European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
All those who dabble in the UK stock market have never had it so good. Today it's at at least a ten year high........
Everything is going gangbusters
More relevant is the surprise fall in December retail sales
Indeed and for some far worse than others. We know Next did well and M&S seem to have done as well. For a sharp fall like that there must be some real losers out there,
Asda seems to be the biggest loser and not just among the big supermarkets, they seem to have lost across all categories in food and non-food.
How the hell can Asda pay up if they lose the equal pay claim going through then ? The decision is due soon, supposedly this month. The same goes with the Morrisons claim. They are in trouble too.
Both are not profitable and are looking at job cuts.
There is another pay discrimination claim against Asda the union is pursuing. This time Ambient shopping trolleys.
Los Angeles authorities preventing removal of fire debris without approval from some inspections agency.
Debris from burnt down houses can be full of eg asbestos, and by then it will be in a far more dangerous form.
The EPA only managed to finally ban the last form of asbestos in use in building 2024, having had rules to ban most forms overturned by the courts in to 1989.
I think the EPA is one of the Federal Bodies undermined by the (checks) Supreme Court removing the Chevron vs NRDC precedent. And Mr Chump plans to gut it further.
Usonia really do seem to want to compete for the shortest life expectancy.
I am not sure or not whether the Twin Towers had asbestos but plenty of people suffered ill effects and death as a result of the debris when they came down.
They were built late 1960s iirc, so would be full of it.
The latency period for asbestosis is 10 -> 50 years (lost my dad in 2009 from exposure around 1970), so cases from 9/11 are likely to peak in the 2030s and 2040s.
One of my wife's university colleagues died of mesothelioma a few years back from exposure 20-30 years prior (maintenance workers drilling into affected walls and ceiling, I think). The material was still there when she left.
Current mortality studies are inconclusive for 911 responders, but you're almost certainly right. There was a lot of asbestos (before the proof of its hazardous nature, a "wonder" material for building) in the Trade Center.
Watching builders at work, the next big scandals will be painting and insulation.
Insulation - the use of fibre products without PPE. *any* microscopic fibres in the lungs are bad.
Painting - to get a good finish, you fill, sand, paint, sand… Power tools are great but produce huge quantities of very fine particulates. A lot of people using no PPE.
The building firm I’m associated with insists on masks, eye protection. For some stuff, wearing disposable protective suits.
That way we don’t have young men coughing like they are smoking 40 a day.
I have a friend whose brother, 30s, died over Covid from inhaling fibres from cargo loaded at a nearby port, came up as a shadow on his lungs in TB screening for a job. He was living abroad and by the time it was diagnosed as fibre-related cancer he needed a lung transplant. Very sad, not sure why he was so affected, perhaps some people are more susceptible.
All those who dabble in the UK stock market have never had it so good. Today it's at at least a ten year high........
Everything is going gangbusters
More relevant is the surprise fall in December retail sales
Indeed and for some far worse than others. We know Next did well and M&S seem to have done as well. For a sharp fall like that there must be some real losers out there,
Asda seems to be the biggest loser and not just among the big supermarkets, they seem to have lost across all categories in food and non-food.
I know a few people who work for them or worked for them, the new owners are woeful.
It seems cost cutting to pay interest and dividends is where the money goes these days rather than on stores or product development/review.
The stores look awful compared to the Walmart days, same goes for Morrisons, it is similarly unpleasant. You can't blame the shareholders for pulling out all they can before the whole shebang goes through the hoop. It all went a bit like the Coop when they were on the cusp of extinction a few years ago.
I hate Tesco with avengeance however their stores and likewise Sainsburys and Waitrose are clean, there are staff about and product facings are well stocked.
I am surprised Asda and Morrisons survived 2024 and to an extent improved sales.
Los Angeles authorities preventing removal of fire debris without approval from some inspections agency.
Debris from burnt down houses can be full of eg asbestos, and by then it will be in a far more dangerous form.
The EPA only managed to finally ban the last form of asbestos in use in building 2024, having had rules to ban most forms overturned by the courts in to 1989.
I think the EPA is one of the Federal Bodies undermined by the (checks) Supreme Court removing the Chevron vs NRDC precedent. And Mr Chump plans to gut it further.
Usonia really do seem to want to compete for the shortest life expectancy.
I am not sure or not whether the Twin Towers had asbestos but plenty of people suffered ill effects and death as a result of the debris when they came down.
They were built late 1960s iirc, so would be full of it.
The latency period for asbestosis is 10 -> 50 years (lost my dad in 2009 from exposure around 1970), so cases from 9/11 are likely to peak in the 2030s and 2040s.
One of my wife's university colleagues died of mesothelioma a few years back from exposure 20-30 years prior (maintenance workers drilling into affected walls and ceiling, I think). The material was still there when she left.
Current mortality studies are inconclusive for 911 responders, but you're almost certainly right. There was a lot of asbestos (before the proof of its hazardous nature, a "wonder" material for building) in the Trade Center.
Watching builders at work, the next big scandals will be painting and insulation.
Insulation - the use of fibre products without PPE. *any* microscopic fibres in the lungs are bad.
Painting - to get a good finish, you fill, sand, paint, sand… Power tools are great but produce huge quantities of very fine particulates. A lot of people using no PPE.
The building firm I’m associated with insists on masks, eye protection. For some stuff, wearing disposable protective suits.
That way we don’t have young men coughing like they are smoking 40 a day.
There's a current scandal involving cutting of IIRC quartz countertops.
As mentioned the other day, much of the West is at the sort of tipping point we saw in 1945 and in 1979.
There needs to be radical change, and the people are going to vote for those offering it.
Starmer is fiddling while Rome burns, rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, or whatever is your preferred metaphor for making only minor changes when major changes are required.
Yes but what are these “major changes” of which you speak? I imagine it’s the tired old mantra of spending cuts which affect the poorest the hardest as public services are reduced or withdrawn and tax cuts which will inevitably only make the richest richer still and accelerate wealth inequality.
It’s not either 1945 or 1979 and the “solutions” then won’t be the solutions now.
In truth nobody has come up with an effective economic model to promote growth since the collapse of the last Ponzi scheme in 2008.
Oh indeed so.
At least the Americans are about to try and do something, even if you disagree with it and dislike the characters involved. It may or may not work, but at least they’re trying.
Meanwhile, European governments are either going nowhere or electing fringe politicians.
It’s going to be a turbulent few years ahead for us all.
Biden did do something. Though it’s arguable how much the tech boom was already baked in, the CHIPS Act etc.
This has undoubtedly been a success for America. It was driven by strategic reasons because they were concerned that if China took Taiwan they would lose access to their chips and be at an impossible economic disadvantage but it is also indicative that we need to look at certain key shibboleths of our macro-economic/political assumptions.
So, for example, governments can't pick winners. Well, actually, they can to the extent that they can facilitate certain sectors and create opportunities that business can exploit. Sure, this won't always work but the US policy of seeking the return of manufacturing to the US in replacement for offshoring has worked and created well paying jobs there.
Free trade is an unqualified good. No, its not. We have seen entire sectors of our economy wiped out by international competition leaving us open to exploitation by what become monopoly suppliers. The idea of comparative advantage really doesn't work when that advantage is made up of people working in something approaching slave conditions with a total disregard of safety and environmental standards. It also doesn't work when that advantage works across an entire swathe of production leaving us with nothing that can allow us to earn a living. We need to protect our manufactures from what amounts to unfair competition.
Personally, I am increasingly of the view that we need a more mercantilist system. We need to encourage, for example, battery production, Chip production and EV production here. And if that means giving up on the sort of nonsense that the EU was built on by allowing that production to be supported by the state (even if we seemed to be the only country that really applied those rules) so be it.
Reeves says she is focused on growth. But she runs policies that positively inhibits growth. She is not stupid. Why does she do this? Because our orthodoxy no longer fits our current economic circumstances. We need new thinking. Thinking that doesn't just talk about growth but takes positive steps to facilitate it.
My theory is that it all started going wrong when the media stopped reporting the monthly trade balance.
And when and why they did that I'd love to know.
Possibly the theory was that free-floating exchange rates meant trade balances did not matter any more, as currencies would adjust themselves.
On topic, it'd be interesting to compare these figures to Osborne's in about Dec 2010.
One of Labour's problems - the one that's driving the above figures - is that whereas Cameron and Osborne prepared the ground for austerity, and nailed the blame on Gordon Brown, Labour hasn't done the same in reverse. Sure, they blamed Liz Truss but Truss was two years before they took over and Sunak and Hunt got some credit for appearing to stabilized things.
So for Labour to now introduce austerity measures has come as a surprise and doesn't fit with their pre-election media and public narrative.
Plus, those measures are having an impact themselves, particularly the tax rises, which do seem to have prompted a reaction from business that's slowed growth, which in turn affects people's perceptions of Labour's management.
In reality, it's not all tax and spend. Labour could increase growth by removing structural barriers to it but the measures that would best work are ones they're instinctively against (less regulation and process), or are too timid to do (eg reducing trade barriers with the EU).
Cameron and Osborne also had the benefit of, in addition to inheriting a big deficit, inheriting public services that were generally in pretty good shape. They could cut/freeze spending without things being seen to immediately break. Labour don't have that luxury - inherited tight financials and public services that are clearly falling apart and need investment.
I still think they should be doing better, but it is a politically very difficult situation they've come into.
That's true. However that's also why they should have joined the dots more effectively.
I think the public would have understood 'the public estate is falling apart and is going to need more money; some tax rises are therefore necessary, justified and moral'. It wouldn't have been overly popular but I don't think that many people would have defected their support when the case was so obviously right.
See, it is possible (and far more effective) to engage in fair minded and reasonable criticism of the government. PB Tories take note!
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The entire world was onboard with subsidising the development of renewable technology, and has been doing so in a half hearted manner for quite a long time. That China decided to use the opportunity to dominate these new markets, by subsidising massively, ought to have been clear a long time back.
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner. I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago. Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
“Fiona and Dan don't think any future CQC investigation into Leeds could be independent with the trust's former chief executive in charge of the regulator.
Sir Julian Hartley led the trust for 10 years, until January 2023, and was in post when Aliona died. He took over the CQC in December 2024.”
Definitely not a #NU10K revolving door there, not at all.
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The entire world was onboard with subsidising the development of renewable technology, and has been doing so in a half hearted manner for quite a long time. That China decided to use the opportunity to dominate these new markets, by subsidising massively, ought to have been clear a long time back.
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner. I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago. Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
In the early 2010's I worked for a company that made Solar Thermal as opposed to Solar PV. The take up was pretty good, especially in Germany where the main target was hotels and HMO's where they needed hot water to wash towels and linen.
They were made in a nice part of Germany called Rastede. Used to like my visits there.
The market was going great guns and then the German state just cut the subsidy and sales dried up.
Los Angeles authorities preventing removal of fire debris without approval from some inspections agency.
Debris from burnt down houses can be full of eg asbestos, and by then it will be in a far more dangerous form.
The EPA only managed to finally ban the last form of asbestos in use in building 2024, having had rules to ban most forms overturned by the courts in to 1989.
I think the EPA is one of the Federal Bodies undermined by the (checks) Supreme Court removing the Chevron vs NRDC precedent. And Mr Chump plans to gut it further.
Usonia really do seem to want to compete for the shortest life expectancy.
I am not sure or not whether the Twin Towers had asbestos but plenty of people suffered ill effects and death as a result of the debris when they came down.
They were built late 1960s iirc, so would be full of it.
The latency period for asbestosis is 10 -> 50 years (lost my dad in 2009 from exposure around 1970), so cases from 9/11 are likely to peak in the 2030s and 2040s.
One of my wife's university colleagues died of mesothelioma a few years back from exposure 20-30 years prior (maintenance workers drilling into affected walls and ceiling, I think). The material was still there when she left.
Current mortality studies are inconclusive for 911 responders, but you're almost certainly right. There was a lot of asbestos (before the proof of its hazardous nature, a "wonder" material for building) in the Trade Center.
Watching builders at work, the next big scandals will be painting and insulation.
Insulation - the use of fibre products without PPE. *any* microscopic fibres in the lungs are bad.
Painting - to get a good finish, you fill, sand, paint, sand… Power tools are great but produce huge quantities of very fine particulates. A lot of people using no PPE.
The building firm I’m associated with insists on masks, eye protection. For some stuff, wearing disposable protective suits.
That way we don’t have young men coughing like they are smoking 40 a day.
There's a current scandal involving cutting of IIRC quartz countertops.
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The entire world was onboard with subsidising the development of renewable technology, and has been doing so in a half hearted manner for quite a long time. That China decided to use the opportunity to dominate these new markets, by subsidising massively, ought to have been clear a long time back.
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner. I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago. Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
One car market phenomenon the established makers missed is that EVs destroy brand advantage. The electric-ness provides its own prestige so there is no need to pay double the price for a (European) luxury car. It is not an original observation but I have seen it among my friends, for instance a Jaguar replaced by a Chinese MG EV and a Porsche by a Hyundai and a Mercedes by a Tesla.
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The entire world was onboard with subsidising the development of renewable technology, and has been doing so in a half hearted manner for quite a long time. That China decided to use the opportunity to dominate these new markets, by subsidising massively, ought to have been clear a long time back.
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner. I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago. Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
One car market phenomenon the established makers missed is that EVs destroy brand advantage. The electric-ness provides its own prestige so there is no need to pay double the price for a (European) luxury car. It is not an original observation but I have seen it among my friends, for instance a Jaguar replaced by a Chinese MG EV and a Porsche by a Hyundai and a Mercedes by a Tesla.
Jaguar is fighting back but have they left it too late ?
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The entire world was onboard with subsidising the development of renewable technology, and has been doing so in a half hearted manner for quite a long time. That China decided to use the opportunity to dominate these new markets, by subsidising massively, ought to have been clear a long time back.
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner. I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago. Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
One car market phenomenon the established makers missed is that EVs destroy brand advantage. The electric-ness provides its own prestige so there is no need to pay double the price for a (European) luxury car. It is not an original observation but I have seen it among my friends, for instance a Jaguar replaced by a Chinese MG EV and a Porsche by a Hyundai and a Mercedes by a Tesla.
Interesting observation, although it sounds like a subtle trading down to me. The UK slowly becoming a middle income country.
As mentioned the other day, much of the West is at the sort of tipping point we saw in 1945 and in 1979.
There needs to be radical change, and the people are going to vote for those offering it.
Starmer is fiddling while Rome burns, rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, or whatever is your preferred metaphor for making only minor changes when major changes are required.
Yes but what are these “major changes” of which you speak? I imagine it’s the tired old mantra of spending cuts which affect the poorest the hardest as public services are reduced or withdrawn and tax cuts which will inevitably only make the richest richer still and accelerate wealth inequality.
It’s not either 1945 or 1979 and the “solutions” then won’t be the solutions now.
In truth nobody has come up with an effective economic model to promote growth since the collapse of the last Ponzi scheme in 2008.
Oh indeed so.
At least the Americans are about to try and do something, even if you disagree with it and dislike the characters involved. It may or may not work, but at least they’re trying.
Meanwhile, European governments are either going nowhere or electing fringe politicians.
It’s going to be a turbulent few years ahead for us all.
Biden did do something. Though it’s arguable how much the tech boom was already baked in, the CHIPS Act etc.
CHIPS Act was the one thing that even Biden’s biggest opponents supported. It really had to be done, to avoid utter dependence on China and Taiwan.
It is a shame the democrats did not really seem to get enough credit for that in the November election.
Picking a hopeless candidate probably didn't help.
It will be a good legacy for Biden.
There’s a lot of books to be written about the state of the Democratic Party in the last 18 months.
They had plenty of opportunities to have Biden stand aside and choose someone who could beat Trump, and failed to take all of them until it was far too late, so they ended up with little choice but to impose the most unsuitable candidate on the party with no competitive primaries.
There’s loads of competent Dem Governors and Senators who could have stood up and done the job.
If you want to feel “phew, dodged a bullet” (literally, perhaps) I suggest watching Biden’s farewell TV speech
It is desperately sad, he is barely coherent, he garbles entire sentences, loses track, stammers and mis-speaks, and - remember - this is a speech that was carefully written for him, which he had surely rehearsed a thousand times, and he had a teleprompter, it wasn’t a hostile interview or a debate
He isn’t up to the job of cleaning his own shoes, let alone running the global superpower as it battles with China
It is terrifying to think he might have become POTUS for another term, and even more terrifying that the Democrats were happy to lie about his very obvious mental issues, for years - as indeed were people on this site (but they can be forgiven, PBers are not seeking to run the USA)
The Democrats, frankly, deserved to lose for this reason alone. Such mendacity, on such a grave issue, needs to be electorally punished
I disagree. There is a veneer of economic output in places, and not even that in large parts of the country. Hospitality appears to have had a poor Christmas, retail likewise. People are struggling for money and that means they can't spend it in sufficient quantities to keep the economy turning.
Seriously, there's an awful lot of towns and some cities which are visibly broken in places, with a lack of money and ideas to turn it around. When your community is visibly tatty and its getting worse not better, its no wonder people feel gloomy.
Ive referred to it as low grade crappiness. Far too many basic things dont work or work badly, with a general expectation that the government cannot afford to fix things even as they take more from us and talk in grandiose terms that can come to look delusional.
We're rich in global terms, but we're waking up to the fact were poorer than we thought, but not enough to have a plan to turn it atound.
The part that bemuses me most is the idiotic thinking that cuts save money. That we can simply spend less and cut teacher numbers, or cut the social provision for services in poor areas, or cut the number of police officers.
Cut the service and the need doesn't magically disappear. In each of these examples we're then spending MORE mopping up the mess than we have saved. Its utterly stupid, this post-Thatcherite "we can't afford it" mentality where its "who pays" instead of "who benefits". We can't afford not to have enough teachers. We have to pay more for temp staff. You can't cut youth provision in poor areas without paying more to fix the inevitable damage they cause. A complete lack of available police in NE towns so that there's no police at all and petty crime goes off the scale? Madness.
The reason why Reform are connecting with punters is that they are calling out the madness and offering obvious solutions. Such as crack down on crime. I think the right have a view of the left being soft on crime. Go ask WWC people in run down areas what they would like done to thieves and vandals - they don't want soft...
Which is why Reform are inevitably going to win in 2028
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The entire world was onboard with subsidising the development of renewable technology, and has been doing so in a half hearted manner for quite a long time. That China decided to use the opportunity to dominate these new markets, by subsidising massively, ought to have been clear a long time back.
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner. I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago. Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
One car market phenomenon the established makers missed is that EVs destroy brand advantage. The electric-ness provides its own prestige so there is no need to pay double the price for a (European) luxury car. It is not an original observation but I have seen it among my friends, for instance a Jaguar replaced by a Chinese MG EV and a Porsche by a Hyundai and a Mercedes by a Tesla.
Interesting observation, although it sounds like a subtle trading down to me. The UK slowly becoming a middle income country.
This EV for luxury substitution is not confined to Britain. Look at the early adopters of Teslas among the Hollywood glitterati.
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The entire world was onboard with subsidising the development of renewable technology, and has been doing so in a half hearted manner for quite a long time. That China decided to use the opportunity to dominate these new markets, by subsidising massively, ought to have been clear a long time back.
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner. I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago. Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
One car market phenomenon the established makers missed is that EVs destroy brand advantage. The electric-ness provides its own prestige so there is no need to pay double the price for a (European) luxury car. It is not an original observation but I have seen it among my friends, for instance a Jaguar replaced by a Chinese MG EV and a Porsche by a Hyundai and a Mercedes by a Tesla.
Interesting observation, although it sounds like a subtle trading down to me. The UK slowly becoming a middle income country.
Depends if electrification leads to more buying of new cars rather than second hand. I've never bought a new car, but might buy an electric one new. That'd be trading up.
Having said that, the average age of a car on UK roads is at record highs - cars are just more reliable / less rusty than before - though there are economic factors too, of course.
I disagree. There is a veneer of economic output in places, and not even that in large parts of the country. Hospitality appears to have had a poor Christmas, retail likewise. People are struggling for money and that means they can't spend it in sufficient quantities to keep the economy turning.
Seriously, there's an awful lot of towns and some cities which are visibly broken in places, with a lack of money and ideas to turn it around. When your community is visibly tatty and its getting worse not better, its no wonder people feel gloomy.
Ive referred to it as low grade crappiness. Far too many basic things dont work or work badly, with a general expectation that the government cannot afford to fix things even as they take more from us and talk in grandiose terms that can come to look delusional.
We're rich in global terms, but we're waking up to the fact were poorer than we thought, but not enough to have a plan to turn it atound.
The part that bemuses me most is the idiotic thinking that cuts save money. That we can simply spend less and cut teacher numbers, or cut the social provision for services in poor areas, or cut the number of police officers.
Cut the service and the need doesn't magically disappear. In each of these examples we're then spending MORE mopping up the mess than we have saved. Its utterly stupid, this post-Thatcherite "we can't afford it" mentality where its "who pays" instead of "who benefits". We can't afford not to have enough teachers. We have to pay more for temp staff. You can't cut youth provision in poor areas without paying more to fix the inevitable damage they cause. A complete lack of available police in NE towns so that there's no police at all and petty crime goes off the scale? Madness.
The reason why Reform are connecting with punters is that they are calling out the madness and offering obvious solutions. Such as crack down on crime. I think the right have a view of the left being soft on crime. Go ask WWC people in run down areas what they would like done to thieves and vandals - they don't want soft...
Which is why Reform are inevitably going to win in 2028
Yes, someone bought the brand name (or maybe didn’t even buy the brand name, just the Twitter account name), and trolled a load of people who should really have known better.
I’ve got the balls to take an axe to Britain’s benefits bill – we’ll be RUTHLESS with cuts if needed, vows Keir Starmer
Starmer is really going to come unstuck with stuff like this.
His party didn’t come into government to talk tough on wielding the axe. And rightly and wrongly the voting public did not expect him to do so either.
It will also be seen as another attack on vulnerable people.
This isnt the Blair years when those on the left tolerated the more populist “tough” language from some in government on the basis that Blair polled well, the economy was performing and they were able to see investment in public services. This is a government without much of a plan, struggling with popularity and whose credentials and direction are being questioned on a daily basis.
Los Angeles authorities preventing removal of fire debris without approval from some inspections agency.
Debris from burnt down houses can be full of eg asbestos, and by then it will be in a far more dangerous form.
The EPA only managed to finally ban the last form of asbestos in use in building 2024, having had rules to ban most forms overturned by the courts in to 1989.
I think the EPA is one of the Federal Bodies undermined by the (checks) Supreme Court removing the Chevron vs NRDC precedent. And Mr Chump plans to gut it further.
Usonia really do seem to want to compete for the shortest life expectancy.
I am not sure or not whether the Twin Towers had asbestos but plenty of people suffered ill effects and death as a result of the debris when they came down.
They were built late 1960s iirc, so would be full of it.
The latency period for asbestosis is 10 -> 50 years (lost my dad in 2009 from exposure around 1970), so cases from 9/11 are likely to peak in the 2030s and 2040s.
One of my wife's university colleagues died of mesothelioma a few years back from exposure 20-30 years prior (maintenance workers drilling into affected walls and ceiling, I think). The material was still there when she left.
Current mortality studies are inconclusive for 911 responders, but you're almost certainly right. There was a lot of asbestos (before the proof of its hazardous nature, a "wonder" material for building) in the Trade Center.
Watching builders at work, the next big scandals will be painting and insulation.
Insulation - the use of fibre products without PPE. *any* microscopic fibres in the lungs are bad.
Painting - to get a good finish, you fill, sand, paint, sand… Power tools are great but produce huge quantities of very fine particulates. A lot of people using no PPE.
The building firm I’m associated with insists on masks, eye protection. For some stuff, wearing disposable protective suits.
That way we don’t have young men coughing like they are smoking 40 a day.
There's a current scandal involving cutting of IIRC quartz countertops.
The carpentry industry worked this out long ago. The glue in plywood for instance. Eye protection and respirators everywhere. Plus dust collection on all machines.
As mentioned the other day, much of the West is at the sort of tipping point we saw in 1945 and in 1979.
There needs to be radical change, and the people are going to vote for those offering it.
Starmer is fiddling while Rome burns, rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, or whatever is your preferred metaphor for making only minor changes when major changes are required.
I’ve said for years that the next Labour Government had to be radical, and the last thing we needed was more Blair/Brown tinkering. Sadly the people at the top are straight out of that paradigm, devoid of vision.
We need investment in manufacturing, infrastructure, the green economy and our relationship with Europe. And an overhaul of local Government. If that meant putting income tax up by a penny or two then that should not have been ruled out.
It would have been really easy to blame on the last lot a 2p increase in income tax rates, with the intention to abolish before the next election, which would have given headroom for major reforms in service delivery elsewhere.
They have a huge majority, and there’s been so many issues left on the too-difficult list for too long.
Someone needs to really grasp the mettle, to merge employee NI into income tax and simplify much of the tax code.
Instead, a government run by the Process State guy intends to increase the cost of the bureaucracy, and appears wedded to Ed Miliband’s agenda of Net Zero no matter what the cost to the average man and woman in the street.
No NI should be ringfenced for social care, JSA and some healthcare costs
I'm sure all of those things are backed up by general taxation anyway. We should just bite the bullet and merge.
Social services would be better in NHS overview. It would Free up local authorities somewhat.
No, we are one of the only OECD nations which funds healthcare mainly via tax rather than insurance. If we want to stop an ever bottomless pit of taxpayer funds going into the NHS (and social care too for that matter) we need to use more social insurance to fund both
"There are a range of approaches to raising revenues to fund healthcare provision. These can be categorised into public and private sources of funding. These revenues are used to fund the different health financing schemes through which healthcare is accessed, such as government schemes, health insurance schemes or household spending.
"For the UK, around four-fifths (79%) of health expenditure is paid for through public revenues, mainly taxation. This is one of the highest shares of publicly funded healthcare out of the 25 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries with comparable data. Several Nordic countries (Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland) have larger shares of publicly funded healthcare and, like the UK, operate predominantly tax-funded healthcare systems (see European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies). Japan and Luxembourg are the only countries with a higher share of public revenues that operate primarily insurance-based health systems.
"Public revenues cover the bulk of healthcare financing in most countries. Switzerland is the only OECD country, for which data are available, where the share of public healthcare funding is less than private funding. This is due to Switzerland operating a healthcare system where private health insurance is mandatory for citizens. Consequently, most healthcare funding comes from private insurance contributions."
Yes. But in Germany and Japan, the government mandates you pay for insurance. The end result is everyone pays a bit of money and everyone gets healthcare. It’s just in the UK, those payments are called tax, and in Japan and Germany, those similar payments are called insurance.
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The entire world was onboard with subsidising the development of renewable technology, and has been doing so in a half hearted manner for quite a long time. That China decided to use the opportunity to dominate these new markets, by subsidising massively, ought to have been clear a long time back.
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner. I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago. Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
One car market phenomenon the established makers missed is that EVs destroy brand advantage. The electric-ness provides its own prestige so there is no need to pay double the price for a (European) luxury car. It is not an original observation but I have seen it among my friends, for instance a Jaguar replaced by a Chinese MG EV and a Porsche by a Hyundai and a Mercedes by a Tesla.
Interesting observation, although it sounds like a subtle trading down to me. The UK slowly becoming a middle income country.
Depends if electrification leads to more buying of new cars rather than second hand. I've never bought a new car, but might buy an electric one new. That'd be trading up.
Having said that, the average age of a car on UK roads is at record highs - cars are just more reliable / less rusty than before - though there are economic factors too, of course.
Since I don't have a better use for my daily image:
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The entire world was onboard with subsidising the development of renewable technology, and has been doing so in a half hearted manner for quite a long time. That China decided to use the opportunity to dominate these new markets, by subsidising massively, ought to have been clear a long time back.
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner. I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago. Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
One car market phenomenon the established makers missed is that EVs destroy brand advantage. The electric-ness provides its own prestige so there is no need to pay double the price for a (European) luxury car. It is not an original observation but I have seen it among my friends, for instance a Jaguar replaced by a Chinese MG EV and a Porsche by a Hyundai and a Mercedes by a Tesla.
Interesting observation, although it sounds like a subtle trading down to me. The UK slowly becoming a middle income country.
Depends if electrification leads to more buying of new cars rather than second hand. I've never bought a new car, but might buy an electric one new. That'd be trading up.
Having said that, the average age of a car on UK roads is at record highs - cars are just more reliable / less rusty than before - though there are economic factors too, of course.
One factor pushing up the average age could be people loath to buy a new ICE car and waiting for electric to become cheaper (and smaller).
Looks like the License Fee is on its last legs as Lisa Nandy rules out General Taxation to fund the BBC but says the BBC needs more money - it doesn't, it needs pruning not maintaining.
"Ms Nandy acknowledged that a subscription model was among the options which were left after ruling out general taxation, but added: “It also leaves a whole range of options which the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has been exploring over recent years.
“In other countries in Europe, they find different ways of raising money.
“In France, for example, they have a levy on cinemas. I’m not committing to any of these things at this stage.”"
"Many countries other than Great Britain, including Israel, Malta, France, the Netherlands and Jordan, have some form of license fees. Some base their fee on color television only (like Great Britain) and some on color television and radio (for example, Denmark). Two thirds of the countries in Europe, one half in Africa and Asia and 10% of those in the Americas and Caribbean rely, at least in part, on a license fee to support their television systems."
And the streamers collectively are in trouble and cutting back massively (and by an unhappy coincidence, a lot of LA capacity has gone up in flames). It is like the early days of Premier League football in that Sky or Netflix achieved huge growth but soon viewers need half a dozen subscriptions as competitors enter the market and content is scattered.
Scott Manley has upset the SpaceX fanbois with this:
"Given that this is disrupting aircraft downrange, I would be wanting an investigation before I let starship fly again.
I'd want to know what kind of debris risk we're dealing with, starship is big and designed to handle reentry.
Is the explosion the result of a tank failure or the FTS? We might reasonably ask whether trying to destroy such a large object is the best option in an emergency or whether it's safer to let it come down in as few pieces as possible."
(The debris came down in open international airspace, with airliners around)
It was in the FAA defined hazard corridor - in the flight plan. Such corridors are a mandatory part of licensing for all launches. And are released as notifications to pilots.
In fact the notifications going out on airspace restrictions and hazards are the first confirmation of the scheduling of a space launch, usually. The announcement of the launch license itself often comes later.
The FTS is fired according to defined limits (again agreed with the licensing authorities) - there’s no ground button to push. The usual main ones are the vehicle leaving (or heading to leave) the hazard corridor, or loss of control. The FTS is controlled from a separate box on the vehicle that monitors various numbers.
As mentioned the other day, much of the West is at the sort of tipping point we saw in 1945 and in 1979.
There needs to be radical change, and the people are going to vote for those offering it.
Starmer is fiddling while Rome burns, rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, or whatever is your preferred metaphor for making only minor changes when major changes are required.
Yes but what are these “major changes” of which you speak? I imagine it’s the tired old mantra of spending cuts which affect the poorest the hardest as public services are reduced or withdrawn and tax cuts which will inevitably only make the richest richer still and accelerate wealth inequality.
It’s not either 1945 or 1979 and the “solutions” then won’t be the solutions now.
In truth nobody has come up with an effective economic model to promote growth since the collapse of the last Ponzi scheme in 2008.
Oh indeed so.
At least the Americans are about to try and do something, even if you disagree with it and dislike the characters involved. It may or may not work, but at least they’re trying.
Meanwhile, European governments are either going nowhere or electing fringe politicians.
It’s going to be a turbulent few years ahead for us all.
Biden did do something. Though it’s arguable how much the tech boom was already baked in, the CHIPS Act etc.
CHIPS Act was the one thing that even Biden’s biggest opponents supported. It really had to be done, to avoid utter dependence on China and Taiwan.
It is a shame the democrats did not really seem to get enough credit for that in the November election.
Picking a hopeless candidate probably didn't help.
It will be a good legacy for Biden.
There’s a lot of books to be written about the state of the Democratic Party in the last 18 months.
They had plenty of opportunities to have Biden stand aside and choose someone who could beat Trump, and failed to take all of them until it was far too late, so they ended up with little choice but to impose the most unsuitable candidate on the party with no competitive primaries.
There’s loads of competent Dem Governors and Senators who could have stood up and done the job.
If you want to feel “phew, dodged a bullet” (literally, perhaps) I suggest watching Biden’s farewell TV speech
It is desperately sad, he is barely coherent, he garbles entire sentences, loses track, stammers and mis-speaks, and - remember - this is a speech that was carefully written for him, which he had surely rehearsed a thousand times, and he had a teleprompter, it wasn’t a hostile interview or a debate
He isn’t up to the job of cleaning his own shoes, let alone running the global superpower as it battles with China
It is terrifying to think he might have become POTUS for another term, and even more terrifying that the Democrats were happy to lie about his very obvious mental issues, for years - as indeed were people on this site (but they can be forgiven, PBers are not seeking to run the USA)
The Democrats, frankly, deserved to lose for this reason alone. Such mendacity, on such a grave issue, needs to be electorally punished
I genuinely feel sorry for Joe Biden, he’s clearly heading towards the end of his life. We’ve all sadly had to deal with parents or grandparents in similar states of mind.
I don’t feel sorry for those around him who sought to benefit their own agenda from his ‘lack of focus’, starting with Mrs Biden and Mrs Harris.
The Democratic Party could have put up a sensible candidate who might have taken the fight to Trump, but they made a conscious decision not to go down that path.
I disagree. There is a veneer of economic output in places, and not even that in large parts of the country. Hospitality appears to have had a poor Christmas, retail likewise. People are struggling for money and that means they can't spend it in sufficient quantities to keep the economy turning.
Seriously, there's an awful lot of towns and some cities which are visibly broken in places, with a lack of money and ideas to turn it around. When your community is visibly tatty and its getting worse not better, its no wonder people feel gloomy.
Ive referred to it as low grade crappiness. Far too many basic things dont work or work badly, with a general expectation that the government cannot afford to fix things even as they take more from us and talk in grandiose terms that can come to look delusional.
We're rich in global terms, but we're waking up to the fact were poorer than we thought, but not enough to have a plan to turn it atound.
The part that bemuses me most is the idiotic thinking that cuts save money. That we can simply spend less and cut teacher numbers, or cut the social provision for services in poor areas, or cut the number of police officers.
Cut the service and the need doesn't magically disappear. In each of these examples we're then spending MORE mopping up the mess than we have saved. Its utterly stupid, this post-Thatcherite "we can't afford it" mentality where its "who pays" instead of "who benefits". We can't afford not to have enough teachers. We have to pay more for temp staff. You can't cut youth provision in poor areas without paying more to fix the inevitable damage they cause. A complete lack of available police in NE towns so that there's no police at all and petty crime goes off the scale? Madness.
The reason why Reform are connecting with punters is that they are calling out the madness and offering obvious solutions. Such as crack down on crime. I think the right have a view of the left being soft on crime. Go ask WWC people in run down areas what they would like done to thieves and vandals - they don't want soft...
Harsher punishments won't work.
What people actually want is for thieves and vandals not to commit crimes in the first place.
In the absence of a culture where people don't do that just because it's morally the wrong thing (which is what binds most people), then the most effective answer is not a bloody penal code but the likelihood of them being caught, prosecuted and convicted. For all but lifestyle criminals or those who are desperate, that's enough.
Los Angeles authorities preventing removal of fire debris without approval from some inspections agency.
Debris from burnt down houses can be full of eg asbestos, and by then it will be in a far more dangerous form.
The EPA only managed to finally ban the last form of asbestos in use in building 2024, having had rules to ban most forms overturned by the courts in to 1989.
I think the EPA is one of the Federal Bodies undermined by the (checks) Supreme Court removing the Chevron vs NRDC precedent. And Mr Chump plans to gut it further.
Usonia really do seem to want to compete for the shortest life expectancy.
I am not sure or not whether the Twin Towers had asbestos but plenty of people suffered ill effects and death as a result of the debris when they came down.
They were built late 1960s iirc, so would be full of it.
The latency period for asbestosis is 10 -> 50 years (lost my dad in 2009 from exposure around 1970), so cases from 9/11 are likely to peak in the 2030s and 2040s.
One of my wife's university colleagues died of mesothelioma a few years back from exposure 20-30 years prior (maintenance workers drilling into affected walls and ceiling, I think). The material was still there when she left.
Current mortality studies are inconclusive for 911 responders, but you're almost certainly right. There was a lot of asbestos (before the proof of its hazardous nature, a "wonder" material for building) in the Trade Center.
Watching builders at work, the next big scandals will be painting and insulation.
Insulation - the use of fibre products without PPE. *any* microscopic fibres in the lungs are bad.
Painting - to get a good finish, you fill, sand, paint, sand… Power tools are great but produce huge quantities of very fine particulates. A lot of people using no PPE.
The building firm I’m associated with insists on masks, eye protection. For some stuff, wearing disposable protective suits.
That way we don’t have young men coughing like they are smoking 40 a day.
Sensible… although the Trump/Musk crowd would say you are stifling growth.
Los Angeles authorities preventing removal of fire debris without approval from some inspections agency.
Debris from burnt down houses can be full of eg asbestos, and by then it will be in a far more dangerous form.
The EPA only managed to finally ban the last form of asbestos in use in building 2024, having had rules to ban most forms overturned by the courts in to 1989.
I think the EPA is one of the Federal Bodies undermined by the (checks) Supreme Court removing the Chevron vs NRDC precedent. And Mr Chump plans to gut it further.
Usonia really do seem to want to compete for the shortest life expectancy.
I am not sure or not whether the Twin Towers had asbestos but plenty of people suffered ill effects and death as a result of the debris when they came down.
They were built late 1960s iirc, so would be full of it.
The latency period for asbestosis is 10 -> 50 years (lost my dad in 2009 from exposure around 1970), so cases from 9/11 are likely to peak in the 2030s and 2040s.
One of my wife's university colleagues died of mesothelioma a few years back from exposure 20-30 years prior (maintenance workers drilling into affected walls and ceiling, I think). The material was still there when she left.
Current mortality studies are inconclusive for 911 responders, but you're almost certainly right. There was a lot of asbestos (before the proof of its hazardous nature, a "wonder" material for building) in the Trade Center.
Watching builders at work, the next big scandals will be painting and insulation.
Insulation - the use of fibre products without PPE. *any* microscopic fibres in the lungs are bad.
Painting - to get a good finish, you fill, sand, paint, sand… Power tools are great but produce huge quantities of very fine particulates. A lot of people using no PPE.
The building firm I’m associated with insists on masks, eye protection. For some stuff, wearing disposable protective suits.
That way we don’t have young men coughing like they are smoking 40 a day.
There's a current scandal involving cutting of IIRC quartz countertops.
The carpentry industry worked this out long ago. The glue in plywood for instance. Eye protection and respirators everywhere. Plus dust collection on all machines.
Our block had new fire doors and associated building work recently and the only one wearing a mask was the woman inspecting the electrics afterwards.
I disagree. There is a veneer of economic output in places, and not even that in large parts of the country. Hospitality appears to have had a poor Christmas, retail likewise. People are struggling for money and that means they can't spend it in sufficient quantities to keep the economy turning.
Seriously, there's an awful lot of towns and some cities which are visibly broken in places, with a lack of money and ideas to turn it around. When your community is visibly tatty and its getting worse not better, its no wonder people feel gloomy.
Ive referred to it as low grade crappiness. Far too many basic things dont work or work badly, with a general expectation that the government cannot afford to fix things even as they take more from us and talk in grandiose terms that can come to look delusional.
We're rich in global terms, but we're waking up to the fact were poorer than we thought, but not enough to have a plan to turn it atound.
The part that bemuses me most is the idiotic thinking that cuts save money. That we can simply spend less and cut teacher numbers, or cut the social provision for services in poor areas, or cut the number of police officers.
Cut the service and the need doesn't magically disappear. In each of these examples we're then spending MORE mopping up the mess than we have saved. Its utterly stupid, this post-Thatcherite "we can't afford it" mentality where its "who pays" instead of "who benefits". We can't afford not to have enough teachers. We have to pay more for temp staff. You can't cut youth provision in poor areas without paying more to fix the inevitable damage they cause. A complete lack of available police in NE towns so that there's no police at all and petty crime goes off the scale? Madness.
The reason why Reform are connecting with punters is that they are calling out the madness and offering obvious solutions. Such as crack down on crime. I think the right have a view of the left being soft on crime. Go ask WWC people in run down areas what they would like done to thieves and vandals - they don't want soft...
Harsher punishments won't work.
What people actually want is for thieves and vandals not to commit crimes in the first place.
In the absence of a culture where people don't do that just because it's morally the wrong thing (which is what binds most people), then the most effective answer is not a bloody penal code but the likelihood of them being caught, prosecuted and convicted. For all but lifestyle criminals or those who are desperate, that's enough.
Convict far more quickly rather than focusing on longer sentences. And invest in probation and rehabilitation. Its not rocket science but both need funding to happen.
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The entire world was onboard with subsidising the development of renewable technology, and has been doing so in a half hearted manner for quite a long time. That China decided to use the opportunity to dominate these new markets, by subsidising massively, ought to have been clear a long time back.
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner. I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago. Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
One car market phenomenon the established makers missed is that EVs destroy brand advantage. The electric-ness provides its own prestige so there is no need to pay double the price for a (European) luxury car. It is not an original observation but I have seen it among my friends, for instance a Jaguar replaced by a Chinese MG EV and a Porsche by a Hyundai and a Mercedes by a Tesla.
Interesting observation, although it sounds like a subtle trading down to me. The UK slowly becoming a middle income country.
Depends if electrification leads to more buying of new cars rather than second hand. I've never bought a new car, but might buy an electric one new. That'd be trading up.
Having said that, the average age of a car on UK roads is at record highs - cars are just more reliable / less rusty than before - though there are economic factors too, of course.
Since I don't have a better use for my daily image:
I assume there is some flexibility in the daily image quota for those of us that post an image about once a year. I assume I can get away with two if I don't post another for sometime. In fact I believe I have done that in the past, but after the rule came into effect.
As mentioned the other day, much of the West is at the sort of tipping point we saw in 1945 and in 1979.
There needs to be radical change, and the people are going to vote for those offering it.
Starmer is fiddling while Rome burns, rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, or whatever is your preferred metaphor for making only minor changes when major changes are required.
Yes but what are these “major changes” of which you speak? I imagine it’s the tired old mantra of spending cuts which affect the poorest the hardest as public services are reduced or withdrawn and tax cuts which will inevitably only make the richest richer still and accelerate wealth inequality.
It’s not either 1945 or 1979 and the “solutions” then won’t be the solutions now.
In truth nobody has come up with an effective economic model to promote growth since the collapse of the last Ponzi scheme in 2008.
Oh indeed so.
At least the Americans are about to try and do something, even if you disagree with it and dislike the characters involved. It may or may not work, but at least they’re trying.
Meanwhile, European governments are either going nowhere or electing fringe politicians.
It’s going to be a turbulent few years ahead for us all.
Biden did do something. Though it’s arguable how much the tech boom was already baked in, the CHIPS Act etc.
CHIPS Act was the one thing that even Biden’s biggest opponents supported. It really had to be done, to avoid utter dependence on China and Taiwan.
It is a shame the democrats did not really seem to get enough credit for that in the November election.
Picking a hopeless candidate probably didn't help.
It will be a good legacy for Biden.
There’s a lot of books to be written about the state of the Democratic Party in the last 18 months.
They had plenty of opportunities to have Biden stand aside and choose someone who could beat Trump, and failed to take all of them until it was far too late, so they ended up with little choice but to impose the most unsuitable candidate on the party with no competitive primaries.
There’s loads of competent Dem Governors and Senators who could have stood up and done the job.
If you want to feel “phew, dodged a bullet” (literally, perhaps) I suggest watching Biden’s farewell TV speech
It is desperately sad, he is barely coherent, he garbles entire sentences, loses track, stammers and mis-speaks, and - remember - this is a speech that was carefully written for him, which he had surely rehearsed a thousand times, and he had a teleprompter, it wasn’t a hostile interview or a debate
He isn’t up to the job of cleaning his own shoes, let alone running the global superpower as it battles with China
It is terrifying to think he might have become POTUS for another term, and even more terrifying that the Democrats were happy to lie about his very obvious mental issues, for years - as indeed were people on this site (but they can be forgiven, PBers are not seeking to run the USA)
The Democrats, frankly, deserved to lose for this reason alone. Such mendacity, on such a grave issue, needs to be electorally punished
I genuinely feel sorry for Joe Biden, he’s clearly heading towards the end of his life. We’ve all sadly had to deal with parents or grandparents in similar states of mind.
I don’t feel sorry for those around him who sought to benefit their own agenda from his ‘lack of focus’, starting with Mrs Biden and Mrs Harris.
The Democratic Party could have put up a sensible candidate who might have taken the fight to Trump, but they made a conscious decision not to go down that path.
I was saying on this site, by late 2022, that Biden is obvs gaga - and I was much mocked for it. Less mockery now, eh
More importantly if his decline was plainly apparent to drunken flint knappers in tropical hotel bars it must have been screamingly obvious to Biden insiders at that point. What went wrong? Why did no one do anything? The risk of their losing to Trump if they persisted with Biden (or Harris) was clear
SOMEONE is culpable and needs a slap. A collective Democrat shrug and “shit happens” doesn’t really cut it
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The entire world was onboard with subsidising the development of renewable technology, and has been doing so in a half hearted manner for quite a long time. That China decided to use the opportunity to dominate these new markets, by subsidising massively, ought to have been clear a long time back.
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner. I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago. Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
One car market phenomenon the established makers missed is that EVs destroy brand advantage. The electric-ness provides its own prestige so there is no need to pay double the price for a (European) luxury car. It is not an original observation but I have seen it among my friends, for instance a Jaguar replaced by a Chinese MG EV and a Porsche by a Hyundai and a Mercedes by a Tesla.
Interesting observation, although it sounds like a subtle trading down to me. The UK slowly becoming a middle income country.
Depends if electrification leads to more buying of new cars rather than second hand. I've never bought a new car, but might buy an electric one new. That'd be trading up.
Having said that, the average age of a car on UK roads is at record highs - cars are just more reliable / less rusty than before - though there are economic factors too, of course.
Since I don't have a better use for my daily image:
I assume there is some flexibility in the daily image quota for those of us that post an image about once a year. I assume I can get away with two if I don't post another for sometime. In fact I believe I have done that in the past, but after the rule came into effect.
I disagree. There is a veneer of economic output in places, and not even that in large parts of the country. Hospitality appears to have had a poor Christmas, retail likewise. People are struggling for money and that means they can't spend it in sufficient quantities to keep the economy turning.
Seriously, there's an awful lot of towns and some cities which are visibly broken in places, with a lack of money and ideas to turn it around. When your community is visibly tatty and its getting worse not better, its no wonder people feel gloomy.
Ive referred to it as low grade crappiness. Far too many basic things dont work or work badly, with a general expectation that the government cannot afford to fix things even as they take more from us and talk in grandiose terms that can come to look delusional.
We're rich in global terms, but we're waking up to the fact were poorer than we thought, but not enough to have a plan to turn it atound.
The part that bemuses me most is the idiotic thinking that cuts save money. That we can simply spend less and cut teacher numbers, or cut the social provision for services in poor areas, or cut the number of police officers.
Cut the service and the need doesn't magically disappear. In each of these examples we're then spending MORE mopping up the mess than we have saved. Its utterly stupid, this post-Thatcherite "we can't afford it" mentality where its "who pays" instead of "who benefits". We can't afford not to have enough teachers. We have to pay more for temp staff. You can't cut youth provision in poor areas without paying more to fix the inevitable damage they cause. A complete lack of available police in NE towns so that there's no police at all and petty crime goes off the scale? Madness.
The reason why Reform are connecting with punters is that they are calling out the madness and offering obvious solutions. Such as crack down on crime. I think the right have a view of the left being soft on crime. Go ask WWC people in run down areas what they would like done to thieves and vandals - they don't want soft...
Which is why Reform are inevitably going to win in 2028
Gamblers take note, Leondamus has spoken.
Win as in highest party by vote share for Farages party, I suspect he will be correct for once, but they may not be called Reform by then.
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
The right have moved from free markets managed well to drive meritocracy to crony capitalism subsidised by the state. The left seem a bit scared to change anything which comes across as not having a clue what to do.
Notions of right and left change over time. The Town & Country Planning Act 1948, was considered an appalling interference with property rights by Conservatives and economic liberals at the time, yet many would now die in the ditch for the Green Belt.
You get used to the status quo. People try now to treat any field like its Green Belt, and even scrubland in the Belt like its the heart of the Cotswolds. Ridiculous.
Free trade only works with the near elimination of subsidies. Funnily enough one of the biggest issues in the establishment of a large free trade zone, just next to the U.K., was getting rid of state subsidies.
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The entire world was onboard with subsidising the development of renewable technology, and has been doing so in a half hearted manner for quite a long time. That China decided to use the opportunity to dominate these new markets, by subsidising massively, ought to have been clear a long time back.
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner. I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago. Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
One car market phenomenon the established makers missed is that EVs destroy brand advantage. The electric-ness provides its own prestige so there is no need to pay double the price for a (European) luxury car. It is not an original observation but I have seen it among my friends, for instance a Jaguar replaced by a Chinese MG EV and a Porsche by a Hyundai and a Mercedes by a Tesla.
This programme interviewed people on the streets of Chongqing about their views of BYD
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
Yes. After reunification most ambitious people, especially young women, moved to the West, leaving disgruntled people behind in the East.
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
I think that AfD enclave on the North coast is actually Green.
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
I assume the splodge of SPD south-west of Berlin is metropolitan liberal Berlin overspill
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
I think that AfD enclave on the North coast is actually Green.
[Rubs grime from glasses, turns lights up a bit]
Good spot- I think you're right. That makes more sense, I suspect.
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
Yes it’s confusing isn’t it? I think the reason is that both wings are having a crisis of self confidence. Small state low tax doesn’t seem to be what people want. On the other hand they don’t want an overbearing bureaucracy either. Both sides are being driven to think outside the box with a consequential loss of coherence.
Scott Manley has upset the SpaceX fanbois with this:
"Given that this is disrupting aircraft downrange, I would be wanting an investigation before I let starship fly again.
I'd want to know what kind of debris risk we're dealing with, starship is big and designed to handle reentry.
Is the explosion the result of a tank failure or the FTS? We might reasonably ask whether trying to destroy such a large object is the best option in an emergency or whether it's safer to let it come down in as few pieces as possible."
(The debris came down in open international airspace, with airliners around)
It was in the FAA defined hazard corridor - in the flight plan. Such corridors are a mandatory part of licensing for all launches. And are released as notifications to pilots.
In fact the notifications going out on airspace restrictions and hazards are the first confirmation of the scheduling of a space launch, usually. The announcement of the launch license itself often comes later.
The FTS is fired according to defined limits (again agreed with the licensing authorities) - there’s no ground button to push. The usual main ones are the vehicle leaving (or heading to leave) the hazard corridor, or loss of control. The FTS is controlled from a separate box on the vehicle that monitors various numbers.
And do you have a *reliable* source for your claim that the FTS fired within defined limits?
I’ll have to dig - but the warning went out on the corridor, by the FAA.
That’s how FTSs work - they all have to follow agreed, defined rules. Its controlled by a separate computer on the vehicle. There isn’t a bloke with a button, on the ground.
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
Why on earth do you know the Ruhr? Shopping for flint knapping machine tools?
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
Yes it’s confusing isn’t it? I think the reason is that both wings are having a crisis of self confidence. Small state low tax doesn’t seem to be what people want. On the other hand they don’t want an overbearing bureaucracy either. Both sides are being driven to think outside the box with a consequential loss of coherence.
The neo-liberal era simply did not deliver for the majority of the electorate.
Ideological hokey-cokey is one of the morbid symptoms some dead Italian warned about.
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
A friend of mine is fanatical about the German North coast. Says you could go to Cornwall ... or you could go to Germany and have a holiday in Germany which is half the price and so you can therefore afford to do twice the amount of stuff or stay somewhere twice as good. You still get the sandy dreamy summer coastiness, and you also get to explore a slightly different culture. Not a massive draw for someone who travels on expenses, I suppose.
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
Yes it’s confusing isn’t it? I think the reason is that both wings are having a crisis of self confidence. Small state low tax doesn’t seem to be what people want. On the other hand they don’t want an overbearing bureaucracy either. Both sides are being driven to think outside the box with a consequential loss of coherence.
The neo-liberal era simply did not deliver for the majority of the electorate.
Ideological hokey-cokey is one of the morbid symptoms some dead Italian warned about.
More that, for ideological and convenience reasons, rules were not followed.
Free trade requires removing tariff and subsidy barriers.
It was decided, by quite a number of people, that in the case of China (for example) this should be replaced by stick fingers in ears and screaming LA-LA-LA.
This was convenient for consumers of Chinese goods. Management could out source all that pesky product stuff. CO2 emissions could be cut. No nasty factories to annoy NIMBYs. Ever dropping prices created deflation in a part of the economy to offset rampant property price inflation.
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
A friend of mine is fanatical about the German North coast. Says you could go to Cornwall ... or you could go to Germany and have a holiday in Germany which is half the price and so you can therefore afford to do twice the amount of stuff or stay somewhere twice as good. You still get the sandy dreamy summer coastiness, and you also get to explore a slightly different culture. Not a massive draw for someone who travels on expenses, I suppose.
I met two elderly German lesbians who were very keen on the north German coast, but also seemed a bit worried that it might get discovered and thereby ruined by non-Germans.
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
Yes it’s confusing isn’t it? I think the reason is that both wings are having a crisis of self confidence. Small state low tax doesn’t seem to be what people want. On the other hand they don’t want an overbearing bureaucracy either. Both sides are being driven to think outside the box with a consequential loss of coherence.
The neo-liberal era simply did not deliver for the majority of the electorate.
Ideological hokey-cokey is one of the morbid symptoms some dead Italian warned about.
More that, for ideological and convenience reasons, rules were not followed.
Free trade requires removing tariff and subsidy barriers.
It was decided, by quite a number of people, that in the case of China (for example) this should be replaced by stick fingers in ears and screaming LA-LA-LA.
This was convenient for consumers of Chinese goods. Management could out source all that pesky product stuff. CO2 emissions could be cut. No nasty factories to annoy NIMBYs. Ever dropping prices created deflation in a part of the economy to offset rampant property price inflation.
Very convenient, for quite a few people.
Your prose style always assumes some kind of conspiratorial premise.
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
A friend of mine is fanatical about the German North coast. Says you could go to Cornwall ... or you could go to Germany and have a holiday in Germany which is half the price and so you can therefore afford to do twice the amount of stuff or stay somewhere twice as good. You still get the sandy dreamy summer coastiness, and you also get to explore a slightly different culture. Not a massive draw for someone who travels on expenses, I suppose.
I met two elderly German lesbians who were very keen on the north German coast, but also seemed a bit worried that it might get discovered and thereby ruined by non-Germans.
Why describe their sexuality? Is it relevant to their opinion of the north German coast?
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
Why on earth do you know the Ruhr? Shopping for flint knapping machine tools?
Few weird assignments in Düsseldorf and the like. Not an attractive part of Europe
In my experience travel in Germany is simultaneously better than you think, but somehow still disappointing
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
A friend of mine is fanatical about the German North coast. Says you could go to Cornwall ... or you could go to Germany and have a holiday in Germany which is half the price and so you can therefore afford to do twice the amount of stuff or stay somewhere twice as good. You still get the sandy dreamy summer coastiness, and you also get to explore a slightly different culture. Not a massive draw for someone who travels on expenses, I suppose.
I met two elderly German lesbians who were very keen on the north German coast, but also seemed a bit worried that it might get discovered and thereby ruined by non-Germans.
Why describe their sexuality? Is it relevant to their opinion of the north German coast?
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
Why on earth do you know the Ruhr? Shopping for flint knapping machine tools?
Few weird assignments in Düsseldorf and the like. Not an attractive part of Europe
In my experience travel in Germany is simultaneously better than you think, but somehow still disappointing
The awful food doesn’t help
German food is fine if, like me, you like great hunks of flesh for dinner.
I have fond memories of jugged boar in the Prussian restaurant in Berlin. I wonder if it’s still there.
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
A friend of mine is fanatical about the German North coast. Says you could go to Cornwall ... or you could go to Germany and have a holiday in Germany which is half the price and so you can therefore afford to do twice the amount of stuff or stay somewhere twice as good. You still get the sandy dreamy summer coastiness, and you also get to explore a slightly different culture. Not a massive draw for someone who travels on expenses, I suppose.
I met two elderly German lesbians who were very keen on the north German coast, but also seemed a bit worried that it might get discovered and thereby ruined by non-Germans.
Why describe their sexuality? Is it relevant to their opinion of the north German coast?
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
Yes it’s confusing isn’t it? I think the reason is that both wings are having a crisis of self confidence. Small state low tax doesn’t seem to be what people want. On the other hand they don’t want an overbearing bureaucracy either. Both sides are being driven to think outside the box with a consequential loss of coherence.
The neo-liberal era simply did not deliver for the majority of the electorate.
Ideological hokey-cokey is one of the morbid symptoms some dead Italian warned about.
More that, for ideological and convenience reasons, rules were not followed.
Free trade requires removing tariff and subsidy barriers.
It was decided, by quite a number of people, that in the case of China (for example) this should be replaced by stick fingers in ears and screaming LA-LA-LA.
This was convenient for consumers of Chinese goods. Management could out source all that pesky product stuff. CO2 emissions could be cut. No nasty factories to annoy NIMBYs. Ever dropping prices created deflation in a part of the economy to offset rampant property price inflation.
Very convenient, for quite a few people.
Your prose style always assumes some kind of conspiratorial premise.
“It was decided…” etc.
I wonder if there is a grammatical term for this.
It wasn’t a conspiracy - just groupthink. A collective move to “Outsourcing to Chinese manufacturing is good/inevitable.”
Gradually this became one of cornerstones of the policies of Decent People.
Some little time ago, the people behind the Raspberry Pi asked for a review of the tariffs on components vs finished items imported from China. Essentially you pay more on bits than on the finished product. Meaning that manufacturing in China is cheaper.
With some horror, the Foreign Office vetoed changes - “it might upset the Chinese”.
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
Why on earth do you know the Ruhr? Shopping for flint knapping machine tools?
Few weird assignments in Düsseldorf and the like. Not an attractive part of Europe
In my experience travel in Germany is simultaneously better than you think, but somehow still disappointing
The awful food doesn’t help
German food is fine if, like me, you like great hunks of flesh for dinner.
I have fond memories of jugged boar in the Prussian restaurant in Berlin. I wonder if it’s still there.
It’s fucking terrible
I still shudder at a Gazette assignment where I did six days luxury cruising down the Rhine
1. The Rhine is actually less attractive than you expect
2. The wine is a bit meh, TBH
3. You soon get bored of castles on the Rhine
4. Not a single decent meal all week, unless you count currywurst (which I do, coz it’s great)
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
Why on earth do you know the Ruhr? Shopping for flint knapping machine tools?
Few weird assignments in Düsseldorf and the like. Not an attractive part of Europe
In my experience travel in Germany is simultaneously better than you think, but somehow still disappointing
The awful food doesn’t help
Visited Bayrischzell, Munich & Schliersee a few years back. Lovely part of the world.
Are any of theatre's great dames other than Judi Dench still left ?
Eileen Atkins & Helen Mirren surely qualify.
Disgracefully I only got round to watching Gosford Park over the festive period, cracking film with a good An Inspector Calls, boot the class system in the balls vibe. Didn’t seem dated at all unlike a lot of stuff made 20+ years ago.
Four Dames was interesting , them all reminiscing, down to 2 noow.
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
Yes it’s confusing isn’t it? I think the reason is that both wings are having a crisis of self confidence. Small state low tax doesn’t seem to be what people want. On the other hand they don’t want an overbearing bureaucracy either. Both sides are being driven to think outside the box with a consequential loss of coherence.
Competence and necessary pragmatism are probably somewhere up there - but neither really correlate well, if at all, with the left/right spectrum.
Pragmatism is arguably a centrist quality, but effective pragmatism hasn't often been demonstrated by centrist politicians in recent times.
All those who dabble in the UK stock market have never had it so good. Today it's at at least a ten year high........
Everything is going gangbusters
More relevant is the surprise fall in December retail sales
Indeed and for some far worse than others. We know Next did well and M&S seem to have done as well. For a sharp fall like that there must be some real losers out there,
Asda seems to be the biggest loser and not just among the big supermarkets, they seem to have lost across all categories in food and non-food.
I know a few people who work for them or worked for them, the new owners are woeful.
It seems the money now goes to pay interest and dividends these days rather than on stores or product development/review.
Did teh 2 brothers that bought it with loans not fall out as well and on etook stores and eth other took petrol stations or suchlike.
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
Why on earth do you know the Ruhr? Shopping for flint knapping machine tools?
Few weird assignments in Düsseldorf and the like. Not an attractive part of Europe
In my experience travel in Germany is simultaneously better than you think, but somehow still disappointing
The awful food doesn’t help
Agree about the food.
On the subject of food I am going to make a whole list of British puddings for friends. I love traditional puddings done well and was going to make a visit to the pudding club, but I'm not sure about it now, so I am going to do it myself to be eaten after long dog walks.
Yesterday was a Stilton and Walnut tart (made with puff pasty and lots of caramelised onions) followed by Damson Crumble and Bread and Butter pudding. Not had bread and butter pudding since my kids were children.
Next I am going for a Treacle pudding (Not to be confused with a syrup pudding. Has to be made with black treacle).
So far I have about 15 on my list.
Anyway back to the next batch of marmalade making.
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
Why on earth do you know the Ruhr? Shopping for flint knapping machine tools?
Few weird assignments in Düsseldorf and the like. Not an attractive part of Europe
In my experience travel in Germany is simultaneously better than you think, but somehow still disappointing
The awful food doesn’t help
I think that captures it. I always enjoy trips to Germany but they are never exciting. Few things in Germany are the best of their kind in the world.
Alsace is a bit better and prettier than the Schwarzwald, Switzerland and Austria do better Alps, Poland and Denmark do the Hanseatic look more comprehensively, Berlin is interesting but there are several more exciting European cities.
One thing it does have that’s right up there is the Mosel river and vineyards. Scenically few places like that other than arguably the Duoro and the Northern Rhone. And further along in Luxembourg.
Remarkable map, mirroring the Iron Curtain right down to the granular level of Berlin
Which leads to two questions that I'd love to know more about;
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
For me, it shows me how much I adore maps of any kind, and how they still evoke my endless desire to travel
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
A friend of mine is fanatical about the German North coast. Says you could go to Cornwall ... or you could go to Germany and have a holiday in Germany which is half the price and so you can therefore afford to do twice the amount of stuff or stay somewhere twice as good. You still get the sandy dreamy summer coastiness, and you also get to explore a slightly different culture. Not a massive draw for someone who travels on expenses, I suppose.
I met two elderly German lesbians who were very keen on the north German coast, but also seemed a bit worried that it might get discovered and thereby ruined by non-Germans.
Why describe their sexuality? Is it relevant to their opinion of the north German coast?
It adds a little character, don’t you think?
Of course it does; ignore this hairy old twat
Perhaps you shouldn’t have mentioned their age, or nationality either, as that’s not strictly relevant? Like their sexuality?
In which case your anecdote would be
“I met two people who like the north German coast”
Yes, let’s make all of PB like that so we can all die of boredom
European carmakers led by Volkswagen could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of euros to Chinese electric vehicle rivals to buy carbon credits, as the auto sector tries to avoid potential fines for failing to meet 2025 pollution rules set by Brussels.
What the hell are they drinking in Brussels?
Trying to push the tech before it’s ready, is going to turn over the whole car industry to China.
Germany is about to become like the UK, only making top-end $100k domestic cars, with mass-production all either outsourced or imports.
You don't have to take every tweet that William posts at face value. In reality, the chances that EU car makers will pay anything to Chinese manufactures are approximately zero. While you might argue that the EU's approach towards driving the shift to EVs is flawed, the blame for falling behind the Chinese on EV production lies more with the car companies themselves than with the EU.
No, the blame lies entirely with the EU (and UK) for trying to push a technology that isn’t ready, including the infrastructure.
So the technology is ready for the Chinese but not for the EU and UK? That makes no sense at all.
Yes the Chinese are ahead on the technology.
So European governments have decided to sell out to the Chinese in the name of “Net Zero” rather than support their own domestic industries.
There's a bizarre left/right reversal going on here*, re subsidies/tariffs versus free trade. The new right is quite different to the one I grew up with and so, it seems, is the left. I'm still somewhere in the centre, but some of my formerly left-wing positions now seem right-wing and vice-versa!
*and elsewhere, US, for example
Yes it’s confusing isn’t it? I think the reason is that both wings are having a crisis of self confidence. Small state low tax doesn’t seem to be what people want. On the other hand they don’t want an overbearing bureaucracy either. Both sides are being driven to think outside the box with a consequential loss of coherence.
The neo-liberal era simply did not deliver for the majority of the electorate.
Ideological hokey-cokey is one of the morbid symptoms some dead Italian warned about.
More that, for ideological and convenience reasons, rules were not followed.
Free trade requires removing tariff and subsidy barriers.
It was decided, by quite a number of people, that in the case of China (for example) this should be replaced by stick fingers in ears and screaming LA-LA-LA.
This was convenient for consumers of Chinese goods. Management could out source all that pesky product stuff. CO2 emissions could be cut. No nasty factories to annoy NIMBYs. Ever dropping prices created deflation in a part of the economy to offset rampant property price inflation.
Very convenient, for quite a few people.
Your prose style always assumes some kind of conspiratorial premise.
“It was decided…” etc.
I wonder if there is a grammatical term for this.
It wasn’t a conspiracy - just groupthink. A collective move to “Outsourcing to Chinese manufacturing is good/inevitable.”
Gradually this became one of cornerstones of the policies of Decent People.
Some little time ago, the people behind the Raspberry Pi asked for a review of the tariffs on components vs finished items imported from China. Essentially you pay more on bits than on the finished product. Meaning that manufacturing in China is cheaper.
With some horror, the Foreign Office vetoed changes - “it might upset the Chinese”.
It’s a kind of arch, conspiratorial, high style. Psychologists would have a field day.
All those who dabble in the UK stock market have never had it so good. Today it's at at least a ten year high........
Everything is going gangbusters
More relevant is the surprise fall in December retail sales
Indeed and for some far worse than others. We know Next did well and M&S seem to have done as well. For a sharp fall like that there must be some real losers out there,
Asda seems to be the biggest loser and not just among the big supermarkets, they seem to have lost across all categories in food and non-food.
How the hell can Asda pay up if they lose the equal pay claim going through then ? The decision is due soon, supposedly this month. The same goes with the Morrisons claim. They are in trouble too.
Both are not profitable and are looking at job cuts.
There is another pay discrimination claim against Asda the union is pursuing. This time Ambient shopping trolleys.
Hardly worth getting equal pay ( joke anyway trying to say working at a till is same as in distribution centres etc ) when shedloads of you get sacked. They will just get shot and offer new contracts with everybody on lower wages.
Comments
Insisting on free trade in the face of massive state subsidies, simply gives away everything.
The decision is due soon, supposedly this month. The same goes with the Morrisons claim. They are in trouble too.
Both are not profitable and are looking at job cuts.
There is another pay discrimination claim against Asda the union is pursuing. This time Ambient shopping trolleys.
Lab 26%
Con 25%
Reform 23%
Lib Dem 12%
Green 7%.
Is more accurate/appropriate?
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/apr/27/nothing-like-a-dame-judi-dench-maggie-smith-eileen-atkins-joan-plowright
If you've not seen the film, it's a hoot, and quite moving in places.
Very sad, not sure why he was so affected, perhaps some people are more susceptible.
I hate Tesco with avengeance however their stores and likewise Sainsburys and Waitrose are clean, there are staff about and product facings are well stocked.
I am surprised Asda and Morrisons survived 2024 and to an extent improved sales.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/politics/32855183/starmer-balls-ruthless-benefits-bill/
I’ve got the balls to take an axe to Britain’s benefits bill – we’ll be RUTHLESS with cuts if needed, vows Keir Starmer
Poor old Ralph looks somewhat etiolated.
https://x.com/RetroChristians/status/1879322598791876862
We (and most of the west) failed to respond in any coherent manner.
I am neither in the industry or a technical expert, but it was pretty obvious to me long ago.
Instead we've spent the last decade or so arguing about whether EVs, or solar power etc are even viable technologies in the market. Up until the point where it's obvious that they will take over.
They were made in a nice part of Germany called Rastede. Used to like my visits there.
The market was going great guns and then the German state just cut the subsidy and sales dried up.
It just seemed short sighted at the time.
Today we launched The Enron Egg, the world’s first micro-nuclear reactor made to power your home.
https://x.com/Enron/status/1876343167630594287
Quite amusing.
It is desperately sad, he is barely coherent, he garbles entire sentences, loses track, stammers and mis-speaks, and - remember - this is a speech that was carefully written for him, which he had surely rehearsed a thousand times, and he had a teleprompter, it wasn’t a hostile interview or a debate
He isn’t up to the job of cleaning his own shoes, let alone running the global superpower as it battles with China
It is terrifying to think he might have become POTUS for another term, and even more terrifying that the Democrats were happy to lie about his very obvious mental issues, for years - as indeed were people on this site (but they can be forgiven, PBers are not seeking to run the USA)
The Democrats, frankly, deserved to lose for this reason alone. Such mendacity, on such a grave issue, needs to be electorally punished
Having said that, the average age of a car on UK roads is at record highs - cars are just more reliable / less rusty than before - though there are economic factors too, of course.
https://x.com/Enron/status/1871276328907104335
His party didn’t come into government to talk tough on wielding the axe. And rightly and wrongly the voting public did not expect him to do so either.
It will also be seen as another attack on vulnerable people.
This isnt the Blair years when those on the left tolerated the more populist “tough” language from some in government on the basis that Blair polled well, the economy was performing and they were able to see investment in public services. This is a government without much of a plan, struggling with popularity and whose credentials and direction are being questioned on a daily basis.
This is going to end in tears.
The carpentry industry worked this out long ago. The glue in plywood for instance. Eye protection and respirators everywhere. Plus dust collection on all machines.
https://simpleflying.com/flights-divert-dodge-debris-spacex-starship-explodes/
And do you have a *reliable* source for your claim that the FTS fired within defined limits?
I don’t feel sorry for those around him who sought to benefit their own agenda from his ‘lack of focus’, starting with Mrs Biden and Mrs Harris.
The Democratic Party could have put up a sensible candidate who might have taken the fight to Trump, but they made a conscious decision not to go down that path.
What people actually want is for thieves and vandals not to commit crimes in the first place.
In the absence of a culture where people don't do that just because it's morally the wrong thing (which is what binds most people), then the most effective answer is not a bloody penal code but the likelihood of them being caught, prosecuted and convicted. For all but lifestyle criminals or those who are desperate, that's enough.
All together now "They don't know how to fly the plane"
https://x.com/yougov/status/1880198389411008747
More importantly if his decline was plainly apparent to drunken flint knappers in tropical hotel bars it must have been screamingly obvious to Biden insiders at that point. What went wrong? Why did no one do anything? The risk of their losing to Trump if they persisted with Biden (or Harris) was clear
SOMEONE is culpable and needs a slap. A collective Democrat shrug and “shit happens” doesn’t really cut it
Very hard to see any other outcome at the moment, unless they fall short of a majority and need to bring someone else in (who?!)
- Great company. Impressive what they're doing.
Would you like to buy one as your next car?
- Of course not. I want a German car.
https://youtu.be/82N5PgBS62Y?si=rC51eXcOHDx0vW4X
1 What's going on? Is it that the east of Germany has been left behind like the north of England? Anyone with zip and pizzazz has gone elsewhere in the country? Whatever is causing the discontent, is there much sign that the AfD medicine will help?
2 What's the story with the two outliers? That splodge of SPD to the south-west of Berlin, and that AfD enclave on the north coast? Kiel?
Good spot- I think you're right. That makes more sense, I suspect.
That’s how FTSs work - they all have to follow agreed, defined rules. Its controlled by a separate computer on the vehicle. There isn’t a bloke with a button, on the ground.
Eg those weird islands at the top, what are they like? I am aware of Sylt but there’s loads of them, and they look freaky and tantalizing
Germany is probably the least visited of all the major European nations, for me and many others. I know the Rhineland, Berlin, Bavaria, I know Cologne and the Ruhr a bit. After that it’s kinda blank
Shopping for flint knapping machine tools?
Ideological hokey-cokey is one of the morbid symptoms some dead Italian warned about.
Not a massive draw for someone who travels on expenses, I suppose.
https://x.com/trussliz/status/1880242828317716884
Kemi Badenoch says she is excited about cutting the state pension
https://x.com/labourpress/status/1880233205309272226
As you know, it’s hard being a prophet before one’s time.
Free trade requires removing tariff and subsidy barriers.
It was decided, by quite a number of people, that in the case of China (for example) this should be replaced by stick fingers in ears and screaming LA-LA-LA.
This was convenient for consumers of Chinese goods. Management could out source all that pesky product stuff. CO2 emissions could be cut. No nasty factories to annoy NIMBYs. Ever dropping prices created deflation in a part of the economy to offset rampant property price inflation.
Very convenient, for quite a few people.
“It was decided…” etc.
I wonder if there is a grammatical term for this.
But she now looks to be rowing back on it, hence undermining the point.
In my experience travel in Germany is simultaneously better than you think, but somehow still disappointing
The awful food doesn’t help
What utter arrogance.
It’s a battle of fiscal concupiscence, and I’m here for it.
I have fond memories of jugged boar in the Prussian restaurant in Berlin. I wonder if it’s still there.
Gradually this became one of cornerstones of the policies of Decent People.
Some little time ago, the people behind the Raspberry Pi asked for a review of the tariffs on components vs finished items imported from China. Essentially you pay more on bits than on the finished product. Meaning that manufacturing in China is cheaper.
With some horror, the Foreign Office vetoed changes - “it might upset the Chinese”.
I still shudder at a Gazette assignment where I did six days luxury cruising down the Rhine
1. The Rhine is actually less attractive than you expect
2. The wine is a bit meh, TBH
3. You soon get bored of castles on the Rhine
4. Not a single decent meal all week, unless you count currywurst (which I do, coz it’s great)
Pragmatism is arguably a centrist quality, but effective pragmatism hasn't often been demonstrated by centrist politicians in recent times.
On the subject of food I am going to make a whole list of British puddings for friends. I love traditional puddings done well and was going to make a visit to the pudding club, but I'm not sure about it now, so I am going to do it myself to be eaten after long dog walks.
Yesterday was a Stilton and Walnut tart (made with puff pasty and lots of caramelised onions) followed by Damson Crumble and Bread and Butter pudding. Not had bread and butter pudding since my kids were children.
Next I am going for a Treacle pudding (Not to be confused with a syrup pudding. Has to be made with black treacle).
So far I have about 15 on my list.
Anyway back to the next batch of marmalade making.
Alsace is a bit better and prettier than the Schwarzwald, Switzerland and Austria do better Alps, Poland and Denmark do the Hanseatic look more comprehensively, Berlin is interesting but there are several more exciting European cities.
One thing it does have that’s right up there is the Mosel river and vineyards. Scenically few places like that other than arguably the Duoro and the Northern Rhone. And further along in Luxembourg.
Perhaps you shouldn’t have mentioned their age, or nationality either, as that’s not strictly relevant? Like their sexuality?
In which case your anecdote would be
“I met two people who like the north German coast”
Yes, let’s make all of PB like that so we can all die of boredom
Psychologists would have a field day.