Phil Ball

Voilà. The 4 Pillars of Trumpism:
1. If you’re asked a difficult question, insult or threaten.
2. Suck up to murderers and bullies (Saudi chap, Putin, Netanyahu)
3. Refuse to accept election results that don’t go your way.
4. Spaff your dad’s money and then call everyone else a loser. Please add.

My son today from deepest Laos, showing a touching allegiance to the colours of Real Sociedad and the national flag. A fine combi.

Whilst Infantino jabbers on about his latest whizz-bang loadsamoney scheme and brownoses Trump & Saudi in a paean of praise to sportwashing, I'm driving 200k to attend this event today cos it makes me feel better about the world, at least for 90 minutes. Well done to the Basques.

Just seen this Nathan. No worries - and 'impugn' is a fine verb. I'm going to use it tomorrow when I go shopping, come what may.

Sorry, but how can you defame Trump? He's been self-defaming for his entire life. Trump suing for defamation is a contradiction in terms. And wasn't he impeached for a 2nd time for incitement of insurrection? So, sure, the BBC messed up, but ffs.....
www.reuters.com/world/does-t...

Sorry Nathaniel - just seen this. Not sure to what you're referring. Was it me or another Phil Ball? There is a science writer of the same name, but he's much smarter than me....

Problem is, if Reform get in, publications that tell the truth will probably be banned too.

Living the Bream Roll out the barrel of adjectives!  Awesome, monumental, surreal?   Or a touch more street, like dope, sick, epic, banging?  Whatever, I prefer the old-fashioned dog’s bollox, which is of course a …

Living the Bream. Reflections on Grimsby's wonderful win against Man Utd. Remember - it's not about football.

ligafever.wordpress.com/2025/08/28/l...

Nice piece on Grimsby's Cod Almighty this mo', which is better than anything I can say. If we win, I'll write something. But for now, this is spot-on. I watched Utd beat Benfica in 1968 on our black n' white TV, and it nailed down my emotional connection to football. codalmighty.com/site/ca.php?...

Wisdom's in prison,
Punks are in power,
Cometh the crooked
Cometh the hour
youtube.com/shorts/W8BQD...

My mate was complaining the other day that nobody's raising a fuss about the awfulness of Gaza, Ukraine, Trump etc with actual songs - save Kneecap. Oh well....I had a go. White pensioner-rap. Maybe stick to the day-job?
suno.com/s/vwgMmy1s4H...

That's the funniest headline I've seen this decade from the Guardian. But I prefer the take on Wikipedia: "Since the 1970s, at least 25 women have accused Donald Trump of rape, kissing and groping without consent; looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked teenage pageant contestants"🤔

It's a very simple question - are these not illegal acts (see pic)? And yet the British govt intends to proscribe a bunch of harmless dudes as 'terrorists' for spraying a bit of red paint on a plane, trying to disrupt the flow of arms to Israel as it commits war crimes? Hmm🤔

You got me! 1-0 to Everton

Is it Mick? Why?

I'm interested in Yvette Cooper's proscription of this group. Yet surely, the Labour Party's continuing support of Israel and its incaction in what is clearly genocide makes them complicit. It's an ineffably logical argument. Can we therefore proscribe Yvette Cooper as a terrorist?

This took me 10 seconds to produce on AI this morning. Thanks Mr Starmer, for maintaining the Labour Party's Christian Socialist traditions intact* (*irony warning).

Ta!

After the money-luvin' shysters have gone, after the smoke has faded, after Pérez has retired to his care-home, after Laporta has not paid off his debts & the Super League my friend is blowin' in the wind, there'll still be the Basque derby and two half-decent clubs, to make a whole. Bring it on!

YouTube video by MeidasTouch Trump GETS SNUBBED at Pope Funeral in DISASTER DAY

This is very good. Unfortunately it might be too close to factual for the MAGA crowd, and all those who float in that wobbly boat: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj1g...

Of course 'methods' are important in CLIL. They are its constituents, its components - learned through training. 'Characteristics of the learners'? Of course - but when is that not true? If that refers to context, then it means the sociolinguistic context - a crucial factor in implementation.

...it was never a language-learing paradigm anyway. It was born out of a need to support subject teachers in contexts where there was a desire to expand the L2 into further areas of the curriculum. It has since been semi-adopted by the ELT business, but publishers continue to view it with suspicion.

'Potential' is a slightly odd noun, given that CLIL has been ariound since 1995 as an acronym, and was a derivative of a broad suite of previous content-based approaches. Do Coyle established the contextual importance of CLIL way back in 2005, but all ed.paradigms are context-sensitive. And.....

Working in Santander last week, I had the mornings free to explore the lovely Sardinero beach area. Took a few mid-mornin' photos - some of them were half-decent.

It Was an Ambush Friday marked one of the grimmest days in the history of American diplomacy.

Good piece here: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The only one who's laughing today.

Do Trump and co want a world reclaimed by straight white men? It’s not certain they’ll get it | Andy Beckett Trump calls diversity policies ‘immoral’ and Badenoch says they’re ‘poison’. But businesses know multiculturalism is good for the economy, says Guardian columnist Andy Beckett

Excellent piece by Andy Beckett. It won't be read by the populist right for 2 reasons: a) The truth is problematic for them and b) The article requires an adult reading-age. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Seville – Friday May 2 to Monday May 5, 2025. 3 nights hotel accommodation in central Seville Watch Sevilla v Leganés and Recreativo de Huelva v UD Ibiza Stadium tour of the Benito Villamarín, home of Real Betis

Group travel for like-minded enthusiasts – join Aficionados Football Travel for a fútbol-filled weekend in Seville in May, accompanied by Spanish football expert @philballauthor.bsky.social

Sale now on – plus WSC subscribers save another £75!

Find out more and book: aficionadosft.com/seville

Department of Gruesome Egomaniacs?

When do 'Led by Donkeys' get the Nobel Prize?