Best Of

Per Telegraph:
"Benefit claimants could receive free television licences under sweeping BBC reforms being considered by Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary."
So the actual license payer will not just be stumping up for Trump's amour propre

Why not just give everyone a free TV licence?

That's the 'fund from general taxation' option. Then like schools, hospitals etc it's free at the point of delivery.

Latest logic in PPE land:

1. Everyone under 25, just about, is a NEET - a whole generation does nothing. Life on benefits until they make state pension if they do thanks to all the pizza consumption.

2. No one under 25 watches TV

3. Let's give TV licence for free to people on benefits.

Telegraph though. They don't report they create.

Shame about the Telegraph. Used to be reliable if you could stomach the politics. Now it's about as reliable as The Star, and a lot less fun.

Per Telegraph:
"Benefit claimants could receive free television licences under sweeping BBC reforms being considered by Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary."
So the actual license payer will not just be stumping up for Trump's amour propre

Why not just give everyone a free TV licence?

That's the 'fund from general taxation' option. Then like schools, hospitals etc it's free at the point of delivery.

Latest logic in PPE land:

1. Everyone under 25, just about, is a NEET - a whole generation does nothing. Life on benefits until they make state pension if they do thanks to all the pizza consumption.

2. No one under 25 watches TV

3. Let's give TV licence for free to people on benefits.

Telegraph though. They don't report they create.

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Just had the interesting experience of being present for a rare political discussion among a couple of my older relatives, which gave me a different peception on things. Key details included:

• The government is deliberately trying to destroy the NHS (reasons unclear)
  
• Politicians don't care about old people (that's news to me)
  
• Older people should not have to pay tax (naturally)
  
• Colonel Gaddafi did a lot of good actually (ok, that was a surprising inclusion)
  
• Roads used to be better (might be true for all I know)
  

Interesting indeed. I'm old and I wouldn't agree with any of those (except to say I know little of Col. Gaddafi and for all I know he may have been a genial chap to his friends).

After Gaddafi rather a lot of Libyans migrated to the U.K…

Wasn't Stalin supposed to be a doting uncle or similar?

Stalin became Uncle Joe as soon as Hitler invaded and the USSR became our besties.

Ah, I'd forgotten the 'Uncle Joe' title, but I thought I'd read he was genuinely fond of children, or animals, or something very touchy-feely; which somehow made up for all the mass slaughter.

Stalin was ladykiller when young, and a complete party animal.

He graduated to killing ladies (and gents) on an epic scale. And used parties as a kind of punishment for his coterie - force people who didn’t like drinking to drink etc

I don't remember hearing about that. Maybe my recollection about the other things is quite wrong then.

His pre-revolution exploits would make a pretty good film. Handsome, reckless, a criminal with a cause. I'm amazed no-ones done it.

I have a cake in the oven, which is nice.

Also, Brent crude is below $60 for the first time since early 2021. If course the Russians have to sell at a discount, although so much of their oil is floating in tablets on the ocean that it looks like they are struggling to find buyers, even at a discount.

What is the breakeven POO for Russia?

It depends.

There is a big difference between the fully loaded cost of oil, and the immediate cash cost.

Russia's cash cost of oil is probably around $35.

The fully loaded cost, when you include capital expenditure required to maintain production, is probably going toi be north of $75, and may well be nearer to $90, given a lack of access to Western equipment suppliers.

Which creates a bit of fucked up dynamic for Moscow: they don't have many other generators of foreign currency, so the more the oil price falls, the more they have to sell, despite the fact that it's below the fully loaded cost of production.

@George_Osborne
Hi, some personal news - I’m changing job. I recently asked myself the question: what’s the most exciting and promising company in the world right now? The answer I believe is OpenAI. So it’s a privilege to be going to work for OpenAI as managing director and head of OpenAI for countries, based here in London. In my conversations with Sam Altman, Brad Lightcap, and other senior colleagues, it’s clear they are exceptionally impressive leaders and that they care very deeply about their mission to ensure the power of artificial intelligence is developed responsibly, and the benefits are felt by all. That’s exactly what the OpenAI for Countries initiative intends to achieve, helping societies around the world share the opportunity this powerful technology brings. Am honorored to join the team.

Narrator: Last week Osborne failed to secure the chairmanship of HSBC.

Just to be clear, we used to get this man's skills and efforts for about £200k a year. Theresa May did a lot of incredibly stupid and damaging things but driving Osborne out of politics was arguably the most damaging.

Jeremy Hunt, a former Chancellor himself, commended Osborne for pinning blame for the GFC on Labour but said the politician he'd most changed his mind about was the ‘brilliant’ Gordon Brown.