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Analysis | Is There Anything More British Than ‘The Queue’?

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Analysis | Is There Anything More British Than ‘The Queue’?


In his essay on the English folks, George Orwell remarked that any international observer can be struck by their orderly conduct and particularly “the willingness to kind queues.” It’s a kind of British stereotypes that’s come to thoughts in current days, because the mom of all queues lengthens and snakes alongside the south financial institution of the Thames river. 

As many as 750,000 folks had been anticipated to journey to London forward of the state funeral for the late Queen Elizabeth II on Monday. Queues started forming days earlier on the other facet of the Thames from the historic Westminster Corridor, the place her coffin lies elevated on a catafalque. By Thursday late afternoon, the road was almost 4.3 miles (7 kilometers) lengthy.

We all know all this as a result of there’s an official stay queue tracker, which studies the size and the common time to vacation spot at a pace of roughly 0.5 miles per hour. 

These standing in line obtain wristbands to mark their place. There are “additional welfare amenities” (learn: bogs) and water fountains to alleviate the discomforts of slowly shuffling alongside all through the day and evening. There’s additionally detailed steerage on what to deliver (meals, water), what to not deliver (flasks, tenting gear, giant luggage) and tips on how to behave. There’s loads of safety, not that it appears mandatory up to now, whereas archival footage of the queen is proven on a big display screen. Volunteer religion leaders are readily available to assist mourners course of what they’re experiencing. Not even Disneyland, with its celebrated queue-management methods, can match this.

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That so many got here from up to now to attend so lengthy for such a quick have a look at the late monarch’s coffin will strike many all over the world as curious and a few as extreme. Folks took days off work and pulled kids out of college. They aren’t ready for the most recent iPhone, however for an opportunity to pay their respects to somebody most of them have by no means met.

Most People are likely to disdain lengthy strains. “It was unimaginable,” texted a good friend as she returned dwelling from a visit to London amid the journey chaos this summer season. “Took me two hours to get into Heathrow and other people had been simply tolerant and dutiful. Would by no means occur within the US. People can be irate and there can be chaos.” 

For the rugged individualist, queues typically really feel like a poor use of time, counsel unhealthy group and appear testomony to a herd mindset. They are often uncomfortable in case you’re carrying the incorrect footwear or don’t have toilet entry. Within the early ‘90s, I misplaced all feeling in my toes after standing in line in minus 20 diploma Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) temperatures to purchase a number of necessities at a generic Moscow grocery retailer. 

But all of us queue as an unavoidable means to an finish — to get via airport safety or onto a ski raise or right into a museum exhibition. I fortunately waited in a protracted line one February to buy a spectacular scorching chocolate at a stand in Paris. However I’ve by no means accomplished something like what a whole lot of hundreds of Britons and guests are doing proper now. It takes a sure stoicism, humility and willpower to drop every part and be a part of that. Within the endless debate about whether or not there’s such a factor as society, right here appears hefty proof of it.  

Orwell wasn’t incorrect; there’s something to the British popularity as queue-tolerant, which some date again to the economic revolution and others to wartime rationing. Correct queuing is so synonymous with frequent decency that when the UK arrange its first citizenship check in 2010, tips on how to kind an excellent queue was on it. When former Prime Minister Boris Johnson needed to defend his coverage of sending refugees to Rwanda, he accused male refugees of “paying folks smugglers to queue leap.” 

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However the popularity of a nation keen to face in line — the Brit who joins the again of a queue earlier than asking what it’s for — is usually overblown. Sure, Brits wait in line in a single day for Wimbledon tickets, however People camp out for tickets to a Duke College basketball sport. Brits had been as livid in regards to the journey chaos as anybody, as they made clear on social media. Even current studies that Tesco buyers most popular to queue than to make use of the self-checkout turned out to be overblown. 

These queuing to view the Queen describe many motives: to be a part of a novel second within the lengthy lifetime of Britain, to precise gratitude and to pay their respects. The deaths of different historic figures have drawn large-scale public gatherings previously, however nothing fairly like this.

About 200,000 got here to pay their respects to the Queen Mom in 2002. Greater than 300,000 handed via Westminster Corridor to pay tribute to George VI in 1952. A was an analogous flip out to honor Britain’s wartime chief Winston Churchill — the wait was about three hours and the road was a couple of mile lengthy. Some 250,000 People waited so long as 10 hours to witness John F. Kennedy’s lying-in-state. About 100,000 mourners paid homage to the late South African President, Nobel peace laureate and world-changer Nelson Mandela, with many dissatisfied they had been prevented from doing so. I’m setting apart the communist figures of Mao and Lenin. 

By all accounts, the vibe amongst these ready to pay their respects is solemn, neighborly, expectant, joyful, sorrowful and, above all, decided. Folks made new associates, stood in silence or chatted. No person appeared in any doubt that the wait was value it. These rising from the historic corridor describe the expertise as visceral.

FOMO apart, how keen would you be to affix a queue stretching some 5 miles and lasting as much as 30 hours? For those who requested me a number of weeks in the past, the reply would have been swift. Now, I’m not so certain. However I’m glad there are such a lot of who don’t hesitate.

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This column doesn’t essentially mirror the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its house owners.

Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion protecting well being care and British politics. Beforehand, she was editorial web page editor of the Wall Road Journal Europe.

Extra tales like this can be found on bloomberg.com/opinion



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Washington football legend Darrell Green reminds us of the burgundy and golden days of RFK – WTOP News

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Washington football legend Darrell Green reminds us of the burgundy and golden days of RFK – WTOP News


Who did the Washington Commanders turn to when they started a public relations push to secure the new RFK stadium? Darrell Green, of course.

Who did the Washington Commanders turn to when they started a public relations push to secure the new RFK stadium? No. 28, of course.

Hall of Fame defensive back Darrell Green is the star of a new social media video from the Commanders that shows the burgundy and golden days from RFK, along with shots from different areas of D.C.

As you see famous moments from RFK, including the legendary stadium shaking from fans jumping up and down, you hear Green saying things like: “To be together at RFK is to know we in this city are part of something bigger,” and, “For 40 years, I’ve seen so much greatness in the District.”

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As you watch the video and listen to the 1983 first-round draft pick, who played every season of his 20-year career for the burgundy and gold, you are reminded how special that stadium was and how successful the team used to be during their 36 seasons at 2400 East Capitol Street SE.

You might think to yourself, is it just the nostalgia making me feel that way? No, the numbers don’t lie.

Washington’s record at RFK was 162 wins, 101 losses and three ties. At Northwest Stadium, previously FedExField, the record stands at 106 wins, 119 losses and one tie.

Those numbers do include playoff games.

In the 12 playoff games at RFK, Washington only lost one. In comparison, at the team’s current stadium, Washington has only won one of its four playoff games.

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The Commanders put Green front and center in their PR push to counter the loud forces that are against the new stadium and the proposed $1.1 billion D.C. investment for the RFK Stadium redevelopment project.

Local groups such as Homes Not Stadiums are encouraging D.C. residents to attend the D.C. Council hearing on the stadium proposal on July 29.

Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen also went to social media to encourage people to make their voices heard at the meeting.

“Listen, we know this deal is not good and has to change,” Allen said. “$1.1 billion is a starting point, which is the second highest in history of a stadium subsidy.”

So it seems once again the owners of Washington’s football team are counting on the ageless wonder to win one more for old D.C. at RFK.

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© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.



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Washington Post Publisher Seeks to Crush Newsroom Dissent | Press Watch

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Washington Post Publisher Seeks to Crush Newsroom Dissent | Press Watch


Embattled Washington Post publisher Will Lewis’s my-way-or-the-highway memo to staff on Wednesday threatens to destroy what’s left of the newsroom’s talent pool – and reputation.

The memo urges “those who do not feel aligned with the company’s plan” to take an immediate buyout and leave. Those who remain, Lewis write, must “be united as a team with a strong belief and passion in where we are heading.”

It’s probably one of the worst memos every written by a publisher, for countless reasons – starting with the fact that Lewis notably does not have a plan and nobody knows where he’s heading.

The man has been a cipher, hiding from the newsroom, and the memo is characteristically full of buzzwords that signify nothing.

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He writes of having made the Post “more appealing to, and trusted by, today’s audiences” – a ridiculous and unsubstantiated boast.

He writes of “launching new, engaging product improvements such as From the Source.” “From the Source” is a tiny pilot project that allows certain sources in news stories to add comments as annotations. It’s hardly a showpiece.

And he writes of “embracing AI rapidly across all of our workflows,” whatever the heck that means, and it can’t be good.

So in the absence of anything remotely like a recognizable journalistic strategy, what Lewis is basically asking for is a pledge of loyalty to him personally — a promise not to complain, no matter what he does next.

And that’s particularly inappropriate given the fact that he is, on a personal level, a morally bankrupt figure — having been hip-deep in the 2011 cover-up of Rupert Murdoch’s massive phone-hacking scandal. (Lewis, a Brit, cut his teeth working for the right-wing publishing magnate.)

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After being hired as Post publisher in 2023 — to almost everyone’s astonishment – Lewis tried to cover up his role in the cover-up, pressuring former top editor Sally Buzbee not to run a story about his involvement then forcing her out after she defied him. Then he tried to bribe NPR reporter David Folkenflik into dropping his story about the allegation.

To say that Lewis has failed to win over the newsroom is an understatement. Back in March, two of the newspaper’s most respected alumni felt obliged to intervene on behalf of the staff, begging Post owner Jeff Bezos to fire Lewis. There was no response.

Another enormous problem with the memo is that trying to purge a newsroom of complainers is a great way to get rid of your best reporters and editors. Many – though not all – great journalists are notoriously cynical. They question everything. And they don’t check their brains at the door when it comes to their own institution.

Getting rid of people who question newsroom policy is a great way to both lose talented journalists and, in the absence of internal pushback, make really bad decisions.

And perhaps worst of all, those who stay will now be forever tarnished as enablers and sycophants.

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Oh, wait, one more thing: The memo is smarmy as hell, full of insincerity like “If you choose to move away from The Post, thank you for all your contributions, and I truly wish you the best of luck.” It’s an insult to anyone receiving it.

All in all, it’s  a recipe for disaster. And it comes after several other disasters that have led to numerous resignations and mass subscriber loss.

In October, hundreds of thousands of readers canceled their subscriptions after news broke that Bezos had ordered the editorial board not to endorse Kamala Harris for president, as they intended to do.

Then in February, Bezos announced a directive that the Post’s editorial pages would henceforth promote “personal liberties and free markets” and would refuse to publish pieces opposing those principles. Several top editorial-page editors and columnists fled soon after.

And over the last year, other publications – notably including the Atlantic, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and CNN  – have picked off much of the newsroom’s marquee talent.

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The New Yorker in May reasonably asked the question: “Is Jeff Bezos Selling Out the Washington Post?”

What’s left in the Washington Post is not nothing. Some reporters continue to do excellent work, despite the circumstances.

But I fear this memo will drive even more of the best people away, while demoralizing those who remain even further.

Simply put, the Washington Post, as I’ve written before, has no future as an independent news organization as long as Jeff Bezos owns it – and as long as Lewis remains publisher.

This new memo suggests that Lewis is confident in his position, and that’s maybe the worst part of it all.

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Possible sighting of Washington man wanted in the deaths of his 3 daughters prompts search in Idaho

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Possible sighting of Washington man wanted in the deaths of his 3 daughters prompts search in Idaho


BOISE — Federal authorities in Idaho are following up on a possible sighting over the weekend of a Washington state man wanted in connection with the deaths of his three daughters.

The U.S. Marshals Service Greater Idaho Fugitive Task Force said it had received a tip Saturday from a family recreating near a camping area in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest that they saw a man whose description was consistent with that of Travis Decker.

Decker has been wanted since June 2, when a sheriff’s deputy in Washington found his truck and the bodies of his three daughters – 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker – at a campground outside Leavenworth, Washington. The discovery came three days after he failed to return the girls to their mother’s home in Wenatchee, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Seattle, following a scheduled visit.

Authorities in Washington on June 10 said they believed they’d spotted Decker, a former soldier, near a remote alpine lake in a popular backpacking area in the Cascade Range. Tracking teams followed up on a tip from hikers who reported seeing a lone hiker who appeared to be ill-prepared for the conditions.

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But he has not been found.

Eric Toms, supervisory deputy U.S. Marshal with the District of Boise, said the agency was receiving more tips from the public following the statement the task force released Sunday. Toms in an email said the agency was evaluating each tip and that a search team involving the marshals service, the U.S. Forest Service and the Camas County Sheriff’s Office set out Monday.

He said authorities planned to speak with local residents and people camping or recreating in the area. He said Decker has a history of hitchhiking and encouraged motorists to not pick up any hitchhikers.

Toms said search efforts Monday were being conducted by air and on the ground, including by dirt bike. He didn’t have any additional information to immediately release.

The forest area is nearly 600 miles (965 kilometers) from the lake where authorities were searching last month.

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Jason Knight, who is the director, co-founder and an instructor at Alderleaf Wilderness College in Monroe, Washington, described the terrain in the region where authorities were searching as rugged and challenging, with often significant temperature variations between day and night.

In the summer months, it’s possible to forage and fish, and if someone is trying to avoid attention, they might raid campground sites or search trash cans outside of towns, he said.

The Marshals Service is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to Decker’s capture.

Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.



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