Deliberate Uglification

A heritage railway on the edge of Bristol has sparked controversy after it commissioned three of the city’s most famous street artists to cover one of its vintage carriages in graffiti as if it were a New York subway carriage in the 1970s.

Why? Heritage railways have a unique selling point - nostalgia, a longing for the good old days when grafitti would have been unknown? Whywould anyone want to piss all over that? 

But there has been quite the backlash against the Avon Valley Railway when they revealed the project on their social media. The railway operates as a charity, and runs steam trains up and down a former line across the eastern edge of Bristol that was closed down in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s.

The firm attempted to rein in the furore that they deliberately caused for no clear benefit in the first place:

Avon Valley Railway had to reassure heritage railway enthusiasts that the windows of the carriage was covered with latex first so the paint can just be peeled off, that the carriage is yet to be restored by the volunteers at the charity so nothing was damaged - and the paint will actually help protect the carriage until it is restored.

“We were delighted to host ‘Inkie’, ‘Jody’ and ‘Cheo’ to our station site at Bitton,” said Mark Hill, the general manager at Avon Valley Railway.

Why? It's as if Sciaperelli attempted to chase the clientele of Primark...

If You're Going to Team Up With A Well-Known IP To Flog Your Wares...

 

...shouldn't you study how it works first?

What 'Security Procedures'?

A woman who woke up to a man sexually assaulting her in her hotel bed has said she was "failed" by Travelodge after staff gave him a key card and her room number.

She claimed staff told her Smith, who was known to her, had passed their security checks by providing her name.

I don’t think they quite understand that term…

"I feel like they failed me, it makes me more frustrated that they haven't said 'OK yes we did this wrong'. Instead they've put the blame aside." she said. 

"If I checked-in on my own and the room booking is just for me why would you think it's OK to let someone in in the middle of the night while I'm asleep? "At least wake me up or phone the room or come up to the room. Anything is better than just giving someone a key card. 

I have used Travelodge in the past, but this has put me right off! It’s astonishing that in this litigious society that they aren’t facing a lawsuit. Shouldn’t the H&S Executive be having a word too?

"The hotel said that he passed their security questions. "The only thing he would know about me was my name. "They said he was able to show them text messages, but I didn't have his phone number and he didn't have mine."

After reporting the incident to staff, she was later offered a £30 refund. "I saw it as very insulting. It would have been better if they hadn't offered it," she said. Travelodge has admitted the offer was inappropriate under the circumstances.

They seem determined to burn their business to the ground don’t they? 

Whether We, The Readers, Would Buy Them Is The Real Issue Though

Waterstones would stock books created using artificial intelligence, the company's boss has said, as long as they were clearly labelled, and if customers wanted them.

And if customers won't buy them, there's no point in stocking them. 

However, James Daunt, a veteran of the bookselling industry, said he personally did not expect that to happen. "There's a huge proliferation of AI-generated content and most of it are not books that we should be selling," he said, but added it would be "up to the reader".

It's ALWAYS up to the reader, in the end. 

Daunt, who is heading into his 36th Christmas season in the book trade, said Waterstones' success had been built on handing more control to individual store managers to serve their own communities. "Head office is there to make life easier," he said. "Make sure the books that they order turn up on time, but do not tell [managers] where to put them."

And that can be a two-edged sword, with managers going rogue because they can, and damaging Waterstones' reputation.

A report published last month by the University of Cambridge , found that more than half of published authors feared being replaced by AI. Two-thirds also said their work had been used without permission or payment to train the large language models which lie behind generative AI tools. But some writers use AI themselves, especially for research, and AI tools are being used to edit novels, and even produce full-length works.

I look forward to one of my favourite author's takes on this... 

Here's How We're Squandering Your Taxes On The Feckless, Suckers!

That might as well be the subtext of this extraordinary PR blunder by the government:

What would you do with an extra 30 minutes in your day? 🤔

Free breakfast clubs are transforming mornings for 500,000 children - that's 95 precious hours back each year while children get a nutritious start to their day.

Part of our Plan for Change ✨ pic.twitter.com/VA20pWYRKC

— Department for Education (@educationgovuk) October 1, 2025

 How do you feel about this policy, knowing your taxes are going to feed the children of women like these, and for what? So they can go to the coffee shop or have a snooze? While you scrimp and save and work overtime to feed your own children?

I think what got me was the mum who declared that she forgot to 'feed her children' while appearing to have never once forgot to feed herself - they needed a wide angle lens to get all of her in shot!

I can only assume a member og that 'vast right wing conspiracy' we are told exists infiltrated the firm that made this nonsense. 

Now Do 'Men Becoming Women', Teachers...

 It's become a pre-Christmas tradition, someone telling small children there's no Father Christmas and outrage ensuing. And this year is no different....

A city school is under investigation after a teacher allegedly ruined Christmas by telling pupils 'Santa is not real'. The remark was said to have been made at Greenbrae Primary School in Aberdeen during a lesson on All Saints' Day.

'Under investigation'? Serioiusly? By whom?  

It caused upset among nine and 10-year-old students who had asked a series of questions about saints, including St Nicholas - also known as Father Christmas.

Sorry, but at that age, they should be well aware that there's no Father Bloody Christmas!  

A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council said: 'We are aware that a group of primary six pupils engaged in a conversation about All Saints' Day, which led to some children posing questions about other saints, including St Nicholas. 

'Families can be assured that investigation learnings have been shared to support our staff to help navigate sensitive discussions.

Guess you forgot to add that one into the list, along with 'Why does daddy wear a dress?' and 'Why does Mummy have a special lady friend she drinks gin in the aftetnoon with' eh?   

'The council values the magic and joy of the festive season (Ed: clearly not enough to call it what it is!) and appreciates the small number of parents and carers who brought their concerns to us.'

Bet that was typed reluctantly and with gritted teeth!  

Advertising (Double) Standards

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has stepped in to reverse a ban on adverts on the London transport network calling for abortion to be decriminalised.

Yes Reader, the same Sadiq Khan who previously banned swimwear adverts... 

It is understood that the mayor is seeking an “urgent review” of a Transport for London (TfL) decision to ban the adverts from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) charity on the grounds they may bring the Metropolitan police into disrepute.

As if that were possible.... 

The campaign posters feature the anonymised stories of real women who have been investigated by police and in some cases prosecuted after a termination or pregnancy loss.

The decision to ban the ads came despite TfL previously allowing pro-choice campaign material on buses across London, sponsored by Doctors for Choice and Abortion Talk and featuring the slogan “abortion is healthcare, not a crime”.

But the very law of our land states that under some circumstances, it can indeed be a crime. 

But then, it appears a bit of killing goes down well at TfL's advertising department:

Last year, campaign material on assisted dying from Dignity in Dying was also approved to run on the network, including in Westminster tube station.

What a wretched organisation, happy to flaunt its inversion of societal norms while it fleeces the customer blind. 

Dorset Police Fail To Read The Room

 When they geo flack from commenters and the public for sacking an officer for being 'insufficiently respectful' to the knife wielding teenager he was arresting, the PR Team evidently decided that if they released the video, the public would see sense and get behind them.

Well, to quote Vivian in 'Pretty Woman': "Big Mistake. HUGE!"

First the barrage of comments pointing out that's exactly how we, the public, want to see teen thugs treated:

And now, the fundraiser:

None of this will , of course, change minds at HQ, they will cling to their College Of Policing indoctrinated view of what the public are supposed to want from their police and ignore reality in favour of that

But Maybe It Isn't, Maybe You Actually Are..?

A poster spotted on Upminster Station. What do you notice about it? 

No, not that, that's only to be expected in modern advertising these days. No, I meant the automatic assumption that there's a hidden reality behind the claim, and that it's always a lie. But is it? And does it help to try to persuade people of that, when it might simply be accurate, and the person is overqualified? 

It's being pushed by a Lottery Money-funded fakecharity, of course, so you'll see it popping up everywhere, no doubt.

And What Did It All Cost?

I'd completely forgotten about this fiasco until this article in the 'Guardian' reminded me!

C’mon Abrdn, abndn the silly name, urged this column and many others when Standard Life Aberdeen decided to shorten its name to that of the granite city, just without three-quarters of the vowels. Now – four years and one chief executive later – the nonsense has been stopped. Aberdeen it is, albeit the group still can’t manage an upper case “A”.

What an absolute joke. Thankfully, a new broom swept clean. 

“One of the easiest decisions I have ever had to make,” said its new boss, Jason Windsor, undoing the handiwork of his predecessor, Stphn Brd. One doesn’t doubt it.

Quite! 

Abrdn executives seem to have spent half their time explaining the pronunciation, or inviting fresh ridicule by grumbling about the wicked media’s “childish jokes”.

And still it took a new guy in the Big Seat to junk the idiocy. 

Other companies take note: if you have to ask how to pronounce a new name, you’ve got the wrong one. The only exception is Relx, the brilliantly performing (and two syllable) analytics business that is now the UK’s fifth largest listed company.

Never heard of it! 

Not Sure This Is The Win You Think It Is, O2...

As part of their Databank promotion, where they gouge their existing customers like me to then make consessions for the 'data poor', they are sending out emails thanking you for being an (un)willing donor with a spinning selection of the people you've 'helped'...like this one.

 

You know, O2, if it's all the same to you, I would far rather not help more fake refugees to come here.

The Main Surprise Here...

...is that at least the seminar was run by someone who really was an expert in the subject! 

The 51-year-old sent scores of 'sexually suggestive' texts commenting on the woman's 'sexy' body and requesting sex, even though she told him she was in a relationship and asked him to stop. She complained in August 2022 after discovering that Mr Broadway was leading a seminar with a discussion about inappropriate workplace messaging.

And he produced all his own material too!  

The talk was one of a series held by the Gwent Police as part of efforts to rebuild trust in the police after Ms Everard's murder in 2021 by Scotland Yard officer Wayne Couzens.

Safe to say, 'Epic FAIL!' there, Gwent cops. 

In May 2023, a second woman came forward with complaints about Mr Broadway, who was then suspended on full pay. A third complainant emerged later.

So, he was sacked? Well, no.  

A Gwent Police spokesman said: 'The hearing chair found the former staff member would have been dismissed had he not resigned from his position ahead of the hearing.'

To ensure he kept his pension. I thought they were trying to stop this happening? 

But It's Not A Person...

...so it's nothing of the sort. Any more than winding up a company is 'murder'. Good grief, it's like saying if my auntie had balls she'd be my uncle (if that's even a saying that's still valid these days).

It is a global company with more than two centuries of managing money but for Abrdn jokes in the media about the lack of vowels in its name is no laughing matter. After changing its name three years ago, an executive at the fund manager formerly known as Standard Life Aberdeen has accused the media of “corporate bullying” that would not be acceptable if the business was a person.

Good grief! 

“Would you do that with an individual? How would you look at a person who makes fun of your name day-in day-out? It’s probably not ethical to do it. But apparently with companies it is different,” he added.

Has he forgotten the artist formerly known as Prince then? He got tons of stick! As did Snoop Dog when he requested a name change to Snoop Lion. 

...it settled on Abrdn in the spring of 2021, prompting scorn from City analysts, linguists and the press, who joked the company was experiencing “irritable vowel syndrome”, and was trying to be “too cool for schl”, and that the decision was “rlly stpd”.

All very amusing.  

Doesn't Cambridgeshire Nick Have Access To A Dictionary?

If they do have one, they might find it useful to look up the word 'deterrant':

Campaigners have accused police of 'caring more about protecting a predator than women' after they refused to name or picture a depraved pervert who they fear is a 'risk to women'.

Cambridgeshire Police said a man in his 30s, from Peterborough, has been slapped with a Sexual Risk Order after displaying 'very concerning and escalating' behaviour over a number of years. This includes paying sex workers to pander to his fetishes such as licking his boots while he performs sexual acts on himself. During one incident, a woman was forced to assault the predator to escape.

I'm only surprised they didn't charge her with something... 

While the order now bans him from entering a specific area of Peterborough city centre between 7pm and 7am for the next two years, police have refused to identify him to the public.

Can't be expected to do any work if no-one can tell you he's breached it, eh? Well played, lazy cops, well played... 

When MailOnline quizzed the police force about how anyone would recognise the pervert, they said: 'While no court order was made to prohibit the naming of the man, we have chosen not to release this information as we do not believe it is proportionate given he has not been convicted of any criminal offences and the [Sexual Risk Order] was intended as a deterrent.'

It's no such thing if no-one knows who to watch out for, is it? 

 Here, look it up! 

People might wonder why you put out a press release at all, if it's worse than useless...

The force said the purpose of their press release about the man was 'for public information and to highlight the action taken by the local Neighbourhood Policing Team'.

Ah, I see. You wanted the kudos of having 'done something' without realising it made you look like a partisan laughing stock.  

Rebranding Of The Year!

 Anyone who read imported American comics in the Seventies will remember these ads: 

I never fell for it, as I kew only too well just what these little (admittedly fascinating) critters actually were.  

Well, get ready for more disappointment from your children should you buy a certain German supermarket's latest offering: 

Sorry kids, they don't look like dragons either!

But The Bad News Is...

...now the Advertising Standards Authority wants a word about the labelling!

Not As Ridiculous As Calling Him ‘She’…

'Isn't it ridiculous,' asks a caption beside Steph Richards's photo on the charity's handouts, 'that I've got to my 40s before any medical professionals even mentioned endometriosis?'

At this point, I should point out that Steph isn't actually in her 40s: she's 71. And if no one discussed endometriosis with her when she was younger, the most likely explanation is that she's a trans woman and doesn't have a womb.

Then why are you going along with this utter nonsense and calling him 'she' and 'her'? 

Because we're talking about medical conditions that can be life-changing, sometimes with fatal consequences, I think it's important to use clear language. Steph Richards is not biologically female. However, I'm going to use her preferred pronouns and refer to her as she, since I fervently believe everyone has a right to live any way they choose - provided that it's not at the expense of other vulnerable groups.

If we continue this fiction out of politeness, we deserve all we get. We'll just get more fiction. We can argue, as Tim does, that we don't require a head of a charity to be the thing that the charity campaigns for, but that's rather missing the point. 

Why would this man be hired? Because he's a great fundraiser? Maybe. But if not, then he's a token, a sticker that says 'Look, we support trans rights!'. And anyone with any self respect wouldn't want to be in that position, surely?

When Is Empty Virtue Signalling Not 'Appropriate'..?

Ah. I see. And I can guess we can draw our own conclusions as to why not...

England fans have also been warned that Israeli flags will be ripped off them at the turnstiles as the FA - which has been branded as 'spineless' by Jewish supporter groups - faces questions over its slow response to the terror attacks by Hamas. The Three Lions boss said that he recognised how 'difficult' the FA's decision was, and that while he was not involved in the discussions, he and his squad will get behind the stance which comes with 'good intentions'.

You do know which road you're on, then, Gareth? 

Lord Mann said that the 'FA have let down the Jewish community', adding: 'It's a failure of leadership at the top of football and their arguments to Parliament about a football regulator and not needing one or that the FA should be the regulator are dramatically weakened by it.'

It should scupper any chance they had. But since the government is equally weak and spineless, it probably won't. 

Probably Not, No...

...because it's just as much a manufactured production as any of their others, and none of those are very convincing, are they?

Not Courting Controversy - Yr Doin' It Wrong...

“It’s a funny thing,” admits Elizabeth Winkler. “I don’t really like controversy. I don’t seek it out. There are some people that thrive on it and I don’t.”

Who's she? Apparently, a 33-year-old American journalist and book critic, who holds English literature degrees from Princeton and Stanford universities, writes for the Wall Street Journal newspaper and the New Yorker magazine. And she's got a book out! 

What's it about? Glad you asked, Reader...

The subject in question is perhaps the final blasphemy of British culture: the theory that William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon might not have written Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and other plays and poems that bear his name.

And it's titled 'Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies'...

Her book makes three compelling arguments: tying the authorship question to the rise and fall of imperial Britain and its need for national mythmaking; exploring how Shakespeare was turned into a secular god, with theatre filling the vacuum left by the decline of the church; and challenging the basic human need to cling to belief when doubt might be the proper response.

None of that shocking at all, when one considers the source...