Meoir Shee

Also a somewhat cynical view but: The last couple of decades it has got a bit ridiculous, especially with 130mph+ laps. Whether our bright young riders are getting even faster and faster* is not the point. There needs to be a meaningful timing system. And lots and lots being awarded lap records is starting to become meaningless. There needs to be a reset. But the good old TT organisers need to fill all those places, kerching. Especially with all the feckless riders who like to proclaim "I am the first of our family to lap at 130mph at the TT". Easy money. *They are not. I think they are getting slower, but that is bit (sic) the point.

Not quite, the train>tram is €32 return from Palma. Mallorca Train/Tram

There seem to be a couple of issues here. Firstly, it does not cost £81k to put someone in prison, this is simply the average cost. The marginal cost will be far, far less. Assuming the only fixed costs is wages (it clearly isn’t), the variable costs amount to c2m, roughly £21k per prisoner, this is hugely overestimated (utilities, insurance etc) but far below the claimed £81k and comfortably below the comparison with the Premier Inn, lazy journalism. Secondly, do wages really average £66k per prison officer? £5.4m/81.

Back to the topic in question, what an incredible performance by Vin in today’s TT. That could well be the greatest time trial performance in Tour history.

I’ve looked a little further into this. Not only are cyclists now allowed electronic gears to make shifting more crisp and accurate, they are also allowed disc brakes rather than rim brakes. These artificial aids, available for years on cars, motorbikes and mountain bikes, allow riders to reach incredible speeds downhill, as a purist I’d prefer no brakes at all so those with the best human endeavour or skill will be rewarded the most. It gets worse, over the past few weeks I’ve had the displeasure of catching the The Ashes. I was staggered that not only were the players wearing helmets but also pads and gloves. Why on Earth do players at the very highest level require the use of artificial aids (however small) over natural human endeavour ,or skill, can’t be a good thing can it? Surely, they have a bat to hit the ball with? As a purist, I always preferred the old days.

The Tour went downhill for me when they finally allowed the use of the rear derailleur, 34 years after it was invented. As a purist, I always preferred the single speed suffering over 400km+ stages. Same with cars, I always preferred the nuances of the Red Flag Act, motor transport hasn’t been the same since.

Facts getting in the way of a good story again? School in ‘cat pupil’ controversy given Ofsted all-clear after snap inspection

Hmmm, AC is a former student so highly doubtful, bit like BoJo/Sunak picking on Eton/Winchester. Remember, the latter two were implicated in a 50 school price fixing cartel, being fined an enormous £5k each, turkeys rarely vote for Christmas.

Suspended presumably means just that, change your outfit and you would be back in, I’d highly doubt anyone would be foolish enough to throw “c£7k down the pan”. Furthermore, I also doubt that KWC would throw the additional c£14k down the pan for the remaining two terms. If it is 3 students as claimed above, that could mean missing out on c£42k in revenue, dream on. Of course, this entire story could be completely fabricated.

But this simply doesn’t happen, we have flirted with 0.1% deflation in a handful of months in decades, not one single year has seen negative inflation since at least 1960. The long run average is c5%. UK Historical Inflation Data

Race the Sun buffet I think?

Anyone wanting to understand the North Korean regime would be well advised to read Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick, a harrowing account of life there. The UK is a long, long way from perfect and increasingly so but North Korea is a different level.

Beautiful morning down there today, plenty of folk knocking about, not a soul in the sea, no-one seemed to be on the look out for changing facilities or lockers. Shame to see metal railings have replaced the flowers. Assume will all be completed by TT so visitors can enjoy the facilities.

Fair enough but I’m not exactly sure what an individual school in the middle of the Irish Sea can do about constant staffing shortages. Perhaps the spurious “drag queen” fiasco hasn’t helped recruitment? Sadly some of the loudest voices on here have claimed teachers have the very best deal in the entire British Isles yet here is anecdotal evidence of ongoing staffing shortages. It is entirely regrettable that classes are constantly covered by supply staff, who incidentally are on zero hours contracts, but the ongoing dispute has constantly highlighted staff shortages with mixed public support. Maybe people are only interested when they are directly affected? For reference, this post has been advertised for maybe the 5th or 6th time since September, how many kids haven’t had a Geography teacher all year? As always, I blame the teachers.

Cav has been one of Oakley’s very biggest ‘stars’ for many years, it could be the case that he has earned more from Oakley than his cycling contracts over the years. A HISTORY OF MARK CAVENDISH IN OAKLEY SUNGLASSES