Friday 13 November, 2026

Sacre Bleu! A scene in the Royal Academy’s Painting the French Riviera exhibition yesterday. Here’s the blurb for the huge painting. Quote of the Day ”I kissed my first girl and smoked my first cigarette on the same day. I haven’t had time for tobacco since.” Arturo Toscanini Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news Abdullah Ibrahim | The Wedding Link Long Read of the Day Democracy is not on the ballot John Quiggin’s perceptive take on the American mid-term elections — written before they took place. Trump is massively unpopular but mainly for reasons that apply to many previous presidents: he promised lower prices and instead delivered higher inflation and he promised to keep the US out of Middle Eastern wars, but started them instead. By contrast, his attempted overthrow of the constitution in 2021 is barely mentioned. His immigration policies, with masked secret police, concentration camps and deportation of people who have lived in America since infancy, is disapproved of…

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