The world we live in

1. MEPs. You might have missed the fact that the South East of England now has more MEPs called Alexandra Phillips (i.e., 2) than either Labour or Conservative MEPs. One Ms Phillips is a Green and one is in the Brexit Party. Brexit Party MEPs also include Christina Jordan, who "came to the UK from Malaysia in 1985. She completed her nurse training at Winchester General Hospital before working there as a staff nurse" and Henrik Overgaard Neilsen, "a Danish citizen who has lived in the UK for over 20 years with his British wife and two children. He has worked as an NHS dentist, becoming a senior trade union official representing 30,000 UK dentists". I'm not the first to note that the Brexit MEP candidates are a pretty diverse bunch, and here is Lance Forman noting that "Amongst our eight London candidates we have white and black, men and women. // We are three Jews; one person of dual Jewish and Bahá'í faiths; one Hindu; one half-Muslim of Pakistani descent; and two Christians – of African and Northern Irish origin." Before the euro elections, "Of the 17 MEPs of an ethnic minority background, eight [were] from the U.K.", and the Brexit Party became a further major contributor to ethnic diversity in the European Parliament after the elections.

2. On a related theme but on the other side of the world: "What Singaporeans need to understand better is that, under present circumstances, there may be no sweet spot we can occupy that will keep both the Chinese and the Americans simultaneously happy. There is no silver bullet, and it is a fool's errand to look for one. // Neither can we just lie low and hope for the best. You may not look for trouble but trouble may come looking for you. And trouble is all the more likely to seek you out if either side thinks you are, or can be, intimidated. // Our more complex domestic politics is a complication. I see still faint but distinct signs that some section of our population - how large, I do not know - either for transactional economic reasons, or unthinking ethnic sympathies, or sheer chauvinism, is beginning to look at the current US-China tensions through a racial lens. // As US-China competition heats up, this tendency may be accentuated. This is the greatest danger to Singapore in this new phase of US-China competition. It is still at a nascent stage and must be checked, if necessary by the prophylactic exercise of the coercive powers that are the legitimate monopoly of the state, before external and internal forces act and react with each other in a vicious spiral downwards."

3. On a different note: "Progress happens too slowly for people to notice; setbacks happen too fast for people to ignore. ... We could have a Hurricane Katrina five times a week, every week – imagine how much attention that would receive – and it would not offset the number of annual lives saved by the decline in heart disease in the last 50 years."

4. "Hard left protester who screamed ‘Nazi scum’ at Donald Trump supporter as he was covered in milkshake is company boss selling private services to the NHS". That's my entry for most 2019ish headline of 2019 anyway.

5. Leavers in Bristol have found a safe space.