On topic, I don't think that abolishing the cap on bankers' bonuses will have much effect. Many of the investment bankers I know have found creative ways around the cap, as everybody knew they would (and doubtless most of the rest have, they just don't want to talk about it), so abolishing it probably won't have much effect either way. What it may have done is drive a few bankers to New York or Asia, though I haven't looked into that to see if that has happened, and the effect is doubtless pretty small. On balance, when rules aren't having much effect except to stimulate dodgy behaviour on the margins, I'd say it's best to get rid of them.
But, as usual with things Brexit, I don't think that either the most optimistic or the most pessimistic predictions will come to pass.
I know nothing about this issue, but the FT piece on it had some quotes from banks (US ones) that said overturning the cap would make the decision to relocate workers to the UK an easier one.
We want to make banking an even bigger sector of the UK economy, so it controls political decision-making even more, and the next crash is worse?
Good thing there's no saying about eggs and singular baskets.
Quite. That Cabinet, as one of us observed recently, is very much balanced towards the banking and finance interest (no pun intended).
I don’t have a problem with unlimited bankers’ bonuses as long as they sign up for unlimited personal liability.
And what if the bankers are like the doctors? If we pay them too much, they will retire early and we will lose the benefit of their services. May even be a banker shortage.
What a tragedy that would be.
Imagine if the people I've been dealing with at Virgin Money retired early.
How would we manage without a bunch of idiots who can't write a grammatical email, answer a telephone inquiry, keep sensitive documents correctly or indeed even open and manage a simple account?
I think that the workers in the call centre rarely get million pound bonuses.
Finland alone would crush Russian forces. Lithuania/Poland would smother Kaliningrad in a week. Russian Navy hiding behind Crimea even though Ukraine has no Navy.
Of course Ukraine has a f***ing navy.
Give it a few months and they’ll have a much bigger one. Based out of Sevastopol.
They were at Sevastopol until 2014, alongside the much bigger Russian navy. Can you see the Russian navy leaving Sevastopol without the war turning nuclear?
What target would Russia nuke and how would it improve their strategic position?
You don't believe in nukes as a deterrent then? Kiev? NATO capital cities? Cue escalation with mega-destruction and large losses on both sides.
Losing Sevastopol completely so that a Ukraine in NATO could welcome in the US navy (and screw the Montreux convention) would mark a major change in the balance of power.
What's the scenario for Russia being forced to cede Sevastopol without reaching for the nukes and hello WW3? That's what I'd like to know.
This could be an interesting discussion. Sevastopol is a much bigger prize than the Donbas.
If Putin tried to suggest to his high command that it was appropriate to use nuclear weapons (he cannot do it on his own) he knows he will be removed from power faster than a retreating "elite" Russian soldier on the Ukrainian front line.
Stop scaremongering, you just make yourself look like a Putin paid troll.
"look like" ...
What a pair of idiots you both are, in effect screaming "Enemy agent!" (or is it "Non-believer"? - can you even distinguish?) when somebody suggests that aiming to conquer the main base of nuclear-armed Russia's Black Sea fleet might trigger a nuclear response. Kenny Everett and all true patriots realised all along that the other side's nuclear arsenal was a paper tiger, right?
I wouldn't want either of you bug-eyed loons on my side in a conflict - you can't consider possible consequences.
Interestingly (and scarily) the understanding that right-wingers here are showing of the different roads along which this war might develop has plummeted since February.
But that's enough counter-insults from me. This is a site where people discuss probabilities of eventualities, yes?
Here's a question then.
What's the probability of nuclear war breaking out between Russia and the West before say the end of next year?
From the top of my head (because who really knows?): 30% and rising.
What are the chances of Russian nuclear weapons working as planned?
Very low.
Nuclear weapons require a lot of maintenance. Plutonium and highly enriched Uranium is, by its very nature, throwing off a ton of radiation as it decays. (If it wasn't unstable like this, it'd be a bloody awful weapon.)
Just as in nuclear power plants, this absolutely hammers the kit used to hold it. And do you really want a brittle enclosure for your nuclear warhead?
And then there's the fuel. It also tends to be very unstable and to degrade over time.
Basically, nuclear weapons are incredibly maintenance heavy.
If there's one thing we've learned from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it's the extent to which corruption has permeated the Russian army. Those stalled columns of lorries were the direct result of not doing simple maintenance.
And if you can't do simple, low cost maintenance, what chance that expensive maintenance has been done?
I would be staggered if more than 10% of Russian nuclear weapons work as planned. I think it is highly likely they would do more damage to Russia than to the West.
Putin's Generals probably know this. Their yachts came from skimping on maintenance.
So, my money is on no nuclear war. And if it did occur: well, so be it. One cannot simple accede to a bully's demands to avoid Armageddon, because that way leads to demands-upon-demands-upon-demands.
Not quite.
Enriched Uranium is a very low emitter if radiation. Plutonium is a bit higher - depends on the grade (amount of 240 mixed in with the 239). Some super grade stuff was made for nuclear torpedos, since in some subs crew slept next to the torpedoes.
The early bombs had trouble with rapidly expiring components - mostly imitators and batteries. Aging explosives were an issue.
In post 60s designs, the big issue is the Tritium. Universally the designs are boosted - a little bit of fusion from the Tritium turbo charges the fission reaction which in turn kicks of the main event (the secondary), itself containing tritium to get tings going.
The problem is that Tritium decays to Helium 3. Which is a reaction poison - it is worse than useless. And Tritium is fairly radioactive and decays quickly.
The capsule of Tritium gas in the warheads will need changing every 18 months or so - exact number depends on the design. 5 grams or so of Tritium per bomb. And Tritium is $30,000 odd per gram.
So you need frequent changes of something that is highly valuable on open market.
What could go wrong in modern Russia?
Thank you!
O/T, but I think you've been completely vindicated in your views about Roe v Wade.
The fact that Red State legislatures and Republicans politicians now have to own the laws they pass on abortion, is actually a powerful incentive not to go batshit. Previously, they could pass any laws, adopt any positions they liked, in the certain knowledge that they could not get past the Supreme Court.
Now, they have to justify themselves to the voters, and that is often uncomfortable.
And so far from striking a blow against legal abortion on demand, the Supreme Court may have struck a blow FOR it....?
From what I've seen the economy and inflation is the biggest issue for American voters and that makes this week's poor inflation data more of a blow to the Dem side than their supporters care to admit.
China has lost almost as much strategically as Russia in this war. NATO enlarged and more united. Russia shown to be a paper tiger, so the US can send more to the Pacific. More concern about defending democracy in general. Darn right they have concerns
Yes China is concerned that Putin has made authoritarianism look stupid and weak, which goes against the whole ethos of such systems that a powerful centralised government protects the people who lose their rights in return for security.
Reading between the lines, Xi is absolutely furious with Putin. LOL.
China presumably can do better in a new cold war situation than Russia can, but they don't need this shit.
I don’t have a problem with unlimited bankers’ bonuses as long as they sign up for unlimited personal liability.
And what if the bankers are like the doctors? If we pay them too much, they will retire early and we will lose the benefit of their services. May even be a banker shortage.
Many financiers do retire early, often in their thirties, having made a fortune and able to pursue other leisure interests. Look at the current cabinet for examples.
The trend to early retirement by doctors, particularly GPs, is a recent phenomenon. When I qualified in the late Eighties there were many local GPs working well into their late seventies, now rare to find one over 60. Pensions were if anything more generous back then, so it isn't a purely monetary phenomenon.
In part it was the sense of vocation and commitment, many were single-handed and did their own on call like Dr Legg in Eastenders. Times have changed, but the overly regulation and crushing supervision has destroyed that sense of vocation. I have never met a GP that regretted retiring early. Well paid it may be, but job satisfaction is very low now.
I don’t have a problem with unlimited bankers’ bonuses as long as they sign up for unlimited personal liability.
And what if the bankers are like the doctors? If we pay them too much, they will retire early and we will lose the benefit of their services. May even be a banker shortage.
Many financiers do retire early, often in their thirties, having made a fortune and able to pursue other leisure interests. Look at the current cabinet for examples.
The trend to early retirement by doctors, particularly GPs, is a recent phenomenon. When I qualified in the late Eighties there were many local GPs working well into their late seventies, now rare to find one over 60. Pensions were if anything more generous back then, so it isn't a purely monetary phenomenon.
In part it was the sense of vocation and commitment, many were single-handed and did their own on call like Dr Legg in Eastenders. Times have changed, but the overly regulation and crushing supervision has destroyed that sense of vocation. I have never met a GP that regretted retiring early. Well paid it may be, but job satisfaction is very low now.
To what extent does the lifetime allowance determine when doctors retire?
The intersection of the Annual allowance taper and the lifetime allowance is certainly a factor in the current wave of retirements, but mostly the Annual allowance taper.
The other factor is the decreasing job satisfaction. Money isn't everything.
Celtic in trouble for anti queen banners including SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS MICHAEL FAGAN
LOL
'Meanwhile, Uefa said it would not take action Rangers for defying its rules by playing God Save the King before their 3-0 defeat to Napoli at Ibrox later on Wednesday evening.'
Yes, for all @theuniondivvie seems to loathe Rangers for their sectarianism, Celtic seem rather more unpleasant.
Distance lends low information disenchantment.
Those lucky enough to enjoy your PB oeuvre need never feel distant from Glasgow's sectarian amusements.
Given PBers constant reference to me in association with Glasgow's sectarian amusements, I must assume that they're most gratified that I can fulfill their thirst for knowledge. There's certainly a big void of knowing fuck all about it that needs filling, though I do accept that there's a certain amount of eye averting.
The obvious quick win is to have NI paid on all earned income even if over retirement age.
Yes, it's absolutely baffling that that anomaly continues. And of course, the longer it's left like that, the harder it will be politically to correct. It should have been fixed under the coalition, when fewer people would have been immediately affected.
Quite why the government wants to tax me at a much lower rate than most workers is a mystery.
Obviously because they are concerned about the current demand for fine wine merchants, Richard.
Never mind the waiting lists. She’s got a strong sense of what the real priorities are for the Department.
It’s the theme of the last few days in this new cabinet. Having the right policy priorities.
Sluggish growth and investment? Lift the cap on banking bonuses Sky-high energy prices this winter? Lift the moratorium on fracking Looking to make major savings to reduce the deficit? Cut government initiatives on healthy eating
Etc.
Next they’ll be cutting funding to HMRC, again. You know, the department that collects government revenues.
Personally almost always avoid superfluous final commas. However, they ARE useful in cases of possible ambiguity.
Teddy Roosevelt got his fanny in a bit of a crack during his Presidency, by imposing "spelling reform" upon the US Government Printing Office by executive order. Which briefly made him a national laughingstock, until he rescinded his edict.
The incident became part of the Rough Rider's folklore, as testifying to his enthusiasm if NOT his judgement. But at the time, more people were laughing at TR than with him.
On topic, I don't think that abolishing the cap on bankers' bonuses will have much effect. Many of the investment bankers I know have found creative ways around the cap, as everybody knew they would (and doubtless most of the rest have, they just don't want to talk about it), so abolishing it probably won't have much effect either way. What it may have done is drive a few bankers to New York or Asia, though I haven't looked into that to see if that has happened, and the effect is doubtless pretty small. On balance, when rules aren't having much effect except to stimulate dodgy behaviour on the margins, I'd say it's best to get rid of them.
But, as usual with things Brexit, I don't think that either the most optimistic or the most pessimistic predictions will come to pass.
I know nothing about this issue, but the FT piece on it had some quotes from banks (US ones) that said overturning the cap would make the decision to relocate workers to the UK an easier one.
We want to make banking an even bigger sector of the UK economy, so it controls political decision-making even more, and the next crash is worse?
I'm not sure we're in a position to be that particular.
It's quite doing my head in. I was in Primary School class with a Theresa Coffey (yes really!). I had a my first proper crush on her. Emotions dredged in a most mysterious way.
I don’t have a problem with unlimited bankers’ bonuses as long as they sign up for unlimited personal liability.
And what if the bankers are like the doctors? If we pay them too much, they will retire early and we will lose the benefit of their services. May even be a banker shortage.
What a tragedy that would be.
Imagine if the people I've been dealing with at Virgin Money retired early.
How would we manage without a bunch of idiots who can't write a grammatical email, answer a telephone inquiry, keep sensitive documents correctly or indeed even open and manage a simple account?
They are called Virgin Money because they have never been fucked. Unlike their customers.
A business once under the tender care of Sir Richard Branson? You can't be serious.
Personally almost always avoid superfluous final commas. However, they ARE useful in cases of possible ambiguity.
Teddy Roosevelt got his fanny in a bit of a crack during his Presidency, by imposing "spelling reform" upon the US Government Printing Office by executive order. Which briefly made him a national laughingstock, until he rescinded his edict.
The incident became part of the Rough Rider's folklore, as testifying to his enthusiasm if NOT his judgement. But at the time, more people were laughing at TR than with him.
Yep, don't need to use them ALL the time, but as the text dictates. Unless it's house style anyway, in which case there is no point arguing.
It's quite doing my head in. I was in Primary School class with a Theresa Coffey (yes really!). I had a my first proper crush on her. Emotions dredged in a most mysterious way.
Did she look like Ken Clarke? Or is it just this one?
I don’t have a problem with unlimited bankers’ bonuses as long as they sign up for unlimited personal liability.
And what if the bankers are like the doctors? If we pay them too much, they will retire early and we will lose the benefit of their services. May even be a banker shortage.
Many financiers do retire early, often in their thirties, having made a fortune and able to pursue other leisure interests. Look at the current cabinet for examples.
The trend to early retirement by doctors, particularly GPs, is a recent phenomenon. When I qualified in the late Eighties there were many local GPs working well into their late seventies, now rare to find one over 60. Pensions were if anything more generous back then, so it isn't a purely monetary phenomenon.
In part it was the sense of vocation and commitment, many were single-handed and did their own on call like Dr Legg in Eastenders. Times have changed, but the overly regulation and crushing supervision has destroyed that sense of vocation. I have never met a GP that regretted retiring early. Well paid it may be, but job satisfaction is very low now.
I don’t have a problem with unlimited bankers’ bonuses as long as they sign up for unlimited personal liability.
And what if the bankers are like the doctors? If we pay them too much, they will retire early and we will lose the benefit of their services. May even be a banker shortage.
Many financiers do retire early, often in their thirties, having made a fortune and able to pursue other leisure interests. Look at the current cabinet for examples.
The trend to early retirement by doctors, particularly GPs, is a recent phenomenon. When I qualified in the late Eighties there were many local GPs working well into their late seventies, now rare to find one over 60. Pensions were if anything more generous back then, so it isn't a purely monetary phenomenon.
In part it was the sense of vocation and commitment, many were single-handed and did their own on call like Dr Legg in Eastenders. Times have changed, but the overly regulation and crushing supervision has destroyed that sense of vocation. I have never met a GP that regretted retiring early. Well paid it may be, but job satisfaction is very low now.
To what extent does the lifetime allowance determine when doctors retire?
I do know of a number of senior health care workers (one of whom was head of child psychiatric services for a large trust) for whom reaching the lifetime allowance limit has been the spur to retirement. Or rather leaving the NHS and pursuing other opportunities in education or the private sector. The fact that you will end up getting less pension if you continue working and paying into it than you will if you retire and stop paying into it seems somewhat perverse.
In the example given, if you carry on paying into your pension until you reach normal retirement age then you pay an extra £1500 a year tax on it.
Of course, you could choose to stop paying into your pension but continue working but as it notes in the link, you can't opt out of the pension without also opting out of life assurance, redundancy and preferential ill health retirement arrangement.
Personally almost always avoid superfluous final commas. However, they ARE useful in cases of possible ambiguity.
Teddy Roosevelt got his fanny in a bit of a crack during his Presidency, by imposing "spelling reform" upon the US Government Printing Office by executive order. Which briefly made him a national laughingstock, until he rescinded his edict.
The incident became part of the Rough Rider's folklore, as testifying to his enthusiasm if NOT his judgement. But at the time, more people were laughing at TR than with him.
PS I do like the way in which Americanese isn't always the same as Britishese - vide your para 2, first sentence. I'm surprised nobody else has pointed it out.
It's quite doing my head in. I was in Primary School class with a Theresa Coffey (yes really!). I had a my first proper crush on her. Emotions dredged in a most mysterious way.
Did she look like Ken Clarke? Or is it just this one?
Most assuredly not! A Ken Clarke in Primary School would be disturbing! I find myself instinctively giving her (the Deputy PM) the benefit of the doubt though. The mind is a strange old thing.
Just got back from a very enjoyable two-week car trip to Lake Como, stopping at Beaune on the way down and Chamonix and Amboise on the way back.
A few random impressions:
First off, a big thank-you to M. Macron for introducing a 25c per litre fuel reduction from 1 September - we did the whole 2,000 miles on French unleaded at £1.25 a litre. Yay! ;-)
There didn’t seem to be very much amiss in either France or Italy. All those years of sloppy pseudo-socialist government and they still manage to survive, and thrive. No election posters whatsoever in Italy, even though the election is less than two weeks away (are they banned?).
American tourists are back in force. East asian tourists, still hardly to be seen. Each place we stopped was buzzing, great vibe, fantastic weather and lots of people intent on enjoying themselves.
Italian roads seem to have improved since we were last driving there 10 years ago - better than UK roads now, I’d say. French roads are of course superb. How do they do it? They now are now putting in dozens of animal bridges over all the autoroutes to help the wildlife, which is a good thing I guess but how do they find the money for things like that?
Food: As @Leon pointed out - the edge that France and Italy used to have over the UK is has pretty much gone. Mostly the food we had was competent rather than outstanding. It’s also got a lot more expensive to eat out but wine is still good value. Great breakfasts in all the hotels we stayed in though - puts most UK hotels to shame.
Plenty of restaurant staff too - no shutting on Monday and Tuesdays due to staff shortages, which seems common here. The exception being Brittany Ferries which was unable to run a full restaurant service either way, blamed indeed on ’staff shortages’. Even I can't blame that one on Brexit so I don’t know the reason. Post-covid issues maybe?
Speaking of which, virtually no masks anywhere. The only bizarre exception being the Lake Como passenger ferries where an FFP2 mask is compulsory to board… but then can be taken off immediately you are on board - until you disembark (?!)
Lake Como is beautiful, all those tiny villages tucked into impossible spaces between the hills and the lake. Como is not just for oldies either, it seems to attract all ages these days.
Beaune, Chamonix, Amboise - all proved to be good stopping places, with plenty of restaurants, bars, sights etc. I should also add the Saturday food market in Beaune is huge and superb. You can keep your Borough Markets, give me a proper French market any day!
That’s more than enough I know. I couldn’t be arsed to do a travel blog as we went so I thought I’d post one long summary for anyone who’s interested.
Jobs for the girls….Today the @timesscotland confirms teachers' concerns that education reform is being steered by the bosses at @sqanews and @EducationScot that failed them
Here's a thread on my 3 month slog to obtain the Education Reform Board membership
It's quite doing my head in. I was in Primary School class with a Theresa Coffey (yes really!). I had a my first proper crush on her. Emotions dredged in a most mysterious way.
Sure that the DPM is not your old flame? (Or was it spark?)
Personally almost always avoid superfluous final commas. However, they ARE useful in cases of possible ambiguity.
Teddy Roosevelt got his fanny in a bit of a crack during his Presidency, by imposing "spelling reform" upon the US Government Printing Office by executive order. Which briefly made him a national laughingstock, until he rescinded his edict.
The incident became part of the Rough Rider's folklore, as testifying to his enthusiasm if NOT his judgement. But at the time, more people were laughing at TR than with him.
Yep, don't need to use them ALL the time, but as the text dictates. Unless it's house style anyway, in which case there is no point arguing.
I once queried a legal agreement that was devoid of commas and consequently somewhat prolix and was reassured that the law relied upon the meaning of words rather than the placement of commas and if a contract depended on the latter it could be challenged successfully in court.
NYT - Entering a general election, Don Bolduc said he now believed Biden won in 2020: ‘I’ve done a lot of research.’
Like a driver making a screeching U-turn, Don Bolduc, the Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, pivoted on Thursday from his primary race to the general election, saying he had “come to the conclusion” that the 2020 presidential election “was not stolen,” after he had spent more than a year claiming it was.
“I’ve done a lot of research on this, and I’ve spent the past couple weeks talking to Granite Staters all over the state from every party, and I have come to the conclusion — and I want to be definitive on this — the election was not stolen,” Mr. Bolduc said in an interview on Fox News.
He continued to falsely claim there had been fraud in the election but acknowledged that the outcome was not in question.
“Elections have consequences, and, unfortunately, President Biden is the legitimate president of this country,” he said.
Mr. Bolduc won his primary on Tuesday over a more moderate candidate, Chuck Morse, the president of the New Hampshire Senate. Mr. Bolduc ran on an uncompromising right-wing platform, complete with declarations that former President Donald J. Trump had won the 2020 election.
But now he faces a tough general election campaign against Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat. She is vulnerable in November — but, Republicans worry, less vulnerable against Mr. Bolduc than she would have been against Mr. Morse.
Ms. Hassan’s campaign responded quickly to Mr. Bolduc’s reversal, sharing a series of videos and quotes of the many times Mr. Bolduc promoted the lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
“Don Bolduc is desperately trying to run from years of spreading the Big Lie, but he can’t hide from the video receipts,” her campaign said in a statement.
I'm unsure which is worse - that he does think it was stolen and is now shamelessly pretending otherwise, or that he never thought it was and was just shamelessly pretending to believe it. Being a lying fool, or a foolish liar.
Personally I think that Trumpers deserve all they get with a bit extra on top but I can well imagine many such people feeling a bit perplexed if they voted for him on this basis less than a week ago.
Jobs for the girls….Today the @timesscotland confirms teachers' concerns that education reform is being steered by the bosses at @sqanews and @EducationScot that failed them
Here's a thread on my 3 month slog to obtain the Education Reform Board membership
Unfortunately, the powers that be hold the key qualifications to run education are that you must know nothing whatever about it, be rather dim, incredibly arrogant, mind-blowingly complacent and shagging the right people.
Conditions 2, 3 and 4 are occasionally dispensed with, but they never last long.
I don’t have a problem with unlimited bankers’ bonuses as long as they sign up for unlimited personal liability.
And what if the bankers are like the doctors? If we pay them too much, they will retire early and we will lose the benefit of their services. May even be a banker shortage.
Many financiers do retire early, often in their thirties, having made a fortune and able to pursue other leisure interests. Look at the current cabinet for examples.
The trend to early retirement by doctors, particularly GPs, is a recent phenomenon. When I qualified in the late Eighties there were many local GPs working well into their late seventies, now rare to find one over 60. Pensions were if anything more generous back then, so it isn't a purely monetary phenomenon.
In part it was the sense of vocation and commitment, many were single-handed and did their own on call like Dr Legg in Eastenders. Times have changed, but the overly regulation and crushing supervision has destroyed that sense of vocation. I have never met a GP that regretted retiring early. Well paid it may be, but job satisfaction is very low now.
I don’t have a problem with unlimited bankers’ bonuses as long as they sign up for unlimited personal liability.
And what if the bankers are like the doctors? If we pay them too much, they will retire early and we will lose the benefit of their services. May even be a banker shortage.
Many financiers do retire early, often in their thirties, having made a fortune and able to pursue other leisure interests. Look at the current cabinet for examples.
The trend to early retirement by doctors, particularly GPs, is a recent phenomenon. When I qualified in the late Eighties there were many local GPs working well into their late seventies, now rare to find one over 60. Pensions were if anything more generous back then, so it isn't a purely monetary phenomenon.
In part it was the sense of vocation and commitment, many were single-handed and did their own on call like Dr Legg in Eastenders. Times have changed, but the overly regulation and crushing supervision has destroyed that sense of vocation. I have never met a GP that regretted retiring early. Well paid it may be, but job satisfaction is very low now.
To what extent does the lifetime allowance determine when doctors retire?
I do know of a number of senior health care workers (one of whom was head of child psychiatric services for a large trust) for whom reaching the lifetime allowance limit has been the spur to retirement. Or rather leaving the NHS and pursuing other opportunities in education or the private sector. The fact that you will end up getting less pension if you continue working and paying into it than you will if you retire and stop paying into it seems somewhat perverse.
In the example given, if you carry on paying into your pension until you reach normal retirement age then you pay an extra £1500 a year tax on it.
Of course, you could choose to stop paying into your pension but continue working but as it notes in the link, you can't opt out of the pension without also opting out of life assurance, redundancy and preferential ill health retirement arrangement.
The lifetime allowance is a definite issue. On the one hand it’s reasonable for government not to want to fund saving through tax deductions beyond a certain level of wealth, on the other you don’t want to encourage people to leave the workforce early (which they are definitely doing).
I wonder if a better idea would be a lifetime limit on contributions rather than value, over which further payments automatically go into an ISA wrapper (no tax relief on contribution, but tax free on withdrawal). Makes the whole thing a bit less of a cliff edge.
Celtic in trouble for anti queen banners including SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS MICHAEL FAGAN
LOL
'Meanwhile, Uefa said it would not take action Rangers for defying its rules by playing God Save the King before their 3-0 defeat to Napoli at Ibrox later on Wednesday evening.'
Yes, for all @theuniondivvie seems to loathe Rangers for their sectarianism, Celtic seem rather more unpleasant.
It's a bit like comparing syphilis and gonnherea.
There’s a reason why supporters of non Rangers and Celtic Scottish football teams refer to them as the arse cheeks.
Personally almost always avoid superfluous final commas. However, they ARE useful in cases of possible ambiguity.
Teddy Roosevelt got his fanny in a bit of a crack during his Presidency, by imposing "spelling reform" upon the US Government Printing Office by executive order. Which briefly made him a national laughingstock, until he rescinded his edict.
The incident became part of the Rough Rider's folklore, as testifying to his enthusiasm if NOT his judgement. But at the time, more people were laughing at TR than with him.
Yep, don't need to use them ALL the time, but as the text dictates. Unless it's house style anyway, in which case there is no point arguing.
I once queried a legal agreement that was devoid of commas and consequently somewhat prolix and was reassured that the law relied upon the meaning of words rather than the placement of commas and if a contract depended on the latter it could be challenged successfully in court.
To Benpointer re Como (shan’t quote the whole text). We stayed there for a couple of days this summer and made the same observation as you about all ages. The most mixed tourist crowd I’ve seen all summer in terms of age and nationality.
I agree, France and Italy seem to be bearing up generally fine (France more than Italy).
Celtic in trouble for anti queen banners including SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS MICHAEL FAGAN
LOL
'Meanwhile, Uefa said it would not take action Rangers for defying its rules by playing God Save the King before their 3-0 defeat to Napoli at Ibrox later on Wednesday evening.'
Yes, for all @theuniondivvie seems to loathe Rangers for their sectarianism, Celtic seem rather more unpleasant.
Distance lends low information disenchantment.
Those lucky enough to enjoy your PB oeuvre need never feel distant from Glasgow's sectarian amusements.
Given PBers constant reference to me in association with Glasgow's sectarian amusements, I must assume that they're most gratified that I can fulfill their thirst for knowledge. There's certainly a big void of knowing fuck all about it that needs filling, though I do accept that there's a certain amount of eye averting.
I'm a St Mirren season ticket holder. Last time Rangers came, their fans booed "Flower Of Scotland". Celtic visit us on Sunday; I shall report back.
(though Motherwell fans are the worst I have seen)
The government is reportedly considering plans to scrap the cap on bankers' bonuses. Britons are strongly against the idea.
All Britons Should scrap: 15% Should not scrap: 67%
Con voters Should scrap: 20% Should not scrap: 65%.
The North of England most anti scrapping the bankers' bonus cap, 71% against, 15% in favour. The South most supportive but even there 65% opposed, just 16% in favour
I imagine that approximately 67% of Britons are in favour of increasing taxes on other people other than themselves also.
Much as I want to give Truss a chance she is a dull leader who is on record as previously wanting to scrap the Queen and royal family while just announcing a policy to give City bankers more cash in a cost of living crisis and having switched from backing Remain to being a hard as nails Brexiteer.
If Starmer could design his ideal Tory opponent, at the moment Liz would be it unfortunately!
Far better a dull leader than a law breaking incompetent Clown IMO. I imagine you are too young to remember Mrs Thatcher, and while I don't want to make what at the moment seems like a ludicrous comparison, almost as silly as comparing Johnson to Churchill, but the fact was that everyone underestimated Mrs T to begin with. Truss may yet surprise us.
Mrs T was a giant compared to Truss and also more politically savvy about what the average voter needed and also had not changed positions on key issues multiple times.
She was also lucky enough to be facing a failing Labour government, not be PM 12 years into a Tory government
Yes Mrs T was much more savvy about what voters needed. At times of hardship Mrs T imposed windfall taxes on those not suffering in order to redistribute to those who were. Straight away Truss failed the Mrs T test.
Also, Maggie could read a calendar.
If this is the right thing to do, the time to do it is in the sweet afterglow of a new electoral mandate.
Even if this works*, it's not going to work by autumn 2024. So proposing it now gets the political pain without the tax receipts. Nuts, and the sort of thing that you do if you read about Maggie without direct experience or understanding.
* By works, I'd go a bit wider than annual tax take. Does a bonus obsession encourage too much risk to be taken by bankers? I don't know, but it needs consideration.
Right now is the afterglow of Truss's new electoral mandate.
Any major changes she wants to get done, that might not be politically appealing, now is the time. The politically appealing ones, those you can save up for the General Election year.
“ Right now is the afterglow of Truss's new electoral mandate.‘
😆
This hasn’t been one of your better days Barty.
Less than 50% of the members of her own party voted for her. She just about pipped second in vote of her parties MPs.
She won, Sunak lost, that's the end of it. She won, she's new PM, and now is when she needs to get going on her agenda.
If you're not going to implement your agenda when you win and become Prime Minister, when will you?
This announcement you are defending, was it a promise during her campaign?
Challenging Treasury orthodoxy, being reformist and going for growth absolutely was a promise made during her campaign, yes.
She needs to pull out the stops and do that. That's what she was elected to do. If she does it and its unpopular she may not win a second term, if she doesn't do it having had the chance and its the right thing to do, she doesn't deserve a second term.
We were supposed to believe at the time she was serious about all that then?
I thought she only got the win because Dorries posted that cartoon of Brutus Rishi, stabbing glorious Caesar in the back - I didn’t realise all those thousands of mrmbers were mad keen on this policy platform till you just pointed that out. 🫣
Well I supported her because of her agenda, yes. Which is the same agenda she has advocated for many, many years now. 👍
As for Dorries - I couldn't care less about her, and nobody serious does.
But that Dorries argument of disloyal Truss may have swung more votes to Liz than actual buy in to her platform is my point. We can’t be sure can we?
So what we do know, No mandate from the country, nor from her MPs - less than 50% of her membership backs her, and we can’t even be sure how much the 49% who did actually buy in to her radical plan for destroying treasury othordoxy, or just disliked Rishi for bringing down Boris. Yet you see her basking in the glow of triumph with power to remodel UK orthodoxy to her whim?
What do we know?
She won. She's Prime Minister.
To the victor goes the spoils, the PM gets an historic and unique opportunity to set the agenda, and she is the PM. It doesn't matter if its by 1 vote or a million, she's the new PM and she has to show why she was put there, not spend the next 2 years begging for another term.
No. 🙂. The way it actually works a win by a million carries more political clout than a win by 1.
In much the same way, just after winning an election you are in a strong place, can get away with more, running close to an election you jettison the more controversial policies.
Truss barely made second in MPs, she got less than 50% of membership to back her in a two horse race, she has not won a general election, she simply does not have the authority to change the direction of this country in the wholly new direction for us you are proposing she should. She should respect that between now and winning a general election on a manifesto of her own.
Just got back from a very enjoyable two-week car trip to Lake Como, stopping at Beaune on the way down and Chamonix and Amboise on the way back.
A few random impressions:
First off, a big thank-you to M. Macron for introducing a 25c per litre fuel reduction from 1 September - we did the whole 2,000 miles on French unleaded at £1.25 a litre. Yay! ;-)
There didn’t seem to be very much amiss in either France or Italy. All those years of sloppy pseudo-socialist government and they still manage to survive, and thrive. No election posters whatsoever in Italy, even though the election is less than two weeks away (are they banned?).
American tourists are back in force. East asian tourists, still hardly to be seen. Each place we stopped was buzzing, great vibe, fantastic weather and lots of people intent on enjoying themselves.
Italian roads seem to have improved since we were last driving there 10 years ago - better than UK roads now, I’d say. French roads are of course superb. How do they do it? They now are now putting in dozens of animal bridges over all the autoroutes to help the wildlife, which is a good thing I guess but how do they find the money for things like that?
Food: As @Leon pointed out - the edge that France and Italy used to have over the UK is has pretty much gone. Mostly the food we had was competent rather than outstanding. It’s also got a lot more expensive to eat out but wine is still good value. Great breakfasts in all the hotels we stayed in though - puts most UK hotels to shame.
Plenty of restaurant staff too - no shutting on Monday and Tuesdays due to staff shortages, which seems common here. The exception being Brittany Ferries which was unable to run a full restaurant service either way, blamed indeed on ’staff shortages’. Even I can't blame that one on Brexit so I don’t know the reason. Post-covid issues maybe?
Speaking of which, virtually no masks anywhere. The only bizarre exception being the Lake Como passenger ferries where an FFP2 mask is compulsory to board… but then can be taken off immediately you are on board - until you disembark (?!)
Lake Como is beautiful, all those tiny villages tucked into impossible spaces between the hills and the lake. Como is not just for oldies either, it seems to attract all ages these days.
Beaune, Chamonix, Amboise - all proved to be good stopping places, with plenty of restaurants, bars, sights etc. I should also add the Saturday food market in Beaune is huge and superb. You can keep your Borough Markets, give me a proper French market any day!
That’s more than enough I know. I couldn’t be arsed to do a travel blog as we went so I thought I’d post one long summary for anyone who’s interested.
Any pictures to share?
Was in Italy in 2003, just before invasion of Iraq. Only political sign I saw, from train window outside of Florence, was actually graffiti (or rather graffito) that proclaimed
"America Fuck!"
Amused me more than it should have, I reckon. Though did see where they were coming from, and driving at.
It's quite doing my head in. I was in Primary School class with a Theresa Coffey (yes really!). I had a my first proper crush on her. Emotions dredged in a most mysterious way.
Sure that the DPM is not your old flame? (Or was it spark?)
She's five years too young. On the other hand, I've just discovered she was born in Billinge. The maternity hospital for my area. So it's highly possible the two were related. (I don't remember another Coffey from my area. It's not a common Lancashire name).
Personally almost always avoid superfluous final commas. However, they ARE useful in cases of possible ambiguity.
Teddy Roosevelt got his fanny in a bit of a crack during his Presidency, by imposing "spelling reform" upon the US Government Printing Office by executive order. Which briefly made him a national laughingstock, until he rescinded his edict.
The incident became part of the Rough Rider's folklore, as testifying to his enthusiasm if NOT his judgement. But at the time, more people were laughing at TR than with him.
Yep, don't need to use them ALL the time, but as the text dictates. Unless it's house style anyway, in which case there is no point arguing.
I once queried a legal agreement that was devoid of commas and consequently somewhat prolix and was reassured that the law relied upon the meaning of words rather than the placement of commas and if a contract depended on the latter it could be challenged successfully in court.
Don't think that's the case in American law or rather jurisprudence, does anyone actually know?
Finland alone would crush Russian forces. Lithuania/Poland would smother Kaliningrad in a week. Russian Navy hiding behind Crimea even though Ukraine has no Navy.
Of course Ukraine has a f***ing navy.
Give it a few months and they’ll have a much bigger one. Based out of Sevastopol.
They were at Sevastopol until 2014, alongside the much bigger Russian navy. Can you see the Russian navy leaving Sevastopol without the war turning nuclear?
What target would Russia nuke and how would it improve their strategic position?
You don't believe in nukes as a deterrent then? Kiev? NATO capital cities? Cue escalation with mega-destruction and large losses on both sides.
Losing Sevastopol completely so that a Ukraine in NATO could welcome in the US navy (and screw the Montreux convention) would mark a major change in the balance of power.
What's the scenario for Russia being forced to cede Sevastopol without reaching for the nukes and hello WW3? That's what I'd like to know.
This could be an interesting discussion. Sevastopol is a much bigger prize than the Donbas.
If Putin tried to suggest to his high command that it was appropriate to use nuclear weapons (he cannot do it on his own) he knows he will be removed from power faster than a retreating "elite" Russian soldier on the Ukrainian front line.
Stop scaremongering, you just make yourself look like a Putin paid troll.
"look like" ...
What a pair of idiots you both are, in effect screaming "Enemy agent!" (or is it "Non-believer"? - can you even distinguish?) when somebody suggests that aiming to conquer the main base of nuclear-armed Russia's Black Sea fleet might trigger a nuclear response. Kenny Everett and all true patriots realised all along that the other side's nuclear arsenal was a paper tiger, right?
I wouldn't want either of you bug-eyed loons on my side in a conflict - you can't consider possible consequences.
Interestingly (and scarily) the understanding that right-wingers here are showing of the different roads along which this war might develop has plummeted since February.
But that's enough counter-insults from me. This is a site where people discuss probabilities of eventualities, yes?
Here's a question then.
What's the probability of nuclear war breaking out between Russia and the West before say the end of next year?
From the top of my head (because who really knows?): 30% and rising.
What are the chances of Russian nuclear weapons working as planned?
Very low.
Nuclear weapons require a lot of maintenance. Plutonium and highly enriched Uranium is, by its very nature, throwing off a ton of radiation as it decays. (If it wasn't unstable like this, it'd be a bloody awful weapon.)
Just as in nuclear power plants, this absolutely hammers the kit used to hold it. And do you really want a brittle enclosure for your nuclear warhead?
And then there's the fuel. It also tends to be very unstable and to degrade over time.
Basically, nuclear weapons are incredibly maintenance heavy.
If there's one thing we've learned from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it's the extent to which corruption has permeated the Russian army. Those stalled columns of lorries were the direct result of not doing simple maintenance.
And if you can't do simple, low cost maintenance, what chance that expensive maintenance has been done?
I would be staggered if more than 10% of Russian nuclear weapons work as planned. I think it is highly likely they would do more damage to Russia than to the West.
Putin's Generals probably know this. Their yachts came from skimping on maintenance.
So, my money is on no nuclear war. And if it did occur: well, so be it. One cannot simple accede to a bully's demands to avoid Armageddon, because that way leads to demands-upon-demands-upon-demands.
Not quite.
Enriched Uranium is a very low emitter if radiation. Plutonium is a bit higher - depends on the grade (amount of 240 mixed in with the 239). Some super grade stuff was made for nuclear torpedos, since in some subs crew slept next to the torpedoes.
The early bombs had trouble with rapidly expiring components - mostly imitators and batteries. Aging explosives were an issue.
In post 60s designs, the big issue is the Tritium. Universally the designs are boosted - a little bit of fusion from the Tritium turbo charges the fission reaction which in turn kicks of the main event (the secondary), itself containing tritium to get tings going.
The problem is that Tritium decays to Helium 3. Which is a reaction poison - it is worse than useless. And Tritium is fairly radioactive and decays quickly.
The capsule of Tritium gas in the warheads will need changing every 18 months or so - exact number depends on the design. 5 grams or so of Tritium per bomb. And Tritium is $30,000 odd per gram.
So you need frequent changes of something that is highly valuable on open market.
What could go wrong in modern Russia?
Thank you!
O/T, but I think you've been completely vindicated in your views about Roe v Wade.
The fact that Red State legislatures and Republicans politicians now have to own the laws they pass on abortion, is actually a powerful incentive not to go batshit. Previously, they could pass any laws, adopt any positions they liked, in the certain knowledge that they could not get past the Supreme Court.
Now, they have to justify themselves to the voters, and that is often uncomfortable.
And so far from striking a blow against legal abortion on demand, the Supreme Court may have struck a blow FOR it....?
From what I've seen the economy and inflation is the biggest issue for American voters and that makes this week's poor inflation data more of a blow to the Dem side than their supporters care to admit.
US rates are going up. Bigly.
I think (hostage to fortune time) we have seen the majority of interest rate increases in the US. The Fed got ahead of the game and can afford to have a pause before the election which I understand to be fairly normal policy for them, whoever is in power. We, on the other hand, remain behind the curve as does the ECB despite their recent 0.75% increase.
There is no doubt, however, that the US is seeing more and broader secondary effects of the price rises in fuel, especially in food.
Just got back from a very enjoyable two-week car trip to Lake Como, stopping at Beaune on the way down and Chamonix and Amboise on the way back.
A few random impressions:
First off, a big thank-you to M. Macron for introducing a 25c per litre fuel reduction from 1 September - we did the whole 2,000 miles on French unleaded at £1.25 a litre. Yay! ;-)
There didn’t seem to be very much amiss in either France or Italy. All those years of sloppy pseudo-socialist government and they still manage to survive, and thrive. No election posters whatsoever in Italy, even though the election is less than two weeks away (are they banned?).
American tourists are back in force. East asian tourists, still hardly to be seen. Each place we stopped was buzzing, great vibe, fantastic weather and lots of people intent on enjoying themselves.
Italian roads seem to have improved since we were last driving there 10 years ago - better than UK roads now, I’d say. French roads are of course superb. How do they do it? They now are now putting in dozens of animal bridges over all the autoroutes to help the wildlife, which is a good thing I guess but how do they find the money for things like that?
Food: As @Leon pointed out - the edge that France and Italy used to have over the UK is has pretty much gone. Mostly the food we had was competent rather than outstanding. It’s also got a lot more expensive to eat out but wine is still good value. Great breakfasts in all the hotels we stayed in though - puts most UK hotels to shame.
Plenty of restaurant staff too - no shutting on Monday and Tuesdays due to staff shortages, which seems common here. The exception being Brittany Ferries which was unable to run a full restaurant service either way, blamed indeed on ’staff shortages’. Even I can't blame that one on Brexit so I don’t know the reason. Post-covid issues maybe?
Speaking of which, virtually no masks anywhere. The only bizarre exception being the Lake Como passenger ferries where an FFP2 mask is compulsory to board… but then can be taken off immediately you are on board - until you disembark (?!)
Lake Como is beautiful, all those tiny villages tucked into impossible spaces between the hills and the lake. Como is not just for oldies either, it seems to attract all ages these days.
Beaune, Chamonix, Amboise - all proved to be good stopping places, with plenty of restaurants, bars, sights etc. I should also add the Saturday food market in Beaune is huge and superb. You can keep your Borough Markets, give me a proper French market any day!
That’s more than enough I know. I couldn’t be arsed to do a travel blog as we went so I thought I’d post one long summary for anyone who’s interested.
Any pictures to share?
Was in Italy in 2003, just before invasion of Iraq. Only political sign I saw, from train window outside of Florence, was actually graffiti (or rather graffito) that proclaimed
"America Fuck!"
Amused me more than it should have, I reckon. Though did see where they were coming from, and driving at.
I have just posted a couple of food pics - don't tempt me to get carried away!
It's quite doing my head in. I was in Primary School class with a Theresa Coffey (yes really!). I had a my first proper crush on her. Emotions dredged in a most mysterious way.
Sure that the DPM is not your old flame? (Or was it spark?)
She's five years too young. On the other hand, I've just discovered she was born in Billinge. The maternity hospital for my area. So it's highly possible the two were related. (I don't remember another Coffey from my area. It's not a common Lancashire name).
Personally almost always avoid superfluous final commas. However, they ARE useful in cases of possible ambiguity.
Teddy Roosevelt got his fanny in a bit of a crack during his Presidency, by imposing "spelling reform" upon the US Government Printing Office by executive order. Which briefly made him a national laughingstock, until he rescinded his edict.
The incident became part of the Rough Rider's folklore, as testifying to his enthusiasm if NOT his judgement. But at the time, more people were laughing at TR than with him.
Yep, don't need to use them ALL the time, but as the text dictates. Unless it's house style anyway, in which case there is no point arguing.
I once queried a legal agreement that was devoid of commas and consequently somewhat prolix and was reassured that the law relied upon the meaning of words rather than the placement of commas and if a contract depended on the latter it could be challenged successfully in court.
The advice was wrong.
Not surprised.
Jones, where Brown had had "had", had had "had had". "Had had" had been judged correct.
Just got back from a very enjoyable two-week car trip to Lake Como, stopping at Beaune on the way down and Chamonix and Amboise on the way back.
A few random impressions:
First off, a big thank-you to M. Macron for introducing a 25c per litre fuel reduction from 1 September - we did the whole 2,000 miles on French unleaded at £1.25 a litre. Yay! ;-)
There didn’t seem to be very much amiss in either France or Italy. All those years of sloppy pseudo-socialist government and they still manage to survive, and thrive. No election posters whatsoever in Italy, even though the election is less than two weeks away (are they banned?).
American tourists are back in force. East asian tourists, still hardly to be seen. Each place we stopped was buzzing, great vibe, fantastic weather and lots of people intent on enjoying themselves.
Italian roads seem to have improved since we were last driving there 10 years ago - better than UK roads now, I’d say. French roads are of course superb. How do they do it? They now are now putting in dozens of animal bridges over all the autoroutes to help the wildlife, which is a good thing I guess but how do they find the money for things like that?
Food: As @Leon pointed out - the edge that France and Italy used to have over the UK is has pretty much gone. Mostly the food we had was competent rather than outstanding. It’s also got a lot more expensive to eat out but wine is still good value. Great breakfasts in all the hotels we stayed in though - puts most UK hotels to shame.
Plenty of restaurant staff too - no shutting on Monday and Tuesdays due to staff shortages, which seems common here. The exception being Brittany Ferries which was unable to run a full restaurant service either way, blamed indeed on ’staff shortages’. Even I can't blame that one on Brexit so I don’t know the reason. Post-covid issues maybe?
Speaking of which, virtually no masks anywhere. The only bizarre exception being the Lake Como passenger ferries where an FFP2 mask is compulsory to board… but then can be taken off immediately you are on board - until you disembark (?!)
Lake Como is beautiful, all those tiny villages tucked into impossible spaces between the hills and the lake. Como is not just for oldies either, it seems to attract all ages these days.
Beaune, Chamonix, Amboise - all proved to be good stopping places, with plenty of restaurants, bars, sights etc. I should also add the Saturday food market in Beaune is huge and superb. You can keep your Borough Markets, give me a proper French market any day!
That’s more than enough I know. I couldn’t be arsed to do a travel blog as we went so I thought I’d post one long summary for anyone who’s interested.
Any pictures to share?
Was in Italy in 2003, just before invasion of Iraq. Only political sign I saw, from train window outside of Florence, was actually graffiti (or rather graffito) that proclaimed
"America Fuck!"
Amused me more than it should have, I reckon. Though did see where they were coming from, and driving at.
I have just posted a couple of food pics - don't tempt me to get carried away!
I don’t have a problem with unlimited bankers’ bonuses as long as they sign up for unlimited personal liability.
And what if the bankers are like the doctors? If we pay them too much, they will retire early and we will lose the benefit of their services. May even be a banker shortage.
Many financiers do retire early, often in their thirties, having made a fortune and able to pursue other leisure interests. Look at the current cabinet for examples.
The trend to early retirement by doctors, particularly GPs, is a recent phenomenon. When I qualified in the late Eighties there were many local GPs working well into their late seventies, now rare to find one over 60. Pensions were if anything more generous back then, so it isn't a purely monetary phenomenon.
In part it was the sense of vocation and commitment, many were single-handed and did their own on call like Dr Legg in Eastenders. Times have changed, but the overly regulation and crushing supervision has destroyed that sense of vocation. I have never met a GP that regretted retiring early. Well paid it may be, but job satisfaction is very low now.
I don’t have a problem with unlimited bankers’ bonuses as long as they sign up for unlimited personal liability.
And what if the bankers are like the doctors? If we pay them too much, they will retire early and we will lose the benefit of their services. May even be a banker shortage.
Many financiers do retire early, often in their thirties, having made a fortune and able to pursue other leisure interests. Look at the current cabinet for examples.
The trend to early retirement by doctors, particularly GPs, is a recent phenomenon. When I qualified in the late Eighties there were many local GPs working well into their late seventies, now rare to find one over 60. Pensions were if anything more generous back then, so it isn't a purely monetary phenomenon.
In part it was the sense of vocation and commitment, many were single-handed and did their own on call like Dr Legg in Eastenders. Times have changed, but the overly regulation and crushing supervision has destroyed that sense of vocation. I have never met a GP that regretted retiring early. Well paid it may be, but job satisfaction is very low now.
To what extent does the lifetime allowance determine when doctors retire?
I do know of a number of senior health care workers (one of whom was head of child psychiatric services for a large trust) for whom reaching the lifetime allowance limit has been the spur to retirement. Or rather leaving the NHS and pursuing other opportunities in education or the private sector. The fact that you will end up getting less pension if you continue working and paying into it than you will if you retire and stop paying into it seems somewhat perverse.
In the example given, if you carry on paying into your pension until you reach normal retirement age then you pay an extra £1500 a year tax on it.
Of course, you could choose to stop paying into your pension but continue working but as it notes in the link, you can't opt out of the pension without also opting out of life assurance, redundancy and preferential ill health retirement arrangement.
The lifetime allowance is a definite issue. On the one hand it’s reasonable for government not to want to fund saving through tax deductions beyond a certain level of wealth, on the other you don’t want to encourage people to leave the workforce early (which they are definitely doing).
I wonder if a better idea would be a lifetime limit on contributions rather than value, over which further payments automatically go into an ISA wrapper (no tax relief on contribution, but tax free on withdrawal). Makes the whole thing a bit less of a cliff edge.
I think a lot of the problem would go away if they allowed people to opt out of the pension contributions but keep the other associated benefits. It is the fact there is no way around it short of leaving that is the problem.
OT, another nice touch from our colonial cousins. Pennsylvania Avenue in DC is lined with British flags on the lamp posts all the way from the White House to the Capitol.
Personally almost always avoid superfluous final commas. However, they ARE useful in cases of possible ambiguity.
Teddy Roosevelt got his fanny in a bit of a crack during his Presidency, by imposing "spelling reform" upon the US Government Printing Office by executive order. Which briefly made him a national laughingstock, until he rescinded his edict.
The incident became part of the Rough Rider's folklore, as testifying to his enthusiasm if NOT his judgement. But at the time, more people were laughing at TR than with him.
Yep, don't need to use them ALL the time, but as the text dictates. Unless it's house style anyway, in which case there is no point arguing.
I once queried a legal agreement that was devoid of commas and consequently somewhat prolix and was reassured that the law relied upon the meaning of words rather than the placement of commas and if a contract depended on the latter it could be challenged successfully in court.
The advice was wrong.
I assumed it was more than where the meaning of a word was in dispute, that unless it was specifically defined otherwise its plain natural meaning should be assumed to be what was meant. Not that unplain meaning could not be utilised.
Though I think there are occasions where they interpret more generously?
Finland alone would crush Russian forces. Lithuania/Poland would smother Kaliningrad in a week. Russian Navy hiding behind Crimea even though Ukraine has no Navy.
Of course Ukraine has a f***ing navy.
Give it a few months and they’ll have a much bigger one. Based out of Sevastopol.
They were at Sevastopol until 2014, alongside the much bigger Russian navy. Can you see the Russian navy leaving Sevastopol without the war turning nuclear?
What target would Russia nuke and how would it improve their strategic position?
You don't believe in nukes as a deterrent then? Kiev? NATO capital cities? Cue escalation with mega-destruction and large losses on both sides.
Losing Sevastopol completely so that a Ukraine in NATO could welcome in the US navy (and screw the Montreux convention) would mark a major change in the balance of power.
What's the scenario for Russia being forced to cede Sevastopol without reaching for the nukes and hello WW3? That's what I'd like to know.
This could be an interesting discussion. Sevastopol is a much bigger prize than the Donbas.
If Putin tried to suggest to his high command that it was appropriate to use nuclear weapons (he cannot do it on his own) he knows he will be removed from power faster than a retreating "elite" Russian soldier on the Ukrainian front line.
Stop scaremongering, you just make yourself look like a Putin paid troll.
"look like" ...
What a pair of idiots you both are, in effect screaming "Enemy agent!" (or is it "Non-believer"? - can you even distinguish?) when somebody suggests that aiming to conquer the main base of nuclear-armed Russia's Black Sea fleet might trigger a nuclear response. Kenny Everett and all true patriots realised all along that the other side's nuclear arsenal was a paper tiger, right?
I wouldn't want either of you bug-eyed loons on my side in a conflict - you can't consider possible consequences.
Interestingly (and scarily) the understanding that right-wingers here are showing of the different roads along which this war might develop has plummeted since February.
But that's enough counter-insults from me. This is a site where people discuss probabilities of eventualities, yes?
Here's a question then.
What's the probability of nuclear war breaking out between Russia and the West before say the end of next year?
From the top of my head (because who really knows?): 30% and rising.
What are the chances of Russian nuclear weapons working as planned?
Very low.
Nuclear weapons require a lot of maintenance. Plutonium and highly enriched Uranium is, by its very nature, throwing off a ton of radiation as it decays. (If it wasn't unstable like this, it'd be a bloody awful weapon.)
Just as in nuclear power plants, this absolutely hammers the kit used to hold it. And do you really want a brittle enclosure for your nuclear warhead?
And then there's the fuel. It also tends to be very unstable and to degrade over time.
Basically, nuclear weapons are incredibly maintenance heavy.
If there's one thing we've learned from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it's the extent to which corruption has permeated the Russian army. Those stalled columns of lorries were the direct result of not doing simple maintenance.
And if you can't do simple, low cost maintenance, what chance that expensive maintenance has been done?
I would be staggered if more than 10% of Russian nuclear weapons work as planned. I think it is highly likely they would do more damage to Russia than to the West.
Putin's Generals probably know this. Their yachts came from skimping on maintenance.
So, my money is on no nuclear war. And if it did occur: well, so be it. One cannot simple accede to a bully's demands to avoid Armageddon, because that way leads to demands-upon-demands-upon-demands.
Not quite.
Enriched Uranium is a very low emitter if radiation. Plutonium is a bit higher - depends on the grade (amount of 240 mixed in with the 239). Some super grade stuff was made for nuclear torpedos, since in some subs crew slept next to the torpedoes.
The early bombs had trouble with rapidly expiring components - mostly imitators and batteries. Aging explosives were an issue.
In post 60s designs, the big issue is the Tritium. Universally the designs are boosted - a little bit of fusion from the Tritium turbo charges the fission reaction which in turn kicks of the main event (the secondary), itself containing tritium to get tings going.
The problem is that Tritium decays to Helium 3. Which is a reaction poison - it is worse than useless. And Tritium is fairly radioactive and decays quickly.
The capsule of Tritium gas in the warheads will need changing every 18 months or so - exact number depends on the design. 5 grams or so of Tritium per bomb. And Tritium is $30,000 odd per gram.
So you need frequent changes of something that is highly valuable on open market.
What could go wrong in modern Russia?
Thank you!
O/T, but I think you've been completely vindicated in your views about Roe v Wade.
The fact that Red State legislatures and Republicans politicians now have to own the laws they pass on abortion, is actually a powerful incentive not to go batshit. Previously, they could pass any laws, adopt any positions they liked, in the certain knowledge that they could not get past the Supreme Court.
Now, they have to justify themselves to the voters, and that is often uncomfortable.
And so far from striking a blow against legal abortion on demand, the Supreme Court may have struck a blow FOR it....?
From what I've seen the economy and inflation is the biggest issue for American voters and that makes this week's poor inflation data more of a blow to the Dem side than their supporters care to admit.
US rates are going up. Bigly.
I think (hostage to fortune time) we have seen the majority of interest rate increases in the US. The Fed got ahead of the game and can afford to have a pause before the election which I understand to be fairly normal policy for them, whoever is in power. We, on the other hand, remain behind the curve as does the ECB despite their recent 0.75% increase.
There is no doubt, however, that the US is seeing more and broader secondary effects of the price rises in fuel, especially in food.
Biden's deal to avert nationwide rail strike may contribute somewhat to upward wages (not that I'm against that, but Wall Street is) HOWEVER think that the positive impact re: supply chain, trade & commerce will more than offset this.
It's quite doing my head in. I was in Primary School class with a Theresa Coffey (yes really!). I had a my first proper crush on her. Emotions dredged in a most mysterious way.
Sure that the DPM is not your old flame? (Or was it spark?)
She's five years too young. On the other hand, I've just discovered she was born in Billinge. The maternity hospital for my area. So it's highly possible the two were related. (I don't remember another Coffey from my area. It's not a common Lancashire name).
Perhaps she lies about her age...
Looks like you dodged a bullet there.
Decent salary mind. Opportunity for graft. Wouldn't police my diet. Could do worse.
Celtic in trouble for anti queen banners including SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS MICHAEL FAGAN
LOL
'Meanwhile, Uefa said it would not take action Rangers for defying its rules by playing God Save the King before their 3-0 defeat to Napoli at Ibrox later on Wednesday evening.'
Yes, for all @theuniondivvie seems to loathe Rangers for their sectarianism, Celtic seem rather more unpleasant.
Distance lends low information disenchantment.
Those lucky enough to enjoy your PB oeuvre need never feel distant from Glasgow's sectarian amusements.
Given PBers constant reference to me in association with Glasgow's sectarian amusements, I must assume that they're most gratified that I can fulfill their thirst for knowledge. There's certainly a big void of knowing fuck all about it that needs filling, though I do accept that there's a certain amount of eye averting.
Finland alone would crush Russian forces. Lithuania/Poland would smother Kaliningrad in a week. Russian Navy hiding behind Crimea even though Ukraine has no Navy.
Of course Ukraine has a f***ing navy.
Give it a few months and they’ll have a much bigger one. Based out of Sevastopol.
They were at Sevastopol until 2014, alongside the much bigger Russian navy. Can you see the Russian navy leaving Sevastopol without the war turning nuclear?
What target would Russia nuke and how would it improve their strategic position?
You don't believe in nukes as a deterrent then? Kiev? NATO capital cities? Cue escalation with mega-destruction and large losses on both sides.
Losing Sevastopol completely so that a Ukraine in NATO could welcome in the US navy (and screw the Montreux convention) would mark a major change in the balance of power.
What's the scenario for Russia being forced to cede Sevastopol without reaching for the nukes and hello WW3? That's what I'd like to know.
This could be an interesting discussion. Sevastopol is a much bigger prize than the Donbas.
If Putin tried to suggest to his high command that it was appropriate to use nuclear weapons (he cannot do it on his own) he knows he will be removed from power faster than a retreating "elite" Russian soldier on the Ukrainian front line.
Stop scaremongering, you just make yourself look like a Putin paid troll.
"look like" ...
What a pair of idiots you both are, in effect screaming "Enemy agent!" (or is it "Non-believer"? - can you even distinguish?) when somebody suggests that aiming to conquer the main base of nuclear-armed Russia's Black Sea fleet might trigger a nuclear response. Kenny Everett and all true patriots realised all along that the other side's nuclear arsenal was a paper tiger, right?
I wouldn't want either of you bug-eyed loons on my side in a conflict - you can't consider possible consequences.
Interestingly (and scarily) the understanding that right-wingers here are showing of the different roads along which this war might develop has plummeted since February.
But that's enough counter-insults from me. This is a site where people discuss probabilities of eventualities, yes?
Here's a question then.
What's the probability of nuclear war breaking out between Russia and the West before say the end of next year?
From the top of my head (because who really knows?): 30% and rising.
What are the chances of Russian nuclear weapons working as planned?
Very low.
Nuclear weapons require a lot of maintenance. Plutonium and highly enriched Uranium is, by its very nature, throwing off a ton of radiation as it decays. (If it wasn't unstable like this, it'd be a bloody awful weapon.)
Just as in nuclear power plants, this absolutely hammers the kit used to hold it. And do you really want a brittle enclosure for your nuclear warhead?
And then there's the fuel. It also tends to be very unstable and to degrade over time.
Basically, nuclear weapons are incredibly maintenance heavy.
If there's one thing we've learned from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it's the extent to which corruption has permeated the Russian army. Those stalled columns of lorries were the direct result of not doing simple maintenance.
And if you can't do simple, low cost maintenance, what chance that expensive maintenance has been done?
I would be staggered if more than 10% of Russian nuclear weapons work as planned. I think it is highly likely they would do more damage to Russia than to the West.
Putin's Generals probably know this. Their yachts came from skimping on maintenance.
So, my money is on no nuclear war. And if it did occur: well, so be it. One cannot simple accede to a bully's demands to avoid Armageddon, because that way leads to demands-upon-demands-upon-demands.
Not quite.
Enriched Uranium is a very low emitter if radiation. Plutonium is a bit higher - depends on the grade (amount of 240 mixed in with the 239). Some super grade stuff was made for nuclear torpedos, since in some subs crew slept next to the torpedoes.
The early bombs had trouble with rapidly expiring components - mostly imitators and batteries. Aging explosives were an issue.
In post 60s designs, the big issue is the Tritium. Universally the designs are boosted - a little bit of fusion from the Tritium turbo charges the fission reaction which in turn kicks of the main event (the secondary), itself containing tritium to get tings going.
The problem is that Tritium decays to Helium 3. Which is a reaction poison - it is worse than useless. And Tritium is fairly radioactive and decays quickly.
The capsule of Tritium gas in the warheads will need changing every 18 months or so - exact number depends on the design. 5 grams or so of Tritium per bomb. And Tritium is $30,000 odd per gram.
So you need frequent changes of something that is highly valuable on open market.
What could go wrong in modern Russia?
Thank you!
O/T, but I think you've been completely vindicated in your views about Roe v Wade.
The fact that Red State legislatures and Republicans politicians now have to own the laws they pass on abortion, is actually a powerful incentive not to go batshit. Previously, they could pass any laws, adopt any positions they liked, in the certain knowledge that they could not get past the Supreme Court.
Now, they have to justify themselves to the voters, and that is often uncomfortable.
And so far from striking a blow against legal abortion on demand, the Supreme Court may have struck a blow FOR it....?
From what I've seen the economy and inflation is the biggest issue for American voters and that makes this week's poor inflation data more of a blow to the Dem side than their supporters care to admit.
US rates are going up. Bigly.
I think (hostage to fortune time) we have seen the majority of interest rate increases in the US. The Fed got ahead of the game and can afford to have a pause before the election which I understand to be fairly normal policy for them, whoever is in power. We, on the other hand, remain behind the curve as does the ECB despite their recent 0.75% increase.
There is no doubt, however, that the US is seeing more and broader secondary effects of the price rises in fuel, especially in food.
Biden's deal to avert nationwide rail strike may contribute somewhat to upward wages (not that I'm against that, but Wall Street is) HOWEVER think that the positive impact re: supply chain, trade & commerce will more than offset this.
Agreed. And the lack of a national strike by his Union allies causing chaos in the run up to the election won't do him any harm either.
Personally almost always avoid superfluous final commas. However, they ARE useful in cases of possible ambiguity.
Teddy Roosevelt got his fanny in a bit of a crack during his Presidency, by imposing "spelling reform" upon the US Government Printing Office by executive order. Which briefly made him a national laughingstock, until he rescinded his edict.
The incident became part of the Rough Rider's folklore, as testifying to his enthusiasm if NOT his judgement. But at the time, more people were laughing at TR than with him.
Yep, don't need to use them ALL the time, but as the text dictates. Unless it's house style anyway, in which case there is no point arguing.
I once queried a legal agreement that was devoid of commas and consequently somewhat prolix and was reassured that the law relied upon the meaning of words rather than the placement of commas and if a contract depended on the latter it could be challenged successfully in court.
The advice was wrong.
I assumed it was more than where the meaning of a word was in dispute, that unless it was specifically defined otherwise its plain natural meaning should be assumed to be what was meant. Not that unplain meaning could not be utilised.
Though I think there are occasions where they interpret more generously?
On googling, I am amused to see that the examples used for things like the Golden rule do appear to be precisely the ones given in A levels more than 15 years ago. I guess the old examples remain the best way to illustrate.
2. Le Chariot de fromage, Restaurant la Maison Carrier, Chamonix. Perfect!
(and no surcharge versus a dessert!)
Got any pickle?
Fig jam. That's what you need. We were introduced to it in Corsica as a cheese accompaniment. Just right.
Bit sweet fig jam?
My dad has got a fig tree, big sprawling with big leaves, I used to call it the monster when I was small. It wasn’t till September till the figs went the right colour to eat, and they were all squelchy much more so than plums. I didn’t like them.
2. Le Chariot de fromage, Restaurant la Maison Carrier, Chamonix. Perfect!
(and no surcharge versus a dessert!)
Got any pickle?
Fig jam. That's what you need. We were introduced to it in Corsica as a cheese accompaniment. Just right.
Mini marinated (in wine and sugar) figs are delicious with cheese. Did you know every fig contains the remains of a dead wasp?
Yuk.
You do come out with some crazy stuff. I’m sure you are itching to tell us Putin’s rabble have made a smart tactical retreat this week and now is a better place defending a smaller front line around what they really came for?
Personally almost always avoid superfluous final commas. However, they ARE useful in cases of possible ambiguity.
Teddy Roosevelt got his fanny in a bit of a crack during his Presidency, by imposing "spelling reform" upon the US Government Printing Office by executive order. Which briefly made him a national laughingstock, until he rescinded his edict.
The incident became part of the Rough Rider's folklore, as testifying to his enthusiasm if NOT his judgement. But at the time, more people were laughing at TR than with him.
Yep, don't need to use them ALL the time, but as the text dictates. Unless it's house style anyway, in which case there is no point arguing.
I once queried a legal agreement that was devoid of commas and consequently somewhat prolix and was reassured that the law relied upon the meaning of words rather than the placement of commas and if a contract depended on the latter it could be challenged successfully in court.
The advice was wrong.
I assumed it was more than where the meaning of a word was in dispute, that unless it was specifically defined otherwise its plain natural meaning should be assumed to be what was meant. Not that unplain meaning could not be utilised.
Though I think there are occasions where they interpret more generously?
But grammar and punctuation affect the meaning of words too. My old English teacher used the example of a hyphen giving a rather different meaning to the sentence, "there is a sleeping bag in my tent." This was before political correctness, obviously.
NYT - Entering a general election, Don Bolduc said he now believed Biden won in 2020: ‘I’ve done a lot of research.’
Like a driver making a screeching U-turn, Don Bolduc, the Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, pivoted on Thursday from his primary race to the general election, saying he had “come to the conclusion” that the 2020 presidential election “was not stolen,” after he had spent more than a year claiming it was.
“I’ve done a lot of research on this, and I’ve spent the past couple weeks talking to Granite Staters all over the state from every party, and I have come to the conclusion — and I want to be definitive on this — the election was not stolen,” Mr. Bolduc said in an interview on Fox News.
He continued to falsely claim there had been fraud in the election but acknowledged that the outcome was not in question.
“Elections have consequences, and, unfortunately, President Biden is the legitimate president of this country,” he said.
Mr. Bolduc won his primary on Tuesday over a more moderate candidate, Chuck Morse, the president of the New Hampshire Senate. Mr. Bolduc ran on an uncompromising right-wing platform, complete with declarations that former President Donald J. Trump had won the 2020 election.
But now he faces a tough general election campaign against Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat. She is vulnerable in November — but, Republicans worry, less vulnerable against Mr. Bolduc than she would have been against Mr. Morse.
Ms. Hassan’s campaign responded quickly to Mr. Bolduc’s reversal, sharing a series of videos and quotes of the many times Mr. Bolduc promoted the lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
“Don Bolduc is desperately trying to run from years of spreading the Big Lie, but he can’t hide from the video receipts,” her campaign said in a statement.
I'm unsure which is worse - that he does think it was stolen and is now shamelessly pretending otherwise, or that he never thought it was and was just shamelessly pretending to believe it. Being a lying fool, or a foolish liar.
Personally I think that Trumpers deserve all they get with a bit extra on top but I can well imagine many such people feeling a bit perplexed if they voted for him on this basis less than a week ago.
I’m just intrigued by what this ‘research’ might be.
Personally almost always avoid superfluous final commas. However, they ARE useful in cases of possible ambiguity.
Teddy Roosevelt got his fanny in a bit of a crack during his Presidency, by imposing "spelling reform" upon the US Government Printing Office by executive order. Which briefly made him a national laughingstock, until he rescinded his edict.
The incident became part of the Rough Rider's folklore, as testifying to his enthusiasm if NOT his judgement. But at the time, more people were laughing at TR than with him.
Yep, don't need to use them ALL the time, but as the text dictates. Unless it's house style anyway, in which case there is no point arguing.
I once queried a legal agreement that was devoid of commas and consequently somewhat prolix and was reassured that the law relied upon the meaning of words rather than the placement of commas and if a contract depended on the latter it could be challenged successfully in court.
The advice was wrong.
I assumed it was more than where the meaning of a word was in dispute, that unless it was specifically defined otherwise its plain natural meaning should be assumed to be what was meant. Not that unplain meaning could not be utilised.
Though I think there are occasions where they interpret more generously?
But grammar and punctuation affect the meaning of words too.
Wasn't disagreeing - the natural meaning might be impacted by the punctuation.
Finland alone would crush Russian forces. Lithuania/Poland would smother Kaliningrad in a week. Russian Navy hiding behind Crimea even though Ukraine has no Navy.
Of course Ukraine has a f***ing navy.
Give it a few months and they’ll have a much bigger one. Based out of Sevastopol.
They were at Sevastopol until 2014, alongside the much bigger Russian navy. Can you see the Russian navy leaving Sevastopol without the war turning nuclear?
What target would Russia nuke and how would it improve their strategic position?
You don't believe in nukes as a deterrent then? Kiev? NATO capital cities? Cue escalation with mega-destruction and large losses on both sides.
Losing Sevastopol completely so that a Ukraine in NATO could welcome in the US navy (and screw the Montreux convention) would mark a major change in the balance of power.
What's the scenario for Russia being forced to cede Sevastopol without reaching for the nukes and hello WW3? That's what I'd like to know.
This could be an interesting discussion. Sevastopol is a much bigger prize than the Donbas.
If Putin tried to suggest to his high command that it was appropriate to use nuclear weapons (he cannot do it on his own) he knows he will be removed from power faster than a retreating "elite" Russian soldier on the Ukrainian front line.
Stop scaremongering, you just make yourself look like a Putin paid troll.
"look like" ...
What a pair of idiots you both are, in effect screaming "Enemy agent!" (or is it "Non-believer"? - can you even distinguish?) when somebody suggests that aiming to conquer the main base of nuclear-armed Russia's Black Sea fleet might trigger a nuclear response. Kenny Everett and all true patriots realised all along that the other side's nuclear arsenal was a paper tiger, right?
I wouldn't want either of you bug-eyed loons on my side in a conflict - you can't consider possible consequences.
Interestingly (and scarily) the understanding that right-wingers here are showing of the different roads along which this war might develop has plummeted since February.
But that's enough counter-insults from me. This is a site where people discuss probabilities of eventualities, yes?
Here's a question then.
What's the probability of nuclear war breaking out between Russia and the West before say the end of next year?
From the top of my head (because who really knows?): 30% and rising.
What are the chances of Russian nuclear weapons working as planned?
Very low.
Nuclear weapons require a lot of maintenance. Plutonium and highly enriched Uranium is, by its very nature, throwing off a ton of radiation as it decays. (If it wasn't unstable like this, it'd be a bloody awful weapon.)
Just as in nuclear power plants, this absolutely hammers the kit used to hold it. And do you really want a brittle enclosure for your nuclear warhead?
And then there's the fuel. It also tends to be very unstable and to degrade over time.
Basically, nuclear weapons are incredibly maintenance heavy.
If there's one thing we've learned from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it's the extent to which corruption has permeated the Russian army. Those stalled columns of lorries were the direct result of not doing simple maintenance.
And if you can't do simple, low cost maintenance, what chance that expensive maintenance has been done?
I would be staggered if more than 10% of Russian nuclear weapons work as planned. I think it is highly likely they would do more damage to Russia than to the West.
Putin's Generals probably know this. Their yachts came from skimping on maintenance.
So, my money is on no nuclear war. And if it did occur: well, so be it. One cannot simple accede to a bully's demands to avoid Armageddon, because that way leads to demands-upon-demands-upon-demands.
Not quite.
Enriched Uranium is a very low emitter if radiation. Plutonium is a bit higher - depends on the grade (amount of 240 mixed in with the 239). Some super grade stuff was made for nuclear torpedos, since in some subs crew slept next to the torpedoes.
The early bombs had trouble with rapidly expiring components - mostly imitators and batteries. Aging explosives were an issue.
In post 60s designs, the big issue is the Tritium. Universally the designs are boosted - a little bit of fusion from the Tritium turbo charges the fission reaction which in turn kicks of the main event (the secondary), itself containing tritium to get tings going.
The problem is that Tritium decays to Helium 3. Which is a reaction poison - it is worse than useless. And Tritium is fairly radioactive and decays quickly.
The capsule of Tritium gas in the warheads will need changing every 18 months or so - exact number depends on the design. 5 grams or so of Tritium per bomb. And Tritium is $30,000 odd per gram.
So you need frequent changes of something that is highly valuable on open market.
What could go wrong in modern Russia?
Thank you!
O/T, but I think you've been completely vindicated in your views about Roe v Wade.
The fact that Red State legislatures and Republicans politicians now have to own the laws they pass on abortion, is actually a powerful incentive not to go batshit. Previously, they could pass any laws, adopt any positions they liked, in the certain knowledge that they could not get past the Supreme Court.
Now, they have to justify themselves to the voters, and that is often uncomfortable.
And so far from striking a blow against legal abortion on demand, the Supreme Court may have struck a blow FOR it....?
From what I've seen the economy and inflation is the biggest issue for American voters and that makes this week's poor inflation data more of a blow to the Dem side than their supporters care to admit.
US rates are going up. Bigly.
I think (hostage to fortune time) we have seen the majority of interest rate increases in the US. The Fed got ahead of the game and can afford to have a pause before the election which I understand to be fairly normal policy for them, whoever is in power. We, on the other hand, remain behind the curve as does the ECB despite their recent 0.75% increase.
There is no doubt, however, that the US is seeing more and broader secondary effects of the price rises in fuel, especially in food.
Biden's deal to avert nationwide rail strike may contribute somewhat to upward wages (not that I'm against that, but Wall Street is) HOWEVER think that the positive impact re: supply chain, trade & commerce will more than offset this.
Agreed. And the lack of a national strike by his Union allies causing chaos in the run up to the election won't do him any harm either.
Also a feather in cap of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
Comments
From what I've seen the economy and inflation is the biggest issue for American voters and that makes this week's poor inflation data more of a blow to the Dem side than their supporters care to admit.
US rates are going up. Bigly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9osMhzQmcA
The other factor is the decreasing job satisfaction. Money isn't everything.
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1570349657821249536
Dear Volodymyr @ZelenskyyUA , thank you so much for the award of the First Class of the Order of Yaroslav the Wise.
This is a great honour.
I accept it in the name of all EU citizens.
(edit, my bad.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaroslav_the_Wise
Sluggish growth and investment? Lift the cap on banking bonuses
Sky-high energy prices this winter? Lift the moratorium on fracking
Looking to make major savings to reduce the deficit? Cut government initiatives on healthy eating
Etc.
Next they’ll be cutting funding to HMRC, again. You know, the department that collects government revenues.
Teddy Roosevelt got his fanny in a bit of a crack during his Presidency, by imposing "spelling reform" upon the US Government Printing Office by executive order. Which briefly made him a national laughingstock, until he rescinded his edict.
The incident became part of the Rough Rider's folklore, as testifying to his enthusiasm if NOT his judgement. But at the time, more people were laughing at TR than with him.
I was in Primary School class with a Theresa Coffey (yes really!).
I had a my first proper crush on her.
Emotions dredged in a most mysterious way.
https://www.bma.org.uk/pay-and-contracts/pensions/pensions-tax/nhs-pension-lifetime-allowance
In the example given, if you carry on paying into your pension until you reach normal retirement age then you pay an extra £1500 a year tax on it.
Of course, you could choose to stop paying into your pension but continue working but as it notes in the link, you can't opt out of the pension without also opting out of life assurance, redundancy and preferential ill health retirement arrangement.
Something discreet AND respectful. Tugging the forelock three times then throwing a guards salute?
Addendum - Agree that CR is a fine representative for PB on this occasion.
A Ken Clarke in Primary School would be disturbing!
I find myself instinctively giving her (the Deputy PM) the benefit of the doubt though.
The mind is a strange old thing.
Just got back from a very enjoyable two-week car trip to Lake Como, stopping at Beaune on the way down and Chamonix and Amboise on the way back.
A few random impressions:
First off, a big thank-you to M. Macron for introducing a 25c per litre fuel reduction from 1 September - we did the whole 2,000 miles on French unleaded at £1.25 a litre. Yay! ;-)
There didn’t seem to be very much amiss in either France or Italy. All those years of sloppy pseudo-socialist government and they still manage to survive, and thrive. No election posters whatsoever in Italy, even though the election is less than two weeks away (are they banned?).
American tourists are back in force. East asian tourists, still hardly to be seen. Each place we stopped was buzzing, great vibe, fantastic weather and lots of people intent on enjoying themselves.
Italian roads seem to have improved since we were last driving there 10 years ago - better than UK roads now, I’d say. French roads are of course superb. How do they do it? They now are now putting in dozens of animal bridges over all the autoroutes to help the wildlife, which is a good thing I guess but how do they find the money for things like that?
Food: As @Leon pointed out - the edge that France and Italy used to have over the UK is has pretty much gone. Mostly the food we had was competent rather than outstanding. It’s also got a lot more expensive to eat out but wine is still good value. Great breakfasts in all the hotels we stayed in though - puts most UK hotels to shame.
Plenty of restaurant staff too - no shutting on Monday and Tuesdays due to staff shortages, which seems common here. The exception being Brittany Ferries which was unable to run a full restaurant service either way, blamed indeed on ’staff shortages’. Even I can't blame that one on Brexit so I don’t know the reason. Post-covid issues maybe?
Speaking of which, virtually no masks anywhere. The only bizarre exception being the Lake Como passenger ferries where an FFP2 mask is compulsory to board… but then can be taken off immediately you are on board - until you disembark (?!)
Lake Como is beautiful, all those tiny villages tucked into impossible spaces between the hills and the lake. Como is not just for oldies either, it seems to attract all ages these days.
Beaune, Chamonix, Amboise - all proved to be good stopping places, with plenty of restaurants, bars, sights etc. I should also add the Saturday food market in Beaune is huge and superb. You can keep your Borough Markets, give me a proper French market any day!
That’s more than enough I know. I couldn’t be arsed to do a travel blog as we went so I thought I’d post one long summary for anyone who’s interested.
Here's a thread on my 3 month slog to obtain the Education Reform Board membership
STORY HERE:
thetimes.co.uk/article/failed…
https://twitter.com/mark_mclaughlin/status/1570348008096628736
This is only the second on the City. The previous one was in January 2017.
Unfortunately, the powers that be hold the key qualifications to run education are that you must know nothing whatever about it, be rather dim, incredibly arrogant, mind-blowingly complacent and shagging the right people.
Conditions 2, 3 and 4 are occasionally dispensed with, but they never last long.
I wonder if a better idea would be a lifetime limit on contributions rather than value, over which further payments automatically go into an ISA wrapper (no tax relief on contribution, but tax free on withdrawal). Makes the whole thing a bit less of a cliff edge.
Go to it, Sir.
I agree, France and Italy seem to be bearing up generally fine (France more than Italy).
Last time Rangers came, their fans booed "Flower Of Scotland".
Celtic visit us on Sunday; I shall report back.
(though Motherwell fans are the worst I have seen)
In much the same way, just after winning an election you are in a strong place, can get away with more, running close to an election you jettison the more controversial policies.
Truss barely made second in MPs, she got less than 50% of membership to back her in a two horse race, she has not won a general election, she simply does not have the authority to change the direction of this country in the wholly new direction for us you are proposing she should. She should respect that between now and winning a general election on a manifesto of her own.
1. Como lake fish 5 different ways, served on a terrace above the lake - sublime!
Was in Italy in 2003, just before invasion of Iraq. Only political sign I saw, from train window outside of Florence, was actually graffiti (or rather graffito) that proclaimed
"America Fuck!"
Amused me more than it should have, I reckon. Though did see where they were coming from, and driving at.
(and no surcharge versus a dessert!)
On the other hand, I've just discovered she was born in Billinge. The maternity hospital for my area.
So it's highly possible the two were related. (I don't remember another Coffey from my area. It's not a common Lancashire name).
There is no doubt, however, that the US is seeing more and broader secondary effects of the price rises in fuel, especially in food.
But have been many times to (or rather through) Washington, Pennsylvania - hometown of Perry Como.
Looks like you dodged a bullet there.
Jones, where Brown had had "had", had had "had had". "Had had" had been judged correct.
Lovely pics.
But on the City, what could be said that would not be easy to predict? That's why its an odd plan.
Though I think there are occasions where they interpret more generously?
My dad has got a fig tree, big sprawling with big leaves, I used to call it the monster when I was small. It wasn’t till September till the figs went the right colour to eat, and they were all squelchy much more so than plums. I didn’t like them.
Does nobody proof read the cartoons?
You do come out with some crazy stuff. I’m sure you are itching to tell us Putin’s rabble have made a smart tactical retreat this week and now is a better place defending a smaller front line around what they really came for?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/07/therese-coffey-had-to-leave-oxford-university-but-made-it-to-deputy-pm