"Attenborough slug sex"

ALISTER: What was up with last week’s rant in the newsletter about recycling? I'm not convinced by this whole recycling charade. Only 44% of household waste is actually recycled, and England’s rate has barely budged in years.

MERIDYTH: Fair point, but things are changing. The newly launched “Simpler Recycling” reform is bringing better standardisations. And by 2027, those soft plastics I mentioned will finally be collected kerbside, instead of at recycling centres. That’s a huge step forward!

ALISTER: But these promises have been made before. Even the govt’s own words casted doubts on its ability to implement previous promises. And don’t get me started on UK’s tyre recycling scandal. Millions of tyres have been shipped to India to be illegally burned instead.

MERIDYTH: It’s different this time. There’s increased scrutiny and calls for reform, like Extended Producer Responsibility. Businesses now have to bear the costs of collecting, recycling, and disposing of packaging they’re putting out into the market. This will encourage the use of more sustainable packaging materials.

ALISTER: But even the govt’s Digital Waste Tracking system that brings supposed transparency to how waste and recycling is disposed has been delayed until next year. Whatever, I’ll still recycle in the hopes that my 44% of recycling actually gets recycled, but I remain sceptical.

MERIDYTH: I’ll take it. The UK’s recycling programme can only get better. So it’s good that we continue to do what we can individually.

🪚 It wasn’t me. That’s the excuse by two men, whose trial started last week for cutting down the famed Sycamore Gap tree next to Hadrian’s Wall in 2023 (aka the “Robin Hood Tree”). Jurors were shown photos and video evidence found on one of the accused’s phones.

🤼 Just the two of us. Maybe not. Reform won a whopping 677 local council seats and Lib Dems added 163, while Conservatives and Labour lost 674 and 187 seats, respectively. Farage now claims that Reform is the new opposition party to Labour.

🥹 Sorry! Co-op apologised after their customer data was hacked, which hackers revealed to be more serious than Co-op originally let on. It comes after M&S’s cyberattack caused disruption in-store and online. Harrods has also recently been targeted, but remains okay.

🏷️ Labelling under scrutiny. In Feb, we highlighted Ofsted’s plans to replace their single label school ratings with a new single label system - uh huh. The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) is also questioning the move and has asked a judge to review. The new school ratings are supposed to be introduced this autumn.

Good news… for those who don’t want to be USA’s 51st state, as Canada voted in Mark Carney as its Prime Minister. The anti-Trump sentiment also reached Australia with a huge win for incumbent, Anthony Albanese.

Bad news… for Germany’s far-right AfD party, after the country’s foreign office deemed them as extremists. And not great news for Russia (for now), as the U.S. and Ukraine signed a new minerals deal, which saw the U.S. finally refer to the war as “Russia’s full scale invasion.”

💯 Not %, not even close. Last week marked Trump’s 100th day in office with some of the lowest approvals seen (low/mid 40%) at this milestone. But Trump hit back, calling into question the legitimacy of these polls. While The AM Squabble hasn’t seen the 70% approval he’s touting, a more conservative leaning pollster (Rasmussen) does show a 50/50 split on approvals, which doesn’t seem to have been impacted by Trump’s AI-generated papal image of himself on Truth Social.

⚡️Not extreme weather. The cause of the blackout that plunged Spain, Portugal and parts of France into darkness is still under investigation. Terrorism, renewables being unreliable, and extreme weather patterns were suspected, but have since been discredited. Whilst the EU has some of the most reliable energy grids, blackouts aren’t impossible.

😩 The perils of AI. Meta’s AI Chatbots on Facebook and Instagram can now have sexually-explicit conversations. Good for singles? Not so much for parents. In tests by the Wall Street Journal with users posing as under-18, the chatbots continued having graphic conversations. Meta has since made changes, but parents be vigilant!

🥤 Not just soft drinks. The gov’t is thinking about extending the sugar tax on soft drinks to milk-based, pre-packaged drinks (including dairy alternatives). Think protein milkshakes or even your Starbucks iced bottled coffees. 😲 

💩 Two types of poopers. Apparently, there are only two types of poopers — temporal and locational. The former is time based, while the latter is about the setting. Which type are you? Never mind, we don’t want to know. 🙈

🎨 He painted too? Did you know Bob Dylan painted? We sure didn’t. An exhibition of original Bob Dylan paintings will open this Friday in London at the Halcyon Gallery. Sounds like a fun weekend plan!

⛫ Making way for his own kingdom. If you can’t own a nation, own a city instead. Residents of Boca Chica, Texas voted to allow SpaceX to turn the area of land near the rocket launches into a city, called Starbase. So many questions… so many raised eyebrows.

By Alister

If you love comedy and the theatre, then I highly recommend a great new show in London, The Comedy About Spies.

From the creators and actors of The Play That Goes Wrong and the Goes Wrong Show on BBC, the espionage is set in London revolving around secret files stolen by an MI6 turncoat attempting to hand them to the KGB, who are also being stalked by CIA. The performance is thick with puns, non-stop laughter, and some surprising twists and turns!

A great visual spectacle with some really innovative and hilarious moments by Mischief, the troop behind all of this. It’s without a doubt my favourite production they’ve done.

Recommended for 16+, there’s one instance of swearing and a lot of heavy sexual innuendos and adult silly humour.

It’s a limited run - only until the 5th of September. So if you love James Bond, spy mysteries, and a great laugh, then don’t hesitate to book now! Tickets range from £10 to £163.

Have you ever wondered what a food scientist does? I’m convinced it’s smashing together some of the worst ideas and being as shocked as the rest of us when it works out.

And shocked I am with Tesco’s newest offering. Introducing the Wotsits Mac N’ Cheese. If you’re a fan of Wotsits, cheese, and general suffering, this might be for you.

But maybe I’m wrong. This TikTok reviewer certainly feels otherwise with her glowing review.

@khoslaa

Replying to @Deano 🍉 shall I find the 3rd one?? These were £4 each btw #wotsits #macncheese #macandcheese #wotsitsmacncheese #wotsitsmacandcheese

Either way, I’m still recovering from the Nando’s Piri Piri and Fanta mashup. 🤮 So I’ll be giving this a hard pass.

Whew, you made it!

The perfect start to any work week is when you don’t have to work. We hope you’re enjoying the Bank Holiday. Be sure to join us next week for another Squabble!

Alister & Meridyth