Jumpers for goalposts! Bananas on the pitch for John Barnes! A lump of concrete in the eye of a Luton fan! And get to smash the train up on the way home!

I for one think it's very important that our American cousins who also use this website should first absolutely square away the question of what crowd or movement was bigger. The substance of what they are/were protesting is really something that can be addressed another time.

Currently basing the state of the economy on whether the FT has a picture of Rachel Reeves smiling or looking glum on the homepage.

I remember meeting someone quite expert on KSA who explained that you have to remember that everything the Saudi government does ultimately is intended to keep the Saudi royal family on power.

That poor bastard

left side: how it starts right side: how it goes

1995 zealots: the internet will revolutionize society and make everything great 1995 skeptics: the internet is crap and will change nothing Reality: the internet revolutionized society and made everything crap 2025 zealots: AI will revolutionize society and make everything great

I have, in fact, encountered several anonymous accounts over the last 5-6 months who have given out bad tear gas advice and I suspect that they may have done so on purpose. When in doubt, come to me for the straight dope.

Election of New Labour NATO‘s Kosovo campaign 9/11 and GWOT 2003 RWC Global financial crisis (if we count being an undergrad as “childhood”…?)

something quite brain-melting about the hard right's position apparently now being "we hate all Muslims and distrust Muslim states, aside from that one Muslim place that still has slavery because that sounds fun"

Use only water or fresh air on tear gas or pepper spray. No milk, vinegar, antacids, urine, etc. and especially not in eye. Thank me later, An actual expert

I know statistics are poorly understood and are misused. But facts matter Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

Coming from someone who _only_ thinks in culture war terms, based on what she reads on X, this is a bit rich.

“There is a fixed budget and these are all trade-offs.” Evergreen statement on policy formulation. This time from Lord Vallance on medicines pricing row between DHSC and HMT. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Why is every interview worse than the next? Surely there should be a floor to this?

Interestingly seems to be leaning on NICE QALY threshold rather than VPAG, though not entirely clear from reporting. www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

normal person: i just want a place to hang out with my friends tech weirdo: and shitheads np: no just my friends tw: but what about hearing alternative views on race and gender? np: we just want to hang out and goof around tw: so where do the shitheads fit in then np: no shitheads tw: not following

I know the BBC are taking the Reformation as a starting point, but the first Archbishop of Canterbury was St Augustine in 597 so “almost 500 years” is an odd way of counting.

Please join me in congratulating Woman on her appointment

So far as I can tell, to-date she is the only HSJ contributor to be made Archbishop of Canterbury.

Interesting thread.

Vance's most monumental achievement to date has been being told off by two popes in one year.

On National Poetry Day, the greatest poem I have ever read

Digital government people: Please DM me if you know any of the details about the digital NHS trust as I would like to talk off the record!

not even a past offence - literally this weekend

That thing that always happens has happened again

On this day 10 years ago, Russia entered the Syrian civil war on behalf of the Assad regime, devastating infrastructure, displacing millions and murdering thousands of Syrian civilians. Despite all of these widespread crimes, Moscow and Assad would go on to lose.

Having read this I now can't shake this song: youtu.be/PtgKkifJ0Pw?...

The 10-Year Workforce Plan will focus on “a philosophical intent of what roles we need” rather than “prescriptive numbers” on staffing requirements, says health minister. www.hsj.co.uk/workforce/ph...

Is this Fabian thing a reheating of that Common Purpose balls from about 10 years ago?

Hornby Dublo train sets.

“Gentlemen you can’t fight in here, this will be the new ballroom that’s going to be fabulous they’ve been trying to build a ballroom here for 200 years but no president could do it until me they’re saying it’ll be the best ballroom out there have you seen my granddaughter’s new line of sweaters?”

List 3 you can talk about for 3 hours with no prep 1) anything. For everyone the answer is literally anything. So long as it doesn’t have to be accurate/grounded in reality. Even the most shy person could talk about anything for three hours with enough encouragement and/or amphetamines.

Nigel Farage comparing paracetamol to thalidomide reminds me of Jeremy Corbyn comparing the evidence Russia was behind the Salisbury poisonings to claims about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Tapping into different seams of the "Don't Believe what THEY tell you" mindset, but with the same goal.

It's this kind of commitment to transparency in procurement that really makes your heart sing. The title of the award notice for this £62k contract is PDSM. The description? PDMS. The supplier awarded to? PDMS. www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/aba95...

A pop up box on Tylenol dot com

Another update to this saga: Owner of another of the windfarms near Trump's golf courses, Assel Valley, has no intention of dismantling its turbines "You’re correct in your assumption – we can confirm there are no plans to take down Assel Valley Wind Farm."

There is also a tendency towards fatalism amplified by social media dynamics among Liberal and Left milieus that tends to exaggerate how much of the UK population will automatically back authoritarian agendas. Succumbing to panic and paralysis is not going to defeat the Far Right.

The government may have had a good idea, albeit belatedly. www.ft.com/content/3ba2...

Taps sign:

really dislike that "Boriswave" used to be something you'd exclusively see being used by racist Twitter accounts but it's now made its way to the political mainstream, including today's Playbook headline

Trump Spends Entire U.K. Trip Trying To Figure Out Where He Knows Prince Andrew From

Does anyone know why the JVCI decided that in the UK pregnant women shouldn't get covid shots any more during the booster season? Genuinely interested in the reasoning here rather than any kind of mud-slinging one way or another

Times births column today

this from my piece on charlie kirk is probably the most important takeaway if you want to know why bad faith, right-wing voices in media are treated as just another set of peers