Europeans underestimated the degree to which an Ukraine surrender is central to both Trump’s economic and foreign policy. That makes their attempt to frustrate his goals with their own peace plan even higher risk.
Please can one of the PB pedants tell me how some people are pronouncing Ukraine? Is it Ookraine? Several times lately I've seen text like that above which has * an Ukraine *.
Starmer has certainly looked more statesman like bringing together non US NATO leaders yesterday to reaffirm their support and funding for Zelensky.
Truman was of course re elected against the odds in 1948
But Churchill wasn't in '45. I suppose the silver lining for patriots was Moseley didn't become PM on that occasion. Maybe this time he does.
By election day in 1945 there was peace in Europe.
Voters wanted Churchill to win the war and Attlee to deliver the NHS and expanded welfare state in the peace. They never wanted to appease Hitler nor do they want to appease Putin.
IIRC, the voters thought that the National Government would continue. There were some surveys that suggested that what they wanted was Churchill as PM, with lots of Labour MPs and policies.
It'll be interesting to see how the production- and income- based measures of GDP are reconciled with the expenditure-based measure
You are thinking too rationally.
This isn't really shocking in today's US, either.
I'll start really worrying when he's seen with the Football.
This is beyond outrageous. Elon Musk, his cranky mother Maye, and one of his young kids were chauffeured in Air Force One and Marine One—straight to the White House, where they’re apparently staying.
Europeans underestimated the degree to which an Ukraine surrender is central to both Trump’s economic and foreign policy. That makes their attempt to frustrate his goals with their own peace plan even higher risk.
Please can one of the PB pedants tell me how some people are pronouncing Ukraine? Is it Ookraine? Several times lately I've seen text like that above which has * an Ukraine *.
Good morning, everyone.
Plenty of (slightly) older callers use "the Ukraine" on phone ins.
Starmer has certainly looked more statesman like bringing together non US NATO leaders yesterday to reaffirm their support and funding for Zelensky.
Truman was of course re elected against the odds in 1948
But Churchill wasn't in '45. I suppose the silver lining for patriots was Moseley didn't become PM on that occasion. Maybe this time he does.
By election day in 1945 there was peace in Europe.
Voters wanted Churchill to win the war and Attlee to deliver the NHS and expanded welfare state in the peace. They never wanted to appease Hitler nor do they want to appease Putin.
Actually appeasement was very popular until Hitler occupied Prague in March 1939, when the government's policy changed. The Munich agreement was cheered in many quarters - Churchill was very much in a minority. Of course, like the French Resistance, the number of anti-appeasers expanded vastly after the war.
It's because we learned lessons from those days that we don't want to appease Putin now.
Nick Ferrari holding Farage's feet to the ambient radiator.
Farage critical of Zelensky, his attire and his mandate. Wants an election now. Thought he deserved the beating on Friday. The fight was always going to happen and Trump will get "good reconciliation".
State visit must go ahead.
Said the Crimea is not going back to Ukraine. It is a very corrupt country.
Very positive on Mandelson's agenda over Ukraine.
Keen to push the agenda against Hamas and immigration. Denied stats on immigration are accurate.
Pleased with Trump's overnight intervention on NFTs.
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
Do they work for DOGE?
I think it is a different kind of radicalisation. A portion of Generation Rent has come to believe that *everything* is a rip off.
That take away coffee should be 1p, that housing should be free etc etc.
This is from the Corbynite left. But I agree with you that there is an interesting parallel with the mentality behind DOGE.
Well yes but takeaway coffee costs close to four quid in many places; basic rent typically comfortably in four figures per month. They have a point.
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Outstanding. The most enjoyable biopic I've seen. Not sickly reverential as they usually are and the performance by the three leading actors (Dylan Baez and girlfriend) were excellent.I saw it in a cinema in Nice with French subtitles and it got a standing ovation.
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
Do they work for DOGE?
I think it is a different kind of radicalisation. A portion of Generation Rent has come to believe that *everything* is a rip off.
That take away coffee should be 1p, that housing should be free etc etc.
This is from the Corbynite left. But I agree with you that there is an interesting parallel with the mentality behind DOGE.
Well yes but takeaway coffee costs close to four quid in many places; basic rent typically comfortably in four figures per month. They have a point.
If it's such a rip-off, then why do so many coffee places fail, especially small independent ones? It's not as if they are making all big bucks from selling that coffee.
People should be focusing on how high costs are, rent, rates, and yes, wages...
Lots of talk about how the Ukraine and Trump fallout will damage the Refukkers. I'm not so sure, once people see tax rises, as we will before the next GE, there will be a decent size slice of the voter pie that will be saying we should focus domestically not on Ukraine.
With a divided FPTP set up, and Reform the only one after that slice of the vote, it could be a win for them rather than a negative.
Fukker voters don't like Farage because of his opinions. They have opinions because they like Farage. If he tells them Trump is right on Ukraine then that's what their opinion will be.
It's nowhere near that simple. He has some influence, but only in areas where ideas are currently undefined. Farage could tell Reformers that Britain should have a unicameral parliamentary system and they would probably agree if they've never had thoughts about the system. But he could not sell high immigration, and there are limits on the PR benefits he can offer Trump.
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
Do they work for DOGE?
I think it is a different kind of radicalisation. A portion of Generation Rent has come to believe that *everything* is a rip off.
That take away coffee should be 1p, that housing should be free etc etc.
This is from the Corbynite left. But I agree with you that there is an interesting parallel with the mentality behind DOGE.
Well yes but takeaway coffee costs close to four quid in many places; basic rent typically comfortably in four figures per month. They have a point.
The cost of coffee is a function of the cost of staff. The Magic Money Tree types tend to be onboard with a higher minimum wage.
*I know the Harriers were old and wouldn't have worked today
AV-8B+ spec. would still be somewhat relevant today but that would have been a lot of money and you're still left with the inherent and inimical traits of the Harrier platform. The carrier program has salted the earth for both the RN and RAF by necessitating F-35B. The Army were quite capable of salting their own earth and so didn't need to be involved.
We've seen polling suggesting many young people would like a strong leader, a dictator, and have lost their faith in democracy. However, https://bsky.app/profile/policyatkings.bsky.social/post/3lj5k274hm22h shows some new polling showing the limitations in that prior polling around how questions are phrased and suggesting very few young people do actually support this position. A cautionary tale in how polling works.
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
Do they work for DOGE?
I think it is a different kind of radicalisation. A portion of Generation Rent has come to believe that *everything* is a rip off.
That take away coffee should be 1p, that housing should be free etc etc.
This is from the Corbynite left. But I agree with you that there is an interesting parallel with the mentality behind DOGE.
Well yes but takeaway coffee costs close to four quid in many places; basic rent typically comfortably in four figures per month. They have a point.
If it's such a rip-off, then why do so many coffee places fail, especially small independent ones? It's not as if they are making all big bucks from selling that coffee.
People should be focusing on how high costs are, rent, rates, and yes, wages...
Sure. But it's still a rip-off.
Or to put it another way until you start tackling the underlying causes you have a problem which isn't fixed by pretending it's the fault of the people complaining about it
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
Do they work for DOGE?
I think it is a different kind of radicalisation. A portion of Generation Rent has come to believe that *everything* is a rip off.
That take away coffee should be 1p, that housing should be free etc etc.
This is from the Corbynite left. But I agree with you that there is an interesting parallel with the mentality behind DOGE.
Well yes but takeaway coffee costs close to four quid in many places; basic rent typically comfortably in four figures per month. They have a point.
If it's such a rip-off, then why do so many coffee places fail, especially small independent ones? It's not as if they are making all big bucks from selling that coffee.
People should be focusing on how high costs are, rent, rates, and yes, wages...
To people who say, “I want my coffee served by well treated, native staff, on a Living Wage…” - look at Switzerland. That’s pretty much what you get there. The prices, though…
In the US, I see that Vance's odds of being next President are lengthening a bit to 4.1. As are the odds on the Republicans being the winning party. Though they are still favourites at 1.83. They were 1.75 not long ago.
I wait in anticipation for the next US opinion polls.
I would back Vance, but sell the Republicans. Those two numbers should be a lot closer.
Simply, if the US is doing well, the Sitting Vice President will be the next presidential candidate.
And if it is not, a change at the top is unlikely to benefit the incumbent sufficiently.
I would suggest there should be no more than 0.4-0.6 between the two prices.
Trump remarked 3 weeks ago that he did not view JDV as his successor. Obviously Chump is Chump, so he'll change his opinion with his underpants. But I think it's usual for a POTUS to say.
Why has @Anabobazina been banned yet other users are welcomed back?
He was upset at labour being criticised, so like a couple of others, flounced.
Thin skin.
I think he found the racism pretty unbearable so like a few others decided to give it a miss. I notice three of the four worst offenders have now gone or been expelled so maybe he and they will revisit
Seems Trump/Vance/Hegseth have decided Russia is no longer a threat to US security and have stood down all instructions about maintaining cyber defences against Putin's regime.
Madness.
How can the sane parts of GOP go along with this much longer?
The US is being handed over lock, stock and barrel to its enemies in plain sight.
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
The reports today said there would be rules in place to ensure upkeep. Sounds like it could be complicated, but then, given the issues you had, perhaps it could rely on a maintenance/inspection schedule, backed by a minimum level of reserves?
We've seen polling suggesting many young people would like a strong leader, a dictator, and have lost their faith in democracy. However, https://bsky.app/profile/policyatkings.bsky.social/post/3lj5k274hm22h shows some new polling showing the limitations in that prior polling around how questions are phrased and suggesting very few young people do actually support this position. A cautionary tale in how polling works.
Tell them the strong leader, the dictoator, would close down their phones - and see how popular it is then...
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
Do they work for DOGE?
I think it is a different kind of radicalisation. A portion of Generation Rent has come to believe that *everything* is a rip off.
That take away coffee should be 1p, that housing should be free etc etc.
This is from the Corbynite left. But I agree with you that there is an interesting parallel with the mentality behind DOGE.
Well yes but takeaway coffee costs close to four quid in many places; basic rent typically comfortably in four figures per month. They have a point.
The cost of coffee is a function of the cost of staff. The Magic Money Tree types tend to be onboard with a higher minimum wage.
Billionaire PBers: "keep wages low, unless we can demonstrate a Brexit bonus"- see post Brexit HGV drivers.
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
Do they work for DOGE?
I think it is a different kind of radicalisation. A portion of Generation Rent has come to believe that *everything* is a rip off.
That take away coffee should be 1p, that housing should be free etc etc.
This is from the Corbynite left. But I agree with you that there is an interesting parallel with the mentality behind DOGE.
Well yes but takeaway coffee costs close to four quid in many places; basic rent typically comfortably in four figures per month. They have a point.
I was in my local National Trust yesterday for a snack, having been to see my 90 year old godmother * in the bit of Sheffield that is not actually Derbyshire, and the large cappucino was £3.90. That plus a cheese scone (pronounced to rhyme with cone not con) was something just under £7. Shocker !
* She got a degree in history *after* she had retired at 60, and has big parties at 60, 70, 80 etc. She remarked that of the 80 guests at her 80th party, 20 have now popped their clogs, as has her Usonian penfriend of 82 years.
Trump today announced a plan for the United States government to buy exactly the five cryptocurrencies that his crypto advisor, David Sachs, holds. naked corruption https://x.com/ArmandDoma/status/1896293021798515006
David Sacks (correct spelling) in 2021:
The problem with government as a capital allocator is that the money goes to special interests who have the ability to lobby but not to innovate, and it has to come from somewhere, usually innovators who haven’t built up influence yet. https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/1425032654022496272
This is the mood sweeping the country and the GE betting reflects it. LAB have zoomed into 2.5 having touched 2.9 quite recently. A second term looks increasingly nailed on.
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Outstanding. The most enjoyable biopic I've seen. Not sickly reverential as they usually are and the performance by the three leading actors (Dylan Baez and girlfriend) were excellent.I saw it in a cinema in Nice with French subtitles and it got a standing ovation.
I loved it too. Not particularly challenging, but warm and fuzzy. The music is just so good.
Lots of talk about how the Ukraine and Trump fallout will damage the Refukkers. I'm not so sure, once people see tax rises, as we will before the next GE, there will be a decent size slice of the voter pie that will be saying we should focus domestically not on Ukraine.
With a divided FPTP set up, and Reform the only one after that slice of the vote, it could be a win for them rather than a negative.
Fukker voters don't like Farage because of his opinions. They have opinions because they like Farage. If he tells them Trump is right on Ukraine then that's what their opinion will be.
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
The reports today said there would be rules in place to ensure upkeep. Sounds like it could be complicated, but then, given the issues you had, perhaps it could rely on a maintenance/inspection schedule, backed by a minimum level of reserves?
There's actually here a lot to be learned from the way long term property owners do it, whether blocks of flats or bodies such as the National Trust / Church of England. I'm familiar with the latter, where there is a required quinquennial (5 yearly) inspection by an appointed architect, and it all flows from there. Plus most have what is effectively a sinking fund, with special appeals for exceptional items.
I think we all need to be untrained from being the carpet-baggers that 50 years of short-termism has made us.
The challenge is the same as with advocates of rent control - one cohort benefits, and the well is then poisoned forever. See, for example, New York.
On topic, there's a similar issue about the last 50 years of industrial policy, but I'm sure we'll get around to that when the USA threatens to turn off half our armed forces.
From the daily mail, so treat with appropriate respect, but this is a very interesting quote from Rubio.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declared the Ukrainian PM should 'apologise for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became'.
Is that the Mail or Rubio blaming the "Ukrainian PM"?
Ukraine does have a Prime Minister I believe. Is Rubio blaming someone not at the meeting for the way the meeting turned out?
Good spot! I think that’s the Mail being useless.
What was interesting to me is that Rubio was proposing a non-apology apologies
“I’m very sorry how things turned out”
I don't know what Rubio thinks he's doing in this administration. I'm not one for nicknames but he's never looked more of a "Little Marco" than he did sat there next to Vance in that shambles of an event on Friday.
Trump today announced a plan for the United States government to buy exactly the five cryptocurrencies that his crypto advisor, David Sachs, holds. naked corruption https://x.com/ArmandDoma/status/1896293021798515006
David Sacks (correct spelling) in 2021:
The problem with government as a capital allocator is that the money goes to special interests who have the ability to lobby but not to innovate, and it has to come from somewhere, usually innovators who haven’t built up influence yet. https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/1425032654022496272
Government spending is just fine for the billionaires, so long as it goes into their pockets.
How much have cryptos risen in the last month? Do remind me . I haven't checked, but I seem to recall that they are up slightly more than Tesla shares.
Quite a long piece with nuggets to annoy everyone.
Pretty much that it would be very cold turkey with no guarantees of a healthy drug free life afterwards, but what're the alternatives?
The 5 models of how smaller nations can operate their defences is quite a useful starting point, if not particularly encouraging in their conclusions.
1. The Stand-alone model;
2. The Strong Alliance model;
3. The Weak Alliance model;
4. The Non-military Deterrence model; and
5. The Hunker Down, Endure and Resist model
Europe is not a "smaller nation" though. And, excepting Israel, which is something of an anomaly, it's perfectly possible for smaller countries to pursue quite a large degree of independence. See, for example, S Korea. Europe has an economy, and overall defence market, an order of magnitude larger than the latter - along with expertise in aerospace, aero engine, sensor and missile production which is in many cases more advanced.
We should draw a distinction between what's possible over the next four or five years, and what we can do over the next decade or so. Those alternatives don't really address that.
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
The reports today said there would be rules in place to ensure upkeep. Sounds like it could be complicated, but then, given the issues you had, perhaps it could rely on a maintenance/inspection schedule, backed by a minimum level of reserves?
The problem is when the carpet baggers say "shan't pay". I think the answer may be to channel it through the Council Tax (or whatever replaces it) system, then to start putting Council Tax enforcement on Credit Records.
I'd so the same with TV Licences, whatever they were called, as aiui happens in France.
Nick Ferrari holding Farage's feet to the ambient radiator.
Farage critical of Zelensky, his attire and his mandate. Wants an election now. Thought he deserved the beating on Friday. The fight was always going to happen and Trump will get "good reconciliation".
State visit must go ahead.
Said the Crimea is not going back to Ukraine. It is a very corrupt country.
Very positive on Mandelson's agenda over Ukraine.
Keen to push the agenda against Hamas and immigration. Denied stats on immigration are accurate.
Pleased with Trump's overnight intervention on NFTs.
In the US, I see that Vance's odds of being next President are lengthening a bit to 4.1. As are the odds on the Republicans being the winning party. Though they are still favourites at 1.83. They were 1.75 not long ago.
I wait in anticipation for the next US opinion polls.
I would back Vance, but sell the Republicans. Those two numbers should be a lot closer.
Simply, if the US is doing well, the Sitting Vice President will be the next presidential candidate.
And if it is not, a change at the top is unlikely to benefit the incumbent sufficiently.
I would suggest there should be no more than 0.4-0.6 between the two prices.
Trump remarked 3 weeks ago that he did not view JDV as his successor. Obviously Chump is Chump, so he'll change his opinion with his underpants. But I think it's usual for a POTUS to say.
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
The Godfather trilogy is what, 7 hours? The Sopranos was nearly 78 hours. We have the capacity to take in massive storylines, that take years to unfold.
I don't think the world really wanted say 78 hours of Annie Hall. But certain stories are now better served by the enormous scale of high end TV.
We like stories still is the best take you can come away with.
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
The reports today said there would be rules in place to ensure upkeep. Sounds like it could be complicated, but then, given the issues you had, perhaps it could rely on a maintenance/inspection schedule, backed by a minimum level of reserves?
The answer to that sort of question is go and tell me how you would go about getting the loan - because we’ve been there before and that is why we now have a sink fund to cover known long term jobs.
Btw after lamenting the dearth of good new TV drama and the “end of the golden age” I am very happy to recommend American Primeval, from Netflix
In some ways it’s a standard modern western but in other ways not. It manages to make everyone slightly villainous - even the heroes - while still get you rooting for the protagonist
The inclusion of the Mormons is genius
It’s so good it’s lasted me from Shanghai to about a mile above Ankara and I’ve still got a couple of eps left
From the daily mail, so treat with appropriate respect, but this is a very interesting quote from Rubio.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declared the Ukrainian PM should 'apologise for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became'.
Is that the Mail or Rubio blaming the "Ukrainian PM"?
Ukraine does have a Prime Minister I believe. Is Rubio blaming someone not at the meeting for the way the meeting turned out?
Good spot! I think that’s the Mail being useless.
What was interesting to me is that Rubio was proposing a non-apology apologies
“I’m very sorry how things turned out”
I don't know what Rubio thinks he's doing in this administration. I'm not one for nicknames but he's never looked more of a "Little Marco" than he did sat there next to Vance in that shambles of an event on Friday.
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
It's because of TV screen sizes in the home. The average TV size for new purchases in the UK is between 55" and 65" and around 20% of TVs are larger than 65", in the US they're even bigger. It means people don't need to go to the cinema for a big screen experience so naturally TV producers have brought more movie glitz to their shows and cinema has either had to go big or go home which is why Marvel movies were so successful for a decade before viewer fatigue set in. That attitude for movies has been to the detriment of quality though, there's probably only one or two Marvel movies that are objectively good, the rest are merely average and more recently absolutely dire.
Quite a long piece with nuggets to annoy everyone.
Pretty much that it would be very cold turkey with no guarantees of a healthy drug free life afterwards, but what're the alternatives?
The 5 models of how smaller nations can operate their defences is quite a useful starting point, if not particularly encouraging in their conclusions.
1. The Stand-alone model;
2. The Strong Alliance model;
3. The Weak Alliance model;
4. The Non-military Deterrence model; and
5. The Hunker Down, Endure and Resist model
Europe is not a "smaller nation" though. And, excepting Israel, which is something of an anomaly, it's perfectly possible for smaller countries to pursue quite a large degree of independence. See, for example, S Korea. Europe has an economy, and overall defence market, an order of magnitude larger than the latter - along with expertise in aerospace, aero engine, sensor and missile production which is in many cases more advanced.
We should draw a distinction between what's possible over the next four or five years, and what we can do over the next decade or so. Those alternatives don't really address that.
I don't want to spray someone else's content all over the place but I think they were suggested possibilities at the time of writing. What's quite good about the piece is you can see it being updated in almost realtime:
'Since the original article was written, significant changes have occurred in the geopolitical defence environment, and more can be anticipated as the Trump Administration further implements its plans. This article updates and reviews the realities of the models I had proposed to reflect current events"
At the moment until some sort of formal defence alliance or policy is drawn up, Europe is a collection of smaller nations. Let's hope Starmer's assertion of deeds, not words holds a bit more weight than for example his pre-election promises.
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
The Godfather trilogy is what, 7 hours? The Sopranos was nearly 78 hours. We have the capacity to take in massive storylines, that take years to unfold.
I don't think the world really wanted say 78 hours of Annie Hall. But certain stories are now better served by the enormous scale of high end TV.
We like stories still is the best take you can come away with.
No, what I mean is a lot of the best writers, actors, directors, producers, designers - you name it - have migrated to TV because there you can make really interesting adult drama - and lots of it - whereas Hollywood is increasingly colonised by adolescent wank like Batman 9 and the avengers and Marvel and Star Wars and the like, all aimed at teenage boys
Ukraine has struck a Russian oil base in Ufa - which is 1,750 kilometers from the border. The ability of the Ukrainians to trash Russia's hydrocarbons facilities must be urging Moscow towards an early settlement. Or else their economy literally goes up in smoke.
From the daily mail, so treat with appropriate respect, but this is a very interesting quote from Rubio.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declared the Ukrainian PM should 'apologise for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became'.
Is that the Mail or Rubio blaming the "Ukrainian PM"?
Ukraine does have a Prime Minister I believe. Is Rubio blaming someone not at the meeting for the way the meeting turned out?
Good spot! I think that’s the Mail being useless.
What was interesting to me is that Rubio was proposing a non-apology apologies
“I’m very sorry how things turned out”
I don't know what Rubio thinks he's doing in this administration. I'm not one for nicknames but he's never looked more of a "Little Marco" than he did sat there next to Vance in that shambles of an event on Friday.
He thought he could, if not control them (as someone once said in a movie), certainly restrain and civilise them.
Quite a long piece with nuggets to annoy everyone.
Pretty much that it would be very cold turkey with no guarantees of a healthy drug free life afterwards, but what're the alternatives?
The 5 models of how smaller nations can operate their defences is quite a useful starting point, if not particularly encouraging in their conclusions.
1. The Stand-alone model;
2. The Strong Alliance model;
3. The Weak Alliance model;
4. The Non-military Deterrence model; and
5. The Hunker Down, Endure and Resist model
Europe is not a "smaller nation" though. And, excepting Israel, which is something of an anomaly, it's perfectly possible for smaller countries to pursue quite a large degree of independence. See, for example, S Korea. Europe has an economy, and overall defence market, an order of magnitude larger than the latter - along with expertise in aerospace, aero engine, sensor and missile production which is in many cases more advanced.
We should draw a distinction between what's possible over the next four or five years, and what we can do over the next decade or so. Those alternatives don't really address that.
I don't want to spray someone else's content all over the place but I think they were suggested possibilities at the time of writing. What's quite good about the piece is you can see it being updated in almost realtime:
'Since the original article was written, significant changes have occurred in the geopolitical defence environment, and more can be anticipated as the Trump Administration further implements its plans. This article updates and reviews the realities of the models I had proposed to reflect current events"
At the moment until some sort of formal defence alliance or policy is drawn up, Europe is a collection of smaller nations. Let's hope Starmer's assertion of deeds, not words holds a bit more weight than for example his pre-election promises.
Oh, I accept the "at the moment". My point is that there's a different option for the future, which looks a great deal more realistic - and necessary - than it did a year ago.
Dura ridiculing programs like Tempest was fair comment back then. Today there's a more convincing rationale for non-US partners developing next generation capabilities.
Off topic, cost of living news. Southern Water have just notified me that they are raising my bill (and everybody else's) by 46.7%. On the email, they didn't actually quote the increase - just said prices are increasing - and it was only by going on their website that I found the 46.7% figure. Is this the norm, I wonder? I knew they were going up, but didn't realise it was that hefty.
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
It's because of TV screen sizes in the home. The average TV size for new purchases in the UK is between 55" and 65" and around 20% of TVs are larger than 65", in the US they're even bigger. It means people don't need to go to the cinema for a big screen experience so naturally TV producers have brought more movie glitz to their shows and cinema has either had to go big or go home which is why Marvel movies were so successful for a decade before viewer fatigue set in. That attitude for movies has been to the detriment of quality though, there's probably only one or two Marvel movies that are objectively good, the rest are merely average and more recently absolutely dire.
I had never thought of it that way, but that makes perfect sense.
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
The Godfather trilogy is what, 7 hours? The Sopranos was nearly 78 hours. We have the capacity to take in massive storylines, that take years to unfold.
I don't think the world really wanted say 78 hours of Annie Hall. But certain stories are now better served by the enormous scale of high end TV.
We like stories still is the best take you can come away with.
No, what I mean is a lot of the best writers, actors, directors, producers, designers - you name it - have migrated to TV because there you can make really interesting adult drama - and lots of it - whereas Hollywood is increasingly colonised by adolescent wank like Batman 9 and the avengers and Marvel and Star Wars and the like, all aimed at teenage boys
I agree, there's very little box office in the Oscars because simply put very few of the box office movies are Oscar-worthy. The technical awards might go to a classy Dune 2, but teenage boys/TSE don't appreciate great screen writing...
*I know the Harriers were old and wouldn't have worked today
AV-8B+ spec. would still be somewhat relevant today but that would have been a lot of money and you're still left with the inherent and inimical traits of the Harrier platform. The carrier program has salted the earth for both the RN and RAF by necessitating F-35B. The Army were quite capable of salting their own earth and so didn't need to be involved.
Wonder of how many of those contracts had 'consultancies' attached. Move out of parliament into a grifter's job consulting for arms interests. Didn't Thatcher junior do that?
Europeans underestimated the degree to which an Ukraine surrender is central to both Trump’s economic and foreign policy. That makes their attempt to frustrate his goals with their own peace plan even higher risk.
Please can one of the PB pedants tell me how some people are pronouncing Ukraine? Is it Ookraine? Several times lately I've seen text like that above which has * an Ukraine *.
Good morning, everyone.
Is that not about grammar as well as pronunciation? I think his (other) error is in using a noun as a verb.
"A Ukraine surrender", nevermind "An Ukraine surrender", is not English.
It's like the old sore about Which is the correct sentence: "The yolk of an egg is white", or "The yolk of an egg are white"?.
On a or an, it's aiui based on pronouncing "Ukraine", which is "a" because "Ukraine" starts with a syllable which verbally is a consonant.
It needs to be "surrender of Ukraine" or "a Ukrainian surrender".
From the daily mail, so treat with appropriate respect, but this is a very interesting quote from Rubio.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declared the Ukrainian PM should 'apologise for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became'.
Is that the Mail or Rubio blaming the "Ukrainian PM"?
Ukraine does have a Prime Minister I believe. Is Rubio blaming someone not at the meeting for the way the meeting turned out?
Good spot! I think that’s the Mail being useless.
What was interesting to me is that Rubio was proposing a non-apology apologies
“I’m very sorry how things turned out”
I don't know what Rubio thinks he's doing in this administration. I'm not one for nicknames but he's never looked more of a "Little Marco" than he did sat there next to Vance in that shambles of an event on Friday.
Presumably he thinks 4 years solid grift is better than waiting for Trumpski to trash the GOP so badly he couldn't get elected as dog catcher...
Europeans underestimated the degree to which an Ukraine surrender is central to both Trump’s economic and foreign policy. That makes their attempt to frustrate his goals with their own peace plan even higher risk.
Please can one of the PB pedants tell me how some people are pronouncing Ukraine? Is it Ookraine? Several times lately I've seen text like that above which has * an Ukraine *.
Good morning, everyone.
Plenty of (slightly) older callers use "the Ukraine" on phone ins.
Off topic, cost of living news. Southern Water have just notified me that they are raising my bill (and everybody else's) by 46.7%. On the email, they didn't actually quote the increase - just said prices are increasing - and it was only by going on their website that I found the 46.7% figure. Is this the norm, I wonder? I knew they were going up, but didn't realise it was that hefty.
Mine (Southern/Thames) has just gone up from £17 to £21 so about 25%
Off topic, cost of living news. Southern Water have just notified me that they are raising my bill (and everybody else's) by 46.7%. On the email, they didn't actually quote the increase - just said prices are increasing - and it was only by going on their website that I found the 46.7% figure. Is this the norm, I wonder? I knew they were going up, but didn't realise it was that hefty.
Yes the regulator has decided that failing private monopolies should get recapitalised by their customers.
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
The reports today said there would be rules in place to ensure upkeep. Sounds like it could be complicated, but then, given the issues you had, perhaps it could rely on a maintenance/inspection schedule, backed by a minimum level of reserves?
The problem is when the carpet baggers say "shan't pay". I think the answer may be to channel it through the Council Tax (or whatever replaces it) system, then to start putting Council Tax enforcement on Credit Records.
I'd so the same with TV Licences, whatever they were called, as aiui happens in France.
Council Tax enforcement is a choice of a charge on the property or prison (usually no more than having to spend a day sitting in a courtroom where they can reflect on their choices)
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
The Godfather trilogy is what, 7 hours? The Sopranos was nearly 78 hours. We have the capacity to take in massive storylines, that take years to unfold.
I don't think the world really wanted say 78 hours of Annie Hall. But certain stories are now better served by the enormous scale of high end TV.
We like stories still is the best take you can come away with.
No, what I mean is a lot of the best writers, actors, directors, producers, designers - you name it - have migrated to TV because there you can make really interesting adult drama - and lots of it - whereas Hollywood is increasingly colonised by adolescent wank like Batman 9 and the avengers and Marvel and Star Wars and the like, all aimed at teenage boys
I agree, there's very little box office in the Oscars because simply put very few of the box office movies are Oscar-worthy. The technical awards might go to a classy Dune 2, but teenage boys/TSE don't appreciate great screen writing...
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
The Godfather trilogy is what, 7 hours? The Sopranos was nearly 78 hours. We have the capacity to take in massive storylines, that take years to unfold.
I don't think the world really wanted say 78 hours of Annie Hall. But certain stories are now better served by the enormous scale of high end TV.
We like stories still is the best take you can come away with.
No, what I mean is a lot of the best writers, actors, directors, producers, designers - you name it - have migrated to TV because there you can make really interesting adult drama - and lots of it - whereas Hollywood is increasingly colonised by adolescent wank like Batman 9 and the avengers and Marvel and Star Wars and the like, all aimed at teenage boys
I agree, there's very little box office in the Oscars because simply put very few of the box office movies are Oscar-worthy. The technical awards might go to a classy Dune 2, but teenage boys/TSE don't appreciate great screen writing...
It’s getting desperately bad
The fact Conclave was so salient in the running is shameful. It’s beautifully shot and some of the acting is nice but the whole thing is fairly ludicrous and frankly dull and the ending is laugh out loud dire
In a “normal” year it might have snuck one micro bafta
Off topic, cost of living news. Southern Water have just notified me that they are raising my bill (and everybody else's) by 46.7%. On the email, they didn't actually quote the increase - just said prices are increasing - and it was only by going on their website that I found the 46.7% figure. Is this the norm, I wonder? I knew they were going up, but didn't realise it was that hefty.
The next set of price increases have been allowed to be front loaded - I commented 2 weeks ago that Northumbria water had increased their bills by 20%
I think people these days watch films for light, fluffy relief.
Over the past couple of weeks I have watched Plane (shocking but satisfying shoot 'em up plane-based drama with Gerard Butler); and 892 (called Breaking on Netflix) which has a tremendous John Boyega as a wronged vet seeking redress.
The latter because of Boyega was elevated above the pulp it would otherwise have been but both are sense-candy and that is what people want from films on the whole these days.
I am unlikely to watch The Brutalist at 3hrs or whatever it is. But if it were, say, a six part limited series on Netflix I'd watch it instantly (episode by episode, that is).
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
The Godfather trilogy is what, 7 hours? The Sopranos was nearly 78 hours. We have the capacity to take in massive storylines, that take years to unfold.
I don't think the world really wanted say 78 hours of Annie Hall. But certain stories are now better served by the enormous scale of high end TV.
We like stories still is the best take you can come away with.
I think the Reacher phenomenon is relevant here.
Tom Cruise tried to make movies, which were rejected by audiences cos he doesn't match the character in the books.
Amazon made Season 1 TV, which is just the book on screen, and it was great.
Season 2 they took the book, then made an entirely different story on screen, and it sucked.
Europeans underestimated the degree to which an Ukraine surrender is central to both Trump’s economic and foreign policy. That makes their attempt to frustrate his goals with their own peace plan even higher risk.
Please can one of the PB pedants tell me how some people are pronouncing Ukraine? Is it Ookraine? Several times lately I've seen text like that above which has * an Ukraine *.
Good morning, everyone.
The traditional English pronunciation of Ukraine begins "yoo-", but the Ukrainian, Russian, German etc. pronunciations begin "oo-" and some English speakers are switching to that.
Europeans underestimated the degree to which an Ukraine surrender is central to both Trump’s economic and foreign policy. That makes their attempt to frustrate his goals with their own peace plan even higher risk.
Please can one of the PB pedants tell me how some people are pronouncing Ukraine? Is it Ookraine? Several times lately I've seen text like that above which has * an Ukraine *.
Good morning, everyone.
Is that not about grammar as well as pronunciation? I think his (other) error is in using a noun as a verb.
"A Ukraine surrender", nevermind "An Ukraine surrender", is not English.
It's like the old sore about Which is the correct sentence: "The yolk of an egg is white", or "The yolk of an egg are white"?.
On a or an, it's aiui based on pronouncing "Ukraine", which is "a" because "Ukraine" starts with a syllable which verbally is a consonant.
It needs to be "surrender of Ukraine" or "a Ukrainian surrender".
Off topic, cost of living news. Southern Water have just notified me that they are raising my bill (and everybody else's) by 46.7%. On the email, they didn't actually quote the increase - just said prices are increasing - and it was only by going on their website that I found the 46.7% figure. Is this the norm, I wonder? I knew they were going up, but didn't realise it was that hefty.
The next set of price increases have been allowed to be front loaded - I commented 2 weeks ago that Northumbria water had increased their bills by 20%
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
The Godfather trilogy is what, 7 hours? The Sopranos was nearly 78 hours. We have the capacity to take in massive storylines, that take years to unfold.
I don't think the world really wanted say 78 hours of Annie Hall. But certain stories are now better served by the enormous scale of high end TV.
We like stories still is the best take you can come away with.
No, what I mean is a lot of the best writers, actors, directors, producers, designers - you name it - have migrated to TV because there you can make really interesting adult drama - and lots of it - whereas Hollywood is increasingly colonised by adolescent wank like Batman 9 and the avengers and Marvel and Star Wars and the like, all aimed at teenage boys
That migration has been made very lucrative. Independent movies are often scraping around for funding; rates are rarely high, often the actors have to take pari passu rates. TV funded up-front may mean there is no chance of an uplift if the series does well, but instead you might get work for six years if it plays well.
Europeans underestimated the degree to which an Ukraine surrender is central to both Trump’s economic and foreign policy. That makes their attempt to frustrate his goals with their own peace plan even higher risk.
Please can one of the PB pedants tell me how some people are pronouncing Ukraine? Is it Ookraine? Several times lately I've seen text like that above which has * an Ukraine *.
Good morning, everyone.
Is that not about grammar as well as pronunciation? I think his (other) error is in using a noun as a verb.
"A Ukraine surrender", nevermind "An Ukraine surrender", is not English.
It's like the old sore about Which is the correct sentence: "The yolk of an egg is white", or "The yolk of an egg are white"?.
On a or an, it's aiui based on pronouncing "Ukraine", which is "a" because "Ukraine" starts with a syllable which verbally is a consonant.
It needs to be "surrender of Ukraine" or "a Ukrainian surrender".
The weird French speaking freakaloid pioneers in “American Primeval” are like a brilliant lost scene from Deliverance mixed with a hint of Tarantino
In its best moments it is that good
Rich Hall makes an interesting observation about Deliverance. With a young Burt Reynolds in their captivity why did the hillbillies choose Ned Beattie?
The weird French speaking freakaloid pioneers in “American Primeval” are like a brilliant lost scene from Deliverance mixed with a hint of Tarantino
In its best moments it is that good
I like a bleak revisionist Western as much as the next man, but I found AP a bit relentless spread over six episodes. The rapid changes in weather conditions were also disconcerting though I accept that may be the way it is in them there parts. What I dread is (the possibly unfilmable) Blood Meridian being picked up for tv and made into a 12 part, season 1 extravaganza, though hopefully the Mccarthy estate would put its foot down.
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
The Godfather trilogy is what, 7 hours? The Sopranos was nearly 78 hours. We have the capacity to take in massive storylines, that take years to unfold.
I don't think the world really wanted say 78 hours of Annie Hall. But certain stories are now better served by the enormous scale of high end TV.
We like stories still is the best take you can come away with.
No, what I mean is a lot of the best writers, actors, directors, producers, designers - you name it - have migrated to TV because there you can make really interesting adult drama - and lots of it - whereas Hollywood is increasingly colonised by adolescent wank like Batman 9 and the avengers and Marvel and Star Wars and the like, all aimed at teenage boys
I agree, there's very little box office in the Oscars because simply put very few of the box office movies are Oscar-worthy. The technical awards might go to a classy Dune 2, but teenage boys/TSE don't appreciate great screen writing...
I love great screen writing.
I have used my Cineworld card for 25 years (all the way back to UGC).
Looks like the Government is trying to ban new leasehold flats again. Good news I think.
Good morning everyone.
The problem that still exists will be how to manage such developments after occupation - expertise has to come from somewhere, and:
1 - Up front payments (ie commuted sums) are a major source of future maintenance money money for local authorities. 2 - If leasehold is abolished prices may rise because it is a source of revenue for some developer companies - either the payments, or selling the leases on. 3 - How to set up a structure that works equally well in both Cobham, Clerkenwell and Clacton.
Behind this is that the people buying the new properties are expected to pay for the cost of all the infrastructure, through increased new prices - rather than it being rolled into Council tax.
I think that developers may quite like to be out of this cycle; it would let them walk away cleanly after building and selling the properties.
Making it all add up is the question.
Getting rid of leasehold will be good.
However, there are a large number of Magic Moneytree types who seem to think that maintenance on communal structures should be zero cost. Or not exist.
In my former block of flats they now have two such on the board that runs the flats jointly (all freehold).
They started by demanding that it be wound up and all the money in the accounts given to the home owners. They’ve retreated to allowing the roof to be inspected and repaired on a regular cycle
But the idea of building up a reserve which is then use to pay for works on a regular basis is beyond them.
“Look, when we need to fix something, we wait until it is really needed, then take out a loan….”
The reports today said there would be rules in place to ensure upkeep. Sounds like it could be complicated, but then, given the issues you had, perhaps it could rely on a maintenance/inspection schedule, backed by a minimum level of reserves?
The problem is trying to run a moderately complex endeavour - keep a block of 100 flats in good repair.
This is, essentially, a moderate sized business.
You can’t really legislate sensible running of a business.
Most people have no understanding of the scale of costs. Confront them with the cost of scaffolding a 6 story building for 2 months….
The weird French speaking freakaloid pioneers in “American Primeval” are like a brilliant lost scene from Deliverance mixed with a hint of Tarantino
In its best moments it is that good
Rich Hall makes an interesting observation about Deliverance. With a young Burt Reynolds in their captivity why did the hillbillies choose Ned Beattie?
Europeans underestimated the degree to which an Ukraine surrender is central to both Trump’s economic and foreign policy. That makes their attempt to frustrate his goals with their own peace plan even higher risk.
Please can one of the PB pedants tell me how some people are pronouncing Ukraine? Is it Ookraine? Several times lately I've seen text like that above which has * an Ukraine *.
Good morning, everyone.
The first letter of Ukraine in Russian is 'У'. This has a phonetic value of [u] and is a back rounded vowel that sounds like the 'oo' in 'boot'.
Anglophones usually don't pronounce it that way and modify it to [ju].
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
The Godfather trilogy is what, 7 hours? The Sopranos was nearly 78 hours. We have the capacity to take in massive storylines, that take years to unfold.
I don't think the world really wanted say 78 hours of Annie Hall. But certain stories are now better served by the enormous scale of high end TV.
We like stories still is the best take you can come away with.
No, what I mean is a lot of the best writers, actors, directors, producers, designers - you name it - have migrated to TV because there you can make really interesting adult drama - and lots of it - whereas Hollywood is increasingly colonised by adolescent wank like Batman 9 and the avengers and Marvel and Star Wars and the like, all aimed at teenage boys
I agree, there's very little box office in the Oscars because simply put very few of the box office movies are Oscar-worthy. The technical awards might go to a classy Dune 2, but teenage boys/TSE don't appreciate great screen writing...
I love great screen writing.
I have used my Cineworld card for 25 years (all the way back to UGC).
Is there a recent movie that comes near to “Succession” for adult wit and style and insight and sophistication?
I don’t think so
Depends how you look at it. Movies are 2 hours, Succession is 20 times as long. So even if it (say) delivered 5 times as much adult wit and style and insight and sophistication as your average good film, the film wins on a use of time basis.
Europeans underestimated the degree to which an Ukraine surrender is central to both Trump’s economic and foreign policy. That makes their attempt to frustrate his goals with their own peace plan even higher risk.
Please can one of the PB pedants tell me how some people are pronouncing Ukraine? Is it Ookraine? Several times lately I've seen text like that above which has * an Ukraine *.
Good morning, everyone.
Is that not about grammar as well as pronunciation? I think his (other) error is in using a noun as a verb.
"A Ukraine surrender", nevermind "An Ukraine surrender", is not English.
It's like the old sore about Which is the correct sentence: "The yolk of an egg is white", or "The yolk of an egg are white"?.
On a or an, it's aiui based on pronouncing "Ukraine", which is "a" because "Ukraine" starts with a syllable which verbally is a consonant.
It needs to be "surrender of Ukraine" or "a Ukrainian surrender".
The UK's leading fusion effort seems to have been abandoned - probably because future government funding is now far less likely.
https://firstlightfusion.com/media/first-light-fusion-announces-strategic-update/ 3 March 2025: Oxford, UK – First Light Fusion (“First Light”), the leading UK inertial fusion technologies company, today provides a strategic update following a period of significant operational developments. This follows the recent announcement of Mark Thomas as First Light’s newly appointed CEO.
Advancements in First Light’s proprietary amplifier technology, combined with progress in the wider inertial fusion energy (IFE) sector, has provided an opportunity for the company to shift its business strategy, to capitalize on the huge IFE market opportunities enabling earlier revenues and lowering the long-term funding requirement.
Under this new strategy, First Light plans to enter into commercial partnerships with other inertial fusion companies and schemes where its amplifier technology can form a critical and complementary part of a commercial fusion power plant, regardless of driver approach. This replaces previous plans to build its own power plant based on a projectile fusion approach.
Simultaneously, First Light will partner with companies, universities and institutions in non-fusion sectors that can benefit from its unique technology and research facilities (the UK’s largest two-stage gas gun and Europe’s largest pulsed power machine) across sectors including space exploration and defense. Today, the company announces its first commercial partnership with NASA and the Open University.
PARTNERING WITH INERTIAL FUSION COMPANIES The new strategy will enable First Light to leverage its amplifier technology to benefit multiple inertial driver schemes and become a cornerstone of a more cost-effective and expedited path to commercial fusion energy for other inertial fusion companies. It will complement a wide range of existing inertial fusion approaches being developed in the US, Japan and Europe.
By designing targets for all inertial driver schemes, including lasers, First Light will be a critical enabler in the realisation of commercial fusion energy. The company will focus on the design and manufacture of consumable “targets” embedded with its proprietary amplifier technology, tailored to meet potential partners’ specific needs...
PARTNERING WITH NON-FUSION COMPANIES First Light is also in live discussions regarding partnerships with multiple companies and institutions outside of the fusion sector. The company’s amplifier technology and research facilities can benefit multiple non-fusion purposes in the space exploration, defense and energy sectors, where there is a requirement to test materials under extreme pressures..
I think people these days watch films for light, fluffy relief.
Over the past couple of weeks I have watched Plane (shocking but satisfying shoot 'em up plane-based drama with Gerard Butler); and 892 (called Breaking on Netflix) which has a tremendous John Boyega as a wronged vet seeking redress.
The latter because of Boyega was elevated above the pulp it would otherwise have been but both are sense-candy and that is what people want from films on the whole these days.
I am unlikely to watch The Brutalist at 3hrs or whatever it is. But if it were, say, a six part limited series on Netflix I'd watch it instantly (episode by episode, that is).
These days when I watch a movie and it is genuinely really good I am actively surprised. Which shows the low state of the art form
Whereas by contrast I generally expect adult tv drama to be at least pretty good - clever story, well written, nicely acted - and I am disappointed when it is not (as with some recent shows we have discussed)
Also I can easily name 10 or even 20 excellent tv drama series of the last two decades
I’d be really hard pushed to do that for movies - I would need some prompting and half of them would be animated
In part this is unfair. Tv dramas play out for seasons and years so have much more potential to root themselves in your psyche and thus your memory. Nonetheless it is an interesting truth
We've seen polling suggesting many young people would like a strong leader, a dictator, and have lost their faith in democracy. However, https://bsky.app/profile/policyatkings.bsky.social/post/3lj5k274hm22h shows some new polling showing the limitations in that prior polling around how questions are phrased and suggesting very few young people do actually support this position. A cautionary tale in how polling works.
Polling, with simple questions only allowing a limited range of answers can tell you quite a bit about how they would vote, and a little bit about what they don't like.
But it tells you almost nothing about what people really think about the relationship between options, how they would reconcile domestic conflicts of interest, or crucially, what they think once beyond the wish list stuff 'I want X, Y and Z but also tax cuts' etc.
it's a reasonable assumption that the wish for 'strong man' politics and suspicion of democracy really means support for a leader strong enough to do what I want the leader to do without having to worry about conflicting interests. This opinion is charming in a 6 year old, but less so in others.
He’s there to follow government policy and not make up his own .
I can't Mandelson-whisper that, but he essentially said that Mr Z should sign the deal - without specifying which deal.
My thought on the Oval Office Explosion is still that it was a setup to get Mr Chump out of the hole he dug himself into without taking responsibility for himself which would puncture his vanity, and Mr Z was theer to sign the revised deal.
The PM (when I last looked) was still saying that the USA was not an unreliable ally, because there is still hope given Mr Trump's instability and someone needs to maintain the contact. Z coming back and signing the revised mineral deal is potentially a plank tying the USA in, and combined with Europe stepping up, is one way ahead which may or may not fly.
So if the Ambassador is off-piste carrying out a Mandelbrot Manoeuvre, then it is likely to be by agreement with Mr Starmer and the Foreign Office.
Is there a recent movie that comes near to “Succession” for adult wit and style and insight and sophistication?
I don’t think so
Depends how you look at it. Movies are 2 hours, Succession is 20 times as long. So even if it (say) delivered 5 times as much adult wit and style and insight and sophistication as your average good film, the film wins on a use of time basis.
Depends how you look at that. Isn't the point of film and TV to use up time not save it?
From the daily mail, so treat with appropriate respect, but this is a very interesting quote from Rubio.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declared the Ukrainian PM should 'apologise for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became'.
Is that the Mail or Rubio blaming the "Ukrainian PM"?
Ukraine does have a Prime Minister I believe. Is Rubio blaming someone not at the meeting for the way the meeting turned out?
Good spot! I think that’s the Mail being useless.
What was interesting to me is that Rubio was proposing a non-apology apologies
“I’m very sorry how things turned out”
I don't know what Rubio thinks he's doing in this administration. I'm not one for nicknames but he's never looked more of a "Little Marco" than he did sat there next to Vance in that shambles of an event on Friday.
Presumably he thinks 4 years solid grift is better than waiting for Trumpski to trash the GOP so badly he couldn't get elected as dog catcher...
It'd better be good grift then. What price a man's dignity?
The weird French speaking freakaloid pioneers in “American Primeval” are like a brilliant lost scene from Deliverance mixed with a hint of Tarantino
In its best moments it is that good
I like a bleak revisionist Western as much as the next man, but I found AP a bit relentless spread over six episodes. The rapid changes in weather conditions were also disconcerting though I accept that may be the way it is in them there parts. What I dread is (the possibly unfilmable) Blood Meridian being picked up for tv and made into a 12 part, season 1 extravaganza, though hopefully the Mccarthy estate would put its foot down.
It is possible I am being overly generous to American Primeval out of sheer relief as I have just come from the horror that is Sky’s Day of the Jackal (as we discussed last night)
But I do think it’s good. But I do like relentless Bleakness
And once more it has to be said “who the fuck thought that Eddie Redmayne could ever carry off a evilly chilling calculated killer”
They should have called it The Day of The Hamster
By the end I was actually laughing every time they referred to him as “the jackal”
I think people these days watch films for light, fluffy relief.
Over the past couple of weeks I have watched Plane (shocking but satisfying shoot 'em up plane-based drama with Gerard Butler); and 892 (called Breaking on Netflix) which has a tremendous John Boyega as a wronged vet seeking redress.
The latter because of Boyega was elevated above the pulp it would otherwise have been but both are sense-candy and that is what people want from films on the whole these days.
I am unlikely to watch The Brutalist at 3hrs or whatever it is. But if it were, say, a six part limited series on Netflix I'd watch it instantly (episode by episode, that is).
These days when I watch a movie and it is genuinely really good I am actively surprised. Which shows the low state of the art form
Whereas by contrast I generally expect adult tv drama to be at least pretty good - clever story, well written, nicely acted - and I am disappointed when it is not (as with some recent shows we have discussed)
Also I can easily name 10 or even 20 excellent tv drama series of the last two decades
I’d be really hard pushed to do that for movies - I would need some prompting and half of them would be animated
In part this is unfair. Tv dramas play out for seasons and years so have much more potential to root themselves in your psyche and thus your memory. Nonetheless it is an interesting truth
The other shift has been in the theatre. I slightly wince when I see "2hrs 40 including interval". There has been a move to "90mins no interval" which I am all over. Plus I wish they started at 6.30pm not 7.30pm. 6.30pm for 90mins means you can be sitting down for supper somewhere, or indeed be at home, at 8.30pm.
The weird French speaking freakaloid pioneers in “American Primeval” are like a brilliant lost scene from Deliverance mixed with a hint of Tarantino
In its best moments it is that good
I like a bleak revisionist Western as much as the next man, but I found AP a bit relentless spread over six episodes. The rapid changes in weather conditions were also disconcerting though I accept that may be the way it is in them there parts. What I dread is (the possibly unfilmable) Blood Meridian being picked up for tv and made into a 12 part, season 1 extravaganza, though hopefully the Mccarthy estate would put its foot down.
It is possible I am being overly generous to American Primeval out of sheer relief as I have just come from the horror that is Sky’s Day of the Jackal (as we discussed last night)
But I do think it’s good. But I do like relentless Bleakness
And once more it has to be said “who the fuck thought that Eddie Redmayne could ever carry off a evilly chilling calculated killer”
They should have called it The Day of The Hamster
By the end I was actually laughing every time they referred to him as “the jackal”
Chernobyl shows that tv can be bleak as **** but thoroughly engrossing and "entertaining" also.
Yet another out of touch Oscars ceremony. Not a single winner in the main categories broke $100 million at the box office.
Have the odd independent or art house win by all means but don't ignore films viewers watch or Oscars ratings will decline yet further
I enjoy small independent films and have in recent years found more quality and originality in the Cannes winners than the vastly over CGId big budget ones usually favoured at the Oscars. 'Anora' though was not in my opinion one of the good Cannes winners. An X rated 'Carry On' film was the best I can say about it. A good performance by the leading actress but so uneven as a film I'm sure it will be quickly forgotten.
Yes, saw the trailer and thought not for me, either. What was the Dylan movie like ?
Very good, even if you don't like Dylan.
The list of best picture winners since 2000 is a very mixed bag indeed. Not the best adver for a quarter of century of cinema I'd suggest.
1970 Patton 1971 The French Connection 1972 The Godfather 1973 The Sting 1974 The Godfather II 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Rocky 1977 Annie Hall 1978 The Deer Hunter 1979 Kramer v Kramer
Cinema has declined as TV drama has ascended, and the relationship is partly causal
The Godfather trilogy is what, 7 hours? The Sopranos was nearly 78 hours. We have the capacity to take in massive storylines, that take years to unfold.
I don't think the world really wanted say 78 hours of Annie Hall. But certain stories are now better served by the enormous scale of high end TV.
We like stories still is the best take you can come away with.
I think the Reacher phenomenon is relevant here.
Tom Cruise tried to make movies, which were rejected by audiences cos he doesn't match the character in the books.
Amazon made Season 1 TV, which is just the book on screen, and it was great.
Season 2 they took the book, then made an entirely different story on screen, and it sucked.
Season 3 (so far) is the book on screen.
There is a lesson there
I know your point isn't specifically about Cruise, but can I reach for Rich Hall to analyse Tom Cruise's career anyway?
"He's a cocktail waiter, he's a very good cocktail waiter. He loses his confidence. He meets a girl and he once again becomes a great cocktail waiter.
He's a fighter pilot, he's a very good fighter pilot. He loses his confidence. He meets a girl and he once again becomes a great fighter pilot.
He's a race car driver, he's a very good race car driver. He loses his confidence. He meets a girl and he once again becomes a great race car driver.
He's a sports agent, he's a very good sports agent. He loses his confidence. He meets a girl and he once again becomes a great sports agent". Etc.
I think Cruise is over rated except in Collateral where he is incredibly menacing. These days he's too old. He's the same age as me FFS.
The weird French speaking freakaloid pioneers in “American Primeval” are like a brilliant lost scene from Deliverance mixed with a hint of Tarantino
In its best moments it is that good
I like a bleak revisionist Western as much as the next man, but I found AP a bit relentless spread over six episodes. The rapid changes in weather conditions were also disconcerting though I accept that may be the way it is in them there parts. What I dread is (the possibly unfilmable) Blood Meridian being picked up for tv and made into a 12 part, season 1 extravaganza, though hopefully the Mccarthy estate would put its foot down.
It is possible I am being overly generous to American Primeval out of sheer relief as I have just come from the horror that is Sky’s Day of the Jackal (as we discussed last night)
But I do think it’s good. But I do like relentless Bleakness
And once more it has to be said “who the fuck thought that Eddie Redmayne could ever carry off a evilly chilling calculated killer”
They should have called it The Day of The Hamster
By the end I was actually laughing every time they referred to him as “the jackal”
Chernobyl shows that tv can be bleak as **** but thoroughly engrossing and "entertaining" also.
Omg good call!
Yes Chernobyl by itself is probably superior to any single movie since about 2005
Europeans underestimated the degree to which an Ukraine surrender is central to both Trump’s economic and foreign policy. That makes their attempt to frustrate his goals with their own peace plan even higher risk.
Please can one of the PB pedants tell me how some people are pronouncing Ukraine? Is it Ookraine? Several times lately I've seen text like that above which has * an Ukraine *.
Good morning, everyone.
Morning. The use of "an" is to do with the initial sound of a word not the initial letter. There is an epidemic of people who don't grasp this. I doubt your writer thinks it's pronounce "ookraine", they just see a 'U' and think it means they should write "an".
In their defence, pronunciations change. Thus, we may still write "an heriditary peerage" but 100 years ago we might also have written "an hotel".
From the daily mail, so treat with appropriate respect, but this is a very interesting quote from Rubio.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declared the Ukrainian PM should 'apologise for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became'.
Is that the Mail or Rubio blaming the "Ukrainian PM"?
Ukraine does have a Prime Minister I believe. Is Rubio blaming someone not at the meeting for the way the meeting turned out?
Good spot! I think that’s the Mail being useless.
What was interesting to me is that Rubio was proposing a non-apology apologies
“I’m very sorry how things turned out”
I don't know what Rubio thinks he's doing in this administration. I'm not one for nicknames but he's never looked more of a "Little Marco" than he did sat there next to Vance in that shambles of an event on Friday.
He thought he could, if not control them (as someone once said in a movie), certainly restrain and civilise them.
Deluded then. There'll be no restraining and civilising this time. He looked sick at that bizarre cabinet meeting too. Not sure he'll last the year.
Comments
Good morning, everyone.
It's because we learned lessons from those days that we don't want to appease Putin now.
Farage critical of Zelensky, his attire and his mandate. Wants an election now. Thought he deserved the beating on Friday. The fight was always going to happen and Trump will get "good reconciliation".
State visit must go ahead.
Said the Crimea is not going back to Ukraine. It is a very corrupt country.
Very positive on Mandelson's agenda over Ukraine.
Keen to push the agenda against Hamas and immigration. Denied stats on immigration are accurate.
Pleased with Trump's overnight intervention on NFTs.
TBF Farage came out swinging for Trump.
Pretty much that it would be very cold turkey with no guarantees of a healthy drug free life afterwards, but what're the alternatives?
The 5 models of how smaller nations can operate their defences is quite a useful starting point, if not particularly encouraging in their conclusions.
1. The Stand-alone model;
2. The Strong Alliance model;
3. The Weak Alliance model;
4. The Non-military Deterrence model; and
5. The Hunker Down, Endure and Resist model
People should be focusing on how high costs are, rent, rates, and yes, wages...
Or to put it another way until you start tackling the underlying causes you have a problem which isn't fixed by pretending it's the fault of the people complaining about it
https://youtu.be/3oR4EjqdwJ8?t=20
Lundenwic is now called Aldwych (Old-wic) and is in the heart of modern London albeit still about a mile away from the city of London
What was interesting to me is that Rubio was proposing a non-apology apologies
“I’m very sorry how things turned out”
Madness.
How can the sane parts of GOP go along with this much longer?
The US is being handed over lock, stock and barrel to its enemies in plain sight.
* She got a degree in history *after* she had retired at 60, and has big parties at 60, 70, 80 etc. She remarked that of the 80 guests at her 80th party, 20 have now popped their clogs, as has her Usonian penfriend of 82 years.
The problem with government as a capital allocator is that the money goes to special interests who have the ability to lobby but not to innovate, and it has to come from somewhere, usually innovators who haven’t built up influence yet.
https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/1425032654022496272
See also the Silicon Valley Bank bailout.
David Sacks Justifies Bailout by Highlighting Elite Private Boarding School
https://prospect.org/economy/2023-03-22-david-sacks-bank-bailout/
Government spending is just fine for the billionaires, so long as it goes into their pockets.
This is the mood sweeping the country and the GE betting reflects it. LAB have zoomed into 2.5 having touched 2.9 quite recently. A second term looks increasingly nailed on.
I think we all need to be untrained from being the carpet-baggers that 50 years of short-termism has made us.
The challenge is the same as with advocates of rent control - one cohort benefits, and the well is then poisoned forever. See, for example, New York.
On topic, there's a similar issue about the last 50 years of industrial policy, but I'm sure we'll get around to that when the USA threatens to turn off half our armed forces.
And, excepting Israel, which is something of an anomaly, it's perfectly possible for smaller countries to pursue quite a large degree of independence. See, for example, S Korea.
Europe has an economy, and overall defence market, an order of magnitude larger than the latter - along with expertise in aerospace, aero engine, sensor and missile production which is in many cases more advanced.
We should draw a distinction between what's possible over the next four or five years, and what we can do over the next decade or so.
Those alternatives don't really address that.
I'd so the same with TV Licences, whatever they were called, as aiui happens in France.
I don't think the world really wanted say 78 hours of Annie Hall. But certain stories are now better served by the enormous scale of high end TV.
We like stories still is the best take you can come away with.
In some ways it’s a standard modern western but in other ways not. It manages to make everyone slightly villainous - even the heroes - while still get you rooting for the protagonist
The inclusion of the Mormons is genius
It’s so good it’s lasted me from Shanghai to about a mile above Ankara and I’ve still got a couple of eps left
https://youtu.be/5Ji8i7Wy4mo?t=525
'Since the original article was written, significant changes have occurred in the geopolitical defence environment, and more can be anticipated as the Trump Administration further implements its plans. This article updates and reviews the realities of the models I had proposed to reflect current events"
At the moment until some sort of formal defence alliance or policy is drawn up, Europe is a collection of smaller nations. Let's hope Starmer's assertion of deeds, not words holds a bit more weight than for example his pre-election promises.
Marvel and Star Wars and the like, all aimed at teenage boys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtOwsjy3LaM
I don’t think so
But good news!
My point is that there's a different option for the future, which looks a great deal more realistic - and necessary - than it did a year ago.
Dura ridiculing programs like Tempest was fair comment back then. Today there's a more convincing rationale for non-US partners developing next generation capabilities.
"A Ukraine surrender", nevermind "An Ukraine surrender", is not English.
It's like the old sore about Which is the correct sentence: "The yolk of an egg is white", or "The yolk of an egg are white"?.
On a or an, it's aiui based on pronouncing "Ukraine", which is "a" because "Ukraine" starts with a syllable which verbally is a consonant.
It needs to be "surrender of Ukraine" or "a Ukrainian surrender".
In its best moments it is that good
I am not convinced by the decision.
The fact Conclave was so salient in the running is shameful. It’s beautifully shot and some of the acting is nice but the whole thing is fairly ludicrous and frankly dull and the ending is laugh out loud dire
In a “normal” year it might have snuck one micro bafta
Over the past couple of weeks I have watched Plane (shocking but satisfying shoot 'em up plane-based drama with Gerard Butler); and 892 (called Breaking on Netflix) which has a tremendous John Boyega as a wronged vet seeking redress.
The latter because of Boyega was elevated above the pulp it would otherwise have been but both are sense-candy and that is what people want from films on the whole these days.
I am unlikely to watch The Brutalist at 3hrs or whatever it is. But if it were, say, a six part limited series on Netflix I'd watch it instantly (episode by episode, that is).
Tom Cruise tried to make movies, which were rejected by audiences cos he doesn't match the character in the books.
Amazon made Season 1 TV, which is just the book on screen, and it was great.
Season 2 they took the book, then made an entirely different story on screen, and it sucked.
Season 3 (so far) is the book on screen.
There is a lesson there
(today's image quota)
What I dread is (the possibly unfilmable) Blood Meridian being picked up for tv and made into a 12 part, season 1 extravaganza, though hopefully the Mccarthy estate would put its foot down.
I have used my Cineworld card for 25 years (all the way back to UGC).
This is, essentially, a moderate sized business.
You can’t really legislate sensible running of a business.
Most people have no understanding of the scale of costs. Confront them with the cost of scaffolding a 6 story building for 2 months….
Burt Reynolds ambushes them.
Anglophones usually don't pronounce it that way and modify it to [ju].
https://firstlightfusion.com/media/first-light-fusion-announces-strategic-update/
3 March 2025: Oxford, UK – First Light Fusion (“First Light”), the leading UK inertial fusion technologies company, today provides a strategic update following a period of significant operational developments. This follows the recent announcement of Mark Thomas as First Light’s newly appointed CEO.
Advancements in First Light’s proprietary amplifier technology, combined with progress in the wider inertial fusion energy (IFE) sector, has provided an opportunity for the company to shift its business strategy, to capitalize on the huge IFE market opportunities enabling earlier revenues and lowering the long-term funding requirement.
Under this new strategy, First Light plans to enter into commercial partnerships with other inertial fusion companies and schemes where its amplifier technology can form a critical and complementary part of a commercial fusion power plant, regardless of driver approach. This replaces previous plans to build its own power plant based on a projectile fusion approach.
Simultaneously, First Light will partner with companies, universities and institutions in non-fusion sectors that can benefit from its unique technology and research facilities (the UK’s largest two-stage gas gun and Europe’s largest pulsed power machine) across sectors including space exploration and defense. Today, the company announces its first commercial partnership with NASA and the Open University.
PARTNERING WITH INERTIAL FUSION COMPANIES
The new strategy will enable First Light to leverage its amplifier technology to benefit multiple inertial driver schemes and become a cornerstone of a more cost-effective and expedited path to commercial fusion energy for other inertial fusion companies. It will complement a wide range of existing inertial fusion approaches being developed in the US, Japan and Europe.
By designing targets for all inertial driver schemes, including lasers, First Light will be a critical enabler in the realisation of commercial fusion energy. The company will focus on the design and manufacture of consumable “targets” embedded with its proprietary amplifier technology, tailored to meet potential partners’ specific needs...
PARTNERING WITH NON-FUSION COMPANIES
First Light is also in live discussions regarding partnerships with multiple companies and institutions outside of the fusion sector. The company’s amplifier technology and research facilities can benefit multiple non-fusion purposes in the space exploration, defense and energy sectors, where there is a requirement to test materials under extreme pressures..
Whereas by contrast I generally expect adult tv drama to be at least pretty good - clever story, well written, nicely acted - and I am disappointed when it is not (as with some recent shows we have discussed)
Also I can easily name 10 or even 20 excellent tv drama series of the last two decades
I’d be really hard pushed to do that for movies - I would need some prompting and half of them would be animated
In part this is unfair. Tv dramas play out for seasons and years so have much more potential to root themselves in your psyche and thus your memory. Nonetheless it is an interesting truth
But it tells you almost nothing about what people really think about the relationship between options, how they would reconcile domestic conflicts of interest, or crucially, what they think once beyond the wish list stuff 'I want X, Y and Z but also tax cuts' etc.
it's a reasonable assumption that the wish for 'strong man' politics and suspicion of democracy really means support for a leader strong enough to do what I want the leader to do without having to worry about conflicting interests. This opinion is charming in a 6 year old, but less so in others.
My thought on the Oval Office Explosion is still that it was a setup to get Mr Chump out of the hole he dug himself into without taking responsibility for himself which would puncture his vanity, and Mr Z was theer to sign the revised deal.
The PM (when I last looked) was still saying that the USA was not an unreliable ally, because there is still hope given Mr Trump's instability and someone needs to maintain the contact. Z coming back and signing the revised mineral deal is potentially a plank tying the USA in, and combined with Europe stepping up, is one way ahead which may or may not fly.
So if the Ambassador is off-piste carrying out a Mandelbrot Manoeuvre, then it is likely to be by agreement with Mr Starmer and the Foreign Office.
But I do think it’s good. But I do like relentless
Bleakness
And once more it has to be said “who the fuck thought that Eddie Redmayne could ever carry off a evilly chilling calculated killer”
They should have called it The Day of The Hamster
By the end I was actually laughing every time they referred to him as “the jackal”
But I digress.
"He's a cocktail waiter, he's a very good cocktail waiter. He loses his confidence. He meets a girl and he once again becomes a great cocktail waiter.
He's a fighter pilot, he's a very good fighter pilot. He loses his confidence. He meets a girl and he once again becomes a great fighter pilot.
He's a race car driver, he's a very good race car driver. He loses his confidence. He meets a girl and he once again becomes a great race car driver.
He's a sports agent, he's a very good sports agent. He loses his confidence. He meets a girl and he once again becomes a great sports agent". Etc.
I think Cruise is over rated except in Collateral where he is incredibly menacing. These days he's too old. He's the same age as me FFS.
Yes Chernobyl by itself is probably superior to any single movie since about 2005
An incredible work of art
In their defence, pronunciations change. Thus, we may still write "an heriditary peerage" but 100 years ago we might also have written "an hotel".