Down with penguins! 🤨

ALISTER: I can't stand it anymore. LinkedIn used to be about professional networking. Career advice, industry trends, you know, useful stuff. Now my feed looks like Facebook's angry cousin, full of political rants and engagement bait, which apparently is what it’s called.

MERIDYTH: I’m not a fan either. Political posts are dominating LinkedIn more than ever. A recent survey found that 66% of users think political content is inappropriate for the platform. Only 5% support sharing political posts. But as much as I hate it, it’s still free speech.

ALISTER: Free speech? No, it’s simply rage-induced click bait to boost engagement and trigger LinkedIn’s algorithm. And I feel myself getting dragged into it! I’ve even seen an uptick in “professional guides” advising posts to be more unique, quirky and authentic. It all feels so manufactured.

MERIDYTH: True, but politics and business can intersect sometimes, since policies do impact industries. For example, Rachel Reeves’ Budget posts on LinkedIn outperformed similar ones on Twitter/X because of thoughtful debate. But to your point, it does seem like LinkedIn is losing its professional edge. So they’re trying out ways to downrank less “professional” posts without silencing anyone.

ALISTER: Their efforts aren’t working very well. I think for my next holiday I’ll have a bit of a detox and stick to reading books rather than scrolling through my feed.

💰️ New World Economy? The PM hasn’t been completely silent on the tariffs from the US. The latest speeches are leading many to believe new taxes and changes to the UK fascial rules are inbound (think raising taxes). Given how radically the world stage has changed, it’s going to be a bold new challenge for Labour.

🏥 I can’t get no… satisfaction. A record low number of Brits (21%) were satisfied with the NHS in 2024. Lack of staff and long wait times have taken its toll over the past 5 years and especially since Covid. To compare… in 2019, 60% were satisfied with the NHS.

🗑️ It’s still happening??? The waste collection strike in Birmingham continues as an estimated 17,000+ tonnes of rubbish remain curb side. With the sun out baking the trash, I will not be visiting the midlands city any time soon.

🚨 Brand gets charged. Russell Brand will be appearing in court on the 2nd of May. He is facing charges of rape and sexual assault. In recent years, he’s been a vocal backer of Donald Trump and surrounded himself with a range of hard-right political commentators.

👀 I spy with my little eye… Russian spy sensors have been found after they washed ashore in the UK. Russia has been increasing their presence in British waters, as well as a recent spike in undersea cable sabotage.

Good news… for constitutional law as South Korea’s president who declared martial law has now been officially removed from office. Bad news… for France’s far-right party as Marine Le Pen was barred from running in the next election due to her embezzlement conviction. Also, Myanmar’s earthquake relief continues to be a challenge due to political tensions and civil war consuming services so desperately needed.

🇪🇸 Protesting for affordable housing. In Spain, 150,000 people were protesting in support of affordable housing. With an influx of foreign workers, holiday homes, and speculative investments, house prices have skyrocketed leaving many Spaniards struggling. It’s currently the number one social issue in the country.

🎌 Hands Off! Almost 600,000 Americans signed up for rallies across the US and Europe over the weekend - in protest over Trump’s new policies, tariffs, cost cutting and of course to say, “Hands off!”

🪖 Israel mistakenly kills aid-workers. After initially claiming aid vehicles where unmarked and suspicious, new video evidence shows they were clearly marked. The IDF (Israel Defence Force) has admitted to the conflicting info and will be investigating.

🍫 But I love Tony’s! The chocolatier issued a recall for their chocolates - due to small stones being found inside 🤮 Don’t eat Tony’s Dark Almond Sea Salt, if it has a best before date of 28 Feb 2026 or 2 Apr 2026. Same goes for Tony’s Everything bars with a best before date between 26-28 Nov 2025.

💉 Better mood, better vaccines. Apparently, being in a good mood can make some mRNA vaccines more effective, like the Covid shots. Maybe scientists will start mix vaccines with anti-depressants… 😜

🩺 Easing endometriosis. A new study into the disease has found an interesting link to help reduce the pain from endometriosis. From dairy to gluten, even coffee and alcohol, the study shows almost 50% of women who cut each item out of their diet had less pain!

🍫 It’s Easter chocolate time! We all know that Easter chocolate is overpriced, but somehow it just tastes better. Thankfully Benjamina over at the Guardian has been taste testing Easter Chocolate for us. Even if you’ve stocked up, you’ll know what to look for in the discount sales!

🕹️ Switch 2 announced! After all the rumours and leaks, we’ve got a tasty look at the new Nintendo console. The price is expected (£400~), but the new norm of its games costing £80 or more has been a bitter pill to swallow. Once Alister gets his hands on it (5 June), I’m sure he’ll let you know if the wait was worth it.

💚 Matcha-mania. The massive spike in demand for matcha is causing concerns in Japan of an impending shortage. Just when we thought the craze had died down, it’s back and as prolific as ever. We’ll stick to the coffee for now.

(Rant by Meridyth)

Once you’ve booked your international flight, ALWAYS check the expiration date of your passport. OR better yet, add a renewal reminder to your calendar as soon as you get a new passport.

I was supposed to fly to South Korea today to visit family for my mom’s birthday. I realised over the weekend that my passport is set to expire in exactly 3 months. (You’re not allowed to travel, if your return flight is within 3 months of your passport’s expiration. For some countries, it’s 6 months.)

I know that it’s my fault, but… Shouldn’t airlines require passport information upon booking international flights and help flag expiration date debacles like mine??? It can’t be that hard!

Argh. So, I’ve now rebooked for a later day (spending ridiculous money), hoping I can get an emergency passport renewal this week. Wish me luck!!!

For babies, of course parents dote on every one of their wishes and needs. Kids are taught since birth that they can get whatever they want.

So once they turn into toddlers, teaching empathy and sharing can be a bit tricky (and funny). Here’s a viral challenge that highlights that struggle.

The #cookiechallenge is hilarious. I wish I could’ve tried this when my son was a toddler. I’m pretty sure I would’ve gone cookie-less myself.

Whew, you made it!

Hopefully our browser history has been a bit more PG this week. Join us next week, when Meridyth will have hopefully made it to Korea!

Alister & Meridyth