Having grown up during the Cold War, I got used to European leaders who, if not always friendly, were all serious people. Francois Mitterand was serious. The Iron Lady Thatcher was serious. Heck, even pinko Willy Brandt was serious.
Now Donald Trump lines them up like school kids.
It's arguable that the only serious European leader today is Vladimir Putin. Good Grief.
UPDATE 19 AUGUST 2025 16:46:HMS Defiant leaves a comment about Hungary's Prime Ministor Viktor Orban as being a serious leader. I 100% agree. I would also suspect that many of the leaders from Central and Eastern Europe are also serious. The ones in the photo, not so much.
Porgy & Bess was first performed in 1935 and sadly has peaked. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was popular in the Soviet Union during the Cold War as a display of American repression - the 1980s film White Nights showcased this.. It seems that the Usual Suspects who control popular culture are not subtle enough to line this into their repertoire of anti-American art, but whatever.
This is without doubt the most famous song from that opera, and has been recorded by pretty much everybody - Janis Joplin & The Holding Company may have been the most unexpected of these. Here's Ella Fitzgerald with what approaches the Platonic Ideal performance of the song.
This is a fun song that could have been by Jimmy Buffett.
Rum Is The Reason (Songwriters: Toby Keith, Bobby Pinson)
I heard Davey Crockett had a pint in his pocket, good whiskey at the Alamo Now that Pancho Villa had a jug of tequila When he walked the streets of old Mexico While Blackbeard was fleecing around the hurricane season He didn't quit because of a girl Yeah, rum is the reason pirates never ruled the world
While Russia was brawling I'll bet that old Stalin was calling for a vodka martini While the world waited in fear Old Hitler drank beer from a stein, eating sauerkraut and weenies Yeah, down through the ages, as they're turning their pages They couldn't drink the diamonds and pearls No, rum is the reason pirates never ruled the world
I ain't getting much done, but I'm having fun sailing on the deep blue sea My whole body goes numb from a bottle of dark rum, and the sun sinking down on me My catch of the day is a tall Cuba Libre chasing down with a 12-ounce curl Yeah, rum is the reason pirates never ruled the world
I ain't getting much done, but I'm having fun sailing on the deep blue sea My whole body goes numb from a bottle of dark rum, and the sun sinking down on me My catch of the day is a tall Cuba Libre chasing down with a 12-ounce curl Oh, rum is the reason, I guess Hey, rum is the reason pirates never ruled the world
The Home Office's war on encryption – its most technically complex and controversial aspect of modern policymaking yet – is starting to look like battlefield failure after more than ten years of skirmishes.
First tabled by former prime minister David Cameron in 2015 following a terrorist shooting at the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, vague wording alluded to a potential ban in the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.
...
However, it seems Home Office staff are now coming to terms with the fact that the Trump administration will block any attempt to further strongarm Amercia's tech companies.
Insiders told the Financial Times, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the Trump administration's disapproval of the UK's plans, which the president has previously likened to Chinese-style policymaking, is the main obstacle in achieving its encryption-busting ambitions.
Being compared to Red China* has got to hurt. But you know how not to get compared to Red China? Don't act like Red China.
Remember, Government mandated encryption backdoors are a bad idea. Really.
* I only use the term to bother the Right Sort of people.
