Patrick Atack
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patricvk.bsky.social
Patrick Atack
@patricvk.bsky.social
Editor of 3 online trade mags

Ship, Railway and Airport Technology[dot]com

Send me news: patrick.atack@globaldata.com
Reposted by Patrick Atack
Every time I'm in a restaurant I remember Kevin McAleer's reply to a waiter who told him the Soup Of The Day.

"Where there any other contenders?"
"Um, no?"
"A hollow victory, then".
December 19, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
My top five favourite words to pronounce like they’re Greek philosophers…
 
5. Monocles
4. Bicycles
3. Popsicles
2. Obstacles
1. Testicles
December 18, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
TL;DR: Russia has decided that the UK is Russia's enemy, and there's nothing we can do to change that as long as Putin is in power. The choice is whether to be an undefeated enemy or a defeated one. That's all the choice we get.
December 18, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
Europe peace plan for Ukraine supported by leaders of

Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, UK plus EU
December 15, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Great question!

And supplementary: Have they read any Victorian cannon?

Because "far more interested in telling you how to live" is much how much of that moralistic period of life and literature went.
Has this person read a single Sally Rooney novel?

www.spiked-online.com/2025/11/15/s...
December 12, 2025 at 12:47 PM
The first local trains in Manchester are just a year away from becoming part of the Bee Network (still operates by Northern). @andyburnham.bsky.social led an event unveiling the livery today at Manchester Piccadilly. #BeeNetwork
December 11, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
I’ve posted this before but the light was perfect today- a little Victorian cat paw in a brick at the front of the old Norfolk & Norwich Hospital. As this is on the front-facing corner of the main gates, the bricklayer quite clearly put it there on purpose, at a height where children would spot it.
December 10, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Oh mate. Of all the things to get worked up about.

You can't call it UK Rail because it's not operating in Northern Ireland.
You can't call it British Rail because the public perception of the old system is v bad.

It's really not that deep.
December 11, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
December 8, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Absolutely definitely not an "ad break".

Can't wait to see a "hydration break" in Seattle, when it's pissing down. It'll be fun to hear the explanation there
News: Every 2026 World Cup match will feature two "hydration breaks," no matter the weather.

Each half will pause for exactly three minutes midway through.

It's a player welfare measure. It also has sporting & commercial implications.

More @theathleticfc.bsky.social:
2026 World Cup to feature three-minute hydration breaks in every half throughout tournament
Every game will pause for three minutes in the middle of each half, which will essentially split the match into quarters.
www.nytimes.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
Graham Norton should be commentating this World Cup draw.
December 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Though it does presume that in your 20's you have money to save. I dunno I spent the majority of mine trying to make rent work, in London, on meagre media salaries. Saving was a fun idea but not a massively practical one until genuinely just a few years ago.
This is why it is good that financial literacy is going to be taught in schools. On average, if you are 20, you should save in an index fund and not worry about it for decades, and he should know this!
Josh Hall, 20, is 'worried' about how the cash ISA allowance cut announced in Wednesday’s Budget will affect his long-term savings plans

#Read More: trib.al/UPCzygg
November 29, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Headline on The World at One just now:

"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".

Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
Yes. It may well have the effect of increasing conviction rates (case-hardened judges may be more likely to convict than juries), but that’s not the motivation. It’s cost-cutting.
November 26, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Yep - in my many London shared house/flat experiences, one that I recall most fondly was a dreadful house in Bow. But it had a living room! So at least we could relax together and chat about the various issues/awfulness. I can barely remember some of the others...
November 26, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
this is roughly where I’m at right now. there are lots of ways to lose in Australia. for years england have chosen the slow, boring, psychologically devastating way. maybe give the rapid, spectacular, don’t-give-a-fuck way a fair crack first
November 26, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.

They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
What a mighty, mighty performer. For all the pressure and shit in this world, I'm so thankful for the likes of Jimmy.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSWv...
Jimmy Cliff - You Can Get It If You Really Want - Glastonbury 2011
YouTube video by dicka101
www.youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:51 PM
What horses? Horses with men on? In the distance, looking menacing? I don't know what you mean
November 18, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
A good eg of the financial reality facing Reform in local govt

Durham is looking at hiking parking charges and permits, litter picking/weed killing/summer planting reductions and the “rationalisation” of libraries, leisure centres and tips, as it tries to hold down council tax

on.ft.com/4oPaVvI
Reform council cuts back on litter picking and gardening in bid to fill shortfall
[FREE TO READ] The measures underline the financial realities facing the party after its first six months in local government
on.ft.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
Doesn’t matter. “Starmer and Mahmood wanted to take jewellery from asylum seekers” is a mark those two will never be able to wash off and which the party as a whole will have to put in onerous work to remove.
My guess is they will end up u-turning on the jewellery thing (you can already see it being softening in interviews) and possibly the 20 years (which is way longer than Denmark).
November 17, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
BBC Under Attack: Pot and Kettle Special

The new Private Eye is out now.
November 12, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Big Book Landlord pubs are absolutely always better pubs.
WALKED INTO A DIFFERENT PUB TODAY AND THE LOVELY MAN BEHIND THE BAR JUST LOOKED AT HIS BIG BOOK AND LET ME MAKE A ROOM RESERVATION JUST WITH A NAME AND NUMBER, SUCK IT "THE FUTURE"
November 13, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
NEW via CNN: “The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal”
Exclusive: UK suspends some intelligence sharing with US over boat strike concerns in major break | CNN Politics
The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes ...
www.cnn.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Patrick Atack
Sami Hamdi to be freed from US immigration detention
Sami Hamdi to be freed from US immigration detention
Sami Hamdi, a British journalist and outspoken critic of Israel, has been in ICE custody for weeks.
www.bbc.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:55 AM