Socialist, Rugby, Computer Games, Wrestling. These are the things that interest me. Thoughts my own. Retweets aren't endorsement, merely conversation starters.
You probably know the start of this Olympic story, but do you know how it finished?
This photo is of Eric Moussambani, aka 'Eric the Eel' from Equatorial Guinea, competing in the 100m Freestyle event at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, alone.
Why?
/1
let's play Stampede: Racing Royale on Twitch!
join us from 3pm UK time today to play vs devs, earn Twitch Drops, and be part of some Stampede shenanigans 💥
↪️ https://t.co/i3QYCJqH6J
Here's a round up of our munted voted system
You likely know we now have a Labour government
Labour won two thirds of parliamentary seats, but with only one third of the vote
Labour’s vote share is the lowest to have secured a majority
David Cameron got a higher share of the vote when there was a hung Parliament in 2010
Starmer's vote in Holborn and St Pancras fell from 36,641 in 2019 to 18,884 today. That is unbelievable for an incoming prime minister
Reform came second in 98 seats. Read that again. Have to say I was shocked
Voter turnout was around 59% of an eligible (approx) 48,500,000 that can vote and Labour got just 34% of the votes that were cast
The Liberal Democrats got total votes of 3,483,146 and a vote share of 12.3% giving them 71 seats whilst the Tories got total votes of 6,737,448, so almost double, and a vote share of 23.7% but giving them just 119 seats so nowhere near double the seats
The most crazy statistic is for Reform who got total votes of
4,067,915 and a vote share of 14.3%, both exceeding the Liberal Democrats numbers, but got just 4 seats.
This is how the munted first past the post system is for this country. So even if you believe in voting and that it matters what colour the government is, we have a system where a party can get more votes and a bigger vote share and end up with 67 seats less than a party who did worse, and who leader's campaign consisted of videos of him bungee jumping
One thing to notice about the numbers is that it appears around 10% of the British population are awake to some degree about what is going on. I would suggest that number is only going to climb and that it will climb quite fast
Numbers correct as at 07.30am
And yet this doesn't look much like the exit poll...
Why? Because under #FPTP, votes only have a vague relationship to seats won.
Fair? We don't think so.
Reform getting 13 is worrying. We must atop the rise of the far right.
Although exit polls have no independent winners that would be very disappointing. Corbyn, Galloway, and many more who ran strong campaigns.
I was wondering how i would feel with a labour victory. I'm pleased. Skeptical but pleased. There is much not to like about starmer's labour. But he will be better than the Tory's.
It's on us to hold him to account. And continue to build the left back up.
.@ZackPolanski responding to accusations of antisemitism directed at Green Party candidates.
And well done to Zack for making it clear the right wing are attacking & smearing the Greens because progressive Green policies are challenging power and wealth.
Great to see that @equalitytrust rank @TheGreenParty’s manifesto as best at achieving a Just Transition to a sustainable, democratic, and fair economy - another reason to #VoteGreen04July
Keanu Reeves once said:
"I’m at the stage in life where I stay out of arguments. Even if you say 1+1=5, you’re right. Have fun."
Here are 9 things I learned from him:
This is @JacobSteinberg, football reporter for the Guardian
2 weeks ago, just before United's FA Cup Final, in an exclusive article for the Guardian, he claimed Man Utd have decided to sack Erik ten Hag regardless of the Cup final outcome.
2 weeks on and we are still waiting.
It has been suggested that the article was a PR piece for a certain manager who wanted the Utd job. Other theories claim sending an already fractured fanbase to turmoil just before the Final was a way to help a certain London-based club whose European qualifications hinged on that result. I guess we will never know the actual reason. In any case, it was a hit job by Steinberg. Fortunately for Utd, it backfired and Utd won the Cup.
Any decent journalist would have retracted the article and kept his head down but not Steinberg. In fact, he used his hate and disdain for Man Utd to focus on the 19-year-old Kobbie Mainoo.
England succumbed to yet another cowardly performance under Gareth Southgate. The goal they conceded was as a tactical failure and as much as Declan Rice and Kyle Walker's fault as anyone's. The bigger questions were why couldn't England score even a single goal against 72nd-ranked Iceland? But Steinberg zeroed in on Kobbie Mainoo with this review of his performances and shielding his fellow London-based Declan Rice from media ire.
A simple Google search told me Jacob Steinberg regularly gives paid lectures on How to be a Football writer. Is this how you become a football writer? By writing hit pieces, being unprofessional, holding grudges, being contemptuous and being a disgrace to the profession?
@guardian_sport@guardian you have a lot to answer
After being blocked by @JacobSteinberg, I reached out to him to clarify what part of this tweet (or yesterday's: https://t.co/3DMR2VsmOE) was unfair. This was the conversation that took place.
Make of it, what you will.