As a nation we are focusing on gotchas from decades past. We saw Farage holding a smoking gun (his retweet blaming police for not releasing the bogus/ made-up Syrian refugee's name) a week last Monday and nothing is said
One of those strange ones. It doesn't seem very long ago that "Chinky" was a near ubiquitous term for a Chinese restaurant.
I am old enough to remember Madeleine Bell singing the word in Blue Mink's song Melting Pot, which was an anthem for racial harmony. Funny how time passes.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
I have managed to go my entire life without watching a single minute of "Strictly" and it is my sincere hope that I shall expire with that claim wholly intact
My family love it. I have therefore occasionally encountered it. Jesus, the utter inanity of it.
I have seen the odd still from it, and read brief "gossip" about it, and that has taught me never to waste ten seconds of my life viewing it. I am glad my reflexive disdain is justified
Douglas Murray wrote a book called the Strange Death of Europe in which he foretold everything that is happening today. And the people who ignored and dismissed him have the audacity to blame him for what is happening instead of themselves. Stunning ignorance and hypocrisy."
Does this Kisin guy give us any reason why we should believe him?
Have you read the book?
You presumably mean Douglas Murray's book? You have me there. The problem with rabbit holes is that you have to go down them to definitively demonstrate that's what they are and life is too short. I have read a summary of Murray's argument and know it's nonsense but I haven't read the book so missed the section on page 109 that may or may not disprove my take.
Decades ago, when I was living in Chicago, I encountered a way to avoid thinking about individual candidates. The voting machines had levers you could pull to vote for all of the Democrats, or all of the Republicans, at once.
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascnating how nations of roughly equal economic/politicai power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is basically the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
Australia is the only nation in the top 10 that is there because it’s “sporty”.
With the others it’s basic GDP x how bothered the government is about the olympics. With Australia, it’s because they’re a sporty bunch.
As a nation we are focusing on gotchas from decades past. We saw Farage holding a smoking gun (his retweet blaming police for not releasing the bogus/ made-up Syrian refugee's name) a week last Monday and nothing is said
One of those strange ones. It doesn't seem very long ago that "Chinky" was a near ubiquitous term for a Chinese restaurant.
I am old enough to remember Madeleine Bell singing the word in Blue Mink's song Melting Pot, which was an anthem for racial harmony. Funny how time passes.
Quite recently, I was told that Mark Twain was a racist, because he used “Chinaman” in the following story
We also need a proper inquest into the sailing team, it's been a truly awful return for a country that's supposed to be pretty good at sailing, given we're an island nation. It's one of the higher funded sports too so we will definitely need answers on why everyone seems to have crapped out.
An inquest? Good grief it's only a bit of fun.
Significant public money gets funnelled into Olympic sports and fundamentally sports people need to have a proper feedback loop so they can continue to improve. Having a post-mortem/inquest/retrospective to outline weaknesses and plan to improve them is the best way to get into the medals next time around.
To be fair, most of it is lottery money rather than public money.
It's still basically public money, the lottery is tax with the random chance of prizes.
It's a duty paid on stupidity
I would never do the lottery myself, but I have no real need to. However, for large swathes of the population the lottery is the *only* way they could ever have the sort of lifestyle you (and many of us) take for granted. It's quite sensible when viewed in that light.
You can get Magic to phone you and Make Me A Winner for a couple of hundred grand, I think.
I just know I'd balls that up and say, "hello", instinctively, though.
I have literally no idea what that post is about Casino.
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Modern pentathlon is basically a discipline designed for GB to win. It’s Wednesday afternoon games at public school. A good old muddy cross country run, some ponies, bit of sword fighting and shooting.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Modern pentathlon is basically a discipline designed for GB to win. It’s Wednesday afternoon games at public school. A good old muddy cross country run, some ponies, bit of sword fighting and shooting.
Sounds like a standard Wednesday afternoon in Hackney Wick, especially the shooting.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascnating how nations of roughly equal economic/politicai power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is basically the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
Australia is the only nation in the top 10 that is there because it’s “sporty”.
With the others it’s basic GDP x how bothered the government is about the olympics. With Australia, it’s because they’re a sporty bunch.
When you go to Oz - as I've done many times, and all over - you realise they aren't THAT sporty. No more than the Brits, albeit with better weather (which helps in quite a few events)
But they do talk about it a lot, even if not many actually participate. Again, like the Brits
In Robert Hughes' superb history of early Australia THE FATAL SHORE (the best book ever written about Oz) he speculates that one reason the Aussies became so obsessed with macho sport victories is because the entire nation had a reputation for sodomy in the 19th century (due to a lack of women). And it really did. Aussies were known for it, and redcoats were told to watch out for it. If you go to the old gaols in Sydney you can see the squints by the door through which redcoats were able to check the latest convict immigrants were not buggering the Hell out of each other
This became a kind ofn ational shame so the later Aussies became weirdly obsessed - TO PROVE A POINT - with winning at tough sports like rugby and Rules
Hence the reputation they once had for overt homophobia, as well. Denial
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Modern pentathlon is basically a discipline designed for GB to win. It’s Wednesday afternoon games at public school. A good old muddy cross country run, some ponies, bit of sword fighting and shooting.
A more proletariat version involving breaking & entering, GBH, Twocing, throwing bricks at coppers and setting fire to upturned cars would boost our medal prospects.
Off topic, but important: "Iran has stepped up its efforts to interfere in the November election and amp up American polarization, including through hacking attempts and fake news sites aimed at the far left and far right, Microsoft researchers said Friday in a report." source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/09/iran-fake-news-microsoft-report/
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Modern pentathlon is basically a discipline designed for GB to win. It’s Wednesday afternoon games at public school. A good old muddy cross country run, some ponies, bit of sword fighting and shooting.
A more proletariat version involving breaking & entering, GBH, Twocing, throwing bricks at coppers and setting fire to upturned cars would boost our medal prospects.
Nah, we'd never beat the French at that sort of nonsense.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascnating how nations of roughly equal economic/politicai power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is basically the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
Australia is the only nation in the top 10 that is there because it’s “sporty”.
With the others it’s basic GDP x how bothered the government is about the olympics. With Australia, it’s because they’re a sporty bunch.
When you go to Oz - as I've done many times, and all over - you realise they aren't THAT sporty. No more than the Brits, albeit with better weather (which helps in quite a few events)
But they do talk about it a lot, even if not many actually participate. Again, like the Brits
In Robert Hughes' superb history of early Australia THE FATAL SHORE (the best book ever written about Oz) he speculates that one reason the Aussies became so obsessed with macho sport victories is because the entire nation had a reputation for sodomy in the 19th century (due to a lack of women). And it really did. Aussies were known for it, and redcoats were told to watch out for it. If you go to the old gaols in Sydney you can see the squints by the door through which redcoats were able to check the latest convict immigrants were not buggering the Hell out of each other
This became a kind ofn ational shame so the later Aussies became weirdly obsessed - TO PROVE A POINT - with winning at tough sports like rugby and Rules
Hence the reputation they once had for overt homophobia, as well. Denial
Picking up on your less interesting point, I've sometimes got the impression that Australia, like many other nations don't really understand being bad at sport. I'm thinking in particular of rugby, where I think we have a much longer tail of not-very-good teams and not-very-good players in England and Wales than most other countries. Australians seem to think if you're not going to be good, what's the point? We're much better at half-arsed doesn't-really-matter competition.
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Modern pentathlon is basically a discipline designed for GB to win. It’s Wednesday afternoon games at public school. A good old muddy cross country run, some ponies, bit of sword fighting and shooting.
I think it was conceived as all the activities a cavalry officer trapped behind enemy lines needed capability in order to escape. Hence the horse is not one known to the rider.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
Brazil and India are too dominated by a single sport. (Though in fairness I think the Indians are also very keen̈ on hockey. And kabbadi.)
It will be really sad to see the end of the Paris Olympics.
The atmosphere has been great with full stadia and some amazing settings for the events . The weather apart from the first weekend has been very good .
The Brits have had a lot of near misses for Gold but overall have done well .
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Modern pentathlon is basically a discipline designed for GB to win. It’s Wednesday afternoon games at public school. A good old muddy cross country run, some ponies, bit of sword fighting and shooting.
A more proletariat version involving breaking & entering, GBH, Twocing, throwing bricks at coppers and setting fire to upturned cars would boost our medal prospects.
Nah, we'd never beat the French at that sort of nonsense.
Also it's bollocks. Britain's lumpenproletariat isn't that active
The sports should be
"Pointless swearing", followed by "ordering takeout on Deliveroo", then "video games while smoking a blunt", then "getting a tattoo", then a dramatic conclusion with "half hearted wanking to Only Fans"
It will be really sad to see the end of the Paris Olympics.
The atmosphere has been great with full stadia and some amazing settings for the events . The weather apart from the first weekend has been very good .
The Brits have had a lot of near misses for Gold but overall have done well .
I would put it third in recent times behind London and Sydney. It has been a good effort by the French.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
In the case of India, become a gold medal winning athlete, and bring disgrace on your family.
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Modern pentathlon is basically a discipline designed for GB to win. It’s Wednesday afternoon games at public school. A good old muddy cross country run, some ponies, bit of sword fighting and shooting.
Hungary, Sweden and USSR/Russia most successful nations.
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Modern pentathlon is basically a discipline designed for GB to win. It’s Wednesday afternoon games at public school. A good old muddy cross country run, some ponies, bit of sword fighting and shooting.
I think it was conceived as all the activities a cavalry officer trapped behind enemy lines needed capability in order to escape. Hence the horse is not one known to the rider.
I thought - and I now don't want to look it up, in case I am wrong - that it was the skills needed by a postman in revolutionary France.
We also need a proper inquest into the sailing team, it's been a truly awful return for a country that's supposed to be pretty good at sailing, given we're an island nation. It's one of the higher funded sports too so we will definitely need answers on why everyone seems to have crapped out.
An inquest? Good grief it's only a bit of fun.
Significant public money gets funnelled into Olympic sports and fundamentally sports people need to have a proper feedback loop so they can continue to improve. Having a post-mortem/inquest/retrospective to outline weaknesses and plan to improve them is the best way to get into the medals next time around.
To be fair, most of it is lottery money rather than public money.
It's still basically public money, the lottery is tax with the random chance of prizes.
It's a duty paid on stupidity
I would never do the lottery myself, but I have no real need to. However, for large swathes of the population the lottery is the *only* way they could ever have the sort of lifestyle you (and many of us) take for granted. It's quite sensible when viewed in that light.
You can get Magic to phone you and Make Me A Winner for a couple of hundred grand, I think.
I just know I'd balls that up and say, "hello", instinctively, though.
I don't really know what this means (maybe about a radio program?) but it reminds me that one of the best things I bought recently were fake scratch cards that appear to have won substantial cash prizes, at least until the poor sod you're taking revenge on reads the small print on the back - which may take a while.
OMFG a pub I occasionally visited years ago - The Clissold in Muswell Hill - has just sent me a publicity email
Its subject title is
Christmas At The Clissold
You fucking what? Christmas???? It's AUGUST 8, I don't even want to think about September and Autumn let alone Christmas
You may not want to but people who get involved with the planning of Christmas events already are, so it makes sense to start advertising around now to ensure firms are booked in December.
My wife is organising her workplaces events and she started planning a few weeks ago. She's already booked the entertainment.
OMFG a pub I occasionally visited years ago - The Clissold in Muswell Hill - has just sent me a publicity email
Its subject title is
Christmas At The Clissold
You fucking what? Christmas???? It's AUGUST 8, I don't even want to think about September and Autumn let alone Christmas
You may not want to but people who get involved with the planning of Christmas events already are, so it makes sense to start advertising around now to ensure firms are booked in December.
My wife is organising her workplaces events and she started planning a few weeks ago. She's already booked the entertainment.
Weirdly we got an email about Christmas dinks this morning. Its not at the Clissold though.
It will be really sad to see the end of the Paris Olympics.
The atmosphere has been great with full stadia and some amazing settings for the events . The weather apart from the first weekend has been very good .
The Brits have had a lot of near misses for Gold but overall have done well .
It will be really sad to see the end of the Paris Olympics.
The atmosphere has been great with full stadia and some amazing settings for the events . The weather apart from the first weekend has been very good .
The Brits have had a lot of near misses for Gold but overall have done well .
As a person living in London in 2012 (I saw the dressage gold!) and having just been to Paris and visited the athletics finals (yawn) and spent two lovely days in the city (yay) I can report that this is true. Paris right now has the exact same dreamy feeling as London in 2012. Like normal life has been suspended and suddenly everyone is kind and friendly and the fact there are 67,000 riot police watching over you means crime is basically zero and aren't we great and I love us!
You can see the same blissful hope on their faces, is this it? Has France changed? Are we now all united?
I didn't have the heart to tell them, Nope, it really is a daydream, after this comes Sindyref, then Brexit, then Covid, then Ukraine then it all gets worse and worse and worse, desole
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Modern pentathlon is basically a discipline designed for GB to win. It’s Wednesday afternoon games at public school. A good old muddy cross country run, some ponies, bit of sword fighting and shooting.
A more proletariat version involving breaking & entering, GBH, Twocing, throwing bricks at coppers and setting fire to upturned cars would boost our medal prospects.
Hooliganism would be a good addition. Much better and more interesting than break dancing. And it could be just the positive, affirming event to give our Tommeh lot something to strive for.
There could be different disciplines. GB men would excel in town square chair throwing and our women would be gold medal certs for post turning out vomiting while wearing angel wings. The French would of course dominate ten metre barricade erection and suburban car combustion. The flare throwing game-disruption final would be more competitive between Italy and Turkey.
This would have the advantage of being a series of sports in which the Americans, Chinese, Australians and Japanese would struggle to compete. Though no doubt the corrupt IOC would introduce special failed-student-protest-with-bloody-ending and Jan-6th capitol-storming disciplines just to rile the Europeans.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
Brazil and India are too dominated by a single sport. (Though in fairness I think the Indians are also very keen̈ on hockey. And kabbadi.)
Cricket is back for 2028. Kabbadi would be an amazing addition too, if only more countries took it up.
OMFG a pub I occasionally visited years ago - The Clissold in Muswell Hill - has just sent me a publicity email
Its subject title is
Christmas At The Clissold
You fucking what? Christmas???? It's AUGUST 8, I don't even want to think about September and Autumn let alone Christmas
You may not want to but people who get involved with the planning of Christmas events already are, so it makes sense to start advertising around now to ensure firms are booked in December.
My wife is organising her workplaces events and she started planning a few weeks ago. She's already booked the entertainment.
The British summer is all too brief without actually emotionally TRUNCATING it
Happily, I am off on my travels as August ends and will basically be in lush sunny places til December*, I shall be sure to post photos to cheer you all up
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
Brazil and India are too dominated by a single sport. (Though in fairness I think the Indians are also very keen̈ on hockey. And kabbadi.)
Cricket is back for 2028. Kabbadi would be an amazing addition too, if only more countries took it up.
Kabbadi is great. Should be in. Fuck "breaking", I just saw a minute of it, and it is indeed terrible
Has this been mentioned? Nigel Farage MP @Nigel_Farage My thoughts are with all of those affected by the awful fire in Jaywick. I'm being kept fully updated and will visit in the coming days.
The 'coming days'. Is Farage in competition with Jared O'Mara as Parliament's s****est ever MP.?
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Modern pentathlon is basically a discipline designed for GB to win. It’s Wednesday afternoon games at public school. A good old muddy cross country run, some ponies, bit of sword fighting and shooting.
A more proletariat version involving breaking & entering, GBH, Twocing, throwing bricks at coppers and setting fire to upturned cars would boost our medal prospects.
Steve Bunce is the man to follow on this, as on many sporting issues. His view is that Khelif has broken no rules and done nothing wrong. She has been rather cruelly treated on this.
As far as he is aware, nobody has ever produced any evidence that she is not female.
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Modern pentathlon is basically a discipline designed for GB to win. It’s Wednesday afternoon games at public school. A good old muddy cross country run, some ponies, bit of sword fighting and shooting.
A more proletariat version involving breaking & entering, GBH, Twocing, throwing bricks at coppers and setting fire to upturned cars would boost our medal prospects.
Hooliganism would be a good addition. Much better and more interesting than break dancing. And it could be just the positive, affirming event to give our Tommeh lot something to strive for.
There could be different disciplines. GB men would excel in town square chair throwing and our women would be gold medal certs for post turning out vomiting while wearing angel wings. The French would of course dominate ten metre barricade erection and suburban car combustion. The flare throwing game-disruption final would be more competitive between Italy and Turkey.
This would have the advantage of being a series of sports in which the Americans, Chinese, Australians and Japanese would struggle to compete. Though no doubt the corrupt IOC would introduce special failed-student-protest-with-bloody-ending and Jan-6th capitol-storming disciplines just to rile the Europeans.
The American police shooting any of the competitors who looked at them in a funny way would have serious competition from the Chinese, driving over them in a tank...
The Aussies could compete in any sport. For sledging.
It will be really sad to see the end of the Paris Olympics.
The atmosphere has been great with full stadia and some amazing settings for the events . The weather apart from the first weekend has been very good .
The Brits have had a lot of near misses for Gold but overall have done well .
As a person living in London in 2012 (I saw the dressage gold!) and having just been to Paris and visited the athletics finals (yawn) and spent two lovely days in the city (yay) I can report that this is true. Paris right now has the exact same dreamy feeling as London in 2012. Like normal life has been suspended and suddenly everyone is kind and friendly and the fact there are 67,000 riot police watching over you means crime is basically zero and aren't we great and I love us!
You can see the same blissful hope on their faces, is this it? Has France changed? Are we now all united?
I didn't have the heart to tell them, Nope, it really is a daydream, after this comes Sindyref, then Brexit, then Covid, then Ukraine then it all gets worse and worse and worse, desole
It’s nice to sometimes have blissful hope ! The worse the news gets the more we need a “ comfort bubble “ .
Nope, only those who believe Russian backed propaganda think she is. Rowling, sitting in her palatial bunker being one.
Was disappointed to see Irvine Welsh joining in the ‘that’s a bloke hitting a woman’ screechathon.
Does everyone turn into a reactionary old gammon sooner or later? Trying to postpone that dread day for as long as possible.
If it's any help, as you near the Quietus, I was much MORE rightwing as a lad (I think mainly to shock people, that Joy Division fash aesthetic) than I am now. I am perhaps a rare example of someone starting on the seriously hard right, then gently edging into the now classical Conservative position (according to the political compass) - except that the Tories have decamped to Blairism, so I'm like someone who has arrived for a scout camp and I'm the only person here, with my tent ready, and I've learned knots and fire-making and everything
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
Brazil and India are too dominated by a single sport. (Though in fairness I think the Indians are also very keen̈ on hockey. And kabbadi.)
Cricket is back for 2028. Kabbadi would be an amazing addition too, if only more countries took it up.
Kabbadi is great. Should be in. Fuck "breaking", I just saw a minute of it, and it is indeed terrible
Kabbadi is indeed brilliant but fails as an Olympic Sport in that too few nations play it to any kind of decent level, Then again, 'breaking' fails on just about every criterion. Presumably its inclusion is the result of commercial pressure (or bribery, as it is known in some quarters.)
I was mildly disappointed that darts didn't get included in London 2012, but I could kind of see why. However, if breakdancing, why not darts...or morris dancing, cribbage, marbles, yoga and so on ?
Incidentally, Boxing in NOT on the list for Los Angeles. It appears that after repeated warnings, the IOC ran out of patience with the sport's crooked and incometent ways. I suspect commercial pressures may force the IOC to relent - it is certainly box office, even if the judging is manifestly bent - but at the moment the good guys are standing firm.
We also need a proper inquest into the sailing team, it's been a truly awful return for a country that's supposed to be pretty good at sailing, given we're an island nation. It's one of the higher funded sports too so we will definitely need answers on why everyone seems to have crapped out.
An inquest? Good grief it's only a bit of fun.
Significant public money gets funnelled into Olympic sports and fundamentally sports people need to have a proper feedback loop so they can continue to improve. Having a post-mortem/inquest/retrospective to outline weaknesses and plan to improve them is the best way to get into the medals next time around.
To be fair, most of it is lottery money rather than public money.
It's still basically public money, the lottery is tax with the random chance of prizes.
It's a duty paid on stupidity
I disagree with all sorts of things here. One, I don't think it's a tax if there's no obligation to pay it. Two, sometimes (on 'must be won' draws, I think it makes financial sense to play. Three, even when it doesn't make financial sense to play, I get £2.00 of value from the enjoyment of thinking this time tomorrow I might never have to work again and I can buy houses for my kids. I'm aware the odda aren't in my favour - but I get my money's worth nonetheless.
Agree with you on point three, which means I just cannot understand people buying scratchcards.
Yes - I bought one once, 30-odd years ago and was instantly struck how brief the pleasure was. A valuable lesson: I stuck to the weekly draws thereafter.
I bought one thirty years ago, won £5, thought it was rubbish, and haven't played since.
It will be really sad to see the end of the Paris Olympics.
The atmosphere has been great with full stadia and some amazing settings for the events . The weather apart from the first weekend has been very good .
The Brits have had a lot of near misses for Gold but overall have done well .
Good weather? Did you not see the runners getting wet?
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
Brazil and India are too dominated by a single sport. (Though in fairness I think the Indians are also very keen̈ on hockey. And kabbadi.)
Cricket is back for 2028. Kabbadi would be an amazing addition too, if only more countries took it up.
Kabbadi is great. Should be in. Fuck "breaking", I just saw a minute of it, and it is indeed terrible
Kabbadi is indeed brilliant but fails as an Olympic Sport in that too few nations play it to any kind of decent level, Then again, 'breaking' fails on just about every criterion. Presumably its inclusion is the result of commercial pressure (or bribery, as it is known in some quarters.)
I was mildly disappointed that darts didn't get included in London 2012, but I could kind of see why. However, if breakdancing, why not darts...or morris dancing, cribbage, marbles, yoga and so on ?
Nope, only those who believe Russian backed propaganda think she is. Rowling, sitting in her palatial bunker being one.
Khelif is not trans, but there is a question over sex/gender, is there not?
A question by a corrupt organisation, who have provided no proof.
Didn't the IOC say that they had done no tests to determine sex on these boxers. So they've provided no proof either. Surely there are eligibility tests.
More widely I am curious why the IOC has abandoned cheek swab tests. They did a consultation and 82% of sportswomen wanted them to continue. So why not do them? Not invasive and would put such questions to bed.
Given the risks to women in lots of sports and questions of fairness I'd have thought this sensible.
Has this been mentioned? Nigel Farage MP @Nigel_Farage My thoughts are with all of those affected by the awful fire in Jaywick. I'm being kept fully updated and will visit in the coming days.
The 'coming days'. Is Farage in competition with Jared O'Mara as Parliament's s****est ever MP.?
Off topic, but important: "Iran has stepped up its efforts to interfere in the November election and amp up American polarization, including through hacking attempts and fake news sites aimed at the far left and far right, Microsoft researchers said Friday in a report." source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/09/iran-fake-news-microsoft-report/
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
Brazil and India are too dominated by a single sport. (Though in fairness I think the Indians are also very keen̈ on hockey. And kabbadi.)
Cricket is back for 2028. Kabbadi would be an amazing addition too, if only more countries took it up.
Kabbadi is great. Should be in. Fuck "breaking", I just saw a minute of it, and it is indeed terrible
Kabbadi is indeed brilliant but fails as an Olympic Sport in that too few nations play it to any kind of decent level, Then again, 'breaking' fails on just about every criterion. Presumably its inclusion is the result of commercial pressure (or bribery, as it is known in some quarters.)
I was mildly disappointed that darts didn't get included in London 2012, but I could kind of see why. However, if breakdancing, why not darts...or morris dancing, cribbage, marbles, yoga and so on ?
I would definitely include darts and snooker over "breaking". Both are played by tens of millions of people - unlike breaking - and done so around the world - darts is big in Europe, the USA , bits of Asia, snooker is big in the UK and Asia
And darts and snooker are genuine tests of human skill (and REALLY enjoyable for viewers). So what they are fine motor skills? They are still skills. They don't need judges. You either nail the nine dart finish, or you do not
Also, both are British and all the best sports are British so get them in
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
Brazil and India are too dominated by a single sport. (Though in fairness I think the Indians are also very keen̈ on hockey. And kabbadi.)
India and Pakistan won silver and gold in the spear-chucking.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
Brazil and India are too dominated by a single sport. (Though in fairness I think the Indians are also very keen̈ on hockey. And kabbadi.)
Cricket is back for 2028. Kabbadi would be an amazing addition too, if only more countries took it up.
Kabbadi is great. Should be in. Fuck "breaking", I just saw a minute of it, and it is indeed terrible
Kabbadi is indeed brilliant but fails as an Olympic Sport in that too few nations play it to any kind of decent level, Then again, 'breaking' fails on just about every criterion. Presumably its inclusion is the result of commercial pressure (or bribery, as it is known in some quarters.)
I was mildly disappointed that darts didn't get included in London 2012, but I could kind of see why. However, if breakdancing, why not darts...or morris dancing, cribbage, marbles, yoga and so on ?
Bing (which I hardly ever use until now) has Ordnance Survey 25000:1 and 50000:1 maps on its display options.
Select Style -> Ordnance Survey
This is also my one and only use for Bing. Google maps is amazing in many ways, but sometimes an OS map really is needed. Open Street Map is also very handy for local paths, cycle lanes, bus routes etc too.
Ah, yes, Bing has been my map tool of choice for the last two and a half decades for exactly that reason. Struggle to get it to work on a mobile phone however.
Outdooractive has full OS, offline, and equivalent governmental topo maps offline for most of the great nations of Europe and North America for £26/year. It’s unbelievably good. It also has OS for smartwatches too which is brilliant for hiking.
Google Maps was superseded by Apple Maps a while ago now. Large, but very dated.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
Brazil and India are too dominated by a single sport. (Though in fairness I think the Indians are also very keen̈ on hockey. And kabbadi.)
Cricket is back for 2028. Kabbadi would be an amazing addition too, if only more countries took it up.
Kabbadi is great. Should be in. Fuck "breaking", I just saw a minute of it, and it is indeed terrible
Kabbadi is indeed brilliant but fails as an Olympic Sport in that too few nations play it to any kind of decent level, Then again, 'breaking' fails on just about every criterion. Presumably its inclusion is the result of commercial pressure (or bribery, as it is known in some quarters.)
I was mildly disappointed that darts didn't get included in London 2012, but I could kind of see why. However, if breakdancing, why not darts...or morris dancing, cribbage, marbles, yoga and so on ?
Incidentally, Boxing in NOT on the list for Los Angeles. It appears that after repeated warnings, the IOC ran out of patience with the sport's crooked and incometent ways. I suspect commercial pressures may force the IOC to relent - it is certainly box office, even if the judging is manifestly bent - but at the moment the good guys are standing firm.
Aside from anything else, surely being 'the Olympics Gold Medal winning break dancer' is the death of one's street credibility.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
Brazil and India are too dominated by a single sport. (Though in fairness I think the Indians are also very keen̈ on hockey. And kabbadi.)
Cricket is back for 2028. Kabbadi would be an amazing addition too, if only more countries took it up.
Kabbadi is great. Should be in. Fuck "breaking", I just saw a minute of it, and it is indeed terrible
Kabbadi is indeed brilliant but fails as an Olympic Sport in that too few nations play it to any kind of decent level, Then again, 'breaking' fails on just about every criterion. Presumably its inclusion is the result of commercial pressure (or bribery, as it is known in some quarters.)
I was mildly disappointed that darts didn't get included in London 2012, but I could kind of see why. However, if breakdancing, why not darts...or morris dancing, cribbage, marbles, yoga and so on ?
Incidentally, Boxing in NOT on the list for Los Angeles. It appears that after repeated warnings, the IOC ran out of patience with the sport's crooked and incometent ways. I suspect commercial pressures may force the IOC to relent - it is certainly box office, even if the judging is manifestly bent - but at the moment the good guys are standing firm.
Proper pankration, for the ancient Greek roots, and pocket billiards for our private schooled athletes, would be great additions.
It will be really sad to see the end of the Paris Olympics.
The atmosphere has been great with full stadia and some amazing settings for the events . The weather apart from the first weekend has been very good .
The Brits have had a lot of near misses for Gold but overall have done well .
Good weather? Did you not see the runners getting wet?
Jeez it’s not Arizona ! One shower today and some rain before the women’s triathlon . From the first Sunday the weathers been very good.
Japan are suddenly on 16 golds. Post-Tokyo effect in full swing. France needs to get a move on.
Yes Japan will finish strong, the UK and France are running out of gold medal opportunities. I think Japan could end up third, Australia fourth and between the UK and France for fifth.
Australia have had a brilliant games so far after a few weak cycles for them. We're really going to have to up our game for the 2028 and 2032 cycles. Especially with 2032 in Australia and with Australia competing in basically all the same sports as the UK other than athletics.
There are 52 gold medals left. Which ones do Japan have a chance in, to 'finish strong'?
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
Modern pentathlon is basically a discipline designed for GB to win. It’s Wednesday afternoon games at public school. A good old muddy cross country run, some ponies, bit of sword fighting and shooting.
I think it was conceived as all the activities a cavalry officer trapped behind enemy lines needed capability in order to escape. Hence the horse is not one known to the rider.
I feel like this is a missing Ripping Yarns episode.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascnating how nations of roughly equal economic/politicai power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is basically the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
Australia is the only nation in the top 10 that is there because it’s “sporty”.
With the others it’s basic GDP x how bothered the government is about the olympics. With Australia, it’s because they’re a sporty bunch.
When you go to Oz - as I've done many times, and all over - you realise they aren't THAT sporty. No more than the Brits, albeit with better weather (which helps in quite a few events)
But they do talk about it a lot, even if not many actually participate. Again, like the Brits
In Robert Hughes' superb history of early Australia THE FATAL SHORE (the best book ever written about Oz) he speculates that one reason the Aussies became so obsessed with macho sport victories is because the entire nation had a reputation for sodomy in the 19th century (due to a lack of women). And it really did. Aussies were known for it, and redcoats were told to watch out for it. If you go to the old gaols in Sydney you can see the squints by the door through which redcoats were able to check the latest convict immigrants were not buggering the Hell out of each other
This became a kind ofn ational shame so the later Aussies became weirdly obsessed - TO PROVE A POINT - with winning at tough sports like rugby and Rules
Hence the reputation they once had for overt homophobia, as well. Denial
As every 1980s Neighbours viewer will know, Australia was the first country to take sport seriously with its Australian Institute of Sport. (Not counting national doping programmes behind the Iron Curtain.)
It will be really sad to see the end of the Paris Olympics.
The atmosphere has been great with full stadia and some amazing settings for the events . The weather apart from the first weekend has been very good .
The Brits have had a lot of near misses for Gold but overall have done well .
Good weather? Did you not see the runners getting wet?
Jeez it’s not Arizona ! One shower today and some rain before the women’s triathlon . From the first Sunday the weathers been very good.
It was perfect in Paris the two days I was there. Perhaps a little hot at 2pm. About 30C. But many events were in the evening, when it was 23-25C. Perfect and cloudless
The sun has shone on France - and good luck to them - this could have gone horribly wrong with so many bad actors around. But they did a really good Games. And their Olympique reverie will end soon enough, as we British know all too well
I have managed to go my entire life without watching a single minute of "Strictly" and it is my sincere hope that I shall expire with that claim wholly intact
“ Then shut the fuck up” .… about whomever it was that wrote that crap book.
Still don’t understand why squash isn’t in the olympics. Tennis, ping pong and badminton are. So why not squash?
The Brits really did invent almost every sport in the world, eg all those
Tennis, ping pong, badminton, squash
What are we like? We changed the world from our tiny foggy islands. It;s like the Faroe Isles became the Roman Empire times a million
I fear we are dwarfed by our own achievements. So we nervously overeat, and wank to Onlyfans, and elect Primark Pinochets like "Sir" Two Tier Keir fucking Starmer
Still don’t understand why squash isn’t in the olympics. Tennis, ping pong and badminton are. So why not squash?
Why not make it proper racquets?
Is rackets the game played only at the sort of schools Rishi and Boris attended?
Anyway, squash is in LA 2028.
I believe so, a friend of mine went to such a school and played it there, or maybe it was fives. Somethign weird like that, a racquet or two more or less, based ultimately on some archetypal ecclesiastical church corner with buttresses sticking out.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascinating how nations of roughly equal economic/political power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
The rows immediately below that are interesting though. Ireland and NZ punch vastly above their weight (speaking English is clearly beneficial in some intangible way). Ukraine has had a good games, despite the latter being at war. Romania, too, seem to have done surprisingly well. I supose once you get down to that level the laws of small samples apply.
And the huge south Asian nations - by population - of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia - are curiously deficient
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
Brazil and India are too dominated by a single sport. (Though in fairness I think the Indians are also very keen̈ on hockey. And kabbadi.)
India and Pakistan won silver and gold in the spear-chucking.
They have a lot of good javelin throwers, apparently as an unintended consequence of government programmes to produce high quality fast bowlers for the Indian and Pakistan national cricket teams.
She's not trans, and while there is obvious debate about whether she should be allowed to compete as a man, Ms Rowling has totally shit the bed on this one.
Still don’t understand why squash isn’t in the olympics. Tennis, ping pong and badminton are. So why not squash?
The Brits really did invent almost every sport in the world, eg all those
Tennis, ping pong, badminton, squash
What are we like? We changed the world from our tiny foggy islands. It;s like the Faroe Isles became the Roman Empire times a million
I fear we are dwarfed by our own achievements. So we nervously overeat, and wank to Onlyfans, and elect Primark Pinochets like "Sir" Two Tier Keir fucking Starmer
I suppose your thesis would explain the Spectator author view ratings.
Still don’t understand why squash isn’t in the olympics. Tennis, ping pong and badminton are. So why not squash?
The Brits really did invent almost every sport in the world, eg all those
Tennis, ping pong, badminton, squash
What are we like? We changed the world from our tiny foggy islands. It;s like the Faroe Isles became the Roman Empire times a million
I fear we are dwarfed by our own achievements. So we nervously overeat, and wank to Onlyfans, and elect Primark Pinochets like "Sir" Two Tier Keir fucking Starmer
I suppose your thesis would explain the Spectator author view ratings.
Just for a bit fun, the Medal Table updated, with 3 points for a Gold, 2 for a Silver, 1 for a Bronze.
G S B Total points United States 99 78 39 216 China 99 52 23 174 Great Britain 42 40 23 105 France 42 40 22 104 Australia 54 32 14 100 Japan 48 16 13 77 Italy 33 24 13 70 South Korea 39 16 7 62 Germany 36 18 8 62 Netherlands 39 12 10 61
It's fascnating how nations of roughly equal economic/politicai power do roughly the same in the table
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is basically the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
Australia is the only nation in the top 10 that is there because it’s “sporty”.
With the others it’s basic GDP x how bothered the government is about the olympics. With Australia, it’s because they’re a sporty bunch.
When you go to Oz - as I've done many times, and all over - you realise they aren't THAT sporty. No more than the Brits, albeit with better weather (which helps in quite a few events)
But they do talk about it a lot, even if not many actually participate. Again, like the Brits
In Robert Hughes' superb history of early Australia THE FATAL SHORE (the best book ever written about Oz) he speculates that one reason the Aussies became so obsessed with macho sport victories is because the entire nation had a reputation for sodomy in the 19th century (due to a lack of women). And it really did. Aussies were known for it, and redcoats were told to watch out for it. If you go to the old gaols in Sydney you can see the squints by the door through which redcoats were able to check the latest convict immigrants were not buggering the Hell out of each other
This became a kind ofn ational shame so the later Aussies became weirdly obsessed - TO PROVE A POINT - with winning at tough sports like rugby and Rules
Hence the reputation they once had for overt homophobia, as well. Denial
As every 1980s Neighbours viewer will know, Australia was the first country to take sport seriously with its Australian Institute of Sport. (Not counting national doping programmes behind the Iron Curtain.)
Why should 1980s Neighbours viewers know that ?
It was based about a suburban street and Lassiters hotel not a sports club.
She's not trans, and while there is obvious debate about whether she should be allowed to compete as a man, Ms Rowling has totally shit the bed on this one.
Not trans but there has been Russian (IBA) speculation that she may be intersex.
People keep saying she's been through male puberty. What does that mean exactly? How does a woman go through male puberty?
The theory which I saw online speculates that she was categorised as female at birth but may have one of the intersex conditions whereby she has a vulva, a clitoris, possibly also a vagina, but has internal testes and no ovaries. Those testes can't function fully (because of internal temperature) but can function partially. When she hit puberty they kicked in and produced some (but not all) of the testosterone variants. That would explain why she is taller and more broad shouldered, but does not have an Adams apple nor beard hair, and still has a female hairline and a non-broken voice. Her lack of ovaries would explain why she appears to have a narrow pelvis. Her enhanced musculature would explain the square jaw (as bone growth scales to muscle strength).
Whether this is true or not depends who you believe,which I will cheerfully leave up to you.
She's not trans, and while there is obvious debate about whether she should be allowed to compete as a man, Ms Rowling has totally shit the bed on this one.
Nice (in one manner of speaking anyway) linkage here, between anti-trans aggitation AND the homophobia displayed by Donald Trump's idiot spawn in thread header.
In that 95% plus of the former, as spewed forth by right-wing politicos and their echo chambers, is really and essentially, warmed-over AND ill-disguised homophobia.
Wrt Khelif. Aren't all Olympian gold medallists in some way genetic abnormalities? Ian Thorpe had size 17 feet. He basically had flippers. Victor Wembanyama is a seriously talented basketball player. He would be less effective if he wasn't seven foot four. Simone Biles is four foot eight. Which is quite handy if you want to triple somersault. Etc., etc..
Comments
China and the USA are about the same in most ways, China does more trade, America has more soft power, China is bigger on PPP, America on nominal, and so on. They are the two superpowers, it is very hard to say which predominates, and they have exactly 99 golds each
France and the UK are the two great post imperial European powers, similar sized populations, similar GDP, France is considerably more fortunate in some ways (landscape, urbanism) yet Britain has much the greater legacy (language, culture) - so like China and the USA they are basically equal - and they have basically identical medal tallies
And the entire top ten is essentially the ten richest nations on earth, with Australia the exception
GB have chances in the four remaining track cycling events, modern pentathlon, and athletics.
With the others it’s basic GDP x how bothered the government is about the olympics. With Australia, it’s because they’re a sporty bunch.
I did, however, enjoy my pint of Kirkstall Bitter.
https://twain.lib.virginia.edu/onstage/playscripts/galaxy01.html
But they do talk about it a lot, even if not many actually participate. Again, like the Brits
In Robert Hughes' superb history of early Australia THE FATAL SHORE (the best book ever written about Oz) he speculates that one reason the Aussies became so obsessed with macho sport victories is because the entire nation had a reputation for sodomy in the 19th century (due to a lack of women). And it really did. Aussies were known for it, and redcoats were told to watch out for it. If you go to the old gaols in Sydney you can see the squints by the door through which redcoats were able to check the latest convict immigrants were not buggering the Hell out of each other
This became a kind ofn ational shame so the later Aussies became weirdly obsessed - TO PROVE A POINT - with winning at tough sports like rugby and Rules
Hence the reputation they once had for overt homophobia, as well. Denial
source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/09/iran-fake-news-microsoft-report/
MS report: https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2024/08/08/iran-targeting-2024-us-election/
It can't just be poverty; indeed it isn't just poverty. India now has a large affluent middle class by sheer weight of numbers, even if is still poor overall. Indonesia ditto, to a lesser extent
Brazil is a bit rubbish, too
The atmosphere has been great with full stadia and some amazing settings for the events . The weather apart from the first weekend has been very good .
The Brits have had a lot of near misses for Gold but overall have done well .
The sports should be
"Pointless swearing", followed by "ordering takeout on Deliveroo", then "video games while smoking a blunt", then "getting a tattoo", then a dramatic conclusion with "half hearted wanking to Only Fans"
Not necessarily the same ones I bought but the kind of thing I'm talking about: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fake-Joke-Scratch-Cards-Practical/dp/B084VSX7R9
My wife is organising her workplaces events and she started planning a few weeks ago. She's already booked the entertainment.
You can see the same blissful hope on their faces, is this it? Has France changed? Are we now all united?
I didn't have the heart to tell them, Nope, it really is a daydream, after this comes Sindyref, then Brexit, then Covid, then Ukraine then it all gets worse and worse and worse, desole
There could be different disciplines. GB men would excel in town square chair throwing and our women would be gold medal certs for post turning out vomiting while wearing angel wings. The French would of course dominate ten metre barricade erection and suburban car combustion. The flare throwing game-disruption final would be more competitive between Italy and Turkey.
This would have the advantage of being a series of sports in which the Americans, Chinese, Australians and Japanese would struggle to compete. Though no doubt the corrupt IOC would introduce special failed-student-protest-with-bloody-ending and Jan-6th capitol-storming disciplines just to rile the Europeans.
Happily, I am off on my travels as August ends and will basically be in lush sunny places til December*, I shall be sure to post photos to cheer you all up
*Including the amazing Yaeyama islands of Japan!
Nigel Farage MP
@Nigel_Farage
My thoughts are with all of those affected by the awful fire in Jaywick. I'm being kept fully updated and will visit in the coming days.
The 'coming days'. Is Farage in competition with Jared O'Mara as Parliament's s****est ever MP.?
Rowling, sitting in her palatial bunker being one.
As far as he is aware, nobody has ever produced any evidence that she is not female.
Does everyone turn into a reactionary old gammon sooner or later? Trying to postpone that dread day for as long as possible.
The Aussies could compete in any sport. For sledging.
And tampering with the equipment.
I was mildly disappointed that darts didn't get included in London 2012, but I could kind of see why. However, if breakdancing, why not darts...or morris dancing, cribbage, marbles, yoga and so on ?
Incidentally, Boxing in NOT on the list for Los Angeles. It appears that after repeated warnings, the IOC ran out of patience with the sport's crooked and incometent ways. I suspect commercial pressures may force the IOC to relent - it is certainly box office, even if the judging is manifestly bent - but at the moment the good guys are standing firm.
More widely I am curious why the IOC has abandoned cheek swab tests. They did a consultation and 82% of sportswomen wanted them to continue. So why not do them? Not invasive and would put such questions to bed.
Given the risks to women in lots of sports and questions of fairness I'd have thought this sensible.
And darts and snooker are genuine tests of human skill (and REALLY enjoyable for viewers). So what they are fine motor skills? They are still skills. They don't need judges. You either nail the nine dart finish, or you do not
Also, both are British and all the best sports are British so get them in
Which other sports have the French invented (apart from Boules)?
Google Maps was superseded by Apple Maps a while ago now. Large, but very dated.
Maybe motor racing?
Edit: and definitely air races.
The sun has shone on France - and good luck to them - this could have gone horribly wrong with so many bad actors around. But they did a really good Games. And their Olympique reverie will end soon enough, as we British know all too well
Nate Silver
@NateSilver538
Today's update: Kamala Harris has a 53.8% chance of winning the Electoral College.
Tennis, ping pong, badminton, squash
What are we like? We changed the world from our tiny foggy islands. It;s like the Faroe Isles became the Roman Empire times a million
I fear we are dwarfed by our own achievements. So we nervously overeat, and wank to Onlyfans, and elect Primark Pinochets like "Sir" Two Tier Keir fucking Starmer
Anyway, squash is in LA 2028.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsWAT2gEb5c
It was based about a suburban street and Lassiters hotel not a sports club.
Yes.
It has its origin in the South American game of Raqueta, in which the balls are batted against a wall until the prisoner confesses.
Whether this is true or not depends who you believe,which I will cheerfully leave up to you.
In that 95% plus of the former, as spewed forth by right-wing politicos and their echo chambers, is really and essentially, warmed-over AND ill-disguised homophobia.
Aren't all Olympian gold medallists in some way genetic abnormalities?
Ian Thorpe had size 17 feet. He basically had flippers.
Victor Wembanyama is a seriously talented basketball player. He would be less effective if he wasn't seven foot four. Simone Biles is four foot eight. Which is quite handy if you want to triple somersault.
Etc., etc..