waltmiddle

Writer and photographer, hillwalker and father of four.
Not a victim in any way, shape or form.

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

@NotFarLeftAtAll Errr, no.

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

@RmSalih I'll buy you a one way ticket.

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

@andyburnham Here's a thing Andy. It is mathematically impossible for ANY government to try to achieve Net Zero, pay for the ever expanding civil service and the massively out of whack benefits bill. Not possible. Continue with this madness and you won't last a year.

[J Stewart @triffic_stuff_]

Trevor Phillips just tore apart Keir Starmer’s disastrous time in office.

“How did a man who won a landslide victory in 2024 become so disliked by so many people so quickly, that even his own party’s candidate in Makerfield promised to get rid of him?”

Phillips begins by noting that Starmer “lacks the common touch” and “he obviously made mistakes. The winter fuel debacle for example”.

In a scathing verdict, he went on to explain:

“I think what did for Starmer is he promised to put country before party and on every occasion he had the chance to keep his word, he broke it.”

“The country wanted the two child cap on benefits, the party hated it. The country said it was time to cut welfare and boost defence, the party said that was unconscionable. The country cheered when the Pakistani-heritage Home Secretary said she’d demand more from migrants before they’d be allowed to settle permanently. Party activists called her un-British and racist.”

“In each case the prime minister chose the party, blamed someone else for his change of heart, ministers, advisers, civil servants, and threw them under the nearest bus.”

A brutal but accurate takedown of a prime minister who betrayed the country he was elected to serve. Spot on, @TrevorPTweets 👏

[Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧 @TRobinsonNewEra]

Scotland Yard has identified more than 4,000 rape gang cases that may need to be reinvestigated in London alone!

Here's Pakistani mayor Sadiq Khan pretending he doesn't know what a rape gang is.

4,000 rape gangs who are predominantly Pakistani and the Pakistani didn't see it?

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

@matthewsyed I'm a good man, but I would be a shit prime Minister.
But I'd be better at it than Keir.

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

@TaraBull work

[Konstantin Kisin @KonstantinKisin]

It genuinely amused me that people think replacing Starmer will make things better.

From Boris Johnson's election onwards, we've been shuffling the bollards on the Titanic.

You have to actually change direction if you want to avoid crashing into the iceberg:

- End Net Zero
- Make business viable again
- Get welfare under control
- Fund defence
- Ensure equality under the law
- Arrest criminals and keep them in jail
- Deport illegal immigrants and close the border
- Bring the civil service to heel

Burnham will become as unpopular as Starmer within months since he isn't going to do any of that.

[Tom Ough @tomough]

In UnHerd today, Dominic Cummings explains how Reform can overpower the deep state in 2029.

[Jimmy Carr @jimmycarr]

A good man, not a nice guy.

Get tickets to see Jimmy live at https://t.co/l3kS1dkbNC and listen to the new Crowd Work podcast here: https://t.co/XSiCLXDIcp

[ZUBY: @ZubyMusic]

One of the craziest things about the UK rape gang scandal is that it's largely considered a 'right wing' concern.

In a sane, serious country, it would be completely bipartisan. In fact, it wouldn't even be seen as a political issue, but one of basic justice and morality.

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

@darrenpjones You are right. The cleaners could do a better job than ALL the Labour MPs.

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

@Fx1Jonny @Lee6378 @daveatherton Oh yes you are.

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

@hankgreen How about capital losses? Should the gov pay investors who lose? No ?

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

@Miss_Snuffy But they're not banning bluesky. So kids will go on that. Project fails at the first fence.

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

@Cranky_Red_Ink @MorEdge_Insight They've got a special one waiting for him.

[Sam @DigitalSamIAm]

Can we debunk this nonsense?

Elon Musk was awarded (note: not given) cost-per-result contracts to perform a service for the US government. The total of those for SpaceX specifically is ~$22B, which includes repaid loans, state tax incentives, etc.

The deal was simple: put stuff into LEO at or below a set cost. If SpaceX does it below the set cost, SpaceX keeps the difference. If it doesn’t, the company is responsible for the overrun.

End result? SpaceX & Elon lowered the cost of getting 1 kg into LEO by 95-97% vs what NASA was paying previously.

And for the record, every other company around at the time was offered the same opportunity to bid on the contract - Musk/SpaceX just took it.

The handout narrative implies the taxpayer is the patron and SpaceX the dependent. The cost data shows the opposite: before SpaceX, NASA paid Russia’s Soyuz $80-86M per seat; SpaceX delivered at ~$55 million. SpaceX saved the US taxpayer $300M-$465M each year on that alone (the US sends 12-15 astronauts to space each year)

On the lunar lander, NASA estimated SpaceX’s fixed-price bid saved $20B-$30B vs the Boeing-preferred cost-plus approach.

So: SpaceX saved the US taxpayer more than the total value of contracts it earned on a single project, PLUS provided the US government with the requested services (put stuff in LEO) at the best possible price.

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

@grahamformaine No, lets make sure he's the first of many. Hundreds of thousands of jobs. Thousands of millionaires. And a brighter future for humanity.

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

In 376, the Eastern Roman Empire let in tens of thousands of Visigoths fleeing the Huns.
Officials thought it was humanitarian + good for the army.
Instead: cultural clashes, no real integration, growing resentment.

[waltmiddle @waltmiddle]

In 376 AD, Rome opened its borders to Visigoth refugees.
They were welcomed. Promised safety.
Less than 35 years later, they sacked Rome in 410. Uncontrolled migration + zero integration = collapse. Europe’s new Migration Pact just kicked in. History repeating? What’s your take — lessons learned, or same mistakes?