The almost impious pace of twelve miles an hour

All western coaches had been quickened lately by tidings of steam in the North, which would take a man nearly a score of miles in one hour; and though nobody really believed in this, the mere talk of it made the horses go. There was one coach already, known by the rather profane name of Quicksilver, which was said to travel at the almost impious pace of twelve miles an hour.

R. D. Blackmore - Perlycross: A Tale of the Western Hills (1894)


The novel was published in 1894 but set in 1835 to 1836 when Blackmore would have been ten or eleven years old living in rural Doone country of Exmoor. Imagine his excitement as a boy in an age of horses, carriages and carts when he first heard tales of a magical machine from the North which could carry passengers almost twenty mile in one hour.

Come to think of it, I only averaged about 18 miles per hour for my daily Nottingham commute. Progress I suppose.

Psychodrama

Unpopular Starmer is a hindrance on the doorstep, Labour mayors warn as they fear local elections wipeout

The widespread unpopularity of Sir Keir Starmer and his government – largely fuelled by “psychodrama” in Westminster – is hitting Labour hard on the doorstep, three regional mayors have warned as they brace for major losses in next month's local elections...

Jonathan Brash, the MP for Hartlepool, this week called on the government to “get a grip” as he became the first Labour MP to call for Sir Keir to go over the Madelson saga.

“I am completely fed up to the back teeth of this psychodrama in Westminster, the own goals that are coming from the heart of this government,” he said.

Psychodrama? 

Psychodrama, an experiential form of therapy, allows those in treatment to explore issues through action methods (dramatic actions). This approach incorporates role playing and group dynamics to help people gain greater perspective on emotional concerns, conflicts, or other areas of difficulty in a safe, trusted environment.

BBC Folk

It’s remarkable how easy it has become to guess that certain people rely heavily on BBC News for their grasp of current affairs. They emphasise and de-emphasise as the BBC does, ignore what the BBC ignores, exaggerate what the BBC exaggerates.

The most striking aspect is how easy it is to detect. Not so much a lack of curiosity, but comfortably managed curiosity. Heavily managed in the case of the BBC.

What on Earth is the point of the Lib Dems?

Elliot Keck has an entertaining Critic piece on the Lib Dems and the remarkable level of political irrelevance they have achieved.


What on Earth is the point of the Lib Dems?

With neither power nor principles, the party is an absolute waste of space

Power versus principles — it is the trade off that is at the heart of politics. To what extent should a political party sacrifice its deeply held principles in the pursuit of winning an election?

It is not a new question, or one that has only appeared in the context of democratic politics. It was the central theme in the first part of Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, which was published during the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century. In a discourse between More and the fictional philosopher Rapheal Hythloday, More argues: “You must not abandon the ship in a storm because you cannot control the winds… You must strive to guide the business as well as you can, and what you cannot turn to good, you must at least make as little bad as you can.”

The whole piece is well worth reading because at the moment, polls suggest that about 12% of UK voters would vote Lib Dem. What do they think are they voting for? More paddle board stunts from Ed Davey?


So what is the excuse of the Liberal Democrats? There is no party in British politics more guilty of slavishly and pathetically following public opinion than Ed Davey’s and his gang of do-gooders. I remember sitting next to one of them on the Politics Live sofa — a bloke called Ben Maguire. In 45 minutes not a single intelligent word came out of his mouth. All he could manage was absurd and unrelated outbursts about Liz Truss, Tufton Street and anything else his staffer had no doubt mentioned to him prior to going on national television to humiliate himself in the belief that these almost Tourette’s-like tics might appeal to a certain slice of middle England.

 

Chinese robots are racing in half marathons and we can't even automate the Tube

James Price has a useful CAPX piece on robots, their rapid development and how Britain is plodding along at the back somewhere. Well worth reading on our meandering journey through the treacherous green swamps of Fabian Mire.

The robot race is on, and Britain is falling behind

• Chinese robots are racing in half marathons and we can't even automate the Tube
• Britain can address its robotics lag in a free market way
• There is an existential fear about the future among today’s political class

Can a robot write a symphony? Can it turn a canvas into a beautiful masterpiece?”
Can you?

This exchange from the film ‘I, Robot’ (and later parodied in a million memes) captures human fears and concerns about coexisting with robots, and what it means to be human. Fast forward 20 years, and artificial intelligence is getting pretty good at composing both music and paintings, while my artistic efforts are worse than Shia LaBeouf’s performance in that film.

It has been weird to see AI become so effective at these skills before machines have become competent in the physical world, where they have long been hopelessly poor. No longer.

Last weekend, the ‘Lightning’ humanoid robot won the Beijing E-Town Humanoid Half Marathon in 50 minutes 26 seconds, beating Jacob Kiplimo’s human world record by nearly seven minutes. Last year, in the inaugural event, the winning robot took 2hrs 40min 42sec, something even I can just about beat. In 12 months of progress, that is a 70% improvement. As impressively, in 2025’s race, only 6 of 21 robots even finished. Last weekend saw more than 300 robots, including entries from all around the world – 40% ran autonomously.

Examination of attitudes

Examination of attitudes when buying a house: Government argues about explosive encroachment on property rights

In Berlin, the dispute over a possible test of conviction when buying a house is escalating. The background is a draft from the Federal Ministry of Construction by Verena Hubertz, who belongs to the SPD. According to the available reports, municipalities should be able to intervene if the buyer is suspected of "anti-constitutional tendencies". In addition, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the BKA are to be involved in the examination, while the ministry explains that the text is still being coordinated by the departments. The initiative therefore hits a highly sensitive core of the rule of law, because not only criminal offenses, but already political suspicions could have consequences for the purchase of residential property.

The real scandal, however, lies deeper than in a usual departmental debate. If the state links the purchase of a house to a preliminary examination, it shifts the line between danger prevention and political selection. Property would then no longer be just a question of contract, financing and compliance with the law, but at the same time of the state's assessment of the person of the buyer. This is precisely a pattern that free societies must strictly limit.

Why Is The World Becoming So Ugly?