politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » The disintegrating establishment

AlastairMeeks said:

I've got the Metropolitan bit sussed, the next job is to work on the elite bit.

You are a partner in a London based law firm.

I think you're pretty well set up there.

Richard_Nabavi said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

I'm keen to become one of the metropolitan elite.

Where do I apply?

I keep on getting told I'm a member of the liberal metropolitan elite, my membership is because

1) I attended a private school
2) Attended a top top university (but any decent Redbrick Uni counts)
3) Pro same sex marriage
4) Don't consider immigration nor the EU to be a top issue for the country
5) Have his and her sinks in your en suite bath room
6) Have private medical insurance cover
7) You have a second property/travel regularly abroad for holidays
8) Afford someone who makes sure you pay the least amount of tax possible

You only have to meet a majority of the above criteria and you get membership of the metropolitan elite

6 out of 8, so I guess I've got further work to do, or maybe I'm already there.

You get extra points for being signed up to the 'Dave is great and so is everything about him' club

RoyalBlue said:

ydoethur said:

RoyalBlue said:

ydoethur said:

AlastairMeeks said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Patrick said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

ThreeQuidder said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

TCPoliticalBetting said:

JackW said:

Those who are critical of thread leaders always have the option of penning their own disinterested narrative.

Do pb moderators (all for REMAIN) invite the articles?

Well that's bollocks.

1) The Mods don't invite guest threads

2) One of the mods is a 100% leaver

But apart from that spot on.

Which one? You, Meeks and Smithson are all Remainians, are you not?

You are confusing moderators with thread writers.

Not exactly the most helpful / informative reply TSE. I'm interested to know who PB's resident non traitorous pigdog ( (c) S.Prasaman ）is。

You misspelt PrasaNNan!!!

Sunil, from long experience I counsel not getting upset by having your name misspelt. Life is too short.

Imagine being Welsh and having a name that is pronounced exactly (or almost exactly) the same way as its English counterpart, and spelled totally differently.

Further imagine that you speak English flawlessly, without accent, and that you live in England.

I think I got one school report that spelled my name correctly. When I moved to my current school it took a long while and several distinctly unsubtle hints before my colleagues got my name right in emails.

Siarad Cymraeg?

Ydw, wrth gwrs.

(Amusingly autocorrect made 'ydw' into 'yes'!)

Da iawn!

I don't know much beyond Mae hen wlad fy in nhadau...

Ah, ond dyw hi'n annwyl i chi?

I can understand incidentally why people do not text in Welsh on iPhones. The autocorrect is bloody annoying.

Richard_Nabavi said:

ydoethur said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

I'm keen to become one of the metropolitan elite.

Where do I apply?

I keep on getting told I'm a member of the liberal metropolitan elite, my membership is because

1) I attended a private school
2) Attended a top top university (but any decent Redbrick Uni counts)
3) Pro same sex marriage
4) Don't consider immigration nor the EU to be a top issue for the country
5) Have his and her sinks in your en suite bath room
6) Have private medical insurance cover
7) You have a second property/travel regularly abroad for holidays
8) Afford someone who makes sure your the least amount of tax possible

You only have to meet a majority of the above criteria and you get membership of the metropolitan eleite

6 out of 8, so I guess I've got further work to do.

I meet 2 and 4. I don't care about 3. Clearly I will never qualify since I meet at best 3 out of 8.

I will just have to settle for a tone of arrogant condescension implicit of jealousy when I speak of them then.

Don't worry, the real elite think it's outrageously vulgar to have 'his and her sinks*' (or even his and his sinks) in any of one's bathrooms.

* I think TSE means 'basins'

I'm from Yorkshire, they are sinks.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

I'm keen to become one of the metropolitan elite.

Where do I apply?

I keep on getting told I'm a member of the liberal metropolitan elite, my membership is because

1) I attended a private school
2) Attended a top top university (but any decent Redbrick Uni counts)
3) Pro same sex marriage
4) Don't consider immigration nor the EU to be a top issue for the country
5) Have his and her sinks in your en suite bath room
6) Have private medical insurance cover
7) You have a second property/travel regularly abroad for holidays
8) Afford someone who makes sure you pay the least amount of tax possible

You only have to meet a majority of the above criteria and you get membership of the metropolitan elite

Seems rough, as some of those are clearly more important, I would argue, to essential metropolitan eliteness than others.

But I'm safe with only three of them, or possibly two depending on the second point (would the University of Leicester count?)

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

I'm keen to become one of the metropolitan elite.

Where do I apply?

I keep on getting told I'm a member of the liberal metropolitan elite, my membership is because

1) I attended a private school
2) Attended a top top university (but any decent Redbrick Uni counts)
3) Pro same sex marriage
4) Don't consider immigration nor the EU to be a top issue for the country
5) Have his and her sinks in your en suite bath room
6) Have private medical insurance cover
7) You have a second property/travel regularly abroad for holidays
8) Afford someone who makes sure you pay the least amount of tax possible

You only have to meet a majority of the above criteria and you get membership of the metropolitan elite

I meet two of those

Richard_Nabavi said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

I'm keen to become one of the metropolitan elite.

Where do I apply?

I keep on getting told I'm a member of the liberal metropolitan elite, my membership is because

1) I attended a private school
2) Attended a top top university (but any decent Redbrick Uni counts)
3) Pro same sex marriage
4) Don't consider immigration nor the EU to be a top issue for the country
5) Have his and her sinks in your en suite bath room
6) Have private medical insurance cover
7) You have a second property/travel regularly abroad for holidays
8) Afford someone who makes sure you pay the least amount of tax possible

You only have to meet a majority of the above criteria and you get membership of the metropolitan elite

6 out of 8, so I guess I've got further work to do, or maybe I'm already there.

I have his and hers sinks in all my bathrooms, and I live alone - except for my German Shepherd Heidi of course, and she's not fussy

Nothing fills me with more horror than the prospect of being metropolitan, and living in a city. I am a country chap: the closer I am to the natural world, and a traditional English village, the happier I am. I would probably be categorised as a Shire Tory rather than metropolitan.

I would probably be considered a member of the elite globally, and perhaps even domestically, even though I am a humble programme management consultant.

"Metropolitan Elite", as a phrase, captures someone who is well-off, does well from the status-quo, is pro-internationalist, pro-migration, pro-globalisation and mixes socially with others of a similar ilk. They either have no strong affinity to nation states, having travelled, worked and lived all over the world (often moving around from birth) or are ethnically/culturally from multiple national backgrounds. They have a disdain for those less sophisticated and successful than themselves, as they associate more with each other than their fellow nationals, and perceive non-U views as a threat from people that they wished knew better.

Incidentally, Metropolitan Elite can cover a spectrum of political views (from full-on Guardianista to Blairite to Cameroon) right up to the point where they perceive a threat to their own economic circumstances.

The newspaper that most encapsulates them is probably The Economist.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

I'm keen to become one of the metropolitan elite.

Where do I apply?

I keep on getting told I'm a member of the liberal metropolitan elite, my membership is because

1) I attended a private school
2) Attended a top top university (but any decent Redbrick Uni counts)
3) Pro same sex marriage
4) Don't consider immigration nor the EU to be a top issue for the country
5) Have his and her sinks in your en suite bath room
6) Have private medical insurance cover
7) You have a second property/travel regularly abroad for holidays
8) Afford someone who makes sure you pay the least amount of tax possible

You only have to meet a majority of the above criteria and you get membership of the metropolitan elite

At most I only meet 3 if TSE's criteria.
But it is a useful list for 'come the revolution' types.

JosiasJessop said:

Freggles said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

I'm keen to become one of the metropolitan elite.

Where do I apply?

I keep on getting told I'm a member of the liberal metropolitan elite, my membership is because

1) I attended a private school
2) Attended a top top university (but any decent Redbrick Uni counts)
3) Pro same sex marriage
4) Don't consider immigration nor the EU to be a top issue for the country
5) Have his and her sinks in your en suite bath room
6) Have private medical insurance cover
7) You have a second property/travel regularly abroad for holidays
8) Afford someone who makes sure you pay the least amount of tax possible

You only have to meet a majority of the above criteria and you get membership of the metropolitan elite

I meet two of those

five if 'attended' the university counts even if you didn't get a degree,

That sounds even more elitist - you were able to drop out due to independent wealth and metropolitan connections, no doubt.

Casino_Royale said:

Nothing fills me with more horror than the prospect of being metropolitan, and living in a city. I am a country chap: the closer I am to the natural world, and a traditional English village, the happier I am. I would probably be categorised as a Shire Tory rather than metropolitan.

I would probably be considered a member of the elite globally, and perhaps even domestically, even though I am a humble programme management consultant.

"Metropolitan Elite", as a phrase, captures someone who is well-off, does well from the status-quo, is pro-internationalist, pro-migration, pro-globalisation and mixes socially with others of a similar ilk. They either have no strong affinity to nation states, having travelled, worked and lived all over the world (often moving around from birth) or are ethnically/culturally from multiple national backgrounds. They have a disdain for those less sophisticated and successful than themselves, as they associate more with each other than their fellow nationals, and perceive non-U views as a threat from people that they wished knew better.

Incidentally, Metropolitan Elite can cover a spectrum of political views (from full-on Guardianista to Blairite to Cameroon) right up to the point where they perceive a threat to their own economic circumstances.

The newspaper that most encapsulates them is probably The Economist.

Oh dear, I think my application has just been rejected.

Tomorrow's special Panorama on this huge tax dodging leak, that they have been working on for over a year....is getting 30 mins programme. I don't understand the logic. How in 30 mins can you really explain any of this. When they do the 1hr shows they are so much better.

Casino_Royale said:

Nothing fills me with more horror than the prospect of being metropolitan, and living in a city. I am a country chap: the closer I am to the natural world, and a traditional English village, the happier I am. I would probably be categorised as a Shire Tory rather than metropolitan.

I would probably be considered a member of the elite globally, and perhaps even domestically, even though I am a humble programme management consultant.

"Metropolitan Elite", as a phrase, captures someone who is well-off, does well from the status-quo, is pro-internationalist, pro-migration, pro-globalisation and mixes socially with others of a similar ilk. They either have no strong affinity to nation states, having travelled, worked and lived all over the world (often moving around from birth) or are ethnically/culturally from multiple national backgrounds. They have a disdain for those less sophisticated and successful than themselves, as they associate more with each other than their fellow nationals, and perceive non-U views as a threat from people that they wished knew better.

Incidentally, Metropolitan Elite can cover a spectrum of political views (from full-on Guardianista to Blairite to Cameroon) right up to the point where they perceive a threat to their own economic circumstances.

The newspaper that most encapsulates them is probably The Economist.

That is quite wrong.

"Metropolitan Elite" means someone who has influence, or at least presence, at the fashionable tables of the Westminster parties, or in the financial or ideological organisations that support them.

It has very little to do with whether one supports a particular political philosophy or not, including nationalism.

Casino_Royale said:

Nothing fills me with more horror than the prospect of being metropolitan, and living in a city. I am a country chap: the closer I am to the natural world, and a traditional English village, the happier I am. I would probably be categorised as a Shire Tory rather than metropolitan.

I would probably be considered a member of the elite globally, and perhaps even domestically, even though I am a humble programme management consultant.

"Metropolitan Elite", as a phrase, captures someone who is well-off, does well from the status-quo, is pro-internationalist, pro-migration, pro-globalisation and mixes socially with others of a similar ilk. They either have no strong affinity to nation states, having travelled, worked and lived all over the world (often moving around from birth) or are ethnically/culturally from multiple national backgrounds. They have a disdain for those less sophisticated and successful than themselves, as they associate more with each other than their fellow nationals, and perceive non-U views as a threat from people that they wished knew better.

Incidentally, Metropolitan Elite can cover a spectrum of political views (from full-on Guardianista to Blairite to Cameroon) right up to the point where they perceive a threat to their own economic circumstances.

The newspaper that most encapsulates them is probably The Economist.

That is quite wrong.

"Metropolitan Elite" means someone who has influence, or at least presence, at the fashionable tables of the Westminster parties, or in the financial or ideological organisations that support them.

It has very little to do with whether one supports a particular political philosophy or not, including nationalism.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Y0kel said:

All this reminds me of definitions the working class, two of the key assessment criteria being:

-Size and numbers of large flat screen TVs in the household.
-Extensiveness of their Sky package

I presume the bigger tv and more extensive the package the more working class?

My largest TV is 55inches and I have the full Sky package.

In a Venn Diagram of the Metropolitan Elite and Working Class I'm going to be a very small segment in that that Venn Diagram

ydoethur said:

JosiasJessop said:

Freggles said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

I'm keen to become one of the metropolitan elite.

Where do I apply?

I keep on getting told I'm a member of the liberal metropolitan elite, my membership is because

1) I attended a private school
2) Attended a top top university (but any decent Redbrick Uni counts)
3) Pro same sex marriage
4) Don't consider immigration nor the EU to be a top issue for the country
5) Have his and her sinks in your en suite bath room
6) Have private medical insurance cover
7) You have a second property/travel regularly abroad for holidays
8) Afford someone who makes sure you pay the least amount of tax possible

You only have to meet a majority of the above criteria and you get membership of the metropolitan elite

I meet two of those

I meet three.

It would be four if the private medical insurance counts through the wife's company's insurance, and five if 'attended' the university counts even if you didn't get a degree,

It counts all right. After all, it's probably due to the evils of a rigged system that you lost out, because obviously the system is played by those horrible rich people to ensure that really brilliant people don't show up their worthless darlings...

How's that tone of arrogant condescension coming across? I can't be jealous on this issue, I took a First.

Are you a North Walian? I don't speak the language, but I have some cantankerous relatives who say it's better to speak the language of the Saxons than Welsh with a Cardiganshire accent...

TheScreamingEagles said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Y0kel said:

All this reminds me of definitions the working class, two of the key assessment criteria being:

-Size and numbers of large flat screen TVs in the household.
-Extensiveness of their Sky package

I presume the bigger tv and more extensive the package the more working class?

My largest TV is 55inches and I have the full Sky package.

In a Venn Diagram of the Metropolitan Elite and Working Class I'm going to be a very small segment in that that Venn Diagram

I wonder how big TheDonald's largest tv is ;-)

kle4 said:

JosiasJessop said:

Freggles said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

I'm keen to become one of the metropolitan elite.

Where do I apply?

I keep on getting told I'm a member of the liberal metropolitan elite, my membership is because

1) I attended a private school
2) Attended a top top university (but any decent Redbrick Uni counts)
3) Pro same sex marriage
4) Don't consider immigration nor the EU to be a top issue for the country
5) Have his and her sinks in your en suite bath room
6) Have private medical insurance cover
7) You have a second property/travel regularly abroad for holidays
8) Afford someone who makes sure you pay the least amount of tax possible

You only have to meet a majority of the above criteria and you get membership of the metropolitan elite

I meet two of those

five if 'attended' the university counts even if you didn't get a degree,

That sounds even more elitist - you were able to drop out due to independent wealth and metropolitan connections, no doubt.

I wish! I dropped out for two reasons:

*) health reasons meant I couldn't have done the job (tunnelling) I wanted.
*) I started earning a lot of money programming.

I remember dreading having to tell my parents. I went home, sat down with them over a pot of tea and told them I was leaving. They were not wholly surprised, but upset. I then told them how much I was earning and their worries partially dissipated.

Any metropolitan connections I have had have been formed through random and fortunate coincidence. For instance I got perhaps the best neurosurgeon in the world to fix me up by pure fluke. And he was remarkably cheap ...

Most metropolitan types would see me and run screaming. Perhaps we'll be able to use that test on Friday if I make it.

RoyalBlue said:

ydoethur said:

JosiasJessop said:

Freggles said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

I'm keen to become one of the metropolitan elite.

Where do I apply?

I keep on getting told I'm a member of the liberal metropolitan elite, my membership is because

1) I attended a private school
2) Attended a top top university (but any decent Redbrick Uni counts)
3) Pro same sex marriage
4) Don't consider immigration nor the EU to be a top issue for the country
5) Have his and her sinks in your en suite bath room
6) Have private medical insurance cover
7) You have a second property/travel regularly abroad for holidays
8) Afford someone who makes sure you pay the least amount of tax possible

You only have to meet a majority of the above criteria and you get membership of the metropolitan elite

I meet two of those

I meet three.

It would be four if the private medical insurance counts through the wife's company's insurance, and five if 'attended' the university counts even if you didn't get a degree,

It counts all right. After all, it's probably due to the evils of a rigged system that you lost out, because obviously the system is played by those horrible rich people to ensure that really brilliant people don't show up their worthless darlings...

How's that tone of arrogant condescension coming across? I can't be jealous on this issue, I took a First.

Are you a North Walian? I don't speak the language, but I have some cantankerous relatives who say it's better to speak the language of the Saxons than Welsh with a Cardiganshire accent...

Valleys, although I was actually born in Gloucester.

I lived in Aberystwyth for many years though, so I could be mistaken for a Cardi when .speaking in Welsh.

Incidentally they feel exactly the same way about the Gogs!

bigjohnowls said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Y0kel said:

All this reminds me of definitions the working class, two of the key assessment criteria being:

-Size and numbers of large flat screen TVs in the household.
-Extensiveness of their Sky package

I presume the bigger tv and more extensive the package the more working class?

My largest TV is 55inches and I have the full Sky package.

In a Venn Diagram of the Metropolitan Elite and Working Class I'm going to be a very small segment in that that Venn Diagram

I wonder how big TheDonald's largest tv is ;-)

between 6 and 7 inches fully erected?

A flatscreen?

ydoethur said:

bigjohnowls said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Y0kel said:

All this reminds me of definitions the working class, two of the key assessment criteria being:

-Size and numbers of large flat screen TVs in the household.
-Extensiveness of their Sky package

I presume the bigger tv and more extensive the package the more working class?

My largest TV is 55inches and I have the full Sky package.

In a Venn Diagram of the Metropolitan Elite and Working Class I'm going to be a very small segment in that that Venn Diagram

I wonder how big TheDonald's largest tv is ;-)

between 6 and 7 inches fully erected?

A flatscreen?

Curved!

Wonder how big DT's Sky Package is.

Mine is quite small but at least I have had it at half price for 36 months

Y0kel said:

All this reminds me of definitions the working class, two of the key assessment criteria being:

-Size and numbers of large flat screen TVs in the household.
-Extensiveness of their Sky package

It's funny isn't it - in fact Sky customers skew significantly ABC1 compared to the population as a whole.

"Iceland’s prime minister walks out of interview over tax haven question"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORlq_zrfWDc

bigjohnowls said:

Wonder how big DT's Sky Package is.

Mine is quite small but at least I have had it at half price for 36 months

Please tell me that wasn't meant to have a double meaning!

"Britain's exit from the European Union would lead to the “implosion” of the continental bloc and force the United States to intervene to put “Humpty Dumpty back together again”, the boss of the London Stock Exchange has claimed.

Xavier Rolet added that the “UK leaving the European Union is the end of the European Union”. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Rolet, one of 200 business leaders to sign a high-profile letter in February supporting the campaign for the UK to remain in Europe, said such a prospect would be “devastating.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/04/03/vote-for-brexit-would-lead-to-implosion-of-the-continental-bloc/

ydoethur said:

AlastairMeeks said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Patrick said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

ThreeQuidder said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

TCPoliticalBetting said:

JackW said:

Those who are critical of thread leaders always have the option of penning their own disinterested narrative.

Do pb moderators (all for REMAIN) invite the articles?

Well that's bollocks.

1) The Mods don't invite guest threads

2) One of the mods is a 100% leaver

But apart from that spot on.

Which one? You, Meeks and Smithson are all Remainians, are you not?

You are confusing moderators with thread writers.

Not exactly the most helpful / informative reply TSE. I'm interested to know who PB's resident non traitorous pigdog ( (c) S.Prasaman ）is。

You misspelt PrasaNNan!!!

Sunil, from long experience I counsel not getting upset by having your name misspelt. Life is too short.

Imagine being Welsh and having a name that is pronounced exactly (or almost exactly) the same way as its English counterpart, and spelled totally differently.

Further imagine that you speak English flawlessly, without accent, and that you live in England.

I think I got one school report that spelled my name correctly. When I moved to my current school it took a long while and several distinctly unsubtle hints before my colleagues got my name right in emails.

I have had my name misspelt all my life. Even worse, people - when they are told it - assume I am a man. And, on occasion, when people have met me they have assumed I was my male alter ego's secretary. Oh dear!

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

ydoethur said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

I'm keen to become one of the metropolitan elite.

Where do I apply?

I keep on getting told I'm a member of the liberal metropolitan elite, my membership is because

1) I attended a private school
2) Attended a top top university (but any decent Redbrick Uni counts)
3) Pro same sex marriage
4) Don't consider immigration nor the EU to be a top issue for the country
5) Have his and her sinks in your en suite bath room
6) Have private medical insurance cover
7) You have a second property/travel regularly abroad for holidays
8) Afford someone who makes sure your the least amount of tax possible

You only have to meet a majority of the above criteria and you get membership of the metropolitan eleite

6 out of 8, so I guess I've got further work to do.

I meet 2 and 4. I don't care about 3. Clearly I will never qualify since I meet at best 3 out of 8.

I will just have to settle for a tone of arrogant condescension implicit of jealousy when I speak of them then.

Don't worry, the real elite think it's outrageously vulgar to have 'his and her sinks*' (or even his and his sinks) in any of one's bathrooms.

* I think TSE means 'basins'

I'm from Yorkshire, they are sinks.

Dear me, I hate to break it to you but en suite bathrooms are frightfully vulgar.

A bedroom is a place for passion and rest.

What one does in a bathroom should be kept well away from there.

Cyclefree said:

ydoethur said:

AlastairMeeks said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Patrick said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

ThreeQuidder said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

TCPoliticalBetting said:

JackW said:

Those who are critical of thread leaders always have the option of penning their own disinterested narrative.

Do pb moderators (all for REMAIN) invite the articles?

Well that's bollocks.

1) The Mods don't invite guest threads

2) One of the mods is a 100% leaver

But apart from that spot on.

Which one? You, Meeks and Smithson are all Remainians, are you not?

You are confusing moderators with thread writers.

Not exactly the most helpful / informative reply TSE. I'm interested to know who PB's resident non traitorous pigdog ( (c) S.Prasaman ）is。

You misspelt PrasaNNan!!!

Sunil, from long experience I counsel not getting upset by having your name misspelt. Life is too short.

Imagine being Welsh and having a name that is pronounced exactly (or almost exactly) the same way as its English counterpart, and spelled totally differently.

Further imagine that you speak English flawlessly, without accent, and that you live in England.

I think I got one school report that spelled my name correctly. When I moved to my current school it took a long while and several distinctly unsubtle hints before my colleagues got my name right in emails.

on occasion, when people have met me they have assumed I was my male alter ego's secretary.

Oh to be a fly on the wall for those encounters - I assume hilarity ensued, for one of you at least.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Cyclefree said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

ydoethur said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

I'm keen to become one of the metropolitan elite.

Where do I apply?

I keep on getting told I'm a member of the liberal metropolitan elite, my membership is because

1) I attended a private school
2) Attended a top top university (but any decent Redbrick Uni counts)
3) Pro same sex marriage
4) Don't consider immigration nor the EU to be a top issue for the country
5) Have his and her sinks in your en suite bath room
6) Have private medical insurance cover
7) You have a second property/travel regularly abroad for holidays
8) Afford someone who makes sure your the least amount of tax possible

You only have to meet a majority of the above criteria and you get membership of the metropolitan eleite

6 out of 8, so I guess I've got further work to do.

I meet 2 and 4. I don't care about 3. Clearly I will never qualify since I meet at best 3 out of 8.

I will just have to settle for a tone of arrogant condescension implicit of jealousy when I speak of them then.

Don't worry, the real elite think it's outrageously vulgar to have 'his and her sinks*' (or even his and his sinks) in any of one's bathrooms.

* I think TSE means 'basins'

I'm from Yorkshire, they are sinks.

Dear me, I hate to break it to you but en suite bathrooms are frightfully vulgar.

A bedroom is a place for passion and rest.

What one does in a bathroom should be kept well away from there.

Yeah but passion can get messy and you need somewhere nearby so the couple can clean themselves up PDQ and start all over again.

Eww! Some things are better left unsaid.

Least newsworthy 'news' story 2016 contender?

Fifa ethics lawyer Juan Pedro Damiani under internal investigation:

A key member of its ethics committee, Uruguayan lawyer Juan Pedro Damiani, is being internally investigated for links with Eugenio Figueredo - an allegedly corrupt football official

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35954640

A good night to all.

AndyJS said:

"Britain's exit from the European Union would lead to the “implosion” of the continental bloc and force the United States to intervene to put “Humpty Dumpty back together again”, the boss of the London Stock Exchange has claimed.

Xavier Rolet added that the “UK leaving the European Union is the end of the European Union”. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Rolet, one of 200 business leaders to sign a high-profile letter in February supporting the campaign for the UK to remain in Europe, said such a prospect would be “devastating.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/04/03/vote-for-brexit-would-lead-to-implosion-of-the-continental-bloc/

clownish stuff

runnymede said:

AndyJS said:

"Britain's exit from the European Union would lead to the “implosion” of the continental bloc and force the United States to intervene to put “Humpty Dumpty back together again”, the boss of the London Stock Exchange has claimed.

Xavier Rolet added that the “UK leaving the European Union is the end of the European Union”. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Rolet, one of 200 business leaders to sign a high-profile letter in February supporting the campaign for the UK to remain in Europe, said such a prospect would be “devastating.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/04/03/vote-for-brexit-would-lead-to-implosion-of-the-continental-bloc/

clownish stuff

'They have a disdain for those they consider less sophisticated and successful than themselves'

SeanT said:

foxinsoxuk said:

Cyclefree said:

SeanT said:

MEANWHILE - serious evidence that ISIS are now on the run.

http://www.news24.com/World/News/key-isis-bastion-in-central-syria-taken-20160403


But, a cornered rat, and all that.

There is an article by Lyndsay Hilsum in today's Sunday Times from Palmyra (what a brave journalist she is) about the state of the place: not just destruction of ancient ruins but mass graves and the rest.

I expect that when Raqqa and Mosul get liberated that we will see some real horrors.

Will it make young Islamists think again? I hope so, but fear not.

A good day for Leicester ( I did tip another 1 nil this morning!) and the West Indies. I hope that the T20 cup and the IPL inspire a revival of cricket there. It would be good for the sport.

The end of ISIS won't mean the end of Islamist terror, but if and when ISIS are extinguished in the Mid East, it will deprive jihadists of much inspiration, leadership - and military training and materiel. It will also make violent Islamism look like a game for losers.

Much of the Caliphate's appeal to teenager nutters in the West was the way it could present itself on social media as a mighty and unstoppable force, rapidly taking over Arabia. The newer image of ISIS soldiers in defeat, running away, trapped in foxholes, and being turned into so much dust, is bad for the branding of jihad as a whole.

Bit like Nazism in a way. Fanatical support but based largely on the idea of strength. Once you're defeated the whole thing loses all meaning. Not true of wider Islamism though, many of whose adherents seem to regard themselves as losers who want to poke the west in the eye.

MTimT said:

blackburn63 said:

The metropolitan elite doesn't exist yet this site is full of people who yearn to be part of it.

Yes. Metropolitan elite, an oxymoron if there ever were one.

Really?

I think they exist all right but I don't believe they're all stereotypical in their politics.

blackburn63 said:

The metropolitan elite doesn't exist yet this site is full of people who yearn to be part of it.

Why do you say they don't exist?

https://twitter.com/GoodwinMJ/status/716732831720935429