Tommy Banks, who runs award-winning restaurants in North Yorkshire, says "nearly a tonne" of pies, worth £25,000 in total, were taken after the van was driven away from Barker Business Park in Melmerby on Sunday night.
"Behind London’s King’s Cross Station on the Caledonian Road lies the Yellow Bittern, a restaurant-cum-bookshop that opened this autumn. It has just three members of staff – Hugh Corcoran, the chef and face of the venture, and his co-owners, Oisín Davies and Frances Armstrong-Jones – seats 18 people and is only open for lunch, Monday to Friday.
It has no website and no social media presence. Bookings can be made by phone, in person or – such is its founders’ abhorrence for the digital age – hand-written postcard. Only two timeslots are available to book: one at noon, the other at 2pm.
The menu is chalked on a blackboard; the mains, at the time of writing, were just two, neither of which was vegetarian. There is no printed wine list (as the restaurant critic Jay Rayner notes, “it is all in Hugh’s head”), and it is cash-only."
We had quite a serious "driver using Landrover to hit-and-run kill a "cyclist"" last week 4km from here. Chased three people through a village, then ran one 'e-bike' down and killed the 'pillion passenger' on a country lane. There is now a murder investigation.
Looking at the police reports, they are going with "e-bike" language and "pillion passenger killed", so our crap media have gone with even crappier reporting.
The initial BBC headline, until they got nobbled by the complaints within the hour, was the entirely misleading:
""Police hunt mum's killer after e-bike hit-and-run""
Now, when I want to update a couple of local Facebook groups about it - the killing was on a key route to offroad rail trail paths - the Police Officer investigating cannot even tell me whether it was an E-Brompton, a tandem, a Sur-Ron, or a full moped or motorcycle, all of which are "e-bike" to the bog standard reporter, and all of which are massively different. A policy of no more information, which has its uses for authentication, but not like this.
so spent happy hours figuring out how to replace brake pipes on a 2CV etc
I saw a 2CV 'in the wild' this weekend.
I had forgotten how tiny they are
I went on a camping road trip in France with 3 others in one. We even picked up a hitchhiker. There's loads of room if you travel light. Bit slow over the Massive Central fully loaded I accept.
Possibly a bit faster if you take the road though?
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
It's fucking nuts that this guy might be the next FBI Director.
Was hard for me to find the list of people Kash Patel included in his book “Government Gangsters” as Deep State officials who need to be targeted so here it is in one place. https://x.com/Timodc/status/1863620081873244259
I'm not so sure that they have. Dress it up in pink and it's striking, and it's only ever going to look better in other colours.
At 130k the engineering is going to have to be the best in the world though. I don't think they can deliver that, but I guess they get to have a go.
I agree
I was on a long drive yesterday and was struck (again) by just how ugly Tesla's are.
The jaG is not ugly
The Tesla Cybertruck is the most beautiful vehicle ever constructed and I want one.
Nothing compares to the Hillman Imp, even with the design flaws.
Takes me down memory lane. I had a Hillman Imp when I was first dating Mrs Foxy. I paid £45 for it with half a tank of petrol and no MOT, using the tactic of the previous weeks small ads. The idea was that anyone still with the vehicle a week later would be desperate to sell.
It passed its MOT easily (as I thought it would), albeit by taking it to a dodgy garage that I knew. The mechanic would ask "are you selling it?" and only giving it a hard look over if you were. I kept it for 18 months and 10 000 miles of mostly trouble free motoring. It had the weirdest tyre pressure to combat oversteer ( 15 front, 30 rear) and even weirder plumbing, with the rear engine water-cooled, but radiator up front, so there were hot water pipes in the sills.
Eventually it developed an electrical fault that caused it to burn out alternators, but I discovered that if I disconnected the alternator while the engine was running after about 5 miles it was fine, with a charged battery as long as you didn't use the lights much. Happy days of British motoring, though not the worst car that I have had.
Grim. That was an era of truly crap cars with terrible bodywork, clunky manual gearboxes and dire build quality.
Petrol pump attendant was my Saturday job in the 1970s. Imps were really awkward to fill.
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
At its core the Laffer Curve is just how people respond to economic incentives
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
The marginal tax rate is so high that these people act rationally and don't take on extra work, the government misses out on extra tax and keeps on paying lots of tax credits and housing benefit.
If the marginal tax rate was lower, more people would take on extra work, the tax paid might be higher by enough and the benefits paid might be lower by enough to make up the cost of the lower marginal rate.
It's precisely the Laffer curve, so we know that a marginal tax rate of ~86% is too high. This should not be a surprise to anyone.
The problem is that to reduce that marginal rate you would end up with some people earning £45,000 while still getting benefits.
Which isn't in itself a problem until you realise you've just brought people earning £44,000 into the tax credit regime with all the extra costs in benefits that it occurs.
Hence the 86% marginal rate is too high but it's very, very expensive to fix it..
Yes. This is why I've been arguing that the biggest problem is high living costs (of which high housing costs are the most obvious, but not the only component).
If you reduce living costs, you can reduce the base sum required to support those out of work. Then a lower taper rate doesn't reach so far up the income scale.
I'm not so sure that they have. Dress it up in pink and it's striking, and it's only ever going to look better in other colours.
At 130k the engineering is going to have to be the best in the world though. I don't think they can deliver that, but I guess they get to have a go.
I agree
I was on a long drive yesterday and was struck (again) by just how ugly Tesla's are.
The jaG is not ugly
The Tesla Cybertruck is the most beautiful vehicle ever constructed and I want one.
Nothing compares to the Hillman Imp, even with the design flaws.
Takes me down memory lane. I had a Hillman Imp when I was first dating Mrs Foxy. I paid £45 for it with half a tank of petrol and no MOT, using the tactic of the previous weeks small ads. The idea was that anyone still with the vehicle a week later would be desperate to sell.
It passed its MOT easily (as I thought it would), albeit by taking it to a dodgy garage that I knew. The mechanic would ask "are you selling it?" and only giving it a hard look over if you were. I kept it for 18 months and 10 000 miles of mostly trouble free motoring. It had the weirdest tyre pressure to combat oversteer ( 15 front, 30 rear) and even weirder plumbing, with the rear engine water-cooled, but radiator up front, so there were hot water pipes in the sills.
Eventually it developed an electrical fault that caused it to burn out alternators, but I discovered that if I disconnected the alternator while the engine was running after about 5 miles it was fine, with a charged battery as long as you didn't use the lights much. Happy days of British motoring, though not the worst car that I have had.
Not the worst car?
When did you buy a Jaaaag?
I have never had a Jag, but at about that time my dad had an XJ12, which went like shit off a shovel until my brother and I blew a radiator hose. It's a plumbers nightmare to work on water pipes on those, the whole front end needs to come apart.
I had an Opel that wouldn't go into reverse, but was otherwise fine. You just had to park carefully, facing up hill, so able to back out in neutral under the weight of the car. I also had a bile green Alfa Romeo that was a dream to drive but literally broke in the middle when I had to jack it up due to terminal rust.
Perhaps worst was a Rover P6 3500 that had a weird fault where under emergency braking it would spin in the carriageway, seemingly braking only one side, though mostly worked if you braked slowly. Lovely leather interior and walnut dash.
I used to buy old bangers and sell them on after a couple of months whilst at Uni, it was a useful income, but anything truly rubbish I ditched at Southamton car auction. I really offloaded some clunkers there.
Broken Italian dreams because you jacked it up? Are you definitely talking about cars?
Fianna Fâil wins the last two seats in Cavan - Monaghan.
The election is now complete.
Final standings:
FF 48 SF 39 FG 38
I like how on the summary it appears practically everyone, big or small, either gained first preference votes, or gained seats (or both - presumably as the number of seats was increased)...apart from the Greens.
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
The marginal tax rate is so high that these people act rationally and don't take on extra work, the government misses out on extra tax and keeps on paying lots of tax credits and housing benefit.
If the marginal tax rate was lower, more people would take on extra work, the tax paid might be higher by enough and the benefits paid might be lower by enough to make up the cost of the lower marginal rate.
It's precisely the Laffer curve, so we know that a marginal tax rate of ~86% is too high. This should not be a surprise to anyone.
Although you are presuming that what marginal tax rate is acceptable is constant across income levels, when it may not be.
I'm not assuming that. I would definitely agree that it differs for different income levels.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'm not so sure that they have. Dress it up in pink and it's striking, and it's only ever going to look better in other colours.
At 130k the engineering is going to have to be the best in the world though. I don't think they can deliver that, but I guess they get to have a go.
I agree
I was on a long drive yesterday and was struck (again) by just how ugly Tesla's are.
The jaG is not ugly
The Tesla Cybertruck is the most beautiful vehicle ever constructed and I want one.
Nothing compares to the Hillman Imp, even with the design flaws.
Takes me down memory lane. I had a Hillman Imp when I was first dating Mrs Foxy. I paid £45 for it with half a tank of petrol and no MOT, using the tactic of the previous weeks small ads. The idea was that anyone still with the vehicle a week later would be desperate to sell.
It passed its MOT easily (as I thought it would), albeit by taking it to a dodgy garage that I knew. The mechanic would ask "are you selling it?" and only giving it a hard look over if you were. I kept it for 18 months and 10 000 miles of mostly trouble free motoring. It had the weirdest tyre pressure to combat oversteer ( 15 front, 30 rear) and even weirder plumbing, with the rear engine water-cooled, but radiator up front, so there were hot water pipes in the sills.
Eventually it developed an electrical fault that caused it to burn out alternators, but I discovered that if I disconnected the alternator while the engine was running after about 5 miles it was fine, with a charged battery as long as you didn't use the lights much. Happy days of British motoring, though not the worst car that I have had.
Knackered old Ford Taunus coupe was probably my worst car. A trip of over 100miles was a real adventure.
Many years ago my wife had a NSU with a bag of solidified concrete under the front bonnet to help stop it jumping up and down !!
What was that one - the Prinz 600 or 1000, which looked like a curvy Hillman Imp? The first did 0-60 in 36 seconds. There's a rallying version here for £29,500. It was a great success at the Nurburgring and Spa (it says here). https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1720897
It wouldn't be an RO80, which my dad had in his large-car period. That would swallow potholes like a Citroen.
If it was the wankel Spider, I hope you still have it - they are worth £30k+ now.
It's fucking nuts that this guy might be the next FBI Director.
Was hard for me to find the list of people Kash Patel included in his book “Government Gangsters” as Deep State officials who need to be targeted so here it is in one place. https://x.com/Timodc/status/1863620081873244259
Wonder how much the risk of him being the next FBI Director prompted Biden's unwise but understandable actions today.
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
The marginal tax rate is so high that these people act reasonably and don't take on extra work, the government misses out on extra tax and keeps on paying lots of tax credits and housing benefit.
If the marginal tax rate was lower, more people would take on extra work, the tax paid might be higher and the benefits paid might be lower to make up the cost of the lower marginal rate.
It's precisely the Laffer curve, so we know that a marginal tax rate of ~86% is too high. This should not be a surprise to anyone.
It's not the tax rate it's benefit cut-off. The issue with reducing that cut-off rate (currently 55% btw) is that you would be paying Universal Credit to many more working people.
The other issue affecting the people in the original article is that you get additional benefit (416.19 pm) if you are unable to seek work due to illness (the eloquently titled 'Limited Capability for Work Related Activity' or LCWRA). However, you're allowed to work as much as you want/can but... chances are when you are reassessed you'll lose the LCWRA rating at the assessment. Which many would say is fair enough - how can you be unable to work and, er, working.
I entirely agree that it needs reforming but it's nothing to do with the Laffer Curve.
The benefit cut off is part of their real marginal tax rate. So it is the Laffer Curve.
Faced with a real tax rate of 80% plus people choose not to work, so benefits are paid out and taxes not taken in.
Yup
Try this sales pitch - “I want you to work for £2 per hour, take home money”
Less than that, and for which the employer will pay out close to £15 in actual costs.
It's fucking nuts that this guy might be the next FBI Director.
Was hard for me to find the list of people Kash Patel included in his book “Government Gangsters” as Deep State officials who need to be targeted so here it is in one place. https://x.com/Timodc/status/1863620081873244259
Wonder how much the risk of him being the next FBI Director prompted Biden's unwise but understandable actions today.
Will this guy publish the X-files so we can learn the secrets of Mulder and Scully?
It's fucking nuts that this guy might be the next FBI Director.
Was hard for me to find the list of people Kash Patel included in his book “Government Gangsters” as Deep State officials who need to be targeted so here it is in one place. https://x.com/Timodc/status/1863620081873244259
Wonder how much the risk of him being the next FBI Director prompted Biden's unwise but understandable actions today.
Will this guy publish the X-files so we can learn the secrets of Mulder and Scully?
Things are getting strange, I'm starting to worry...
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
While we're at it, make January and February the 11th and 12th months of the year, with new year's day on 1 March.
You guys haven't lived until you've had a DAF Variomatic.
I did look at one once, but even I drew the line at a DAF.
I think Volvo bought them out and made their 3 and 400 series there.
A couple of teachers at school in the seventies drove DAF’s and one drove a Datsun. Awful cars. But my nostalgia gives me a warm fuzzy glow at the thought of them.
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
The marginal tax rate is so high that these people act rationally and don't take on extra work, the government misses out on extra tax and keeps on paying lots of tax credits and housing benefit.
If the marginal tax rate was lower, more people would take on extra work, the tax paid might be higher by enough and the benefits paid might be lower by enough to make up the cost of the lower marginal rate.
It's precisely the Laffer curve, so we know that a marginal tax rate of ~86% is too high. This should not be a surprise to anyone.
Although you are presuming that what marginal tax rate is acceptable is constant across income levels, when it may not be.
I'm not assuming that. I would definitely agree that it differs for different income levels.
But the unfortunate kicker is that the optimum tax-raising rate is likely to be higher for lower income workers than higher income workers, because people on a lower income have things lower down on Maslow's hierarchy of needs to spend additional income on.
This may in part explain why the highest marginal tax rates are for those on universal credit and not higher up the income scale.
This is, of course, contrary to the progressive ideal. It would suggest that to fix it you need to increase taxes on wealth and/or cut spending.
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
The marginal tax rate is so high that these people act rationally and don't take on extra work, the government misses out on extra tax and keeps on paying lots of tax credits and housing benefit.
If the marginal tax rate was lower, more people would take on extra work, the tax paid might be higher by enough and the benefits paid might be lower by enough to make up the cost of the lower marginal rate.
It's precisely the Laffer curve, so we know that a marginal tax rate of ~86% is too high. This should not be a surprise to anyone.
The problem is that to reduce that marginal rate you would end up with some people earning £45,000 while still getting benefits.
Which isn't in itself a problem until you realise you've just brought people earning £44,000 into the tax credit regime with all the extra costs in benefits that it occurs.
Hence the 86% marginal rate is too high but it's very, very expensive to fix it..
It's 55% but still both a) too high and b) difficult to fix.
No it is not.
That 55% is on top of, not instead of, income tax and national insurance, both employees and employers. And Student Loan payments potentially too.
Actually that's a fair point. It used to be that people affected by the benefit cut-off weren't paying ICT or NI but... fiscal drag is catching them now.
People affected by the benefit cut-off, if they have kids, have always been paying ICT and NIC too.
And with the ridiculous way Student Loans have been treated, they're paying that tax too now potentially.
£25k is all you need to be earning to pay a 9% higher rate of tax on that, which is paid on top of the 55% and everything else.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
Go on Stu - have a go at explaining the physics of what’s going on with the return of the light. It’s interesting. It’s our natural rhythms, like you said, December should be about contemplation and enjoying natural stillness, not orgy of consumerism, excess, and loud partying.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
I wholeheartedly agree but did randomly buy my wife a posh French cosmetics advent calendar one year. She loved it, and I then struggled to explain why I didn’t repeat the gesture the following year.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
I attended Sunday school once.
Them: "Where do your grandparents live?"
Me: "Forres"
Them: "No, I mean, what town?"
"Forres"
"Do you mean they live in a forest?"
"No, I mean they live in Forres".
"I think you mean they live in a forest".
"No, they live in a town called Forres".
:: patronising look ::
"So, this forest, where is it?"
.. continues until I become disillusioned with Christianity.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
Go on Stu - have a go at explaining the physics of what’s going on with the return of the light. It’s interesting. It’s our natural rhythms, like you said, December should be about contemplation and enjoying natural stillness, not orgy of consumerism, excess, and loud partying.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I love taking walks this time of year.
Isn't the 25 December date an artefact of the Gregorian calendar change and England lagging so long it needed to change by 10 days, the same reason as tax day is 5 April not 25 March (term day)?
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
Go on Stu - have a go at explaining the physics of what’s going on with the return of the light. It’s interesting. It’s our natural rhythms, like you said, December should be about contemplation and enjoying natural stillness, not orgy of consumerism, excess, and loud partying.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I love taking walks this time of year.
F*** that.
December should be about excess, loud partying, music, bright lights and spending time with family and friends.
Not any shite like contemplation, stillness or any of that crap.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
Go on Stu - have a go at explaining the physics of what’s going on with the return of the light. It’s interesting. It’s our natural rhythms, like you said, December should be about contemplation and enjoying natural stillness, not orgy of consumerism, excess, and loud partying.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I love taking walks this time of year.
MoonRabbit - I have embraced Christmas a lot more happily since I put some effort into unearthing - and indeed enforcing - Christmas music which was more to my taste. On the theme of quiet and contemplative Decembers, you may enjoy my favourite Christmas album: Ghost Stories for Christmas by Aidan Moffat. In particular, check out "The Recurrence of Dickens." Something of an antidote to Slade. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kobSUU-Ilp9BJBggySXAgE551SJx2YuEQ&si=rkIvQLcoWSxcpe92
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
You mean booze advent calendars - truly the work of Satan.
If people can find any way of “cashing in” - illustrative term Anabob, not literal - on the fact Christmas is coming, they will. Beneath it all now, any space for contemplation or spirituality is well and truly buried these days.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
You mean booze advent calendars - truly the work of Satan.
If people can find any way of “cashing in” - illustrative term Anabob, not literal - on the fact Christmas is coming, they will. Beneath it all now, any space for contemplation or spirituality is well and truly buried these days.
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
The marginal tax rate is so high that these people act rationally and don't take on extra work, the government misses out on extra tax and keeps on paying lots of tax credits and housing benefit.
If the marginal tax rate was lower, more people would take on extra work, the tax paid might be higher by enough and the benefits paid might be lower by enough to make up the cost of the lower marginal rate.
It's precisely the Laffer curve, so we know that a marginal tax rate of ~86% is too high. This should not be a surprise to anyone.
The problem is that to reduce that marginal rate you would end up with some people earning £45,000 while still getting benefits.
Which isn't in itself a problem until you realise you've just brought people earning £44,000 into the tax credit regime with all the extra costs in benefits that it occurs.
Hence the 86% marginal rate is too high but it's very, very expensive to fix it..
It's 55% but still both a) too high and b) difficult to fix.
No it is not.
That 55% is on top of, not instead of, income tax and national insurance, both employees and employers. And Student Loan payments potentially too.
Actually that's a fair point. It used to be that people affected by the benefit cut-off weren't paying ICT or NI but... fiscal drag is catching them now.
People affected by the benefit cut-off, if they have kids, have always been paying ICT and NIC too.
And with the ridiculous way Student Loans have been treated, they're paying that tax too now potentially.
£25k is all you need to be earning to pay a 9% higher rate of tax on that, which is paid on top of the 55% and everything else.
What are the current rates?
IT 20% EE NI 8% ER NI 13.8% Loan 9% Tax Credits 55%
On the payslip the employee sees £100 of income and receives £8 net pay. But the employer also pays £13.80 in Employer NICs (though that doesn't change the marginal tax rate much)
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
You mean booze advent calendars - truly the work of Satan.
If people can find any way of “cashing in” - illustrative term Anabob, not literal - on the fact Christmas is coming, they will. Beneath it all now, any space for contemplation or spirituality is well and truly buried these days.
I've not had an advent calendar since I was a kid...until this year. I'm really enjoying the Jam Advent Calendar my family bought me, and counting down the days until Xmas.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
Go on Stu - have a go at explaining the physics of what’s going on with the return of the light. It’s interesting. It’s our natural rhythms, like you said, December should be about contemplation and enjoying natural stillness, not orgy of consumerism, excess, and loud partying.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I love taking walks this time of year.
F*** that.
December should be about excess, loud partying, music, bright lights and spending time with family and friends.
Not any shite like contemplation, stillness or any of that crap.
Then you are missing something. The natural rhythm of the world about us is December is so uniquely still.
Did you watch Masterchef tonight? One thing you notice is how the chefs hug each other. Maybe Gregg Wallace was right to suggest the complaints were coming from the Celebrity version, where nothing is at stake, rather than the main and Professionals versions where winning can be life-changing.
That said, it would of course be wrong for Gregg to insert himself into this.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
I wholeheartedly agree but did randomly buy my wife a posh French cosmetics advent calendar one year. She loved it, and I then struggled to explain why I didn’t repeat the gesture the following year.
I had a yarn advent calendar for the Covid Christmas, but by mutual agreement I started it on Christmas Day, and it continued into January. Much better way round to do those. This is why some of them are 12-day affairs, for the twelve days of Christmas.
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
The marginal tax rate is so high that these people act rationally and don't take on extra work, the government misses out on extra tax and keeps on paying lots of tax credits and housing benefit.
If the marginal tax rate was lower, more people would take on extra work, the tax paid might be higher by enough and the benefits paid might be lower by enough to make up the cost of the lower marginal rate.
It's precisely the Laffer curve, so we know that a marginal tax rate of ~86% is too high. This should not be a surprise to anyone.
The problem is that to reduce that marginal rate you would end up with some people earning £45,000 while still getting benefits.
Which isn't in itself a problem until you realise you've just brought people earning £44,000 into the tax credit regime with all the extra costs in benefits that it occurs.
Hence the 86% marginal rate is too high but it's very, very expensive to fix it..
It's 55% but still both a) too high and b) difficult to fix.
No it is not.
That 55% is on top of, not instead of, income tax and national insurance, both employees and employers. And Student Loan payments potentially too.
Actually that's a fair point. It used to be that people affected by the benefit cut-off weren't paying ICT or NI but... fiscal drag is catching them now.
People affected by the benefit cut-off, if they have kids, have always been paying ICT and NIC too.
And with the ridiculous way Student Loans have been treated, they're paying that tax too now potentially.
£25k is all you need to be earning to pay a 9% higher rate of tax on that, which is paid on top of the 55% and everything else.
What are the current rates?
IT 20% EE NI 8% ER NI 13.8% Loan 9% Tax Credits 55%
On the payslip the employee sees £100 of income and receives £8 net pay. But the employer also pays £13.80 in Employer NICs (though that doesn't change the marginal tax rate much)
They get a bit more, but not much more, as the 55% is after tax/ni (but before graduate tax).
Can also add on 8% of combined pension contributions too as a cost taken that doesn't reach the pay check, and again both employer and employee hit for that though at least that one is not just a tax straight to HMRC unlike all the others.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
Go on Stu - have a go at explaining the physics of what’s going on with the return of the light. It’s interesting. It’s our natural rhythms, like you said, December should be about contemplation and enjoying natural stillness, not orgy of consumerism, excess, and loud partying.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I love taking walks this time of year.
F*** that.
December should be about excess, loud partying, music, bright lights and spending time with family and friends.
Not any shite like contemplation, stillness or any of that crap.
Is there any time for contemplation in your calendar? Or is every day as facile as the day before?
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
At its core the Laffer Curve is just how people respond to economic incentives
At its core, the Laffer curve is a statement of the bleeding obvious at the 0 and 100 per cent ends, connected by dogma and wishful thinking at all intermediate rates.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
Go on Stu - have a go at explaining the physics of what’s going on with the return of the light. It’s interesting. It’s our natural rhythms, like you said, December should be about contemplation and enjoying natural stillness, not orgy of consumerism, excess, and loud partying.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I love taking walks this time of year.
F*** that.
December should be about excess, loud partying, music, bright lights and spending time with family and friends.
Not any shite like contemplation, stillness or any of that crap.
Then you are missing something. The natural rhythm of the world about us is December is so uniquely still.
Sound boring.
The hectic nature of December, especially with kids, is part of its charm.
From Halloween to Christmas has been pretty non-stop for us, and then you get to the Christmas/New Year break and just switch off at last.
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
At its core the Laffer Curve is just how people respond to economic incentives
At its core, the Laffer curve is a statement of the bleeding obvious at the 0 and 100 per cent ends, connected by dogma and wishful thinking at all intermediate rates.
86%, or whatever it is, is so damned close to the 100% rate as to effectively be there, which is why so many people are trapped on benefits with no way to get off it, and why so many people work cash in hand because that way they don't "lose their benefits" and the employer hasn't got to pay NICs etc either.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
I wholeheartedly agree but did randomly buy my wife a posh French cosmetics advent calendar one year. She loved it, and I then struggled to explain why I didn’t repeat the gesture the following year.
I had a yarn advent calendar for the Covid Christmas, but by mutual agreement I started it on Christmas Day, and it continued into January. Much better way round to do those. This is why some of them are 12-day affairs, for the twelve days of Christmas.
Yarn as in cotton? Or a different story each day? I don’t think I’ve had an advent calendar of any shape or form for decades. But I used to like the picture ones (which no longer exist apparently).
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
You mean booze advent calendars - truly the work of Satan.
If people can find any way of “cashing in” - illustrative term Anabob, not literal - on the fact Christmas is coming, they will. Beneath it all now, any space for contemplation or spirituality is well and truly buried these days.
I've not had an advent calendar since I was a kid...until this year. I'm really enjoying the Jam Advent Calendar my family bought me, and counting down the days until Xmas.
I gave the Bonne Maman jam advent calendar to a friend last week, and iirc Tiptree do one as well. One odd thing about advent calendars is that French ones are a day shorter than ours, which is a concrete Brexit benefit. Presumably Christmas Eve is bigger over the Channel.
Did you watch Masterchef tonight? One thing you notice is how the chefs hug each other. Maybe Gregg Wallace was right to suggest the complaints were coming from the Celebrity version, where nothing is at stake, rather than the main and Professionals versions where winning can be life-changing.
That said, it would of course be wrong for Gregg to insert himself into this.
I did watch it tonight. Only watched it very occasionally before.
Did you watch Masterchef tonight? One thing you notice is how the chefs hug each other. Maybe Gregg Wallace was right to suggest the complaints were coming from the Celebrity version, where nothing is at stake, rather than the main and Professionals versions where winning can be life-changing.
That said, it would of course be wrong for Gregg to insert himself into this.
Yes, that’s not the sort of spoon they want in the kitchen.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
I wholeheartedly agree but did randomly buy my wife a posh French cosmetics advent calendar one year. She loved it, and I then struggled to explain why I didn’t repeat the gesture the following year.
You have stitched yourself up goodand proper there, I'm afraid. My wife for years heavily hinted tbat she'd like a Yankee Candle advent calendar. Sadly being male I am impervious to hints. I assumed she was joking, because obviously advent calendara are for kiids or the easily led. By the year I realised she'd been sincere I'd put in so many years of not getting her one that she'd accepted it and I realised that thoufg I'd been inadvertently denying her what she wanted, if I now gave it to her I'd have to do so every year. Christmas presents are hard enough without also having to source advent presents.
£1000 per person per year, or £10000 per organisation (including unions) per year is my suggestion. Parties can downsize their operations if they find they cannot get by without massive donations.
And of course no honours for 10 years if you donate.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
You're turning into a Scrooge in your old age.
There's a joy of anticipation in chocolate advent calendars, yes you know you're getting a chocolate, but you don't know what one. In some it'll be shapes, eg maybe a bell as you mentioned or something else and it'll be different on different days. Oh and in most calendars you still get a picture or something else behind the door.
Never had a calendar where every day is the same.
As for gift advent calendars for adults - they're fun. Why is it too much? I've had a cheese one previously my wife got me in a previous year, I loved it. I got her a gin one in a previous year, she loved it. Again, didn't know what we'd get each day.
The whole city is a mess. An ancient historic core with some of the oldest buildings in the Americas. Maybe the oldest. Bolivar was entombed here. For the last 30 years it was off limits due to insane drug gang violence. It still has an air
But some braver backpackers and arty tourists have discovered it and it rocks at night, it even has charming cobbled lanes and fish taco bistros and takeaway sushi, and lesbians. Quite a few lesbians. No idea why
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
At its core the Laffer Curve is just how people respond to economic incentives
At its core, the Laffer curve is a statement of the bleeding obvious at the 0 and 100 per cent ends, connected by dogma and wishful thinking at all intermediate rates.
86%, or whatever it is, is so damned close to the 100% rate as to effectively be there, which is why so many people are trapped on benefits with no way to get off it, and why so many people work cash in hand because that way they don't "lose their benefits" and the employer hasn't got to pay NICs etc either.
It is not just that people face losing benefits, which can be equated to a high marginal tax rate. The real problem is that if they then lose the job, they do not automatically requalify for their old benefits. And the real, real problem is that the extra hours that caused the benefits loss are often either temporary or unreliable.
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
At its core the Laffer Curve is just how people respond to economic incentives
At its core, the Laffer curve is a statement of the bleeding obvious at the 0 and 100 per cent ends, connected by dogma and wishful thinking at all intermediate rates.
86%, or whatever it is, is so damned close to the 100% rate as to effectively be there, which is why so many people are trapped on benefits with no way to get off it, and why so many people work cash in hand because that way they don't "lose their benefits" and the employer hasn't got to pay NICs etc either.
From a sample size of a dozen or so - I haven’t met a single person yet who could be persuaded to increase their hours at that marginal rate.
The whole city is a mess. An ancient historic core with some of the oldest buildings in the Americas. Maybe the oldest. Bolivar was entombed here. For the last 30 years it was off limits due to insane drug gang violence. It still has an air
But some braver backpackers and arty tourists have discovered it and it rocks at night, it even has charming cobbled lanes and fish taco bistros and takeaway sushi, and lesbians. Quite a few lesbians. No idea why
Well we know where to find Gregg Wallace if he goes into hiding.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
Go on Stu - have a go at explaining the physics of what’s going on with the return of the light. It’s interesting. It’s our natural rhythms, like you said, December should be about contemplation and enjoying natural stillness, not orgy of consumerism, excess, and loud partying.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I love taking walks this time of year.
F*** that.
December should be about excess, loud partying, music, bright lights and spending time with family and friends.
Not any shite like contemplation, stillness or any of that crap.
Then you are missing something. The natural rhythm of the world about us is December is so uniquely still.
Sound boring.
The hectic nature of December, especially with kids, is part of its charm.
From Halloween to Christmas has been pretty non-stop for us, and then you get to the Christmas/New Year break and just switch off at last.
But I'd just rather do this stuff a bit later. Early January is bleak and could do with a lift. Early December is actually quite nice in a late Autumnal way and doesn't need Christmas trampling all over it.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
Go on Stu - have a go at explaining the physics of what’s going on with the return of the light. It’s interesting. It’s our natural rhythms, like you said, December should be about contemplation and enjoying natural stillness, not orgy of consumerism, excess, and loud partying.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I love taking walks this time of year.
F*** that.
December should be about excess, loud partying, music, bright lights and spending time with family and friends.
Not any shite like contemplation, stillness or any of that crap.
Then you are missing something. The natural rhythm of the world about us is December is so uniquely still.
Sound boring.
The hectic nature of December, especially with kids, is part of its charm.
From Halloween to Christmas has been pretty non-stop for us, and then you get to the Christmas/New Year break and just switch off at last.
And then you stare into the bleak hollow pitiless eyes of January, a villain determined to violently assault you, and behind him is February, wielding a cosh
"Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a documentary about this for Channel 4. Britain’s Benefits Scandal hears from some of those affected – people who are often missing from the debate. We have 3.2 million trapped in a system in which they are given a decent payout – some I spoke to said about £1,300 a month, some significantly more – but who want to get back to work. Yet they risk losing everything if they attempt to do so. Even training for a new trade puts you at risk of being reassessed."
There was a really interested thread on my local reddit recently. Someone asking if others struggled to move up the job ladder.
Lots of comments from people struggling to get off benefits for fear of losing roof over their heads, people who had to give up jobs because of transport costs (or non-existent/unreliable public transport), or people who couldn't take up better jobs for the same. People wanting to work a second job, but finding they would be poorer due to tax/transport, wanting to retrain/re-educate - similar.
Over and over - people wanting to do better, but one way or another being tripped up by processes and systems outwith their control.
It was quite disheartening. Especially knowing that they'll just be bundled into the 'low productivity! what can possibly be done with the feckless!?' pile.
I’ve sat across the table from people who are on 16 hours. Trapped by benefit cliffs. We want them to work more. They would be fine with working more - except they wouldn’t get much more money for doubling their hours.
Laffer Curve in action.
How is that the Laffer Curve? It's nothing to do with tax rates or total tax take.
At its core the Laffer Curve is just how people respond to economic incentives
At its core, the Laffer curve is a statement of the bleeding obvious at the 0 and 100 per cent ends, connected by dogma and wishful thinking at all intermediate rates.
86%, or whatever it is, is so damned close to the 100% rate as to effectively be there, which is why so many people are trapped on benefits with no way to get off it, and why so many people work cash in hand because that way they don't "lose their benefits" and the employer hasn't got to pay NICs etc either.
It is not just that people face losing benefits, which can be equated to a high marginal tax rate. The real problem is that if they then lose the job, they do not automatically requalify for their old benefits. And the real, real problem is that the extra hours that caused the benefits loss are often either temporary or unreliable.
The problem is all of the above and more, but mainly the high marginal tax rate.
The problem is not that hours are unreliable, that's true for some but the polar opposite of true for others. There are many people working in reliable jobs who reliably only do 16 hours because that maximises their income for minimal amount of work.
People are quite capable of acting rationally. We have a system that makes it rational to do 16 hours and not one hour more.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
I wholeheartedly agree but did randomly buy my wife a posh French cosmetics advent calendar one year. She loved it, and I then struggled to explain why I didn’t repeat the gesture the following year.
I had a yarn advent calendar for the Covid Christmas, but by mutual agreement I started it on Christmas Day, and it continued into January. Much better way round to do those. This is why some of them are 12-day affairs, for the twelve days of Christmas.
Yarn as in cotton? Or a different story each day? I don’t think I’ve had an advent calendar of any shape or form for decades. But I used to like the picture ones (which no longer exist apparently).
The whole city is a mess. An ancient historic core with some of the oldest buildings in the Americas. Maybe the oldest. Bolivar was entombed here. For the last 30 years it was off limits due to insane drug gang violence. It still has an air
But some braver backpackers and arty tourists have discovered it and it rocks at night, it even has charming cobbled lanes and fish taco bistros and takeaway sushi, and lesbians. Quite a few lesbians. No idea why
Let us know if you encounter anything resembling noominess.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
Go on Stu - have a go at explaining the physics of what’s going on with the return of the light. It’s interesting. It’s our natural rhythms, like you said, December should be about contemplation and enjoying natural stillness, not orgy of consumerism, excess, and loud partying.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I love taking walks this time of year.
MoonRabbit - I have embraced Christmas a lot more happily since I put some effort into unearthing - and indeed enforcing - Christmas music which was more to my taste. On the theme of quiet and contemplative Decembers, you may enjoy my favourite Christmas album: Ghost Stories for Christmas by Aidan Moffat. In particular, check out "The Recurrence of Dickens." Something of an antidote to Slade. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kobSUU-Ilp9BJBggySXAgE551SJx2YuEQ&si=rkIvQLcoWSxcpe92
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
Go on Stu - have a go at explaining the physics of what’s going on with the return of the light. It’s interesting. It’s our natural rhythms, like you said, December should be about contemplation and enjoying natural stillness, not orgy of consumerism, excess, and loud partying.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I love taking walks this time of year.
F*** that.
December should be about excess, loud partying, music, bright lights and spending time with family and friends.
Not any shite like contemplation, stillness or any of that crap.
Then you are missing something. The natural rhythm of the world about us is December is so uniquely still.
Sound boring.
The hectic nature of December, especially with kids, is part of its charm.
From Halloween to Christmas has been pretty non-stop for us, and then you get to the Christmas/New Year break and just switch off at last.
But I'd just rather do this stuff a bit later. Early January is bleak and could do with a lift. Early December is actually quite nice in a late Autumnal way and doesn't need Christmas trampling all over it.
Not sure I agree.
January is bleak in part because its cold and miserable, but also because after all the fun of December you're now broke and waiting for payday to arrive.
Then by the time you've been paid and are back on track we're in the lead-up to Spring.
No need to delay the winter reckoning of bills into Spring. Get it over with.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
I wholeheartedly agree but did randomly buy my wife a posh French cosmetics advent calendar one year. She loved it, and I then struggled to explain why I didn’t repeat the gesture the following year.
I had a yarn advent calendar for the Covid Christmas, but by mutual agreement I started it on Christmas Day, and it continued into January. Much better way round to do those. This is why some of them are 12-day affairs, for the twelve days of Christmas.
Yarn as in cotton? Or a different story each day? I don’t think I’ve had an advent calendar of any shape or form for decades. But I used to like the picture ones (which no longer exist apparently).
Did you watch Masterchef tonight? One thing you notice is how the chefs hug each other. Maybe Gregg Wallace was right to suggest the complaints were coming from the Celebrity version, where nothing is at stake, rather than the main and Professionals versions where winning can be life-changing.
That said, it would of course be wrong for Gregg to insert himself into this.
I did watch it tonight. Only watched it very occasionally before.
Next time (or on iplayer) pay particular attention to the judging and results sections and see how they are so tactile with each other. It is like footballers' goal celebrations. Again, this is not to say that Gregg Wallace should be involved but if they stopped recording each time, there would be no programme left.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
Go on Stu - have a go at explaining the physics of what’s going on with the return of the light. It’s interesting. It’s our natural rhythms, like you said, December should be about contemplation and enjoying natural stillness, not orgy of consumerism, excess, and loud partying.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I love taking walks this time of year.
F*** that.
December should be about excess, loud partying, music, bright lights and spending time with family and friends.
Not any shite like contemplation, stillness or any of that crap.
Then you are missing something. The natural rhythm of the world about us is December is so uniquely still.
Sound boring.
The hectic nature of December, especially with kids, is part of its charm.
From Halloween to Christmas has been pretty non-stop for us, and then you get to the Christmas/New Year break and just switch off at last.
And then you stare into the bleak hollow pitiless eyes of January, a villain determined to violently assault you, and behind him is February, wielding a cosh
Yeh, but you do know that no-drink January is your own choice?
The whole city is a mess. An ancient historic core with some of the oldest buildings in the Americas. Maybe the oldest. Bolivar was entombed here. For the last 30 years it was off limits due to insane drug gang violence. It still has an air
But some braver backpackers and arty tourists have discovered it and it rocks at night, it even has charming cobbled lanes and fish taco bistros and takeaway sushi, and lesbians. Quite a few lesbians. No idea why
Well we know where to find Gregg Wallace if he goes into hiding.
Did you watch Masterchef tonight? One thing you notice is how the chefs hug each other. Maybe Gregg Wallace was right to suggest the complaints were coming from the Celebrity version, where nothing is at stake, rather than the main and Professionals versions where winning can be life-changing.
That said, it would of course be wrong for Gregg to insert himself into this.
I did watch it tonight. Only watched it very occasionally before.
Next time (or on iplayer) pay particular attention to the judging and results sections and see how they are so tactile with each other. It is like footballers' goal celebrations. Again, this is not to say that Gregg Wallace should be involved but if they stopped recording each time, there would be no programme left.
Isn't that a slightly different issue, whether the chefs hug each other?
I was out in Manchester on Saturday night. That was insanely alive. Anecdotally, the hospitality industry is on its knees. Interest rates are too high. Emoloyers' NICs are the death knell. And yet, aside from NYE or a night out in Newcastle upon Tyne, I've honestly never seen a city to hell bent on enjoying itself.
The whole city is a mess. An ancient historic core with some of the oldest buildings in the Americas. Maybe the oldest. Bolivar was entombed here. For the last 30 years it was off limits due to insane drug gang violence. It still has an air
But some braver backpackers and arty tourists have discovered it and it rocks at night, it even has charming cobbled lanes and fish taco bistros and takeaway sushi, and lesbians. Quite a few lesbians. No idea why
Let us know if you encounter anything resembling noominess.
The whole city is a mess. An ancient historic core with some of the oldest buildings in the Americas. Maybe the oldest. Bolivar was entombed here. For the last 30 years it was off limits due to insane drug gang violence. It still has an air
But some braver backpackers and arty tourists have discovered it and it rocks at night, it even has charming cobbled lanes and fish taco bistros and takeaway sushi, and lesbians. Quite a few lesbians. No idea why
Let us know if you encounter anything resembling noominess.
I just did! Not a huge dollop but a definite shred. There’s been a major tropical storm and all the ancient crumbling Spanish colonial streets are glistening wet in the moist jeweled lamplight, and the knackered old cathedral is packed for mass - I think - and there are extremely pretty young Colombian policewomen looking bored as they stare at the homeless men by the house where Simon Bolivar died, and three doors down I’m drinking a brilliant mojito, next to some lesbians (of course). I discern Noom
Did you watch Masterchef tonight? One thing you notice is how the chefs hug each other. Maybe Gregg Wallace was right to suggest the complaints were coming from the Celebrity version, where nothing is at stake, rather than the main and Professionals versions where winning can be life-changing.
That said, it would of course be wrong for Gregg to insert himself into this.
I did watch it tonight. Only watched it very occasionally before.
Next time (or on iplayer) pay particular attention to the judging and results sections and see how they are so tactile with each other. It is like footballers' goal celebrations. Again, this is not to say that Gregg Wallace should be involved but if they stopped recording each time, there would be no programme left.
Isn't that a slightly different issue, whether the chefs hug each other?
Yes, and I've said GW should not insert himself, but it does show the background is rather more robust than maiden aunts bicycling to church being outraged by off-colour jokes. In fact, tonight one of the judges spoke about wanting to hug one of the chefs, but that was Monica not Gregg.
The whole city is a mess. An ancient historic core with some of the oldest buildings in the Americas. Maybe the oldest. Bolivar was entombed here. For the last 30 years it was off limits due to insane drug gang violence. It still has an air
But some braver backpackers and arty tourists have discovered it and it rocks at night, it even has charming cobbled lanes and fish taco bistros and takeaway sushi, and lesbians. Quite a few lesbians. No idea why
Let us know if you encounter anything resembling noominess.
I seem to have fallen into a total mid-winter blue funk today.
And it's only 2nd December.
Chin up. Or fly south
On a positive note, in only 10 days time the sun will start setting a bit later each day.
I think that’s wrong. I did a Sunday school on advent yesterday, and I explained what people tend to get wrong about solsticeses is it stands still for a while, not flip a switch and go the other way.
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
We did "hope". It's dark, but going to get better. If anyone at Number Ten wants to borrow the resources, let me know.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
I'd happily move Christmas 20 days later. To the point when it genuinely does start to feel lighter. Because for me, dark mornings are a much bigger downer than dark evenings. Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell". I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate. And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
You're turning into a Scrooge in your old age.
There's a joy of anticipation in chocolate advent calendars, yes you know you're getting a chocolate, but you don't know what one. In some it'll be shapes, eg maybe a bell as you mentioned or something else and it'll be different on different days. Oh and in most calendars you still get a picture or something else behind the door.
Never had a calendar where every day is the same.
As for gift advent calendars for adults - they're fun. Why is it too much? I've had a cheese one previously my wife got me in a previous year, I loved it. I got her a gin one in a previous year, she loved it. Again, didn't know what we'd get each day.
It's too much because you're ramping up something which is already exviting*, at a time of year which is already pleasant, and at a time when you are struggling to think of and indeed afford just the right presents for your loved ones. Even if you won't accept my argument about the natural serene beauty of early December, December is already fun. There's something on each day. Think how much more you'd enjoy a cheese/gin a day through the bleak and uneventful month of January.
* Caitlin Moran once made the complaint about people who try to layer unnecessary extra layers of excitement in top of things which are already exciting - like, though obviously I have no knowledge of this, men who say things like "Yes I'm really GIVING it to you" whike they have sex. A more prosaic example I fiavour is a carrot cake with a little icing carrot on the top. It's already a carrot cake , it's already exciting. The confectionery carrot doesn't make it any more either of these things.
New top civil servant Chris Wormald is ‘safe pair of hands’ but ‘devoid of charisma’
It was time, Keir Starmer said, for a “complete re-wiring of the British state”. But in the very same announcement he unveiled Chris Wormald, the epitome of a safe, low-key career government official, as his new chief civil servant. Hardly the man for a hard reset. So which one is it?
The official added: “I sat in hours of meetings with him and he was fundamentally an observer, and very rarely committed thoughts of any substance. His appointment personifies the failing upwards culture that makes so many of us want to leave the civil service.”
New top civil servant Chris Wormald is ‘safe pair of hands’ but ‘devoid of charisma’
It was time, Keir Starmer said, for a “complete re-wiring of the British state”. But in the very same announcement he unveiled Chris Wormald, the epitome of a safe, low-key career government official, as his new chief civil servant. Hardly the man for a hard reset. So which one is it?
The official added: “I sat in hours of meetings with him and he was fundamentally an observer, and very rarely committed thoughts of any substance. His appointment personifies the failing upwards culture that makes so many of us want to leave the civil service.”
You can understand why Starmer has picked him.
Never heard of him until today, but seems he was in charge at DoH when covid hit and there are, shall we say, some questions...
Comments
Westminster Voting Intention [London]:
LAB: 36% (-7)
CON: 24% (+3)
RFM: 13% (+4)
LDM: 12% (+1)
GRN: 12% (+2)
Via @YouGov, 30 Oct - 11 Nov.
Changes w/ GE2024."
https://x.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1863702953695035598
Then you'll experience full on Ash Vegas.
Looking at the police reports, they are going with "e-bike" language and "pillion passenger killed", so our crap media have gone with even crappier reporting.
The initial BBC headline, until they got nobbled by the complaints within the hour, was the entirely misleading:
""Police hunt mum's killer after e-bike hit-and-run""
Now, when I want to update a couple of local Facebook groups about it - the killing was on a key route to offroad rail trail paths - the Police Officer investigating cannot even tell me whether it was an E-Brompton, a tandem, a Sur-Ron, or a full moped or motorcycle, all of which are "e-bike" to the bog standard reporter, and all of which are massively different. A policy of no more information, which has its uses for authentication, but not like this.
Gah.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyvd1zvzv6o
My view is that this looks like competition amongst drug supply groups, judging by various details.
I think Volvo bought them out and made their 3 and 400 series there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB9-NU7iRkw
The original advent was counting down to the solstice. When Christmas was moved into Yule, the 25th was chosen as that’s the first day of the return of the light. Advent calendars only about several hundred years old.
I explained counting down to the return of the light and counting down to the Birth of Jesus the King is one and the same thing, indistinguishable.
But the question I posed, do we really need chocolate behind the windows to get our interest?
And if you were packing the donkey for the journey, what things would you pack? you would be surprised the answers I got. Clothes, phones, YouTube. The obvious answer I thought was toothbrush!
Was hard for me to find the list of people Kash Patel included in his book “Government Gangsters” as Deep State officials who need to be targeted so here it is in one place.
https://x.com/Timodc/status/1863620081873244259
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-14141177/ANDREW-NEIL-Starmer-government-hapless-student-politicians.html
If you reduce living costs, you can reduce the base sum required to support those out of work. Then a lower taper rate doesn't reach so far up the income scale.
But there's some weird physics that offsets earliest sunset (quite soon), shortest day (just before Christmas), and latest sunrise (early January). I mean, it works, and I know it works, but no I can't explain why it's so. Swirly whirly stuff. There's about twenty minutes still to come off the mornings before we properly start to lumber back towards spring.
Society really should go back to December being quiet contemplation and January party time. That's when we need it.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-79546-1?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_content=null&utm_campaign=CONR_JRNLS_AWA1_GL_PCOM_SMEDA_NATUREPORTFOLIO
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1720897
It wouldn't be an RO80, which my dad had in his large-car period. That would swallow potholes like a Citroen.
If it was the wankel Spider, I hope you still have it - they are worth £30k+ now.
No .. er .. in-you-end-OH !
This may in part explain why the highest marginal tax rates are for those on universal credit and not higher up the income scale.
This is, of course, contrary to the progressive ideal. It would suggest that to fix it you need to increase taxes on wealth and/or cut spending.
Newsham will open "in the New Year", and Bedlington, Blyth Bebside, and Northumberland Park "some time next year".
And with the ridiculous way Student Loans have been treated, they're paying that tax too now potentially.
£25k is all you need to be earning to pay a 9% higher rate of tax on that, which is paid on top of the 55% and everything else.
If anyone can explain “swirly whirly” physics, we are looking to you.
I love taking walks this time of year.
Also, I love Nov and early Dec on their own merits. They don't need brightening up, for me.
On Advent Calendars: There was a Brian Bikston I saw yesterday to the effect of "kids these days will never know the excitement and joy of opening an advent calendar and discovering a picture of a bell".
I have a been in my bonnet about this. I like chocolate - but have never found a chocolate advent calendar an objectively more enjoyable experience than an old fashioned picture one. The joy is the anticipation. There's none of that with a chocolate advent calendar. You know what you're going to get. And it's about gleefully ticking off the days, not having chocolate.
And don't get me started on gift advent calendars; still worse gift advent calendars for adults. I am neither ascetic nor religious nor anticapitalistic, but even I think this is far, far, far too much.
Caps on political donations are being considered by ministers as part of sweeping reforms to the UK electoral system.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/dec/02/government-may-cap-uk-political-donations-to-limit-foreign-influence?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Insanely ALIVE. Sketchy but ALIVE
Them: "Where do your grandparents live?"
Me: "Forres"
Them: "No, I mean, what town?"
"Forres"
"Do you mean they live in a forest?"
"No, I mean they live in Forres".
"I think you mean they live in a forest".
"No, they live in a town called Forres".
:: patronising look ::
"So, this forest, where is it?"
.. continues until I become disillusioned with Christianity.
December should be about excess, loud partying, music, bright lights and spending time with family and friends.
Not any shite like contemplation, stillness or any of that crap.
In particular, check out "The Recurrence of Dickens." Something of an antidote to Slade.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kobSUU-Ilp9BJBggySXAgE551SJx2YuEQ&si=rkIvQLcoWSxcpe92
If people can find any way of “cashing in” - illustrative term Anabob, not literal - on the fact Christmas is coming, they will. Beneath it all now, any space for contemplation or spirituality is well and truly buried these days.
Funnily enough, no limits on contributions from Labour's trade union paymasters though.
I smell yet another rat from this most deceitful and slippery of governments.
IT 20%
EE NI 8%
ER NI 13.8%
Loan 9%
Tax Credits 55%
On the payslip the employee sees £100 of income and receives £8 net pay. But the employer also pays £13.80 in Employer NICs (though that doesn't change the marginal tax rate much)
That said, it would of course be wrong for Gregg to insert himself into this.
Can also add on 8% of combined pension contributions too as a cost taken that doesn't reach the pay check, and again both employer and employee hit for that though at least that one is not just a tax straight to HMRC unlike all the others.
Unless maybe they get ID cards back on the serious agenda.
The hectic nature of December, especially with kids, is part of its charm.
From Halloween to Christmas has been pretty non-stop for us, and then you get to the Christmas/New Year break and just switch off at last.
Previously I've gone for a cheese advent calendar which was fun.
Had a look at getting a rum advent calendar but they worked out at about £100 which just seemed ridiculous to me.
My wife for years heavily hinted tbat she'd like a Yankee Candle advent calendar. Sadly being male I am impervious to hints. I assumed she was joking, because obviously advent calendara are for kiids or the easily led. By the year I realised she'd been sincere I'd put in so many years of not getting her one that she'd accepted it and I realised that thoufg I'd been inadvertently denying her what she wanted, if I now gave it to her I'd have to do so every year. Christmas presents are hard enough without also having to source advent presents.
And of course no honours for 10 years if you donate.
There's a joy of anticipation in chocolate advent calendars, yes you know you're getting a chocolate, but you don't know what one. In some it'll be shapes, eg maybe a bell as you mentioned or something else and it'll be different on different days. Oh and in most calendars you still get a picture or something else behind the door.
Never had a calendar where every day is the same.
As for gift advent calendars for adults - they're fun. Why is it too much? I've had a cheese one previously my wife got me in a previous year, I loved it. I got her a gin one in a previous year, she loved it. Again, didn't know what we'd get each day.
But some braver backpackers and arty tourists have discovered it and it rocks at night, it even has charming cobbled lanes and fish taco bistros and takeaway sushi, and lesbians. Quite a few lesbians. No idea why
The problem is not that hours are unreliable, that's true for some but the polar opposite of true for others. There are many people working in reliable jobs who reliably only do 16 hours because that maximises their income for minimal amount of work.
People are quite capable of acting rationally. We have a system that makes it rational to do 16 hours and not one hour more.
https://yarnpkg.com/
It reminded me of Beck. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW6vfiY9Lz8
January is bleak in part because its cold and miserable, but also because after all the fun of December you're now broke and waiting for payday to arrive.
Then by the time you've been paid and are back on track we're in the lead-up to Spring.
No need to delay the winter reckoning of bills into Spring. Get it over with.
Who are they?
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/dec/02/elon-musk-tesla-pay-package
December is already fun. There's something on each day. Think how much more you'd enjoy a cheese/gin a day through the bleak and uneventful month of January.
* Caitlin Moran once made the complaint about people who try to layer unnecessary extra layers of excitement in top of things which are already exciting - like, though obviously I have no knowledge of this, men who say things like "Yes I'm really GIVING it to you" whike they have sex. A more prosaic example I fiavour is a carrot cake with a little icing carrot on the top. It's already a carrot cake , it's already exciting. The confectionery carrot doesn't make it any more either of these things.
It was time, Keir Starmer said, for a “complete re-wiring of the British state”. But in the very same announcement he unveiled Chris Wormald, the epitome of a safe, low-key career government official, as his new chief civil servant. Hardly the man for a hard reset. So which one is it?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/dec/02/new-top-civil-servant-chris-wormald-is-safe-pair-of-hands-but-devoid-of-charisma
Some mixed reviews to say the least....
The official added: “I sat in hours of meetings with him and he was fundamentally an observer, and very rarely committed thoughts of any substance. His appointment personifies the failing upwards culture that makes so many of us want to leave the civil service.”
You can understand why Starmer has picked him.