speaking of, just read this Gary Younge piece that starts with this:
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024/03/21/small-island-gary-younge/
When we returned to London in 2015, after twelve years in the US, we could not get our son into the local elementary school. His class in Hackney, the neighborhood where we live, had the maximum of thirty kids in it, and none were leaving. Pretty much all the nonreligious schools in the area were at full capacity, too. He ended up getting a spot at a school two miles away. When our daughter started kindergarten a couple of years later, her class was also capped at thirty, and full.Today her class has just fifteen kids in it. Next year the school—located, apparently without irony, on the borough’s first “21st Century Street,” with dedicated green space, bicycle parking, electric vehicle charging, and 40 percent “tree canopy cover”—will close. (It is merging with another undersubscribed school across the main road.) So will more than ninety across the country. Low birth rates and Brexit-induced emigration have forced these changes. On average, elementary school classes in England are at 88 percent capacity, but in some areas, including my fashionable but still quite poor quarter, the rate is far lower.Not only are the schools shrinking and shutting down—the kids who go to them are getting smaller. After more than a decade of austerity, British five-year-olds are a full centimeter shorter now than they were in 2010, and they are becoming significantly shorter than children in other countries
Today her class has just fifteen kids in it. Next year the school—located, apparently without irony, on the borough’s first “21st Century Street,” with dedicated green space, bicycle parking, electric vehicle charging, and 40 percent “tree canopy cover”—will close. (It is merging with another undersubscribed school across the main road.) So will more than ninety across the country. Low birth rates and Brexit-induced emigration have forced these changes. On average, elementary school classes in England are at 88 percent capacity, but in some areas, including my fashionable but still quite poor quarter, the rate is far lower.
Not only are the schools shrinking and shutting down—the kids who go to them are getting smaller. After more than a decade of austerity, British five-year-olds are a full centimeter shorter now than they were in 2010, and they are becoming significantly shorter than children in other countries
― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Thursday, 25 April 2024 17:29 (one month ago) link
remember when doctrinaire free marketeers used to argue that gutting public infrastructure was necessary because private enterprise would create more, better quality facilities and services?
you don't hear that said with a straight face nowadays
― Bitchin Doutai (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 25 April 2024 17:32 (one month ago) link
even in the sectors that were at the heart of private business in a mixed economy: retail, hospitality, entertainment for example, everything is shittier, narrower, more expensive
― Bitchin Doutai (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 25 April 2024 17:36 (one month ago) link
Some heavy relief
The roast beef of Old England. pic.twitter.com/iAQ1jBKEfE— david wheatley (@nemoloris) April 27, 2024
― glumdalclitch, Saturday, 27 April 2024 13:11 (one month ago) link
This is a ridiculous story…Former Port Vale player Ryan Burge hates the club so much, he flew a plane over their ground on Saturday with a banner MOCKING their relegation from League One.He got a pilot’s license, JUST so he could do it.All new levels of pettiness 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/Da6IhMIozg— Ryan Dilks (@RyanDilks1) April 29, 2024
― LaMDA barry-stanners (||||||||), Monday, 29 April 2024 12:23 (one month ago) link
might actually be fake england fml
― LaMDA barry-stanners (||||||||), Monday, 29 April 2024 12:30 (one month ago) link
Looks like there's a shortage of police sketch artists in Tunbridge Wells.
Investigators have released a computer generated image of a man they would like to identify in connection with a burglary in Tunbridge Wells. https://t.co/hPrbjaLeyU pic.twitter.com/D35VA8TfQd— Kent Police TWells (@KentPoliceTWell) April 29, 2024
― Wry & Slobby (Portsmouth Bubblejet), Tuesday, 30 April 2024 14:01 (one month ago) link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Buttigieg
― glumdalclitch, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 14:06 (one month ago) link
Can’t believe this app is free pic.twitter.com/CpuRlny2Mo— Ant (@M0kujin) April 30, 2024
― glumdalclitch, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 14:15 (one month ago) link
Hope somebody can stop Brian Cox's crime spree in Tunbridge Wells soon
― Bitchin Doutai (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 30 April 2024 15:34 (one month ago) link
https://www.tiktok.com/@globetrots/video/7362198488857218337
― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Wednesday, 1 May 2024 19:17 (one month ago) link
West Yorkshire failing to get to get into the top two again!
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Wednesday, 1 May 2024 19:20 (one month ago) link
hackney moleman klaxon: https://www.ft.com/content/fe13350f-6522-4892-b67e-301828b10070 (needs registration but it's free)
“tunnelling is something that should be talked about without panicking”
― mark s, Saturday, 4 May 2024 10:27 (four weeks ago) link
wow, a worthy addition to the lore
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 4 May 2024 11:18 (four weeks ago) link
related (actually conger hill in toddington): https://i.imgur.com/w2yb889.png
― mark s, Saturday, 4 May 2024 19:31 (four weeks ago) link
let her cook imo
― Bitchin Doutai (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 4 May 2024 22:17 (four weeks ago) link
the levels of dgaf on display are pretty impressive tbh pic.twitter.com/Eq1rbSMIaG— Owain (@orhunt) May 16, 2024
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 16 May 2024 22:08 (two weeks ago) link
Love it when people threaten to report something to the council. Like have you ever tried phoning the council? Yeah, good luck with that, pal
― Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Thursday, 16 May 2024 22:27 (two weeks ago) link
Thanks to the austerity the old woman's beloved Tories put in place!
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 16 May 2024 22:30 (two weeks ago) link
Someone tell starmer that strict anti-harp legislation is a surefire winner with his target voters
― Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Thursday, 16 May 2024 22:35 (two weeks ago) link
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GOpV1XeXMAAOjni?format=jpg&name=medium
jesus wept
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 09:31 (six days ago) link
I think you mean "Jezzy w"
― new wave of pictish heavy metal (Matt #2), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 10:58 (six days ago) link
50/50 on whether that is intended as savage mockery
― This is Dance Anthems, have some respect (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 11:14 (six days ago) link
Perfect for the Relly Engz thread
― glumdalclitch, Tuesday, 28 May 2024 11:23 (six days ago) link
wait what is 'salad cream'?
nevermind, I don't wanna know
― Andy the Grasshopper, Tuesday, 28 May 2024 18:21 (six days ago) link
it's great is what it is
― i love a man in a unicorn (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 18:24 (six days ago) link
A variant on mayonnaise (no oil, or less oil).
― nickn, Tuesday, 28 May 2024 18:36 (six days ago) link
I didn't even know what mayonnaise was when I was a kid, even "egg mayonnaise" sandwiches were made with salad cream.
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 18:37 (six days ago) link
I thought mayo and salad dressing were the same thing as a kid, and at a shockingly old age I finally googled it and discovered salad dressing is made without egg yolks.
― nickn, Tuesday, 28 May 2024 18:43 (six days ago) link
yeah, "kid" in my case was probably well into my late 20's, lol
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 18:48 (six days ago) link
salad cream is like a runny, more vinegary mayo. best in a (*vegan) fish finger sandwich with a bit of lettuce, its acidity helps it cut through better than mayo
― Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 20:04 (six days ago) link
huh, perhaps like our Miracle Whip but it's actually kinda sweet
― Andy the Grasshopper, Tuesday, 28 May 2024 20:13 (six days ago) link
miracle whip is an abomination, salad cream is ok
― This is Dance Anthems, have some respect (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 20:24 (six days ago) link
You want some real England eh?
2 people going to the Food Bank, who are they voting for?Conservatives, "They have helped us more than anybody.""I'd be so gutted if Rishi Sunak lost"pic.twitter.com/MyhYKMCCMx— BladeoftheSun (@BladeoftheS) May 27, 2024
― This is Dance Anthems, have some respect (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 21:06 (six days ago) link
Yes, I saw that the other day!
― Poets Win Prizes (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 May 2024 21:21 (six days ago) link
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GO0XlfuWcAAx38b?format=jpg&name=900x900
my stepdad sent me this short article about Dewsbury from the Hudds Daily Examiner to cheer me up. It opens with "It's a shithole - that's your headline".
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Thursday, 30 May 2024 10:09 (four days ago) link