S. I. Rubinstein

How real is the religious revival among young people that we keep reading about? This evening, I went to Choral Evensong at my old Oxford college, Oriel. In my day, it was rare to get into double figures at a chapel service (not counting the choir). Today, there were 138 worshippers. Yes, there was an adult baptism, but there have apparently been over 110 people at every service this term. What’s the secret? The unadulterated Prayer Book is part of it; indeed, the traditionalism more widely. This evening, for example, the choir sang Parry’s I was Glad. And the place itself is beautiful, of course. But my sense is that the style of churchmanship is secondary. What really draws people in is the unapologetic gospel. High or Low matters less than the sense that there is something bigger, and that people are unembarrassed to talk about it. Oriel’s chaplain, Robert Wainwright, is a wonderful example of what a clever, humble and energetic clergyman can achieve. Afterwards, as always, there was a formal hall. No phones are allowed at Oriel formals, and it was joyful to see undergraduates properly talking over dinner. The meal began with a sung grace. The grace itself is more than 500 years old, but the singing was an undergraduate innovation dating only from last year. There are oases to be found in the desert. Oriel is one of them.

Completely unironically, David Hume. He made important contributions to political economy, to constitutional theory, and to political theory, and yet he rarely comes up in contemporary discussions of political philosophy.

Goyim who think Eisenkot will be more radical than Netanyahu because he was a general are just showing how little they know about the middle east. In basically any middle eastern country, the military is the most MODERATE actor. That's like Rule #1 of MENA geopolitics.

I had ChatGPT add English subtitles to this cute bit from "A Wonderful Country," which is an SNL-ish show in Israel

A barbarian tribe’s mythic origin story is true, ancient DNA reveals | Science | AAAS science.org/content/article/…

The voters have spoken, and I want to extend my congratulations to James Talarico on his election to the U.S. Senate. I look forward to meeting him and offering my assistance with his transition as he prepares to serve Texans in the U.S. Senate.

Nope...not for me! 😠 This years John Lewis Christmas ad, in summary. Nan needs a hug, rude kids barge past her, ignoring her completely. Kids don't like Nans childhood presents, so Nan goes out shopping to John Lewis to buy things they like to placate them. Nan eventually gets her hug, when the spoilt grandkids get the presents they want. Oh, and a rickshaw ride round London for good measure! An absolutely dreadful story of kids attitudes towards the elderly today, and blatant consumerism - I for one, won't be shopping there this year! 🎁 🎅🎄

LONDON Barnet Council in London voted 29-1 to explore twinning with Haifa in Israel. This comes after Hackney's Green-led council began the process of ending its relationship with the Israeli city, dating back to 1968. The Conservative motion at Barnet, proposed by CIIr Raffy Lachter, called Hackney's move "shameful" and backed exploring cooperation between hospitals, universities and faith communities. All Labour councillors abstained from the vote while the lone Green representative typically opposed it. Barnet will invite Haifa's mayor to discuss the proposal, with costs and practical arrangements still to be examined. @BarnetTories @BarnetLabour

The government’s grandest plane, an A321 jet, took off from Stansted at 6.05 a.m. this morning. Burnham wasn't on it. It flew 34 minutes to Manchester to collect the PM, then set off for the Commonwealth summit in Antigua. Guido estimates the detour cost around £20,000 of taxpayer cash. Avanti not good enough for him? Flight tracking data shows the jet landed in Manchester at 6.39 a.m. and left again at 8.06 a.m., heading for a refuelling stop in Newfoundland before the Caribbean. The government eventually publishes what every trip on the plane costs. Starmer’s same-day trip to Paris on in April came to £39,756 at roughly £20,000 a leg. Stansted to Manchester is shorter than Paris, but every additional leg brings its own landing and handling fees. About £18,000-20,000’s worth according to Guido’s fag packet maths… The whole jaunt, there and back, comes to about 21 hours of flying. Based on Starmer’s £121,239 trip to Yerevan in May and Yvette Cooper’s £148,700 trip to Washington in December, long-haul flying on the plane costs between £9,500 and £12,400 an hour. That puts Burnham's full trip at about £250,000. Burnham took the same government jet from Glasgow to Manchester in July to open No10 North, despite a choice of trains. When Liz Truss used the same plane to fly to Australia, @AngelaRayner called it a “ridiculous waste of half a million pounds on a private jet trip”. Thoughts on this one, Ange?

This includes Lancashire, Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, the Thames Valley and Stoke & Staffordshire, meaning over 90% of England’s population has a devolution agreement in place.

Amid this week’s debate over slavery reparations, Charles Fox is worth remembering. No saint, but a charismatic Georgian politician who, as Foreign Secretary in 1806, helped pave the way for Britain’s abolition of the slave trade in 1807, well ahead of many other European powers.

The man who chooses to sleep with bedbugs bbc.in/3UXQiUk