucopresident this morning provided interesting counterpoint to mood I picked up in Bxl—which is bleak. As I’ve written pr…
Wed, 15:53: RT @pmdfoster: NEW: Right. Will there, or will there not be a border in Northern Ireland in the event of a ‘no deal’ #brexit? Today HMRC…
Wed, 16:05: RT @SaraDybris: From John Whyte’s ‘the North Erupts and Ireland Enters Europe, 1968-72 (in a New History of Ireland VII) https://t.co/LcGQZ…
Wed, 17:11: RT @DavidHenigUK: Safe prediction: If the PM’s deal ever does pass through the Commons a large number of MPs who vote for it will claim in…
Wed, 18:28: RT @tnewtondunn: Breaking: May tells MPs: “I will not remain in post for the next phase of the negotiations”.
Wed, 20:35: RT @SJAMcBride: Four months ago, Boris Johnson told the DUP conference that Theresa May’s deal would mean Northern Ireland becoming “an eco…
Thu, 09:41: RT @AgataGostynska: Just a reminder: the fact that the British parliament does not want a no deal it does not mean that it will not happen.…
Thu, 10:34: RT @MatthewOToole2: Thread – People surprised at the DUP’s statement underline again how little anyone in London notices NI. By common cons…
Thu, 11:55: RT @eurorealist: Excellent analysis by @TomMcTague and interpretation by @nwbrux. From start to finish this has exposed the ignorance and a…
Tue, 12:56: Important thread on what the problems really are if UK law is not changed to reflect the new Brexit date. https://t.co/dSLS1p8xxp
Tue, 14:58: RT @AndrewDuffEU: THREAD. Brussels is less interested in process than in outcome. Any proposal from London for a bespoke UK deal must be cl…
Tue, 16:05: RT @MavenOfMayhem: Cis (or cisgender) isn’t a slur. Yet some people think it is. ‘Cis’ literally means ‘I’m comfortable with the gender I…
Tue, 16:55: RT @unamccormack: diddly dum indicative vote diddly dum indicative vote diddly dum indicative vote diddly dum indicative vote oooo-eeeee-…
Tue, 16:56: RT @AlbertHorace198: A short thread on why I supported Leave: 1) I believed the lies eg £350m to the NHS 2) I allowed exceptionalism to cl…
Tue, 18:03: RT @rafaelbehr: Emerging position of many ERG seems to be ‘ok, we could accept May’s deal now. Just undo it later,’ demonstrating that intu…
Tue, 20:23: RT @WeyandSabine: @pbergsen Having tweeted for 2 years on Brexit, trade, Europe, liberal democracy, this is the tweet for which I get most…
Wed, 06:51: RT @SJAMcBride: The implication of this – from the man who for more than a decade was the strategic brain of the DUP’s backroom team & whos…
Wed, 09:48: RT @eucopresident: Appeal to EP: You should be open to a long extension, if the UK wishes to rethink its strategy. 6 million people signed…
Mon, 12:47: RT @bexin2d: Two thing I keep hearing presented as though in conflict with each other but I think are actually not: – The country is becomi…
Mon, 12:56: RT @MitchellSt: Thread on what has changed between the “Hold 2nd Referendum” petition Jun-16 and the “Revoke Article 50” one that is curren…
Mon, 13:15: RT @Mij_Europe: An iconic photo. Funnily, senior EU officials in Bxl tell me today that the text these Sherpas were working on didn’t at al…
Mon, 18:18: RT @JenniferMerode: No-deal Brexit means British travellers can expect *passport stamps *luggage checks *border guards asking them about th…
Tue, 08:42: RT @EUTweetup: Any takers for an early April #eutweetup? Most convenient dates form my side (@ktowens) would be April 1, 2 or 3 https://t.…
Sun, 12:56: RT @EG_Maxwell: I’m not going to lie, singular they emerging from an almost six hundred and fifty year old werewolf romance is extremely go…
Sun, 16:01: RT @Peston: The cabinet coup against @theresa_may is over before it even started. Authoritative sources close to @michaelgove tell me he do…
Sun, 17:20: RT @MSmithsonPB: The latest A50 petition total is 5,071,301 which is much greater than the total of voted any party received at the 2014 UK…
Sun, 19:36: RT @davidallengreen: Genuinely do not understand these “or there will be a general election” threats. Not only is a general election diffi…
Mon, 07:56: RT @DmitryOpines: Me: Just ignore it. The man is so irrelevant his only card is writing articles so absurd half the internet can’t help but…
Sat, 14:35: RT @alexwickham: The full extraordinary “Murder on the Orient Express” showdown between Theresa May and her whips office: https://t.co/hJBh…
Sat, 15:23: RT @TTresadern: “Series 11 made Doctor Who political” – a response Starting with the revived series, here’s a list of every political them…
Sat, 16:05: RT @harikunzru: Most rubbish of all, from a European perspective, was the total inability of the ancient Britons to make cheese. How can yo…
Sat, 19:11: RT @SamCoatesTimes: Tory MPs now texting round saying Theresa May should go this week and a Gove / Lidington / Hunt triumvirate should sort…
Sat, 19:11: RT @katyballs: .@SamCoatesTimes reports Tory MPs texting round suggesting Michael Gove as a potential caretaker PM, we discussed the idea o…
Sat, 19:13: RT @NeilMaybin: @SamCoatesTimes Lidington is the only one who has any sense of reality, even if he himself is not entirely blameless.
Sat, 19:32: RT @ProfTimBale: For those who’d like to compare today’s #StopBrexitMarch with other big protests in the UK over the last thirty years, her…
Sat, 20:01: My week on Twitter : 67 Mentions, 20.3K Mention Reach, 200 Likes, 58 Retweets, 175K Retweet Reach. See yours with… https://t.co/xRKXiO6FEp
Sat, 22:42: RT @davidallengreen: The reasons why Lidington would be good choice to do next round of Brexit negotiations are that: 1. he is only minist…
Sat, 23:22: RT @DPJHodges: The bizarre thing is that when the history of this period is written, there will be a broad consensus that the solution that…
Sun, 09:36: RT @GuitarMoog: David Liddington (Europe Minister when I worked in UKREP) is pretty intelligent and has a decent understanding of the EU.…
Sun, 10:45: RT @NewtonEmerson: Niche David Lidington fact: he’s represented the British government at all meetings of both east-west GFA institutions s…
I spent most of Saturday in Nashville last weekend, the first time I had ever been there. I was there in order to speak on Brexit to a professional conference, but applying the Woodrow Wilson principle meant that I had some time to look around town, though not to take in any of its musical heritage. My old friend H had briefed me about one of the most extraordinary things I have seen in America: a full-scale replica of the Parthenon as it would have been in its prime (or as that was imagined in the 1890s).
It doesn't quite have the same dramatic setting as the original, but it's a striking effort. The Nashvillians of 1897 went to the trouble of getting plaster casts of the Elgin Marbles and filling in the bits that they thought were missing as best they could. It's a really striking piece of work.
But then you get inside. And, good lord, the statue of Pallas Athena, reputedly the largest indoor statue in the Western world, which dates not from 1897 but from 1990, well,
It's difficult for a mere photograph to convey quite how disturbing arresting Alan LeQuire has made it.
The detail on, for instance, the goddess's shield is incredible.
That's pretty mind-blowing. The rest of Nashville's monuments are more normal stuff. There is a nice women's suffrage monument (Tennessee's ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 was crucial to getting women the right to vote), again by Alan LeQuire, though the position of the sun made it difficult to get good shots:
Over at the Tennessee State Capitol, I was surprised to discover a dead president. Tennessee was the home state of three nineteenth-century presidents, though in fact all three were probably born in North Carolina. The most obscure of the three (despite the Mexican-American War) is the one buried in the Capitol grounds, James Knox Polk; he had also been governor of Tennessee from 1839 to 1841 before becoming president from 1845 to 1849. He died only three months after leaving office; his wife lived on another 42 years in their family home where he was buried in the garden. After she died, their house was demolished and they were both moved here. Apparently there are plans afoot to move them on again to the Polks' country place, in Columbia TN, 75 km south of Nashville.
The two other local-ish presidents are both commemorated with statues on the eastern side of the capitol grounds. Again, the angle of the March sun gave me some difficulty in capturing them, but here's Andrew Johnson (president from Linconln's assassination in 1865 until 1869), by Jim Gray, hidden in the trees on the southeastern corner:
And there's not much doubt about who Tennesseeans' favourite local president is; Andrew Jackson has a splendid equestrian statue outside the capitol, between the one of Johnson and Polk's tomb. It's a replica of the one by Clark Mills in Lafayette Park in DC (though the plaque at the base suggests inaccurately that it's the other way round), so I wasn't too worried about catching the detail. The capitol itself is rather nice.
So that's Nashville. I don't know if I will ever be there again, but at least I can say I've been.
The trip ended on what I thought was a flattering note: when I requested a glass of wine in the airport bar, I was asked to prove my age! Readers, I turn 52 next month. Alas, my friend Natalie (who actually lives in Tennessee, though at the other end) informs me that all customers are carded by law, so the question was not as complimentary as I thought.
Marty won the Oscar for Best Motion Picture of 1955, and picked up another three, Best Director (Delbert Mann), Best Actor (Ernest Borgnine) and Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky). Betsy Blair and Joe Mantell were nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Actor respectively, and it also got nominations for Best Art Direction-Set Direction and Best Black-and-White Cinematography. The other contenders for Best Motion Picture were Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, Mister Roberts, Picnic and The Rose Tattoo. I haven’t seen any of them.
IMDB users rank Marty 15th or 11th of the films of 1955. Six films are ahead of it on both rankings: Rebel Without A Cause, East of Eden, Lady and the Tramp, To Catch a Thief, The Night of the Hunter and The Seven Year Itch. The only one of those that I have seen is Lady and the Tramp. Others that I know include Guys and Dolls, The Ladykillers, and The DambustersKismet but have not yet watched the film. That’s unusually broad for me – I think the best year since 1942 (soon to be 1943 once I get to the Retro Hugos). Here’s a contemporary trailer, fronted by Burt Lancaster (who we saw two years ago) as the producer; it includes the one scene that perhaps has weathered the years least well.
It is mercifully short, at 91 minutes apparently the shortest film ever to win the Oscar for Best Picture (or equivalent) – that’s less than 40% of Gone With the Wind. It’s the story of the eponymous Marty, a New York butcher who thinks he will never find love, and then actually does. I found it a charming character study and portrayal of a place and time, beautifully shot; not utterly compelling, but convincing enough. I’m putting it between a third and halfway down my list, between It Happened One Night and The Life of Emile Zola (1937). (Technical note: a bit surprised to find yet another black-and-white film made this late.)
Whitewashing: To start with the usual complaint: the black population of the Bronx was not massive in the 1950s – 6.7% in the 1950 census, 11.5% in 1960 – and, sure, the story is mainly set in the Italian community, but I don’t think that excuses there not being a single black person visible in the entire film. (Just for reference: we’ve had two black speaking parts altogether since Gone With the Wind, 16 years ago.)
Plot: Although it’s a romance, I was pleased thatthe film ends before the story does; the last shot is of Marty phoning Clara to ask her out. We are fairly certain that she will say yes, but who knows where their future will lead?The chemistry between Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair as Marty and Clara is very watchable, and nicely filmed.
The two of them are also well located in their respective somewhat suffocating family backgrounds. (I note that Clara’s parents sleep in separate beds, per the Code.)
It loses marks, of course, for the gender stereotypes (though both main characters are shown as trapped by their parents’ and peers’ expectations), and there is one rather skeevy moment between the two principals. That aside…
Borgnine: As the central character, Borgnine is hugely convincing. He does a tremendous eye-roll in his first scene, as various women customers nag him to get married; his punching a street sign in joy after his accidental date with Clara is a lovely moment; and as well as the chemistry with Betsy Blair, he is great with Joe Mantell as his friend Angie and Esther Minciotti as his mother. I didn’t get anything like as vivid an impression of him in From Here to Eternity.
Cinematography: The best aspect of the film for me was its solid portrayal of the Bronx as a place. There are a couple of key moments here – one of them is the opening street scene, set on Arthur Avenue in Belmont, the Bronx. I’m glad to report that the butcher’s shop where Marty works is still extant, now Vincent’s Meat Market at no. 2374.
A more recent iconic video filmed around the same location: Lady Gaga’s Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say).
One scene that particularly intrigued me for its setting was the dance hall. Look at the top there – that’s actually a disco ball! I had no idea that they were around that early, but that only shows that I haven’t watched Casablanca closely enough, because there’s one visible in one of the flashback scenes.
Anyway, it is charming enough. You can get it here.
The film was based on a teleplay – the first such to win an Oscar for best Picture – so there’s no book to read and I don’t think the original script is available (though the shooting script for the film is online).
Next up, after a run of seven films with more or less contemporary settings, it’s back to the nineteenth century and Around the World in Eighty Days.
Fri, 20:48: RT @charlwynmcr: List of things I was exposed to at school and didn’t turn into: 1) oxbow lakes 2) The assassination of Archduke Franz Fer…
Fri, 23:14: RT @RoguePOTUSStaff: You know, rushing off the phone with a world leader because you want to immediately call AG Barr isn’t exactly the loo…
Sat, 11:15: RT @madgie1941: Hi – am the person responsible for the Revoke Art 50 petition. Just needed to tell you that 1. am currently visiting Cyprus…
Thu, 12:22: RT @jameschappers: I once wrote a front page story about @NicolaSturgeon during the Scottish indyref campaign with the headline “The Most D…
Thu, 12:56: RT @kathy__odonnell: The publisher of the study which invented ‘Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria’ admits that the science was faulty, issues co…
Thu, 15:14: RT @ninaism: #UPDATE: “In the case of a negative British vote then we’d be heading to a no deal. We all know it. And it’s essential to be c…
Thu, 15:19: RT @mazdachris82: @tompeck Brown turned a national crisis into a damage limitation exercise. May turned a damage limitation exercise into a…
Thu, 15:34: RT @damonwake: Come to think of it, if anything can turn the ERG against no-deal, it’s being forced into it by the French. https://t.co/jMa…
Thu, 16:05: RT @PropertySpot: In May 2016, David Davis described the Brexit negotiations as a chessboard where the final checkmate is inevitable. “My…
Thu, 17:11: RT @OfficialBagpuss: “We will find it, we will bind it, We will stick it with glue, glue, glue We will stickle it Every little bit of it We…
Thu, 17:39: RT @AlbertoNardelli: NEW: #EUCO Brexit draft conclusions state: ‘The European Council commits to agreeing to an extension until *22 May 201…
Thu, 18:11: RT @AlbertoNardelli: UK PM May presented her views to EU27 leaders at #EUCO. I am told she was “evasive” and “tightlipped”. The prime minis…
Thu, 18:28: RT @damonwake: Draft European Council conclusions on Brexit: – extension to May 22 – but only if UK parliament approves withdrawal agreem…
Thu, 19:04: RT @davidallengreen: We are so used to unfolding of events, we don’t realise how mad UK politics has become. We are down the rabbit hole,…
Thu, 19:17: RT @AgiBergman: Bought our ferry tickets for the 28th. No flexi tickets available. 3 younger kids and the dog to France with a car full of…
Thu, 19:17: RT @BizPears: Sometimes it feels like we’ve collectively forgotten that a white supremacist murdered a British MP
Thu, 19:20: RT @Peston: I don’t believe the official voices of business and trade unions have ever jointly described a looming threat as a “national em…
Thu, 19:31: RT @thelindsayellis: It always bums me out when I see @GRRMspeaking tweet because no matter what he tweets about, my first thought is “Ever…
Thu, 19:31: RT @thelindsayellis: I genuinely hope that man never writes another word of prose and you fuckers are stuck with naught but HBO. “Fans” lik…
Thu, 19:39: RT @rabihalameddine: Sixteen years ago: On March 19, 2003, the illegal, immoral and unnecessary U.S.-led invasion of Iraq began. The world…
Thu, 19:42: RT @tconnellyRTE: Breaking: officials are drafting a new text at the #EUCO. I understand the Brexit A50 extension date of May 22 has been r…
Thu, 19:47: RT @davidallengreen: Even though legal and historical Twitter provided a host of examples of international agreements without exit clauses,…
Thu, 20:47: RT @aqbyrne: May 7th as potential exit date, w’ April 11th as decision point for the UK on whether to request a longer extension has advant…
Thu, 20:48: This is a good point. Added to that, combining party leadership with senior political office is anyway a mixed bles… https://t.co/W7iWroLkEG
Thu, 22:06: RT @nick_gutteridge: EU official says that when leaders asked May what she was going to do if her deal was voted down, she would only reply…
Thu, 22:18: RT @davidallengreen: UK could not be in a weaker position about Brexit. There has been complete policy failure. UK so weak EU is sorting…
Thu, 22:24: RT @davidallengreen: And this is not the benefit of hindsight. At every *single* step of Brexit, the government was told of the mistakes i…
Thu, 23:17: RT @damonwake: EU to offer Britain Brexit delay to May 22 if parliament approves withdrawal agreement. If it rejects, extension granted to…
Fri, 07:36: RT @alexstubb: All for transparency, but as the only person to have been both a notetaker (1999) and speaker (2014-15) in #EUCO, I find it…
Fri, 07:50: RT @eucopresident: EU27 responds to UK requests in a positive spirit and: agrees to Art. 50 extension until 22 May if Withdrawal Agreemen…
George Washington, born 22 February 1732 (NS), became President 30 April 1789, aged 57 years 67 days;
served as President until 4 March 1797, aged 65 years 10 days (thus becoming the only ex-President)
died 14 December 1799, aged 67 years 295 days,
held the record as longest-lived President for another 3 years, 250 days after his death:
14 years 113 days in total as the longest-lived president.
John Adams, born 20 October 1735 (NS), served as President 4 March 1797 to 4 March 1801.
He outlived Washington on 20 August 1803,
died 4 July 1826, aged 90 years 247 days,
held the record as longest-lived president for another 175 years, 99 days after his death:
198 years 51 days in total as the longest-lived president.
Ronald Reagan, born 6 February 1911, served as President 20 January 1981 to 20 January 1989.
He outlived Adams on 11 October 2001,
died 5 June 2004, aged 93 years, 120 days,
held the record as longest-lived president for another 2 years, 158 days after his death:
5 years 30 days in total as the longest-lived president.
Gerald Ford, born 14 July 1913, served as President 9 August 1974 to 20 January 1977.
He outlived Reagan on 10 November 2006,
died 26 December 2006, aged 93 years, 165 days,
held the record as longest-lived president for another 10 years, 333 days after his death:
11 years 13 days in total as the longest-lived president.
George H.W. Bush, born 12 June 1924, served as President 20 January 1989 to 20 January 1993.
He outlived Ford on 23 November 2017,
died 30 November 2018, aged 94 years, 171 days,
held the record as longest-lived president for another 111 days after his death:
1 year 118 days in total as the longest-lived president.
Jimmy Carter, born 1 October 1924, served as President 20 January 1977 to 20 January 1981.
He has just today outlived Bush.
Wed, 13:41: RT @rowena_kay: If I was the EU reading that letter, I’d be entirely unconvinced that even passing the MV would lead to any sustainable bas…
Wed, 16:05: RT @CasMudde: The Netherlands hold provincial elections today, which somewhat complexly, determine makeup of Senate. This is good primer by…
Wed, 16:44: RT @KeohaneDan: German foreign minister: “Theresa May’s letter has not solved any problems. If the European Council must decide on an ext…
Wed, 16:45: RT @DaveKeating: Tusk has called a #Brexit press conference for 5pm. Speculation that he will say May’s letter has arrived too late for the…
Wed, 18:17: RT @herszenhorn: Random thought: How will Brexiteers vote if they confirm or convince themselves this whole dance btw @theresa_may & #EU wa…
Wed, 18:37: RT @JosephDaul: #Fidesz will be suspended with immediate effect and until further notice following today’s vote of EPP members (190 in favo…
Wed, 18:58: RT @AlbertoNardelli: EU source on long extension: “Our reading of PM May is that a long extension is excluded in any scenario because it wo…
Wed, 22:18: RT @stephenkb: But May’s big problem is that the longterm (whether six days or to 23 May) project is “how can I get at least 25 Labour MPs…
Thu, 09:44: RT @JamesCrisp6: Senior EU source tells me that EU-27 will reject June 30 extension date and insist on May 22 instead, to avoid clash with…
Thu, 10:45: RT @jonhenley: Didn’t hold back here, I have to admit, helped by Guardian corrs and a whole a lot of pissed-off European politicians and of…
Tue, 17:57: RT @seanjonesqc: Brexiters imagined this would be the moment when Jonny Foreigner looked across the poker table and into our flint grey eye…
Tue, 18:09: RT @JenniferMerode: Significant. Michel Barnier gives his view on a longer extension: it “needs to be linked to something new, there needs…
Mon, 12:56: Flawed analysis, failed oversight: How Boeing, FAA certified the suspect 737 MAX flight control system… https://t.co/70hVUVo2MH
Mon, 13:53: RT @IanWishart: You’d struggle to find anyone among the dozens of officials and diplomats working on Brexit on the EU side in Brussels and…
Mon, 16:05: The reason that I am convinced that the Russians are not behind the climate change protests is very simple: climate… https://t.co/UMTVTo9U3U
Mon, 21:34: RT @timjudah1: Tarrant listened to a song lauding Karadzic as he went on his Christchurch murder spree. He wrote the names of Serbian medie…
Tue, 09:12: RT @JeyyLowe: Anyway if you are an MP who basically thought the deal was passable but were waiting for the third go to vote for it for reas…
Tue, 10:45: Really striking to note just how many of the government’s problems in the Brexit process have been self-inflicted a… https://t.co/28ipHuS9mt
Mon, 10:10: RT @davidallengreen: One key to understanding Brexit so far is that EU27 has not dumped on Ireland in the way the UK would have done had th…
Sat, 12:05: RT @pmdfoster: “ It’s not where we wanted to be, but it still leaves us with cards to play.” @CitySamuel selling the backstop… and rath…
Sat, 12:06: RT @DPhinnemore: Once again, the Saturday morning read from @tconnellyRTE is a must. Capriciousness and Cox On Cox: ‘when he [first] ar…
Sat, 15:57: RT @GoodwinVianna: While you’re still horrified by the mosque shooting, I’m going to share something I don’t normally share. Because tomor…
Sat, 17:50: RT @bricksilk: In this just-published further Opinion on the PM’s #Brexit deal, we take a dim view of new legal arguments attributed to the…
Sat, 20:48: RT @peterjukes: Let’s name them. Rod Liddle. Douglas Murray. Katy Hopkins. Trevor Kavanagh. Alison Pearson. Melanie Philips https://t.co/Km…
Sat, 22:16: RT @CarolineGruyter: “Since we joined the EU in 1973, we have held up mirrors to other Europeans in Brussels. We loved showing them what we…
Sat, 23:02: Just got carded. Very flattering! (@ Authentic Nashville New York Delicatessen and Lounge in Nashville, TN) https://t.co/HbYVtG3JVn
Sun, 10:45: Pro-Brexit Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin attacks Remainers after pub chain’s profits plummet https://t.co/zOvZlk3X7J Diddums.
Fri, 12:29: RT @drewharwell: The New Zealand massacre was livestreamed on Facebook, announced on 8chan, reposted on YouTube, commentated about on Reddi…
Fri, 13:08: RT @JP_Biz: Silver Hill Foods, the cross-border duck business which featured in the @tconnellyRTE book, has been bought by Fane Valley, the…
Fri, 13:39: RT @ChrisGiles_: PUBLIC SERVICE KLAXON Thread below linked to this column provides all the information you might want (and probably mo…
Fri, 13:59: RT @TheScepticIsle: I set out a vision for & argued for a “Liberal Brexit” & was openly supportive of free movement & the Single Market. My…
Fri, 15:13: RT @jonworth: Making sense of the week – #Brexit diagram V18 ‼ UK requests long extension: 84% ‼ No Deal 15% ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Gen Election 33% ⬆️ M…
Fri, 21:55: RT @pmdfoster: The EU is focusing down on its choices for #Article50 extension – but that could create a serious potential for a ‘no deal’…
Sat, 01:16: RT @chrisgreybrexit: This is what a politics based on lies looks like. My latest Brexit Blog post trying to make sense of the week’s events…
Sat, 06:41: RT @RowennaM: Today is the last day to nominate for the Hugo awards. For a long time I was a SFF reader who thought nominating wasn’t For M…
Thu, 14:57: RT @LBC: Eddie: “What about people who have changed their minds on Brexit?” Liz Truss: “I don’t think people have changed their minds”…
Thu, 15:08: RT @Dublin2019: Tomorrow, the 15th of March, is the deadline for nominating @TheHugoAwards. So if you haven’t done so yet it’s time to star…
Thu, 15:46: RT @Billbrowder: BREAKING: European Parliament passes resolution calling for an EU Magnitsky Act with Sergei Magnitsky’s name on it. The vo…
Thu, 15:50: RT @HeaneyDaily: On a Wednesday morning early I took the road to Derry Along Glenshane and Foreglen and the cold woods of Hillhead: A wet w…
Thu, 20:20: RT @FranklinDVrieze: Today, the European Parliament passed a resolution (447 in favour, 70 against) calling for an EU Magnitsky Act with Se…
Thu, 22:52: RT @jrstoc: @JP_Biz @nwbrux …as I had tweeted earlier: if I were UK govt, I would explore declaring NI a Special Ec Zone with inside EU f…
Wed, 12:56: RT @michael_deforge: Mark Twain didn’t learn to read until he was 63 Stanley Kubrick was only 41 when he faked the moon landing Paul McCart…
Wed, 15:29: RT @RTENewsPaulC: Lots of head scratching at the European Parliament on UK border proposals – MEPs wondering why British Govt treating NI d…
Wed, 15:29: RT @hayward_katy: The UK has published its approach to cross-border movement of goods in N.Ireland under a No Deal scenario, as the PM prom…
Wed, 15:43: RT @NinaDSchick: Meanwhile, @JamesCleverly, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, says No Deal Brexit shouldn’t be taken off the table…
Wed, 16:05: RT @MavenOfMayhem: Hello, and welcome to Canada, where we eat poutine and have been sharing bathrooms and change rooms with self-ID’d trans…
Wed, 16:26: RT @leonardocarella: The belief that Italy, Hungary or Poland may veto an A50 extension is inversely proportional to the believer’s command…
Wed, 16:52: RT @EU_Commission: We spared no effort to try and reconcile UK red lines and demands with our duty to protect the EU, the integrity of Inte…
Wed, 17:22: RT @JP_Biz: Would the NI no-deal tariff arrangements mean Irish Sea checks? ‘No’, brief UK govt. ‘Yes’, says a slightly unsure Chief Secret…
Wed, 17:39: RT @DuncanWeldon: Three types of MP who may vote to keep no deal on the table tonight: 1. People who think it’s a useful negotiating tactic…
Wed, 17:40: RT @christinebelled: Now time for DUP reality-check. No deal means difft regime for NI from get-go (not just risk of down line as with WA).…
Wed, 17:58: RT @ManufacturingNI: In the space of 12 hours we’ve moved from the potential of the best of both worlds to the worst of all worlds.
Wed, 19:31: RT @JenniferMerode: Brexit quote of the day to Mark Rutte. ‘Voting for no-deal is like the Titanic voting for the iceberg.’ Sabine Weyand…
Wed, 20:23: RT @bbclaurak: You’re going to be bored of me saying this, it’s an important political expression, but MPs voted this way in January alread…
Wed, 20:47: RT @davidallengreen: Malthouse motion “to pretend table is not there” is defeated. Table remains with the thing on it, despite being told…
Wed, 20:48: RT @BarristerSecret: This trivialisation of serious sexual offending represents precisely the institutional attitude that has historically…
Wed, 20:48: RT @jonlis1: Gov is now voting against its own motion, which means it’s trying to force its MPs to keep no-deal on the table and cancelling…
Wed, 23:48: RT @DavidHenigUK: The significance of tonight’s votes on Brexit do not seem to have been fully grasped, so let’s have a go at the analysis.…
Thu, 00:29: RT @TheHugoAwards: Nominations close this Friday. Remember, you can nominate as little as one item in one category. Don’t be intimidated by…
Thu, 10:49: Henry Newman: Why the revised deal’s changes to the backstop are significant – and offer Britain a route out | Cons… https://t.co/38rfeJYMxa
Tue, 12:30: RT @tconnellyRTE: Key points from Geoffrey Cox: The legally binding provisions of the Joint Instrument + the content of the Unilateral Dec…
Tue, 12:56: The Great Star Wars Heist | Carl Cunningham and Rancho Obi-Wan https://t.co/1OPzQ0ItpB Extraordinary and rather sad story.
Tue, 18:13: RT @amcunningham: Thanks for sharing this @nwbrux – it’s important for what it says about the quality of political discourse in the media t…
Tue, 18:35: RT @GeorginaEWright: Really though, if you are confused about what changes the Prime Minister brought back, and what they actually mean for…
Tue, 18:39: RT @Mij_Europe: If May’s deal is defeated tonight, as seems likely, I suspect it will impact – and complicate – the debate in the European…
Tue, 20:16: RT @cliodiaspora: There really is no way in which we could overstate the damage to the UK’s reputation all of this is doing. This isn’t jus…
Tue, 22:06: RT @DJordan_Econ: Historical precedent: when the customs land boundary was introduced on 1st April 1923 between Northern Ireland and the Ir…
Wed, 06:50: RT @NicoleSykes_: We’ve been saying “all eyes are on this deal” and “business/investors are watching” – this is what we mean. I had message…
Wed, 08:24: Exactly. It is the EU, rather than the UK, which can now credibly threaten No-Deal. Though it’s unnecessary, becaus… https://t.co/rNWPMM4OSS
Wed, 08:51: RT @Annaisaac: Really important clarification – NI is being treated differently to the rest of the UK on this. GB will levy tariffs on EU i…
Mon, 13:54: RT @asabenn: “To borrow Donald Tusk’s terms: there is a special place in hell for MPs who voted for Article 50 yet now refuse to endorse th…
Mon, 17:11: Kevin Barry: The belligerence and brilliance of Flann O’Brien https://t.co/medfJ8IpmO Great piece about a great biography of a great writer.
Mon, 19:10: RT @Lennardvot: @JGForsyth This is clutching at straws and the opinion of some lawyer is irrelevant. There are three ways to end the backst…
Mon, 19:52: RT @pmdfoster: So it appear there are to be two statements – a joint one and a unilateral UK one setting out the conditions on which the UK…
Mon, 20:48: In 1969, someone sent Robert Fink a telegram. It was finally delivered last month. https://t.co/RhzCIFmTST Nice little story.
Mon, 22:31: RT @DaveClark_AFP: Sources say there will be a new-ish thing, but it’ll be a lot like the old thing. Will the thing be enough to convince o…
Mon, 22:55: RT @tconnellyRTE: Here goes: Barnier’s offer on Fri that “best endeavours” could be actionable by the UK at independent arbitration level…
Tue, 07:35: RT @KeohaneDan: Two previous examples come to mind: 1) the Bundestag preamble to the Elysee treaty in 1963, which limited potential scope.…
Tue, 08:12: RT @pmdfoster: So some quick thoughts on tonight’s docments after chats…. First the UK’s unilatearl statement which is here – it’s not q…
Tue, 08:27: RT @Berlaymonster: ‘Legally Binding’ sounds like a less successful sequel to ’50 Shades of Grey’.
Tue, 09:12: RT @Sime0nStylites: 9. My view is the changes won’t be sufficient to enable the deal to pass. That is not a difficult conclusion to reach.…
Tue, 09:30: RT @DmitryOpines: A Lisbon Treaty clause dictates that from 2020, Brie Larson must play every single character in EU releases of Marvel Mov…
Tue, 11:15: In which the Attorney-General for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland finds a pithy one-word s… https://t.co/40lc9JQ0nW
Sun, 12:56: RT @benjaminbutter: My mum has lost her job as a school cleaner because they found out she had a drug dealing conviction *23 years* ago. Ho…
Sun, 14:48: RT @SwiftOnSecurity: This should be a mandatory read for every IT person who thinks they’re suddenly a forensics expert ready to judge fact…
Sun, 15:50: RT @thhamilton: Well, Jess Phillips’ claim that Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters lack self-awareness and are blinded to their own failings…
Mon, 10:45: RT @sturdyAlex: “You have to leave no-deal on the table. It’s only the threat of no-deal that will bring the EU back to the negotiations”,…
Mon, 11:34: RT @DaveClark_AFP: Barnier bumped into AFP’s @AlexRPigman on his way into the EU ambassador’s meeting: “Nous avons discuté tout le weekend…
Mon, 11:40: RT @APCOBXLInsider: With provincial and European elections coming up, #EU2019 will be an interesting year for the Netherlands. But how will…
Sat, 13:08: RT @AlbertoNardelli: A Mysterious Hardline Brexit Group Run By A Young Tory Is Now The Biggest Spending Political Campaign On Facebook. But…
Sat, 14:44: RT @Freight_NI: 1/5 The @CommonsNIAC report on the backstop and Irish border has just been published. A few things that stand out in initia…
Sat, 16:05: RT @pollytoynbee: Click on this: needs magnifying glass to find tiny slice we contribute to EU. Red bus utterly misleading – Will any but u…
Sat, 17:07: RT @SebDance: It wasn’t the EU27 that booted the UK out. It wasn’t the EU27 that likened the UK to a Soviet gulag. It wasn’t the EU27 tha…
Sat, 17:07: RT @DeborahMeaden: To be fair, we are beginning to look a little unhinged. We propose a backstop position, they agree it, we go back and sa…
Sat, 20:00: My week on Twitter : 226 Mentions, 12.2K Mention Reach, 1.75K Likes, 503 Retweets, 125 Replies. See yours with… https://t.co/KKoHVDQuuA
Fri, 13:09: RT @KaliaPolitics: Very interesting article by @nwbrux on what to expect from the 2019 European Parliament elections and the role that #Bre…
Fri, 16:05: RT @ScottHech: Manafort was sentenced to less than a woman who voted while on probation without knowing she wasn’t allowed to. She was sent…
Fri, 17:31: RT @pmdfoster: Shorter @MichelBarnier – We are not talking the blame here. – The UK has clear choices. As this weeks talks show, they c…
Fri, 17:48: RT @MichelBarnier: I briefed EU27 Ambassadors and EP today on the ongoing talks with #UK. Following the EU-UK statement of 20 Feb, the EU…
Fri, 18:19: RT @tconnellyRTE: Quick thread on the Barnier statements: This essentially going back to the NI-specific backstop: ie, if it really wants t…
Fri, 21:08: RT @BrunoBrussels: I think the EU side has played a blinder tonight. Barnier’s move is astute. It eally shows how lamentable British statec…
Fri, 21:22: RT @nick_gutteridge: Unprecedented for @MichelBarnier to tweet out the details of negotiations in this way. It shows just how angered the E…
Fri, 21:24: RT @AlbertoNardelli: I understand Barnier’s decision to outline the EU’s proposal to the UK was driven by wanting to push back against UK’s…
Sat, 08:39: RT @MinPres: Spoke with PM @theresa_may. We both aim for a solution in the coming days. I once again expressed my fullest confidence in @Ju…
Sat, 08:46: RT @graniaobrien: Whenever I read @guardian Blind Dates now, I’m disappointed when it doesn’t go as well as Joanne & Morgan.
Sat, 08:58: RT @JenniferMerode: Three weeks until Brexit day and we’ve reached the Twitter phase of negotiations.
Sat, 10:16: Basically the problem is that from Brussels and Dublin, this looks like the UK seeking a way of wriggling out of it… https://t.co/JrkpMP1cad
Sat, 10:36: RT @hayward_katy: This is a must-read from @SJAMcBride on the lack of scrutiny of NI legislation: “a very obvious perverse incentive for th…
Sat, 10:45: RT @robertshrimsley: The brilliant thing about British politics is that foreigners like the rest of the EU never hear what our politicians…
Thu, 12:41: RT @nick_gutteridge: Loiseau again makes the very important point that’s it’s absurd to think EU would actively want to trap UK in the back…
Thu, 12:45: RT @GuitarMoog: A serious contender among many thousands of candidates for the title Peak Brexit. The Consultancy firm hired by DFDM Liam…
Thu, 14:36: RT @SJAMcBride: The remarkable thing is that when she came back to the Commons to clarify her remarks, Karen Bradley did not have the polit…
Thu, 14:40: “My position and the position of the government is clear” – no it isn’t, because she still hasn’t said that her sta… https://t.co/G4OHpSB854
Thu, 17:11: RT @TweetChizone: @Nicole_Cliffe Oh God I can’t even tell this story and not cry. I used to manage an LGBT bookstore, when bookstores were…
Thu, 18:18: RT @ivanobp: @nwbrux Oh I think it’s quite clear, Nicholas! She’s not sorry because she can’t see that she’s said anything wrong, just that…
Thu, 18:23: RT @georgeeaton: A year ago, Amber Rudd said the new registration scheme for EU migrants would be “as easy as setting up an online account…
Thu, 19:20: RT @georgeeaton: The facts have always been the same: 1. You need a permanent customs union or the “backstop” to guarantee no hard Irish…
Thu, 20:48: RT @JamesKanag: I’m not convinced that the political parties understand where “Middle England/Wales” exists. Analysis indicates Ipswich, Se…
Fri, 06:50: RT @NewtonEmerson: On the plus side, nobody could watch Karen Bradley’s interview tonight and think she’d been part of a grand political/se…
Fri, 07:32: RT @deldridgewriter: “I want to be very clear – I do not believe what I said, that is not my view.” Karen Bradley, Secretary of State for N…
Fri, 10:32: RT @nick_gutteridge: 1/ Geoffrey Cox has scrapped a planned visit to Brussels today for further negotiations because the gulf between the E…
Fri, 10:42: RT @Usherwood: So it’s the Friday before the Week of Big Brexit Votes and you want to get your head around it all? Come with me 1/
Fri, 10:45: Irish Times poll: Majority in North unhappy with handling of Brexit by May and DUP https://t.co/Gu6UHHqt2X Very interesting.
Wed, 12:20: RT @nick_gutteridge: Commission spokesman: ‘Barnier informed Commissioners that while the talks take place in a constructive atmosphere dis…
Thu, 01:22: RT @AlexKane221b: By any yardstick of measurement Karen Bradley is the worst SoS NI has had.
Thu, 01:23: RT @mikenesbittni: One way or another I have had dealings with the last 13 Secretaries of State for NI. Karen Bradley consistently demonstr…
Thu, 10:45: RT @HenryNewman: A good Brexit deal is within grasp but MPs risk throwing that away in hope that by leaving with no deal, we might be able…
Thu, 10:59: Meeting in Prishtina with my former colleague, 15 years after she accompanied me to the Belgian Senate! https://t.co/rzzNXD7V6l