I hope he can get one TdF stage win this Summer. I don't think he will, unfortunately.
Fingers crossed he does. He still has some of that explosivity combined with a great racing brain - ideally I'd love to see him take a stage like that one in 2013 with the crosswinds; proper chess-on-wheels stuff.
Poor, poor Polly Toynbee. She can't even find one working class ancestor but nonetheless she still sympathises desperately with their troubles while writing her Guardian column from her posh property to be read by other upper middle class left liberals, though of course the working classes suffered terrible false conciousness in backing Brexit https://twitter.com/alysdenby/status/1660564871610527744?s=20
Polly Toynbee is why I was a Tory for so long.
I don’t believe I’ve ever read an interesting Polly Toynbee piece. I believe she was considered influential back in the early 90s…
It’s worth reading that article for the sheer Toynbee-ness of it all. Her sad desperate yet failed search for at least one working class relative (a story I don’t believe btw, everyone has working class relatives no more than 2 or 3 generations away or removed - she just didn’t want to find them)
True story: a few years ago she bought a house near a friend of mine for a cool £5m cash
I’ve never understood poshos like Toynbee who are desperate to be working class.
What is wrong with these people?
It’s a truly weird and toxic mixture of snobbery and guilt. Toynbee is a proper snob. It oozes from every syllable of that article. She sneers. She can’t help it. She enjoys being posh so she can look down on almost everyone
Yet at the same time I am sure she genuinely feels guilt at her privilege and has a sincere desire to help others - especially those “less fortunate”
So you end up with weird and awkward contortions like that essay
Is she worse or better than an outright snob like Alan Clark? I honestly dunno. He was funny. But a nasty snob. She’s not funny. But she’s probably done more for poor people while inwardly sneering at them and trying not to smell them
Alan Clark was ultimately harmless (aside from to his immediate family). His diaries remain quite fascinating, and they are truly wonderfully edited - Ion Trewin really does give the whole of the man, his insecurities and frequent wrongness about things. Clark was an excellent and very funny writer, quite snobbish but also an inveterate romantic whose main goal was to give narrative justification for the events in his life.
Only Chris Mullin has come close to him, I think.
Alan Clark had a classic putdown of Michael Heseltine, though an extremely snobbish one. He said Heseltine 'was the type of man who has to buy his own furniture'.
He was also quite snobbish about William Hague too and his father who owned a small drinks factory, recounting one conversation with Nicholas Soames in which he said ' I mean the man looks like a golf ball'
I always thought that comment about Heseltine reflected worse on Clark than on Hezza. Snobbery is a very unpleasant, destructive and ultimately boring British disease.
Considering the Clarks were trade from Paisley, they were strong words indeed. No bigger snobs than the recently arrived.
Yes. Alan Clark’s snobbery surely derived from an inner insecurity - indeed maybe that is true of all snobs?
Incidentally on this theme of incredible Chinese motorways this is now the 4th or 5th country where I’ve encountered them in the last few years
Turkey Sri Lanka Vietnam (I think) Egypt Thailand
Imagine if, over the last 30 years, America - and the west in general - had abhorred warfare and instead decided to build motorways and infrastructure wherever it could. Imagine if the 29 trillion spent on the Iraq war had been spent on hospitals and hi speed rail
The world would now be a much kinder place for us. And for humanity. I speak as an idiot that thought the Iraq war was a good if difficult idea
You left out the Chinese-built "Highway to Nowhere" in Montenegro.
Pagan2: you don't know the tough life til your upstairs neighbour staggers into your flat bleeding from a stab wound!
Cyclefree: you don't know the tough life til you encounter the wrong type of English visitor whilst visiting Tuscany from England.
Hell comes in many flavours.
I have lived a varied life.
Shall I tell you about the time a burglar broke into the house I was living in in Brixton and came into my bedroom clutching my bread knife while I was in it alone?
I loathe the Toynbees of this world. They seem very accurately described by Martin Amis here -
"What we eventually run up against are the forces of humourlessness, and let me assure you that the humourless as a bunch don't just not know what's funny, they don't know what's serious. They have no common sense, either, and shouldn't be trusted with anything."
Pagan2: you don't know the tough life til your upstairs neighbour staggers into your flat bleeding from a stab wound!
Cyclefree: you don't know the tough life til you encounter the wrong type of English visitor whilst visiting Tuscany from England.
Hell comes in many flavours.
I have lived a varied life.
Shall I tell you about the time a burglar broke into the house I was living in in Brixton and came into my bedroom clutching my bread knife while I was in it alone?
I loathe the Toynbees of this world. They seem very accurately described by Martin Amis here -
"What we eventually run up against are the forces of humourlessness, and let me assure you that the humourless as a bunch don't just not know what's funny, they don't know what's serious. They have no common sense, either, and shouldn't be trusted with anything."
Amis could have been describing himself.
Come come. Amis was undeniably funny
I once had sex with a girl who was at the same time having sex with Martin Amis (not literally a “Nick palmer in Zurich” situation but you know what I mean - she was liberal with her charms)
She said he was unsatisfyingly tiny in height but genuinely hilarious
German investigators are sceptical of claims that Russian naval ships sabotaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines and are instead pursuing leads that point to the Ukrainian authorities, according to a report.
Three of the four strands of the pipelines, built to transport Russian gas to Germany on the bed of the Baltic Sea, were knocked out by underwater explosions last September, effectively severing the main energy link between the two countries.
The perpetrator has not yet been identified despite three separate national investigations carried out by Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
German investigators are sceptical of claims that Russian naval ships sabotaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines and are instead pursuing leads that point to the Ukrainian authorities, according to a report.
Three of the four strands of the pipelines, built to transport Russian gas to Germany on the bed of the Baltic Sea, were knocked out by underwater explosions last September, effectively severing the main energy link between the two countries.
The perpetrator has not yet been identified despite three separate national investigations carried out by Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
Pagan2: you don't know the tough life til your upstairs neighbour staggers into your flat bleeding from a stab wound!
Cyclefree: you don't know the tough life til you encounter the wrong type of English visitor whilst visiting Tuscany from England.
Hell comes in many flavours.
I have lived a varied life.
Shall I tell you about the time a burglar broke into the house I was living in in Brixton and came into my bedroom clutching my bread knife while I was in it alone?
I loathe the Toynbees of this world. They seem very accurately described by Martin Amis here -
"What we eventually run up against are the forces of humourlessness, and let me assure you that the humourless as a bunch don't just not know what's funny, they don't know what's serious. They have no common sense, either, and shouldn't be trusted with anything."
Amis could have been describing himself.
Come come. Amis was undeniably funny
I once had sex with a girl who was at the same time having sex with Martin Amis (not literally a “Nick palmer in Zurich” situation but you know what I mean - she was liberal with her charms)
She said he was unsatisfyingly tiny in height but genuinely hilarious
Younger Kingsley was a great writer. Lucky Jim was genius, and incredibly accurate, although he became a curmudgeon in later life.
I know it bad form to speak ill of the recently departed, but Martin was just a shock jock. I can't imagine anyone so tedious. Oh wait, yes I can...
Toynbee is someone who offers so little yet has made a career writing opinion pieces and getting talking head slots on TV.
I’m no fan of Richard littlejohn but that time on QT where he asked her if she worried about climate change when flying to her Italian Villa and her inept response was priceless
I hope he can get one TdF stage win this Summer. I don't think he will, unfortunately.
Personally, I suspect he will. Experience is worth a lot in sprinting, motivation is worth a fair bit too, and he took one in the Giro just last year and won the Tour points race as recently as 2021 so isn't miles off the pace by any means. He'll be competitive in a few stages anyway.
Interviewer: "That's a Yes or No question" Braverman: "........................................................................................................................................................"
Pagan2: you don't know the tough life til your upstairs neighbour staggers into your flat bleeding from a stab wound!
Cyclefree: you don't know the tough life til you encounter the wrong type of English visitor whilst visiting Tuscany from England.
Hell comes in many flavours.
I have lived a varied life.
Shall I tell you about the time a burglar broke into the house I was living in in Brixton and came into my bedroom clutching my bread knife while I was in it alone?
I loathe the Toynbees of this world. They seem very accurately described by Martin Amis here -
"What we eventually run up against are the forces of humourlessness, and let me assure you that the humourless as a bunch don't just not know what's funny, they don't know what's serious. They have no common sense, either, and shouldn't be trusted with anything."
Amis could have been describing himself.
Come come. Amis was undeniably funny
I once had sex with a girl who was at the same time having sex with Martin Amis (not literally a “Nick palmer in Zurich” situation but you know what I mean - she was liberal with her charms)
She said he was unsatisfyingly tiny in height but genuinely hilarious
Younger Kingsley was a great writer. Lucky Jim was genius, and incredibly accurate, although he became a curmudgeon in later life.
I know it bad form to speak ill of the recently departed, but Martin was just a shock jock. I can't imagine anyone so tedious. Oh wait, yes I can...
Fog of war and all that - but it appears to be the case that Russia has expended 100,000 men in order to capture Bakhmut, only to get immediately surrounded there, presumably at the costs of tens of thousands more.
Toynbee is someone who offers so little yet has made a career writing opinion pieces and getting talking head slots on TV.
I’m no fan of Richard littlejohn but that time on QT where he asked her if she worried about climate change when flying to her Italian Villa and her inept response was priceless
Pople who start a sentence by saying they're 'not a fan of' usually go on to show that they are a fan of as you have just done.
Fog of war and all that - but it appears to be the case that Russia has expended 100,000 men in order to capture Bakhmut, only to get immediately surrounded there, presumably at the costs of tens of thousands more.
Correction: only to get the Wagner Group surrounded there.
German investigators are sceptical of claims that Russian naval ships sabotaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines and are instead pursuing leads that point to the Ukrainian authorities, according to a report.
Three of the four strands of the pipelines, built to transport Russian gas to Germany on the bed of the Baltic Sea, were knocked out by underwater explosions last September, effectively severing the main energy link between the two countries.
The perpetrator has not yet been identified despite three separate national investigations carried out by Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
Fog of war and all that - but it appears to be the case that Russia has expended 100,000 men in order to capture Bakhmut, only to get immediately surrounded there, presumably at the costs of tens of thousands more.
This is a reference to something weird going on near Belgorod.
Toynbee is someone who offers so little yet has made a career writing opinion pieces and getting talking head slots on TV.
I’m no fan of Richard littlejohn but that time on QT where he asked her if she worried about climate change when flying to her Italian Villa and her inept response was priceless
Pople who start a sentence by saying they're 'not a fan of' usually go on to show that they are a fan of as you have just done.
Toynbee, seems largely inoffensive. She is a social commentator who may or may not know what she is talking about. I don't know and her social commentary doesn't really float my boat.
Littlejohn on the other hand strikes me as very much the unpleasant opinionated c*ck!
Toynbee is someone who offers so little yet has made a career writing opinion pieces and getting talking head slots on TV.
I’m no fan of Richard littlejohn but that time on QT where he asked her if she worried about climate change when flying to her Italian Villa and her inept response was priceless
Pople who start a sentence by saying they're 'not a fan of' usually go on to show that they are a fan of as you have just done.
Toynbee, seems largely inoffensive. She is a social commentator who may or may not know what she is talking about. I don't know and her socially commentary doesn't really float my boat.
Littlejohn on the other hand strikes me as very much the unpleasant opinionated c*ck!
I simply can't believe so many people are obsessed with her. I read the Guardian online. I don't think I've clicked on a Toynbee piece for 10 years. I never liked them when I tried them, so I stopped bothering. Why are so many people so furiously triggered by her existence?
I hope he can get one TdF stage win this Summer. I don't think he will, unfortunately.
Personally, I suspect he will. Experience is worth a lot in sprinting, motivation is worth a fair bit too, and he took one in the Giro just last year and won the Tour points race as recently as 2021 so isn't miles off the pace by any means. He'll be competitive in a few stages anyway.
He needs to sort out his sprint team - Gleb Syritsa and Cees Bol are not delivering at the moment.
Toynbee is someone who offers so little yet has made a career writing opinion pieces and getting talking head slots on TV.
I’m no fan of Richard littlejohn but that time on QT where he asked her if she worried about climate change when flying to her Italian Villa and her inept response was priceless
Pople who start a sentence by saying they're 'not a fan of' usually go on to show that they are a fan of as you have just done.
Toynbee, seems largely inoffensive. She is a social commentator who may or may not know what she is talking about. I don't know and her social commentary doesn't really float my boat.
Littlejohn on the other hand strikes me as very much the unpleasant opinionated c*ck!
It's not surprising if Toynbee is inoffensive to people with left-wing opinions. A bit like saying Douglas Murray is inoffensive to right-wingers.
Fog of war and all that - but it appears to be the case that Russia has expended 100,000 men in order to capture Bakhmut, only to get immediately surrounded there, presumably at the costs of tens of thousands more.
This is a reference to something weird going on near Belgorod.
Fog of war and all that - but it appears to be the case that Russia has expended 100,000 men in order to capture Bakhmut, only to get immediately surrounded there, presumably at the costs of tens of thousands more.
This is a reference to something weird going on near Belgorod.
I guess LTNs and rage about not being able to drive wherever you like at whatever speed you like at all times are pretty much all the Tories have in London.
Sad really, especially when Khan is hardly a charismatic powerhouse - he ought to be there for the taking.
To a rough but decent approximation, only a few groups of people still vote Conservative in London;
People on the fringes, who aggressively put Essex/Kent/Surrey on their address, Taxi drivers, Erm.., That's about it.
Given unhappiness about ULEZ expansion and LTNs in various boroughs, becoming a Drivers' Rights Party is probably as good a strategy as any for London Conservatives. It loses, but shores up some sort of vote for them.
Toynbee is someone who offers so little yet has made a career writing opinion pieces and getting talking head slots on TV.
I’m no fan of Richard littlejohn but that time on QT where he asked her if she worried about climate change when flying to her Italian Villa and her inept response was priceless
Pople who start a sentence by saying they're 'not a fan of' usually go on to show that they are a fan of as you have just done.
Toynbee is someone who offers so little yet has made a career writing opinion pieces and getting talking head slots on TV.
I’m no fan of Richard littlejohn but that time on QT where he asked her if she worried about climate change when flying to her Italian Villa and her inept response was priceless
Pople who start a sentence by saying they're 'not a fan of' usually go on to show that they are a fan of as you have just done.
Toynbee, seems largely inoffensive. She is a social commentator who may or may not know what she is talking about. I don't know and her social commentary doesn't really float my boat.
Littlejohn on the other hand strikes me as very much the unpleasant opinionated c*ck!
It's not surprising if Toynbee is inoffensive to people with left-wing opinions. A bit like saying Douglas Murray is inoffensive to right-wingers.
I'm not sure I've ever heard even Toynbee's detractors call her offensive. I just find her writing kind of bland and repetitive, always preaching to the choir rather than saying something surprising or counterintuitive or even insightful. It's not that I disagree with what she's saying most of the time. In fact I usually don't disagree with any of it. I just don't feel that I gain anything from reading her pieces. But I've not read anything of hers in years.
Poshness of newspapers - their writers and hacks - by order of descent. From posh to prole
Guardian (Observer) Telegraph Times FT Mail Sun Mirror Express Indy Star
I have a very good friend who used to be the Sun's racing correspondent. I think he'd rate it as more posh than the Mall.
Yes, quite possibly. After the top 3 or 4 my ranking is less certain
Interesting but little known fact: British tabloids are starting to make SERIOUS money online through YouTube etc
Google's advertising revenues, of which YouTube is the biggest part, bring in a billion dollars in revenue, EVERY 30 HOURS OR SO.
They do the same every day that Twitter does in a quarter.
AFAICT YouTube's revenue was just shy of $30b last year. A lot to be sure, but a long way off a billion clams every 30 hours. I would be amazed to learn that they make more from YT than they do from search.
Tangentially, YT is probably the better bet for the future, given how vulnerable search is to emerging tech.
I guess LTNs and rage about not being able to drive wherever you like at whatever speed you like at all times are pretty much all the Tories have in London.
Sad really, especially when Khan is hardly a charismatic powerhouse - he ought to be there for the taking.
Not really in a Labour-leaning city with the Tories polling badly nationally.
Khan might well be vulnerable in 2028 under a Labour Government, as he's not a great candidate as you say, but it's shore up the core vote time for the Tories next May.
I write as a Guardian reader. The problem with Polly Toynbee's turgid pieces is that they read as if they are written by ChatGPT in response to a couple of predictable prompts - perhaps they are now? You only need to read the first sentence to know where it's going. Her late husband, Peter Jenkins, wrote similarly. Both pretty awful, but well-meaning.
Poshness of newspapers - their writers and hacks - by order of descent. From posh to prole
Guardian (Observer) Telegraph Times FT Mail Sun Mirror Express Indy Star
I have a very good friend who used to be the Sun's racing correspondent. I think he'd rate it as more posh than the Mall.
Yes, quite possibly. After the top 3 or 4 my ranking is less certain
Interesting but little known fact: British tabloids are starting to make SERIOUS money online through YouTube etc
At the same time Buzzfeed and Vice are going down the pan.
Vice has a lot of content infrastructure that is salvageable, and their is still equity in the Vice brand for whoever ends up picking it up. Buzzfeed I'm less sure of - they never really made the transition away from novelty lists and quizzes to being serious media.
I guess LTNs and rage about not being able to drive wherever you like at whatever speed you like at all times are pretty much all the Tories have in London.
Sad really, especially when Khan is hardly a charismatic powerhouse - he ought to be there for the taking.
I fear that comment with earn you The Wrath of Khan from Sadiq Khan.
Poshness of newspapers - their writers and hacks - by order of descent. From posh to prole
Guardian (Observer) Telegraph Times FT Mail Sun Mirror Express Indy Star
I have a very good friend who used to be the Sun's racing correspondent. I think he'd rate it as more posh than the Mall.
Yes, quite possibly. After the top 3 or 4 my ranking is less certain
Interesting but little known fact: British tabloids are starting to make SERIOUS money online through YouTube etc
Google's advertising revenues, of which YouTube is the biggest part, bring in a billion dollars in revenue, EVERY 30 HOURS OR SO.
They do the same every day that Twitter does in a quarter.
AFAICT YouTube's revenue was just shy of $30b last year. A lot to be sure, but a long way off a billion clams every 30 hours. I would be amazed to learn that they make more from YT than they do from search.
Tangentially, YT is probably the better bet for the future, given how vulnerable search is to emerging tech.
$240bn is all advertising revenues.
But the YouTube figure on its own understates its revenues, because some of the most profitable line-items (such as UAC) are multi-channel.
All other things being equal, signal controlled junctions work better when the signals aren't working. Far less tarmac is wasted.
Less ideal however for: - pedestrians - crap drivers - those joining from obviously minor arms where those on the major arm overlook the need to treat all arms equally.
Poshness of newspapers - their writers and hacks - by order of descent. From posh to prole
Guardian (Observer) Telegraph Times FT Mail Sun Mirror Express Indy Star
I have a very good friend who used to be the Sun's racing correspondent. I think he'd rate it as more posh than the Mall.
Yes, quite possibly. After the top 3 or 4 my ranking is less certain
Interesting but little known fact: British tabloids are starting to make SERIOUS money online through YouTube etc
Google's advertising revenues, of which YouTube is the biggest part, bring in a billion dollars in revenue, EVERY 30 HOURS OR SO.
They do the same every day that Twitter does in a quarter.
AFAICT YouTube's revenue was just shy of $30b last year. A lot to be sure, but a long way off a billion clams every 30 hours. I would be amazed to learn that they make more from YT than they do from search.
Tangentially, YT is probably the better bet for the future, given how vulnerable search is to emerging tech.
$240bn is all advertising revenues.
But the YouTube figure on its own understates its revenues, because some of the most profitable line-items (such as UAC) are multi-channel.
I do like how they've cleverly sidestepped the profitability issue that Netflix and Disney+ face by getting other people to make content for them basically for free (or a tiny sliver of their revenue).
Doha is fucked with air pollution, traffic and chavs with money. I don't know why anybody would live here unless they were a chav with no money before they arrived.
The Lusail track days are insane though. More like full on GT3 races where it's impossible to get black flagged.
I could definitely be a travel writer.
#genxfacebook
Is the infrastructure there as improved as they said it was for the World Cup? I’m thinking about heading there for the F1 in October.
Doha is excellent outside of the central/older areas. Stay in West Bay or The Pearl .....or Lusail itself (although a bit lifeless)
Poshness of newspapers - their writers and hacks - by order of descent. From posh to prole
Guardian (Observer) Telegraph Times FT Mail Sun Mirror Express Indy Star
I have a very good friend who used to be the Sun's racing correspondent. I think he'd rate it as more posh than the Mall.
Yes, quite possibly. After the top 3 or 4 my ranking is less certain
Interesting but little known fact: British tabloids are starting to make SERIOUS money online through YouTube etc
Google's advertising revenues, of which YouTube is the biggest part, bring in a billion dollars in revenue, EVERY 30 HOURS OR SO.
They do the same every day that Twitter does in a quarter.
AFAICT YouTube's revenue was just shy of $30b last year. A lot to be sure, but a long way off a billion clams every 30 hours. I would be amazed to learn that they make more from YT than they do from search.
Tangentially, YT is probably the better bet for the future, given how vulnerable search is to emerging tech.
$240bn is all advertising revenues.
But the YouTube figure on its own understates its revenues, because some of the most profitable line-items (such as UAC) are multi-channel.
I do like how they've cleverly sidestepped the profitability issue that Netflix and Disney+ face by getting other people to make content for them basically for free (or a tiny sliver of their revenue).
To be fair they just host it but don't claim any other rights.
Toynbee is someone who offers so little yet has made a career writing opinion pieces and getting talking head slots on TV.
I’m no fan of Richard littlejohn but that time on QT where he asked her if she worried about climate change when flying to her Italian Villa and her inept response was priceless
Pople who start a sentence by saying they're 'not a fan of' usually go on to show that they are a fan of as you have just done.
Toynbee, seems largely inoffensive. She is a social commentator who may or may not know what she is talking about. I don't know and her social commentary doesn't really float my boat.
Littlejohn on the other hand strikes me as very much the unpleasant opinionated c*ck!
It's not surprising if Toynbee is inoffensive to people with left-wing opinions. A bit like saying Douglas Murray is inoffensive to right-wingers.
I'm not sure I've ever heard even Toynbee's detractors call her offensive. I just find her writing kind of bland and repetitive, always preaching to the choir rather than saying something surprising or counterintuitive or even insightful. It's not that I disagree with what she's saying most of the time. In fact I usually don't disagree with any of it. I just don't feel that I gain anything from reading her pieces. But I've not read anything of hers in years.
She was once useful to read: as a barometer of centre left opinion. Whatever she said was a reliable indicator of what the mainstream Labour Party believed - from about 1987 to 2005
Now she is sadly useless for that purpose. Long since superseded. Given that she is neither witty or insightful in any other way I struggle to see how the guardian justifies her alleged six figure salary
But there are, of course, similar writers on all major papers. Perhaps their totally boring dependability is a consolation to older readers, and without her they fear they might lose 5000 loyal subscribers
Poshness of newspapers - their writers and hacks - by order of descent. From posh to prole
Guardian (Observer) Telegraph Times FT Mail Sun Mirror Express Indy Star
I have a very good friend who used to be the Sun's racing correspondent. I think he'd rate it as more posh than the Mall.
Yes, quite possibly. After the top 3 or 4 my ranking is less certain
Interesting but little known fact: British tabloids are starting to make SERIOUS money online through YouTube etc
Google's advertising revenues, of which YouTube is the biggest part, bring in a billion dollars in revenue, EVERY 30 HOURS OR SO.
They do the same every day that Twitter does in a quarter.
AFAICT YouTube's revenue was just shy of $30b last year. A lot to be sure, but a long way off a billion clams every 30 hours. I would be amazed to learn that they make more from YT than they do from search.
Tangentially, YT is probably the better bet for the future, given how vulnerable search is to emerging tech.
$240bn is all advertising revenues.
But the YouTube figure on its own understates its revenues, because some of the most profitable line-items (such as UAC) are multi-channel.
I do like how they've cleverly sidestepped the profitability issue that Netflix and Disney+ face by getting other people to make content for them basically for free (or a tiny sliver of their revenue).
Probably a bigger issue for creative jobs than AI.
Plenty of us are more than happy to generate content for the joy of saying stuff.
As someone campaigning for more active travel (the silver bullet to all of the UK's long-term issues), I'm grateful that all the COVID/5G/Soros types have chosen LTNs and cycle lanes as their next grand conspiracy
Poshness of newspapers - their writers and hacks - by order of descent. From posh to prole
Guardian (Observer) Telegraph Times FT Mail Sun Mirror Express Indy Star
I have a very good friend who used to be the Sun's racing correspondent. I think he'd rate it as more posh than the Mall.
Yes, quite possibly. After the top 3 or 4 my ranking is less certain
Interesting but little known fact: British tabloids are starting to make SERIOUS money online through YouTube etc
Google's advertising revenues, of which YouTube is the biggest part, bring in a billion dollars in revenue, EVERY 30 HOURS OR SO.
They do the same every day that Twitter does in a quarter.
AFAICT YouTube's revenue was just shy of $30b last year. A lot to be sure, but a long way off a billion clams every 30 hours. I would be amazed to learn that they make more from YT than they do from search.
Tangentially, YT is probably the better bet for the future, given how vulnerable search is to emerging tech.
$240bn is all advertising revenues.
But the YouTube figure on its own understates its revenues, because some of the most profitable line-items (such as UAC) are multi-channel.
I do like how they've cleverly sidestepped the profitability issue that Netflix and Disney+ face by getting other people to make content for them basically for free (or a tiny sliver of their revenue).
They made a number of incredibly smart decisions:
(1) They moved advertising from targeting of specific demographics, to them around them optimizing around conversions. You literally tell Google "I want to sell auto insurance", and this is my conversion event, and you go into their bid funnel. And because they own search and video and even login authorization and payments, they know if things are working.
(2) They invested very heavily in YouTube for SmartTVs. YouTube accounts for almost a quarter of viewing on new Samsung TVs.
Joe Schmo can get YouTube anywhere. He doesn't get overloaded with adverts. And it will always find something interesting for him to watch.
I have spent weeks planning 2 cycle rides in France on the basis that I take the Eurostar and catch a train then from Paris as I have done before to my start point with an assembled bike (not boxed). Consequently I didn't bother with the Eurostar bit until the end. And as I finalise weeks of work I read this from Eurostar:
"Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again."
Bloody, bloody, bloody Brexit.
What security reasons, that a boxed bike can't also have?
Poshness of newspapers - their writers and hacks - by order of descent. From posh to prole
Guardian (Observer) Telegraph Times FT Mail Sun Mirror Express Indy Star
I have a very good friend who used to be the Sun's racing correspondent. I think he'd rate it as more posh than the Mall.
Yes, quite possibly. After the top 3 or 4 my ranking is less certain
Interesting but little known fact: British tabloids are starting to make SERIOUS money online through YouTube etc
Google's advertising revenues, of which YouTube is the biggest part, bring in a billion dollars in revenue, EVERY 30 HOURS OR SO.
They do the same every day that Twitter does in a quarter.
AFAICT YouTube's revenue was just shy of $30b last year. A lot to be sure, but a long way off a billion clams every 30 hours. I would be amazed to learn that they make more from YT than they do from search.
Tangentially, YT is probably the better bet for the future, given how vulnerable search is to emerging tech.
$240bn is all advertising revenues.
But the YouTube figure on its own understates its revenues, because some of the most profitable line-items (such as UAC) are multi-channel.
I do like how they've cleverly sidestepped the profitability issue that Netflix and Disney+ face by getting other people to make content for them basically for free (or a tiny sliver of their revenue).
They made a number of incredibly smart decisions:
(1) They moved advertising from targeting of specific demographics, to them around them optimizing around conversions. You literally tell Google "I want to sell auto insurance", and this is my conversion event, and you go into their bid funnel. And because they own search and video and even login authorization and payments, they know if things are working.
(2) They invested very heavily in YouTube for SmartTVs. YouTube accounts for almost a quarter of viewing on new Samsung TVs.
Joe Schmo can get YouTube anywhere. He doesn't get overloaded with adverts. And it will always find something interesting for him to watch.
The biggest revelation for me a few years ago was seeing how YouTube content had taken over from traditional childrens' TV.
Poshness of newspapers - their writers and hacks - by order of descent. From posh to prole
Guardian (Observer) Telegraph Times FT Mail Sun Mirror Express Indy Star
I have a very good friend who used to be the Sun's racing correspondent. I think he'd rate it as more posh than the Mall.
Yes, quite possibly. After the top 3 or 4 my ranking is less certain
Interesting but little known fact: British tabloids are starting to make SERIOUS money online through YouTube etc
Google's advertising revenues, of which YouTube is the biggest part, bring in a billion dollars in revenue, EVERY 30 HOURS OR SO.
They do the same every day that Twitter does in a quarter.
AFAICT YouTube's revenue was just shy of $30b last year. A lot to be sure, but a long way off a billion clams every 30 hours. I would be amazed to learn that they make more from YT than they do from search.
Tangentially, YT is probably the better bet for the future, given how vulnerable search is to emerging tech.
$240bn is all advertising revenues.
But the YouTube figure on its own understates its revenues, because some of the most profitable line-items (such as UAC) are multi-channel.
I do like how they've cleverly sidestepped the profitability issue that Netflix and Disney+ face by getting other people to make content for them basically for free (or a tiny sliver of their revenue).
They made a number of incredibly smart decisions:
(1) They moved advertising from targeting of specific demographics, to them around them optimizing around conversions. You literally tell Google "I want to sell auto insurance", and this is my conversion event, and you go into their bid funnel. And because they own search and video and even login authorization and payments, they know if things are working.
(2) They invested very heavily in YouTube for SmartTVs. YouTube accounts for almost a quarter of viewing on new Samsung TVs.
Joe Schmo can get YouTube anywhere. He doesn't get overloaded with adverts. And it will always find something interesting for him to watch.
I have spent weeks planning 2 cycle rides in France on the basis that I take the Eurostar and catch a train then from Paris as I have done before to my start point with an assembled bike (not boxed). Consequently I didn't bother with the Eurostar bit until the end. And as I finalise weeks of work I read this from Eurostar:
"Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again."
Bloody, bloody, bloody Brexit.
What security reasons, that a boxed bike can't also have?
I have spent weeks planning 2 cycle rides in France on the basis that I take the Eurostar and catch a train then from Paris as I have done before to my start point with an assembled bike (not boxed). Consequently I didn't bother with the Eurostar bit until the end. And as I finalise weeks of work I read this from Eurostar:
"Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again."
Bloody, bloody, bloody Brexit.
What security reasons, that a boxed bike can't also have?
I dropped a holiday idea cos of this too.
So many bloody hours planning the routes on greenways, booking hotels and b&bs, etc, etc. I want to cry.
Back to the drawing board. There must be alternatives. We have done several from Portsmouth but that is when cycling in Normandy or Brittany. These trips were further south so relying on TGVs. I could do train and ferry from Dover and then train I guess.
I have spent weeks planning 2 cycle rides in France on the basis that I take the Eurostar and catch a train then from Paris as I have done before to my start point with an assembled bike (not boxed). Consequently I didn't bother with the Eurostar bit until the end. And as I finalise weeks of work I read this from Eurostar:
"Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again."
Bloody, bloody, bloody Brexit.
What security reasons, that a boxed bike can't also have?
Buy a cardboard box from any cycle shop & bring a few tools?
Poshness of newspapers - their writers and hacks - by order of descent. From posh to prole
Guardian (Observer) Telegraph Times FT Mail Sun Mirror Express Indy Star
I have a very good friend who used to be the Sun's racing correspondent. I think he'd rate it as more posh than the Mall.
Yes, quite possibly. After the top 3 or 4 my ranking is less certain
Interesting but little known fact: British tabloids are starting to make SERIOUS money online through YouTube etc
Google's advertising revenues, of which YouTube is the biggest part, bring in a billion dollars in revenue, EVERY 30 HOURS OR SO.
They do the same every day that Twitter does in a quarter.
AFAICT YouTube's revenue was just shy of $30b last year. A lot to be sure, but a long way off a billion clams every 30 hours. I would be amazed to learn that they make more from YT than they do from search.
Tangentially, YT is probably the better bet for the future, given how vulnerable search is to emerging tech.
$240bn is all advertising revenues.
But the YouTube figure on its own understates its revenues, because some of the most profitable line-items (such as UAC) are multi-channel.
I do like how they've cleverly sidestepped the profitability issue that Netflix and Disney+ face by getting other people to make content for them basically for free (or a tiny sliver of their revenue).
They made a number of incredibly smart decisions:
(1) They moved advertising from targeting of specific demographics, to them around them optimizing around conversions. You literally tell Google "I want to sell auto insurance", and this is my conversion event, and you go into their bid funnel. And because they own search and video and even login authorization and payments, they know if things are working.
(2) They invested very heavily in YouTube for SmartTVs. YouTube accounts for almost a quarter of viewing on new Samsung TVs.
Joe Schmo can get YouTube anywhere. He doesn't get overloaded with adverts. And it will always find something interesting for him to watch.
The biggest revelation for me a few years ago was seeing how YouTube content had taken over from traditional childrens' TV.
Any parent who let's their child watch YouTube unsupervised is mad, IMHO.
Poor, poor Polly Toynbee. She can't even find one working class ancestor but nonetheless she still sympathises desperately with their troubles while writing her Guardian column from her posh property to be read by other upper middle class left liberals, though of course the working classes suffered terrible false conciousness in backing Brexit https://twitter.com/alysdenby/status/1660564871610527744?s=20
Polly Toynbee is why I was a Tory for so long.
I don’t believe I’ve ever read an interesting Polly Toynbee piece. I believe she was considered influential back in the early 90s…
It’s worth reading that article for the sheer Toynbee-ness of it all. Her sad desperate yet failed search for at least one working class relative (a story I don’t believe btw, everyone has working class relatives no more than 2 or 3 generations away or removed - she just didn’t want to find them)
True story: a few years ago she bought a house near a friend of mine for a cool £5m cash
I’ve never understood poshos like Toynbee who are desperate to be working class.
What is wrong with these people?
It’s a truly weird and toxic mixture of snobbery and guilt. Toynbee is a proper snob. It oozes from every syllable of that article. She sneers. She can’t help it. She enjoys being posh so she can look down on almost everyone
Yet at the same time I am sure she genuinely feels guilt at her privilege and has a sincere desire to help others - especially those “less fortunate”
So you end up with weird and awkward contortions like that essay
Is she worse or better than an outright snob like Alan Clark? I honestly dunno. He was funny. But a nasty snob. She’s not funny. But she’s probably done more for poor people while inwardly sneering at them and trying not to smell them
Alan Clark was ultimately harmless (aside from to his immediate family). His diaries remain quite fascinating, and they are truly wonderfully edited - Ion Trewin really does give the whole of the man, his insecurities and frequent wrongness about things. Clark was an excellent and very funny writer, quite snobbish but also an inveterate romantic whose main goal was to give narrative justification for the events in his life.
Only Chris Mullin has come close to him, I think.
Alan Clark had a classic putdown of Michael Heseltine, though an extremely snobbish one. He said Heseltine 'was the type of man who has to buy his own furniture'.
He was also quite snobbish about William Hague too, Hague's father owned a small drinks factory, recounting one conversation with his fellow OE Nicholas Soames in which he said of the comprehensive educated Hague ' I mean the man looks like a golf ball'. He quite liked Blair though, apart from on Kosovo (Blair sent him a note after his illness was diagnosed) and was a big Princess Diana fan and worshipped Thatcher, though that was not fully reciprocated as The Lady never made him a senior Minister
Clarke himself though, was a poor man's idea of a how a rich man should behave.
I have spent weeks planning 2 cycle rides in France on the basis that I take the Eurostar and catch a train then from Paris as I have done before to my start point with an assembled bike (not boxed). Consequently I didn't bother with the Eurostar bit until the end. And as I finalise weeks of work I read this from Eurostar:
"Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again."
Bloody, bloody, bloody Brexit.
What security reasons, that a boxed bike can't also have?
That is really weird. I genuinely can't understand that. I can't be some obscure rule about transit of assembled bikes either cos you can get on a ferry with one.
If it was 'we don't have space' or something, I'd still be annoyed but at least there'd be some logic to it.
Poor, poor Polly Toynbee. She can't even find one working class ancestor but nonetheless she still sympathises desperately with their troubles while writing her Guardian column from her posh property to be read by other upper middle class left liberals, though of course the working classes suffered terrible false conciousness in backing Brexit https://twitter.com/alysdenby/status/1660564871610527744?s=20
Polly Toynbee is why I was a Tory for so long.
I don’t believe I’ve ever read an interesting Polly Toynbee piece. I believe she was considered influential back in the early 90s…
It’s worth reading that article for the sheer Toynbee-ness of it all. Her sad desperate yet failed search for at least one working class relative (a story I don’t believe btw, everyone has working class relatives no more than 2 or 3 generations away or removed - she just didn’t want to find them)
True story: a few years ago she bought a house near a friend of mine for a cool £5m cash
I’ve never understood poshos like Toynbee who are desperate to be working class.
What is wrong with these people?
It’s a truly weird and toxic mixture of snobbery and guilt. Toynbee is a proper snob. It oozes from every syllable of that article. She sneers. She can’t help it. She enjoys being posh so she can look down on almost everyone
Yet at the same time I am sure she genuinely feels guilt at her privilege and has a sincere desire to help others - especially those “less fortunate”
So you end up with weird and awkward contortions like that essay
Is she worse or better than an outright snob like Alan Clark? I honestly dunno. He was funny. But a nasty snob. She’s not funny. But she’s probably done more for poor people while inwardly sneering at them and trying not to smell them
Alan Clark was ultimately harmless (aside from to his immediate family). His diaries remain quite fascinating, and they are truly wonderfully edited - Ion Trewin really does give the whole of the man, his insecurities and frequent wrongness about things. Clark was an excellent and very funny writer, quite snobbish but also an inveterate romantic whose main goal was to give narrative justification for the events in his life.
Only Chris Mullin has come close to him, I think.
Alan Clark had a classic putdown of Michael Heseltine, though an extremely snobbish one. He said Heseltine 'was the type of man who has to buy his own furniture'.
He was also quite snobbish about William Hague too and his father who owned a small drinks factory, recounting one conversation with Nicholas Soames in which he said ' I mean the man looks like a golf ball'
I always thought that comment about Heseltine reflected worse on Clark than on Hezza. Snobbery is a very unpleasant, destructive and ultimately boring British disease.
People of old money, who are comfortable in themselves, are not usually snobs. It's the nouveaux riches who are more likely to put people down.
I have spent weeks planning 2 cycle rides in France on the basis that I take the Eurostar and catch a train then from Paris as I have done before to my start point with an assembled bike (not boxed). Consequently I didn't bother with the Eurostar bit until the end. And as I finalise weeks of work I read this from Eurostar:
"Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again."
Bloody, bloody, bloody Brexit.
What security reasons, that a boxed bike can't also have?
Buy a cardboard box from any cycle shop & bring a few tools?
The ferry is always an option. There is a good ride to Paris from Calais if you can spare 1/2 days.
I have spent weeks planning 2 cycle rides in France on the basis that I take the Eurostar and catch a train then from Paris as I have done before to my start point with an assembled bike (not boxed). Consequently I didn't bother with the Eurostar bit until the end. And as I finalise weeks of work I read this from Eurostar:
"Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again."
Bloody, bloody, bloody Brexit.
What security reasons, that a boxed bike can't also have?
I dropped a holiday idea cos of this too.
I sympathise (genuinely) with all this, but it does seem to me to be an awful lot of arse-ache which has been deliberately thrown up by both sides during an acrimonious divorce
How can a bike on the Eurostar possibly threaten the Single Market?
It’s like a separating couple deciding to cut their heritage vinyl edition of Sgt Pepper in two so that neither side can enjoy it but both theoretically get an equal share
Poshness of newspapers - their writers and hacks - by order of descent. From posh to prole
Guardian (Observer) Telegraph Times FT Mail Sun Mirror Express Indy Star
I have a very good friend who used to be the Sun's racing correspondent. I think he'd rate it as more posh than the Mall.
Yes, quite possibly. After the top 3 or 4 my ranking is less certain
Interesting but little known fact: British tabloids are starting to make SERIOUS money online through YouTube etc
Google's advertising revenues, of which YouTube is the biggest part, bring in a billion dollars in revenue, EVERY 30 HOURS OR SO.
They do the same every day that Twitter does in a quarter.
AFAICT YouTube's revenue was just shy of $30b last year. A lot to be sure, but a long way off a billion clams every 30 hours. I would be amazed to learn that they make more from YT than they do from search.
Tangentially, YT is probably the better bet for the future, given how vulnerable search is to emerging tech.
$240bn is all advertising revenues.
But the YouTube figure on its own understates its revenues, because some of the most profitable line-items (such as UAC) are multi-channel.
I do like how they've cleverly sidestepped the profitability issue that Netflix and Disney+ face by getting other people to make content for them basically for free (or a tiny sliver of their revenue).
They made a number of incredibly smart decisions:
(1) They moved advertising from targeting of specific demographics, to them around them optimizing around conversions. You literally tell Google "I want to sell auto insurance", and this is my conversion event, and you go into their bid funnel. And because they own search and video and even login authorization and payments, they know if things are working.
(2) They invested very heavily in YouTube for SmartTVs. YouTube accounts for almost a quarter of viewing on new Samsung TVs.
Joe Schmo can get YouTube anywhere. He doesn't get overloaded with adverts. And it will always find something interesting for him to watch.
The biggest revelation for me a few years ago was seeing how YouTube content had taken over from traditional childrens' TV.
I wouldn't go as far as to say that it's taken over, but it's absolutely in the prime mix.
@BestForBritain 1m Suella Braverman in the Commons refusing to answer Qs and says reason Labour are asking them is to distract from *her brilliant record* and the fact that Labour love "foreign criminals", "pedophiles and murderers" and "their total abandonment of British people". Wow. ~AA
@BestForBritain 1m Suella Braverman in the Commons refusing to answer Qs and says reason Labour are asking them is to distract from *her brilliant record* and the fact that Labour love "foreign criminals", "pedophiles and murderers" and "their total abandonment of British people". Wow. ~AA
Regarding Polly, the Right needs to start specifying where she's factually or morally wrong. 'How dare she criticize Boris when she's so posh' isn't much of a call to arms.
@BestForBritain 1m Suella Braverman in the Commons refusing to answer Qs and says reason Labour are asking them is to distract from *her brilliant record* and the fact that Labour love "foreign criminals", "pedophiles and murderers" and "their total abandonment of British people". Wow. ~AA
I for one am looking forward to this by-election, if it happens. To see @bigjohnowls cheering on the SNP and @malcolmg cheering on Labour will give warm and fuzzy feelings all over.
I would not piss on Labour even if they were ablaze
Toynbee is someone who offers so little yet has made a career writing opinion pieces and getting talking head slots on TV.
I’m no fan of Richard littlejohn but that time on QT where he asked her if she worried about climate change when flying to her Italian Villa and her inept response was priceless
Pople who start a sentence by saying they're 'not a fan of' usually go on to show that they are a fan of as you have just done.
Toynbee, seems largely inoffensive. She is a social commentator who may or may not know what she is talking about. I don't know and her social commentary doesn't really float my boat.
Littlejohn on the other hand strikes me as very much the unpleasant opinionated c*ck!
It's not surprising if Toynbee is inoffensive to people with left-wing opinions. A bit like saying Douglas Murray is inoffensive to right-wingers.
I used to enjoy viciously teasing Polly on CIF years ago.
She is the sort of English person who ruins Tuscany, especially in summer. Mind you the Tuscans are not much trusted by other Italians - so they probably deserve having ghastly English people who think they're posh but really really are not inflicted on them.
The funniest outcome would be the recall petition not making 10% (which on bare precedent is a one in three chance).. One could hardly blame the poor, abused Scottish voter for having stopped giving a feck.
That would be justice, she has been hard done by , given Sturgeon , plastic paddy etc who all broke rules but got let away with it.
I have spent weeks planning 2 cycle rides in France on the basis that I take the Eurostar and catch a train then from Paris as I have done before to my start point with an assembled bike (not boxed). Consequently I didn't bother with the Eurostar bit until the end. And as I finalise weeks of work I read this from Eurostar:
"Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again."
Bloody, bloody, bloody Brexit.
What security reasons, that a boxed bike can't also have?
That is really weird. I genuinely can't understand that. I can't be some obscure rule about transit of assembled bikes either cos you can get on a ferry with one.
If it was 'we don't have space' or something, I'd still be annoyed but at least there'd be some logic to it.
Man in Seat 61 says the boxed option involves turning up a little early & that Eurostar provides the box. You only need a minimal number of tools (pedal spanner, a couple of hex keys) to take the front wheel off, loosen the handlebars & take the pedals off. It’s a pain compared to being able to just wheel the bike onto the platform, but still sounds doable?
Regarding Polly, the Right needs to start specifying where she's factually or morally wrong. 'How dare she criticize Boris when she's so posh' isn't much of a call to arms.
The discussion is more about her obvious discomfort in her own skin, like Laura Trevelyan.
I have spent weeks planning 2 cycle rides in France on the basis that I take the Eurostar and catch a train then from Paris as I have done before to my start point with an assembled bike (not boxed). Consequently I didn't bother with the Eurostar bit until the end. And as I finalise weeks of work I read this from Eurostar:
"Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again."
Bloody, bloody, bloody Brexit.
What security reasons, that a boxed bike can't also have?
That is really weird. I genuinely can't understand that. I can't be some obscure rule about transit of assembled bikes either cos you can get on a ferry with one.
If it was 'we don't have space' or something, I'd still be annoyed but at least there'd be some logic to it.
I do wonder whether Eurostar have ever wanted the hassle of carrying bicycles and Brexit is simply a handy smokescreen for a decision that has been taken for other reasons. They say Brexit in one sentence and security in the other, which is a bit weird.
If they simply said they weren't allowing them anymore then the cycling lobby would be on to them pretty sharpish. Say "Brexit" and instead everyone says either, "bloody Brexit," or, "bloody French," and leaves them alone.
Regarding Polly, the Right needs to start specifying where she's factually or morally wrong. 'How dare she criticize Boris when she's so posh' isn't much of a call to arms.
It’s the combination of her claiming to have the best interests of a section of society at heart, while despising and sneering at them.
Sanders Of The River with chavs instead of African gentlemen with bones through their noses.
All other things being equal, signal controlled junctions work better when the signals aren't working. Far less tarmac is wasted.
Less ideal however for: - pedestrians - crap drivers - those joining from obviously minor arms where those on the major arm overlook the need to treat all arms equally.
Poor, poor Polly Toynbee. She can't even find one working class ancestor but nonetheless she still sympathises desperately with their troubles while writing her Guardian column from her posh property to be read by other upper middle class left liberals, though of course the working classes suffered terrible false conciousness in backing Brexit https://twitter.com/alysdenby/status/1660564871610527744?s=20
Polly Toynbee is why I was a Tory for so long.
I don’t believe I’ve ever read an interesting Polly Toynbee piece. I believe she was considered influential back in the early 90s…
It’s worth reading that article for the sheer Toynbee-ness of it all. Her sad desperate yet failed search for at least one working class relative (a story I don’t believe btw, everyone has working class relatives no more than 2 or 3 generations away or removed - she just didn’t want to find them)
True story: a few years ago she bought a house near a friend of mine for a cool £5m cash
I’ve never understood poshos like Toynbee who are desperate to be working class.
What is wrong with these people?
It’s a truly weird and toxic mixture of snobbery and guilt. Toynbee is a proper snob. It oozes from every syllable of that article. She sneers. She can’t help it. She enjoys being posh so she can look down on almost everyone
Yet at the same time I am sure she genuinely feels guilt at her privilege and has a sincere desire to help others - especially those “less fortunate”
So you end up with weird and awkward contortions like that essay
Is she worse or better than an outright snob like Alan Clark? I honestly dunno. He was funny. But a nasty snob. She’s not funny. But she’s probably done more for poor people while inwardly sneering at them and trying not to smell them
Alan Clark was ultimately harmless (aside from to his immediate family). His diaries remain quite fascinating, and they are truly wonderfully edited - Ion Trewin really does give the whole of the man, his insecurities and frequent wrongness about things. Clark was an excellent and very funny writer, quite snobbish but also an inveterate romantic whose main goal was to give narrative justification for the events in his life.
Only Chris Mullin has come close to him, I think.
Alan Clark had a classic putdown of Michael Heseltine, though an extremely snobbish one. He said Heseltine 'was the type of man who has to buy his own furniture'.
He was also quite snobbish about William Hague too and his father who owned a small drinks factory, recounting one conversation with Nicholas Soames in which he said ' I mean the man looks like a golf ball'
He had a nerve saying that about Heseltine, given his own family background.
He didn't say it - he reported someone else saying it.
I have spent weeks planning 2 cycle rides in France on the basis that I take the Eurostar and catch a train then from Paris as I have done before to my start point with an assembled bike (not boxed). Consequently I didn't bother with the Eurostar bit until the end. And as I finalise weeks of work I read this from Eurostar:
"Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again."
Bloody, bloody, bloody Brexit.
What security reasons, that a boxed bike can't also have?
That is really weird. I genuinely can't understand that. I can't be some obscure rule about transit of assembled bikes either cos you can get on a ferry with one.
If it was 'we don't have space' or something, I'd still be annoyed but at least there'd be some logic to it.
I do wonder whether Eurostar have ever wanted the hassle of carrying bicycles and Brexit is simply a handy smokescreen for a decision that has been taken for other reasons. They say Brexit in one sentence and security in the other, which is a bit weird.
If they simply said they weren't allowing them anymore then the cycling lobby would be on to them pretty sharpish. Say "Brexit" and instead everyone says either, "bloody Brexit," or, "bloody French," and leaves them alone.
You get the distinct impression from UK railways that they absolutely hate cyclists & wish we would all die in a fire.
Going to Denmark where everyone just wheels their bikes straight onto the commuter trains which have swathes of space without seats for this purpose was something of a culture shock!
Regarding Polly, the Right needs to start specifying where she's factually or morally wrong. 'How dare she criticize Boris when she's so posh' isn't much of a call to arms.
It’s the combination of her claiming to have the best interests of a section of society at heart, while despising and sneering at them.
Sanders Of The River with chavs instead of African gentlemen with bones through their noses.
If I'd inherited a vast fortune, from some aristocrat, my attitude would be "God has given us the Papacy. Let us enjoy it."
I for one am looking forward to this by-election, if it happens. To see @bigjohnowls cheering on the SNP and @malcolmg cheering on Labour will give warm and fuzzy feelings all over.
@malcolmg has many virtues, not the least of which is brevity, but amongst that long list is not found the words "cheer", "warm", nor "fuzzy"...
I have spent weeks planning 2 cycle rides in France on the basis that I take the Eurostar and catch a train then from Paris as I have done before to my start point with an assembled bike (not boxed). Consequently I didn't bother with the Eurostar bit until the end. And as I finalise weeks of work I read this from Eurostar:
"Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again."
Bloody, bloody, bloody Brexit.
What security reasons, that a boxed bike can't also have?
That is really weird. I genuinely can't understand that. I can't be some obscure rule about transit of assembled bikes either cos you can get on a ferry with one.
If it was 'we don't have space' or something, I'd still be annoyed but at least there'd be some logic to it.
I do wonder whether Eurostar have ever wanted the hassle of carrying bicycles and Brexit is simply a handy smokescreen for a decision that has been taken for other reasons. They say Brexit in one sentence and security in the other, which is a bit weird.
If they simply said they weren't allowing them anymore then the cycling lobby would be on to them pretty sharpish. Say "Brexit" and instead everyone says either, "bloody Brexit," or, "bloody French," and leaves them alone.
There is another by-election pending - for a hereditary Lib Dem in the House of Lords. There are 3 candidates - Lord Belhaven, Earl Lloyd George, and Earl Russell. So 2 descendants of Liberal Prime ministers and one who isn't.
Sky news have picked up on Starmer’s “no magic money tree” awful Theresa May speech today
Starmer is unleashing waves of new policy - but still fails to explain how he would pay for it all
As part of a long-term effort to convince voters that Labour is ready for government, Sir Keir Starmer today unveiled the third of his five missions. It seems that his response to being accused of lacking a big vision for the country is to unleash wave after wave of detailed policies and ambitious pledges. In a speech that lasted half an hour, the wishlist went from slashing waiting times to restrictions on advertising to children. It included personal anecdotes alongside transformative plans that span the next decade. The only area that was a little light on information was how it would all be paid for, beyond some narrowly focused funding pledges on closing tax loopholes. The Labour leader said that would be forthcoming as the next general election draws near. But if he wants to reassure voters that the public finances as well as the NHS are safe in his hands, he can't put it off much longer.
Regarding Polly, the Right needs to start specifying where she's factually or morally wrong. 'How dare she criticize Boris when she's so posh' isn't much of a call to arms.
I agree. But there is a general issue hovering around all this. There is a sort of mental split between two groups. There are those who expect that the personal lives of those who have and express (and make money from) strong convictions should match those opinions.
The other view is that expressed opinion and personal action have no such relation.
On issues like wealth, educational privilege and nepotism the first group look at some elites with more than a little cynicism.
Sky news have picked up on Starmer’s “no magic money tree” awful Theresa May speech today
Starmer is unleashing waves of new policy - but still fails to explain how he would pay for it all
As part of a long-term effort to convince voters that Labour is ready for government, Sir Keir Starmer today unveiled the third of his five missions. It seems that his response to being accused of lacking a big vision for the country is to unleash wave after wave of detailed policies and ambitious pledges. In a speech that lasted half an hour, the wishlist went from slashing waiting times to restrictions on advertising to children. It included personal anecdotes alongside transformative plans that span the next decade. The only area that was a little light on information was how it would all be paid for, beyond some narrowly focused funding pledges on closing tax loopholes. The Labour leader said that would be forthcoming as the next general election draws near. But if he wants to reassure voters that the public finances as well as the NHS are safe in his hands, he can't put it off much longer.
To continue what is a bad day at the top of Labour, also from Sky news, this financial and communication mess up was also quickly picked up by PB in the last thread
Senior Labour frontbencher under fire for business class flight to New York Suella Braverman is not the only senior MP under fire today. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has been criticised for taking a business class flight to New York where she is set to meet businesses, before travelling to Washington DC for meetings and a speech tomorrow. Yesterday evening, she posted a tweet with a photo of herself on the plane before take-off from Heathrow, but eagle-eyed users spotted her seat number on her boarding pass. She was sitting in seat number 3K, which is a business class seat with a lie-flat bed, according to online seat maps. However, the tweet was deleted when users began pointing out her front-of-the-plane accommodation. The tweet was subsequently re-posted with the information blurred out, but that was also later deleted.
The funniest outcome would be the recall petition not making 10% (which on bare precedent is a one in three chance).. One could hardly blame the poor, abused Scottish voter for having stopped giving a feck.
That would be justice, she has been hard done by , given Sturgeon , plastic paddy etc who all broke rules but got let away with it.
Incidentally, any idea what is going on in Belgorod Oblast today?
Russia is starting an "antiterrorist operation" to deal with an incursion by a group claiming to be Russians who have come to liberate them from the Kremlin, with sponsorship from Ukraine. It is presumably designed to sow chaos in Russia and distract Russia from the counteroffensive elsewhere.
Poor, poor Polly Toynbee. She can't even find one working class ancestor but nonetheless she still sympathises desperately with their troubles while writing her Guardian column from her posh property to be read by other upper middle class left liberals, though of course the working classes suffered terrible false conciousness in backing Brexit https://twitter.com/alysdenby/status/1660564871610527744?s=20
Polly Toynbee is why I was a Tory for so long.
I don’t believe I’ve ever read an interesting Polly Toynbee piece. I believe she was considered influential back in the early 90s…
It’s worth reading that article for the sheer Toynbee-ness of it all. Her sad desperate yet failed search for at least one working class relative (a story I don’t believe btw, everyone has working class relatives no more than 2 or 3 generations away or removed - she just didn’t want to find them)
True story: a few years ago she bought a house near a friend of mine for a cool £5m cash
I’ve never understood poshos like Toynbee who are desperate to be working class.
What is wrong with these people?
It’s a truly weird and toxic mixture of snobbery and guilt. Toynbee is a proper snob. It oozes from every syllable of that article. She sneers. She can’t help it. She enjoys being posh so she can look down on almost everyone
Yet at the same time I am sure she genuinely feels guilt at her privilege and has a sincere desire to help others - especially those “less fortunate”
So you end up with weird and awkward contortions like that essay
Is she worse or better than an outright snob like Alan Clark? I honestly dunno. He was funny. But a nasty snob. She’s not funny. But she’s probably done more for poor people while inwardly sneering at them and trying not to smell them
Alan Clark was ultimately harmless (aside from to his immediate family). His diaries remain quite fascinating, and they are truly wonderfully edited - Ion Trewin really does give the whole of the man, his insecurities and frequent wrongness about things. Clark was an excellent and very funny writer, quite snobbish but also an inveterate romantic whose main goal was to give narrative justification for the events in his life.
Only Chris Mullin has come close to him, I think.
Alan Clark had a classic putdown of Michael Heseltine, though an extremely snobbish one. He said Heseltine 'was the type of man who has to buy his own furniture'.
He was also quite snobbish about William Hague too, Hague's father owned a small drinks factory, recounting one conversation with his fellow OE Nicholas Soames in which he said of the comprehensive educated Hague ' I mean the man looks like a golf ball'. He quite liked Blair though, apart from on Kosovo (Blair sent him a note after his illness was diagnosed) and was a big Princess Diana fan and worshipped Thatcher, though that was not fully reciprocated as The Lady never made him a senior Minister
I believe that quote about Heseltine was from Sir Timothy Kitson but recorded by Clark.
Comments
They BOUGHT their moated castle in Kent
Interesting but little known fact: British tabloids are starting to make SERIOUS money online through YouTube etc
I once had sex with a girl who was at the same time having sex with Martin Amis (not literally a “Nick palmer in Zurich” situation but you know what I mean - she was liberal with her charms)
She said he was unsatisfyingly tiny in height but genuinely hilarious
Three of the four strands of the pipelines, built to transport Russian gas to Germany on the bed of the Baltic Sea, were knocked out by underwater explosions last September, effectively severing the main energy link between the two countries.
The perpetrator has not yet been identified despite three separate national investigations carried out by Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ukraine-blew-up-nord-stream-2-pipeline-german-fbi-2023-95d58fgkv
I know it bad form to speak ill of the recently departed, but Martin was just a shock jock. I can't imagine anyone so tedious. Oh wait, yes I can...
I’m no fan of Richard littlejohn but that time on QT where he asked her if she worried about climate change when flying to her Italian Villa and her inept response was priceless
Braverman: "........................................................................................................................................................"
https://americanminipigassociation.com/uncategorized/teacup-micro-pigs-what-are-they-and-where-can-i-get-one/
Littlejohn on the other hand strikes me as very much the unpleasant opinionated c*ck!
They do the same every day that Twitter does in a quarter.
Even worse with Braverman on the roads.
Red traffic lights in London could be switched off from 10pm until 7am if Sadiq Khan is sacked as Mayor
Tory hopeful Dan Korski today vowed to impose a radical shake-up of London roads
https://twitter.com/hoffman_noa/status/1660642057554108417
https://www.newsweek.com/putin-defectors-freedom-russia-legion-ukraine-belgorod-war-1801786
I don’t think I have ever agreed with one of your posts. How can you always be so wrong, Farooq?
Sad really, especially when Khan is hardly a charismatic powerhouse - he ought to be there for the taking.
People on the fringes, who aggressively put Essex/Kent/Surrey on their address,
Taxi drivers,
Erm..,
That's about it.
Given unhappiness about ULEZ expansion and LTNs in various boroughs, becoming a Drivers' Rights Party is probably as good a strategy as any for London Conservatives. It loses, but shores up some sort of vote for them.
BTW it's red sauce on bacon sarnies. Tell me I'm wrong about that too.
Tangentially, YT is probably the better bet for the future, given how vulnerable search is to emerging tech.
Khan might well be vulnerable in 2028 under a Labour Government, as he's not a great candidate as you say, but it's shore up the core vote time for the Tories next May.
But the YouTube figure on its own understates its revenues, because some of the most profitable line-items (such as UAC) are multi-channel.
Escaped water buffalo herd wreck Essex swimming pool (with video!):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-essex-65674881
All other things being equal, signal controlled junctions work better when the signals aren't working. Far less tarmac is wasted.
Less ideal however for:
- pedestrians
- crap drivers
- those joining from obviously minor arms where those on the major arm overlook the need to treat all arms equally.
Now she is sadly useless for that purpose. Long since superseded. Given that she is neither witty or insightful in any other way I struggle to see how the guardian justifies her alleged six figure salary
But there are, of course, similar writers on all
major papers. Perhaps their totally boring dependability is a consolation to older readers, and without her they fear they might lose 5000 loyal subscribers
Plenty of us are more than happy to generate content for the joy of saying stuff.
(1) They moved advertising from targeting of specific demographics, to them around them optimizing around conversions. You literally tell Google "I want to sell auto insurance", and this is my conversion event, and you go into their bid funnel. And because they own search and video and even login authorization and payments, they know if things are working.
(2) They invested very heavily in YouTube for SmartTVs. YouTube accounts for almost a quarter of viewing on new Samsung TVs.
Joe Schmo can get YouTube anywhere. He doesn't get overloaded with adverts. And it will always find something interesting for him to watch.
I have spent weeks planning 2 cycle rides in France on the basis that I take the Eurostar and catch a train then from Paris as I have done before to my start point with an assembled bike (not boxed). Consequently I didn't bother with the Eurostar bit until the end. And as I finalise weeks of work I read this from Eurostar:
"Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again."
Bloody, bloody, bloody Brexit.
What security reasons, that a boxed bike can't also have?
Back to the drawing board. There must be alternatives. We have done several from Portsmouth but that is when cycling in Normandy or Brittany. These trips were further south so relying on TGVs. I could do train and ferry from Dover and then train I guess.
If it was 'we don't have space' or something, I'd still be annoyed but at least there'd be some logic to it.
How can a bike on the Eurostar possibly threaten the Single Market?
It’s like a separating couple deciding to cut their heritage vinyl edition of Sgt Pepper in two so that neither side can enjoy it but both theoretically get an equal share
Parliament
The Met
Other police forces
The London Fire Brigade
Other fire brigades
The Army
The Navy
The TSSA union
The NHS
And now - the Methodists: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/methodist-church-not-seen-as-safe-for-women-leaked-report-finds-qrc0jzz22
If only there were politicians who took this seriously. If only .....
1m
Suella Braverman in the Commons refusing to answer Qs and says reason Labour are asking them is to distract from *her brilliant record* and the fact that Labour love "foreign criminals", "pedophiles and murderers" and "their total abandonment of British people". Wow. ~AA
https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1660661972474515459
How low the Tory party have sunk.
https://www.seat61.com/bike-by-train.htm
If they simply said they weren't allowing them anymore then the cycling lobby would be on to them pretty sharpish. Say "Brexit" and instead everyone says either, "bloody Brexit," or, "bloody French," and leaves them alone.
Sanders Of The River with chavs instead of African gentlemen with bones through their noses.
They have inscribed my name in chocolate hieroglyphs on a special chocolate obelisk
They have built me a tray of sweetmeats made like the pyramids
And from my Nile side balcony I can see…
That leaves open the possibility that the Conservatives will remain as a minority administration.
I note that some Labour councillors are threatening to sit as independents.
Going to Denmark where everyone just wheels their bikes straight onto the commuter trains which have swathes of space without seats for this purpose was something of a culture shock!
NB. Cycling UK has some channel hopping suggestions here if Eurostar ends up being impossible @LostPassword : https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/eurostar-re-opens-cycle-carriage-service
https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/eurostar-re-opens-cycle-carriage-service
Apparently you can now do it to Paris, but not yet other destinations as of Feb 2023.
It says it stopped due to coronavirus, and when it restarted, the rules were different. It says the situation is due to improve soon.
It also mentions Brexit in passing, though with no extra details. Clear as mud.
Starmer is unleashing waves of new policy - but still fails to explain how he would pay for it all
As part of a long-term effort to convince voters that Labour is ready for government, Sir Keir Starmer today unveiled the third of his five missions.
It seems that his response to being accused of lacking a big vision for the country is to unleash wave after wave of detailed policies and ambitious pledges.
In a speech that lasted half an hour, the wishlist went from slashing waiting times to restrictions on advertising to children.
It included personal anecdotes alongside transformative plans that span the next decade.
The only area that was a little light on information was how it would all be paid for, beyond some narrowly focused funding pledges on closing tax loopholes.
The Labour leader said that would be forthcoming as the next general election draws near.
But if he wants to reassure voters that the public finances as well as the NHS are safe in his hands, he can't put it off much longer.
The other view is that expressed opinion and personal action have no such relation.
On issues like wealth, educational privilege and nepotism the first group look at some elites with more than a little cynicism.
Senior Labour frontbencher under fire for business class flight to New York
Suella Braverman is not the only senior MP under fire today.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has been criticised for taking a business class flight to New York where she is set to meet businesses, before travelling to Washington DC for meetings and a speech tomorrow.
Yesterday evening, she posted a tweet with a photo of herself on the plane before take-off from Heathrow, but eagle-eyed users spotted her seat number on her boarding pass.
She was sitting in seat number 3K, which is a business class seat with a lie-flat bed, according to online seat maps.
However, the tweet was deleted when users began pointing out her front-of-the-plane accommodation. The tweet was subsequently re-posted with the information blurred out, but that was also later deleted.
The foreground however looks like some sort of dystopian vision of the future from the 1980s.