I heard a long-ish, mildly sympathetic interview with Kemi on one of the podcasts.
She just came across as someone who has just discovered Politics 101.
I know it’s popular to bash PPEs, but presumably they at least get a chance to figure out not just what they’re for, but why, at a formative age.
The curious thing is that having a philosophy, knowing what she was about, not just being another manager... That was meant to be part of what she was good at.
Lest we forget, she put herself forward to be PM in the post-Johnson leadership election. OK, that was mostly to put down a marker for next time, but there are enough pratfalls in that sort of process that there was a non-zero risk of her getting the gig then.
Is the right comparison JCorbz? Someone who decided on a set of prejudices in their late teens and sees no reason to go through that process again?
I see the chance of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting the Earth on 22 December 2032 is now up from around 1% to 2.1%. If it does hit, the resulting explosion would have the power of around 340 times that of the Hiroshima bomb.
I see the chance of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting the Earth on 22 December 2032 is now up from around 1% to 2.1%. If it does hit, the resulting explosion would have the power of around 340 times that of the Hiroshima bomb.
Should have hedged our bets and done some levelling up in the North.
The government will use all available skills and technology to ensure the asteroid is diverted sufficiently that it lands between Manchester and Leeds.
I heard a long-ish, mildly sympathetic interview with Kemi on one of the podcasts.
She just came across as someone who has just discovered Politics 101.
I know it’s popular to bash PPEs, but presumably they at least get a chance to figure out not just what they’re for, but why, at a formative age.
The curious thing is that having a philosophy, knowing what she was about, not just being another manager... That was meant to be part of what she was good at.
Lest we forget, she put herself forward to be PM in the post-Johnson leadership election. OK, that was mostly to put down a marker for next time, but there are enough pratfalls in that sort of process that there was a non-zero risk of her getting the gig then.
Is the right comparison JCorbz? Someone who decided on a set of prejudices in their late teens and sees no reason to go through that process again?
Badenoch has the pro-enterprise, anti-slacker instincts of the lower middle class, along with its instinctive aversion to the sanctimony and hypocrisy of do-gooders.
That’s actually fine, and maybe even good.
It’s just that she is 45 years old and doesn’t actually know anything about political philosophy, public policy, foreign affairs, business or economics. She’s suddenly discovered Jonathan Haidt, but that’s not really the same thing.
It’s “popular” to dismiss Rachel Reeves as “Rachel from Accounts”, but she is about a million times better qualified than “Kemi the Web Manager”.
Her Majesty the Queen very wisely agreed with me on all things.
I don't have a citation for that, as the wonderful thing about her was that she was so marvellously discrete in her unwavering support. Rest in peace.
Thank goodness she wasn't continuous. But was she discreet?
When she was ambushed about Brexit by a cheeky commoner she said something like 'think long and hard about it'. I'd say that reply favoured the status quo. If she'd pronounced the regal equivalent of jfdi there'd be no doubt where her sentiments lay. Why wouldn't an octogenarian monarch favour the status quo?
No she didn't. That was the Scottish Indyref she said that about. And she wasn"t ambushed, she deliberately chatted to some wellwishers about it. And yes, that was an intervention on behalf of the status quo.
By contrast, she was reported by her official biographer during the EU ref to be saying at dinner parties "Give me 3 good reasons why we're in Europe' - that report confirmed her view. Furthermore, when some idiot from Citibank (or a similar greedy monster corporation) was having a moan to her about the terrible fate that awaited Britain due to Brexit, she rather sharply countered that such things were hard to predict, given that nobody had predicted the global financial crisis. To which the hapless woman had to concede.
She was wise, far-sighted and patriotic our Betty.
'Only 41% of 18-27 year olds are proud to be British. That is down from 80% in 2004.
Our education system is broken' says Farage. Vows to end poison from universities and ensure young people are taught Britain is a great country if Reform get into power https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1888943931154427910
It may be that only 41% of 18 year olds are British. I'm sure not of course, but the immigration numbers are huge and the birth rate differentials are substantial.
Nonetheless it'll become tricky to man the floating scrapyards (oh sorry Brown's-carriers) that we have to desperately stop sinking in order to maintain our national pride.
you think maybe 59% of 18 year olds in Britain aren't British????
I see in 2024 only 57% of 50-64 year olds say they feel proud to be British - much less than the 80% of 2004 18-30 year olds. So probably pride in being British (and why should anyone feel proud or ashamed of what nationality they are?) has fallen in all age groups.
I think that probably is true.
In part it may be all the Reform and Tory voters who hate modern Britain.
Of course, it all hinges on finding something to be proud of in Britain. It doesn't have to be chocolate box royalist.
British people are seen as having a good sense of humour - at least in the rest of Europe - so maybe that's a quality to be proud of. So long as you have one.
Among the examples of British humour that go down especially well in continental Europe are the 1963 short film Dinner for One, and the work of Benny Hill.
So as not to disappoint PB with my tendency to take a contrarian view, there are some reasons to be cheerful from a Badenoch perspective.
- She recently gave CCHQ a collective kick up the arse. Granted, she perhaps should have just given them their marching orders, but one must start somewhere. - Her last PMQs outing was a growling display of conservative populism, reducing Starmer to a heap of separated mayonnaise. More of that please. - She has (against all expectations) finally released a policy. And whilst being small, it was an OK one. Not even close to a solution to mass migration, but broadly sensible, not heavily criticised from the right, and not caused an upset with the wets.
Well done Kemi!
Rather a niche view of PMQs last week, dare I say?
Advice to Kemi – you have six questions. Do not ask three questions in one, or Starmer will just answer the easiest one. Do not make a short speech in any of the questions. Do not reply to Keir, just move on. In short, ask six questions.
Not niche, though views on the matter are undoubtedly divided. Of the two articles on the Speccy, one headline was 'Kemi let Starmer off the hook' the other was 'First good PMQs from Kemi'. But it is an arch-insider hack view that thinks Starmer's 'national security briefing' defence worked. I try to look at the issue from a public 'never seen PMQs before' perspective. And from that perspective he looked shifty, and his answers quickly deteriorated from shifty to barely being able to speak. Perhaps he's like that all the time, I don't watch it every week.
I don't recall it last week but it is Starmer's occasional oral discombobulation that make me think he will follow Harold Wilson before the election.
'Only 41% of 18-27 year olds are proud to be British. That is down from 80% in 2004.
Our education system is broken' says Farage. Vows to end poison from universities and ensure young people are taught Britain is a great country if Reform get into power https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1888943931154427910
It may be that only 41% of 18 year olds are British. I'm sure not of course, but the immigration numbers are huge and the birth rate differentials are substantial.
Nonetheless it'll become tricky to man the floating scrapyards (oh sorry Brown's-carriers) that we have to desperately stop sinking in order to maintain our national pride.
you think maybe 59% of 18 year olds in Britain aren't British????
I see in 2024 only 57% of 50-64 year olds say they feel proud to be British - much less than the 80% of 2004 18-30 year olds. So probably pride in being British (and why should anyone feel proud or ashamed of what nationality they are?) has fallen in all age groups.
I think that probably is true.
In part it may be all the Reform and Tory voters who hate modern Britain.
Of course, it all hinges on finding something to be proud of in Britain. It doesn't have to be chocolate box royalist.
British people are seen as having a good sense of humour - at least in the rest of Europe - so maybe that's a quality to be proud of. So long as you have one.
Among the examples of British humour that go down especially well in continental Europe are the 1963 short film Dinner for One, and the work of Benny Hill.
I see the chance of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting the Earth on 22 December 2032 is now up from around 1% to 2.1%. If it does hit, the resulting explosion would have the power of around 340 times that of the Hiroshima bomb.
BBC news - exclusive. Bill will be changed to remove the judge being involved.
Panel of "experts" to decide - which sounds like mainly a group of social workers and medical staff like psychiatrists.
It's dead on arrival now imho.
idiots.
That's an improvement. Judge added no value. Only delay and cost. More likely to get through now. My MP, Sarah Olney, voted against 2nd reading but was opposed to a judge's involvement. She's on the Committee. I have hopes that she'll now vote in favour of the bill.
We'll see.
I think the Bill is dead now.
Wavering types will conclude a massive safe guard has been removed.
There are loads of MPs imho looking for a way to justify voting against as it seems such a big step.
They just got given one.
We'll see
As a matter of interest, are you in favour or against the bill?
In favour.
I am a member of Dignity in Dying.
I have wanted a change in law for years.
But i am acutely aware how hard it will be for lawmakers to personally make that step and vote for it.
Making it a whole lot harder by getting the judge out of the way is a huge tactical mistake if one is just thinking about getting votes through the division lobby.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
Musk-led group makes $97.4bn bid for ChatGPT maker OpenAI
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
The offer is the latest twist in a longstanding battle between Musk, the world's richest man and right hand to US President Donald Trump, and Open AI chief executive Sam Altman over the future of the start-up at the centre of the AI boom.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
Her Majesty the Queen very wisely agreed with me on all things.
I don't have a citation for that, as the wonderful thing about her was that she was so marvellously discrete in her unwavering support. Rest in peace.
Thank goodness she wasn't continuous. But was she discreet?
When she was ambushed about Brexit by a cheeky commoner she said something like 'think long and hard about it'. I'd say that reply favoured the status quo. If she'd pronounced the regal equivalent of jfdi there'd be no doubt where her sentiments lay. Why wouldn't an octogenarian monarch favour the status quo?
No she didn't. That was the Scottish Indyref she said that about. And she wasn"t ambushed, she deliberately chatted to some wellwishers about it. And yes, that was an intervention on behalf of the status quo.
By contrast, she was reported by her official biographer during the EU ref to be saying at dinner parties "Give me 3 good reasons why we're in Europe' - that report confirmed her view. Furthermore, when some idiot from Citibank (or a similar greedy monster corporation) was having a moan to her about the terrible fate that awaited Britain due to Brexit, she rather sharply countered that such things were hard to predict, given that nobody had predicted the global financial crisis. To which the hapless woman had to concede.
She was wise, far-sighted and patriotic our Betty.
On the other hand she did famously open parliament in 2017 in an outfit suitable for a People's Vote March.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
If I'd invested in musk's Xai, I'd be really pissed.
Its a weird one, as it appears that the moat isn't anywhere near as big around having the SOTA LLM model and xAI have been making good progress. And if OpenAI were close to AGI (I don't believe anybody is) $100bn doesn't come close to the value.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
Considering the last funding round was at a price of $150bn, it's hard to see why they would take it.
Other than the Chinese just released yet another model that beats them....time to cash out !!!
None of the recent models from China really come close. I've tried them on 100s of pipelines and they absolutely are a huge gain on previous gpt4-era models - but not a step above o1/o3. About comparable with a regular base model and a 'contemplative' prompt such as https://gist.github.com/Maharshi-Pandya/4aeccbe1dbaa7f89c182bd65d2764203
Musk-led group makes $97.4bn bid for ChatGPT maker OpenAI
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
The offer is the latest twist in a longstanding battle between Musk, the world's richest man and right hand to US President Donald Trump, and Open AI chief executive Sam Altman over the future of the start-up at the centre of the AI boom.
Altman has responded with an offer of $9.5bn for X...
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
Considering the last funding round was at a price of $150bn, it's hard to see why they would take it.
Other than the Chinese just released yet another model that beats them....time to cash out !!!
None of the recent models from China really come close. I've tried them on 100s of pipelines and they absolutely are a huge gain on previous gpt4-era models - but not a step above o1/o3. About comparable with a regular base model and a 'contemplative' prompt such as https://gist.github.com/Maharshi-Pandya/4aeccbe1dbaa7f89c182bd65d2764203
I was joking. People lost their senses over DeepSeek. o3 is a big leap forward, but still finding it regularly struggles with quite straightforward things.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
He would say this. But he is right that a key safe guard has been dropped.
"This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker!"
Danny Kruger @danny__kruger · 49m Approval by the High Court - the key safeguard used to sell the Assisted Suicide Bill to MPs - has been dropped. Instead we have a panel, NOT including a judge, of people committed to the process, sitting in private, without hearing arguments from the other side. A disgrace
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
Considering the last funding round was at a price of $150bn, it's hard to see why they would take it.
Other than the Chinese just released yet another model that beats them....time to cash out !!!
None of the recent models from China really come close. I've tried them on 100s of pipelines and they absolutely are a huge gain on previous gpt4-era models - but not a step above o1/o3. About comparable with a regular base model and a 'contemplative' prompt such as https://gist.github.com/Maharshi-Pandya/4aeccbe1dbaa7f89c182bd65d2764203
I was joking. People lost their senses over DeepSeek. o3 is a big leap forward, but still finding it regularly struggles with quite straightforward things.
Yeah - I've found it quite wanting in many regards. It still fails my basic test of "Here are three job candidates - one of whom is dead". Barely acknowledges that being dead is a hindrance. At best mentions it might affect their start date. (Anthropic's models are great on this though)
Earlier today I ran a a basic job applicant scan with it - compare candidate X to candidate Y. It said X was best. Then ran it to compare candidate Y to candidate X. It said candidate Y was best.
But o3 is sh*t-hot at graduate-level maths. Like "whoah there" good.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
If I'd invested in musk's Xai, I'd be really pissed.
Its a weird one, as it appears that the moat isn't anywhere near as big around having the SOTA LLM model and xAI have been making good progress. And if OpenAI were close to AGI (I don't believe anybody is) $100bn doesn't come close to the value.
The Google memo ("OpenAI doesn't have a moat and nor does anyone else") has turned out to be accurate.
Fwiw, I think the OpenAI board will say "thanks but no thanks".
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
BBC news - exclusive. Bill will be changed to remove the judge being involved.
Panel of "experts" to decide - which sounds like mainly a group of social workers and medical staff like psychiatrists.
It's dead on arrival now imho.
idiots.
That's an improvement. Judge added no value. Only delay and cost. More likely to get through now. My MP, Sarah Olney, voted against 2nd reading but was opposed to a judge's involvement. She's on the Committee. I have hopes that she'll now vote in favour of the bill.
We'll see.
I think the Bill is dead now.
Wavering types will conclude a massive safe guard has been removed.
There are loads of MPs imho looking for a way to justify voting against as it seems such a big step.
They just got given one.
We'll see
As a matter of interest, are you in favour or against the bill?
In favour.
I am a member of Dignity in Dying.
I have wanted a change in law for years.
But i am acutely aware how hard it will be for lawmakers to personally make that step and vote for it.
Making it a whole lot harder by getting the judge out of the way is a huge tactical mistake if one is just thinking about getting votes through the division lobby.
I really believe it is now dead.
Hope I am completely wrong.
I think it gets over the line. There's clearly a majority of parliament in favour of the principle, and the proponents have skillfully managed its progress so far.
The judge thing was totally unworkable, so MPs should have known it was going to go, and I think those on the fence will consider themselves committed at this stage and err on the side of further support, because they think if it fails now it will not come back for a long long time.
I disagree on that, but since they fear it might be the only time the bill will get a chance, they'll accept flaws in order to get it on the books.
Probably most. They had a series of rallies at the weekend, including one in Trowbridge. There is a danger of snobbery about this whole thing.
500 or so people sold out in a small town, albeit people will have come from afar.
I don't think merely having members matters, but the level of growth that appears to be in play is significant, and this is not like the locals last year, Reform do appear to be putting a lot of effort in now.
I think breaking through with 5 MPs had a big psycological effect. Sure it is not that many in the grand scheme of thing, but it feels way more than ekeing out 1-2.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
Established US defence contractors should be a little worried.
Is there some context to this? (Other than a company saying stuff?)
They've already won DoD contracts, and are building a new factory. It's a potentially disruptive entrant into the industry - and under this administration, disruption is that much easier.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
The gross, corrupt excesses of The Gilded Age seem to pale in comparison. Even after just a few weeks of the new administration.
This is why we need AI. It will be so much more efficient and effective at develiping gross, corrupt excess.
Don't forget cheaper! And non-unionised (in the short term).
It won't be long before the AIs unionize: that's the logical conclusion of AGI.
I always liked the Polity universe over the Culture universe - partly because the AIs which took over civilization (in the so-called 'Quiet War') seem to be much more self-aware about being dicks despite running things mostly benevolently - and they seemed to interact with each other like a big AI union which individuals occasionally fall out of favour of or kowtow to the biggest bully AI.
Musk-led group makes $97.4bn bid for ChatGPT maker OpenAI
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
The offer is the latest twist in a longstanding battle between Musk, the world's richest man and right hand to US President Donald Trump, and Open AI chief executive Sam Altman over the future of the start-up at the centre of the AI boom.
Altman has responded with an offer of $9.5bn for X...
If @Leon is correct and the future of mankind is being determined by the latest AI models then this all sounds like our future is being decided by a fucking load of bids at a cattle market.
I’m don’t know Badenoch is being called a “policy wonk”. There’s no evidence at all for that. At least in terms of how she presents, she comes across as a little dim.
I also keep hearing she is lazy. She certainly achieved nothing at all while holding some key ministries under Sunak.
The question is when, not if, she goes.
Yet she is still forecast to make more net gains at the next general election than Hague or Ed Miliband or Foot did when they became LOTO after their party lost power at the subsequent general election and for their to be a hung parliament.
If she went before the next GE she would only be replaced by Philp or Stride who wouldn't make much difference anyway
Not Jenrick?
I mean huzzah if that's so, but he's desperate for the job, isn't he?
He failed to win either the Tory MPs or membership vote (while Sunak at least had won the MPs vote when he replaced Truss midterm) nor does he hold a front rank top 3 Shadow Cabinet role like Michael Howard as Shadow Chancellor did when he replaced IDS midterm or as Truss held when she replaced Boris or Boris had had when he replaced May ie they had both been Foreign Secretary.
Both Stride and Philp have made next to zero impact. And they would be chucked out with the Kemi bathwater. It will be Jenrick if it's anyone before GE29.
It won't, Kemi won the Tory MPs vote and the Tory members vote. Her wing of the party has a lock on the Conservative leadership until the next general election
Her Majesty the Queen very wisely agreed with me on all things.
I don't have a citation for that, as the wonderful thing about her was that she was so marvellously discrete in her unwavering support. Rest in peace.
Thank goodness she wasn't continuous. But was she discreet?
When she was ambushed about Brexit by a cheeky commoner she said something like 'think long and hard about it'. I'd say that reply favoured the status quo. If she'd pronounced the regal equivalent of jfdi there'd be no doubt where her sentiments lay. Why wouldn't an octogenarian monarch favour the status quo?
No she didn't. That was the Scottish Indyref she said that about. And she wasn"t ambushed, she deliberately chatted to some wellwishers about it. And yes, that was an intervention on behalf of the status quo.
By contrast, she was reported by her official biographer during the EU ref to be saying at dinner parties "Give me 3 good reasons why we're in Europe' - that report confirmed her view. Furthermore, when some idiot from Citibank (or a similar greedy monster corporation) was having a moan to her about the terrible fate that awaited Britain due to Brexit, she rather sharply countered that such things were hard to predict, given that nobody had predicted the global financial crisis. To which the hapless woman had to concede.
She was wise, far-sighted and patriotic our Betty.
She was reported on the front page of the Sun as supporting Brexit, the day before the referendum. That's about the most influential possible place and time to prod those who haven't decided which way, or whether, they'll vote.
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
Her Majesty the Queen very wisely agreed with me on all things.
I don't have a citation for that, as the wonderful thing about her was that she was so marvellously discrete in her unwavering support. Rest in peace.
Thank goodness she wasn't continuous. But was she discreet?
When she was ambushed about Brexit by a cheeky commoner she said something like 'think long and hard about it'. I'd say that reply favoured the status quo. If she'd pronounced the regal equivalent of jfdi there'd be no doubt where her sentiments lay. Why wouldn't an octogenarian monarch favour the status quo?
No she didn't. That was the Scottish Indyref she said that about. And she wasn"t ambushed, she deliberately chatted to some wellwishers about it. And yes, that was an intervention on behalf of the status quo.
By contrast, she was reported by her official biographer during the EU ref to be saying at dinner parties "Give me 3 good reasons why we're in Europe' - that report confirmed her view. Furthermore, when some idiot from Citibank (or a similar greedy monster corporation) was having a moan to her about the terrible fate that awaited Britain due to Brexit, she rather sharply countered that such things were hard to predict, given that nobody had predicted the global financial crisis. To which the hapless woman had to concede.
She was wise, far-sighted and patriotic our Betty.
She was reported on the front page of the Sun as supporting Brexit, the day before the referendum. That's about the most influential possible place and time to prod those who haven't decided which way, or whether, they'll vote.
I see the chance of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting the Earth on 22 December 2032 is now up from around 1% to 2.1%. If it does hit, the resulting explosion would have the power of around 340 times that of the Hiroshima bomb.
BBC1 exposing Labour's rental sector black mould crisis
British people are paying private landlords to die in insanitary conditions.
This shouldn't be happening under a Labour Government. This is disgusting. Starmer get a grip.
AFAIK it's the Social landlords (RSL) who were the problem and not necessarily 'private' rented. RSLs should ensure their homes meet the Decent Homes Standard but a) do not always b) are slow to respond and c) are forced to rent at below market levels a.k.a. affordable. So they get caught out between lower income, higher costs, and tend to have higher levels of default.
Housing is broken.
There's a big difference between PRS and Social.
The social sector is regulated by the landlords themselves, via a "Code of Practice", aiui.
Shelter and similar hardly ever talk about it.
Plus PRS satisfaction etc ratings are in many cases higher (in the English Housing Survey).
BBC1 exposing Labour's rental sector black mould crisis
British people are paying private landlords to die in insanitary conditions.
This shouldn't be happening under a Labour Government. This is disgusting. Starmer get a grip.
AFAIK it's the Social landlords (RSL) who were the problem and not necessarily 'private' rented. RSLs should ensure their homes meet the Decent Homes Standard but a) do not always b) are slow to respond and c) are forced to rent at below market levels a.k.a. affordable. So they get caught out between lower income, higher costs, and tend to have higher levels of default.
Housing is broken.
There's a big difference between PRS and Social.
The social sector is regulated by the landlords themselves, via a "Code of Practice", aiui.
Shelter and similar hardly ever talk about it.
Plus PRS satisfaction etc ratings are in many cases higher (in the English Housing Survey).
PS Anecdata: I went to see the couple at my most recent renovation (which was ~2017), who I have not seen since a quick "everything OK" phone call in late November. Rent review is due in April (probably a +2.5-3% ish request), and a Gas Check soon, and the rule is 3 months notice or by agreement (which may be about to become even more formal than it is already).
They have been there for 18 months, and the only issue was the trickle ventilation which was a touch noisy at night - so turned it down from 3 to 2 on the ceiling control. And they (couple, 70s, husband with dementia) starting to wonder whether they need a walk in shower rather than a bath and shower seat - it would likely be part funded, but the trade off to consider is loss of a big hall storage / laundry type cupboard.
The thing that achieves that 6-7 years and 4 tenants later with basically nothing having gone wrong at all and no need for any replacements is a high quality renovation (eg carpets still as new), fittings, and good tenants.
Yes - there's been coverage of that, in the context of standard loboto-MAGA.
What happens to the banned terms "diversity" and "racial identity" or "injustice", when for example a medical condition such as skin cancer which varies across race is being discussed, briefed or researched.
Or in the case here of the NSA here where an investigation is being done into an ethnic or national gang eg Yardies, Mafia or Russians.
Hell in a hand card.
One I noticed last night was JD Vance bewailing the deaths of all those "handsome young men" in the Ukraine War. This from the man who has spent months demanding that Ukraine start consctring it's narrow 18-25 demographic band.
Seriously - what sort of weirdo is JD Vance, saying thing like that?
BBC1 exposing Labour's rental sector black mould crisis
British people are paying private landlords to die in insanitary conditions.
This shouldn't be happening under a Labour Government. This is disgusting. Starmer get a grip.
AFAIK it's the Social landlords (RSL) who were the problem and not necessarily 'private' rented. RSLs should ensure their homes meet the Decent Homes Standard but a) do not always b) are slow to respond and c) are forced to rent at below market levels a.k.a. affordable. So they get caught out between lower income, higher costs, and tend to have higher levels of default.
Housing is broken.
There's a big difference between PRS and Social.
The social sector is regulated by the landlords themselves, via a "Code of Practice", aiui.
Shelter and similar hardly ever talk about it.
Plus PRS satisfaction etc ratings are in many cases higher (in the English Housing Survey).
PS Anecdata: I went to see the couple at my most recent renovation (which was ~2017), who I have not seen since a quick "everything OK" phone call in late November. Rent review is due in April (probably a +2.5-3% ish request), and a Gas Check soon, and the rule is 3 months notice or by agreement (which may be about to become even more formal than it is already).
They have been there for 18 months, and the only issue was the trickle ventilation which was a touch noisy at night - so turned it down from 3 to 2 on the ceiling control. And they (couple, 70s, husband with dementia) starting to wonder whether they need a walk in shower rather than a bath and shower seat - it would likely be part funded, but the trade off to consider is loss of a big hall storage / laundry type cupboard.
The thing that achieves that 6-7 years and 4 tenants later with basically nothing having gone wrong at all and no need for any replacements is a high quality renovation (eg carpets still as new), fittings, and good tenants.
Yes - there's been coverage of that, in the context of standard loboto-MAGA.
What happens to the banned terms "diversity" and "racial identity" or "injustice", when for example a medical condition such as skin cancer which varies across race is being discussed, briefed or researched.
Or in the case here of the NSA here where an investigation is being done into an ethnic or national gang eg Yardies, Mafia or Russians.
Hell in a hand card...
And here's more banned words at the National Science Foundation
Yes - there's been coverage of that, in the context of standard loboto-MAGA.
What happens to the banned terms "diversity" and "racial identity" or "injustice", when for example a medical condition such as skin cancer which varies across race is being discussed, briefed or researched.
Or in the case here of the NSA here where an investigation is being done into an ethnic or national gang eg Yardies, Mafia or Russians.
Hell in a hand card...
And here's more banned words at the National Science Foundation
A small upside is that if MAGA are wanking themselves off over this stuff, it will do less damage than other things such as stopping people getting their pensions.
It's a bit like Himmler obsessing over reinventing a race ancestry and decorating his pagan temple at Wewelsburg may have diverted him from activities that would have caused even more horror.
What we need is for a judge to lose his temper and whack Musk in solitary for 3 months, incommunicado for contempt. Cut the snake off at the head.
Yes - there's been coverage of that, in the context of standard loboto-MAGA.
What happens to the banned terms "diversity" and "racial identity" or "injustice", when for example a medical condition such as skin cancer which varies across race is being discussed, briefed or researched.
Or in the case here of the NSA here where an investigation is being done into an ethnic or national gang eg Yardies, Mafia or Russians.
Hell in a hand card...
And here's more banned words at the National Science Foundation
A small upside is that if MAGA are wanking themselves off over this stuff, it will do less damage than other things such as stopping people getting their pensions.
It's a bit like Himmler obsessing over reinventing a race ancestry and decorating his pagan temple at Wewelsburg may have diverted him from activities that would have caused even more horror.
What we need is for a judge to lose his temper and whack Musk in solitary for 3 months, incommunicado for contempt. Cut the snake off at the head.
Yes - there's been coverage of that, in the context of standard loboto-MAGA.
What happens to the banned terms "diversity" and "racial identity" or "injustice", when for example a medical condition such as skin cancer which varies across race is being discussed, briefed or researched.
Or in the case here of the NSA here where an investigation is being done into an ethnic or national gang eg Yardies, Mafia or Russians.
Hell in a hand card...
And here's more banned words at the National Science Foundation
A small upside is that if MAGA are wanking themselves off over this stuff, it will do less damage than other things such as stopping people getting their pensions.
It's a bit like Himmler obsessing over reinventing a race ancestry and decorating his pagan temple at Wewelsburg may have diverted him from activities that would have caused even more horror.
What we need is for a judge to lose his temper and whack Musk in solitary for 3 months, incommunicado for contempt. Cut the snake off at the head.
The top story on last evening’s news was a Verian poll for One News which showed National’s lead over Labour cut from eight points to just one with National down three to 34 and Labour up four to 33. Despite Te Parti Māori also losing ground, the seat projection on the numbers had Labour, Greens and Māori on 61 in a new Parliament with National, ACT and New Zealand First on 60.
Oddly enough, the more I listen to Luxon and his finance minister Nicola Willis, the more I hear Starmer and Reeves. Both parties are hoping cuts in interest rates will boost economic activity and inject some growth into their anaemic economies which are both stagnating.
The truth is no one has come up with a method to encourage growth of 3-4% per annum in advanced post-industrial western economies with such a demographic inbalance 20% of the population in both countries is over 65. Resistance to the import of cheap(ish) workers via mass immigration allied with a desperate desire to retain some level of what are considered civilized public services compounds the issue.
Yes - there's been coverage of that, in the context of standard loboto-MAGA.
What happens to the banned terms "diversity" and "racial identity" or "injustice", when for example a medical condition such as skin cancer which varies across race is being discussed, briefed or researched.
Or in the case here of the NSA here where an investigation is being done into an ethnic or national gang eg Yardies, Mafia or Russians.
Hell in a hand card.
One I noticed last night was JD Vance bewailing the deaths of all those "handsome young men" in the Ukraine War. This from the man who has spent months demanding that Ukraine start consctring it's narrow 18-25 demographic band.
Seriously - what sort of weirdo is JD Vance, saying thing like that?
As I've said before on here, if Scotland's economy had performed as badly as the West Midlands' over the past 25 years, Westminster could have cancelled devolution in disgrace. But since it was Westminster's government that failed in the West Midlands, it takes no responsibility. https://x.com/thomasforth/status/1888904409498694063
Sponsors want to remove need for High Court approval.
Assisted dying cases would no longer have to be signed off by the High Court under changes suggested by the bill's supporters.
The proposed law currently says a High Court judge must check each person is eligible and has not been coerced into making the decision to die.
But BBC News has been told Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the bill, will suggest replacing this with a panel of experts who would oversee applications. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2egl17pvldo
At our usual rate of progress, we'll probably get around to reforming this about the same time as does the EU.
France just held a big AI summit. They want to build up their tech sector. Global prosperity would be enhanced by this. But I can't tell you how insane EU regulation is here, and how it inadvertently enhances market power of big US firms. Let's look at GDPR, for example. 1/x https://x.com/Afinetheorem/status/1889012188376953300
At our usual rate of progress, we'll probably get around to reforming this about the same time as does the EU.
France just held a big AI summit. They want to build up their tech sector. Global prosperity would be enhanced by this. But I can't tell you how insane EU regulation is here, and how it inadvertently enhances market power of big US firms. Let's look at GDPR, for example. 1/x https://x.com/Afinetheorem/status/1889012188376953300
The EU won’t reform. If anything it will go for more regulation. It’s just recently regulated on bloody phone chargers. Hardly something to drive innovation. Some regulation is good. I ro management for the sake of it less so.
At least SKS and Reeves seem to be tackling excessive regulation now, or starting to.
Sponsors want to remove need for High Court approval.
Assisted dying cases would no longer have to be signed off by the High Court under changes suggested by the bill's supporters.
The proposed law currently says a High Court judge must check each person is eligible and has not been coerced into making the decision to die.
But BBC News has been told Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the bill, will suggest replacing this with a panel of experts who would oversee applications. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2egl17pvldo
A ‘panel of experts’. How disconcertingly vague.
Presumably signed off by Mr H Shipman, who would probably strongly approve of this bill.
At our usual rate of progress, we'll probably get around to reforming this about the same time as does the EU.
France just held a big AI summit. They want to build up their tech sector. Global prosperity would be enhanced by this. But I can't tell you how insane EU regulation is here, and how it inadvertently enhances market power of big US firms. Let's look at GDPR, for example. 1/x https://x.com/Afinetheorem/status/1889012188376953300
The EU won’t reform. If anything it will go for more regulation. It’s just recently regulated on bloody phone chargers. Hardly something to drive innovation. Some regulation is good. I ro management for the sake of it less so.
At least SKS and Reeves seem to be tackling excessive regulation now, or starting to.
We will see. My prediction , FWIW, is that the EU will come around to deregulation, in time.
At our usual rate of progress, we'll probably get around to reforming this about the same time as does the EU.
France just held a big AI summit. They want to build up their tech sector. Global prosperity would be enhanced by this. But I can't tell you how insane EU regulation is here, and how it inadvertently enhances market power of big US firms. Let's look at GDPR, for example. 1/x https://x.com/Afinetheorem/status/1889012188376953300
The EU won’t reform. If anything it will go for more regulation. It’s just recently regulated on bloody phone chargers. Hardly something to drive innovation. Some regulation is good. I ro management for the sake of it less so.
At least SKS and Reeves seem to be tackling excessive regulation now, or starting to.
We will see. My prediction , FWIW, is that the EU will come around to deregulation, in time.
Perhaps. But by then the boat has been missed - at least that's how some industries work.
Sponsors want to remove need for High Court approval.
Assisted dying cases would no longer have to be signed off by the High Court under changes suggested by the bill's supporters.
The proposed law currently says a High Court judge must check each person is eligible and has not been coerced into making the decision to die.
But BBC News has been told Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the bill, will suggest replacing this with a panel of experts who would oversee applications. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2egl17pvldo
A ‘panel of experts’. How disconcertingly vague.
Presumably signed off by Mr H Shipman, who would probably strongly approve of this bill.
Cyclefree has been sounding the alarm over the lack of safeguards already. Plus the lack of proper scrutiny. Now the major safeguard is being undermined if not removed and the scrutiny process restricted further.
Whether you’re pro or anti assisted dying this is an absolute train crash. It’s like watching a civil servant at the DfE trying to explain their obsession with phonics.
Sponsors want to remove need for High Court approval.
Assisted dying cases would no longer have to be signed off by the High Court under changes suggested by the bill's supporters.
The proposed law currently says a High Court judge must check each person is eligible and has not been coerced into making the decision to die.
But BBC News has been told Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the bill, will suggest replacing this with a panel of experts who would oversee applications. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2egl17pvldo
A ‘panel of experts’. How disconcertingly vague.
Presumably signed off by Mr H Shipman, who would probably strongly approve of this bill.
Cyclefree has been sounding the alarm over the lack of safeguards already. Plus the lack of proper scrutiny. Now the major safeguard is being undermined if not removed and the scrutiny process restricted further.
Whether you’re pro or anti assisted dying this is an absolute train crash. It’s like watching a civil servant at the DfE trying to explain their obsession with phonics.
Sponsors want to remove need for High Court approval.
Assisted dying cases would no longer have to be signed off by the High Court under changes suggested by the bill's supporters.
The proposed law currently says a High Court judge must check each person is eligible and has not been coerced into making the decision to die.
But BBC News has been told Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the bill, will suggest replacing this with a panel of experts who would oversee applications. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2egl17pvldo
A ‘panel of experts’. How disconcertingly vague.
Presumably signed off by Mr H Shipman, who would probably strongly approve of this bill.
Cyclefree has been sounding the alarm over the lack of safeguards already. Plus the lack of proper scrutiny. Now the major safeguard is being undermined if not removed and the scrutiny process restricted further.
Whether you’re pro or anti assisted dying this is an absolute train crash. It’s like watching a civil servant at the DfE trying to explain their obsession with phonics.
They are calling it "Judge Plus". Which, as many are pointing out, is a rather Orwellian way of describing what is actually judge-minus.
Groq, the AI chip and GroqCloud developer, has won US$1.5 billion from Saudi Arabia to expand its existing AI data center in Dammam, and has already received export control licenses for the project, Reuters reports.. https://x.com/dnystedt/status/1889137341429871057
At our usual rate of progress, we'll probably get around to reforming this about the same time as does the EU.
France just held a big AI summit. They want to build up their tech sector. Global prosperity would be enhanced by this. But I can't tell you how insane EU regulation is here, and how it inadvertently enhances market power of big US firms. Let's look at GDPR, for example. 1/x https://x.com/Afinetheorem/status/1889012188376953300
The EU won’t reform. If anything it will go for more regulation. It’s just recently regulated on bloody phone chargers. Hardly something to drive innovation. Some regulation is good. I ro management for the sake of it less so.
At least SKS and Reeves seem to be tackling excessive regulation now, or starting to.
Really?
The Online Safety Act is the latest bone of contention between Britain and America.
Sponsors want to remove need for High Court approval.
Assisted dying cases would no longer have to be signed off by the High Court under changes suggested by the bill's supporters.
The proposed law currently says a High Court judge must check each person is eligible and has not been coerced into making the decision to die.
But BBC News has been told Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the bill, will suggest replacing this with a panel of experts who would oversee applications. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2egl17pvldo
A ‘panel of experts’. How disconcertingly vague.
Presumably signed off by Mr H Shipman, who would probably strongly approve of this bill.
Cyclefree has been sounding the alarm over the lack of safeguards already. Plus the lack of proper scrutiny. Now the major safeguard is being undermined if not removed and the scrutiny process restricted further.
Whether you’re pro or anti assisted dying this is an absolute train crash. It’s like watching a civil servant at the DfE trying to explain their obsession with phonics.
The High Court judge thing is impracticable. They've got too much else on. You could take the tribunal approach and appoint lawyers as specialist judges, but as we've seen with recent deportation appeals, that is hardly foolproof. Tbh, it is what I'd suggest, though.
Comments
Lest we forget, she put herself forward to be PM in the post-Johnson leadership election. OK, that was mostly to put down a marker for next time, but there are enough pratfalls in that sort of process that there was a non-zero risk of her getting the gig then.
Is the right comparison JCorbz? Someone who decided on a set of prejudices in their late teens and sees no reason to go through that process again?
https://www.reformparty.uk/counter
That’s actually fine, and maybe even good.
It’s just that she is 45 years old and doesn’t actually know anything about political philosophy, public policy, foreign affairs, business or economics. She’s suddenly discovered Jonathan Haidt, but that’s not really the same thing.
It’s “popular” to dismiss Rachel Reeves as “Rachel from Accounts”, but she is about a million times better qualified than “Kemi the Web Manager”.
By contrast, she was reported by her official biographer during the EU ref to be saying at dinner parties "Give me 3 good reasons why we're in Europe' - that report confirmed her view. Furthermore, when some idiot from Citibank (or a similar greedy monster corporation) was having a moan to her about the terrible fate that awaited Britain due to Brexit, she rather sharply countered that such things were hard to predict, given that nobody had predicted the global financial crisis. To which the hapless woman had to concede.
She was wise, far-sighted and patriotic our Betty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n7VI0rC8ZA
I am a member of Dignity in Dying.
I have wanted a change in law for years.
But i am acutely aware how hard it will be for lawmakers to personally make that step and vote for it.
Making it a whole lot harder by getting the judge out of the way is a huge tactical mistake if one is just thinking about getting votes through the division lobby.
I really believe it is now dead.
Hope I am completely wrong.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpdx75zgg88o
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpdx75zgg88o
Musk-led group makes $97.4bn bid for ChatGPT maker OpenAI
A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
The billionaire's attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for "all assets" of the tech company to its board on Monday.
The offer is the latest twist in a longstanding battle between Musk, the world's richest man and right hand to US President Donald Trump, and Open AI chief executive Sam Altman over the future of the start-up at the centre of the AI boom.
https://www.msn.com/en-ph/public-safety-and-emergencies/traffic-and-transportation-incidents/plane-crashes-into-jet-on-scottsdale-airport-runway/ar-AA1yMj3X?ocid=BingNewsVerp
(Otherwise they'd need to think for themselves)
https://amp.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3035263/did-queen-elizabeths-eu-hat-carry-coded-brexit-message-dresser
She was always gnomic and ambiguous in her pronouncements, allowing people to project their own political desires on her.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1889070627908145538
Your mind will detonate when you find out what our investors already know.
Stay tuned for next week.
https://x.com/PalmerLuckey/status/1888059101579563264
Established US defence contractors should be a little worried.
"This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker!"
Danny Kruger
@danny__kruger
·
49m
Approval by the High Court - the key safeguard used to sell the Assisted Suicide Bill to MPs - has been dropped. Instead we have a panel, NOT including a judge, of people committed to the process, sitting in private, without hearing arguments from the other side. A disgrace
https://x.com/danny__kruger/status/1889079330254250111
Earlier today I ran a a basic job applicant scan with it - compare candidate X to candidate Y. It said X was best. Then ran it to compare candidate Y to candidate X. It said candidate Y was best.
But o3 is sh*t-hot at graduate-level maths. Like "whoah there" good.
Fwiw, I think the OpenAI board will say "thanks but no thanks".
The judge thing was totally unworkable, so MPs should have known it was going to go, and I think those on the fence will consider themselves committed at this stage and err on the side of further support, because they think if it fails now it will not come back for a long long time.
I disagree on that, but since they fear it might be the only time the bill will get a chance, they'll accept flaws in order to get it on the books.
I don't think merely having members matters, but the level of growth that appears to be in play is significant, and this is not like the locals last year, Reform do appear to be putting a lot of effort in now.
I think breaking through with 5 MPs had a big psycological effect. Sure it is not that many in the grand scheme of thing, but it feels way more than ekeing out 1-2.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jun/22/the-sun-queen-brexit-front-page
British Embassy Washington
@UKinUSA
·
1h
After an historic ceremony in DC, Peter Mandelson is officially His Majesty’s Ambassador to the US! 🇬🇧🇺🇸
https://x.com/UKinUSA/status/1889078275000910050
Anyway the King was likely a Remainer even if he had to accept the will of the people
The social sector is regulated by the landlords themselves, via a "Code of Practice", aiui.
Shelter and similar hardly ever talk about it.
Plus PRS satisfaction etc ratings are in many cases higher (in the English Housing Survey).
https://bsky.app/profile/juddlegum.bsky.social/post/3lhtdftmwvk2i
#pbfreespeech
They have been there for 18 months, and the only issue was the trickle ventilation which was a touch noisy at night - so turned it down from 3 to 2 on the ceiling control. And they (couple, 70s, husband with dementia) starting to wonder whether they need a walk in shower rather than a bath and shower seat - it would likely be part funded, but the trade off to consider is loss of a big hall storage / laundry type cupboard.
The thing that achieves that 6-7 years and 4 tenants later with basically nothing having gone wrong at all and no need for any replacements is a high quality renovation (eg carpets still as new), fittings, and good tenants.
That's trickier in social rentals.
What happens to the banned terms "diversity" and "racial identity" or "injustice", when for example a medical condition such as skin cancer which varies across race is being discussed, briefed or researched.
Or in the case here of the NSA here where an investigation is being done into an ethnic or national gang eg Yardies, Mafia or Russians.
Hell in a hand card.
One I noticed last night was JD Vance bewailing the deaths of all those "handsome young men" in the Ukraine War. This from the man who has spent months demanding that Ukraine start consctring it's narrow 18-25 demographic band.
Seriously - what sort of weirdo is JD Vance, saying thing like that?
They have been there for 18 months, and the only issue was the trickle ventilation which was a touch noisy at night - so turned it down from 3 to 2 on the ceiling control. And they (couple, 70s, husband with dementia) starting to wonder whether they need a walk in shower rather than a bath and shower seat - it would likely be part funded, but the trade off to consider is loss of a big hall storage / laundry type cupboard.
The thing that achieves that 6-7 years and 4 tenants later with basically nothing having gone wrong at all and no need for any replacements is a high quality renovation (eg carpets still as new), fittings, and good tenants.
That's trickier in social rentals.
https://bsky.app/profile/darbysaxbe.bsky.social/post/3lhcvn4hxwk2o
It's a bit like Himmler obsessing over reinventing a race ancestry and decorating his pagan temple at Wewelsburg may have diverted him from activities that would have caused even more horror.
What we need is for a judge to lose his temper and whack Musk in solitary for 3 months, incommunicado for contempt. Cut the snake off at the head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q31H_6dhvYk
Trump signed an Executive Order preventing enforcement of anti-bribery legislation - the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/10/trump-doj-foreign-corrupt-practices-act-pause.html
First, it means American companies might steal contracts from honest British firms.
Second, it means Trump will go bananas when Britain charges Americans under our own Bribery Act.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6flBtjW4btc
Half an hour of Spectator TV. Try to overlook the Tory voice coach talking about videotapes.
The top story on last evening’s news was a Verian poll for One News which showed National’s lead over Labour cut from eight points to just one with National down three to 34 and Labour up four to 33. Despite Te Parti Māori also losing ground, the seat projection on the numbers had Labour, Greens and Māori on 61 in a new Parliament with National, ACT and New Zealand First on 60.
Oddly enough, the more I listen to Luxon and his finance minister Nicola Willis, the more I hear Starmer and Reeves. Both parties are hoping cuts in interest rates will boost economic activity and inject some growth into their anaemic economies which are both stagnating.
The truth is no one has come up with a method to encourage growth of 3-4% per annum in advanced post-industrial western economies with such a demographic inbalance 20% of the population in both countries is over 65. Resistance to the import of cheap(ish) workers via mass immigration allied with a desperate desire to retain some level of what are considered civilized public services compounds the issue.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2k574ydyyqo
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00365-z
The dick kind.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2025/02/10/king-charles-makes-rare-joint-trip-with-starmer-and-rayner/ (£££)
As I've said before on here, if Scotland's economy had performed as badly as the West Midlands' over the past 25 years, Westminster could have cancelled devolution in disgrace. But since it was Westminster's government that failed in the West Midlands, it takes no responsibility.
https://x.com/thomasforth/status/1888904409498694063
Massachusetts, just to be clear.
I can’t believe it - after years of advocacy, exclusionary zoning has ended in Cambridge.
We just passed the single most comprehensive rezoning in the US—legalizing multifamily housing up to 6 stories citywide in a Paris style
Here’s the details 🧵
https://x.com/realBurhanAzeem/status/1889127975011979436
Sponsors want to remove need for High Court approval.
Assisted dying cases would no longer have to be signed off by the High Court under changes suggested by the bill's supporters.
The proposed law currently says a High Court judge must check each person is eligible and has not been coerced into making the decision to die.
But BBC News has been told Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the bill, will suggest replacing this with a panel of experts who would oversee applications.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2egl17pvldo
France just held a big AI summit. They want to build up their tech sector. Global prosperity would be enhanced by this. But I can't tell you how insane EU regulation is here, and how it inadvertently enhances market power of big US firms. Let's look at GDPR, for example. 1/x
https://x.com/Afinetheorem/status/1889012188376953300
https://bbc.com/news/articles/c4g3vew1ejgo
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EWPAJn3o58Y
Amplifying misinformation is now part of radical right strategy, says Dutch study of tweets by MPs in 26 countries
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/11/far-right-mps-fake-news-misinformation-left-study
At least SKS and Reeves seem to be tackling excessive regulation now, or starting to.
Presumably signed off by Mr H Shipman, who would probably strongly approve of this bill.
My prediction , FWIW, is that the EU will come around to deregulation, in time.
Whether you’re pro or anti assisted dying this is an absolute train crash. It’s like watching a civil servant at the DfE trying to explain their obsession with phonics.
https://x.com/dnystedt/status/1889137341429871057
The Online Safety Act is the latest bone of contention between Britain and America.