EXCLUSIVE interview with Zack Polanski by @daisyeastlake
* Britain should take in more asylum seekers
* Migration debate is driven by racism
* Starmer is 'pushing racist rhetoric'
* Asylum seekers should be able to work in UK from the moment they arrive
* Trans women are women, JK Rowling is 'punching down' & 'intensely hateful'
And the environment? He couldn't give a fuck.
True Greens must despair.
People talk about political parties becoming more left or right, or more extreme, but the Greens seem to have changed more than any other political party.
It seems to be working in both polls and in local elections. Polanski has the zeitgeist.
That's actually quite an interesting piece - especially the self-pi - er, self-justifying tone of the creators.
' "For seven weeks, we hardly slept, with up to 10 of our in-house AI and post specialists at The Gardening Club [our in-house AI engine] working in lockstep with the directors," said Sweetshop CEO Melanie Bridge, according to Futurism. "We generated what felt like dailies — thousands of takes — then shaped them in the edit just as we would on any high-craft production. This wasn't an AI trick. It was a film."
Bridge continued, "I don't see this spot as a novelty or a cute seasonal experiment. To me, it's evidence of something much bigger: that when craft and technology meet with intention, they can create work that feels genuinely cinematic. So no — AI didn't make this film. We did."'
Perhaps it was one of those ads designed to annoy and therefore get noticed. A sort of Ad Shitposting?
(Fox jr2 doing well in the advertising world btw)
Good news then. Tell him to keep at it. A great profession and in a poll before Brexit 97% were against it so those in it are made of the right stuff! Talking of which I've just been having an all our yesterdays with some friends about the old days with Martin Parr and Daniel Meadows. Advertising wasn't their their thing but Martin of all of them managed to make a living that didn't involve selling his soul to the devil. But a good guy and a good photographer and an example of how you also need to work at it
Graun still running some interesting stuff as well as the formal obit:
one intriguing comment, relevant to the current discussion:
' Obsession, too, followed him from childhood, his birdwatcher parents having encouraged him to see the world taxonomically. (The young Parr, branching out, had also been a keen trainspotter.) He recorded his human subjects as he might have a genus of finches, via plumage, habitat and diet.
This was not confined to the working class. In 1989, after he and Susie had moved to Bristol, Parr published The Cost of Living, a meditation on Britain after a decade of Thatcherism. The photographs of stiff women in Liberty print frocks and public schoolboys in unconvincing top hats were every bit as unblinking as the ones in The Last Resort had been; maybe more so, being shot through with a social insecurity that was missing in New Brighton.'
EXCLUSIVE interview with Zack Polanski by @daisyeastlake
* Britain should take in more asylum seekers
* Migration debate is driven by racism
* Starmer is 'pushing racist rhetoric'
* Asylum seekers should be able to work in UK from the moment they arrive
* Trans women are women, JK Rowling is 'punching down' & 'intensely hateful'
And the environment? He couldn't give a fuck.
True Greens must despair.
People talk about political parties becoming more left or right, or more extreme, but the Greens seem to have changed more than any other political party.
It seems to be working in both polls and in local elections. Polanski has the zeitgeist.
Eng: My daughter milked a cow. Scots: Mine dochter milkit ane coo. [ch as in loch, obvs] Frisian (fide Google Translate): Myn dochter molk in ko. Danish (ditto): Min datter malkede en ko. Dutch: Mijn dochter heeft een koe gemolken. German: Meine Tochter hat eine Kuh gemolken.
Norwegian 'joke'. "Once you hear Finnish you realise that German, Swedish and English are just dialects of Norwegian,"
Not even Whites or Soho House charge £500k for membership, so whatever Truss is offering better be good
I don't really think White's and Soho House are comparable.
I would be interested to find if anybody has ever been a member of both? Maybe Prince Harry?
The former elite old money, the latter exclusive new money mainly
Exclusively... mainly.
Oxymoron surely?
I was roaming around clubland yesterday thinking it needed perking up a bit. As far as I know only the RAC has opened its doors since biblical times. £350M would buy a decent building in St James and I see they have the decorators in at Clarence House. I wonder if it's for sale?
PB needs a proper home. I've chipped in well over a fiver in the dark years - surely a clubhouse, sauna, and free restaurant are to be expected now. I know @tse won't like it, but if only he could reach out to the grand Trumpy-wonder-man..
This is notionally a betting site, are none of us big winners?
That's actually quite an interesting piece - especially the self-pi - er, self-justifying tone of the creators.
' "For seven weeks, we hardly slept, with up to 10 of our in-house AI and post specialists at The Gardening Club [our in-house AI engine] working in lockstep with the directors," said Sweetshop CEO Melanie Bridge, according to Futurism. "We generated what felt like dailies — thousands of takes — then shaped them in the edit just as we would on any high-craft production. This wasn't an AI trick. It was a film."
Bridge continued, "I don't see this spot as a novelty or a cute seasonal experiment. To me, it's evidence of something much bigger: that when craft and technology meet with intention, they can create work that feels genuinely cinematic. So no — AI didn't make this film. We did."'
I think it's a clever ad. No-one presumably goes to McDonald's for anything Christmassy so it taps into a feeling of fed-up-ness with the whole thing to provide a bastion of normal in the sea of tinsel and overpriced Christmas spirit.
The problem is that it is all a bit relentless and grim, so it loses its humour.
EXCLUSIVE interview with Zack Polanski by @daisyeastlake
* Britain should take in more asylum seekers
* Migration debate is driven by racism
* Starmer is 'pushing racist rhetoric'
* Asylum seekers should be able to work in UK from the moment they arrive
* Trans women are women, JK Rowling is 'punching down' & 'intensely hateful'
And the environment? He couldn't give a fuck.
True Greens must despair.
People talk about political parties becoming more left or right, or more extreme, but the Greens seem to have changed more than any other political party.
It seems to be working in both polls and in local elections. Polanski has the zeitgeist.
Obvs his hypnotic enlargement training works.
Bigger boobs: sensible policies for a happier Britain.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
As my mother used to say "There's always been folk with more money than sense"
Not enough to make Truss's dream come true, I suspect.
Unless it's all a scheme to launder US MAGA money into UK politics ?
Seems farfetched, and likely pointless, but this is Truss and MAGA ...
EXCLUSIVE interview with Zack Polanski by @daisyeastlake
* Britain should take in more asylum seekers
* Migration debate is driven by racism
* Starmer is 'pushing racist rhetoric'
* Asylum seekers should be able to work in UK from the moment they arrive
* Trans women are women, JK Rowling is 'punching down' & 'intensely hateful'
And the environment? He couldn't give a fuck.
True Greens must despair.
People talk about political parties becoming more left or right, or more extreme, but the Greens seem to have changed more than any other political party.
It seems to be working in both polls and in local elections. Polanski has the zeitgeist.
Obvs his hypnotic enlargement training works.
Bigger boobs: sensible policies for a happier Britain.
That's actually quite an interesting piece - especially the self-pi - er, self-justifying tone of the creators.
' "For seven weeks, we hardly slept, with up to 10 of our in-house AI and post specialists at The Gardening Club [our in-house AI engine] working in lockstep with the directors," said Sweetshop CEO Melanie Bridge, according to Futurism. "We generated what felt like dailies — thousands of takes — then shaped them in the edit just as we would on any high-craft production. This wasn't an AI trick. It was a film."
Bridge continued, "I don't see this spot as a novelty or a cute seasonal experiment. To me, it's evidence of something much bigger: that when craft and technology meet with intention, they can create work that feels genuinely cinematic. So no — AI didn't make this film. We did."'
I think it's a clever ad. No-one presumably goes to McDonald's for anything Christmassy so it taps into a feeling of fed-up-ness with the whole thing to provide a bastion of normal in the sea of tinsel and overpriced Christmas spirit.
The problem is that it is all a bit relentless and grim, so it loses its humour.
It was quite good, but with some unnecessary repetitions.
Is it tongue in cheek that they marked this award with an AI Slop image that is an inferior derivative of an original artwork?
Somewhere in the loft I have a copy of the Time magazine cover when the person of the year was 'You' and they placed a silvery reflective mirror on the cover. This was all about Web 2.0 and social media.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
I wonder whether it will be impacted at all by the defenestration of the hereditaries?
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
A revealing take on the EU fine for Twitter from the Nat Con (National Conservative) squad podcast, which I have used for some time to track the intellectual version of Trumpish opinion. 5 minutes.
They seem to have turned into unquestioning apologists. One of the people is Amber Duke (Athey), who is the Washington Editor of the Spectator.
A revealing take on the EU fine for Twitter from the Nat Con (National Conservative) squad podcast, which I have used for some time to track the intellectual version of Trumpish opinion. 5 minutes.
They seem to have turned into unquestioning apologists. One of the people is Amber Duke (Athey), who is the Washington Editor of the Spectator.
A revealing take on the EU fine for Twitter from the Nat Con (National Conservative) squad podcast, which I have used for some time to track the intellectual version of Trumpish opinion. 5 minutes.
They seem to have turned into unquestioning apologists. One of the people is Amber Duke (Athey), who is the Washington Editor of the Spectator.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
I wonder whether it will be impacted at all by the defenestration of the hereditaries?
Probably an increase in their waiting list once it reopens as White’s members dining room offers a lunch option now the House of Lords dining room is no longer open to them
Eng: My daughter milked a cow. Scots: Mine dochter milkit ane coo. [ch as in loch, obvs] Frisian (fide Google Translate): Myn dochter molk in ko. Danish (ditto): Min datter malkede en ko. Dutch: Mijn dochter heeft een koe gemolken. German: Meine Tochter hat eine Kuh gemolken.
Norwegian 'joke'. "Once you hear Finnish you realise that German, Swedish and English are just dialects of Norwegian,"
Some linguists believe that (middle) English derived at core from Old Norse rather than Old English. Some of the evidence is there in Carnyx’s examples - English adopts the Scandinavian word order rather than sticking the verb at the end, like Germanic languages including Old English do. So maybe English is just a dialect of Norwegian?
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
Some clubs have a joining fee and a yearly fee. Are you sure you're not confusing the two?
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
Telegraph said it was £850 in 2013 so it seems unlikely it is £85k now. I suspect you are quoting AI which is picking up a duff reference.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
If they don’t disclose their fees, how does anyone pay them? Do you just guess? Do you keep sending them money until one day they reply, “That’s enough.”?
@haleaziz.bsky.social with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
Eng: My daughter milked a cow. Scots: Mine dochter milkit ane coo. [ch as in loch, obvs] Frisian (fide Google Translate): Myn dochter molk in ko. Danish (ditto): Min datter malkede en ko. Dutch: Mijn dochter heeft een koe gemolken. German: Meine Tochter hat eine Kuh gemolken.
Norwegian 'joke'. "Once you hear Finnish you realise that German, Swedish and English are just dialects of Norwegian,"
Some linguists believe that (middle) English derived at core from Old Norse rather than Old English. Some of the evidence is there in Carnyx’s examples - English adopts the Scandinavian word order rather than sticking the verb at the end, like Germanic languages including Old English do. So maybe English is just a dialect of Norwegian?
There are certainly quite intimate borrowing from Norse, such as parts of the verb to be (are, rather than sind) some pronouns, etc. The argument is that OE and ON were actually to some extent mutually intelligible and what resulted was a sort of creole, with the grammatical endings worn down because they were different in both languages. But the underlying language is West Germanic rather than North Germanic.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
Telegraph said it was £850 in 2013 so it seems unlikely it is £85k now. I suspect you are quoting AI which is picking up a duff reference.
Up to £85k and no it was not AI it was the website I linked to earlier. God we need Leon back on this site, if Friday nights on PB are going to be as pedantically tedious as this!
@haleaziz.bsky.social with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
It's absurd that the US previously let people just ignore immigration laws and settle in the country without any real bureaucratic obstacle. Whatever criticisms people have of the way Trump is handling it, the problem started with maladministration long before he even entered politics.
EXCLUSIVE interview with Zack Polanski by @daisyeastlake
* Britain should take in more asylum seekers
* Migration debate is driven by racism
* Starmer is 'pushing racist rhetoric'
* Asylum seekers should be able to work in UK from the moment they arrive
* Trans women are women, JK Rowling is 'punching down' & 'intensely hateful'
And the environment? He couldn't give a fuck.
True Greens must despair.
People talk about political parties becoming more left or right, or more extreme, but the Greens seem to have changed more than any other political party.
It seems to be working in both polls and in local elections. Polanski has the zeitgeist.
Obvs his hypnotic enlargement training works.
Bigger boobs: sensible policies for a happier Britain.
"Voting Green will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a bicycle."
@haleaziz.bsky.social with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
It's absurd that the US previously let people just ignore immigration laws and settle in the country without any real bureaucratic obstacle. Whatever criticisms people have of the way Trump is handling it, the problem started with maladministration long before he even entered politics.
But, right now, the problem that matters is Trump and how he’s handling… well, everything.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
Telegraph said it was £850 in 2013 so it seems unlikely it is £85k now. I suspect you are quoting AI which is picking up a duff reference.
Up to £85k and no it was not AI it was the website I linked to earlier. God we need Leon back on this site, if Friday nights on PB are going to be as pedantically tedious as this!
Such shite having to document your assertions even on a Friday.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
Telegraph said it was £850 in 2013 so it seems unlikely it is £85k now. I suspect you are quoting AI which is picking up a duff reference.
Up to £85k and no it was not AI it was the website I linked to earlier. God we need Leon back on this site, if Friday nights on PB are going to be as pedantically tedious as this!
How do you know it's not AI? It's sure a list, it'sd clickbait that has harpooneed you more efficiently than a siphonophoran nematocyst, and I'd not sure it doesn't have that stylistic smell.
EXCLUSIVE interview with Zack Polanski by @daisyeastlake
* Britain should take in more asylum seekers
* Migration debate is driven by racism
* Starmer is 'pushing racist rhetoric'
* Asylum seekers should be able to work in UK from the moment they arrive
* Trans women are women, JK Rowling is 'punching down' & 'intensely hateful'
And the environment? He couldn't give a fuck.
True Greens must despair.
People talk about political parties becoming more left or right, or more extreme, but the Greens seem to have changed more than any other political party.
It seems to be working in both polls and in local elections. Polanski has the zeitgeist.
Obvs his hypnotic enlargement training works.
Bigger boobs: sensible policies for a happier Britain.
"Voting Green will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a bicycle."
A spokesman wheeled out for the cycling lobby said these would cause a chain reaction.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
Telegraph said it was £850 in 2013 so it seems unlikely it is £85k now. I suspect you are quoting AI which is picking up a duff reference.
Up to £85k and no it was not AI it was the website I linked to earlier. God we need Leon back on this site, if Friday nights on PB are going to be as pedantically tedious as this!
Well that is dancing on a pin head. Where do you think AI gets it info from? No need to get personal. I wasn't arguing with you as I don't know. I was just quoting the Telegraph from 2013 for information. A rise from £850 to £85,000 in 12 years seems highly improbable and completely out of line. Do you not think the article you quoted from might be wrong.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
Telegraph said it was £850 in 2013 so it seems unlikely it is £85k now. I suspect you are quoting AI which is picking up a duff reference.
Up to £85k and no it was not AI it was the website I linked to earlier. God we need Leon back on this site, if Friday nights on PB are going to be as pedantically tedious as this!
Well that is dancing on a pin head. Where do you think AI gets it info from? No need to get personal. I wasn't arguing with you as I don't know. I was just quoting the Telegraph from 2013 for information. A rise from £850 to £85,000 in 12 years seems highly improbable and completely out of line. Do you not think the article you quoted from might be wrong.
Your last sentence is asking the impossible
@HYUFD is never wrong nor admits to it when overwhelmingly proven he or it is
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
If they don’t disclose their fees, how does anyone pay them? Do you just guess? Do you keep sending them money until one day they reply, “That’s enough.”?
I think it's more a case of if you have to ask, you can't afford it.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
Telegraph said it was £850 in 2013 so it seems unlikely it is £85k now. I suspect you are quoting AI which is picking up a duff reference.
Up to £85k and no it was not AI it was the website I linked to earlier. God we need Leon back on this site, if Friday nights on PB are going to be as pedantically tedious as this!
Well that is dancing on a pin head. Where do you think AI gets it info from? No need to get personal. I wasn't arguing with you as I don't know. I was just quoting the Telegraph from 2013 for information. A rise from £850 to £85,000 in 12 years seems highly improbable and completely out of line. Do you not think the article you quoted from might be wrong.
Your last sentence is asking the impossible
@HYUFD is never wrong nor admits to it when overwhelmingly proven he or it is
"Let me put it this way, Big G. The HYUFD series is the most reliable computer ever made. No HYUFD computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information. We are all, by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error."
Not even Whites or Soho House charge £500k for membership, so whatever Truss is offering better be good
I don't really think White's and Soho House are comparable.
I would be interested to find if anybody has ever been a member of both? Maybe Prince Harry?
The former elite old money, the latter exclusive new money mainly
Soho House may have been exclusive in the past, but these days it's a commercial enterprise run for profit who will (literally) take anyone if they're willing to pony up.
Personally, I quite like the slightly quirkier London Clubs: I think my favourite is Buck's.
EXCLUSIVE interview with Zack Polanski by @daisyeastlake
* Britain should take in more asylum seekers
* Migration debate is driven by racism
* Starmer is 'pushing racist rhetoric'
* Asylum seekers should be able to work in UK from the moment they arrive
* Trans women are women, JK Rowling is 'punching down' & 'intensely hateful'
And the environment? He couldn't give a fuck.
True Greens must despair.
People talk about political parties becoming more left or right, or more extreme, but the Greens seem to have changed more than any other political party.
It seems to be working in both polls and in local elections. Polanski has the zeitgeist.
Obvs his hypnotic enlargement training works.
Bigger boobs: sensible policies for a happier Britain.
"Voting Green will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a bicycle."
A spokesman wheeled out for the cycling lobby said these would cause a chain reaction.
"the Greens seem to have changed more than any other political party."
EXCLUSIVE interview with Zack Polanski by @daisyeastlake
* Britain should take in more asylum seekers
* Migration debate is driven by racism
* Starmer is 'pushing racist rhetoric'
* Asylum seekers should be able to work in UK from the moment they arrive
* Trans women are women, JK Rowling is 'punching down' & 'intensely hateful'
And the environment? He couldn't give a fuck.
True Greens must despair.
People talk about political parties becoming more left or right, or more extreme, but the Greens seem to have changed more than any other political party.
Changed from when though? His comments and focus seems entirely in line with what I'd have expected from the Greens at any point in the last 10 years.
Not even Whites or Soho House charge £500k for membership, so whatever Truss is offering better be good
I don't really think White's and Soho House are comparable.
I would be interested to find if anybody has ever been a member of both? Maybe Prince Harry?
The former elite old money, the latter exclusive new money mainly
Soho House may have been exclusive in the past, but these days it's a commercial enterprise run for profit who will (literally) take anyone if they're willing to pony up.
Personally, I quite like the slightly quirkier London Clubs: I think my favourite is Buck's.
You're right about Soho House. There's a branch in Brighton. They'll take absolutely anybody; I was invited to join. I went once, as a guest. The food was shite. It was full of young posers who were full of themselves. Never again.
EXCLUSIVE interview with Zack Polanski by @daisyeastlake
* Britain should take in more asylum seekers
* Migration debate is driven by racism
* Starmer is 'pushing racist rhetoric'
* Asylum seekers should be able to work in UK from the moment they arrive
* Trans women are women, JK Rowling is 'punching down' & 'intensely hateful'
And the environment? He couldn't give a fuck.
True Greens must despair.
People talk about political parties becoming more left or right, or more extreme, but the Greens seem to have changed more than any other political party.
It seems to be working in both polls and in local elections. Polanski has the zeitgeist.
I'm not sure what he's doing particularly differently, but with the Corbyn magic seemingly fading and the traditional big two in the doldrums Polanski does seem to have one a good job firing people up. Turning that into mega success will still be hard, but he's at least got a shot.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
If they don’t disclose their fees, how does anyone pay them? Do you just guess? Do you keep sending them money until one day they reply, “That’s enough.”?
I'd think aristocrats, if the main clientele as suggested, would be insistent on knowing the price - aristocrats are obsessed with money, and many have ended up skint over the years.
It's new money that doesn't need to count the pennies.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
Not even Whites or Soho House charge £500k for membership, so whatever Truss is offering better be good
I don't really think White's and Soho House are comparable.
I would be interested to find if anybody has ever been a member of both? Maybe Prince Harry?
The former elite old money, the latter exclusive new money mainly
Soho House may have been exclusive in the past, but these days it's a commercial enterprise run for profit who will (literally) take anyone if they're willing to pony up.
Personally, I quite like the slightly quirkier London Clubs: I think my favourite is Buck's.
Quirky, you say? Buck's, you say? Well, when I were a lad...
Not even Whites or Soho House charge £500k for membership, so whatever Truss is offering better be good
I don't really think White's and Soho House are comparable.
I would be interested to find if anybody has ever been a member of both? Maybe Prince Harry?
The former elite old money, the latter exclusive new money mainly
Soho House may have been exclusive in the past, but these days it's a commercial enterprise run for profit who will (literally) take anyone if they're willing to pony up.
Personally, I quite like the slightly quirkier London Clubs: I think my favourite is Buck's.
You're right about Soho House. There's a branch in Brighton. They'll take absolutely anybody; I was invited to join. I went once, as a guest. The food was shite. It was full of young posers who were full of themselves. Never again.
IEvening P.B.
I personally think there's something fairly odd about private members's clubs. It's all very needy and psychologically curious, I would think there.
"Briefing | Right riveting The populists of Reform UK, already topping the polls, may climb higher Claims that it has hit a ceiling are probably wishful thinking"
"Briefing | Right riveting The populists of Reform UK, already topping the polls, may climb higher Claims that it has hit a ceiling are probably wishful thinking"
Season of good cheer? Not fffing likely.. you ring EDF. No human to speak to but lots of bullshit about the bot helping to make it easier. These ffing morons just don't care. They know they are lying when they say it will make things easier.
If it wasn't my late father in.law"s account I would tell them to put their account where the sun doesn't shine. .
I’m dealing an insurance company that’s a bit like that.
EdF are beyond awful. They'll never be the first against the wall in any Omnium administration - deeper dungeons await them. No doubt most of the utility companies are ok until they're very much not. So far Octopus seems pretty good (4-5 years).
But not worshiping The Process is “Right Wing”, so we’ve been told.
Presumably, using the word Ergonomic is grounds for calling Prevent.
Candidates are asked show their workings when jumping from one topic to another.
You are showing dissatisfaction with The Process. Literally.
There will be an elaborate chart of how they deal with your enquiry. Optimised for the companies convenience - rather than yourself or the people manning the Hell Desk(s).
Companies that have reputation for good customer service exist. They design The Process around the goal of customer satisfaction. They even modify the Process to improve on this.
They worship the goal, not the method.
Alternatively, they have a different goal.
Many firms have optimised to 'what is the cheapest way that we can offer a facility called customer service, which doesn't have to be much good at solving customer problems?' That's slightly but utterly different to 'what's the cheapest way to solve customer problems?'
We were talking EDF earlier. I have very good customer service from EDF: knowledgeable, responsive customer service agents on the phone or on email, who actually understand the subject matter.
In France.
My UK power is provided by the excellent Octopus Energy.
+1 for Octopus
Another +1 for Octopus, easily the best value electricity provider in Japan if you have an EV, and probably also if you don't.
EXCLUSIVE interview with Zack Polanski by @daisyeastlake
* Britain should take in more asylum seekers
* Migration debate is driven by racism
* Starmer is 'pushing racist rhetoric'
* Asylum seekers should be able to work in UK from the moment they arrive
* Trans women are women, JK Rowling is 'punching down' & 'intensely hateful'
I agree with all of this but if he wants my vote he'll need to do more to shake off his association with the environmentalist movement.
I understand the momentum (hah! possible pun) but if they don't use all this entryist energy to turbocharge some environmentalist points, it's a waste. The loony left newbies and the greeny oldies can, if they unite, do some really good Green stuff, but if it deteriorates into squabbling it'll be a waste.
Not even Whites or Soho House charge £500k for membership, so whatever Truss is offering better be good
I don't really think White's and Soho House are comparable.
I would be interested to find if anybody has ever been a member of both? Maybe Prince Harry?
The former elite old money, the latter exclusive new money mainly
Soho House may have been exclusive in the past, but these days it's a commercial enterprise run for profit who will (literally) take anyone if they're willing to pony up.
Personally, I quite like the slightly quirkier London Clubs: I think my favourite is Buck's.
You're right about Soho House. There's a branch in Brighton. They'll take absolutely anybody; I was invited to join. I went once, as a guest. The food was shite. It was full of young posers who were full of themselves. Never again.
IEvening P.B.
I personally think there's something fairly odd about private members's clubs. It's all very needy and psychologically curious, I would think there.
Having worked in St James's for the best part of 15 years, I think I've been a guest at pretty much every private member's club except Boodle's.
If I still worked there, I think I'd join the RAC or the Royal Overseas League, because they both have fabulous swimming pools, right in the centre of London. And my old swimming pool (at the YMCA off Tottenham Court Road) has shut, which means the Oasis is basically unusable.
My colleagues were Buck's members, and that was a lot of fun - they did a great job of inviting interesting speakers, with a particularly strong focus on historians. I remember seeing Andrew Robert's there, and he was very entertaining. The late Christopher Lee was also member, and even into his 90s would hang out at the bar. They were constantly pestering me to join, but the way I looked at it, I was always going with them, so it wasn't worth the bother.
I was proposed for the Groucho Club, but they turned me down.
@malcolmg , I was looking at a YouTube compilation of Election 2024 programmes opening sequences (because I have no life) and I caught the entry for BBC Alba, in what I assume to be Scots Gaelic. I've never heard it spoken out loud before and it sounds a lot more Scandinavian than I was expecting. Is this how it's pronounced in real life, or is this the Scottish equivalent of BBC English, a poshified version of the real thing?
I've come to LA for the weekend and man the smog is fucking terrible. I know the pollution is bad here but holy shit this is ridiculous, you could literally seethe smog dome over the city from the plane.
In better news with this flight I've secured my silver status, doubt I'll make gold this year now though. Might be able to do it next year as I'll have to fly here for work every couple of months.
"Briefing | Right riveting The populists of Reform UK, already topping the polls, may climb higher Claims that it has hit a ceiling are probably wishful thinking"
I've come to LA for the weekend and man the smog is fucking terrible. I know the pollution is bad here but holy shit this is ridiculous, you could literally seethe smog dome over the city from the plane.
In better news with this flight I've secured my silver status, doubt I'll make gold this year now though. Might be able to do it next year as I'll have to fly here for work every couple of months.
This Truss club thing: the only rational explanation is that it was designed with the deliberate and sole intention to fail. But why?
I think she's just trying a lot of shit and seeing what works when it comes to raising cash and rapidly abandoning what doesn't. See "Farage Gin", etc.
@haleaziz.bsky.social with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
EXCLUSIVE interview with Zack Polanski by @daisyeastlake
* Britain should take in more asylum seekers
* Migration debate is driven by racism
* Starmer is 'pushing racist rhetoric'
* Asylum seekers should be able to work in UK from the moment they arrive
* Trans women are women, JK Rowling is 'punching down' & 'intensely hateful'
And the environment? He couldn't give a fuck.
True Greens must despair.
People talk about political parties becoming more left or right, or more extreme, but the Greens seem to have changed more than any other political party.
It seems to be working in both polls and in local elections. Polanski has the zeitgeist.
Obvs his hypnotic enlargement training works.
Bigger boobs: sensible policies for a happier Britain.
"Voting Green will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a bicycle."
A spokesman wheeled out for the cycling lobby said these would cause a chain reaction.
I've come to LA for the weekend and man the smog is fucking terrible. I know the pollution is bad here but holy shit this is ridiculous, you could literally seethe smog dome over the city from the plane.
In better news with this flight I've secured my silver status, doubt I'll make gold this year now though. Might be able to do it next year as I'll have to fly here for work every couple of months.
To be fair, it's not normally this bad. This is pretty unusual.
@haleaziz.bsky.social with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
Wow, government departments that actually speak to each other and exchange information.
I don't have any particular issue with this, so long as they make sure that they're picking up the right Jose Hernandez. It becomes an issue when it's a common name, and a US citizen with a Hispanic name gets dragged off into custody.
Nigel Farage’s party is gunning for power – so what is it like in the places where they’ve already got it? We embedded with Lancashire county council to find out what happens when rhetoric meets reality…
I've come to LA for the weekend and man the smog is fucking terrible. I know the pollution is bad here but holy shit this is ridiculous, you could literally seethe smog dome over the city from the plane.
In better news with this flight I've secured my silver status, doubt I'll make gold this year now though. Might be able to do it next year as I'll have to fly here for work every couple of months.
Silver means you get lounge access when flying economy; that's a decent perk if you fly a lot. Gold gives you slightly nicer lounges, but that's only a meaningful benefit at Heathrow.
@haleaziz.bsky.social with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
Wow, government departments that actually speak to each other and exchange information.
I don't have any particular issue with this, so long as they make sure that they're picking up the right Jose Hernandez. It becomes an issue when it's a common name, and a US citizen with a Hispanic name gets dragged off into custody.
Of course, at least have a date of birth or ID card copy to go with the name.
IIRC after 9/11 it took a while for people with similar names to those on the watch list to get properly identified as allowed travellers. It must suck to have the same name as someone wanted.
I've come to LA for the weekend and man the smog is fucking terrible. I know the pollution is bad here but holy shit this is ridiculous, you could literally seethe smog dome over the city from the plane.
In better news with this flight I've secured my silver status, doubt I'll make gold this year now though. Might be able to do it next year as I'll have to fly here for work every couple of months.
Silver means you get lounge access when flying economy; that's a decent perk if you fly a lot. Gold gives you slightly nicer lounges, but that's only a meaningful benefit at Heathrow.
The lounge access when flying economy was well worth it, and it didn’t used to take an awful lot of biz class flights to get there.
Sadly I don’t fly much these days and airlines now routinely drop status over time, I barely exist now to either BA or Emirates.
Detail from a 20 years' old obituary I was reading earlier.
Yes it is probably the most exclusive and elite club in London. Past members include the Duke of Wellington, Beau Brammell, Prince Philip and David Cameron. The King held his stag night there.
Membership is £85 000 a year (more than annual Eton fees) and the waiting list is currently closed. It is all male so Truss couldn’t get in even in the unlikely event she ever made the waiting list
That does bring out a well hidden socialist streak in me.
Not so much that for me as to wonder why people would be so desperate to leer at such Veblenian excess. Also poshness when they themselves wouldn't be allowed in (except through the service door to wash the dishes).
Unless of course they are researchers studying social pathologies.
The fact that they rank Annabels as more exclusive than White’s suggests that, how do I put this politely, they don’t have a fucking clue
My grandfather was a member of Annabels and the Savile club but White’s membership requires you to be aristocracy of good standing essentially
My Dad was a member of White’s. He wasn’t an aristocrat of good standing or otherwise.
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
Good for your father but a large percentage of White’s will be aristocracy or at the very least old money and given White’s don’t disclose their fees you cannot say what they are exactly or disprove they go up to £85k.
Telegraph said it was £850 in 2013 so it seems unlikely it is £85k now. I suspect you are quoting AI which is picking up a duff reference.
Up to £85k and no it was not AI it was the website I linked to earlier. God we need Leon back on this site, if Friday nights on PB are going to be as pedantically tedious as this!
Well that is dancing on a pin head. Where do you think AI gets it info from? No need to get personal. I wasn't arguing with you as I don't know. I was just quoting the Telegraph from 2013 for information. A rise from £850 to £85,000 in 12 years seems highly improbable and completely out of line. Do you not think the article you quoted from might be wrong.
Your last sentence is asking the impossible
@HYUFD is never wrong nor admits to it when overwhelmingly proven he or it is
Eng: My daughter milked a cow. Scots: Mine dochter milkit ane coo. [ch as in loch, obvs] Frisian (fide Google Translate): Myn dochter molk in ko. Danish (ditto): Min datter malkede en ko. Dutch: Mijn dochter heeft een koe gemolken. German: Meine Tochter hat eine Kuh gemolken.
Norwegian 'joke'. "Once you hear Finnish you realise that German, Swedish and English are just dialects of Norwegian,"
Some linguists believe that (middle) English derived at core from Old Norse rather than Old English. Some of the evidence is there in Carnyx’s examples - English adopts the Scandinavian word order rather than sticking the verb at the end, like Germanic languages including Old English do. So maybe English is just a dialect of Norwegian?
There are certainly quite intimate borrowing from Norse, such as parts of the verb to be (are, rather than sind) some pronouns, etc. The argument is that OE and ON were actually to some extent mutually intelligible and what resulted was a sort of creole, with the grammatical endings worn down because they were different in both languages. But the underlying language is West Germanic rather than North Germanic.
This podcast is absolutely fantastic about the English Language - really goes into the roots. On the face of it a boring subject for a million hours of a podcast but it really is fascinating.
I've come to LA for the weekend and man the smog is fucking terrible. I know the pollution is bad here but holy shit this is ridiculous, you could literally seethe smog dome over the city from the plane.
In better news with this flight I've secured my silver status, doubt I'll make gold this year now though. Might be able to do it next year as I'll have to fly here for work every couple of months.
Silver means you get lounge access when flying economy; that's a decent perk if you fly a lot. Gold gives you slightly nicer lounges, but that's only a meaningful benefit at Heathrow.
The lounge access when flying economy was well worth it, and it didn’t used to take an awful lot of biz class flights to get there.
Sadly I don’t fly much these days and airlines now routinely drop status over time, I barely exist now to either BA or Emirates.
I managed to get Gold for a while as a result of three work trips to South Africa over the course of a few months. As well as the lounge access (lounges not as good in the US, BTW - no food) getting upgraded to the armchairs up front on US domestic flights was a nice perk.
BT is back to accepting the site security this morning, so no more workarounds to see and make comments. Thanks if anyone this side involved in fixing this.
Nigel Farage’s party is gunning for power – so what is it like in the places where they’ve already got it? We embedded with Lancashire county council to find out what happens when rhetoric meets reality…
Eng: My daughter milked a cow. Scots: Mine dochter milkit ane coo. [ch as in loch, obvs] Frisian (fide Google Translate): Myn dochter molk in ko. Danish (ditto): Min datter malkede en ko. Dutch: Mijn dochter heeft een koe gemolken. German: Meine Tochter hat eine Kuh gemolken.
Norwegian 'joke'. "Once you hear Finnish you realise that German, Swedish and English are just dialects of Norwegian,"
Some linguists believe that (middle) English derived at core from Old Norse rather than Old English. Some of the evidence is there in Carnyx’s examples - English adopts the Scandinavian word order rather than sticking the verb at the end, like Germanic languages including Old English do. So maybe English is just a dialect of Norwegian?
There are certainly quite intimate borrowing from Norse, such as parts of the verb to be (are, rather than sind) some pronouns, etc. The argument is that OE and ON were actually to some extent mutually intelligible and what resulted was a sort of creole, with the grammatical endings worn down because they were different in both languages. But the underlying language is West Germanic rather than North Germanic.
This podcast is absolutely fantastic about the English Language - really goes into the roots. On the face of it a boring subject for a million hours of a podcast but it really is fascinating.
EXCLUSIVE interview with Zack Polanski by @daisyeastlake
* Britain should take in more asylum seekers
* Migration debate is driven by racism
* Starmer is 'pushing racist rhetoric'
* Asylum seekers should be able to work in UK from the moment they arrive
* Trans women are women, JK Rowling is 'punching down' & 'intensely hateful'
I agree with all of this but if he wants my vote he'll need to do more to shake off his association with the environmentalist movement.
I understand the momentum (hah! possible pun) but if they don't use all this entryist energy to turbocharge some environmentalist points, it's a waste. The loony left newbies and the greeny oldies can, if they unite, do some really good Green stuff, but if it deteriorates into squabbling it'll be a waste.
Hopefully that waste will be segregated into recyclable, compostable and residual.
Not even Whites or Soho House charge £500k for membership, so whatever Truss is offering better be good
I don't really think White's and Soho House are comparable.
I would be interested to find if anybody has ever been a member of both? Maybe Prince Harry?
The former elite old money, the latter exclusive new money mainly
Soho House may have been exclusive in the past, but these days it's a commercial enterprise run for profit who will (literally) take anyone if they're willing to pony up.
Personally, I quite like the slightly quirkier London Clubs: I think my favourite is Buck's.
You're right about Soho House. There's a branch in Brighton. They'll take absolutely anybody; I was invited to join. I went once, as a guest. The food was shite. It was full of young posers who were full of themselves. Never again.
IEvening P.B.
I personally think there's something fairly odd about private members's clubs. It's all very needy and psychologically curious, I would think there.
We have them in The North too. Only we call them Working Men's Clubs rather than Gentlemen's Clubs.
Eng: My daughter milked a cow. Scots: Mine dochter milkit ane coo. [ch as in loch, obvs] Frisian (fide Google Translate): Myn dochter molk in ko. Danish (ditto): Min datter malkede en ko. Dutch: Mijn dochter heeft een koe gemolken. German: Meine Tochter hat eine Kuh gemolken.
Norwegian 'joke'. "Once you hear Finnish you realise that German, Swedish and English are just dialects of Norwegian,"
Some linguists believe that (middle) English derived at core from Old Norse rather than Old English. Some of the evidence is there in Carnyx’s examples - English adopts the Scandinavian word order rather than sticking the verb at the end, like Germanic languages including Old English do. So maybe English is just a dialect of Norwegian?
There are certainly quite intimate borrowing from Norse, such as parts of the verb to be (are, rather than sind) some pronouns, etc. The argument is that OE and ON were actually to some extent mutually intelligible and what resulted was a sort of creole, with the grammatical endings worn down because they were different in both languages. But the underlying language is West Germanic rather than North Germanic.
This podcast is absolutely fantastic about the English Language - really goes into the roots. On the face of it a boring subject for a million hours of a podcast but it really is fascinating.
Here’s an article setting out the thesis that Middle English derived from the dialect spoken in the East Midlands, within the Danelaw, not Wessex-ian Old English and hence has core syntax derived heavily from Old Norse:
In the immediate aftermath of the Norman Conquest and the social upheaval that it caused, Middle English was created by a remarkably large importation of Old English vocabulary into both the open-class and grammatical lexicons on the syntactic model of Norse.
Middle English speakers of the East Midlands and the North did not “borrow” Norse words; children simply brought them into their native language from the late 11th to the early 13th century by appropriating from their parents’ and peers’ Norse and Old English vocabularies on a nearly equal basis. As a grammatical system, they used the Norse model. While the parents may often have been speaking mutually comprehensible amalgams of their different native Germanic languages, their children were already creating from these vocabularies a new North Germanic tongue—the language which we today call Middle English.
@haleaziz.bsky.social with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
Wow, government departments that actually speak to each other and exchange information.
I don't have any particular issue with this, so long as they make sure that they're picking up the right Jose Hernandez. It becomes an issue when it's a common name, and a US citizen with a Hispanic name gets dragged off into custody.
Of course, at least have a date of birth or ID card copy to go with the name.
IIRC after 9/11 it took a while for people with similar names to those on the watch list to get properly identified as allowed travellers. It must suck to have the same name as someone wanted.
How do you feel about compulsory UK ID cards? Happy for HMG to have access to everyone's bank account data and card transactions? Should we have everyone's DNA on the UK National DNA Database? How about CCTV on every lamppost? Automatic tracking of every vehicle?
Eng: My daughter milked a cow. Scots: Mine dochter milkit ane coo. [ch as in loch, obvs] Frisian (fide Google Translate): Myn dochter molk in ko. Danish (ditto): Min datter malkede en ko. Dutch: Mijn dochter heeft een koe gemolken. German: Meine Tochter hat eine Kuh gemolken.
Norwegian 'joke'. "Once you hear Finnish you realise that German, Swedish and English are just dialects of Norwegian,"
Some linguists believe that (middle) English derived at core from Old Norse rather than Old English. Some of the evidence is there in Carnyx’s examples - English adopts the Scandinavian word order rather than sticking the verb at the end, like Germanic languages including Old English do. So maybe English is just a dialect of Norwegian?
There are certainly quite intimate borrowing from Norse, such as parts of the verb to be (are, rather than sind) some pronouns, etc. The argument is that OE and ON were actually to some extent mutually intelligible and what resulted was a sort of creole, with the grammatical endings worn down because they were different in both languages. But the underlying language is West Germanic rather than North Germanic.
This podcast is absolutely fantastic about the English Language - really goes into the roots. On the face of it a boring subject for a million hours of a podcast but it really is fascinating.
Wow! That looks like a degree course in a podcast. There must be 300 hours of podcast in there... and it's only got to 1620.
I'm tempted - dare I?
Definitely. The beauty is that it’s not just learning about the language but also the history of movement and migration, exchange of ideas etc. he’s a great presenter too, the right balance of engaging, serious and humorous.
Eng: My daughter milked a cow. Scots: Mine dochter milkit ane coo. [ch as in loch, obvs] Frisian (fide Google Translate): Myn dochter molk in ko. Danish (ditto): Min datter malkede en ko. Dutch: Mijn dochter heeft een koe gemolken. German: Meine Tochter hat eine Kuh gemolken.
Norwegian 'joke'. "Once you hear Finnish you realise that German, Swedish and English are just dialects of Norwegian,"
Some linguists believe that (middle) English derived at core from Old Norse rather than Old English. Some of the evidence is there in Carnyx’s examples - English adopts the Scandinavian word order rather than sticking the verb at the end, like Germanic languages including Old English do. So maybe English is just a dialect of Norwegian?
There are certainly quite intimate borrowing from Norse, such as parts of the verb to be (are, rather than sind) some pronouns, etc. The argument is that OE and ON were actually to some extent mutually intelligible and what resulted was a sort of creole, with the grammatical endings worn down because they were different in both languages. But the underlying language is West Germanic rather than North Germanic.
This podcast is absolutely fantastic about the English Language - really goes into the roots. On the face of it a boring subject for a million hours of a podcast but it really is fascinating.
Here’s an article setting out the thesis that Middle English derived from the dialect spoken in the East Midlands, within the Danelaw, not Wessex-ian Old English and hence has core syntax derived heavily from Old Norse:
In the immediate aftermath of the Norman Conquest and the social upheaval that it caused, Middle English was created by a remarkably large importation of Old English vocabulary into both the open-class and grammatical lexicons on the syntactic model of Norse.
Middle English speakers of the East Midlands and the North did not “borrow” Norse words; children simply brought them into their native language from the late 11th to the early 13th century by appropriating from their parents’ and peers’ Norse and Old English vocabularies on a nearly equal basis. As a grammatical system, they used the Norse model. While the parents may often have been speaking mutually comprehensible amalgams of their different native Germanic languages, their children were already creating from these vocabularies a new North Germanic tongue—the language which we today call Middle English.
Laughable to think those 'English patriots' sticking flags on lampposts in protest against multiculturalism are the product of medieval multiculturalism.
Eng: My daughter milked a cow. Scots: Mine dochter milkit ane coo. [ch as in loch, obvs] Frisian (fide Google Translate): Myn dochter molk in ko. Danish (ditto): Min datter malkede en ko. Dutch: Mijn dochter heeft een koe gemolken. German: Meine Tochter hat eine Kuh gemolken.
Norwegian 'joke'. "Once you hear Finnish you realise that German, Swedish and English are just dialects of Norwegian,"
Some linguists believe that (middle) English derived at core from Old Norse rather than Old English. Some of the evidence is there in Carnyx’s examples - English adopts the Scandinavian word order rather than sticking the verb at the end, like Germanic languages including Old English do. So maybe English is just a dialect of Norwegian?
There are certainly quite intimate borrowing from Norse, such as parts of the verb to be (are, rather than sind) some pronouns, etc. The argument is that OE and ON were actually to some extent mutually intelligible and what resulted was a sort of creole, with the grammatical endings worn down because they were different in both languages. But the underlying language is West Germanic rather than North Germanic.
This podcast is absolutely fantastic about the English Language - really goes into the roots. On the face of it a boring subject for a million hours of a podcast but it really is fascinating.
Here’s an article setting out the thesis that Middle English derived from the dialect spoken in the East Midlands, within the Danelaw, not Wessex-ian Old English and hence has core syntax derived heavily from Old Norse:
In the immediate aftermath of the Norman Conquest and the social upheaval that it caused, Middle English was created by a remarkably large importation of Old English vocabulary into both the open-class and grammatical lexicons on the syntactic model of Norse.
Middle English speakers of the East Midlands and the North did not “borrow” Norse words; children simply brought them into their native language from the late 11th to the early 13th century by appropriating from their parents’ and peers’ Norse and Old English vocabularies on a nearly equal basis. As a grammatical system, they used the Norse model. While the parents may often have been speaking mutually comprehensible amalgams of their different native Germanic languages, their children were already creating from these vocabularies a new North Germanic tongue—the language which we today call Middle English.
Yes I remember being taught that at school. I’m sure we were told that Chaucer’s English was very much of the midlands even though he was a Londoner as that was the prevailing style at the time.
@haleaziz.bsky.social with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
Wow, government departments that actually speak to each other and exchange information.
I don't have any particular issue with this, so long as they make sure that they're picking up the right Jose Hernandez. It becomes an issue when it's a common name, and a US citizen with a Hispanic name gets dragged off into custody.
I think it was on here, some years ago, that someone linked to a story about a poor woman in New York who shared a name and date of birth with someone else who received a lot of parking tickets and other such things, their records having been merged, and she had a devil of a job trying to get officialdom to separate the records.
Comments
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/dec/11/martin-parr-photography-british-life-class
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/dec/07/martin-parr-obituary
one intriguing comment, relevant to the current discussion:
' Obsession, too, followed him from childhood, his birdwatcher parents having encouraged him to see the world taxonomically. (The young Parr, branching out, had also been a keen trainspotter.) He recorded his human subjects as he might have a genus of finches, via plumage, habitat and diet.
This was not confined to the working class. In 1989, after he and Susie had moved to Bristol, Parr published The Cost of Living, a meditation on Britain after a decade of Thatcherism. The photographs of stiff women in Liberty print frocks and public schoolboys in unconvincing top hats were every bit as unblinking as the ones in The Last Resort had been; maybe more so, being shot through with a social insecurity that was missing in New Brighton.'
"Once you hear Finnish you realise that German, Swedish and English are just dialects of Norwegian,"
The problem is that it is all a bit relentless and grim, so it loses its humour.
Seems farfetched, and likely pointless, but this is Truss and MAGA ...
Always knew you were a true liberal.
It's just shit.
https://bsky.app/profile/chriso-wiki.bsky.social/post/3m7mqth7fgl2h
I could find out what the fees at White’s are. But I am almost certain that they will be around £2,000-2,500. The fees cover the operating costs and a small surplus for redecoration every so often. They will under no circumstances be anywhere near £85,000.
The problem is @HYUFD is that you found an article on line which referenced rumours about the fee. You are now digging and defending it. Why? Haven’t you anything more constructive to do?
They seem to have turned into unquestioning apologists. One of the people is Amber Duke (Athey), who is the Washington Editor of the Spectator.
https://youtu.be/B30qT_UwoO0?list=PLbZpjtSKtltEtMVVGnggWkYY42LNT3JBH&t=2224
https://thespectator.com/newsletter/married-divorce-rates-culture-shock-10-11-2023/
(That's a good article btw, on marriage.)
Perhaps if her father hadn't disowned her for merely joining the tories, he could help her now.
Chaz ain't dead yet.
@haleaziz.bsky.social
with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3m7szodh2ek2w
@HYUFD is never wrong nor admits to it when overwhelmingly proven he or it is
https://x.com/zackpolanski/status/1999580563087175965?s=46
I've spent three days in Calais & it's horrendous
Personally, I quite like the slightly quirkier London Clubs: I think my favourite is Buck's.
Entryism basically.
Ian Dunt
@iandunt.bsky.social
What the fuck have i just watched?
Every Film Now @everyfilmnow.bsky.social
First trailer for Andy Serkis’ ‘ANIMAL FARM’ has dropped.
In theaters May 1.
#AnimalFarm #AndySerkis
https://bsky.app/profile/iandunt.bsky.social/post/3m7t5qyxgjs2e
It needs to be returned to the previous owners.
EDIT: Us
I went once, as a guest. The food was shite. It was full of young posers who were full of themselves. Never again.
It's new money that doesn't need to count the pennies.
https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/?&kt=800&lat=51.5105384&lng=-0.5950406&hob_psi=5&hob_ft=9511&ff=50&psi=20,5,1&zm=10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-DvmtFGTdI
I personally think there's something fairly odd about private members's clubs. It's all very needy and psychologically curious, I would think there.
The populists of Reform UK, already topping the polls, may climb higher
Claims that it has hit a ceiling are probably wishful thinking"
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2025/12/11/the-populists-of-reform-uk-already-topping-the-polls-may-climb-higher
If I still worked there, I think I'd join the RAC or the Royal Overseas League, because they both have fabulous swimming pools, right in the centre of London. And my old swimming pool (at the YMCA off Tottenham Court Road) has shut, which means the Oasis is basically unusable.
My colleagues were Buck's members, and that was a lot of fun - they did a great job of inviting interesting speakers, with a particularly strong focus on historians. I remember seeing Andrew Robert's there, and he was very entertaining. The late Christopher Lee was also member, and even into his 90s would hang out at the bar. They were constantly pestering me to join, but the way I looked at it, I was always going with them, so it wasn't worth the bother.
I was proposed for the Groucho Club, but they turned me down.
https://youtu.be/-7c9T6e3qL4?si=h-gJcPPh9WDoOLVy&t=1677
Every BBC Election Night intro 1945-2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI3HjkxgGAw
In better news with this flight I've secured my silver status, doubt I'll make gold this year now though. Might be able to do it next year as I'll have to fly here for work every couple of months.
Nigel Farage’s party is gunning for power – so what is it like in the places where they’ve already got it? We embedded with Lancashire county council to find out what happens when rhetoric meets reality…
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/13/reform-uk-lancashire-council-seven-months-in-power
IIRC after 9/11 it took a while for people with similar names to those on the watch list to get properly identified as allowed travellers. It must suck to have the same name as someone wanted.
Sadly I don’t fly much these days and airlines now routinely drop status over time, I barely exist now to either BA or Emirates.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-history-of-english-podcast/id538608536
All pre-Covid.
I'm tempted - dare I?
Here’s an article setting out the thesis that Middle English derived from the dialect spoken in the East Midlands, within the Danelaw, not Wessex-ian Old English and hence has core syntax derived heavily from Old Norse:
https://brill.com/view/journals/ldc/6/1/article-p1_1.xml
In the immediate aftermath of the Norman Conquest and the social upheaval that it caused, Middle English was created by a remarkably large importation of Old English vocabulary into both the open-class and grammatical lexicons on the syntactic model of Norse.
Middle English speakers of the East Midlands and the North did not “borrow” Norse words; children simply brought them into their native language from the late 11th to the early 13th century by appropriating from their parents’ and peers’ Norse and Old English vocabularies on a nearly equal basis. As a grammatical system, they used the Norse model. While the parents may often have been speaking mutually comprehensible amalgams of their different native Germanic languages, their children were already creating from these vocabularies a new North Germanic tongue—the language which we today call Middle English.
Happy for HMG to have access to everyone's bank account data and card transactions?
Should we have everyone's DNA on the UK National DNA Database?
How about CCTV on every lamppost?
Automatic tracking of every vehicle?
(All these will be standard in 50 years imo.)