Paul Magrath writer

How are things here in Hot Take City?

Still keeping calm and carrying on?

www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and...

People are making a fuss about the posh car used by the police when arresting Andrew M-W but I assume it was because it had to be a Land Rover Defendant.

Now I'm waiting for a bad poem, McSweeney among the Nightingales.

Eheu. Hope no one was hurt. Angel / Goswell junction.

It is worrying. And I think aural/oral chat bots should self declare as such - in the same way warnings are issued that calls may be recorded “for training purposes”. (Training AI models presumably now)

L’age de pierre indeed!

We tried then on the porn site (X rated), but they didn’t reply.

The NS&I (not on here apparently) bot when you ring them is so clever it can even offer to transfer you to a human and then cut you off, just like a real human!

Welcome to International Hot Take and Performative Indignation Day, only on this channel (and all the others)

Nice view, too (from Shinkansen)

We’ve been using all sorts of trains and they’re all wonderful.

What I want is the actual cat bus from My Neighbour Totoro

Another, more local, themed train (Takamatsu)

Naoshima is an island of art in the Seto sea, with museums and galleries dotted along the coast, and lots of outdoor art.

Spotted red pumpkin sculpture by Kusama

Notice requesting viewers not climb on the artwork

Well spotted - Kusama on Naoshima

If you haven’t been on the Hello Kitty bullet train you really haven’t lived

United States: Trump v BBC, a $10 billion “total loser” and a SLAPP? On 15 December 2025, President Donald Trump issued a claim for defamation and deceptive and unfair trade practices, [pdf] claiming damages of “not less than” $5 billion, interest, costs…

Helpful summary of trumped up libel claim against the Beeb, via Inforrm’s blog inforrm.org/2025/12/20/u...

Osaka, I have questions

Rice enough to eat?

Translation apps - what’s not to love?

"We recently announced that Netflix will acquire William Shakespeare, including his plays, sonnets, narrative poems and indeed also his biography and everything he ever said. This unites our leading entertainment service with William Shakespeare's iconic stories. 'All the world's a Netflix!'"

Say what you like about the 70s but productivity in the area of Xmas songs was through the roof.

'I'm deeply troubled': Lawyers call out erroneous court transcripts Obtaining court transcripts can cost thousands of dollars for a single day of proceedings, but the documents can contain errors, missing text, and even wrong attribution, frustrating legal practitione...

Now this is surely one area where new tech - including AI - could be used to reduce cost? But issues around judicial editing and transparency would still need resolution. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

The tube is horrible and filthy, it’s true, and there are lots of things wrong with the state of London but these depictions in the media by foreign journalists always sound phoney and selective. Like all the crap about ‘no go’ areas by Jenrick, Farrage, or, er, the NYT.

Oh dear - we have both. And crows.

Never apologise. Never explain.
But always say thanks.
You'll be welcome again.

And they can keep their wives, unlike the left footers ab initio.

‘Fake’ rear-admiral charged after attending remembrance parade Jonathan David Carley, 64, laid a wreath at a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Llandudno wearing a uniform adorned with 12 medals

How long before this person is described as a “Walter Mitty” character?

Article from The Times:
'Fake' rear-admiral charged after attending remembrance parade. www.thetimes.com/article/faa4...

Quote: “The disclosure of around 200,000 Hungarians’ personal data is the largest politically motivated rights violation in post-1989 Hungarian history. Judges appear to be a key target of this doxing attack.”

In Hungary, judges are being doxed – their names, addresses, and private data leaked and publicized for supposed political leanings.

TAMÁS MATUSIK traces how this new wave of intimidation exposes the fragile state of judicial independence in Hungary.

verfassungsblog.de/hungary-judg...