Notices by Emeritus Prof Christopher May (chrismayla6@zirk.us)

After last week you likely don't need telling that the UK is getting hotter, but just in case you weren't sure here is Met Office data on the clear trend (although of course the variation around that trend line is also considerable).

So, are new houses being built in a way that will help residents cope with extreme heat?

Is the country seeking to reorganise itself to counter heat spikes?

No... of course not; we'll just complain about the weather & carry on regardless.

#heatwave #politics

Disappointingly, but all to predictably Jonathan Liew exercise a long critique of X (formally Twitter), but concludes that the 'utopian idea of the digital town square is dead for ever' without even mentioning Mastodon, which while not perfect (seem to me) to get quite a long way towards that ideal....

We've noted before how (wilfully?) blind to Mastodon mainstream journalists are, so we shouldn't be surprised, just disappointed (again).

#mastodon #SocialMedia
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/28/still-on-x-ask-yourself-why-platform-twitter-malign-actors-misinformation

Timothy Snyder suggests (plausibly) the Tangerine Tyrant is bringing about the 'superpower suicide' of the US... entirely to enrich his friends & family.

In a sense we all have intuited this for some time, but Snyder joins the dots in a helpful way.

indeed, we might conclude the individualistic logic of the US has finally (as many would expect) bitten it in the arse courtesy of the corrupt family Trump.

#USPol #USA #politics

https://www.thenerve.news/p/timothy-snyder-column-america-trump-superpower-suicide

Edward Luce (FT) sums up where we are:

'America’s sway over the Middle East is broken. Iran will probably emerge as a regional force with which others must come to terms. Ukraine will at minimum be a key partner of any post-US Nato. In very different ways, Kyiv & Tehran are showing the world how to bring a colossus low. Taiwan is not the only country that is studying these lessons closely'...

Drone warfare is changing the rules.... a sure sign its a Revolution in Military Affairs

#politics

How do we know the Iranians now think they have the upper hand in the conflict with the US?

as has been widely reported earlier today, Iran is restoring internet connectivity to the country.... they no doubt now need Iranians to know how they have resisted & neutered the Tangerine Tyrant (even as he continues to bluster, and launch the occasional missile into Iran).

The signs are mounting that the conflict *has* been a game changer just no in the way Trump thought...

#Iran #politics

@Infoseepage

and who says they won't start to sink them - they're already using a similar strategy in the Caribbean

@Infoseepage

That may well be the direction of travel...

While the Tangerine Tyrant is 'demanding' that Iran 're-open' the Strait of Hormuz, it looks like the Iranians toll system is working to some extent with three ships (two LNG, one oil) passing through the Strait safely - one assumes having paid some sort of toll - over the weekend.

As this demonstrates, one result of the US/Israeli attacks on Iran may be to have turned the Straits into a naval turnpike.

Not the result we were told to expect, is it?

#StraitOfHormuz #Iran #politics
h/t FT

@MediaActivist

Don't disagree, but as regards the claim we are on of the wealthiest countries in the world.... on GDP per capita basis which takes *both* GDP & the size of the population into consideration (but not distribution of wealth, as often pointed out), the UK ranks around the mid-to low 20s in global making terms.

So yes, one of the wealthiest but outside the the top 20... just sayin'

The problem of trying to conduct policy by briefing the media is all too clear clear in the immediate reversal on a putative 'deal' to relax some supermarket regulations in return for voluntary procedures-capping;

Now, the Treasury now saying they were never going to announce such measure tomorrow anyway.....

Whatever one thinks of the policy itself this sort of cack-handedness does nothing to support confidence in the Govt.'s grip on economic policy!

#politics #supermarkets
h/t FT

Joachim Klement (Panmure Liberum) concludes that:

'the IPO of these AI companies is probably nothing more than a major transfer of investment risk from the current owners to retail investors, pension funds & others who are willing to buy the hype'....

possibly reflecting the old notion that all investment markets require a fool, and if you're not sure who the fool is, its likely you!

If you've bought the AI hype, you may just be AI first movers' fool?

#AI #economics #investment
h/t FT

And the greenwashing continues....

'fossil fuel companies’ deployment of renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture & storage (CCS), green hydrogen & carbon offsetting isn’t designed to oppose decarbonisation, but to manage the conversation around renewables. False solutions signal compliance while helping to mute calls for a systemic transformation'!

I've always thought CCS was a con, but the problem is a lot wider....

#Greenwashing #climate #environment

https://theconversation.com/we-reviewed-48-low-carbon-projects-and-found-they-were-becoming-part-of-the-fossil-fuel-problem-271906

'A lot of working-class people, they don’t want a lot', says Martin a former miner. 'They want enough to get by & to have nicer things in life. To go on holiday & to have good food and things like that. They are not bothered about yachts and aeroplanes... They are just happy enough to get through in life with a job, a secure job to pay the mortgage & to look after their family'

And the problem is the UK *doesn't* achieve even that for many!

#inequality #politics

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/18/reform-voters-progressive-post-industrial-northern-england

Ahmed Najar argues:

'Criticism of Russia is not treated as hatred towards Russians. Opposition to American wars is not automatically framed as hostility towards Americans as a people. Protest against the Chinese government is not assumed to be anti-Chinese racism.

Only when it comes to Israel does this distinction repeatedly collapse.

That collapse carries consequences'

#politics

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/5/16/britain-is-losing-the-ability-to-tell-anti-semitism-from-dissent

Given the (now understood) importance of the oceans for the character & development of the global climate, the continuing warming of the oceans (as measured by surface temperature) is yet one more sign that the world's climate is rapidly changing....

The only Q.s for humankind are how might we reverse such changes in the long-term & (perhaps more crucially) what do we need urgently to do to mitigate the effects in the short/medium term.

The clock is ticking!

#environment #climate #politics

As @sjwrenlewis concludes, because the Right spends most of its time lying to the voting public, the UK's political environment has become more 'dumb':

'When key political actors are constantly lying and getting away with it, it becomes harder for the rest to tell difficult truths, or indeed to hold any kind of serious political conversation. When one side is telling voters they can always eat cake, it becomes hard to say that cake is off the menu'!

#politics

https://mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2026/05/why-has-westminster-politics-become-so.html

@Infoseepage

which is a very Cold War thing....

Is the Tangerine Tyrant about to abandon the US commitment to keep arms sales to Taiwan as an issue between Washington & Taipei?

On his way to China to meet Xi Jinping, Trump said he was happy to discuss with Xi China's desire for the US to pause sales to the island's defence forces.

This suggests, that the grifter is about to shake down Taiwan (and at least threaten to halt arms support).

More transactional politics looks to be coming for the Taiwanese.

#Taiwan #China #Trump
h/t FT

How about this for a nuanced airstrike?

The Saudis have launched air-raids on Iran, but have indicated explicitly this is in direct response to strikes on Saudi Arabian facilities by Iran, and does *not* represent Saudi joining the US/Israeli campaign of attrition against Iran.

In other words, this is a classic bit of tit-for-tat strategising; if Iran agree this *is* a 'fair response' then Iran & Saudi Arabia could move to a settlement to halt further attacks.

#Iran #SaudiArabia
h/t FT

And so, at a time when defence spending is an issue, as is how the UK defends itself, our security policy has entered (not for the first time) the realm of declaratory politics...

BBC Verify have counted 184 sanctioned, Russian-linked vessels passing through UK national waters yet, there is little evidence the UK has taken any action, despite Keir Starmer's explicit statement that such actions were possible (and likely?).

Is any action actually taking place?

#politics
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8pvgw802no