The polling that should worry LAB majority punters – politicalbetting.com

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Interesting? Yes. Yes, he is certainly that.

A

Leon said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Also, what the fuck is this:

“It's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate”

Did the Victorians ever think like that? Did the early designers of the Tube? “Oh it’s only for the locals, put up a brick shed that looks like a prison toilet block”

No. They took care. They also wanted to sell their train lines as things to use. The uplifting or cosy or welcoming station said “come in here, let us whisk you away”

Thanet Parkway…. Does not

Which was in many ways unfortunate, as it meant the railways, particularly lightly used country railways, became much more expensive and inflexible than they needed to be.

Are you actually arguing it was unfortunate they built beautiful stations and it would have been better if they’d thrown up toilet blocks? Coz they are easier to demolish? Or what?

I am saying that if they had made railways cheaper to run by - for example - building wooden halts at regular intervals rather than Gothic fantasies at distances the economics of rural branch lines might have been rather more helpful and perhaps not quite so many of them would have been shut.

I struggle to see how that could be the case. They would surely have been closed and demolished with less fuss than their more invested-in counterparts.

But ugly stations would have added to the sum of human unhappiness, which apparently is what at least 1/3 of PB desires

When I become UnDictator, chain gangs of planners and architects will be forced to demolish Architecturally Award Winning buildings by hand. Good behaviour and they get a tea spoon.

Think of it as putting the Brutality in Brutalism.

viewcode said:

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Interesting? Yes. Yes, he is certainly that.

Ah yes, I forgot, in leftiyland diversity = more conformity. Wouldnt do to have different viewpoints,

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Ron de Santis has just been interviewed by Russell Brand.

He is done.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/us/politics/desantis-russell-brand-jan-6-insurrection.html

kinabalu said:

Alanbrooke said:

kinabalu said:

Very productive day here anyway. I had to assemble a 'Big Green Egg' barbecue. Risibly meant to take 20 minutes. Yes if you're Jimbob Walton. Me, close to 4 hours. But this only adds to the sense of achievement. I'm looking at it now - fully assembled.

Enjoy it while you can, even now some twat is eyeing your fun and wishing to ban bbq as a global warming threat,

Ah but the 'BGE' is environmentally friendly. You keep the lid on and can cook in all weathers.

Well good luck !

Theyll then try it a different way and only let you bbq turnips.

Anyhoo, have we talked bout this:

"...UK to run up highest debt interest bill in developed world: Treasury on course to spend 10% of government revenue on bond costs this year, according to forecast by Fitch", FT 2023/07/25, see https://www.ft.com/content/b25903fd-2ebe-4f65-aa20-c21d873946f3 ..."

viewcode said:

Anyhoo, have we talked bout this:

"...UK to run up highest debt interest bill in developed world: Treasury on course to spend 10% of government revenue on bond costs this year, according to forecast by Fitch", FT 2023/07/25, see https://www.ft.com/content/b25903fd-2ebe-4f65-aa20-c21d873946f3 ..."

If only we had recently enjoyed a period of ultra low interest rates where any halfwit could have tied us into long term fixed cost cheap borrowing.

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Is Leon still in Ukraine?

If so, then am interpreting his sandwich screed, as yet another sign of hope and optimism!

For UKR, anyway.

I am still in Lviv. Where the weather has turned stormy and rainy. So I’m thinking of moving on

My choice is Kyiv: fascinating, the capital, quite dramatic, but also iffy weather

Or Odesa: lovely weather, fascinating, but I could die in a missile strike (so REALLY dramatic)

Or go home

Odesa is surely worth a visit ?
The risk is probably not much greater than that of being involved in a traffic accident. Not exactly Bakhmut.

And they've beefed up the air defences a bit.

Nigelb said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Is Leon still in Ukraine?

If so, then am interpreting his sandwich screed, as yet another sign of hope and optimism!

For UKR, anyway.

I am still in Lviv. Where the weather has turned stormy and rainy. So I’m thinking of moving on

My choice is Kyiv: fascinating, the capital, quite dramatic, but also iffy weather

Or Odesa: lovely weather, fascinating, but I could die in a missile strike (so REALLY dramatic)

Or go home

Odesa is surely worth a visit ?
The risk is probably not much greater than that of being involved in a traffic accident. Not exactly Bakhmut.

And they've beefed up the air defences a bit.

Odesa also means I can avoid doubling back. I hate going over old ground. From Odesa I can get to Moldova. And fly home from there, or Romania

viewcode said:

Anyhoo, have we talked bout this:

"...UK to run up highest debt interest bill in developed world: Treasury on course to spend 10% of government revenue on bond costs this year, according to forecast by Fitch", FT 2023/07/25, see https://www.ft.com/content/b25903fd-2ebe-4f65-aa20-c21d873946f3 ..."

Good job we've got Rishi, not that awful Truss who raised bond yields to... Oh.

Alanbrooke said:

viewcode said:

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Interesting? Yes. Yes, he is certainly that.

Ah yes, I forgot, in leftiyland diversity = more conformity. Wouldnt do to have different viewpoints,

If you count mendacious grifters, sure.

MattW said:

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Ron de Santis has just been interviewed by Russell Brand.

He is done.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/us/politics/desantis-russell-brand-jan-6-insurrection.html

Russell Brand has gone from interviewing and backing Ed Miliband in 2015 to interviewing DeSantis now having become very anti lockdown and vax sceptic. Quite the u turn
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2015/apr/29/ed-miliband-russell-brand-video-highlights

IMF Growth forecast is out.

UK 0.4% in 2023, but Germany -0.3%, so everything is fine, no problems whatsoever.

https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2023/07/10/world-economic-outlook-update-july-2023

Off topic (but it is about politics): Here are the ratings for all 50 US governors. Republican Phil Scott of Vermont leads the list: https://pro.morningconsult.com/analysis/governor-approval-ratings-july-2023 (Not all that long ago, Republicans dominated the top ten.)

I think it fair to say that California's Gavin Newsom under performs, given how Democratic that state is. (Perhaps he should invite more people to join him at the French Laundry.)

Nigelb said:

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Is Leon still in Ukraine?

If so, then am interpreting his sandwich screed, as yet another sign of hope and optimism!

For UKR, anyway.

I am still in Lviv. Where the weather has turned stormy and rainy. So I’m thinking of moving on

My choice is Kyiv: fascinating, the capital, quite dramatic, but also iffy weather

Or Odesa: lovely weather, fascinating, but I could die in a missile strike (so REALLY dramatic)

Or go home

Odesa is surely worth a visit ?

Tchaikovsky Street down by the port is as rough as fuck. Also, the Russophone porn capital.

Stuartinromford said:

Leon said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Also, what the fuck is this:

“It's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate”

Did the Victorians ever think like that? Did the early designers of the Tube? “Oh it’s only for the locals, put up a brick shed that looks like a prison toilet block”

No. They took care. They also wanted to sell their train lines as things to use. The uplifting or cosy or welcoming station said “come in here, let us whisk you away”

Thanet Parkway…. Does not

Which was in many ways unfortunate, as it meant the railways, particularly lightly used country railways, became much more expensive and inflexible than they needed to be.

Are you actually arguing it was unfortunate they built beautiful stations and it would have been better if they’d thrown up toilet blocks? Coz they are easier to demolish? Or what?

I am saying that if they had made railways cheaper to run by - for example - building wooden halts at regular intervals rather than Gothic fantasies at distances the economics of rural branch lines might have been rather more helpful and perhaps not quite so many of them would have been shut.

I struggle to see how that could be the case. They would surely have been closed and demolished with less fuss than their more invested-in counterparts.

But ugly stations would have added to the sum of human unhappiness, which apparently is what at least 1/3 of PB desires

Unfortunately, there is a slice of human psyche that finds satisfaction in unhappiness. Plenty of media products, factual and fictional, have grown fat on that insight.

There's also a streak of selfishness and stinginess that says that the public deserve no more than the minimal functionality.

@JosiasJessop is probably right- this was done to a budget, and that budget wasn't enough to stretch to civilising features.

Disabled people might say that being able to access the platforms is a 'civilising' feature. IMO that's what most of the complaints about the structure is: the footbridge, ramps and lifts to allow accessibility to what are already raised platforms.

Architects love this sort of thing. They would have designed a station that cost a billion pounds to build, and would have Leon flooding it with his little man-babies from as far as Lviv. The the client adds constraints. It needs to be accessible. We got fined because some scrote dropped a brick onto the head of someone below. Potential future overhead electrification means we need x amount of headroom. Most of all: we need it for y amount.

And hence architects are *really* limited in what they can do. If you want to (say) drop accessibility requirements, that would both save a lot of money and make it look a lot better. But would also lead to the station not opening because it did not meet requirements.

Again, I'd love people to come up with their alternatives.

kinabalu said:

Alanbrooke said:

Nigelb said:

Alanbrooke said:

viewcode said:

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Interesting? Yes. Yes, he is certainly that.

Ah yes, I forgot, in leftiyland diversity = more conformity. Wouldnt do to have different viewpoints,

If you count mendacious grifters, sure.

Im struggling to think of a US politician who doesnt fit your catch all.

Joe Biden isn't.

I shall refuse that bait

HYUFD said:

CatMan said:

IMF Growth forecast is out.

UK 0.4% in 2023, but Germany -0.3%, so everything is fine, no problems whatsoever.

https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2023/07/10/world-economic-outlook-update-july-2023

Spain forecast to have the fastest growth of major advanced economies this year there, then the US. Next year Canada, France and Germany as well as Spain expected to grow faster than the USA.

India projected to have the fastest global growth overall

Given the mess France is in I struggle to see how they will hit the forecast

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66300209

This is the sort of stuff that @DavidL has to deal with. It must be so difficult to cope with such depravity, over and again..

JosiasJessop said:

Stuartinromford said:

Leon said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Also, what the fuck is this:

“It's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate”

Did the Victorians ever think like that? Did the early designers of the Tube? “Oh it’s only for the locals, put up a brick shed that looks like a prison toilet block”

No. They took care. They also wanted to sell their train lines as things to use. The uplifting or cosy or welcoming station said “come in here, let us whisk you away”

Thanet Parkway…. Does not

Which was in many ways unfortunate, as it meant the railways, particularly lightly used country railways, became much more expensive and inflexible than they needed to be.

Are you actually arguing it was unfortunate they built beautiful stations and it would have been better if they’d thrown up toilet blocks? Coz they are easier to demolish? Or what?

I am saying that if they had made railways cheaper to run by - for example - building wooden halts at regular intervals rather than Gothic fantasies at distances the economics of rural branch lines might have been rather more helpful and perhaps not quite so many of them would have been shut.

I struggle to see how that could be the case. They would surely have been closed and demolished with less fuss than their more invested-in counterparts.

But ugly stations would have added to the sum of human unhappiness, which apparently is what at least 1/3 of PB desires

Unfortunately, there is a slice of human psyche that finds satisfaction in unhappiness. Plenty of media products, factual and fictional, have grown fat on that insight.

There's also a streak of selfishness and stinginess that says that the public deserve no more than the minimal functionality.

@JosiasJessop is probably right- this was done to a budget, and that budget wasn't enough to stretch to civilising features.

Disabled people might say that being able to access the platforms is a 'civilising' feature. IMO that's what most of the complaints about the structure is: the footbridge, ramps and lifts to allow accessibility to what are already raised platforms.

Architects love this sort of thing. They would have designed a station that cost a billion pounds to build, and would have Leon flooding it with his little man-babies from as far as Lviv. The the client adds constraints. It needs to be accessible. We got fined because some scrote dropped a brick onto the head of someone below. Potential future overhead electrification means we need x amount of headroom. Most of all: we need it for y amount.

And hence architects are *really* limited in what they can do. If you want to (say) drop accessibility requirements, that would both save a lot of money and make it look a lot better. But would also lead to the station not opening because it did not meet requirements.

Again, I'd love people to come up with their alternatives.

Maybe some trees? And a canopy?

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Also, what the fuck is this:

“It's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate”

Did the Victorians ever think like that? Did the early designers of the Tube? “Oh it’s only for the locals, put up a brick shed that looks like a prison toilet block”

No. They took care. They also wanted to sell their train lines as things to use. The uplifting or cosy or welcoming station said “come in here, let us whisk you away”

Thanet Parkway…. Does not

Which was in many ways unfortunate, as it meant the railways, particularly lightly used country railways, became much more expensive and inflexible than they needed to be.

Are you actually arguing it was unfortunate they built beautiful stations and it would have been better if they’d thrown up toilet blocks? Coz they are easier to demolish? Or what?

I am saying that if they had made railways cheaper to run by - for example - building wooden halts at regular intervals rather than Gothic fantasies at distances the economics of rural branch lines might have been rather more helpful and perhaps not quite so many of them would have been shut.

Leon probably loves St Pancras. Yet the building of St Pancras cost the Midland Railway so much, that the northern extension to Manchester a decade later was done on a shoestring. Manchester Central therefore had a brilliant overall roof, but a load of 'temporary' wooden buildings - a wooden 1970s Kings Cross - in front of it. Which were so temporary that they lasted until the closure of the station, eighty years later.

Alanbrooke said:

kinabalu said:

Alanbrooke said:

Nigelb said:

Alanbrooke said:

viewcode said:

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Interesting? Yes. Yes, he is certainly that.

Ah yes, I forgot, in leftiyland diversity = more conformity. Wouldnt do to have different viewpoints,

If you count mendacious grifters, sure.

Im struggling to think of a US politician who doesnt fit your catch all.

Joe Biden isn't.

I shall refuse that bait

Good call since here's what the words mean:

Mendacious = An habitual liar.
Grifter = Interested only in personal gain and gratification.

Biden fits neither. He just doesn't. It's not even a matter of opinion.

Luckyguy1983 said:

kinabalu said:

Alanbrooke said:

Nigelb said:

Alanbrooke said:

viewcode said:

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Interesting? Yes. Yes, he is certainly that.

Ah yes, I forgot, in leftiyland diversity = more conformity. Wouldnt do to have different viewpoints,

If you count mendacious grifters, sure.

Im struggling to think of a US politician who doesnt fit your catch all.

Joe Biden isn't.

That is sub-judice.

It isn't. There's 50 years of evidence. He's been in public life since 1970.

.

Alanbrooke said:

Nigelb said:

Alanbrooke said:

viewcode said:

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Interesting? Yes. Yes, he is certainly that.

Ah yes, I forgot, in leftiyland diversity = more conformity. Wouldnt do to have different viewpoints,

If you count mendacious grifters, sure.

Im struggling to think of a US politician who doesnt fit your catch all.

Sure, there are similarities to Trump, but otherwise you're just trolling.
Not interesting.

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Also, what the fuck is this:

“It's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate”

Did the Victorians ever think like that? Did the early designers of the Tube? “Oh it’s only for the locals, put up a brick shed that looks like a prison toilet block”

No. They took care. They also wanted to sell their train lines as things to use. The uplifting or cosy or welcoming station said “come in here, let us whisk you away”

Thanet Parkway…. Does not

It is a Parkway - meant to serve the hinterland (and the airport if/when it reopens). The car park is a giveaway. Not just a halt for the residents of Cliffsend.

Luckyguy1983 said:

kinabalu said:

Alanbrooke said:

Nigelb said:

Alanbrooke said:

viewcode said:

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Interesting? Yes. Yes, he is certainly that.

Ah yes, I forgot, in leftiyland diversity = more conformity. Wouldnt do to have different viewpoints,

If you count mendacious grifters, sure.

Im struggling to think of a US politician who doesnt fit your catch all.

Joe Biden isn't.

That is sub-judice.

No, it isn't.
The laughable Republican House investigation is not a judicial process, and in any event has proved completely empty.

Nigelb said:

.

Alanbrooke said:

Nigelb said:

Alanbrooke said:

viewcode said:

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Interesting? Yes. Yes, he is certainly that.

Ah yes, I forgot, in leftiyland diversity = more conformity. Wouldnt do to have different viewpoints,

If you count mendacious grifters, sure.

Im struggling to think of a US politician who doesnt fit your catch all.

Sure, there are similarities to Trump, but otherwise you're just trolling.
Not interesting.

Im not a Trump fan, the whole of the US is in a political mess and needs to get its shit together or else theyre Venezuala with hot dogs

A

JosiasJessop said:

Stuartinromford said:

Leon said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Also, what the fuck is this:

“It's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate”

Did the Victorians ever think like that? Did the early designers of the Tube? “Oh it’s only for the locals, put up a brick shed that looks like a prison toilet block”

No. They took care. They also wanted to sell their train lines as things to use. The uplifting or cosy or welcoming station said “come in here, let us whisk you away”

Thanet Parkway…. Does not

Which was in many ways unfortunate, as it meant the railways, particularly lightly used country railways, became much more expensive and inflexible than they needed to be.

Are you actually arguing it was unfortunate they built beautiful stations and it would have been better if they’d thrown up toilet blocks? Coz they are easier to demolish? Or what?

I am saying that if they had made railways cheaper to run by - for example - building wooden halts at regular intervals rather than Gothic fantasies at distances the economics of rural branch lines might have been rather more helpful and perhaps not quite so many of them would have been shut.

I struggle to see how that could be the case. They would surely have been closed and demolished with less fuss than their more invested-in counterparts.

But ugly stations would have added to the sum of human unhappiness, which apparently is what at least 1/3 of PB desires

Unfortunately, there is a slice of human psyche that finds satisfaction in unhappiness. Plenty of media products, factual and fictional, have grown fat on that insight.

There's also a streak of selfishness and stinginess that says that the public deserve no more than the minimal functionality.

@JosiasJessop is probably right- this was done to a budget, and that budget wasn't enough to stretch to civilising features.

Disabled people might say that being able to access the platforms is a 'civilising' feature. IMO that's what most of the complaints about the structure is: the footbridge, ramps and lifts to allow accessibility to what are already raised platforms.

Architects love this sort of thing. They would have designed a station that cost a billion pounds to build, and would have Leon flooding it with his little man-babies from as far as Lviv. The the client adds constraints. It needs to be accessible. We got fined because some scrote dropped a brick onto the head of someone below. Potential future overhead electrification means we need x amount of headroom. Most of all: we need it for y amount.

And hence architects are *really* limited in what they can do. If you want to (say) drop accessibility requirements, that would both save a lot of money and make it look a lot better. But would also lead to the station not opening because it did not meet requirements.

Again, I'd love people to come up with their alternatives.

Someone one posted a list of the facilities at that station above. It seemed very ableist.

StillWaters said:

CorrectHorseBat said:

I am fed up of hearing about Rishi's plans.

He and his jumped up bunch of twats have been in power for 13 years, how much more time are they supposed to have?

He’s been in a senior role for 3 years and most of that was during the pandemic.

But you’re a partisan, so no interest in listening to an alternative approach

You are also a partisan.

JosiasJessop said:

Leon said:

JosiasJessop said:

Stuartinromford said:

Leon said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Also, what the fuck is this:

“It's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate”

Did the Victorians ever think like that? Did the early designers of the Tube? “Oh it’s only for the locals, put up a brick shed that looks like a prison toilet block”

No. They took care. They also wanted to sell their train lines as things to use. The uplifting or cosy or welcoming station said “come in here, let us whisk you away”

Thanet Parkway…. Does not

Which was in many ways unfortunate, as it meant the railways, particularly lightly used country railways, became much more expensive and inflexible than they needed to be.

Are you actually arguing it was unfortunate they built beautiful stations and it would have been better if they’d thrown up toilet blocks? Coz they are easier to demolish? Or what?

I am saying that if they had made railways cheaper to run by - for example - building wooden halts at regular intervals rather than Gothic fantasies at distances the economics of rural branch lines might have been rather more helpful and perhaps not quite so many of them would have been shut.

I struggle to see how that could be the case. They would surely have been closed and demolished with less fuss than their more invested-in counterparts.

But ugly stations would have added to the sum of human unhappiness, which apparently is what at least 1/3 of PB desires

Unfortunately, there is a slice of human psyche that finds satisfaction in unhappiness. Plenty of media products, factual and fictional, have grown fat on that insight.

There's also a streak of selfishness and stinginess that says that the public deserve no more than the minimal functionality.

@JosiasJessop is probably right- this was done to a budget, and that budget wasn't enough to stretch to civilising features.

Disabled people might say that being able to access the platforms is a 'civilising' feature. IMO that's what most of the complaints about the structure is: the footbridge, ramps and lifts to allow accessibility to what are already raised platforms.

Architects love this sort of thing. They would have designed a station that cost a billion pounds to build, and would have Leon flooding it with his little man-babies from as far as Lviv. The the client adds constraints. It needs to be accessible. We got fined because some scrote dropped a brick onto the head of someone below. Potential future overhead electrification means we need x amount of headroom. Most of all: we need it for y amount.

And hence architects are *really* limited in what they can do. If you want to (say) drop accessibility requirements, that would both save a lot of money and make it look a lot better. But would also lead to the station not opening because it did not meet requirements.

Again, I'd love people to come up with their alternatives.

Maybe some trees? And a canopy?

How do you get trees on an elevated platform?

Canopies: fair enough, but they are costly. And probably would not be seen on the elevation you first complained about.

At a number of tube stations in London, staff have been official organised to do gardening stuff. Some platforms have fair sized potted palm trees and some really nice flowers.

The completely boxed in, brick staircase would get some negative comments from experts in women friendly architecture. Which is a serious thing.

Nigelb said:

Leon said:

JosiasJessop said:

Leon said:

JosiasJessop said:

Stuartinromford said:

Leon said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Also, what the fuck is this:

“It's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate”

Did the Victorians ever think like that? Did the early designers of the Tube? “Oh it’s only for the locals, put up a brick shed that looks like a prison toilet block”

No. They took care. They also wanted to sell their train lines as things to use. The uplifting or cosy or welcoming station said “come in here, let us whisk you away”

Thanet Parkway…. Does not

Which was in many ways unfortunate, as it meant the railways, particularly lightly used country railways, became much more expensive and inflexible than they needed to be.

Are you actually arguing it was unfortunate they built beautiful stations and it would have been better if they’d thrown up toilet blocks? Coz they are easier to demolish? Or what?

I am saying that if they had made railways cheaper to run by - for example - building wooden halts at regular intervals rather than Gothic fantasies at distances the economics of rural branch lines might have been rather more helpful and perhaps not quite so many of them would have been shut.

I struggle to see how that could be the case. They would surely have been closed and demolished with less fuss than their more invested-in counterparts.

But ugly stations would have added to the sum of human unhappiness, which apparently is what at least 1/3 of PB desires

Unfortunately, there is a slice of human psyche that finds satisfaction in unhappiness. Plenty of media products, factual and fictional, have grown fat on that insight.

There's also a streak of selfishness and stinginess that says that the public deserve no more than the minimal functionality.

@JosiasJessop is probably right- this was done to a budget, and that budget wasn't enough to stretch to civilising features.

Disabled people might say that being able to access the platforms is a 'civilising' feature. IMO that's what most of the complaints about the structure is: the footbridge, ramps and lifts to allow accessibility to what are already raised platforms.

Architects love this sort of thing. They would have designed a station that cost a billion pounds to build, and would have Leon flooding it with his little man-babies from as far as Lviv. The the client adds constraints. It needs to be accessible. We got fined because some scrote dropped a brick onto the head of someone below. Potential future overhead electrification means we need x amount of headroom. Most of all: we need it for y amount.

And hence architects are *really* limited in what they can do. If you want to (say) drop accessibility requirements, that would both save a lot of money and make it look a lot better. But would also lead to the station not opening because it did not meet requirements.

Again, I'd love people to come up with their alternatives.

Maybe some trees? And a canopy?

How do you get trees on an elevated platform?

Canopies: fair enough, but they are costly. And probably would not be seen on the elevation you first complained about.

I mean trees and canopies in front of the station. The elevation I have provided is the FRONT of the station ffs. Not some ugly loading bay at the back

And yes, amazingly, I like St Pancras

I actually get your point about cost. If this station had a budget of £1m I’d say well ok. There wasn’t much they could do

£35 fucking million. To produce THAT

Also, why on earth are you defending it? Aren’t you a railway geek? People will support railways if they beautiful or fast or uplifting or impressive, not if they are deliberately depressing, joyless, mean and off putting

Ditto all developments

Not exactly Adlestrop.

Which would have had at least a stationmaster, tocket office clerk or two, and a porter or two, plus probably a couple of signalmen on shift, when it was built.

Imagine being there, or at Thanet Parkway, in a dark winter evening with nobody around.

Edit: except that at Adlestrop there was the resident stationmaster with his family in his house, and probably some other staff.

https://www.modelrailforum.com/threads/buildings-for-adlestrop.26356/

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Is he though? He seems like a pretty bog standard conspiracist anti-establishment type. Unconventional compared to others (less so than it used to be, given the election deniers etc), but predictable all the same.

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Why the fuck is “functional enough” ever acceptable?!

I find mindsets like yours entirely incomprehensible

When I am working away I travel hundreds of miles by train at inconvenient hours with unpleasant people each week. You fly from point to point on expenses. When you go cattle-truck class it's an adventure. When I go cattle-truck class it's Sunday. Things like being clean, dry, warm, arriving on time, having a friendly guard, possibly a place to sit down and have a cup of tea and not be stabbed/panhandled/shit myself are priorities for me. Things like chocolates on pillows and the nearest whorehouse are priorities for you.

Yes, we are mutually incomprehensible. Why is this a surprise?

But you won’t be clean dry and warm at that station, as Thanet Parkway has no waiting room

JosiasJessop said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Why the fuck is “functional enough” ever acceptable?!

I find mindsets like yours entirely incomprehensible

When I am working away I travel hundreds of miles by train at inconvenient hours with unpleasant people each week. You fly from point to point on expenses. When you go cattle-truck class it's an adventure. When I go cattle-truck class it's Sunday. Things like being clean, dry, warm, arriving on time, having a friendly guard, possibly a place to sit down and have a cup of tea and not be stabbed/panhandled/shit myself are priorities for me. Things like chocolates on pillows and the nearest whorehouse are priorities for you.

Yes, we are mutually incomprehensible. Why is this a surprise?

But you won’t be clean dry and warm at that station, as Thanet Parkway has no waiting room, and no place to shelter from the weather, and nowhere to get a cup of tea

So even by your bizarre, lowbrow, masochistic and dreary standards, it fails as architecture

"no place to shelter from the weather,"

That's not what the Network Rail site indicates.
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

It doesn’t have any covered waiting area. I checked the station website

NO ACCESSIBLE TOILETS!!!

Fuck it. Bomb it flat.

(Have disabled rellies)

I didn't think that was even legal. I thought all new buildings had to have them.

kinabalu said:

Alanbrooke said:

kinabalu said:

Alanbrooke said:

kinabalu said:

Alanbrooke said:

Nigelb said:

Alanbrooke said:

viewcode said:

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Interesting? Yes. Yes, he is certainly that.

Ah yes, I forgot, in leftiyland diversity = more conformity. Wouldnt do to have different viewpoints,

If you count mendacious grifters, sure.

Im struggling to think of a US politician who doesnt fit your catch all.

Joe Biden isn't.

I shall refuse that bait

Good call since here's what the words mean:

Mendacious = An habitual liar.
Grifter = Interested only in personal gain and gratification.

Biden fits neither. He just doesn't. It's not even a matter of opinion.

It quite clearly is as millions of americans will testify.

The MAGA crowd, yes. They probably do believe Biden lies all the time and has a billion dollars stashed away from 50 years of venal corruption in public life. They believe lots of palpable nonsense, let's face it. But this is not what I mean by 'opinion'. For me an opinion is a view (fruity or not) that's defensible and grounded in reality. 'Joe Biden is a mendacious grifter' doesn't qualify. It just doesn't.

Really ? Well good luck.

JosiasJessop said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Also, what the fuck is this:

“It's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate”

Did the Victorians ever think like that? Did the early designers of the Tube? “Oh it’s only for the locals, put up a brick shed that looks like a prison toilet block”

No. They took care. They also wanted to sell their train lines as things to use. The uplifting or cosy or welcoming station said “come in here, let us whisk you away”

Thanet Parkway…. Does not

Which was in many ways unfortunate, as it meant the railways, particularly lightly used country railways, became much more expensive and inflexible than they needed to be.

Are you actually arguing it was unfortunate they built beautiful stations and it would have been better if they’d thrown up toilet blocks? Coz they are easier to demolish? Or what?

I am saying that if they had made railways cheaper to run by - for example - building wooden halts at regular intervals rather than Gothic fantasies at distances the economics of rural branch lines might have been rather more helpful and perhaps not quite so many of them would have been shut.

Leon probably loves St Pancras. Yet the building of St Pancras cost the Midland Railway so much, that the northern extension to Manchester a decade later was done on a shoestring. Manchester Central therefore had a brilliant overall roof, but a load of 'temporary' wooden buildings - a wooden 1970s Kings Cross - in front of it. Which were so temporary that they lasted until the closure of the station, eighty years later.

I have to admit, I also love St Pancras. And Bristol Temple Meads. And the ridiculous Aberystwyth Station. And the Kilsby Vents. And I'm sure I would have stood in awe before the Euston Arch.

I also consider Birmingham New Street, Gloucester, Euston and Stafford stations to be shitheaps, because they are.

It's just I love actual railways slightly more than I love good architecture, and wish we could have run them less extravagantly so they made more money. That way, they might have avoided the clutches of the odious pen-pushers of the DfT.

david_herdson said:

Mexicanpete said:

Nigelb said:

Labour urged to work with Tories to counter ‘ignorant’ climate policy attacks
Tory former minister and chair of Climate Change Committee condemns ‘absolutely unacceptable’ attacks on Labour stance
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/25/labour-urged-to-work-with-tories-to-counter-ignorant-climate-policy-attacks

But Shappsy is getting some big anti- green wins against woke Labour.

They might be disingenuous wins, but a win is a win.

Kicking a ball into an empty net is easy, unless you're Diana Ross.

Labour needs to find the backbone to defend its policies and to explain them. The Tories might have more trouble then.

Indeed. ULEZ for instance isn't a particularly difficult sell. Sell it to breathers of air, not drivers of cars. Wouldn't you like to go out and about and not be poisoned by deadly particulates?

Complaining about having to justify your own policy isn't a good look.

FrancisUrquhart said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Why the fuck is “functional enough” ever acceptable?!

I find mindsets like yours entirely incomprehensible

When I am working away I travel hundreds of miles by train at inconvenient hours with unpleasant people each week. You fly from point to point on expenses. When you go cattle-truck class it's an adventure. When I go cattle-truck class it's Sunday. Things like being clean, dry, warm, arriving on time, having a friendly guard, possibly a place to sit down and have a cup of tea and not be stabbed/panhandled/shit myself are priorities for me. Things like chocolates on pillows and the nearest whorehouse are priorities for you.

Yes, we are mutually incomprehensible. Why is this a surprise?

But you won’t be clean dry and warm at that station, as Thanet Parkway has no waiting room

JosiasJessop said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Why the fuck is “functional enough” ever acceptable?!

I find mindsets like yours entirely incomprehensible

When I am working away I travel hundreds of miles by train at inconvenient hours with unpleasant people each week. You fly from point to point on expenses. When you go cattle-truck class it's an adventure. When I go cattle-truck class it's Sunday. Things like being clean, dry, warm, arriving on time, having a friendly guard, possibly a place to sit down and have a cup of tea and not be stabbed/panhandled/shit myself are priorities for me. Things like chocolates on pillows and the nearest whorehouse are priorities for you.

Yes, we are mutually incomprehensible. Why is this a surprise?

But you won’t be clean dry and warm at that station, as Thanet Parkway has no waiting room, and no place to shelter from the weather, and nowhere to get a cup of tea

So even by your bizarre, lowbrow, masochistic and dreary standards, it fails as architecture

"no place to shelter from the weather,"

That's not what the Network Rail site indicates.
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

It doesn’t have any covered waiting area. I checked the station website

NO ACCESSIBLE TOILETS!!!

Fuck it. Bomb it flat.

(Have disabled rellies)

I didn't think that was even legal. I thought all new buildings had to have them.

I don’t think it has any toilets. That’s the point. It has no waiting room, no proper entrance, no refreshment, no sheltered seating, no trees, no landscaping, no canopy, nothing at all: the whole design is - I believe - meant to be as ugly and uninviting as possible so no one is tempted to linger a moment more than they have to

How nice for the local commuters. Going there every day

FrancisUrquhart said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Why the fuck is “functional enough” ever acceptable?!

I find mindsets like yours entirely incomprehensible

When I am working away I travel hundreds of miles by train at inconvenient hours with unpleasant people each week. You fly from point to point on expenses. When you go cattle-truck class it's an adventure. When I go cattle-truck class it's Sunday. Things like being clean, dry, warm, arriving on time, having a friendly guard, possibly a place to sit down and have a cup of tea and not be stabbed/panhandled/shit myself are priorities for me. Things like chocolates on pillows and the nearest whorehouse are priorities for you.

Yes, we are mutually incomprehensible. Why is this a surprise?

But you won’t be clean dry and warm at that station, as Thanet Parkway has no waiting room

JosiasJessop said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Why the fuck is “functional enough” ever acceptable?!

I find mindsets like yours entirely incomprehensible

When I am working away I travel hundreds of miles by train at inconvenient hours with unpleasant people each week. You fly from point to point on expenses. When you go cattle-truck class it's an adventure. When I go cattle-truck class it's Sunday. Things like being clean, dry, warm, arriving on time, having a friendly guard, possibly a place to sit down and have a cup of tea and not be stabbed/panhandled/shit myself are priorities for me. Things like chocolates on pillows and the nearest whorehouse are priorities for you.

Yes, we are mutually incomprehensible. Why is this a surprise?

But you won’t be clean dry and warm at that station, as Thanet Parkway has no waiting room, and no place to shelter from the weather, and nowhere to get a cup of tea

So even by your bizarre, lowbrow, masochistic and dreary standards, it fails as architecture

"no place to shelter from the weather,"

That's not what the Network Rail site indicates.
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

It doesn’t have any covered waiting area. I checked the station website

NO ACCESSIBLE TOILETS!!!

Fuck it. Bomb it flat.

(Have disabled rellies)

I didn't think that was even legal. I thought all new buildings had to have them.

Aiui only if the building has toilets. If it does not, it does not need accessible toilets.

HYUFD said:

Alanbrooke said:

HYUFD said:

CatMan said:

IMF Growth forecast is out.

UK 0.4% in 2023, but Germany -0.3%, so everything is fine, no problems whatsoever.

https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2023/07/10/world-economic-outlook-update-july-2023

Spain forecast to have the fastest growth of major advanced economies this year there, then the US. Next year Canada, France and Germany as well as Spain expected to grow faster than the USA.

India projected to have the fastest global growth overall

Given the mess France is in I struggle to see how they will hit the forecast

Conservatives supporting Macron's economic reforms in the French Parliament even if Socialists and Le Pen's party opposed

LR are shit scared of being dragged down by Macron, their support is tenuous at best.

A

ydoethur said:

JosiasJessop said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

ydoethur said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Also, what the fuck is this:

“It's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate”

Did the Victorians ever think like that? Did the early designers of the Tube? “Oh it’s only for the locals, put up a brick shed that looks like a prison toilet block”

No. They took care. They also wanted to sell their train lines as things to use. The uplifting or cosy or welcoming station said “come in here, let us whisk you away”

Thanet Parkway…. Does not

Which was in many ways unfortunate, as it meant the railways, particularly lightly used country railways, became much more expensive and inflexible than they needed to be.

Are you actually arguing it was unfortunate they built beautiful stations and it would have been better if they’d thrown up toilet blocks? Coz they are easier to demolish? Or what?

I am saying that if they had made railways cheaper to run by - for example - building wooden halts at regular intervals rather than Gothic fantasies at distances the economics of rural branch lines might have been rather more helpful and perhaps not quite so many of them would have been shut.

Leon probably loves St Pancras. Yet the building of St Pancras cost the Midland Railway so much, that the northern extension to Manchester a decade later was done on a shoestring. Manchester Central therefore had a brilliant overall roof, but a load of 'temporary' wooden buildings - a wooden 1970s Kings Cross - in front of it. Which were so temporary that they lasted until the closure of the station, eighty years later.

I have to admit, I also love St Pancras. And Bristol Temple Meads. And the ridiculous Aberystwyth Station. And the Kilsby Vents. And I'm sure I would have stood in awe before the Euston Arch.

I also consider Birmingham New Street, Gloucester, Euston and Stafford stations to be shitheaps, because they are.

It's just I love actual railways slightly more than I love good architecture, and wish we could have run them less extravagantly so they made more money. That way, they might have avoided the clutches of the odious pen-pushers of the DfT.

Crystal Palace was the cheap railway shed option - they ran out of time to build it “properly”,

Some magnificent stuff has been done with permanent awning style structures, for example.

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

The Ye of 2024? Interesting as he is (at least currently) a WAY better shill for Trump that Kanye West ever was.

Sad but true.

Nah

the Democrats are Trumps best shills as they want him as the GOP candidate.

NOT THIS DEMOCRAT. And I am FAR from alone.

Nigelb said:

Have you ever wondered why some cities are just so much nicer than others?

Well, it's probably because they have good "Third Places."

What is a Third Place? It's wherever you go when you're not at home or at work...
https://twitter.com/culturaltutor/status/1683631168711798784

I brought this up yesterday - the public realm is so important to people's wellbeing, particularly in a economy where millions are WFH in a tiny flat or new build copy and paste.

HS2 must not water down its station designs. If you think the station above is bad, check out the new ones in suburban Scotland (Inverness Airport, for example). The redevelopment of High Streets is also an essential public investment.

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Alanbrooke said:

kle4 said:

Alanbrooke said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

re; Ron DeSantis, hope that anyone who was injured in automobile accident is OK, and wish them speedy recovery.

That said, rather ironic seeing has how RDS campaign IS a car crash, politically speaking.

Worth noting that so was John McCain's campaign in 2007 . . . before he made his major course correction that led to JMcC winning the 2008 GOP nomination.

On the OTHER hand, the car crash that was Rudy Giuliani's campaign that same cycle, led to . . . a truly spectacular pile-up just over a decade later, featuring an actual junk-yard . . . and a pack of truly vicious junk-yard curs . . .

The most interesting candidate atm is RFK,

Is he though? He seems like a pretty bog standard conspiracist anti-establishment type. Unconventional compared to others (less so than it used to be, given the election deniers etc), but predictable all the same.

The question is who will give the US the change it needs, Biden and Trump both are status quo men, RDS or RFK might change something. who knows ?

RFKjr is NOT a serious candidate/alternative for President.

No more than Kanye West was. Or Lyndon LaRouche, though at least HE wasn't a 100% GOP Con-job.

And democrats said that of Trump and then he got elected.

Alanbrooke said that he is struggling to think of an American politician who isn't a mendacious grifter.

This may help Alanbrooke, and those who are similarly struggling:
https://pro.morningconsult.com/analysis/governor-approval-ratings-july-2023

From those ratings I would conclude that most Americans believe that their governor is not a mendacious grifter. (No doubt a few Americans like mendacious grifters as governors, but not enough to show up in those polls.)

Pulpstar said:

JosiasJessop said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Why the fuck is “functional enough” ever acceptable?!

I find mindsets like yours entirely incomprehensible

When I am working away I travel hundreds of miles by train at inconvenient hours with unpleasant people each week. You fly from point to point on expenses. When you go cattle-truck class it's an adventure. When I go cattle-truck class it's Sunday. Things like being clean, dry, warm, arriving on time, having a friendly guard, possibly a place to sit down and have a cup of tea and not be stabbed/panhandled/shit myself are priorities for me. Things like chocolates on pillows and the nearest whorehouse are priorities for you.

Yes, we are mutually incomprehensible. Why is this a surprise?

But you won’t be clean dry and warm at that station, as Thanet Parkway has no waiting room

JosiasJessop said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Why the fuck is “functional enough” ever acceptable?!

I find mindsets like yours entirely incomprehensible

When I am working away I travel hundreds of miles by train at inconvenient hours with unpleasant people each week. You fly from point to point on expenses. When you go cattle-truck class it's an adventure. When I go cattle-truck class it's Sunday. Things like being clean, dry, warm, arriving on time, having a friendly guard, possibly a place to sit down and have a cup of tea and not be stabbed/panhandled/shit myself are priorities for me. Things like chocolates on pillows and the nearest whorehouse are priorities for you.

Yes, we are mutually incomprehensible. Why is this a surprise?

But you won’t be clean dry and warm at that station, as Thanet Parkway has no waiting room, and no place to shelter from the weather, and nowhere to get a cup of tea

So even by your bizarre, lowbrow, masochistic and dreary standards, it fails as architecture

"no place to shelter from the weather,"

That's not what the Network Rail site indicates.
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

It doesn’t have any covered waiting area. I checked the station website

NO ACCESSIBLE TOILETS!!!

Fuck it. Bomb it flat.

(Have disabled rellies)

I didn't think that was even legal. I thought all new buildings had to have them.

Aiui only if the building has toilets. If it does not, it does not need accessible toilets.

35 million quid and they couldn't even stick in a single disabled bog ???

They really don’t want you to hang around. Not even for a pee. Once you understand that it all makes sense. Even the intense ugliness

Look. I’ve located the actual entrance (where the ground floor lift is). What does that dark scary void say to you? What would it say on a dank January evening?

FrancisUrquhart said:

London’s City AM Newspaper to Go Into Administration
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-law/londons-city-am-newspaper-to-go-into-administration

Bit of a bummer as I recently started a monthly (unpaid) column there.

Eabhal said:

Nigelb said:

Have you ever wondered why some cities are just so much nicer than others?

Well, it's probably because they have good "Third Places."

What is a Third Place? It's wherever you go when you're not at home or at work...
https://twitter.com/culturaltutor/status/1683631168711798784

I brought this up yesterday - the public realm is so important to people's wellbeing, particularly in a economy where millions are WFH in a tiny flat or new build copy and paste.

HS2 must not water down its station designs. If you think the station above is bad, check out the new ones in suburban Scotland (Inverness Airport, for example). The redevelopment of High Streets is also an essential public investment.

High streets are not important to most people, we never fucking go there. Redeveloping them is a total waste of money. Turn them residential and tell the oxfam shops to fuck off

A

Leon said:

Pulpstar said:

JosiasJessop said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Why the fuck is “functional enough” ever acceptable?!

I find mindsets like yours entirely incomprehensible

When I am working away I travel hundreds of miles by train at inconvenient hours with unpleasant people each week. You fly from point to point on expenses. When you go cattle-truck class it's an adventure. When I go cattle-truck class it's Sunday. Things like being clean, dry, warm, arriving on time, having a friendly guard, possibly a place to sit down and have a cup of tea and not be stabbed/panhandled/shit myself are priorities for me. Things like chocolates on pillows and the nearest whorehouse are priorities for you.

Yes, we are mutually incomprehensible. Why is this a surprise?

But you won’t be clean dry and warm at that station, as Thanet Parkway has no waiting room

JosiasJessop said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

viewcode said:

The_Woodpecker said:

viewcode said:

Leon said:

Carnyx said:

Leon said:

Hey @Sunil_Prasannan are you going to visit Britain’s newest railway station?

It’s a thing of beauty alright. Look at that bench. It’s our version of St Pancras

It's just a car park with a station attached. [Edit] Who wants to look at it? You can't even see anything from the platforms cos noise barriers. Or may be wind barriers. No namby pamby canopied roof for the hardy Commuters of Kent, or perhaps they are Kentich Commuters, I can never remember which. Just a few surplus shelters left over from the last but three Brexit processing camp plans.

See air photo here

https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/thanet-parkway-station

It’s extraordinarily hideous and unfriendly. How can architects and planners still get away with buildings this bad?

As you note, there is no shelter from the weather. So if you alight from the train and have to wait for a car, taxi (highly likely) and it’s raining: tough shit

Mind boggling

I have seen worse, tbh. Stations east of That London aren't great.

It's also unnecessary now apparently, due to WFH.

But it's in keeping with the utterly thoughtless over-development which is ruining Thanet.

More pictures: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

Ngk, I dunno. It isn't great - as you correctly point out, that flat expanse will be bleak and bitter in winter. But it's a parkway, and it's only there to serve the commuters in the local estate. It'll never be loved, but it's functional enough. It's similar to some others I've seen, and better in some cases.

Tell you what. I'll wait for Sunil or Geoff Marshal to go to it and see what they say

Why the fuck is “functional enough” ever acceptable?!

I find mindsets like yours entirely incomprehensible

When I am working away I travel hundreds of miles by train at inconvenient hours with unpleasant people each week. You fly from point to point on expenses. When you go cattle-truck class it's an adventure. When I go cattle-truck class it's Sunday. Things like being clean, dry, warm, arriving on time, having a friendly guard, possibly a place to sit down and have a cup of tea and not be stabbed/panhandled/shit myself are priorities for me. Things like chocolates on pillows and the nearest whorehouse are priorities for you.

Yes, we are mutually incomprehensible. Why is this a surprise?

But you won’t be clean dry and warm at that station, as Thanet Parkway has no waiting room, and no place to shelter from the weather, and nowhere to get a cup of tea

So even by your bizarre, lowbrow, masochistic and dreary standards, it fails as architecture

"no place to shelter from the weather,"

That's not what the Network Rail site indicates.
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/kent/thanet-parkway-station/

It doesn’t have any covered waiting area. I checked the station website

NO ACCESSIBLE TOILETS!!!

Fuck it. Bomb it flat.

(Have disabled rellies)

I didn't think that was even legal. I thought all new buildings had to have them.

Aiui only if the building has toilets. If it does not, it does not need accessible toilets.

35 million quid and they couldn't even stick in a single disabled bog ???

They really don’t want you to hang around. Not even for a pee. Once you understand that it all makes sense. Even the intense ugliness

Look. I’ve located the actual entrance (where the ground floor lift is). What does that dark scary void say to you? What would it say on a dank January evening?

Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!

Actually, that’s unfair. The Empire had serious taste in design. Star Destroyers look awesome.

Though H&S was not on the priority list. Railings at the edge of bottomless abysses? Controls accessible without free climbing?