Believing that children should have enough food to eat?
Or refusing to tax the super-rich while 4.2 million kids live in poverty?
Good morning
He's right and start by impossible a 50% tax on all football transfers
Why football transfers? We should be careful not just to target that which is highly visible. Football probably isn't a main driver of the problems we have in this country so targeting it would probably fall into the "useless populism" category.
Over 1 billion would have been raised in the last transfer window
Chavs would get restive when English teams were no longer relevant in European competition.
Really? Hooray, Arsenal/Chelsea/Man Utd/Man City/Liverpool? Once upon a time in the half remembered past, there was a degree of supporting English teams in Europe. But then the premier league happened: the big clubs delivered a massive fuck you to everyone else, and, what, I'm supposed to now support them when they play in Europe, because they're English? Except they're not, apart from the odd smattering who've unaccountably made it through the gaps. Inasmuch as we watch these clubs we do so in the hope of seeing the smug bastards fail.
That’s deeply suboptimal. I mean, c'mon, he couldn’t win as the incumbent without indictments
How? Hasn't his polling improved since he's been indicted.
The Dems have left it too late to dump Biden now so they are stuck with Abe Simpson. The best they can hope for is that he drops dead about 3 weeks before polling day and Harris gets in on a wave of sympathy and confusion.
Trump: At the moment there's the prospect of him running at the same time as fighting to stay out of jail. If this is replaced by the reality of it, the trials happening, the election coming closer, rally then court, rally then court, sordid revelations, defence creaking under forensic scrutiny, tv moments, people turning stooly on him, etc, this will gnaw at his numbers and they'll fall away to a level where he can't win. That's what I see happening if he's the candidate.
Biden: Everything points to him being the Dem candidate, I agree. I wonder what he'd do if the GOP don't go with Trump though. I mean, he's the Trump Slayer so if there's no Trump to slay and he's 81? Hmm. Interesting.
On Biden, I get the impression he really enjoys being President in a way that has somewhat surprised even himself. That may sound a bit daft but, for all the physical frailties that sometimes come to the fore, it does appear to have given him something of a new lease of life. Some Presidents get worn down by the office but, frankly, he seems to thrive on it just on a personal level.
I don't really think that's a good enough reason why he ought to stand - he promised to be a bridge to the future and has turned into a bit of a roadblock to the future. But the way he feels about the job is probably pretty important in terms of informing his actual decision on standing.
Contrast with Trump who seemed utterly miserable as president. And utterly miserable afterwards. He's a very angry, unhappy old man.
Indeed, I often wonder a bit why Trump wants to do a job that often seemed to make him miserable rather than playing golf and eating burgers until he dies. I guess the answer is he cannot cope with being known as a failed President, and also there are some pretty damned good reasons why he might want power over pardons.
Trump as President gets to do two key things: 1 Pardon anyone so far indicted by the government 2 Issue political arrest warrants against anyone who has gone after the people in camp 1. Including the people in states like Georgia who are going after him.
Don't say "he won't do 2". He will. And he's already telling people he will. And he will have the support of others already in positions of authority who will direct the actual arrests.
The political arrest warrant will remove the immediate threat to himself and his allies, and with the pardon and release of so many proud patriots he has a militia ready to be formed in case he gets any resistance from law enforcement.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs had a hair trigger mechanism in place for Trump's final days to remove him from the chain of command. To prevent POTUS from doing anything he liked. But he and others like him would be moved or arrested or both.
Does this remind anyone of the Nazis? It should. Time we actually talk about American Fascism in the form of DJT and his supporters in the RNC.
Interestingly if he is found guilty in Georgia he can't pardon himself, and even the governor has to go via a panel for pardons.
But yes, if he is found guilty of federal charges he will do these things and it will be down to whether the GOP would vote to impeach him (lol) - and even if enough of them did that would likely lead to mass violence, in part egged on by those politicians who support Trump.
The more difficult aspect will be the army and the police. The rank and file are probably more sympathetic to Trump than the officer class, and the higher up you get the less support for Trump I think you'll find - but the rank and file outnumber them. So if Trump is reelected and gives illegal / immoral orders - I don't know how the army or police would react.
You are right about how this is very much the fascist playbook, as have many scholars of fascism and the holocaust specifically. Even the argument that Trump was just exercising his free speech is very similar to Hitler's defence for his crimes:
The comments about implementing orders are key. In a functioning system there is no question about an American dictator being able to order the arrest of political enemies. Orders would be considered outrageous and Congress would intercede. Army / FBI / Police commanders would refuse the orders. Individuals in the front line would see their fellow countrymen in front of them, not an enemy.
But this is America polarised and divided. Tens of millions have foaming-dog-fever. And the country has shown repeatedly that it can order law enforcement and worse to beat up and arrest and kill people for their crime of being black or liberal or an alleged communist. Cheered on by Congress.
There would be some resistance, sure. But they will better plan the takeover of power this time. Once they get it, they won't give it up voluntarily.
That’s deeply suboptimal. I mean, c'mon, he couldn’t win as the incumbent without indictments
How? Hasn't his polling improved since he's been indicted.
The Dems have left it too late to dump Biden now so they are stuck with Abe Simpson. The best they can hope for is that he drops dead about 3 weeks before polling day and Harris gets in on a wave of sympathy and confusion.
Trump: At the moment there's the prospect of him running at the same time as fighting to stay out of jail. If this is replaced by the reality of it, the trials happening, the election coming closer, rally then court, rally then court, sordid revelations, defence creaking under forensic scrutiny, tv moments, people turning stooly on him, etc, this will gnaw at his numbers and they'll fall away to a level where he can't win. That's what I see happening if he's the candidate.
Biden: Everything points to him being the Dem candidate, I agree. I wonder what he'd do if the GOP don't go with Trump though. I mean, he's the Trump Slayer so if there's no Trump to slay and he's 81? Hmm. Interesting.
On Biden, I get the impression he really enjoys being President in a way that has somewhat surprised even himself. That may sound a bit daft but, for all the physical frailties that sometimes come to the fore, it does appear to have given him something of a new lease of life. Some Presidents get worn down by the office but, frankly, he seems to thrive on it just on a personal level.
I don't really think that's a good enough reason why he ought to stand - he promised to be a bridge to the future and has turned into a bit of a roadblock to the future. But the way he feels about the job is probably pretty important in terms of informing his actual decision on standing.
Contrast with Trump who seemed utterly miserable as president. And utterly miserable afterwards. He's a very angry, unhappy old man.
Indeed, I often wonder a bit why Trump wants to do a job that often seemed to make him miserable rather than playing golf and eating burgers until he dies. I guess the answer is he cannot cope with being known as a failed President, and also there are some pretty damned good reasons why he might want power over pardons.
Trump as President gets to do two key things: 1 Pardon anyone so far indicted by the government 2 Issue political arrest warrants against anyone who has gone after the people in camp 1. Including the people in states like Georgia who are going after him.
Don't say "he won't do 2". He will. And he's already telling people he will. And he will have the support of others already in positions of authority who will direct the actual arrests.
Does this remind anyone of the Nazis? It should. Time we actually talk about American Fascism in the form of DJT and his supporters in the RNC.
a - What is a "political arrest warrant" and does the US President have the power to issue one?
b - The President cannot pardon people for crimes under State Law, which is I think more than half of the indictments he faces - including the new Fraud and Tax Evasion and similar charges by the New York DA.
Some NY charges are coming under summary Judgement not jury trials . Attempts to transfer the cases to Federal Courts are not working and will not work because they do not meet the necessary conditions.
c - Some of these are coming to trial before he gets anywhere near the Presidency. I think the first is in October this year.
Yes - the GOP activities do remind me of the Nazi manipulations of the German system.
a) - I assume a presidential decree demanding that federal authorities arrest the named individuals. The president has all kinds of abilities to govern by decree, especially when the other parts of the government support him
b) - pardon, no. Have the prosecutors arrested so that the charges are dropped? Yes.
c) - I cannot see that Trump will go to jail for any of these, so he will be at liberty after any conviction to carry this out.
As for the parallels with the NSDAP, that is how you ensure you can do what you want to do. Get enough people voted or appointed into key roles in key organisations, then take direct control.
I know the American system want to soften the language and charge him under RICO laws. But this is bigger than Trump being a Mafia don. He wants to be a dictator. Not because he has a Hitlerite grand vision for his country. Because he is a petty despot.
I see Trump, and acolytes, going to prison for a long time for some of the RICO charges.
One assumes that the Hawks are unaffected by the consequences of interest rate rises.
I suspect an awful lot of people are unaffected by interest rate rises -as it will very much depend on when your fixed rate mortgage period ends.
The future is not evenly distributed and that's doubly true when you look at the pain interest rate rises is having on people.
Savers are also affected, but favourably.
I have no debts and a reasonable sum saved across several accounts and my new savings rates coming in are pretty good and certainly well over where inflation is expected to be in a few months time.
That’s deeply suboptimal. I mean, c'mon, he couldn’t win as the incumbent without indictments
How? Hasn't his polling improved since he's been indicted.
The Dems have left it too late to dump Biden now so they are stuck with Abe Simpson. The best they can hope for is that he drops dead about 3 weeks before polling day and Harris gets in on a wave of sympathy and confusion.
Trump: At the moment there's the prospect of him running at the same time as fighting to stay out of jail. If this is replaced by the reality of it, the trials happening, the election coming closer, rally then court, rally then court, sordid revelations, defence creaking under forensic scrutiny, tv moments, people turning stooly on him, etc, this will gnaw at his numbers and they'll fall away to a level where he can't win. That's what I see happening if he's the candidate.
Biden: Everything points to him being the Dem candidate, I agree. I wonder what he'd do if the GOP don't go with Trump though. I mean, he's the Trump Slayer so if there's no Trump to slay and he's 81? Hmm. Interesting.
On Biden, I get the impression he really enjoys being President in a way that has somewhat surprised even himself. That may sound a bit daft but, for all the physical frailties that sometimes come to the fore, it does appear to have given him something of a new lease of life. Some Presidents get worn down by the office but, frankly, he seems to thrive on it just on a personal level.
I don't really think that's a good enough reason why he ought to stand - he promised to be a bridge to the future and has turned into a bit of a roadblock to the future. But the way he feels about the job is probably pretty important in terms of informing his actual decision on standing.
Contrast with Trump who seemed utterly miserable as president. And utterly miserable afterwards. He's a very angry, unhappy old man.
Indeed, I often wonder a bit why Trump wants to do a job that often seemed to make him miserable rather than playing golf and eating burgers until he dies. I guess the answer is he cannot cope with being known as a failed President, and also there are some pretty damned good reasons why he might want power over pardons.
Trump as President gets to do two key things: 1 Pardon anyone so far indicted by the government 2 Issue political arrest warrants against anyone who has gone after the people in camp 1. Including the people in states like Georgia who are going after him.
Don't say "he won't do 2". He will. And he's already telling people he will. And he will have the support of others already in positions of authority who will direct the actual arrests.
Does this remind anyone of the Nazis? It should. Time we actually talk about American Fascism in the form of DJT and his supporters in the RNC.
a - What is a "political arrest warrant" and does the US President have the power to issue one?
b - The President cannot pardon people for crimes under State Law, which is I think more than half of the indictments he faces - including the new Fraud and Tax Evasion and similar charges by the New York DA.
Some NY charges are coming under summary Judgement not jury trials . Attempts to transfer the cases to Federal Courts are not working and will not work because they do not meet the necessary conditions.
c - Some of these are coming to trial before he gets anywhere near the Presidency. I think the first is in October this year.
Yes - the GOP activities do remind me of the Nazi manipulations of the German system.
a) - I assume a presidential decree demanding that federal authorities arrest the named individuals. The president has all kinds of abilities to govern by decree, especially when the other parts of the government support him
b) - pardon, no. Have the prosecutors arrested so that the charges are dropped? Yes.
c) - I cannot see that Trump will go to jail for any of these, so he will be at liberty after any conviction to carry this out.
As for the parallels with the NSDAP, that is how you ensure you can do what you want to do. Get enough people voted or appointed into key roles in key organisations, then take direct control.
I know the American system want to soften the language and charge him under RICO laws. But this is bigger than Trump being a Mafia don. He wants to be a dictator. Not because he has a Hitlerite grand vision for his country. Because he is a petty despot.
I see Trump, and acolytes, going to prison for a long time for some of the RICO charges.
That won't stop him running and potentially winning the Presidency. Convicted criminals can run for election, and I think if it got to SCOTUS about if this crime would constitute treason or rebellion under the 14th Amendment, they would likely argue that only Congress can hold that trial (via impeachment), and so being convicted in Georgia is not good enough.
Mr. Pointer, and no drone ever asked to leave their cube
Lol, stick with Windows if it makes you feel 'freer' - it's your loss.
If you want 'freer', I don't think either Windows or MacOS fit the bill...
Windows OS and Microsoft products are the default choice for so many businesses. Which is how they have managed to become so bloated, expensive and faffy to deal with.
I genuinely like ChromeOS, and for a couple of years ran entirely on a Chromebook. Then a client requirement to start running phys versions of Microsoft applications meant having to go back to Windows.
18 months on and I've banished it again. Whatever issues there are with Apple - and there are many many issues - it is not really any different to the issues with Microsoft.
As for the phone switch about to happen, 2 reasons. One, may as well enjoy the benefits of operating inside an ecosystem (as I did for 2 happy years with Google). Two, Google's shift to its own Tensor chip has been Bad. Pixel 6 Pro still has meltdown incidents where the chip decides to overheat and fiercely burn the battery. I don't do skinned Android OS (so no thank you BloatSung), so screw it, lets get an iPhone.
I cheat and do Android via LineageOS on a Samsung - which removes all their cruft - although obviously you have to be careful with third party builds as to exactly what you are getting. I wouldn't buy an Android phone where all the manufacturer rubbish couldn't be removed.
I couldn't justify £950 (or whatever the iPhone 15 will cost) for my mobile usage patterns but if it works for you, why not...
Unemployment up significantly in the UK might mean we have seen the peak of interest rate rises.
I'd love to know why you're so anti-British.
I’m not “anti-British”, you twit. I’d quite like interest rates to level off, if not decline.
It does appear the market is expecting another 0.25, however, and the Bank is making hawkish noises. It appears the British economy is not squealing enough quite yet.
The bank is not making hawkish noises, one of its members is, Catherine Mann, in an article I linked in this thread.
"Ms Mann acknowledged that further rate rises risked going too far and damaging the economy, but argued that this was less dangerous than doing too little and allowing inflation to keep rampaging."
It states other members of the MPC are saying rates have peaked or near peak.
That’s deeply suboptimal. I mean, c'mon, he couldn’t win as the incumbent without indictments
How? Hasn't his polling improved since he's been indicted.
The Dems have left it too late to dump Biden now so they are stuck with Abe Simpson. The best they can hope for is that he drops dead about 3 weeks before polling day and Harris gets in on a wave of sympathy and confusion.
Trump: At the moment there's the prospect of him running at the same time as fighting to stay out of jail. If this is replaced by the reality of it, the trials happening, the election coming closer, rally then court, rally then court, sordid revelations, defence creaking under forensic scrutiny, tv moments, people turning stooly on him, etc, this will gnaw at his numbers and they'll fall away to a level where he can't win. That's what I see happening if he's the candidate.
Biden: Everything points to him being the Dem candidate, I agree. I wonder what he'd do if the GOP don't go with Trump though. I mean, he's the Trump Slayer so if there's no Trump to slay and he's 81? Hmm. Interesting.
People have already turned stooly on him. Notably the IT Manager at Mar-a-Lago and one female who's name I can't remember before the Jan 6 investigating committee.
Suspect there are others who are not yet public.
The tell tale seems to be when they appoint their own lawyers, rather than stick with lawyers paid by Trumps' PAC who are there to defend Trump not them.
I see increasing numbers of voters, especially independents, refusing to be associated with a stinking pool of slime.
It's a fascinating slow game of legal chess, but does not exactly lift my faith in the US legal system above my faith in its political system.
Mr. Pointer, and no drone ever asked to leave their cube
Lol, stick with Windows if it makes you feel 'freer' - it's your loss.
If you want 'freer', I don't think either Windows or MacOS fit the bill...
When it comes to personal IT I want reliability, ease of use, security, longevity, and performance. I leave the paranoia about Big Brother tracking my life to Pagan et al.
I mostly run Linux for computing requirements rather than paranoia, but I think there is at least some reason to take care over what happens to your data even if you don't buy into CIA conspiracies. That's part of 'security'.
If you monitor what talks to who there are always a few nasty surprises.
Anyway, currently considering whether 4 cores and 48Gb is enough or whether I need 16 cores and 128Gb. I'm not going to pay £4k+ for Mac hardware just because it is 'shiny'...
This MacBook has the fire-breathing 30-cores M2 Max chip and 32GB of RAM. And yep, £3,350 from Apple is not cheap. But with a discount from Costco, then take off the VAT and deduct Corporation Tax saved and its £2,100.
Still a lot a lot. But decent laptops cost £crazy these days. And I want build quality and longevity as I'm sick of hardware which doesn't last with daily use.
What amuses me are the people who spend that amount on a laptop and then only use a web browser and email.
Mr. Pointer, and no drone ever asked to leave their cube
Lol, stick with Windows if it makes you feel 'freer' - it's your loss.
If you want 'freer', I don't think either Windows or MacOS fit the bill...
When it comes to personal IT I want reliability, ease of use, security, longevity, and performance. I leave the paranoia about Big Brother tracking my life to Pagan et al.
I mostly run Linux for computing requirements rather than paranoia, but I think there is at least some reason to take care over what happens to your data even if you don't buy into CIA conspiracies. That's part of 'security'.
If you monitor what talks to who there are always a few nasty surprises.
Anyway, currently considering whether 4 cores and 48Gb is enough or whether I need 16 cores and 128Gb. I'm not going to pay £4k+ for Mac hardware just because it is 'shiny'...
This MacBook has the fire-breathing 30-cores M2 Max chip and 32GB of RAM. And yep, £3,350 from Apple is not cheap. But with a discount from Costco, then take off the VAT and deduct Corporation Tax saved and its £2,100.
Still a lot a lot. But decent laptops cost £crazy these days. And I want build quality and longevity as I'm sick of hardware which doesn't last with daily use.
I go with cheap laptop and VPN/Remote to server for the heavy stuff, so anything goes as long as the screen is readable.
But I do agree that 'landfill tech' is bad.
Crap android phones that go out of official support after about 18 months and get binned are an abomination.
That’s deeply suboptimal. I mean, c'mon, he couldn’t win as the incumbent without indictments
How? Hasn't his polling improved since he's been indicted.
The Dems have left it too late to dump Biden now so they are stuck with Abe Simpson. The best they can hope for is that he drops dead about 3 weeks before polling day and Harris gets in on a wave of sympathy and confusion.
Trump: At the moment there's the prospect of him running at the same time as fighting to stay out of jail. If this is replaced by the reality of it, the trials happening, the election coming closer, rally then court, rally then court, sordid revelations, defence creaking under forensic scrutiny, tv moments, people turning stooly on him, etc, this will gnaw at his numbers and they'll fall away to a level where he can't win. That's what I see happening if he's the candidate.
Biden: Everything points to him being the Dem candidate, I agree. I wonder what he'd do if the GOP don't go with Trump though. I mean, he's the Trump Slayer so if there's no Trump to slay and he's 81? Hmm. Interesting.
On Biden, I get the impression he really enjoys being President in a way that has somewhat surprised even himself. That may sound a bit daft but, for all the physical frailties that sometimes come to the fore, it does appear to have given him something of a new lease of life. Some Presidents get worn down by the office but, frankly, he seems to thrive on it just on a personal level.
I don't really think that's a good enough reason why he ought to stand - he promised to be a bridge to the future and has turned into a bit of a roadblock to the future. But the way he feels about the job is probably pretty important in terms of informing his actual decision on standing.
Contrast with Trump who seemed utterly miserable as president. And utterly miserable afterwards. He's a very angry, unhappy old man.
Indeed, I often wonder a bit why Trump wants to do a job that often seemed to make him miserable rather than playing golf and eating burgers until he dies. I guess the answer is he cannot cope with being known as a failed President, and also there are some pretty damned good reasons why he might want power over pardons.
Trump as President gets to do two key things: 1 Pardon anyone so far indicted by the government 2 Issue political arrest warrants against anyone who has gone after the people in camp 1. Including the people in states like Georgia who are going after him.
Don't say "he won't do 2". He will. And he's already telling people he will. And he will have the support of others already in positions of authority who will direct the actual arrests.
Does this remind anyone of the Nazis? It should. Time we actually talk about American Fascism in the form of DJT and his supporters in the RNC.
a - What is a "political arrest warrant" and does the US President have the power to issue one?
b - The President cannot pardon people for crimes under State Law, which is I think more than half of the indictments he faces - including the new Fraud and Tax Evasion and similar charges by the New York DA.
Some NY charges are coming under summary Judgement not jury trials . Attempts to transfer the cases to Federal Courts are not working and will not work because they do not meet the necessary conditions.
c - Some of these are coming to trial before he gets anywhere near the Presidency. I think the first is in October this year.
Yes - the GOP activities do remind me of the Nazi manipulations of the German system.
a) - I assume a presidential decree demanding that federal authorities arrest the named individuals. The president has all kinds of abilities to govern by decree, especially when the other parts of the government support him
b) - pardon, no. Have the prosecutors arrested so that the charges are dropped? Yes.
c) - I cannot see that Trump will go to jail for any of these, so he will be at liberty after any conviction to carry this out.
As for the parallels with the NSDAP, that is how you ensure you can do what you want to do. Get enough people voted or appointed into key roles in key organisations, then take direct control.
I know the American system want to soften the language and charge him under RICO laws. But this is bigger than Trump being a Mafia don. He wants to be a dictator. Not because he has a Hitlerite grand vision for his country. Because he is a petty despot.
I see Trump, and acolytes, going to prison for a long time for some of the RICO charges.
That won't stop him running and potentially winning the Presidency. Convicted criminals can run for election, and I think if it got to SCOTUS about if this crime would constitute treason or rebellion under the 14th Amendment, they would likely argue that only Congress can hold that trial (via impeachment), and so being convicted in Georgia is not good enough.
I think you are conflating 2 issues there.
1 - State RICO charges. What is the route for Appeal to SCOTUS, since it is not a Federal prosecution?
2 - The 14th Amendment exclusion from holding any USA office.
Believing that children should have enough food to eat?
Or refusing to tax the super-rich while 4.2 million kids live in poverty?
Good morning
He's right and start by impossible a 50% tax on all football transfers
Why football transfers? We should be careful not just to target that which is highly visible. Football probably isn't a main driver of the problems we have in this country so targeting it would probably fall into the "useless populism" category.
Over 1 billion would have been raised in the last transfer window
Assuming the economic activity continued in the same way given the existence of said tax
Premier League is linked to about 100k full time jobs, 5% of all UK tax and 3% of UK GDP.
Lets kill it off just as it is under threat from Saudi, why not?
Taxing transfers more wouldn't kill it off either.
I'm suspicious of BigG's plan, but we shouldn't exaggerate the downsides either.
50% tax? So to buy a player from a German club which wants to receive £20m a Prem club has to pay £40m? Yes, that kills off the Premier League as the number one global football club competition within 5 years.
The qualifier changes the statement. Knocks it off number 1? Agreed. "Kills it off" unqualified? Disagree.
Is it a bad thing that the Premier League is no longer the number one league in the world? Who would lose out? Personally I enjoyed football far more when it was less global; the players in the league were likely to stay the players in the league, and transfers in and out of the country were a rarity. And more importantly, attending a game was affordable. I don't think anyone could seriously argue that fans of clubs in the German league or Spanish league have it worse than we do as a result of their leagues not being the number one global league.
Except that German fans DO complain - and loudly - about exactly this. Because the EPL is so much richer, due to global appeal, it buys all the best German players - and others of course - meaning that only wealthy Bayern can compete for the international stars (eg Kane)
Which means that Bayern become even richer, and they win every single year, thereby ruining the German league and German football
This is a profound lament often heard in German football. So you are completely wrong
Unemployment up significantly in the UK might mean we have seen the peak of interest rate rises.
I'd love to know why you're so anti-British.
I’m not “anti-British”, you twit. I’d quite like interest rates to level off, if not decline.
It does appear the market is expecting another 0.25, however, and the Bank is making hawkish noises. It appears the British economy is not squealing enough quite yet.
I think the BoE rate setters have realised their dovish chat recently has pushed sterling down while oil prices are up, fuel at 20-30% more than a few months ago is going to be serious MoM inflationary pressure in the next few months.
I figure we get another two 0.25% rises because the Fed seems intent on exporting US inflation to the rest of the world and the BoE will need to follow their rate rises to maintain sterling against USD.
Mr. Pointer, and no drone ever asked to leave their cube
Lol, stick with Windows if it makes you feel 'freer' - it's your loss.
If you want 'freer', I don't think either Windows or MacOS fit the bill...
When it comes to personal IT I want reliability, ease of use, security, longevity, and performance. I leave the paranoia about Big Brother tracking my life to Pagan et al.
I mostly run Linux for computing requirements rather than paranoia, but I think there is at least some reason to take care over what happens to your data even if you don't buy into CIA conspiracies. That's part of 'security'.
If you monitor what talks to who there are always a few nasty surprises.
Anyway, currently considering whether 4 cores and 48Gb is enough or whether I need 16 cores and 128Gb. I'm not going to pay £4k+ for Mac hardware just because it is 'shiny'...
This MacBook has the fire-breathing 30-cores M2 Max chip and 32GB of RAM. And yep, £3,350 from Apple is not cheap. But with a discount from Costco, then take off the VAT and deduct Corporation Tax saved and its £2,100.
Still a lot a lot. But decent laptops cost £crazy these days. And I want build quality and longevity as I'm sick of hardware which doesn't last with daily use.
I go with cheap laptop and VPN/Remote to server for the heavy stuff, so anything goes as long as the screen is readable.
But I do agree that 'landfill tech' is bad.
Crap android phones that go out of official support after about 18 months and get binned are an abomination.
Been reading the Which reports on the latter issue with considerable interest. I see the Samsung S23 has a long life promised, but I've also been looking at Fairphone (after unfortunate experiences with the original Microsoft Surface Book, which I have mentioned here as having an effectively unreplaceable battery).
On topic, I struggle to see how many votes Trump can pick up over his total last time. If you didn't vote for him then, why would you vote for him now?
So we're back to Biden's tally and how far that could fall. In 2020 voting Biden was something done to stop Trump. With Trump being madder and badder than last time I can't see how that driver dissipates much.
So we're looking for disillusioned democrats prepared to risk Trump. Or the people who came out to vote to stop Trump who usually don't deciding it doesn't matter this time.
A lot Americans dislike Biden, as indeed, many dislike Trump.
Indeed - I identified that when I mentioned disillusioned democrats.
Biden and the entire Democrat party are not what I would want. But when the alternative is worse? Trump winning would end the existing democratic model which is on its knees awaiting either execution or salvation.
Biden may not be great. But he isn't pledging to make political arrests of people who disagree with him.
The prospect of a Trump win is alarming, and the likelihood of it is underrated on this side of the pond.
Yeah - I'd say it's basically a coin flip, which isn't great...
He should be evens for the presidency? No way.
It will come down to the economy. Biden needs some economic cheer.
I'd put it the other way. Assuming he is the candidate Trump needs some serious economic woe.
England and Wales are only half to two-thirds of the numbers of police per population of some of our European peers - France, Italy, Germany, Spain etc.
Believing that children should have enough food to eat?
Or refusing to tax the super-rich while 4.2 million kids live in poverty?
Good morning
He's right and start by impossible a 50% tax on all football transfers
Why football transfers? We should be careful not just to target that which is highly visible. Football probably isn't a main driver of the problems we have in this country so targeting it would probably fall into the "useless populism" category.
Over 1 billion would have been raised in the last transfer window
Assuming the economic activity continued in the same way given the existence of said tax
Premier League is linked to about 100k full time jobs, 5% of all UK tax and 3% of UK GDP.
Lets kill it off just as it is under threat from Saudi, why not?
Taxing transfers more wouldn't kill it off either.
I'm suspicious of BigG's plan, but we shouldn't exaggerate the downsides either.
50% tax? So to buy a player from a German club which wants to receive £20m a Prem club has to pay £40m? Yes, that kills off the Premier League as the number one global football club competition within 5 years.
The qualifier changes the statement. Knocks it off number 1? Agreed. "Kills it off" unqualified? Disagree.
But these things live off the network effect. Apple without continued global dominance could quickly become Blackberry.
Yes and no. Network effects etc. yes I agree. But the PL would still exist under the regime BigG mentions (and which, to be clear again, I don't support!). People still go in large numbers to, say, Championship games. Supporting a club isn't something people change as readily as they change phone brands.
Blackberry still exist too, but they don't pay anywhere near as much tax as they used to.....
Yes, and that's my point to BigG: increasing tax to a punitive level can often shrivel the underlying business, so reducing tax. But that doesn't mean it'll kill the business completely. The PL would survive.
I am enjoying being back in the Championship. Games are much more even, less playacting and no VAR. Not so many superstars, and the quality on the ball is worse, but quite a positive trade off.
Absolutely, Saints games are so much more enjoyable. When its a goal its a goal.
Haw! I'd have difficulty telling the difference under the tarpaulins and other clutter.
I saw that particular vehicle when visiting the Tank Museum a few years back - it just started up and drove around the arena one Friday afternoon, not a special day at all or anything like that. Great fun. Extra fun when a modern Leopard then joined it - hugely more powerful and speedier and noisier.
England and Wales are only slightly over half of the numbers of police per population of some of our European peers - France, Italy, Germany, Spain etc.
I can see some shops moving to an Argos type model for some products if they can square the cost equation.
It's partly the Tories fault because they made it more difficult to prosecute people who steal small amounts, something you normally associate with very left-wing eofficials in San Francisco. The previous Labour government, with Jack Straw, actually tried cracking down on shoplifting. So maybe vote Labour to get tough on crime.
Unemployment up significantly in the UK might mean we have seen the peak of interest rate rises.
I'd love to know why you're so anti-British.
I’m not “anti-British”, you twit. I’d quite like interest rates to level off, if not decline.
It does appear the market is expecting another 0.25, however, and the Bank is making hawkish noises. It appears the British economy is not squealing enough quite yet.
Having been too slow to hike they'll probably swing too far the other way for a while.
No promises but there's a chance you might get electric-blue / purple aurora in about 30-40 minutes' time. There's an interplanetary shock that might hit earth, particles travelling 350+ metres per second. If you see any blue aurora, it'll be due to ionised nitrogen reacquiring electrons (the normal green northern/southern lights is due to oxygen)
Aurora now visible in at least southern New Zealand
England and Wales are only slightly over half of the numbers of police per population of some of our European peers - France, Italy, Germany, Spain etc.
I can see some shops moving to an Argos type model for some products if they can square the cost equation.
It's partly the Tories fault because they made it more difficult to prosecute people who steal small amounts, something you normally associate with very left-wing eofficials in San Francisco. The previous Labour government, with Jack Straw, actually tried cracking down on shoplifting. So maybe vote Labour to get tough on crime.
If Starmer’s Home Office is anything like Blair’s then the next government will be to the right of Suella Braverman.
England and Wales are only slightly over half of the numbers of police per population of some of our European peers - France, Italy, Germany, Spain etc.
I can see some shops moving to an Argos type model for some products if they can square the cost equation.
It's partly the Tories fault because they made it more difficult to prosecute people who steal small amounts, something you normally associate with very left-wing eofficials in San Francisco. The previous Labour government, with Jack Straw, actually tried cracking down on shoplifting. So maybe vote Labour to get tough on crime.
The current shoplifting trend seems to be organised crime - clearing out entire shelves of meat etc, and selling the stolen goods on.
Shopowners state police policies of not investigating crime values of under £200, and repeat criminals who come in several times a week and threaten staff in the knowledge that they will not be accosted.
(I think that is from a Today Programme interview yesterday.)
I'm inclined to say it needs a remedy significantly increased police funding, especially directed at PCSOs. And yes - that means a higher tax base, and also ties in to reducing the backlog of innocent people not yet found guilty in the prison system from the current nearly 20%.
Vote Labour for a more conservative government. It's getting to the stage where that's a plausible slogan. Because the Tories are useless at everything, such as clamping down on shoplifting.
Interest rates are still considerably below wage increases and inflation.
Don't they say 6 months for the effect to be felt. So they may well have done enough but how can you be sure? I'm not sure I buy this line of the US exporting inflation. The biggest economy in the world raising interest rates is surely going to put downward pressure on oil prices.
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work there. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Python and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
Mr. Pointer, I don't care either way, really, though tech fanboyism (I know neither you nor Mr. Pioneers are guilty of this, though Mr. Eagles certainly is) just seems daft to me.
Labour will abolish anti-strike laws, pledges Angela Rayner
‘New deal for workers’ will include closing loophole used by Amazon to avoid recognising unions
Labour will bring forward legislation to improve workers’ rights within 100 days if it wins the next election, Angela Rayner pledged today as she urged unions to come together and support the party’s election campaign.
In a speech to the TUC conference in Liverpool, Rayner said that a Labour government would prevent companies such as Amazon using loopholes in the law to avoid recognising unions in the workplace.
She also pledged to introduce a new form of collective bargaining that would allow unions to negotiate pay and conditions across entire sectors of the economy such as social care.
On topic, if Biden wins the electoral college but loses the popular vote I bet the insurrectionist GOP will try and overturn the result in the name of democracy.
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work from their. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Pyhton and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
My slightly prejudiced view is that Apple are a gang of shysters trying to imprison their customers inside a walled garden in order to milk them like cash cows.
I reached that determination in the mid-1980s when Apple were trying to pretend that a monochrome 9" screen slightly larger than a Victorian postcard was superior to a colour 14" screen.
More than half of voters say there are no circumstances in which they would consider backing the Conservatives at the next election, according to a survey.
The polling, by YouGov, suggests the party is seen as too right-wing on the issues that matter most to the public. While voters shared Tory concerns on issues such as trans rights and illegal migration, they were aligned with Labour in areas they cared most about, including spending on public services.
Another YouGov poll recorded Rishi Sunak’s lowest approval rating since he became prime minister, with only 26 per cent of voters having a favourable opinion. Just under 40 per cent of Conservative voters in 2019 said they had an unfavourable view of Sunak and the party.
The YouGov research attempted to gauge voter attitudes by asking them on a scale of one to ten to say how closely they agreed with a number of statements. It then asked them — on the same scale — to say where they thought the main political parties stood.
For example, while respondents supported increased spending in areas such as health, education and policing, the only areas where they thought the Tories would spend more was defence, which was low down voters’ list of priorities.
Overall, voters characterised themselves as 4.6 out of ten on a scale where zero was left-wing and ten was right-wing. They placed Sir Keir Starmer as 3.9 per cent on the same scale and Sunak on 7.3 per cent — suggesting they saw Starmer’s values as more closely aligned with their own.
The poll, for the strategy consultancy WPI, found that 54 per cent of voters would “definitely” not support the Conservatives at the next election compared with 32 per cent who said the same of Labour.
Everton are in advanced negotiations with 777 Partners LLC over a dramatic full takeover of the club by the American private investment firm.
Sources close to talks told Telegraph Sport that the deal on offer would bring an end to Farhad Moshiri’s era as majority shareholder.
Talks with 777 stretch back months but have intensified in recent weeks after an alternative minority investment deal with MSP Capital collapsed.
A well-connected source later played down the likelihood of a deal being announced this week. The insider suggested that Moshiri would remain open to a potential rival bid emerging.
Moshiri is understood to be facing the prospect of leaving the club with a fraction of the money he invested. Insiders underlined there are still final hurdles to be cleared. “A deal is close but we still need to get it over the line,” said one source close to talks.
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work from their. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Pyhton and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
My slightly prejudiced view is that Apple are a gang of shysters trying to imprison their customers inside a walled garden in order to milk them like cash cows.
I reached that determination in the mid-1980s when Apple were trying to pretend that a monochrome 9" screen slightly larger than a Victorian postcard was superior to a colour 14" screen.
I have seen no reason since to change my view .
If I were in charge of a competition regulator, I would force Apple to licence their trackpad design to other laptop manufacturers.
Mr. Pointer, and no drone ever asked to leave their cube
Lol, stick with Windows if it makes you feel 'freer' - it's your loss.
If you want 'freer', I don't think either Windows or MacOS fit the bill...
When it comes to personal IT I want reliability, ease of use, security, longevity, and performance. I leave the paranoia about Big Brother tracking my life to Pagan et al.
I mostly run Linux for computing requirements rather than paranoia, but I think there is at least some reason to take care over what happens to your data even if you don't buy into CIA conspiracies. That's part of 'security'.
If you monitor what talks to who there are always a few nasty surprises.
Anyway, currently considering whether 4 cores and 48Gb is enough or whether I need 16 cores and 128Gb. I'm not going to pay £4k+ for Mac hardware just because it is 'shiny'...
This MacBook has the fire-breathing 30-cores M2 Max chip and 32GB of RAM. And yep, £3,350 from Apple is not cheap. But with a discount from Costco, then take off the VAT and deduct Corporation Tax saved and its £2,100.
Still a lot a lot. But decent laptops cost £crazy these days. And I want build quality and longevity as I'm sick of hardware which doesn't last with daily use.
I go with cheap laptop and VPN/Remote to server for the heavy stuff, so anything goes as long as the screen is readable.
But I do agree that 'landfill tech' is bad.
Crap android phones that go out of official support after about 18 months and get binned are an abomination.
Been reading the Which reports on the latter issue with considerable interest. I see the Samsung S23 has a long life promised, but I've also been looking at Fairphone (after unfortunate experiences with the original Microsoft Surface Book, which I have mentioned here as having an effectively unreplaceable battery).
Nokia (well, HMD Global, badged Nokia) come with three years plus of updates or at least did when I last checked. Previous phone was a Nokia and it lasted a little over the three years; charging port gave up in the end.
Not the most bang for buck in terms of spec. Mine (discontinued model) had a decent camera, but was average on everything else.
That’s deeply suboptimal. I mean, c'mon, he couldn’t win as the incumbent without indictments
How? Hasn't his polling improved since he's been indicted.
The Dems have left it too late to dump Biden now so they are stuck with Abe Simpson. The best they can hope for is that he drops dead about 3 weeks before polling day and Harris gets in on a wave of sympathy and confusion.
Trump: At the moment there's the prospect of him running at the same time as fighting to stay out of jail. If this is replaced by the reality of it, the trials happening, the election coming closer, rally then court, rally then court, sordid revelations, defence creaking under forensic scrutiny, tv moments, people turning stooly on him, etc, this will gnaw at his numbers and they'll fall away to a level where he can't win. That's what I see happening if he's the candidate.
Biden: Everything points to him being the Dem candidate, I agree. I wonder what he'd do if the GOP don't go with Trump though. I mean, he's the Trump Slayer so if there's no Trump to slay and he's 81? Hmm. Interesting.
On Biden, I get the impression he really enjoys being President in a way that has somewhat surprised even himself. That may sound a bit daft but, for all the physical frailties that sometimes come to the fore, it does appear to have given him something of a new lease of life. Some Presidents get worn down by the office but, frankly, he seems to thrive on it just on a personal level.
I don't really think that's a good enough reason why he ought to stand - he promised to be a bridge to the future and has turned into a bit of a roadblock to the future. But the way he feels about the job is probably pretty important in terms of informing his actual decision on standing.
Contrast with Trump who seemed utterly miserable as president. And utterly miserable afterwards. He's a very angry, unhappy old man.
Indeed, I often wonder a bit why Trump wants to do a job that often seemed to make him miserable rather than playing golf and eating burgers until he dies. I guess the answer is he cannot cope with being known as a failed President, and also there are some pretty damned good reasons why he might want power over pardons.
It’s interesting to consider the late Roman Republic, where staying in office with Imperium was required to protect yourself from the shit you did while in an office with Imperium. Said shit being done so that you could afford the bribes to get the next appointment/office
Talk about riding the tiger.
Such comparisons can be thought-provoking or amusing, but it's important to realise that political power is more dispersed and less hierarchical in modern democracies. The parallels you identify are real, as is the threat Trump poses to democracy, but it's much likelier he will fail and die than succeed, and there's no chance at all he'll be regarded as a new Caesar
I’m actually thinking more of characters like Milo and Clodius.
Caesar had phenomenal ability. In fact that was a big part of the problem.
Clodius was impaled and Milo took a rock to the head. I'm content with either of these parallels.
The damage they did was greasing the skids, for the next guy along to do more damage.
I think we also need to look at the legacies of "normal" politicians and what those impacts led to.
Take drone strike policy - Bush Jr was doing it without any granted authority or process, just the basis that the President can do that and he wanted some people dead. So the Obama administration (instead of rejecting the power to summarily execute people, including American citizens, with the press of a button) set up a system whereby the weight of that choice was on the President. And that would always be fine as long as the President was thoughtful and looked at the evidence and was willing to weigh the value of human life against the risk of threat. And then Trump came in and was all like "why can't we just nuke people, what's the point of big bombs if we can't use them" and suddenly he had this entire apparatus, pre built, to allow him to just kill whoever.
PFI - it "made sense" to have the private sector involved in building infrastructure because "public sector spending bad", so Blair spend tonnes of money putting the public sector into massive debt, spaffed a load of money away to private firms that overcharged and underdelivered, and resulted in shitty infrastructure. Now, that chicken comes home to roost as we realise loads of public infrastructure could potentially fall over and kill kids, and this shower get the blame, also because their response was awful, and they still also believe the nonsense that "public sector spending bad".
Obama, Blair, Bush Jr all fine to walk away fine and dandy, go make millions either lobbying or on the speaking racket. Their crimes were acceptable crimes, that just happened to leave the path open for maybe less acceptable crimes when someone brash and stupid stumbles into the role.
The thing is that this has all happened before.
When someone proposes doing X, my first thought is
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work from their. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Pyhton and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
My slightly prejudiced view is that Apple are a gang of shysters trying to imprison their customers inside a walled garden in order to milk them like cash cows.
I reached that determination in the mid-1980s when Apple were trying to pretend that a monochrome 9" screen slightly larger than a Victorian postcard was superior to a colour 14" screen.
I have seen no reason since to change my view .
The M series CPUs are genuinely top notch, and the result of serious investment over a number of years in the technology.
Mr. Pointer, and no drone ever asked to leave their cube
Lol, stick with Windows if it makes you feel 'freer' - it's your loss.
If you want 'freer', I don't think either Windows or MacOS fit the bill...
When it comes to personal IT I want reliability, ease of use, security, longevity, and performance. I leave the paranoia about Big Brother tracking my life to Pagan et al.
I mostly run Linux for computing requirements rather than paranoia, but I think there is at least some reason to take care over what happens to your data even if you don't buy into CIA conspiracies. That's part of 'security'.
If you monitor what talks to who there are always a few nasty surprises.
Anyway, currently considering whether 4 cores and 48Gb is enough or whether I need 16 cores and 128Gb. I'm not going to pay £4k+ for Mac hardware just because it is 'shiny'...
This MacBook has the fire-breathing 30-cores M2 Max chip and 32GB of RAM. And yep, £3,350 from Apple is not cheap. But with a discount from Costco, then take off the VAT and deduct Corporation Tax saved and its £2,100.
Still a lot a lot. But decent laptops cost £crazy these days. And I want build quality and longevity as I'm sick of hardware which doesn't last with daily use.
I go with cheap laptop and VPN/Remote to server for the heavy stuff, so anything goes as long as the screen is readable.
But I do agree that 'landfill tech' is bad.
Crap android phones that go out of official support after about 18 months and get binned are an abomination.
Been reading the Which reports on the latter issue with considerable interest. I see the Samsung S23 has a long life promised, but I've also been looking at Fairphone (after unfortunate experiences with the original Microsoft Surface Book, which I have mentioned here as having an effectively unreplaceable battery).
Nokia (well, HMD Global, badged Nokia) come with three years plus of updates or at least did when I last checked. Previous phone was a Nokia and it lasted a little over the three years; charging port gave up in the end.
Not the most bang for buck in terms of spec. Mine (discontinued model) had a decent camera, but was average on everything else.
Hmm. Interesting. Three years is only middle of the range these days, it seems - and of course it will be from when it was originally introduced. IIRC Samsung promise 5 years, and Fairphone more than that. If one isn't too worried about being a techie.
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work there. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Python and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
I try to do that for all products - we should start a movement!
Avoiding China is tough though so hard to be too puritan about it.
I buy phones second hand on ebay - find that's much better value.
England and Wales are only slightly over half of the numbers of police per population of some of our European peers - France, Italy, Germany, Spain etc.
I can see some shops moving to an Argos type model for some products if they can square the cost equation.
It's partly the Tories fault because they made it more difficult to prosecute people who steal small amounts, something you normally associate with very left-wing eofficials in San Francisco. The previous Labour government, with Jack Straw, actually tried cracking down on shoplifting. So maybe vote Labour to get tough on crime.
The current shoplifting trend seems to be organised crime - clearing out entire shelves of meat etc, and selling the stolen goods on.
Shopowners state police policies of not investigating crime values of under £200, and repeat criminals who come in several times a week and threaten staff in the knowledge that they will not be accosted.
(I think that is from a Today Programme interview yesterday.)
I'm inclined to say it needs a remedy significantly increased police funding, especially directed at PCSOs. And yes - that means a higher tax base, and also ties in to reducing the backlog of innocent people not yet found guilty in the prison system from the current nearly 20%.
See my post near the start of this thread on how shoplifting instructional videos are posted on Tiktok (ht The Times).
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work from their. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Pyhton and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
My slightly prejudiced view is that Apple are a gang of shysters trying to imprison their customers inside a walled garden in order to milk them like cash cows.
I reached that determination in the mid-1980s when Apple were trying to pretend that a monochrome 9" screen slightly larger than a Victorian postcard was superior to a colour 14" screen.
I have seen no reason since to change my view .
The M series CPUs are genuinely top notch, and the result of serious investment over a number of years in the technology.
That’s deeply suboptimal. I mean, c'mon, he couldn’t win as the incumbent without indictments
How? Hasn't his polling improved since he's been indicted.
The Dems have left it too late to dump Biden now so they are stuck with Abe Simpson. The best they can hope for is that he drops dead about 3 weeks before polling day and Harris gets in on a wave of sympathy and confusion.
Trump: At the moment there's the prospect of him running at the same time as fighting to stay out of jail. If this is replaced by the reality of it, the trials happening, the election coming closer, rally then court, rally then court, sordid revelations, defence creaking under forensic scrutiny, tv moments, people turning stooly on him, etc, this will gnaw at his numbers and they'll fall away to a level where he can't win. That's what I see happening if he's the candidate.
Biden: Everything points to him being the Dem candidate, I agree. I wonder what he'd do if the GOP don't go with Trump though. I mean, he's the Trump Slayer so if there's no Trump to slay and he's 81? Hmm. Interesting.
On Biden, I get the impression he really enjoys being President in a way that has somewhat surprised even himself. That may sound a bit daft but, for all the physical frailties that sometimes come to the fore, it does appear to have given him something of a new lease of life. Some Presidents get worn down by the office but, frankly, he seems to thrive on it just on a personal level.
I don't really think that's a good enough reason why he ought to stand - he promised to be a bridge to the future and has turned into a bit of a roadblock to the future. But the way he feels about the job is probably pretty important in terms of informing his actual decision on standing.
Contrast with Trump who seemed utterly miserable as president. And utterly miserable afterwards. He's a very angry, unhappy old man.
Indeed, I often wonder a bit why Trump wants to do a job that often seemed to make him miserable rather than playing golf and eating burgers until he dies. I guess the answer is he cannot cope with being known as a failed President, and also there are some pretty damned good reasons why he might want power over pardons.
It’s interesting to consider the late Roman Republic, where staying in office with Imperium was required to protect yourself from the shit you did while in an office with Imperium. Said shit being done so that you could afford the bribes to get the next appointment/office
Talk about riding the tiger.
Such comparisons can be thought-provoking or amusing, but it's important to realise that political power is more dispersed and less hierarchical in modern democracies. The parallels you identify are real, as is the threat Trump poses to democracy, but it's much likelier he will fail and die than succeed, and there's no chance at all he'll be regarded as a new Caesar
I’m actually thinking more of characters like Milo and Clodius.
Caesar had phenomenal ability. In fact that was a big part of the problem.
Clodius was impaled and Milo took a rock to the head. I'm content with either of these parallels.
The damage they did was greasing the skids, for the next guy along to do more damage.
I think we also need to look at the legacies of "normal" politicians and what those impacts led to.
Take drone strike policy - Bush Jr was doing it without any granted authority or process, just the basis that the President can do that and he wanted some people dead. So the Obama administration (instead of rejecting the power to summarily execute people, including American citizens, with the press of a button) set up a system whereby the weight of that choice was on the President. And that would always be fine as long as the President was thoughtful and looked at the evidence and was willing to weigh the value of human life against the risk of threat. And then Trump came in and was all like "why can't we just nuke people, what's the point of big bombs if we can't use them" and suddenly he had this entire apparatus, pre built, to allow him to just kill whoever.
PFI - it "made sense" to have the private sector involved in building infrastructure because "public sector spending bad", so Blair spend tonnes of money putting the public sector into massive debt, spaffed a load of money away to private firms that overcharged and underdelivered, and resulted in shitty infrastructure. Now, that chicken comes home to roost as we realise loads of public infrastructure could potentially fall over and kill kids, and this shower get the blame, also because their response was awful, and they still also believe the nonsense that "public sector spending bad".
Obama, Blair, Bush Jr all fine to walk away fine and dandy, go make millions either lobbying or on the speaking racket. Their crimes were acceptable crimes, that just happened to leave the path open for maybe less acceptable crimes when someone brash and stupid stumbles into the role.
The thing is that this has all happened before.
When someone proposes doing X, my first thought is
“Has X been done before? What happened then?”
Probably not so many entirely original ideas around. Stuff that didn't work in the past may well work now. I suspect that Wheel Mk1 may have failed. Who knows it might have been associated with the scam that was Money Mk1.
Mr. Pointer, and no drone ever asked to leave their cube
Lol, stick with Windows if it makes you feel 'freer' - it's your loss.
If you want 'freer', I don't think either Windows or MacOS fit the bill...
When it comes to personal IT I want reliability, ease of use, security, longevity, and performance. I leave the paranoia about Big Brother tracking my life to Pagan et al.
I mostly run Linux for computing requirements rather than paranoia, but I think there is at least some reason to take care over what happens to your data even if you don't buy into CIA conspiracies. That's part of 'security'.
If you monitor what talks to who there are always a few nasty surprises.
Anyway, currently considering whether 4 cores and 48Gb is enough or whether I need 16 cores and 128Gb. I'm not going to pay £4k+ for Mac hardware just because it is 'shiny'...
This MacBook has the fire-breathing 30-cores M2 Max chip and 32GB of RAM. And yep, £3,350 from Apple is not cheap. But with a discount from Costco, then take off the VAT and deduct Corporation Tax saved and its £2,100.
Still a lot a lot. But decent laptops cost £crazy these days. And I want build quality and longevity as I'm sick of hardware which doesn't last with daily use.
I go with cheap laptop and VPN/Remote to server for the heavy stuff, so anything goes as long as the screen is readable.
But I do agree that 'landfill tech' is bad.
Crap android phones that go out of official support after about 18 months and get binned are an abomination.
Been reading the Which reports on the latter issue with considerable interest. I see the Samsung S23 has a long life promised, but I've also been looking at Fairphone (after unfortunate experiences with the original Microsoft Surface Book, which I have mentioned here as having an effectively unreplaceable battery).
Nokia (well, HMD Global, badged Nokia) come with three years plus of updates or at least did when I last checked. Previous phone was a Nokia and it lasted a little over the three years; charging port gave up in the end.
Not the most bang for buck in terms of spec. Mine (discontinued model) had a decent camera, but was average on everything else.
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work from their. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Pyhton and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
My slightly prejudiced view is that Apple are a gang of shysters trying to imprison their customers inside a walled garden in order to milk them like cash cows.
I reached that determination in the mid-1980s when Apple were trying to pretend that a monochrome 9" screen slightly larger than a Victorian postcard was superior to a colour 14" screen.
I have seen no reason since to change my view .
The M series CPUs are genuinely top notch, and the result of serious investment over a number of years in the technology.
The M series chips are truly spectacular; a great achievement by Apple.
That's not inconsistent with them being a really scummy company, though...
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work there. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Python and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
You Chromebook probably has Python already installed.
If you are that way inclined, I would highly recommend you play with Jupyter Lab in Python. It's a great way to develop / do data analysis.
I'm not sure if I buy the "Biden what a failure" narrative.
He seems to be making a difference in a number of areas - eg taking on Big Pharma on drug prices.
He has done a better than average job in very difficult circumstances. Doesn't make that much of a difference in terms of re-election though, when a good third of his electorate have gone doolally on fake and hyper partisan news.
That’s deeply suboptimal. I mean, c'mon, he couldn’t win as the incumbent without indictments
How? Hasn't his polling improved since he's been indicted.
The Dems have left it too late to dump Biden now so they are stuck with Abe Simpson. The best they can hope for is that he drops dead about 3 weeks before polling day and Harris gets in on a wave of sympathy and confusion.
Trump: At the moment there's the prospect of him running at the same time as fighting to stay out of jail. If this is replaced by the reality of it, the trials happening, the election coming closer, rally then court, rally then court, sordid revelations, defence creaking under forensic scrutiny, tv moments, people turning stooly on him, etc, this will gnaw at his numbers and they'll fall away to a level where he can't win. That's what I see happening if he's the candidate.
Biden: Everything points to him being the Dem candidate, I agree. I wonder what he'd do if the GOP don't go with Trump though. I mean, he's the Trump Slayer so if there's no Trump to slay and he's 81? Hmm. Interesting.
On Biden, I get the impression he really enjoys being President in a way that has somewhat surprised even himself. That may sound a bit daft but, for all the physical frailties that sometimes come to the fore, it does appear to have given him something of a new lease of life. Some Presidents get worn down by the office but, frankly, he seems to thrive on it just on a personal level.
I don't really think that's a good enough reason why he ought to stand - he promised to be a bridge to the future and has turned into a bit of a roadblock to the future. But the way he feels about the job is probably pretty important in terms of informing his actual decision on standing.
Contrast with Trump who seemed utterly miserable as president. And utterly miserable afterwards. He's a very angry, unhappy old man.
Indeed, I often wonder a bit why Trump wants to do a job that often seemed to make him miserable rather than playing golf and eating burgers until he dies. I guess the answer is he cannot cope with being known as a failed President, and also there are some pretty damned good reasons why he might want power over pardons.
It’s interesting to consider the late Roman Republic, where staying in office with Imperium was required to protect yourself from the shit you did while in an office with Imperium. Said shit being done so that you could afford the bribes to get the next appointment/office
Talk about riding the tiger.
Such comparisons can be thought-provoking or amusing, but it's important to realise that political power is more dispersed and less hierarchical in modern democracies. The parallels you identify are real, as is the threat Trump poses to democracy, but it's much likelier he will fail and die than succeed, and there's no chance at all he'll be regarded as a new Caesar
I’m actually thinking more of characters like Milo and Clodius.
Caesar had phenomenal ability. In fact that was a big part of the problem.
Clodius was impaled and Milo took a rock to the head. I'm content with either of these parallels.
The damage they did was greasing the skids, for the next guy along to do more damage.
I think we also need to look at the legacies of "normal" politicians and what those impacts led to.
Take drone strike policy - Bush Jr was doing it without any granted authority or process, just the basis that the President can do that and he wanted some people dead. So the Obama administration (instead of rejecting the power to summarily execute people, including American citizens, with the press of a button) set up a system whereby the weight of that choice was on the President. And that would always be fine as long as the President was thoughtful and looked at the evidence and was willing to weigh the value of human life against the risk of threat. And then Trump came in and was all like "why can't we just nuke people, what's the point of big bombs if we can't use them" and suddenly he had this entire apparatus, pre built, to allow him to just kill whoever.
PFI - it "made sense" to have the private sector involved in building infrastructure because "public sector spending bad", so Blair spend tonnes of money putting the public sector into massive debt, spaffed a load of money away to private firms that overcharged and underdelivered, and resulted in shitty infrastructure. Now, that chicken comes home to roost as we realise loads of public infrastructure could potentially fall over and kill kids, and this shower get the blame, also because their response was awful, and they still also believe the nonsense that "public sector spending bad".
Obama, Blair, Bush Jr all fine to walk away fine and dandy, go make millions either lobbying or on the speaking racket. Their crimes were acceptable crimes, that just happened to leave the path open for maybe less acceptable crimes when someone brash and stupid stumbles into the role.
The thing is that this has all happened before.
When someone proposes doing X, my first thought is
“Has X been done before? What happened then?”
Probably not so many entirely original ideas around. Stuff that didn't work in the past may well work now. I suspect that Wheel Mk1 may have failed. Who knows it might have been associated with the scam that was Money Mk1.
Ok, what colour *should* the Wheel Mk1 been, Mr Smartypants?
The boots are all that remains of Hungary’s giant Stalin statue, sawn off at the legs during the failed revolution of 1956 and now parked at the edge of Budapest with all the other communist monuments removed from the city.
The museum there shows on a loop the training films used to induct new recruits into the secret police and its methods. Really creepy stuff, explaining how to use blackmail or threats - minor misdemeanours at work or the children’s education or career prospects - to turn ordinary people into informers, how to train them to spy on their neighbours and submit reports, how to intimidate people by turning over their homes, how to follow people about the city or plant cameras and recorders inside their homes.
Things there weren’t as bad as East Germany but they reckon at peak 100,000 people informed for the secret police one way or another.
For some time I have been arguing that we should be collecting hostages from Iran, Russia, et cetera, to prepare for possible prisoner swaps. But I would now add that we should never include large sums of cash -- which will be used to finance terrorism, in the Middle East, and elsewhere.
That’s deeply suboptimal. I mean, c'mon, he couldn’t win as the incumbent without indictments
How? Hasn't his polling improved since he's been indicted.
The Dems have left it too late to dump Biden now so they are stuck with Abe Simpson. The best they can hope for is that he drops dead about 3 weeks before polling day and Harris gets in on a wave of sympathy and confusion.
Trump: At the moment there's the prospect of him running at the same time as fighting to stay out of jail. If this is replaced by the reality of it, the trials happening, the election coming closer, rally then court, rally then court, sordid revelations, defence creaking under forensic scrutiny, tv moments, people turning stooly on him, etc, this will gnaw at his numbers and they'll fall away to a level where he can't win. That's what I see happening if he's the candidate.
Biden: Everything points to him being the Dem candidate, I agree. I wonder what he'd do if the GOP don't go with Trump though. I mean, he's the Trump Slayer so if there's no Trump to slay and he's 81? Hmm. Interesting.
On Biden, I get the impression he really enjoys being President in a way that has somewhat surprised even himself. That may sound a bit daft but, for all the physical frailties that sometimes come to the fore, it does appear to have given him something of a new lease of life. Some Presidents get worn down by the office but, frankly, he seems to thrive on it just on a personal level.
I don't really think that's a good enough reason why he ought to stand - he promised to be a bridge to the future and has turned into a bit of a roadblock to the future. But the way he feels about the job is probably pretty important in terms of informing his actual decision on standing.
Contrast with Trump who seemed utterly miserable as president. And utterly miserable afterwards. He's a very angry, unhappy old man.
Indeed, I often wonder a bit why Trump wants to do a job that often seemed to make him miserable rather than playing golf and eating burgers until he dies. I guess the answer is he cannot cope with being known as a failed President, and also there are some pretty damned good reasons why he might want power over pardons.
It’s interesting to consider the late Roman Republic, where staying in office with Imperium was required to protect yourself from the shit you did while in an office with Imperium. Said shit being done so that you could afford the bribes to get the next appointment/office
Talk about riding the tiger.
Such comparisons can be thought-provoking or amusing, but it's important to realise that political power is more dispersed and less hierarchical in modern democracies. The parallels you identify are real, as is the threat Trump poses to democracy, but it's much likelier he will fail and die than succeed, and there's no chance at all he'll be regarded as a new Caesar
I’m actually thinking more of characters like Milo and Clodius.
Caesar had phenomenal ability. In fact that was a big part of the problem.
Clodius was impaled and Milo took a rock to the head. I'm content with either of these parallels.
The damage they did was greasing the skids, for the next guy along to do more damage.
I think we also need to look at the legacies of "normal" politicians and what those impacts led to.
Take drone strike policy - Bush Jr was doing it without any granted authority or process, just the basis that the President can do that and he wanted some people dead. So the Obama administration (instead of rejecting the power to summarily execute people, including American citizens, with the press of a button) set up a system whereby the weight of that choice was on the President. And that would always be fine as long as the President was thoughtful and looked at the evidence and was willing to weigh the value of human life against the risk of threat. And then Trump came in and was all like "why can't we just nuke people, what's the point of big bombs if we can't use them" and suddenly he had this entire apparatus, pre built, to allow him to just kill whoever.
PFI - it "made sense" to have the private sector involved in building infrastructure because "public sector spending bad", so Blair spend tonnes of money putting the public sector into massive debt, spaffed a load of money away to private firms that overcharged and underdelivered, and resulted in shitty infrastructure. Now, that chicken comes home to roost as we realise loads of public infrastructure could potentially fall over and kill kids, and this shower get the blame, also because their response was awful, and they still also believe the nonsense that "public sector spending bad".
Obama, Blair, Bush Jr all fine to walk away fine and dandy, go make millions either lobbying or on the speaking racket. Their crimes were acceptable crimes, that just happened to leave the path open for maybe less acceptable crimes when someone brash and stupid stumbles into the role.
The thing is that this has all happened before.
When someone proposes doing X, my first thought is
“Has X been done before? What happened then?”
Probably not so many entirely original ideas around. Stuff that didn't work in the past may well work now. I suspect that Wheel Mk1 may have failed. Who knows it might have been associated with the scam that was Money Mk1.
Ok, what colour *should* the Wheel Mk1 been, Mr Smartypants?
Asking for a telephone santising friend
I can't make out what you're saying as I'm playing the works of the great Hotblack.
GB News is popular with expats on the Costas, apparently.
Is this just another one where our Conservative Government dropped the equality ball?
Here's the equivalent term for Italy - UK Residents in Italy get their licences recognised for one year after gaining Residency, and can just exchange it for a limited period of 5 years if expired; Italian Residents in UK get their licences recognised until expiry date in Italy, and can exchange it here forever with no test.
Whereas a United Kingdom driving licence, as long as it has not expired, remains valid for the purposes of driving in the territory of the Italian Republic for one year after the date of acquisition of the holder's residence in the territory of the Italian Republic, Whereas an Italian driving licence remains valid for the purposes of driving in the territory of the United Kingdom until its expiry date even after the holder has acquired residence in the territory of the United Kingdom
This raises yet another red flag for me on road safety grounds.
The catch in Italy is that after six months you need to re register your British plated car, though.
Given the standard of driving I just observed in two weeks in Italy I'm amazed we recognise their licenses at all.
It must be the Italian driving test that’s to blame. They just sit the student down, give him or her the mission to get past the vehicle in front, and if they make it, they pass.
A quip? "Driven by Italians".
Here's a video clip put out by the Black Belt Barrister yesterday about everyday driving in the UK. Driver reversed down a country lane chasing a cyclist he had close passed who had shouted "Watch Out", so out of control / not looking than he forced a quadbike off the road and ran over a dog.
North Yorks Police "No traffic offences committed", "The Driver probably wanted to talk". Apart I'd say from Careless Driving or Dangerous Driving, whatever the offence is on reversing, and several others. Various non motoring offences too, starting with common assault.
I haven't seen the clip but at the margins you can see the mechanism by which this happens.
Cyclist going at 20-25mph doing a time, so doesn't pull over to let the driver past, and nor do they heel over to the side of the road to give space, because of their line, so the driver is basically blocked. The driver gets increasingly frustrated and then when an opportunity to overtake arises - at a closeness less than ideal - the cyclist shouts out, somewhat pompously to the driver, and this triggers a rage in the car driver.
I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.
Maybe you should watch the clip before commenting. You didn't even know what direction each were traveling in (it wasn't an overtake). The cyclist did nothing wrong. The cyclist had nowhere to go. The driver was irresponsible. He could have killed the cyclist who could do nothing to avoid what happened as it was head on. The cyclist response was restrained. The driver then suffered from road rage and as a consequence caused the death of a dog. It could easily have been the quad bike rider killed with him reversing at that speed on a narrow lane.
But yes don't look at the video and comment with no evidence whatsoever and blame the cyclist.
I might add also if the incident had been as Casino thought he also doesn't know his highway code regarding cyclists. Cyclists should not 'pull over' or 'heel over'. To do so is dangerous. Quote the code:
"The 2022 Highway Code no longer asks for cyclists to stay on the left side of the road – or, indeed, to use any provided cycle lanes. Instead, cyclists are told to ride “no less than half a metre” from the kerb or verge. This places a greater responsibility on motorists to overtake cyclists safely."
Motorists also have to leave a 1.5 metre gap, or greater if over 30mph. Some of these rules don't apply in slow moving traffic.
And cyclists shout out because they have been really scared by these incidents. It is not pomposity when you have been nearly swiped by a wing mirror, it is bloody scary.
Let's assume that the dog survived but will incur very expensive vet fees. Who pays?
The driver hasn't been charged with anything (despite the ridiculous and illegal reversing).
Going back in time, what alternative actions would have resulted in no harm to the dog?:
1) the cyclist didn't shout at the driver 2) the driver didn't reverse 3) the quadbike rider had tethered his dog
Any of these would have saved the dog.
So who pays?
I didn't mention because it wasn't the topic of the discussion, but the quad biker owner was seriously at fault for not tethering the dog who could have jumped out at any time. About the only person who was blameless was the cyclist.
If you look at the video (front cam) 13 seconds in and pause it: this is the point at which the cyclist shouts at the driver. At this point he is about three car lengths before passing the car. The car at this point has already moved position so it is almost brushing the vegetation at the side of the road. There is plenty of room for the cyclist. I cannot see what warranted the shout and this is what caused the chain of events.
There's little point in shouting out (except it may happen involuntarily in terror) once the vehicle has gone past.
The pass was far too close and at quite high speed. The 4x4 should have slowed down to either walking pace or a complete stop, as he has a duty of care to vulnerable road users.
The HWC says 1.5m minimum handlebar to wing mirror for a pass. Practically that means space for the cyclist to fall off eg to a pothole without being at risk of injury.
Indeed, it’s six feet. The width of a car is the way I think of it when driving. If you don’t have that space, you have wait. It really is that simple.
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work from their. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Pyhton and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
My slightly prejudiced view is that Apple are a gang of shysters trying to imprison their customers inside a walled garden in order to milk them like cash cows.
I reached that determination in the mid-1980s when Apple were trying to pretend that a monochrome 9" screen slightly larger than a Victorian postcard was superior to a colour 14" screen.
I have seen no reason since to change my view .
The M series CPUs are genuinely top notch, and the result of serious investment over a number of years in the technology.
I probably do not need a top notch CPU.
Most people don’t question what they need.
Hence seeing people using top spec’s MacBook Pros for sending email and browsing the web.
Tablet with a keyboard case is all you need for that.
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work there. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Python and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
You Chromebook probably has Python already installed.
If you are that way inclined, I would highly recommend you play with Jupyter Lab in Python. It's a great way to develop / do data analysis.
Jetbrains Pycharm is fantastic. It makes even the ghastly Python a sensible programming language. (There are so many things I like about Python, but there's a core of hate that I'll never lose)
Mr. Pointer, and no drone ever asked to leave their cube
Lol, stick with Windows if it makes you feel 'freer' - it's your loss.
If you want 'freer', I don't think either Windows or MacOS fit the bill...
When it comes to personal IT I want reliability, ease of use, security, longevity, and performance. I leave the paranoia about Big Brother tracking my life to Pagan et al.
I mostly run Linux for computing requirements rather than paranoia, but I think there is at least some reason to take care over what happens to your data even if you don't buy into CIA conspiracies. That's part of 'security'.
If you monitor what talks to who there are always a few nasty surprises.
Anyway, currently considering whether 4 cores and 48Gb is enough or whether I need 16 cores and 128Gb. I'm not going to pay £4k+ for Mac hardware just because it is 'shiny'...
This MacBook has the fire-breathing 30-cores M2 Max chip and 32GB of RAM. And yep, £3,350 from Apple is not cheap. But with a discount from Costco, then take off the VAT and deduct Corporation Tax saved and its £2,100.
Still a lot a lot. But decent laptops cost £crazy these days. And I want build quality and longevity as I'm sick of hardware which doesn't last with daily use.
I go with cheap laptop and VPN/Remote to server for the heavy stuff, so anything goes as long as the screen is readable.
But I do agree that 'landfill tech' is bad.
Crap android phones that go out of official support after about 18 months and get binned are an abomination.
Been reading the Which reports on the latter issue with considerable interest. I see the Samsung S23 has a long life promised, but I've also been looking at Fairphone (after unfortunate experiences with the original Microsoft Surface Book, which I have mentioned here as having an effectively unreplaceable battery).
Nokia (well, HMD Global, badged Nokia) come with three years plus of updates or at least did when I last checked. Previous phone was a Nokia and it lasted a little over the three years; charging port gave up in the end.
Not the most bang for buck in terms of spec. Mine (discontinued model) had a decent camera, but was average on everything else.
Hmm. Interesting. Three years is only middle of the range these days, it seems - and of course it will be from when it was originally introduced. IIRC Samsung promise 5 years, and Fairphone more than that. If one isn't too worried about being a techie.
Yes, it was good at that time, not so much now perhaps. The three years does seem to have been a minimum as mine - bought several months after release - was still getting security updates at least when it failed.
The boots are all that remains of Hungary’s giant Stalin statue, sawn off at the legs during the failed revolution of 1956 and now parked at the edge of Budapest with all the other communist monuments removed from the city.
The museum there shows on a loop the training films used to induct new recruits into the secret police and its methods. Really creepy stuff, explaining how to use blackmail or threats - minor misdemeanours at work or the children’s education or career prospects - to turn ordinary people into informers, how to train them to spy on their neighbours and submit reports, how to intimidate people by turning over their homes, how to follow people about the city or plant cameras and recorders inside their homes.
Things there weren’t as bad as East Germany but they reckon at peak 100,000 people informed for the secret police one way or another.
For some time I have been arguing that we should be collecting hostages from Iran, Russia, et cetera, to prepare for possible prisoner swaps. But I would now add that we should never include large sums of cash -- which will be used to finance terrorism, in the Middle East, and elsewhere.
You want the US government to take people hostage? Have I understood that right?
As long as they don't do it with the help of smartphones made in India, of course.
Tech stuff update. Transition from the hated Microsoft to the hated Apple has been a huge success. Still some things I keep getting wrong in MacOS, a few "why doesn't it do that" questions, but is has been significantly more robust than Windows11. And the Macbook 14 hardware is both beautiful and robust.
So for the first time ever I am awaiting the Apple event later today. A business requirement for a new phone (and to invest before our September year end) means I will be jumping straight onto the new iPhone as a pre-order. Which is about as fanboi as it gets.
It's also not right that lawful shoppers have to pay markedly higher prices because of these thieves.
Who could possibly have imagined that taking out half the staff and asking customers to do their own tills would possibly lead to increased shop lifting.
More than half of voters say there are no circumstances in which they would consider backing the Conservatives at the next election, according to a survey.
The polling, by YouGov, suggests the party is seen as too right-wing on the issues that matter most to the public. While voters shared Tory concerns on issues such as trans rights and illegal migration, they were aligned with Labour in areas they cared most about, including spending on public services.
Another YouGov poll recorded Rishi Sunak’s lowest approval rating since he became prime minister, with only 26 per cent of voters having a favourable opinion. Just under 40 per cent of Conservative voters in 2019 said they had an unfavourable view of Sunak and the party.
The YouGov research attempted to gauge voter attitudes by asking them on a scale of one to ten to say how closely they agreed with a number of statements. It then asked them — on the same scale — to say where they thought the main political parties stood.
For example, while respondents supported increased spending in areas such as health, education and policing, the only areas where they thought the Tories would spend more was defence, which was low down voters’ list of priorities.
Overall, voters characterised themselves as 4.6 out of ten on a scale where zero was left-wing and ten was right-wing. They placed Sir Keir Starmer as 3.9 per cent on the same scale and Sunak on 7.3 per cent — suggesting they saw Starmer’s values as more closely aligned with their own.
The poll, for the strategy consultancy WPI, found that 54 per cent of voters would “definitely” not support the Conservatives at the next election compared with 32 per cent who said the same of Labour.
I see the Government are still digging deeper and deeper holes for themselves over the Asylum Centre at Scampton.
Having been served with an order by the Local Authority to cease any intrusive works on the former airbase which might damage heritage including listed buildings, the Government have had their contractors continue work and have now refused to allow Inspectors access to the site so they can check what is being done. They are basically saying it is none of the Council's business.
The thing is, I think using these sites is a good idea. But this Givernment seems to think that once it has decided to do something no one - not Parliament, the Courts or Local Authorities - are going to be allowed to stop them doing it in exactly the way they want to. They believe they are answerable to no one.
More than half of voters say there are no circumstances in which they would consider backing the Conservatives at the next election, according to a survey.
The polling, by YouGov, suggests the party is seen as too right-wing on the issues that matter most to the public. While voters shared Tory concerns on issues such as trans rights and illegal migration, they were aligned with Labour in areas they cared most about, including spending on public services.
Another YouGov poll recorded Rishi Sunak’s lowest approval rating since he became prime minister, with only 26 per cent of voters having a favourable opinion. Just under 40 per cent of Conservative voters in 2019 said they had an unfavourable view of Sunak and the party.
The YouGov research attempted to gauge voter attitudes by asking them on a scale of one to ten to say how closely they agreed with a number of statements. It then asked them — on the same scale — to say where they thought the main political parties stood.
For example, while respondents supported increased spending in areas such as health, education and policing, the only areas where they thought the Tories would spend more was defence, which was low down voters’ list of priorities.
Overall, voters characterised themselves as 4.6 out of ten on a scale where zero was left-wing and ten was right-wing. They placed Sir Keir Starmer as 3.9 per cent on the same scale and Sunak on 7.3 per cent — suggesting they saw Starmer’s values as more closely aligned with their own.
The poll, for the strategy consultancy WPI, found that 54 per cent of voters would “definitely” not support the Conservatives at the next election compared with 32 per cent who said the same of Labour.
More than half of voters say there are no circumstances in which they would consider backing the Conservatives at the next election, according to a survey.
The polling, by YouGov, suggests the party is seen as too right-wing on the issues that matter most to the public. While voters shared Tory concerns on issues such as trans rights and illegal migration, they were aligned with Labour in areas they cared most about, including spending on public services.
Another YouGov poll recorded Rishi Sunak’s lowest approval rating since he became prime minister, with only 26 per cent of voters having a favourable opinion. Just under 40 per cent of Conservative voters in 2019 said they had an unfavourable view of Sunak and the party.
The YouGov research attempted to gauge voter attitudes by asking them on a scale of one to ten to say how closely they agreed with a number of statements. It then asked them — on the same scale — to say where they thought the main political parties stood.
For example, while respondents supported increased spending in areas such as health, education and policing, the only areas where they thought the Tories would spend more was defence, which was low down voters’ list of priorities.
Overall, voters characterised themselves as 4.6 out of ten on a scale where zero was left-wing and ten was right-wing. They placed Sir Keir Starmer as 3.9 per cent on the same scale and Sunak on 7.3 per cent — suggesting they saw Starmer’s values as more closely aligned with their own.
The poll, for the strategy consultancy WPI, found that 54 per cent of voters would “definitely” not support the Conservatives at the next election compared with 32 per cent who said the same of Labour.
It's also not right that lawful shoppers have to pay markedly higher prices because of these thieves.
Who could possibly have imagined that taking out half the staff and asking customers to do their own tills would possibly lead to increased shop lifting.
In our local (small) supermarket they have put the self-serve tills directly between the manned tills and the door.
So people walk past the manned tills, fiddle mildly convincingly with the self-serve tills, transfer the shopping to their bags, and walk out.
Who could possibly have seen that coming etc. etc.
More than half of voters say there are no circumstances in which they would consider backing the Conservatives at the next election, according to a survey.
The polling, by YouGov, suggests the party is seen as too right-wing on the issues that matter most to the public. While voters shared Tory concerns on issues such as trans rights and illegal migration, they were aligned with Labour in areas they cared most about, including spending on public services.
Another YouGov poll recorded Rishi Sunak’s lowest approval rating since he became prime minister, with only 26 per cent of voters having a favourable opinion. Just under 40 per cent of Conservative voters in 2019 said they had an unfavourable view of Sunak and the party.
The YouGov research attempted to gauge voter attitudes by asking them on a scale of one to ten to say how closely they agreed with a number of statements. It then asked them — on the same scale — to say where they thought the main political parties stood.
For example, while respondents supported increased spending in areas such as health, education and policing, the only areas where they thought the Tories would spend more was defence, which was low down voters’ list of priorities.
Overall, voters characterised themselves as 4.6 out of ten on a scale where zero was left-wing and ten was right-wing. They placed Sir Keir Starmer as 3.9 per cent on the same scale and Sunak on 7.3 per cent — suggesting they saw Starmer’s values as more closely aligned with their own.
The poll, for the strategy consultancy WPI, found that 54 per cent of voters would “definitely” not support the Conservatives at the next election compared with 32 per cent who said the same of Labour.
"More than half of voters say there are no circumstances in which they would consider backing the Conservatives at the next election."
Remind me, how many considered they couldn't vote Conservative at the last election?
(Spoiler alert: 56.4%.....)
I know what you mean. However, a significant chunk of the 43.6% who did vote Conservative will have previously said they wouldn't rule it out. Having a base of 46% who can imagine circumstances under which they might even consider it is a bit unpromising.
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work there. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Python and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
I try to do that for all products - we should start a movement!
Avoiding China is tough though so hard to be too puritan about it.
I buy phones second hand on ebay - find that's much better value.
I get mine from CeX as they normally come with a warranty
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work there. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Python and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
I try to do that for all products - we should start a movement!
Avoiding China is tough though so hard to be too puritan about it.
I buy phones second hand on ebay - find that's much better value.
I get mine from CeX as they normally come with a warranty
I actually use CashConverters as their prices are usually significantly less than CEX is...
Problem wih CEX is their ratings ren't as accurate as they should be - I bought a phone back in December from CEX that was way worse then the quality rating they had given it.
"More than half of voters say there are no circumstances in which they would consider backing the Conservatives at the next election."
Remind me, how many considered they couldn't vote Conservative at the last election?
(Spoiler alert: 56.4%.....)
I know what you mean. However, a significant chunk of the 43.6% who did vote Conservative will have previously said they wouldn't rule it out. Having a base of 46% who can imagine circumstances under which they might even consider it is a bit unpromising.
Nah, its fine as long as you have a quality high calibre cabinet, presenting a united front, delivering on their key promises, with good communication and a successful economy.
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work there. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Python and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
I try to do that for all products - we should start a movement!
Avoiding China is tough though so hard to be too puritan about it.
I buy phones second hand on ebay - find that's much better value.
I get mine from CeX as they normally come with a warranty
I actually use CashConverters as their prices are usually significantly less than CEX is...
Problem wih CEX is their ratings ren't as accurate as they should be - I bought a phone back in December from CEX that was way worse then the quality rating they had given it.
I only use mine as a desk phone so doesnt really matter, just a cheapie thing
It's also not right that lawful shoppers have to pay markedly higher prices because of these thieves.
Who could possibly have imagined that taking out half the staff and asking customers to do their own tills would possibly lead to increased shop lifting.
In our local (small) supermarket they have put the self-serve tills directly between the manned tills and the door.
So people walk past the manned tills, fiddle mildly convincingly with the self-serve tills, transfer the shopping to their bags, and walk out.
Who could possibly have seen that coming etc. etc.
It’s more to do with the fact that both staff and security guards are forbidden from physically stopping shoplifters.
If the company doesn’t do that, they are legally liable for injuries, charges of assault etc.
When you combine it with a policy of not prosecuting for shop lifting, there is nothing stopping shop lifters.
It's also not right that lawful shoppers have to pay markedly higher prices because of these thieves.
Who could possibly have imagined that taking out half the staff and asking customers to do their own tills would possibly lead to increased shop lifting.
In our local (small) supermarket they have put the self-serve tills directly between the manned tills and the door.
So people walk past the manned tills, fiddle mildly convincingly with the self-serve tills, transfer the shopping to their bags, and walk out.
Who could possibly have seen that coming etc. etc.
It’s more to do with the fact that both staff and security guards are forbidden from physically stopping shoplifters.
If the company doesn’t do that, they are legally liable for injuries, charges of assault etc.
When you combine it with a policy of not prosecuting for shop lifting, there is nothing stopping shop lifters.
So they don’t stop.
Day before I left I saw the most brazen shoplifting ever on Camden parkway. Two guys simply walked in to the co-op, swept several shelves of wine and food, and walked out
The guard stood there sheepishly, doing nothing
The thieves didn’t look like the normal pallid desperate junkies either. They looked healthy and determined. So I reckon it is gang organised shoplifting, to order
More than half of voters say there are no circumstances in which they would consider backing the Conservatives at the next election, according to a survey.
The polling, by YouGov, suggests the party is seen as too right-wing on the issues that matter most to the public. While voters shared Tory concerns on issues such as trans rights and illegal migration, they were aligned with Labour in areas they cared most about, including spending on public services.
Another YouGov poll recorded Rishi Sunak’s lowest approval rating since he became prime minister, with only 26 per cent of voters having a favourable opinion. Just under 40 per cent of Conservative voters in 2019 said they had an unfavourable view of Sunak and the party.
The YouGov research attempted to gauge voter attitudes by asking them on a scale of one to ten to say how closely they agreed with a number of statements. It then asked them — on the same scale — to say where they thought the main political parties stood.
For example, while respondents supported increased spending in areas such as health, education and policing, the only areas where they thought the Tories would spend more was defence, which was low down voters’ list of priorities.
Overall, voters characterised themselves as 4.6 out of ten on a scale where zero was left-wing and ten was right-wing. They placed Sir Keir Starmer as 3.9 per cent on the same scale and Sunak on 7.3 per cent — suggesting they saw Starmer’s values as more closely aligned with their own.
The poll, for the strategy consultancy WPI, found that 54 per cent of voters would “definitely” not support the Conservatives at the next election compared with 32 per cent who said the same of Labour.
"More than half of voters say there are no circumstances in which they would consider backing the Conservatives at the next election."
Remind me, how many considered they couldn't vote Conservative at the last election?
(Spoiler alert: 56.4%.....)
More than that even.
The Conservatives got the support of 29.3% of registered voters. So 70.7% decided they could't vote for them.
I wonder how many of that 70.7%, like me, were on a plane to Panama that day?
I well remember logging on to the airport wifi when the plane landed, reading the exit poll and punching the air, to the bewildment of a couple of Frogs next to me, who, when I explained, quizzed me about what it meant for "le Brexeeet".
On computer and cellphone choices: In general, I prefer to buy products made in nations that are democratic, friendly, or, best of all, both. Even if I have to pay more for them.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work there. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Python and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
You Chromebook probably has Python already installed.
If you are that way inclined, I would highly recommend you play with Jupyter Lab in Python. It's a great way to develop / do data analysis.
It's also not right that lawful shoppers have to pay markedly higher prices because of these thieves.
Who could possibly have imagined that taking out half the staff and asking customers to do their own tills would possibly lead to increased shop lifting.
In our local (small) supermarket they have put the self-serve tills directly between the manned tills and the door.
So people walk past the manned tills, fiddle mildly convincingly with the self-serve tills, transfer the shopping to their bags, and walk out.
Who could possibly have seen that coming etc. etc.
It’s more to do with the fact that both staff and security guards are forbidden from physically stopping shoplifters.
If the company doesn’t do that, they are legally liable for injuries, charges of assault etc.
When you combine it with a policy of not prosecuting for shop lifting, there is nothing stopping shop lifters.
So they don’t stop.
Day before I left I saw the most brazen shoplifting ever on Camden parkway. Two guys simply walked in to the co-op, swept several shelves of wine and food, and walked out
The guard stood there sheepishly, doing nothing
The thieves didn’t look like the normal pallid desperate junkies either. They looked healthy and determined. So I reckon it is gang organised shoplifting, to order
The stores seem helpless
The only solution is going to be locking everything up, and it doesn't open until you've already paid.
Some more holiday quizzery and abbreviated totalitarian statuary. Where is this eagle that definitely looks like it’s lost something from its talons?
Berlin again? Isn’t it the slightly neutered denazified Deutschesrepublik eagle? No idea where tho
There are several of them and they adorn one the last (huge) surviving temples to Nazism. This eagles head is the surviving bit of an eagle that bestrode the globe on top of said temple.
Comments
Once upon a time in the half remembered past, there was a degree of supporting English teams in Europe. But then the premier league happened: the big clubs delivered a massive fuck you to everyone else, and, what, I'm supposed to now support them when they play in Europe, because they're English? Except they're not, apart from the odd smattering who've unaccountably made it through the gaps.
Inasmuch as we watch these clubs we do so in the hope of seeing the smug bastards fail.
The future is not evenly distributed and that's doubly true when you look at the pain interest rate rises is having on people.
But this is America polarised and divided. Tens of millions have foaming-dog-fever. And the country has shown repeatedly that it can order law enforcement and worse to beat up and arrest and kill people for their crime of being black or liberal or an alleged communist. Cheered on by Congress.
There would be some resistance, sure. But they will better plan the takeover of power this time. Once they get it, they won't give it up voluntarily.
I have no debts and a reasonable sum saved across several accounts and my new savings rates coming in are pretty good and certainly well over where inflation is expected to be in a few months time.
I couldn't justify £950 (or whatever the iPhone 15 will cost) for my mobile usage patterns but if it works for you, why not...
"Ms Mann acknowledged that further rate rises risked going too far and damaging the economy, but argued that this was less dangerous than doing too little and allowing inflation to keep rampaging."
It states other members of the MPC are saying rates have peaked or near peak.
Suspect there are others who are not yet public.
The tell tale seems to be when they appoint their own lawyers, rather than stick with lawyers paid by Trumps' PAC who are there to defend Trump not them.
I see increasing numbers of voters, especially independents, refusing to be associated with a stinking pool of slime.
It's a fascinating slow game of legal chess, but does not exactly lift my faith in the US legal system above my faith in its political system.
But I do agree that 'landfill tech' is bad.
Crap android phones that go out of official support after about 18 months and get binned are an abomination.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LI8QQi0fqkw
1 - State RICO charges. What is the route for Appeal to SCOTUS, since it is not a Federal prosecution?
2 - The 14th Amendment exclusion from holding any USA office.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/rfa-argus-first-naval-ship-to-get-oneweb-leo-connectivity/
Which means that Bayern become even richer, and they win every single year, thereby ruining the German league and German football
This is a profound lament often heard in German football. So you are completely wrong
Maybe it’s all because of Brexit? I dunno
I figure we get another two 0.25% rises because the Fed seems intent on exporting US inflation to the rest of the world and the BoE will need to follow their rate rises to maintain sterling against USD.
She told the Today programme the retailer had seen offences double over the past 12 months.
Dame Sharon said it was also "not right" that shop workers were "having to put up with abuse and attacks"."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66784250
England and Wales are only half to two-thirds of the numbers of police per population of some of our European peers - France, Italy, Germany, Spain etc.
Table:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_number_of_police_officers
I can see some shops moving to an Argos type model for some products if they can square the cost equation.
I saw that particular vehicle when visiting the Tank Museum a few years back - it just started up and drove around the arena one Friday afternoon, not a special day at all or anything like that. Great fun. Extra fun when a modern Leopard then joined it - hugely more powerful and speedier and noisier.
But for added pedantry -
https://tankmuseum.org/tank-nuts/tank-collection/m4-sherman-fury
Shopowners state police policies of not investigating crime values of under £200, and repeat criminals who come in several times a week and threaten staff in the knowledge that they will not be accosted.
(I think that is from a Today Programme interview yesterday.)
I'm inclined to say it needs a remedy significantly increased police funding, especially directed at PCSOs. And yes - that means a higher tax base, and also ties in to reducing the backlog of innocent people not yet found guilty in the prison system from the current nearly 20%.
Don't they say 6 months for the effect to be felt. So they may well have done enough but how can you be sure? I'm not sure I buy this line of the US exporting inflation. The biggest economy in the world raising interest rates is surely going to put downward pressure on oil prices.
So, for example, until Apple starts really producing from India, I avoid their products.
I have no idea how many Americans (or Britons) share my preferences.
(For the record: I am now using a Windows 10 desktop, and a Chromebook. I plan to convert a small desktop to Linux soon, and expect to do most work there. Partly for fun, I plan to try installing Python and R on the Chromebook, soon. I have already gotten the underlying Linux working a little, so the Chromebook now boots up with a warning that there may be unapproved aps on the machine.)
Apple products are fab.
Apple really do look after their customers.
Labour will abolish anti-strike laws, pledges Angela Rayner
‘New deal for workers’ will include closing loophole used by Amazon to avoid recognising unions
Labour will bring forward legislation to improve workers’ rights within 100 days if it wins the next election, Angela Rayner pledged today as she urged unions to come together and support the party’s election campaign.
In a speech to the TUC conference in Liverpool, Rayner said that a Labour government would prevent companies such as Amazon using loopholes in the law to avoid recognising unions in the workplace.
She also pledged to introduce a new form of collective bargaining that would allow unions to negotiate pay and conditions across entire sectors of the economy such as social care.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/angela-rayner-labour-anti-strike-laws-repeal-v5qhwhzvr
I reached that determination in the mid-1980s when Apple were trying to pretend that a monochrome 9" screen slightly larger than a Victorian postcard was superior to a colour 14" screen.
I have seen no reason since to change my view
The polling, by YouGov, suggests the party is seen as too right-wing on the issues that matter most to the public. While voters shared Tory concerns on issues such as trans rights and illegal migration, they were aligned with Labour in areas they cared most about, including spending on public services.
Another YouGov poll recorded Rishi Sunak’s lowest approval rating since he became prime minister, with only 26 per cent of voters having a favourable opinion. Just under 40 per cent of Conservative voters in 2019 said they had an unfavourable view of Sunak and the party.
The YouGov research attempted to gauge voter attitudes by asking them on a scale of one to ten to say how closely they agreed with a number of statements. It then asked them — on the same scale — to say where they thought the main political parties stood.
For example, while respondents supported increased spending in areas such as health, education and policing, the only areas where they thought the Tories would spend more was defence, which was low down voters’ list of priorities.
Overall, voters characterised themselves as 4.6 out of ten on a scale where zero was left-wing and ten was right-wing. They placed Sir Keir Starmer as 3.9 per cent on the same scale and Sunak on 7.3 per cent — suggesting they saw Starmer’s values as more closely aligned with their own.
The poll, for the strategy consultancy WPI, found that 54 per cent of voters would “definitely” not support the Conservatives at the next election compared with 32 per cent who said the same of Labour.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/most-voters-wont-even-think-of-voting-tory-yougov-poll-finds-md3xl9p8j
Everton are in advanced negotiations with 777 Partners LLC over a dramatic full takeover of the club by the American private investment firm.
Sources close to talks told Telegraph Sport that the deal on offer would bring an end to Farhad Moshiri’s era as majority shareholder.
Talks with 777 stretch back months but have intensified in recent weeks after an alternative minority investment deal with MSP Capital collapsed.
A well-connected source later played down the likelihood of a deal being announced this week. The insider suggested that Moshiri would remain open to a potential rival bid emerging.
Moshiri is understood to be facing the prospect of leaving the club with a fraction of the money he invested. Insiders underlined there are still final hurdles to be cleared. “A deal is close but we still need to get it over the line,” said one source close to talks.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/09/12/everton-takeover-news-777-latest-advanced-talks-moshiri/
Not the most bang for buck in terms of spec. Mine (discontinued model) had a decent camera, but was average on everything else.
When someone proposes doing X, my first thought is
“Has X been done before? What happened then?”
Avoiding China is tough though so hard to be too puritan about it.
I buy phones second hand on ebay - find that's much better value.
He seems to be making a difference in a number of areas - eg taking on Big Pharma on drug prices.
Sadly my 4a has just gone out of support. What a waste of perfectly good hardware.
That's not inconsistent with them being a really scummy company, though...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-66787219
I wonder what the Usonian police would have done?
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/11/medical-students-plan-to-quit-nhs
If you are that way inclined, I would highly recommend you play with Jupyter Lab in Python. It's a great way to develop / do data analysis.
See: https://jupyter.org/
Asking for a telephone santising friend
The museum there shows on a loop the training films used to induct new recruits into the secret police and its methods. Really creepy stuff, explaining how to use blackmail or threats - minor misdemeanours at work or the children’s education or career prospects - to turn ordinary people into informers, how to train them to spy on their neighbours and submit reports, how to intimidate people by turning over their homes, how to follow people about the city or plant cameras and recorders inside their homes.
Things there weren’t as bad as East Germany but they reckon at peak 100,000 people informed for the secret police one way or another.
Nick exMP would have loved it.
https://patterico.com/2023/09/11/biden-administration-marks-september-11-by-agreeing-to-prisoner-release-from-iran-in-return-for-unfreezing-6-billion-in-iranian-assets/
(That site is run by "Never-Trump" Republicans.)
For some time I have been arguing that we should be collecting hostages from Iran, Russia, et cetera, to prepare for possible prisoner swaps. But I would now add that we should never include large sums of cash -- which will be used to finance terrorism, in the Middle East, and elsewhere.
Hence seeing people using top spec’s MacBook Pros for sending email and browsing the web.
Tablet with a keyboard case is all you need for that.
Fairphone is a good shout.
It was over cooked veal, with icky creamy mushroom sauce, with stodgy inedible risotto
The sauce tasted suspiciously like it came from a tin or it was microwaved. And this was the only choice apart from some other vegan main course
AND this was food served up in the most popular bistro in town by the tourist office: they chose it. And the locals were happily wolfing it down
It’s not like I just got unlucky wandering about drunk and falling into terrible restaurants
Weird. It was as bad as German food
Remind me, how many considered they couldn't vote Conservative at the last election?
(Spoiler alert: 56.4%.....)
I see the Government are still digging deeper and deeper holes for themselves over the Asylum Centre at Scampton.
Having been served with an order by the Local Authority to cease any intrusive works on the former airbase which might damage heritage including listed buildings, the Government have had their contractors continue work and have now refused to allow Inspectors access to the site so they can check what is being done. They are basically saying it is none of the Council's business.
The thing is, I think using these sites is a good idea. But this Givernment seems to think that once it has decided to do something no one - not Parliament, the Courts or Local Authorities - are going to be allowed to stop them doing it in exactly the way they want to. They believe they are answerable to no one.
So people walk past the manned tills, fiddle mildly convincingly with the self-serve tills, transfer the shopping to their bags, and walk out.
Who could possibly have seen that coming etc. etc.
The Conservatives got the support of 29.3% of registered voters. So 70.7% decided they could't vote for them.
Problem wih CEX is their ratings ren't as accurate as they should be - I bought a phone back in December from CEX that was way worse then the quality rating they had given it.
Just watching the Kuensberg documentary. Nadine must have been in bed with Boris...He can do no wrong in her eyes.
If the company doesn’t do that, they are legally liable for injuries, charges of assault etc.
When you combine it with a policy of not prosecuting for shop lifting, there is nothing stopping shop lifters.
So they don’t stop.
The guard stood there sheepishly, doing nothing
The thieves didn’t look like the normal pallid desperate junkies either. They looked healthy and determined. So I reckon it is gang organised shoplifting, to order
The stores seem helpless
I well remember logging on to the airport wifi when the plane landed, reading the exit poll and punching the air, to the bewildment of a couple of Frogs next to me, who, when I explained, quizzed me about what it meant for "le Brexeeet".
An Ibrox eagle would have a red hand in its grasp and a motto in a proper dead language.
usque ad genua pretium Hibernica sanguine
If, on the other hand, I want to do interactive data analysis (and using R alongside Python suggests that), then Jupyter is the way forward.
Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope may have discovered tentative evidence of a sign of life on a faraway planet.
It may have detected a molecule called dimethyl sulphide (DMS). On Earth, at least, this is only produced by life.
The researchers stress that the detection on the planet 120 light years away is "not robust" and more data is needed to confirm its presence.
Researchers have also detected methane and CO2 in the planet's atmosphere.
Detection of these gasses could mean the planet, named K2-18b, has a water ocean.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66786611
Tamworth by-election almost certainly going to be on the same day as Mid Beds, 19th October.
https://www.alamy.com/berlin-germany-july-27-2021-nazi-eagle-at-the-tempelhof-airport-and-a-sign-with-references-to-the-head-construction-the-main-hall-and-the-lost-image438387157.html