John Watts

Very much a case of "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them......I have others!"

The Guardian’s positive action work experience is open for applications! There are (paid) schemes for disabled, BAME, and working class wannabe journalists.

Because the media needs more people like us.

Info here: workwithus.theguardian.com/entry-level-...

Its genuinely mad that we are, arguably, the most successful multicultural state on earth and instead of celebrating that we...

...keep trying to copy nations who have very evidently done worse at it than us

We’re Starting Together, Su Pollard at two.

I’m sorry what? #totp

Britain Lost 14,000 Third Places. They Were Called Pubs. Is Your Local Next? How private equity reshaped the local and the postcode tool that shows the pubs most at risk.

My brother wanted a London pub crawl. The result? My new Substack post: "Britain Lost 14,000 Third Places. They were Called Pubs. Is Your Local Next?" How private equity reshaped the local, which pubs are most at risk and most importantly what to do about it.
open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...

Tell me you're a Portsmouth fan without telling me you're a Portsmouth fan!

The drunk uncle theory.

You don’t argue with the casually homophobic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner to change his mind; you argue so that the closeted cousin at the kids table knows there’s safe people and better possibilities out there

In a walkable neighborhood presumably?

fun fact i had never looked up

the Netherlands is #9 all-time in Winter Olympic medals (147) and exactly one of those medals is from an event that takes place on snow (Nicolien Sauerbreij's snowboarding slalom gold medal in 2010)

Formula 1 to see some terrible LBW and run out decisions?

Lindsey Vonn Understands Better Than Most the Risks That Came With Her Comeback The 41-year-old’s Olympic journey ended with a sobering chapter, but one that is all too familiar in the sport of Alpine skiing.

Column: Lindsey Vonn’s comeback story has turned increasingly sad, with more surgeries coming. This is how the sport goes — the injury rate for elite skiers would be daunting to an NFL team. www.si.com/winter-olymp...

My boyfriend fishes out teabags from the pot after brewing, and squeezes them dry with his fist, letting it drip back in the pot. He claims that is the strongest part of the tea, and not doing that is profligate. Should I break up with him, or would that make me shallow?

Travelodge Lifts sign. The lift symbol looks exactly like a set of cricket stumps with an up/down arrow next to it.

Brb, just off for a game of cricket in the lifts at the Travelodge.

The Paris 2024 Olympics medals wore down quickly, and these Milan Cortina 2026 ones?

Well, don't jump with them. The ribbons aren't on very well, and many athletes have seen theirs fall off.

The IOC replaces broken medals.

www.si.com/olympics/oly...

a man sits in a chair in front of a calculator that says ' sss ' on it Alt: The Dude in the Big Lebowski says "this agression will not stand, man."

Ok, I work in writing and comms. I know the language evolves. I'm not uptight about new words and usage and meaning. But, people, while I've learned to live with "medaling" at the Olympics, I swear I just heard, and must draw the line at., "podiuming."

I like how every two years at a T20 World Cup everyone goes “wow the associate cricket teams are much better than we thought, we should do more to assist their development and grow the global game” and then nothing changes

A cheese board of ten cheeses with cured meat, a baguette, grapes and little pots of olives etc

Every year @kymdeyn.bsky.social and I celebrate Cheese Day, to make our shared birthday. It's normally a few days to a week after our birthday, and involves spending hours eating an enormous cheese board while watching a movie.

Have a blesséd Cheese Day to all who celebrate.

‘I’m British, English and British Asian’, says Rishi Sunak in riposte to racially charged debate over identity Podcaster claimed former prime minister not English because he is ‘brown-skinned Hindu’

It is terribly sad that the former PM feels the need to say this in the face of low life blowhards.

We cannot allow this to even be a question.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Is Matt Goodwin saying he can't count up to six?

Right, time to indulge in that traditional Winter Olympics pursuit: watching a random sport for ten minutes then, the moment someone else comes into the room, talking to them about it like you're a world expert.

Fortunately I don't think such a policy would be at all popular electorally.

I have featured a few in the past, but none as eye-catching as this 1960s Edward Schoolheifer Manygate Lane house in Shepperton, Surrey. And no, I'm not sure if this is the one Tom Jones lived in. bit.ly/4ccQjKc

So, first of all, of course it was Trump.

But even if they were telling the truth, "We give staffers who post videos of the Obamas as apes access to the agenda-setting, decree-sending, market-moving account of the president of the United States" is not the exculpatory statement they think it is.

Am I right in thinking he also did good preparation for a potential swine flu pandemic (which then never materialised and he got massive stick for it, but in retrospect looks very astute)?

When you say 'most SEND', are you meaning you doubt the conditions/needs themselves exist, or do you mean the industry that has developed around seeking to meet those needs?

For a confused moment I thought you were talking about Rachel Reeves!

If there's an Alan Beattie out there from Northern Ireland who's reported a loose manhole cover to the NI Department for Infrastructure, they've emailed me to say they receive a high volume of ironwork related enquiries and unfortunately it is not possible to investigate all enquiries immediately.

Yes, absolutely!

Mr Peterson’s career drafting the greetings inside Hallmark cards was a short one.

A correction for the ages (from The Guardian's review of 'Melania'):