The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
It's not there yet, since there's now significant pushback, and Trump is more unpopular than he has even been.
And madder.
Trump: I said, why is it we only take people from shithole countries, right? Why can’t we have people from Norway, Sweden, Denmark? But we always take people from Somalia — places that are filthy, dirty, and disgusting. https://x.com/Mollyploofkins/status/1998569434298855662
Somethings are so objectively true that they are unsayable in polite company.
Some extremely beautiful people hail from Somalia. Iman Bowie was just one. There have been several wonderful Somalian models.
That thought seemed to give you very little comfort when you were forced to queue with some of them to have your passport checked due to Brexit.
Just passing through.
What a fuckin' ludicrous comment. The issue is not the pros and cons of the cosmopolitan people one rubs shoulders with in the also-rans queue but the reality that there was no queue through the Schengen/ EU gate.
#Brexitidiots
We should join Schengen while remaining outside the EU.
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
It's not there yet, since there's now significant pushback, and Trump is more unpopular than he has even been.
And madder.
Trump: I said, why is it we only take people from shithole countries, right? Why can’t we have people from Norway, Sweden, Denmark? But we always take people from Somalia — places that are filthy, dirty, and disgusting. https://x.com/Mollyploofkins/status/1998569434298855662
Somethings are so objectively true that they are unsayable in polite company.
Some extremely beautiful people hail from Somalia. Iman Bowie was just one. There have been several wonderful Somalian models.
That thought seemed to give you very little comfort when you were forced to queue with some of them to have your passport checked due to Brexit.
I spent some time with the head of border security at Frankfurt airport today. He was spitting about the new system they have introduced and blaming it thoroughly and completely on the European Commission…
FWIW
They’re still stamping passports at Hamburg - I thought the electronic system was supposed to be up and running now?
They are rolling it out airport by airport.
When I went through Spain they took my data but forgot to save it… which created a duplicate file to confuse the Germans.
(It was a 3 hour wait to get *out* of Germany today… that was for everyone)
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
And following the precedent proudly set in 2018 for fascistic regimes representing a threat to democracy, they will be hosting the World Cup.
Fifa have also set it up so that the US will inevitably host it in 2038 as well.
And let's not forget the Olympics. Hopefully a Somalian superstar will come along and win the 100m, 200m and long jump.
The Aussies have a 17yo sprinter beating Usain Bolts records who is the son of Sudanese refugees. Possibly the favourite for 2028 sprints, and has a crazy name. Gout Gout.
Ah yes. Him. Well there we are - there's our Jesse Owens. Go Go Gout Gout!
What's the opposite of nominative determinism?
I will just check with my ex English teacher, Miss Nomer.
Probably a better person to ask than my ex Maths teacher, Miss Take.
Let's not even get started on RE teacher Miss Conceived.
I thought her lessons were immaculate.
I always preferred my Geography teacher Miss Placed
I failed a French oral exam with Miss Pronunciation.
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
It's not there yet, since there's now significant pushback, and Trump is more unpopular than he has even been.
And madder.
Trump: I said, why is it we only take people from shithole countries, right? Why can’t we have people from Norway, Sweden, Denmark? But we always take people from Somalia — places that are filthy, dirty, and disgusting. https://x.com/Mollyploofkins/status/1998569434298855662
Somethings are so objectively true that they are unsayable in polite company.
Some extremely beautiful people hail from Somalia. Iman Bowie was just one. There have been several wonderful Somalian models.
That thought seemed to give you very little comfort when you were forced to queue with some of them to have your passport checked due to Brexit.
Just passing through.
What a fuckin' ludicrous comment. The issue is not the pros and cons of the cosmopolitan people one rubs shoulders with in the also-rans queue but the reality that there was no queue through the Schengen/ EU gate.
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
And following the precedent proudly set in 2018 for fascistic regimes representing a threat to democracy, they will be hosting the World Cup.
Fifa have also set it up so that the US will inevitably host it in 2038 as well.
And let's not forget the Olympics. Hopefully a Somalian superstar will come along and win the 100m, 200m and long jump.
The Aussies have a 17yo sprinter beating Usain Bolts records who is the son of Sudanese refugees. Possibly the favourite for 2028 sprints, and has a crazy name. Gout Gout.
Ah yes. Him. Well there we are - there's our Jesse Owens. Go Go Gout Gout!
What's the opposite of nominative determinism?
I will just check with my ex English teacher, Miss Nomer.
Probably a better person to ask than my ex Maths teacher, Miss Take.
Let's not even get started on RE teacher Miss Conceived.
I thought her lessons were immaculate.
I always preferred my Geography teacher Miss Placed
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
And following the precedent proudly set in 2018 for fascistic regimes representing a threat to democracy, they will be hosting the World Cup.
Fifa have also set it up so that the US will inevitably host it in 2038 as well.
And let's not forget the Olympics. Hopefully a Somalian superstar will come along and win the 100m, 200m and long jump.
The Aussies have a 17yo sprinter beating Usain Bolts records who is the son of Sudanese refugees. Possibly the favourite for 2028 sprints, and has a crazy name. Gout Gout.
Ah yes. Him. Well there we are - there's our Jesse Owens. Go Go Gout Gout!
What's the opposite of nominative determinism?
I will just check with my ex English teacher, Miss Nomer.
Probably a better person to ask than my ex Maths teacher, Miss Take.
Let's not even get started on RE teacher Miss Conceived.
I thought her lessons were immaculate.
I always preferred my Geography teacher Miss Placed
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
And following the precedent proudly set in 2018 for fascistic regimes representing a threat to democracy, they will be hosting the World Cup.
Fifa have also set it up so that the US will inevitably host it in 2038 as well.
And let's not forget the Olympics. Hopefully a Somalian superstar will come along and win the 100m, 200m and long jump.
The Aussies have a 17yo sprinter beating Usain Bolts records who is the son of Sudanese refugees. Possibly the favourite for 2028 sprints, and has a crazy name. Gout Gout.
Ah yes. Him. Well there we are - there's our Jesse Owens. Go Go Gout Gout!
What's the opposite of nominative determinism?
I will just check with my ex English teacher, Miss Nomer.
Probably a better person to ask than my ex Maths teacher, Miss Take.
Let's not even get started on RE teacher Miss Conceived.
I thought her lessons were immaculate.
I always preferred my Geography teacher Miss Placed
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
And following the precedent proudly set in 2018 for fascistic regimes representing a threat to democracy, they will be hosting the World Cup.
Fifa have also set it up so that the US will inevitably host it in 2038 as well.
And let's not forget the Olympics. Hopefully a Somalian superstar will come along and win the 100m, 200m and long jump.
The Aussies have a 17yo sprinter beating Usain Bolts records who is the son of Sudanese refugees. Possibly the favourite for 2028 sprints, and has a crazy name. Gout Gout.
Ah yes. Him. Well there we are - there's our Jesse Owens. Go Go Gout Gout!
What's the opposite of nominative determinism?
I will just check with my ex English teacher, Miss Nomer.
Probably a better person to ask than my ex Maths teacher, Miss Take.
Let's not even get started on RE teacher Miss Conceived.
I thought her lessons were immaculate.
I always preferred my Geography teacher Miss Placed
The Music Teacher Miss Heard...
The shooting master: Mr R Tillery?
This is an actual, an RS teacher i knew (its what they call RE these days), had her three initials spell out the name of a religion and because the lessons are named using the initials of the teacher, it is mildly amusing to see it as "XYZ" RS yr 9
Jesus invited prostitutes to dine with him and he's seen as the light of the world.
When I do it I'm 'a perv who is making the staff Christmas party awkward.'
He didn’t invite them to eat out?
(When I was a wee bairn my employer thought it would be a good idea to invite a bus load of blonde Essex girls to the Christmas party. Each of whom had a little ribbon pinned to their breast so they were easily recognisable. The Sunday Times loved that story)
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
And following the precedent proudly set in 2018 for fascistic regimes representing a threat to democracy, they will be hosting the World Cup.
Fifa have also set it up so that the US will inevitably host it in 2038 as well.
And let's not forget the Olympics. Hopefully a Somalian superstar will come along and win the 100m, 200m and long jump.
The Aussies have a 17yo sprinter beating Usain Bolts records who is the son of Sudanese refugees. Possibly the favourite for 2028 sprints, and has a crazy name. Gout Gout.
Ah yes. Him. Well there we are - there's our Jesse Owens. Go Go Gout Gout!
What's the opposite of nominative determinism?
I will just check with my ex English teacher, Miss Nomer.
Probably a better person to ask than my ex Maths teacher, Miss Take.
Let's not even get started on RE teacher Miss Conceived.
I thought her lessons were immaculate.
I always preferred my Geography teacher Miss Placed
I failed a French oral exam with Miss Pronunciation.
I still smirk when I read French Oral.. That inner 14yr old boy.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Khan took a brave stance on clean air - the ULEZ extension was unpopular and he faced concerted opposition but he did it because he thought it was the right thing and it has worked - the air in London now meets international health standards. I can't think of another recent UK politician who has taken that kind of brave, non-populist stance. Call him what you want, but he is neither ineffective nor some kind of shallow careerist.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Ok. Yes I thought you'd on reflection feel you'd overerupted there.
Good call on staying mum about DT btw. We don't want you posting from Alcatraz.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Khan took a brave stance on clean air - the ULEZ extension was unpopular and he faced concerted opposition but he did it because he thought it was the right thing and it has worked - the air in London now meets international health standards. I can't think of another recent UK politician who has taken that kind of brave, non-populist stance. Call him what you want, but he is neither ineffective nor some kind of shallow careerist.
One thing in, what, 10 years? And my taxes have gone up by the maximum he can each year, while the TfL service gets worse and their losses increase. He’s a useless bureaucrat
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Ok. Yes I thought you'd on reflection feel you'd overerupted there.
Good call on staying mum about DT btw. We don't want you posting from Alcatraz.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Khan took a brave stance on clean air - the ULEZ extension was unpopular and he faced concerted opposition but he did it because he thought it was the right thing and it has worked - the air in London now meets international health standards. I can't think of another recent UK politician who has taken that kind of brave, non-populist stance. Call him what you want, but he is neither ineffective nor some kind of shallow careerist.
The recent air quality improvements in London are more to do with the euro 6 engine, and, thats about it. Its the cleanest for hundreds of years and most of that improvement happened decades ago.
Sorry Matt but this is just the Daily Star's Liz Truss lettuce joke rehashed.
The great Matt is keeping going, but the sustained cheerlessness of the current affairs climate is beginning to tell on him, as it is on the rest of us. Still occasionally does the sheer genius thing of hitting a target that not only would we miss but we couldn't even see until he saw it (11 Oct for example)
Happy days long ago when a captionless Matt pictured gendarmes chasing women wearing burkas on a French nudist beach. (His captions have got slightly longer, and so slightly more flabby.)
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
He is incredibly bland.
Central casting for the role of “London Mayor” with one line in the movie.
Hating him is like hating a stack of printer paper.
Of course he is bland. He is a Muslim and a person of colour and the only way he can get elected is to be as inoffensive as possible. Some people are allowed to be colourful characters (eg posh white men)and some people aren't. Even in inoffensive form he still faces daily death threats and has extensive police protection, which presumably further hinders any efforts at sponteneity.
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
And following the precedent proudly set in 2018 for fascistic regimes representing a threat to democracy, they will be hosting the World Cup.
Fifa have also set it up so that the US will inevitably host it in 2038 as well.
And let's not forget the Olympics. Hopefully a Somalian superstar will come along and win the 100m, 200m and long jump.
The Aussies have a 17yo sprinter beating Usain Bolts records who is the son of Sudanese refugees. Possibly the favourite for 2028 sprints, and has a crazy name. Gout Gout.
Ah yes. Him. Well there we are - there's our Jesse Owens. Go Go Gout Gout!
What's the opposite of nominative determinism?
I will just check with my ex English teacher, Miss Nomer.
Probably a better person to ask than my ex Maths teacher, Miss Take.
Let's not even get started on RE teacher Miss Conceived.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Khan took a brave stance on clean air - the ULEZ extension was unpopular and he faced concerted opposition but he did it because he thought it was the right thing and it has worked - the air in London now meets international health standards. I can't think of another recent UK politician who has taken that kind of brave, non-populist stance. Call him what you want, but he is neither ineffective nor some kind of shallow careerist.
The recent air quality improvements in London are more to do with the euro 6 engine, and, thats about it. Its the cleanest for hundreds of years and most of that improvement happened decades ago.
You don't think that a measure designed to incentivise the take up of cleaner engines might have played a role at all? The earlier ULEZ extension led me to sell my Euro 5 diesel and buy a Euro 6 diesel. The air quality improvement in London was significantly greater than outside London. Of course ULEZ was important. I find it staggering that people can't credit Khan for his success here.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
He is incredibly bland.
Central casting for the role of “London Mayor” with one line in the movie.
Hating him is like hating a stack of printer paper.
Of course he is bland. He is a Muslim and a person of colour and the only way he can get elected is to be as inoffensive as possible. Some people are allowed to be colourful characters (eg posh white men)and some people aren't. Even in inoffensive form he still faces daily death threats and has extensive police protection, which presumably further hinders any efforts at sponteneity.
In which case can you give three examples where Sadiq has been vicious? As opposed to from a different political party.....
Anyone attacking Khan in such terms is simply outing themselves as a racist.
I live and work in London, and the main negative adjective I would use for him is being invisible. Not really doing anything of note. Which is obviously much better than a Mayor doing lots of harm, and not as good as a Mayor who delivers lots of positive initiatives.
People like Trump using overly strong adjectives about Khan are saying more about themselves than him.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
He is incredibly bland.
Central casting for the role of “London Mayor” with one line in the movie.
Hating him is like hating a stack of printer paper.
Well, I must admit, I find it difficult to think of anything (positive or negative) to say about Khan because he is (as you say) incredibly bland.
I mean, what's he done? I can think of no big projects, no significant improvements to infrastucture that he can lay claim too. On the other hand, London has definitely improved since the post-Covid lows: in the last six months, the area around my apartment in Covent Garden has been cleaned up enornmously (which I appreciate it). But then again, it was under his watch in the previous five years that it got a lot worse.
Not everything is his fault, of course. A lot of the problems with endemic petty crime are because of the cuts to the criminal justice system during the coalition years that we're all paying for.
I'd rate him a 4/10. But I don't think the words "horrible", "vicious" or "disgusting" are in any way appropriate for what is -at heart- nothing more than unbridled mediocrity.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Khan took a brave stance on clean air - the ULEZ extension was unpopular and he faced concerted opposition but he did it because he thought it was the right thing and it has worked - the air in London now meets international health standards. I can't think of another recent UK politician who has taken that kind of brave, non-populist stance. Call him what you want, but he is neither ineffective nor some kind of shallow careerist.
One thing in, what, 10 years? And my taxes have gone up by the maximum he can each year, while the TfL service gets worse and their losses increase. He’s a useless bureaucrat
He built the Silvertown crossing, how much money did Johnson waste on his pointless Garden Bridge?
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
He is incredibly bland.
Central casting for the role of “London Mayor” with one line in the movie.
Hating him is like hating a stack of printer paper.
Nasty piece of work.. totally untrustworthy, oblivious to ethnic rape gangs even though he knows its true. About as duplicitious a person you would ever wish not to meet.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Khan took a brave stance on clean air - the ULEZ extension was unpopular and he faced concerted opposition but he did it because he thought it was the right thing and it has worked - the air in London now meets international health standards. I can't think of another recent UK politician who has taken that kind of brave, non-populist stance. Call him what you want, but he is neither ineffective nor some kind of shallow careerist.
The recent air quality improvements in London are more to do with the euro 6 engine, and, thats about it. Its the cleanest for hundreds of years and most of that improvement happened decades ago.
You don't think that a measure designed to incentivise the take up of cleaner engines might have played a role at all? The earlier ULEZ extension led me to sell my Euro 5 diesel and buy a Euro 6 diesel. The air quality improvement in London was significantly greater than outside London. Of course ULEZ was important. I find it staggering that people can't credit Khan for his success here.
Some people absolutely hate the idea of a government regulation actually working and having a positive impact. We're already seeing it with renewables - that the transition and all the good that is coming out of that would have happened anyway without meddling woke green-types. We also see it with road safety - claims that the number of fatalities would have fallen anyway without speed limits, EU regulations etc etc
It's not something to be overly worried about tbh - it's a sign that the argument has been won. ULEZ is a good example of a regulation that was announced early (Johnson, 2015), giving time for people to adjust, and a politician putting up with extreme levels of vitriol and criminality to cement the change in place (Khan, 2020). Good work from everyone.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
He is incredibly bland.
Central casting for the role of “London Mayor” with one line in the movie.
Hating him is like hating a stack of printer paper.
Well, I must admit, I find it difficult to think of anything (positive or negative) to say about Khan because he is (as you say) incredibly bland.
I mean, what's he done? I can think of no big projects, no significant improvements to infrastucture that he can lay claim too. On the other hand, London has definitely improved since the post-Covid lows: in the last six months, the area around my apartment in Covent Garden has been cleaned up enornmously (which I appreciate it). But then again, it was under his watch in the previous five years that it got a lot worse.
Not everything is his fault, of course. A lot of the problems with endemic petty crime are because of the cuts to the criminal justice system during the coalition years that we're all paying for.
I'd rate him a 4/10. But I don't think the words "horrible", "vicious" or "disgusting" are in any way appropriate for what is -at heart- nothing more than unbridled mediocrity.
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
And following the precedent proudly set in 2018 for fascistic regimes representing a threat to democracy, they will be hosting the World Cup.
Fifa have also set it up so that the US will inevitably host it in 2038 as well.
And let's not forget the Olympics. Hopefully a Somalian superstar will come along and win the 100m, 200m and long jump.
The Aussies have a 17yo sprinter beating Usain Bolts records who is the son of Sudanese refugees. Possibly the favourite for 2028 sprints, and has a crazy name. Gout Gout.
Ah yes. Him. Well there we are - there's our Jesse Owens. Go Go Gout Gout!
What's the opposite of nominative determinism?
I will just check with my ex English teacher, Miss Nomer.
Probably a better person to ask than my ex Maths teacher, Miss Take.
Let's not even get started on RE teacher Miss Conceived.
I thought her lessons were immaculate.
I always preferred my Geography teacher Miss Placed
The Music Teacher Miss Heard...
The shooting master: Mr R Tillery?
This is an actual, an RS teacher i knew (its what they call RE these days), had her three initials spell out the name of a religion and because the lessons are named using the initials of the teacher, it is mildly amusing to see it as "XYZ" RS yr 9
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Khan took a brave stance on clean air - the ULEZ extension was unpopular and he faced concerted opposition but he did it because he thought it was the right thing and it has worked - the air in London now meets international health standards. I can't think of another recent UK politician who has taken that kind of brave, non-populist stance. Call him what you want, but he is neither ineffective nor some kind of shallow careerist.
The recent air quality improvements in London are more to do with the euro 6 engine, and, thats about it. Its the cleanest for hundreds of years and most of that improvement happened decades ago.
You don't think that a measure designed to incentivise the take up of cleaner engines might have played a role at all? The earlier ULEZ extension led me to sell my Euro 5 diesel and buy a Euro 6 diesel. The air quality improvement in London was significantly greater than outside London. Of course ULEZ was important. I find it staggering that people can't credit Khan for his success here.
Some people absolutely hate the idea of a government regulation actually working and having a positive impact. We're already seeing it with renewables - that the transition and all the good that is coming out of that would have happened anyway without meddling woke green-types. We also see it with road safety - claims that the number of fatalities would have fallen anyway without speed limits, EU regulations etc etc
It's not something to be overly worried about tbh - it's a sign that the argument has been won. ULEZ is a good example of a regulation that was announced early (Johnson, 2015), giving time for people to adjust, and a politician putting up with extreme levels of vitriol and criminality to cement the change in place (Khan, 2020). Good work from everyone.
Even Private Eye is being extremely positive about ULEZ.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
He is incredibly bland.
Central casting for the role of “London Mayor” with one line in the movie.
Hating him is like hating a stack of printer paper.
Well, I must admit, I find it difficult to think of anything (positive or negative) to say about Khan because he is (as you say) incredibly bland.
I mean, what's he done? I can think of no big projects, no significant improvements to infrastucture that he can lay claim too. On the other hand, London has definitely improved since the post-Covid lows: in the last six months, the area around my apartment in Covent Garden has been cleaned up enornmously (which I appreciate it). But then again, it was under his watch in the previous five years that it got a lot worse.
Not everything is his fault, of course. A lot of the problems with endemic petty crime are because of the cuts to the criminal justice system during the coalition years that we're all paying for.
I'd rate him a 4/10. But I don't think the words "horrible", "vicious" or "disgusting" are in any way appropriate for what is -at heart- nothing more than unbridled mediocrity.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
He is incredibly bland.
Central casting for the role of “London Mayor” with one line in the movie.
Hating him is like hating a stack of printer paper.
Well, I must admit, I find it difficult to think of anything (positive or negative) to say about Khan because he is (as you say) incredibly bland.
I mean, what's he done? I can think of no big projects, no significant improvements to infrastucture that he can lay claim too. On the other hand, London has definitely improved since the post-Covid lows: in the last six months, the area around my apartment in Covent Garden has been cleaned up enornmously (which I appreciate it). But then again, it was under his watch in the previous five years that it got a lot worse.
Not everything is his fault, of course. A lot of the problems with endemic petty crime are because of the cuts to the criminal justice system during the coalition years that we're all paying for.
I'd rate him a 4/10. But I don't think the words "horrible", "vicious" or "disgusting" are in any way appropriate for what is -at heart- nothing more than unbridled mediocrity.
He built an entirely new Thames crossing!
Sure he did.
Have you actually seen this so called "crossing"?
It's a tunnel, which explains the difficulty. But you can sort of see it at the ends. Like here.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
He is incredibly bland.
Central casting for the role of “London Mayor” with one line in the movie.
Hating him is like hating a stack of printer paper.
Well, I must admit, I find it difficult to think of anything (positive or negative) to say about Khan because he is (as you say) incredibly bland.
I mean, what's he done? I can think of no big projects, no significant improvements to infrastucture that he can lay claim too. On the other hand, London has definitely improved since the post-Covid lows: in the last six months, the area around my apartment in Covent Garden has been cleaned up enornmously (which I appreciate it). But then again, it was under his watch in the previous five years that it got a lot worse.
Not everything is his fault, of course. A lot of the problems with endemic petty crime are because of the cuts to the criminal justice system during the coalition years that we're all paying for.
I'd rate him a 4/10. But I don't think the words "horrible", "vicious" or "disgusting" are in any way appropriate for what is -at heart- nothing more than unbridled mediocrity.
Seems almost vaguely dystopian, somehow. But I suppose for that Winston Smith would have to remember a time when the chocolate ration was 30g per person but it was increased to chocolate-flavoured ration of 35g.
A surprisingly interesting programme about the battle between Penguin and Jacob's Club biscuit in the 1990s. Penguin had the "P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin" ad campaign, so Club went with "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club". Which was fine until the price of cocoa shot up and they had to switch to chocolate flavoured coating. Effective end of Club biscuits and they sold the company.
Seems almost vaguely dystopian, somehow. But I suppose for that Winston Smith would have to remember a time when the chocolate ration was 30g per person but it was increased to chocolate-flavoured ration of 35g.
A surprisingly interesting programme about the battle between Penguin and Jacob's Club biscuit in the 1990s. Penguin had the "P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin" ad campaign, so Club went with "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club". Which was fine until the price of cocoa shot up and they had to switch to chocolate flavoured coating. Effective end end of Club biscuits and they sold the company.
The OP regference says 'To be described as milk chocolate in the UK a product needs to have at least 20% cocoa solids and 20% milk solids' - not exactly a high bar. The elevenses equivalent of the Great British Banger.
Seems almost vaguely dystopian, somehow. But I suppose for that Winston Smith would have to remember a time when the chocolate ration was 30g per person but it was increased to chocolate-flavoured ration of 35g.
A surprisingly interesting programme about the battle between Penguin and Jacob's Club biscuit in the 1990s. Penguin had the "P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin" ad campaign, so Club went with "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club". Which was fine until the price of cocoa shot up and they had to switch to chocolate flavoured coating. Effective end end of Club biscuits and they sold the company.
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
It's not there yet, since there's now significant pushback, and Trump is more unpopular than he has even been.
And madder.
Trump: I said, why is it we only take people from shithole countries, right? Why can’t we have people from Norway, Sweden, Denmark? But we always take people from Somalia — places that are filthy, dirty, and disgusting. https://x.com/Mollyploofkins/status/1998569434298855662
I am not entirely sure that he has got his head around asylum as a concept. Not many people are fleeing Norway, Sweden or Denmark in fear of their lives. If we could only find a way to monetize it for him I sure he would be fine.
Asylum as a universal right is unsustainable in a world of easy global travel. For a long time it was mainly reserved for relatively high-profile dissidents - people like Edward Snowden or Alexei Navalny - and if that were still the case, nobody would be complaining.
Any large scale migration of people has to be subject to political and democratic control so there is accountablity. Make it discretionary rather than a universal right and it solves the problem. The way we managed Ukrainian refugees should be used as the model for the entire system going forwards.
Spot on. Pragmatic and common sense.
The rest is liberal ideology which, unchecked, actually risks the rise of the far Right.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Khan took a brave stance on clean air - the ULEZ extension was unpopular and he faced concerted opposition but he did it because he thought it was the right thing and it has worked - the air in London now meets international health standards. I can't think of another recent UK politician who has taken that kind of brave, non-populist stance. Call him what you want, but he is neither ineffective nor some kind of shallow careerist.
The recent air quality improvements in London are more to do with the euro 6 engine, and, thats about it. Its the cleanest for hundreds of years and most of that improvement happened decades ago.
You don't think that a measure designed to incentivise the take up of cleaner engines might have played a role at all? The earlier ULEZ extension led me to sell my Euro 5 diesel and buy a Euro 6 diesel. The air quality improvement in London was significantly greater than outside London. Of course ULEZ was important. I find it staggering that people can't credit Khan for his success here.
Some people absolutely hate the idea of a government regulation actually working and having a positive impact. We're already seeing it with renewables - that the transition and all the good that is coming out of that would have happened anyway without meddling woke green-types. We also see it with road safety - claims that the number of fatalities would have fallen anyway without speed limits, EU regulations etc etc
It's not something to be overly worried about tbh - it's a sign that the argument has been won. ULEZ is a good example of a regulation that was announced early (Johnson, 2015), giving time for people to adjust, and a politician putting up with extreme levels of vitriol and criminality to cement the change in place (Khan, 2020). Good work from everyone.
Even Private Eye is being extremely positive about ULEZ.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
He is incredibly bland.
Central casting for the role of “London Mayor” with one line in the movie.
Hating him is like hating a stack of printer paper.
Well, I must admit, I find it difficult to think of anything (positive or negative) to say about Khan because he is (as you say) incredibly bland.
I mean, what's he done? I can think of no big projects, no significant improvements to infrastucture that he can lay claim too. On the other hand, London has definitely improved since the post-Covid lows: in the last six months, the area around my apartment in Covent Garden has been cleaned up enornmously (which I appreciate it). But then again, it was under his watch in the previous five years that it got a lot worse.
Not everything is his fault, of course. A lot of the problems with endemic petty crime are because of the cuts to the criminal justice system during the coalition years that we're all paying for.
I'd rate him a 4/10. But I don't think the words "horrible", "vicious" or "disgusting" are in any way appropriate for what is -at heart- nothing more than unbridled mediocrity.
He built an entirely new Thames crossing!
Sure he did.
Have you actually seen this so called "crossing"?
It's a tunnel, which explains the difficulty. But you can sort of see it at the ends. Like here.
A publisher emails to let me know I will be getting a payout from Anthropic for training its model on my books without asking. First useful thing AI has done for me. I wonder, will it be more than a pound or less? Hope I get it before they go bust.
NEW Economist/YouGov Dec 5-8: Presidential pardons% who think President Trump gives out too many | too few pardonsU.S. adult citizens 58% | 4%Democrats 88% | 2%Independents 61% | 2%Republicans 23% | 7%today.yougov.com/politics/art…
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
And following the precedent proudly set in 2018 for fascistic regimes representing a threat to democracy, they will be hosting the World Cup.
Fifa have also set it up so that the US will inevitably host it in 2038 as well.
And let's not forget the Olympics. Hopefully a Somalian superstar will come along and win the 100m, 200m and long jump.
The Aussies have a 17yo sprinter beating Usain Bolts records who is the son of Sudanese refugees. Possibly the favourite for 2028 sprints, and has a crazy name. Gout Gout.
Ah yes. Him. Well there we are - there's our Jesse Owens. Go Go Gout Gout!
What's the opposite of nominative determinism?
I will just check with my ex English teacher, Miss Nomer.
Probably a better person to ask than my ex Maths teacher, Miss Take.
Let's not even get started on RE teacher Miss Conceived.
I thought her lessons were immaculate.
I always preferred my Geography teacher Miss Placed
The Music Teacher Miss Heard...
The shooting master: Mr R Tillery?
This is an actual, an RS teacher i knew (its what they call RE these days), had her three initials spell out the name of a religion and because the lessons are named using the initials of the teacher, it is mildly amusing to see it as "XYZ" RS yr 9
I assume not actually XYZ?
TLAs give a whole new field to play with. Does it work with PHSE too?
Seems almost vaguely dystopian, somehow. But I suppose for that Winston Smith would have to remember a time when the chocolate ration was 30g per person but it was increased to chocolate-flavoured ration of 35g.
A surprisingly interesting programme about the battle between Penguin and Jacob's Club biscuit in the 1990s. Penguin had the "P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin" ad campaign, so Club went with "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club". Which was fine until the price of cocoa shot up and they had to switch to chocolate flavoured coating. Effective end of Club biscuits and they sold the company.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Khan took a brave stance on clean air - the ULEZ extension was unpopular and he faced concerted opposition but he did it because he thought it was the right thing and it has worked - the air in London now meets international health standards. I can't think of another recent UK politician who has taken that kind of brave, non-populist stance. Call him what you want, but he is neither ineffective nor some kind of shallow careerist.
One thing in, what, 10 years? And my taxes have gone up by the maximum he can each year, while the TfL service gets worse and their losses increase. He’s a useless bureaucrat
What taxes has he raised?
I assume you aren't talking about income tax a nd council tax
Seems almost vaguely dystopian, somehow. But I suppose for that Winston Smith would have to remember a time when the chocolate ration was 30g per person but it was increased to chocolate-flavoured ration of 35g.
A surprisingly interesting programme about the battle between Penguin and Jacob's Club biscuit in the 1990s. Penguin had the "P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin" ad campaign, so Club went with "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club". Which was fine until the price of cocoa shot up and they had to switch to chocolate flavoured coating. Effective end end of Club biscuits and they sold the company.
Was a fan until they cancelled Fruit Club. See also Dark Chocolate Bounty, Tootie Frooties, Fruit polos, Cadbury Fuse et al.
And Topic. Yesterday on pb it was reported the price of cocoa had shot up following bad harvests in West Africa, although there is better news for next year's chocolate. Ah, here we are:-
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
He is incredibly bland.
Central casting for the role of “London Mayor” with one line in the movie.
Hating him is like hating a stack of printer paper.
Well, I must admit, I find it difficult to think of anything (positive or negative) to say about Khan because he is (as you say) incredibly bland.
I mean, what's he done? I can think of no big projects, no significant improvements to infrastucture that he can lay claim too. On the other hand, London has definitely improved since the post-Covid lows: in the last six months, the area around my apartment in Covent Garden has been cleaned up enornmously (which I appreciate it). But then again, it was under his watch in the previous five years that it got a lot worse.
Not everything is his fault, of course. A lot of the problems with endemic petty crime are because of the cuts to the criminal justice system during the coalition years that we're all paying for.
I'd rate him a 4/10. But I don't think the words "horrible", "vicious" or "disgusting" are in any way appropriate for what is -at heart- nothing more than unbridled mediocrity.
He built an entirely new Thames crossing!
Sure he did.
Have you actually seen this so called "crossing"?
was actually speaking to someone last night about this, mentioned that even though he is a Green voter he thought having a bus lane through the tunnel was a bit ridiculous
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
He is incredibly bland.
Central casting for the role of “London Mayor” with one line in the movie.
Hating him is like hating a stack of printer paper.
Well, I must admit, I find it difficult to think of anything (positive or negative) to say about Khan because he is (as you say) incredibly bland.
I mean, what's he done? I can think of no big projects, no significant improvements to infrastucture that he can lay claim too. On the other hand, London has definitely improved since the post-Covid lows: in the last six months, the area around my apartment in Covent Garden has been cleaned up enornmously (which I appreciate it). But then again, it was under his watch in the previous five years that it got a lot worse.
Not everything is his fault, of course. A lot of the problems with endemic petty crime are because of the cuts to the criminal justice system during the coalition years that we're all paying for.
I'd rate him a 4/10. But I don't think the words "horrible", "vicious" or "disgusting" are in any way appropriate for what is -at heart- nothing more than unbridled mediocrity.
Khan does fuck all about fuck all.
He simply inhabits the role, virtues-signals, takes the credit for stuff he's done nothing about and passes the buck for things he's also had nothing to do with.
So yeah, I guess mediocrity is a generous way of putting it.
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
And following the precedent proudly set in 2018 for fascistic regimes representing a threat to democracy, they will be hosting the World Cup.
Fifa have also set it up so that the US will inevitably host it in 2038 as well.
And let's not forget the Olympics. Hopefully a Somalian superstar will come along and win the 100m, 200m and long jump.
The Aussies have a 17yo sprinter beating Usain Bolts records who is the son of Sudanese refugees. Possibly the favourite for 2028 sprints, and has a crazy name. Gout Gout.
Ah yes. Him. Well there we are - there's our Jesse Owens. Go Go Gout Gout!
What's the opposite of nominative determinism?
I will just check with my ex English teacher, Miss Nomer.
Probably a better person to ask than my ex Maths teacher, Miss Take.
Let's not even get started on RE teacher Miss Conceived.
I thought her lessons were immaculate.
I always preferred my Geography teacher Miss Placed
The Music Teacher Miss Heard...
The shooting master: Mr R Tillery?
This is an actual, an RS teacher i knew (its what they call RE these days), had her three initials spell out the name of a religion and because the lessons are named using the initials of the teacher, it is mildly amusing to see it as "XYZ" RS yr 9
I assume not actually XYZ?
TLAs give a whole new field to play with. Does it work with PHSE too?
Drug Awareness with XTZ.
The lessons with Fatima U. Khan were quite stimulating.
Seems almost vaguely dystopian, somehow. But I suppose for that Winston Smith would have to remember a time when the chocolate ration was 30g per person but it was increased to chocolate-flavoured ration of 35g.
A surprisingly interesting programme about the battle between Penguin and Jacob's Club biscuit in the 1990s. Penguin had the "P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin" ad campaign, so Club went with "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club". Which was fine until the price of cocoa shot up and they had to switch to chocolate flavoured coating. Effective end of Club biscuits and they sold the company.
Seems almost vaguely dystopian, somehow. But I suppose for that Winston Smith would have to remember a time when the chocolate ration was 30g per person but it was increased to chocolate-flavoured ration of 35g.
A surprisingly interesting programme about the battle between Penguin and Jacob's Club biscuit in the 1990s. Penguin had the "P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin" ad campaign, so Club went with "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club". Which was fine until the price of cocoa shot up and they had to switch to chocolate flavoured coating. Effective end of Club biscuits and they sold the company.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Khan took a brave stance on clean air - the ULEZ extension was unpopular and he faced concerted opposition but he did it because he thought it was the right thing and it has worked - the air in London now meets international health standards. I can't think of another recent UK politician who has taken that kind of brave, non-populist stance. Call him what you want, but he is neither ineffective nor some kind of shallow careerist.
The recent air quality improvements in London are more to do with the euro 6 engine, and, thats about it. Its the cleanest for hundreds of years and most of that improvement happened decades ago.
You don't think that a measure designed to incentivise the take up of cleaner engines might have played a role at all? The earlier ULEZ extension led me to sell my Euro 5 diesel and buy a Euro 6 diesel. The air quality improvement in London was significantly greater than outside London. Of course ULEZ was important. I find it staggering that people can't credit Khan for his success here.
Some people absolutely hate the idea of a government regulation actually working and having a positive impact. We're already seeing it with renewables - that the transition and all the good that is coming out of that would have happened anyway without meddling woke green-types. We also see it with road safety - claims that the number of fatalities would have fallen anyway without speed limits, EU regulations etc etc
It's not something to be overly worried about tbh - it's a sign that the argument has been won. ULEZ is a good example of a regulation that was announced early (Johnson, 2015), giving time for people to adjust, and a politician putting up with extreme levels of vitriol and criminality to cement the change in place (Khan, 2020). Good work from everyone.
Even Private Eye is being extremely positive about ULEZ.
Here is an image host of a graph of the various air pollutants in london over time: https://ibb.co/pr34v718
Seems almost vaguely dystopian, somehow. But I suppose for that Winston Smith would have to remember a time when the chocolate ration was 30g per person but it was increased to chocolate-flavoured ration of 35g.
A surprisingly interesting programme about the battle between Penguin and Jacob's Club biscuit in the 1990s. Penguin had the "P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin" ad campaign, so Club went with "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club". Which was fine until the price of cocoa shot up and they had to switch to chocolate flavoured coating. Effective end of Club biscuits and they sold the company.
We have Club biscuits in our office. Someone must still make them
I think they relaunched as McVities Club and it's a different biscuit?
Seems Club plain is gone too. Now just mint, orange and the new salted caramel. I suppose flavouring the chocolate with mint or orange means it can be very low quality.
Seems almost vaguely dystopian, somehow. But I suppose for that Winston Smith would have to remember a time when the chocolate ration was 30g per person but it was increased to chocolate-flavoured ration of 35g.
A surprisingly interesting programme about the battle between Penguin and Jacob's Club biscuit in the 1990s. Penguin had the "P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin" ad campaign, so Club went with "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club". Which was fine until the price of cocoa shot up and they had to switch to chocolate flavoured coating. Effective end of Club biscuits and they sold the company.
Seems almost vaguely dystopian, somehow. But I suppose for that Winston Smith would have to remember a time when the chocolate ration was 30g per person but it was increased to chocolate-flavoured ration of 35g.
A surprisingly interesting programme about the battle between Penguin and Jacob's Club biscuit in the 1990s. Penguin had the "P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin" ad campaign, so Club went with "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club". Which was fine until the price of cocoa shot up and they had to switch to chocolate flavoured coating. Effective end of Club biscuits and they sold the company.
Marco Foster @MarcoFoster_ · 2h James Carville on Donald Trump: “He’s done. We’ve just got to butter this toast and slice it and eat it. He’s done. It’s over. You’re a loser dude. You’re losing everywhere and you’re gonna lose more because you my friend are a loser.”
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
And following the precedent proudly set in 2018 for fascistic regimes representing a threat to democracy, they will be hosting the World Cup.
Fifa have also set it up so that the US will inevitably host it in 2038 as well.
And let's not forget the Olympics. Hopefully a Somalian superstar will come along and win the 100m, 200m and long jump.
The Aussies have a 17yo sprinter beating Usain Bolts records who is the son of Sudanese refugees. Possibly the favourite for 2028 sprints, and has a crazy name. Gout Gout.
Ah yes. Him. Well there we are - there's our Jesse Owens. Go Go Gout Gout!
What's the opposite of nominative determinism?
I will just check with my ex English teacher, Miss Nomer.
Probably a better person to ask than my ex Maths teacher, Miss Take.
Let's not even get started on RE teacher Miss Conceived.
I thought her lessons were immaculate.
I always preferred my Geography teacher Miss Placed
The Music Teacher Miss Heard...
The shooting master: Mr R Tillery?
This is an actual, an RS teacher i knew (its what they call RE these days), had her three initials spell out the name of a religion and because the lessons are named using the initials of the teacher, it is mildly amusing to see it as "XYZ" RS yr 9
I assume not actually XYZ?
TLAs give a whole new field to play with. Does it work with PHSE too?
Drug Awareness with XTZ.
The lessons with Fatima U. Khan were quite stimulating.
Sarah E. Xavier is able to raise attendance in her lessons.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
He is incredibly bland.
Central casting for the role of “London Mayor” with one line in the movie.
Hating him is like hating a stack of printer paper.
Well, I must admit, I find it difficult to think of anything (positive or negative) to say about Khan because he is (as you say) incredibly bland.
I mean, what's he done? I can think of no big projects, no significant improvements to infrastucture that he can lay claim too. On the other hand, London has definitely improved since the post-Covid lows: in the last six months, the area around my apartment in Covent Garden has been cleaned up enornmously (which I appreciate it). But then again, it was under his watch in the previous five years that it got a lot worse.
Not everything is his fault, of course. A lot of the problems with endemic petty crime are because of the cuts to the criminal justice system during the coalition years that we're all paying for.
I'd rate him a 4/10. But I don't think the words "horrible", "vicious" or "disgusting" are in any way appropriate for what is -at heart- nothing more than unbridled mediocrity.
Have forgotten the time Sadiq Khan forced out Cressida Dick?
If I were editing PB that night I would have used the headline 'Sadiq Khan gets Dick out!'
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Khan took a brave stance on clean air - the ULEZ extension was unpopular and he faced concerted opposition but he did it because he thought it was the right thing and it has worked - the air in London now meets international health standards. I can't think of another recent UK politician who has taken that kind of brave, non-populist stance. Call him what you want, but he is neither ineffective nor some kind of shallow careerist.
The recent air quality improvements in London are more to do with the euro 6 engine, and, thats about it. Its the cleanest for hundreds of years and most of that improvement happened decades ago.
You don't think that a measure designed to incentivise the take up of cleaner engines might have played a role at all? The earlier ULEZ extension led me to sell my Euro 5 diesel and buy a Euro 6 diesel. The air quality improvement in London was significantly greater than outside London. Of course ULEZ was important. I find it staggering that people can't credit Khan for his success here.
Some people absolutely hate the idea of a government regulation actually working and having a positive impact. We're already seeing it with renewables - that the transition and all the good that is coming out of that would have happened anyway without meddling woke green-types. We also see it with road safety - claims that the number of fatalities would have fallen anyway without speed limits, EU regulations etc etc
It's not something to be overly worried about tbh - it's a sign that the argument has been won. ULEZ is a good example of a regulation that was announced early (Johnson, 2015), giving time for people to adjust, and a politician putting up with extreme levels of vitriol and criminality to cement the change in place (Khan, 2020). Good work from everyone.
Even Private Eye is being extremely positive about ULEZ.
Here is an image host of a graph of the various air pollutants in london over time: https://ibb.co/pr34v718
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
It's not there yet, since there's now significant pushback, and Trump is more unpopular than he has even been.
And madder.
Trump: I said, why is it we only take people from shithole countries, right? Why can’t we have people from Norway, Sweden, Denmark? But we always take people from Somalia — places that are filthy, dirty, and disgusting. https://x.com/Mollyploofkins/status/1998569434298855662
Somethings are so objectively true that they are unsayable in polite company.
So the US already takes more people from Norway, Sweden and Denmark than from Somalia. Countries that the US has more immigrants from than Somalia include the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Spain and Ireland. Trump's complaint is factually wrong.
As for the rest of your post, stop being so racist.
The sale of pardons is of course an impeachable offence, but as Congress has proven it's incapable of holding the President in check by such means, it would likely be somewhat more effective to remove the unconditional power.
The US government is now operating much like the Russian government. Laws no long matter for the people at the top as nobody will enforce them, where the law is invoked it is frequently arbitrary and merely follows the wishes of the leadership, everything (laws, permits, regulation, citizenship) is in effect for sale, the inner circle gets rich from very obvious corruption, the whole country is being plundered, and the people are told it's all for their safety and that they are going to become wealthier as a result even as they wonder why nothing much improves.
And following the precedent proudly set in 2018 for fascistic regimes representing a threat to democracy, they will be hosting the World Cup.
Fifa have also set it up so that the US will inevitably host it in 2038 as well.
And let's not forget the Olympics. Hopefully a Somalian superstar will come along and win the 100m, 200m and long jump.
The Aussies have a 17yo sprinter beating Usain Bolts records who is the son of Sudanese refugees. Possibly the favourite for 2028 sprints, and has a crazy name. Gout Gout.
Ah yes. Him. Well there we are - there's our Jesse Owens. Go Go Gout Gout!
What's the opposite of nominative determinism?
I will just check with my ex English teacher, Miss Nomer.
Probably a better person to ask than my ex Maths teacher, Miss Take.
Let's not even get started on RE teacher Miss Conceived.
I thought her lessons were immaculate.
I always preferred my Geography teacher Miss Placed
The Music Teacher Miss Heard...
The shooting master: Mr R Tillery?
This is an actual, an RS teacher i knew (its what they call RE these days), had her three initials spell out the name of a religion and because the lessons are named using the initials of the teacher, it is mildly amusing to see it as "XYZ" RS yr 9
I assume not actually XYZ?
TLAs give a whole new field to play with. Does it work with PHSE too?
Drug Awareness with XTZ.
The lessons with Fatima U. Khan were quite stimulating.
Sarah E. Xavier is able to raise attendance in her lessons.
By contrast, Mr Fred Luke Owen Pearce's lessons were not hard.
The general economic malaise reported by some on here has even reached the reselling market with one of Mrs Stodge's friends calling it "much quieter" than the past couple of years.
Again, only anecdotal evidence but I suspect it's going to be another poor Christmas for retailers as well.
It's probably worth remembering Khan leads Trump 3-2 in elections won (so far).
I think Khan won elections 6 times as a councillor and then MP before becoming Mayor, so that's put him at 9-2 versus Trump.
Quite clear that all the people moaning about Khan dont actually live in London
I don't but I did. It started to be a shithole under Boris and Khan has made it infinitely worse for Londoners. I never go.to London(inner) if I can avoid it.
Marco Foster @MarcoFoster_ · 2h James Carville on Donald Trump: “He’s done. We’ve just got to butter this toast and slice it and eat it. He’s done. It’s over. You’re a loser dude. You’re losing everywhere and you’re gonna lose more because you my friend are a loser.”
Many thought he was finished after 6 January 2021 (perhaps myself included). So I wouldn't write him off too easily. And even if he isn't so popular at the ballot box he might not be beyond finding ways to get the results he needs.
No. It’s not. I despise Khan. I think he’s useless and incompetent and a horrible mayor.
But he’s not vicious or disgusting, words which speak to him as a person rather than his performance as an elected official
If you "despise" Sadiq Khan what word would you reach for to sum up your feelings about Donald Trump?
I’m flying to the US next week so I might plead the 5th.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
Khan took a brave stance on clean air - the ULEZ extension was unpopular and he faced concerted opposition but he did it because he thought it was the right thing and it has worked - the air in London now meets international health standards. I can't think of another recent UK politician who has taken that kind of brave, non-populist stance. Call him what you want, but he is neither ineffective nor some kind of shallow careerist.
The recent air quality improvements in London are more to do with the euro 6 engine, and, thats about it. Its the cleanest for hundreds of years and most of that improvement happened decades ago.
You don't think that a measure designed to incentivise the take up of cleaner engines might have played a role at all? The earlier ULEZ extension led me to sell my Euro 5 diesel and buy a Euro 6 diesel. The air quality improvement in London was significantly greater than outside London. Of course ULEZ was important. I find it staggering that people can't credit Khan for his success here.
Some people absolutely hate the idea of a government regulation actually working and having a positive impact. We're already seeing it with renewables - that the transition and all the good that is coming out of that would have happened anyway without meddling woke green-types. We also see it with road safety - claims that the number of fatalities would have fallen anyway without speed limits, EU regulations etc etc
It's not something to be overly worried about tbh - it's a sign that the argument has been won. ULEZ is a good example of a regulation that was announced early (Johnson, 2015), giving time for people to adjust, and a politician putting up with extreme levels of vitriol and criminality to cement the change in place (Khan, 2020). Good work from everyone.
Even Private Eye is being extremely positive about ULEZ.
Here is an image host of a graph of the various air pollutants in london over time: https://ibb.co/pr34v718
No source given. And suspiciously recent.
The joys of AI it can hunt out the information. But you need to have a bit of background on this kind of stuff to make sure it isnt hallucinating, and this trend tends to fit an older piece of data I have.
In which case can you give three examples where Sadiq has been vicious? As opposed to from a different political party.....
Anyone attacking Khan in such terms is simply outing themselves as a racist.
I live and work in London, and the main negative adjective I would use for him is being invisible. Not really doing anything of note. Which is obviously much better than a Mayor doing lots of harm, and not as good as a Mayor who delivers lots of positive initiatives.
People like Trump using overly strong adjectives about Khan are saying more about themselves than him.
In which case can you give three examples where Sadiq has been vicious? As opposed to from a different political party.....
Anyone attacking Khan in such terms is simply outing themselves as a racist.
I live and work in London, and the main negative adjective I would use for him is being invisible. Not really doing anything of note. Which is obviously much better than a Mayor doing lots of harm, and not as good as a Mayor who delivers lots of positive initiatives.
People like Trump using overly strong adjectives about Khan are saying more about themselves than him.
Oh maaaaaaaate
Criticising Sadiq Khan - racism 😂
Come on, Taz, that's not what he said. It's calling Khan "vicious" and other "overly strong adjectives" that's racist.
In which case can you give three examples where Sadiq has been vicious? As opposed to from a different political party.....
Anyone attacking Khan in such terms is simply outing themselves as a racist.
I live and work in London, and the main negative adjective I would use for him is being invisible. Not really doing anything of note. Which is obviously much better than a Mayor doing lots of harm, and not as good as a Mayor who delivers lots of positive initiatives.
People like Trump using overly strong adjectives about Khan are saying more about themselves than him.
Oh maaaaaaaate
Criticising Sadiq Khan - racism 😂
It is bizarre , any non gushing opinion on a non white person and they come out of the woodwork shouting racist.
Malc, that's bollocks. This isn't about a "non gushing opinion". It's about Trump calling Khan "horrible vicious disgusting".
Quite clear that all the people moaning about Khan dont actually live in London
I don't but I did. It started to be a shithole under Boris and Khan has made it infinitely worse for Londoners. I never go.to London(inner) if I can avoid it.
Thats bollocks. London is a much nicer, cleaner and safer city than it was decades ago.
Leicester has gone downhill over the last couple of decades. The Golden Mile isn't what it was. Our Indian community is now wealthy enough to shop in Gujerat rather than the Belgrave Road. The city centre has lost a lot of anchor stores to the retail park near the motorway.
In which case can you give three examples where Sadiq has been vicious? As opposed to from a different political party.....
Anyone attacking Khan in such terms is simply outing themselves as a racist.
I live and work in London, and the main negative adjective I would use for him is being invisible. Not really doing anything of note. Which is obviously much better than a Mayor doing lots of harm, and not as good as a Mayor who delivers lots of positive initiatives.
People like Trump using overly strong adjectives about Khan are saying more about themselves than him.
In which case can you give three examples where Sadiq has been vicious? As opposed to from a different political party.....
Anyone attacking Khan in such terms is simply outing themselves as a racist.
I live and work in London, and the main negative adjective I would use for him is being invisible. Not really doing anything of note. Which is obviously much better than a Mayor doing lots of harm, and not as good as a Mayor who delivers lots of positive initiatives.
People like Trump using overly strong adjectives about Khan are saying more about themselves than him.
Oh maaaaaaaate
Criticising Sadiq Khan - racism 😂
Come on, Taz, that's not what he said. It's calling Khan "vicious" and other "overly strong adjectives" that's racist.
Pretty sure his predecessor was called comparable names though.
Is it racism, or just petty and stupid political name-calling?
If it were only him being called names, then yes it would be, but his predecessor was called stuff life that too and so have many other politicians. Most famous politicians get called all sorts, and much of it not very polite.
Comments
When I went through Spain they took my data but forgot to save it… which created a duplicate file to confuse the Germans.
(It was a 3 hour wait to get *out* of Germany today… that was for everyone)
Miss Whippy of St Pancras.
(“Despise” may be a little strong but he’s redolent of a political class that is self interested, careerist and ineffective. We deserve better leaders. Unfortunately the voters don’t like people who tell them the truth.)
When I do it I'm 'a perv who is making the staff Christmas party awkward.'
(When I was a wee bairn my employer thought it would be a good idea to invite a bus load of blonde Essex girls to the Christmas party. Each of whom had a little ribbon pinned to their breast so they were easily recognisable. The Sunday Times loved that story)
Good call on staying mum about DT btw. We don't want you posting from Alcatraz.
https://x.com/MattCartoonist/status/1977031657225097558
Happy days long ago when a captionless Matt pictured gendarmes chasing women wearing burkas on a French nudist beach. (His captions have got slightly longer, and so slightly more flabby.)
He is a bland, B roll politician.
That’s who he is.
I mean, what's he done? I can think of no big projects, no significant improvements to infrastucture that he can lay claim too. On the other hand, London has definitely improved since the post-Covid lows: in the last six months, the area around my apartment in Covent Garden has been cleaned up enornmously (which I appreciate it). But then again, it was under his watch in the previous five years that it got a lot worse.
Not everything is his fault, of course. A lot of the problems with endemic petty crime are because of the cuts to the criminal justice system during the coalition years that we're all paying for.
I'd rate him a 4/10. But I don't think the words "horrible", "vicious" or "disgusting" are in any way appropriate for what is -at heart- nothing more than unbridled mediocrity.
The tuna ($14) cost as much as all the other ingredients combined. But it was worth it.
It's not something to be overly worried about tbh - it's a sign that the argument has been won. ULEZ is a good example of a regulation that was announced early (Johnson, 2015), giving time for people to adjust, and a politician putting up with extreme levels of vitriol and criminality to cement the change in place (Khan, 2020). Good work from everyone.
Have you actually seen this so called "crossing"?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvertown_Tunnel#/media/File:Silvertown_Tunnel_from_Cable_Car,_July_2025.jpg
To be fair, a lot of people were vitriolic in their contempt for both Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair and they both won three elections as well.
https://youtu.be/BJl7ENupVdU?si=549Re1QE-PEOTJEb
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5L7Jf4bG5uY
My wife has asked me to cook them at our traditional Christmas Eve dinner with friends!
Looks like I'm going to need to practice.
The rest is liberal ideology which, unchecked, actually risks the rise of the far Right.
TLAs give a whole new field to play with. Does it work with PHSE too?
Drug Awareness with XTZ.
chipsspuds.I assume you aren't talking about income tax a nd council tax
Chocolate prices jump by a fifth in run-up to Christmas
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/12/09/chocolate-prices-jump-by-a-fifth-in-run-up-to-christmas/ (£££)
He simply inhabits the role, virtues-signals, takes the credit for stuff he's done nothing about and passes the buck for things he's also had nothing to do with.
So yeah, I guess mediocrity is a generous way of putting it.
https://ibb.co/pr34v718
Which he's described as a crime ridden hellhole that needs loads of National Guards from red states to keep order.
@MarcoFoster_
·
2h
James Carville on Donald Trump: “He’s done. We’ve just got to butter this toast and slice it and eat it. He’s done. It’s over. You’re a loser dude. You’re losing everywhere and you’re gonna lose more because you my friend are a loser.”
https://x.com/MarcoFoster_/status/1998821761584935112
If I were editing PB that night I would have used the headline 'Sadiq Khan gets Dick out!'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-60340525
Norway + Sweden + Denmark 1560
Somalia 1230
So the US already takes more people from Norway, Sweden and Denmark than from Somalia. Countries that the US has more immigrants from than Somalia include the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Spain and Ireland. Trump's complaint is factually wrong.
As for the rest of your post, stop being so racist.
But there's also the golden rule.
He who pays the gold (server bills), makes the rules.
We are both ahead of our time.
It started to be a shithole under Boris and Khan has made it infinitely worse for Londoners.
I never go.to London(inner) if I can avoid it.
https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/annualreport/air_pollution_uk_2023_issue_1.pdf
and
https://aqicn.org/city/london/
and
https://www.londonair.org.uk/LondonAir/Default.aspx
Leicester has gone downhill over the last couple of decades. The Golden Mile isn't what it was. Our Indian community is now wealthy enough to shop in Gujerat rather than the Belgrave Road. The city centre has lost a lot of anchor stores to the retail park near the motorway.
Is it racism, or just petty and stupid political name-calling?
If it were only him being called names, then yes it would be, but his predecessor was called stuff life that too and so have many other politicians. Most famous politicians get called all sorts, and much of it not very polite.