The short version - New head of company discovers the place is a mess and not doing stuff like the "cool" company. His plan to address this is
1) Hire management consultants to read stuff off the internet and make a report 2) Filter it through 3 levels of C suite idiots - who "translate" the findings. 3) i.e. "They have a workforce motivated to work long hours" = "We must flog the serfs harder". 4) Make some notes from that
WTAF?
On the other hand:
"Tesla ordered to pay $137M to Black former worker subjected to racist workplace"
Their defence was... interesting. "Yeah, there was racist graffiti in the building. But it was probably contractors..."
That seems a fairly odd response, given the accusations occurred in 2015/6, when Tesla were in production hell with the Model X, Musky baby was apparently sleeping at the factory and taking direct control of everything at Tesla. Later on, including stepping in front of assembly lines ...
"According to The Wall Street Journal, Tesla CEO Elon Musk started headbutting a car at Tesla's Fremont, California, factory this spring after he learned the assembly line would stop when people got too close to it. "I don't see how this could hurt me," he reportedly said. "I want the cars to just keep moving." A Tesla representative told Business Insider that Musk tapped the car with his head while wearing a safety hat to demonstrate that it didn't pose a safety risk."
Tesla seems, and has always seemed, like a hot mess. SpaceX doesn't appear that way. The question is: why the difference? And I think the answer is Shotwell doing the F9 stuff superbly well, whilst Musk is down in Texas trying to make the future.
I think his focus was on the cars, not on the people. Car manufacture is an ultra-blue-collar profession - look at the problems (and efforts to fix) at Ford, Toyota etc with respect to racism. Very different from rocket scientists in California....
Are essay mills bad? Sure Should be they be stopped in an ideal world? Yes With many crimes already being dropped in the system and the average case taking 1.5 years from an offence being committed to a court outcome should this be a priority? No
Why do we keep creating endless laws that result in the implementation of more important laws becoming worse?
General rule of thumb is creating specific new crimes is usually unnecessary, but a headline grabber as it shows you are doing 'something'.
Oh yes. The Johnson appeal rests on more than one thing but class deference is in the mix.
Optimism is his main appeal.
There's a real division between the miserable gits who expect (and want) to see everything fail, the glass a quarter empty brigade, and the optimists who are confident looking to the future.
When the miserable gits main complaint is that we have job vacancies and full employment, then we're through the looking glass.
The general quality of statesman would suggest the position is not, sadly, prohibitive of also being the court jester. Or, even more sadly, that more serious gravitas always helps.
John Kemp @JKempEnergy EU28 GAS PRICES will continue climbing until the market sees signs of actual demand-destruction - most likely announcements of temporary factory closures, longer holiday shutdowns over Christmas, and reductions in street lighting and commercial building thermostat targets
I thought it was odd* that when that fertilizer plant shutdown (before being bunged some tax payers' money) no one was asking "is it not a little worrying that a plant like this is shutting down because of gas prices?" Surely the rise in gas prices is going to have a crippling effect on the world economy.
* Okay, not that odd, I know how the limited the media is.
it's one of the reasons I've been suggesting we might be in for 1970s redux. Those old enough to have been around at the time will remember the oil shock of 1973 onwards.
Oh yes. The Johnson appeal rests on more than one thing but class deference is in the mix.
I'm never too sure about that. I do think we have an image of what a 'normal' PM looks and sounds like, and Boris is certainly of that class, and that has some effect, but his approach, image and mannerisms very much are not, as he is more chaotic, apparently bumbling and so on, whereas Starmer looks like he was cast as the PM in a TV drama.
Are essay mills bad? Sure Should be they be stopped in an ideal world? Yes With many crimes already being dropped in the system and the average case taking 1.5 years from an offence being committed to a court outcome should this be a priority? No
Why do we keep creating endless laws that result in the implementation of more important laws becoming worse?
General rule of thumb is creating specific new crimes is usually unnecessary, but a headline grabber as it shows you are doing 'something'.
Not convinced. If this was about the m25 protestors or police rapists sure. But hardly anyone will notice this story, it won't make many headlines. Also if it was not introduced the chance of a big clamour demanding something must be done grabbing the publics attention is also close to zero.
So now the big question is: where does PB stand on microwavable PUY LENTILS?
There’s a brand of pouches of non-refrigerated pre-cooked lentils with a window through which the contents can be seen. Turns my stomach just looking at it, and not much does. Some primal response to off-looking food perhaps.
Typical of the New Statesman to equivocate state handouts with levelling up.
Levelling up means letting people earn and spend more of their own money, without the state getting in the way.
Well that 'aint UC then, as I think @Philip_Thompson has pointed out the marginal tax rate for UC withdrawal for those who do try and earn more is horrific.
Oh yes. The Johnson appeal rests on more than one thing but class deference is in the mix.
I'm never too sure about that. I do think we have an image of what a 'normal' PM looks and sounds like, and Boris is certainly of that class, and that has some effect, but his approach, image and mannerisms very much are not, as he is more chaotic, apparently bumbling and so on, whereas Starmer looks like he was cast as the PM in a TV drama.
Quite so. SIR Keir Starmer comes across as posher in many ways. Indeed I’d bet many ordinary brits would probably put him in ‘the same class’ as Boris, not caring about or understanding the nuance
Are essay mills bad? Sure Should be they be stopped in an ideal world? Yes With many crimes already being dropped in the system and the average case taking 1.5 years from an offence being committed to a court outcome should this be a priority? No
Why do we keep creating endless laws that result in the implementation of more important laws becoming worse?
General rule of thumb is creating specific new crimes is usually unnecessary, but a headline grabber as it shows you are doing 'something'.
Not convinced. If this was about the m25 protestors or police rapists sure. But hardly anyone will notice this story, it won't make many headlines. Also if it was not introduced the chance of a big clamour demanding something must be done grabbing the publics attention is also close to zero.
Headline grabber may have been the wrong phrase. A press release policy is perhaps a better way of putting it.
Oh yes. The Johnson appeal rests on more than one thing but class deference is in the mix.
Optimism is his main appeal.
There's a real division between the miserable gits who expect (and want) to see everything fail, the glass a quarter empty brigade, and the optimists who are confident looking to the future.
When the miserable gits main complaint is that we have job vacancies and full employment, then we're through the looking glass.
Yet Boris made his career writing state-of-the-nation articles for disgruntled shire colonels appalled at the modern age.
Genuine question: how many PB-ers have actually encountered a proper empty shelf in a supermarket?
There must surely be some examples underlying the multitude of stories.
And by ‘empty shelf’ I mean exactly that, an entire shelf wiped clean, so not just a lack of ‘Tilda Microwavable Basmati and Wild Rice’ but a shelf with all rice gone, or no bread, or zero citrus fruit, etc
My wife reported no pasta, flour & baking soda at O2 Sainsbury’s at the height of the fuel panic
Typical of the New Statesman to equivocate state handouts with levelling up.
Levelling up means letting people earn and spend more of their own money, without the state getting in the way.
Well that 'aint UC then, as I think @Philip_Thompson has pointed out the marginal tax rate for UC withdrawal for those who do try and earn more is horrific.
Indeed and I hope the Chancellor can address this in the future, but I'm not holding my breath.
One irony is that if wages keep growing and UC stays frozen then at first people won't gain much but ultimately they'll reach a point where the taper reaches zero and suddenly people freed from the poverty trap will end up on a much, much lower real marginal tax rate.
I don't know what to say. That was brilliant, but he said nothing, but does he need to.
Fair summary.
The best thing about Boris is his sunny optimism and that shone through on everything spoken about.
Also excellent jokes. On Starmer’s caution in exiting lockdown:
‘If christopher Columbus had copied kir Starmer he’d now be known for discovering Tenerife’
That's not a bad joke, though wasn't Columbus woefully unprepared for what he intended and just got lucky?
He was, but jokes don't have to be grounded in that kind of accuracy.
No they don't, but I was just thinking if the jokes allow a good gag as a retort to be opened up. Of course, twitter and forum snarks after the fact won't lessen theimpact of a decent joke.
I think Starmer's only chance of limping across the line by depriving Johnson of a majority now rests on the economy going totally tits up in next two years.
Otherwise Johnson has already framed the key question of next election and Labour have lost it already.
Where is the evidence he is running the country as opposed to merely observing the country and providing sunny and delusional commentary?
We don't need a PM who 'runs' the country. The country isn't a train set that a single person can play with and micromanage.
Optimism and broad strokes is the PM's job. Let businesses and individuals then fill in the details.
Your love of the free market ignores the reality that every country in the world is running a mixed economy, that does indeed require government management. You may want less government, but to want none is delusional.
I don't know what to say. That was brilliant, but he said nothing, but does he need to.
Fair summary.
The best thing about Boris is his sunny optimism and that shone through on everything spoken about.
Also excellent jokes. On Starmer’s caution in exiting lockdown:
‘If christopher Columbus had copied kir Starmer he’d now be known for discovering Tenerife’
Columbus had no idea where he was going and came home with an STD. I'll leave it to others to figure out which of the major party leaders that sounds like.
Looks like we will just have to swap stilton for brie and drink English and Australian wines.
Who has French Turkey and French Christmas puddings anyway? It is normally British all the way
At some point the penny will drop on a clear majority of the population that we're suffering a series of self-inflicted wounds, which HMG is doing f*ck-all to heal.
No, it won't. Sorry
No, probably not. Just a shite decade of disruption and decline ahead then. ☹️
Edit: the Scots will certainly realise it. And the Northern Irish and Welsh probably. By which time it will be little England all alone going down the drain.
On today's Comres there was little difference between English and Scottish views of Brexit.
Plus of course as long as the Tories are in power there will be no indyref2 allowed anyway, if Starmer becomes PM however it will be with Scottish and Welsh votes
There was however a huge difference between English and Scottish voting intention:
Unreliable if so, but interesting that it - unreliably - implies for Indy a NO vote of 56%, and a YES vote of just 42%. Not great for your cause, I suggest
I am not sure @StuartDickson realised how poor those figures are for indyref2
Ho ho. I have a parasite in my brain, reading my every thought.
BritNats are clever. Scottish patriots are thickos. You keep believing that old boy.
You do not even live in Scotland
And you need to persuade Scots living in Scotland as at present you are failing
You are as the appetite for indyref2 is just not there not is support for leaving the union
But both the SNP and the SGP were crystal clear in their manifestos, and Scots backed them at the ballot boxes.
BritNats are playing a very dangerous game.
I am very relaxed about the situation
Unionist complacency has always been one of the Scots’ trump cards.
The funny thing is, it's the attitudes of Conservatives that might end up costing the Lib Dems my vote next election.
With you living in a Con/SNP marginal, I assume your local Lib Dem activists will be strongly hinting that you should cast a tactical vote for the Conservative candidate?
I don't know what to say. That was brilliant, but he said nothing, but does he need to.
Fair summary.
The best thing about Boris is his sunny optimism and that shone through on everything spoken about.
Also excellent jokes. On Starmer’s caution in exiting lockdown:
‘If christopher Columbus had copied kir Starmer he’d now be known for discovering Tenerife’
That's not a bad joke, though wasn't Columbus woefully unprepared for what he intended and just got lucky?
He was, but jokes don't have to be grounded in that kind of accuracy.
Additional: Columbus, to the end of his life, was convinced he'd succeeded in his goal of reaching Asia via a westerly route. His great achievement was one that he wasn't aiming for and didn't realise he'd made. But again, too much dissection for a joke that will land successfully for most people paying attention.
Request for info... Would putting an empty glass jam jar outside provide a reasonably accurate rain guage by measuring with a ruler ?
Yes. Needs to be straight sided.
The curve at the bottom would make measuring most British rain fall impossible by ruler. Let alone the size of the lip vs the size of the rest of the jar.
Sure but i only want a rough idea... how rough is my rough idea?
See my post above - I reckon it will be +/- 20%, but you can help yourself by using a straight sided vessel, with as large a circumference as possible. Jam jars may not be best. Think about a saucepan, and then use a ruler without a dead section at the end (i.e. the measuring starts at the tip).
Edit - If you want to know than buy a rain gauge and compare to your jar method. But then as you have a rain gauge, you won't need the jar...
I would calculate the cross sectional area of the pan, and then weigh the pan empty and after the rain to determine how much water it has collected. A quick calc and you get the depth. The density of water being 1g/cm3 makes this easy. Should be more accurate using a kitchen balance than a ruler when the depth is minimal.
Oh FFS. A cheap rain gauge costs less than £5; an expensive one less than £50.
Coming up next on pb.com, can I make a pair of scissors out of a couple of knives and an elastic band or should I spend my £5?
Welcome to the tools blackhole.
I know a number of retired engineers who setup a workshop at home. So to make something you need tools. So they buy a lathe and a mill. Then they need specialist bits. Which they start to make and then discover they need another specialist bit.
In the house magazine for an engineering society, they quite often feature a sale of tools by a widow - including alot of half finished tools.
The two best tools I've ever bought are a CNC plasma cutter (80% of all car projects is making brackets) and a dry ice blaster (so effective at cleaning engine bays that it literally adds thousands of value to a flip in a matter of hours).
For complicated fab I generate the G code in Fusion 360 and email it to Poland for manufacture so my widow will not have the difficulty of disposing of a 15 ton 5-axis mill.
I can find you people who would actually enjoy moving a 15 ton mill. They live for that shit.
I knew someone who joined a preserved railway to work on steam engines. He didn't particularly like steam engines, but he did like the kit in the machine shop, and the weird (and sometimes challenging) stuff they had to make.
Typical of the New Statesman to equivocate state handouts with levelling up.
Levelling up means letting people earn and spend more of their own money, without the state getting in the way.
Well that 'aint UC then, as I think @Philip_Thompson has pointed out the marginal tax rate for UC withdrawal for those who do try and earn more is horrific.
Indeed and I hope the Chancellor can address this in the future, but I'm not holding my breath.
One irony is that if wages keep growing and UC stays frozen then at first people won't gain much but ultimately they'll reach a point where the taper reaches zero and suddenly people freed from the poverty trap will end up on a much, much lower real marginal tax rate.
Sunak should have kept the £20 uplift, but then not raised the benefit at all for next few years while inflation eats away at it.
Genuine question: how many PB-ers have actually encountered a proper empty shelf in a supermarket?
There must surely be some examples underlying the multitude of stories.
And by ‘empty shelf’ I mean exactly that, an entire shelf wiped clean, so not just a lack of ‘Tilda Microwavable Basmati and Wild Rice’ but a shelf with all rice gone, or no bread, or zero citrus fruit, etc
Bottled water, Tesco, 6-8 weeks ago. Ony "with a hint of" stuff left.
Annoyingly, the first time for at least a decade I have wanted bottled water, as a fallback supply on a little boat I've just bought in case I get swept out to sea.
Surely if you not already on the boat when you get swept out to sea…
Where is the evidence he is running the country as opposed to merely observing the country and providing sunny and delusional commentary?
We don't need a PM who 'runs' the country. The country isn't a train set that a single person can play with and micromanage.
Optimism and broad strokes is the PM's job. Let businesses and individuals then fill in the details.
Your love of the free market ignores the reality that every country in the world is running a mixed economy, that does indeed require government management. You may want less government, but to want none is delusional.
Absolutely we have a mixed economy and in this nation we've kind of determined to have a government ran healthcare system and then education (but not further education) . . . and that's about it.
The government can deal with "schools 'n' hospitals" and tinker around with transport infrastructure, and let the market deal with the rest of it.
John Rentoul @JohnRentoul · 10m Speech didn't make a lot of sense, rambled all over the place, but the meta narrative so strong it didn't matter
The Boris Johnson equation in a nutshell?
Everything about the phoney Boris Johnson project, just like any phoney football manager project, is based on keeping your sight on the sunlit horizon, the brilliant things to happen the day after tomorrow, once the best of Britain is unleashed.
Flag up any pain today and it’s no gain without pain.
I think Starmer's only chance of limping across the line by depriving Johnson of a majority now rests on the economy going totally tits up in next two years.
Otherwise Johnson has already framed the key question of next election and Labour have lost it already.
It rests on the economy going totally tits up in next two years AND Labour being thought to have some answers on how to fix things. That second part still looks mighty elusive.
Boris's jokes are the best ones I've heard for ages.
The best from a politician in my lifetime. Hague could be funny, but not as funny as Boris
People may belittle this - ‘court jester’ - but it’s also highly effective in politics as it is in life. If you make people laugh, you’re popular. That’s it. People want to see you again, and listen to you again. You get another hearing
Will I ever sit through another 90 minutes of Starmer droning? God, no. I did it because it was his debut
This is probably the fourth or fifth Boris speech I’ve watched, and this was the funniest. So, I’ll watch another. It’s as basic as that
Are essay mills bad? Sure Should be they be stopped in an ideal world? Yes With many crimes already being dropped in the system and the average case taking 1.5 years from an offence being committed to a court outcome should this be a priority? No
Why do we keep creating endless laws that result in the implementation of more important laws becoming worse?
General rule of thumb is creating specific new crimes is usually unnecessary, but a headline grabber as it shows you are doing 'something'.
Not convinced. If this was about the m25 protestors or police rapists sure. But hardly anyone will notice this story, it won't make many headlines. Also if it was not introduced the chance of a big clamour demanding something must be done grabbing the publics attention is also close to zero.
Clearly if ghost essay writing becomes illegal, then it will shut most of the industry down. There will never be any prosecutions except in exceptional cases. So it will achieve what was intended.
But otherwise it is a well known problem - inventing new criminal offences to satisfy popular demand; and not having capacity in the police, courts or prisons to deal with them.
I'm not watching/watched the speech, so I'll be the first to solemnly declare if it is a good speech with lots of jokes causing the audience to laugh, that it will play badly with stuggling families and make the Tories seem complacent or whatever.
The short version - New head of company discovers the place is a mess and not doing stuff like the "cool" company. His plan to address this is
1) Hire management consultants to read stuff off the internet and make a report 2) Filter it through 3 levels of C suite idiots - who "translate" the findings. 3) i.e. "They have a workforce motivated to work long hours" = "We must flog the serfs harder". 4) Make some notes from that
WTAF?
What a mess, yet they seem surprised at still losing good people to their main rival.
Yes.
What makes it almost poetic is that they are looking at a company where, according to multiple sources the situation is this -
1) The CEO/owner works himself as hard as anyone. 2) Has relocated himself to be onsite at the current biggest project. 3) Understands the projects down to the nut and bolts level 4) Is available 24/7 to make decisions. 5) Pays decently. 6) Stock options are worth a fuckton 7) Offers a working environment of "if you are a mad hobbyist in rocketry, you can do real rocketry 18 hours a day. No impediments". 8) Offers responsibility - see the recent video where an engineer in her 20s gets to be responsible for the launch mount of the largest rocket in the world. And briefs the owner of the company directly on it.
vs
1) Owner has bought a bigger boat 2) Devotes 2 whole afternoon a week to the company 3) Understands lawsuits. 4) Pays ok 5) Stock options are worth shit and you have to stay to get anything. 6) Offers a work environment of "If you like meetings, we have meetings"
And their answer is the serfs need to work harder.
7) Is the big one. There’s only one company who’s letting the rocket scientists actually build stuff, do it quickly and iteratively, and not worry a huge amount if they blow up.
BO, NASA, SLS and the legacy contractors spend a decade talking and making drawings, while SX are making and testing actual rockets!
Yeah - my favourite was that George Mueller was so bored with his job a senior rocket engine designer at TRW that he started building a big rocket engine in his garage. Because TRW wasn't actually doing anything.
George then went to look for a rocket test stand and ran into Elon at a conference....
Musk was very lucky to have around a large labour pool of very expensively trained rocket engineers who were either redundant, or didn't have much to do. But very little else was down to luck.
Interesting that Boris's speech is so compelling that we're discussing the merits of frozen peas.
I'm not watching. Why put myself through something like that unless it's the law?
He told about six lol jokes. Genuinely
You sure it wasn't juvenile poshboy sneer masquerading as wit? Because often it is. Any case, even if he has people rolling in the aisles, I place zero importance on it. There's a million things I find funny every day so why would I be yearning for the PM to be comedic? I simply don't understand people who look to Boris Johnson to bring humour and good cheer into their lives. I find it (and them) all a bit pathetic to be honest with you.
Looks like we will just have to swap stilton for brie and drink English and Australian wines.
Who has French Turkey and French Christmas puddings anyway? It is normally British all the way
At some point the penny will drop on a clear majority of the population that we're suffering a series of self-inflicted wounds, which HMG is doing f*ck-all to heal.
No, it won't. Sorry
No, probably not. Just a shite decade of disruption and decline ahead then. ☹️
Edit: the Scots will certainly realise it. And the Northern Irish and Welsh probably. By which time it will be little England all alone going down the drain.
On today's Comres there was little difference between English and Scottish views of Brexit.
Plus of course as long as the Tories are in power there will be no indyref2 allowed anyway, if Starmer becomes PM however it will be with Scottish and Welsh votes
There was however a huge difference between English and Scottish voting intention:
Unreliable if so, but interesting that it - unreliably - implies for Indy a NO vote of 56%, and a YES vote of just 42%. Not great for your cause, I suggest
I am not sure @StuartDickson realised how poor those figures are for indyref2
Ho ho. I have a parasite in my brain, reading my every thought.
BritNats are clever. Scottish patriots are thickos. You keep believing that old boy.
You do not even live in Scotland
And you need to persuade Scots living in Scotland as at present you are failing
You are as the appetite for indyref2 is just not there not is support for leaving the union
But both the SNP and the SGP were crystal clear in their manifestos, and Scots backed them at the ballot boxes.
BritNats are playing a very dangerous game.
I am very relaxed about the situation
Unionist complacency has always been one of the Scots’ trump cards.
The funny thing is, it's the attitudes of Conservatives that might end up costing the Lib Dems my vote next election.
With you living in a Con/SNP marginal, I assume your local Lib Dem activists will be strongly hinting that you should cast a tactical vote for the Conservative candidate?
I'm not sure, it's been a while since I've seen a Lib Dem activist. That might tell a story in itself. Either way, I'm not voting Conservative in the near future. The temptation to vote SNP is to eject the Conservative. The temptation to vote Lib Dem is because I feel they're in about the right place policy-wise. The temptation to vote Labour is to give an explicit mandate to a new PM. The temptation to vote Green is as a general protest.
Request for info... Would putting an empty glass jam jar outside provide a reasonably accurate rain guage by measuring with a ruler ?
Yes. Needs to be straight sided.
The curve at the bottom would make measuring most British rain fall impossible by ruler. Let alone the size of the lip vs the size of the rest of the jar.
Sure but i only want a rough idea... how rough is my rough idea?
See my post above - I reckon it will be +/- 20%, but you can help yourself by using a straight sided vessel, with as large a circumference as possible. Jam jars may not be best. Think about a saucepan, and then use a ruler without a dead section at the end (i.e. the measuring starts at the tip).
Edit - If you want to know than buy a rain gauge and compare to your jar method. But then as you have a rain gauge, you won't need the jar...
I would calculate the cross sectional area of the pan, and then weigh the pan empty and after the rain to determine how much water it has collected. A quick calc and you get the depth. The density of water being 1g/cm3 makes this easy. Should be more accurate using a kitchen balance than a ruler when the depth is minimal.
Oh FFS. A cheap rain gauge costs less than £5; an expensive one less than £50.
Coming up next on pb.com, can I make a pair of scissors out of a couple of knives and an elastic band or should I spend my £5?
Welcome to the tools blackhole.
I know a number of retired engineers who setup a workshop at home. So to make something you need tools. So they buy a lathe and a mill. Then they need specialist bits. Which they start to make and then discover they need another specialist bit.
In the house magazine for an engineering society, they quite often feature a sale of tools by a widow - including alot of half finished tools.
The two best tools I've ever bought are a CNC plasma cutter (80% of all car projects is making brackets) and a dry ice blaster (so effective at cleaning engine bays that it literally adds thousands of value to a flip in a matter of hours).
For complicated fab I generate the G code in Fusion 360 and email it to Poland for manufacture so my widow will not have the difficulty of disposing of a 15 ton 5-axis mill.
I can find you people who would actually enjoy moving a 15 ton mill. They live for that shit.
Like my cousin the specialist lorry driver, who does that for a living.
I suspect he's allowed to have a shit on the customer's premises, in the WC ...
Boris's jokes are the best ones I've heard for ages.
The best from a politician in my lifetime. Hague could be funny, but not as funny as Boris
People may belittle this - ‘court jester’ - but it’s also highly effective in politics as it is in life. If you make people laugh, you’re popular. That’s it. People want to see you again, and listen to you again. You get another hearing
Will I ever sit through another 90 minutes of Starmer droning? God, no. I did it because it was his debut
This is probably the fourth or fifth Boris speech I’ve watched, and this was the funniest. So, I’ll watch another. It’s as basic as that
I've heard from people who have met Boris that it gets wearing after a bit, but since the public only meet or see him in snippets it works pretty well.
Typical of the New Statesman to equivocate state handouts with levelling up.
Levelling up means letting people earn and spend more of their own money, without the state getting in the way.
Well that 'aint UC then, as I think @Philip_Thompson has pointed out the marginal tax rate for UC withdrawal for those who do try and earn more is horrific.
Indeed and I hope the Chancellor can address this in the future, but I'm not holding my breath.
One irony is that if wages keep growing and UC stays frozen then at first people won't gain much but ultimately they'll reach a point where the taper reaches zero and suddenly people freed from the poverty trap will end up on a much, much lower real marginal tax rate.
Sunak should have kept the £20 uplift, but then not raised the benefit at all for next few years while inflation eats away at it.
I'd have much more respect if he dropped the £20 uplift, but then reinvested every single penny of the savings into slashing the taper rate instead.
Yes those 'most in need' won't get the money, but the ones most in need can get a job and get on and keep more of their own money then.
Interesting that Boris's speech is so compelling that we're discussing the merits of frozen peas.
I'm not watching. Why put myself through something like that unless it's the law?
He told about six lol jokes. Genuinely
You sure it wasn't juvenile poshboy sneer masquerading as wit? Because often it is. Any case, even if he has people rolling in the aisles, I place zero importance on it. There's a million things I find funny every day so why would I be yearning for the PM to be comedic? I simply don't understand people who look to Boris Johnson to bring humour and good cheer into their lives. I find it (and them) all a bit pathetic to be honest with you.
Genuine question: how many PB-ers have actually encountered a proper empty shelf in a supermarket?
There must surely be some examples underlying the multitude of stories.
And by ‘empty shelf’ I mean exactly that, an entire shelf wiped clean, so not just a lack of ‘Tilda Microwavable Basmati and Wild Rice’ but a shelf with all rice gone, or no bread, or zero citrus fruit, etc
This year? No. And my Tesco order has been 95% fulfilled throughout. But there does seem to have been a few weird shortages. Microwave rice, for example. For seven or eight weeks this has been very hard to get hold of - either own brand or Uncle Ben's; either online or in person. Even the One-Stops - which managed to keep stocking toilet roll in March 2020 - have sold out of it. Particularly golden vegetable rice. This doesn't form a massive part of my diet, so hasn't been a massive inconvenience, but odd nonetheless.
Amazon Fresh has plenty of microwave rice available for delivery today - just type
Ooh, thanks. To be honest I'm inexplicably grumpy with the concept of Amazon selling groceries, and not yet desperate enough for packet rice (just start earlier and boil it, man!) to go searching - but will bear it in mind for future emergencies.
Amazon Fresh is amazingly efficient. They never seem to run out of anything and they often deliver the same day (at least in London). They source from Morrison’s but also elsewhere
Also, microwave rice is BETTER than the rice you boil. It just is. It’s not just more convenient and way quicker it’s fluffier and tastier - a small but notable improvement in life. Like frozen peas. I am particularly fond of Tilda’s ‘Wholegrain and Wild Rice’. Delicious
I've never heard anyone express that view before - but I've always found microwave rice better too. I'd always assumed that it was that I was bad at cooking rice (there is a trope from Asian comedians about how badly western people cook rice - I just supposed I was part of that, without ever really being motivated enough to improve or buy a rice cooker, which apparently is how I should have been doing it).
Cooking rice really well is notably hard. Almost impossible for someone with limited experience and no rice cooker. The Thais are religious about rice and spend years learning the craft, likewise the Japanese
Top brand micro rice delivers near-restaurant quality rice in 2 minutes. It won’t be quite as good as the rice you get in a Japanese restaurant but it will be better than the rice 95% of amateur cooks boil at home
FFS!
Just take a cup of basmati rice, add to a saucepan, wash in cold water three times to clean and remove excess starch (you'll need to pour off the water carefully to avoid losing the rice, natch), then add two cups of water, bring to the boil, and then simmer on as low a heat as possible for ten minutes.
Or if you need more rice, cook in two cups of water per cup of rice.
Looks like we will just have to swap stilton for brie and drink English and Australian wines.
Who has French Turkey and French Christmas puddings anyway? It is normally British all the way
At some point the penny will drop on a clear majority of the population that we're suffering a series of self-inflicted wounds, which HMG is doing f*ck-all to heal.
No, it won't. Sorry
No, probably not. Just a shite decade of disruption and decline ahead then. ☹️
Edit: the Scots will certainly realise it. And the Northern Irish and Welsh probably. By which time it will be little England all alone going down the drain.
On today's Comres there was little difference between English and Scottish views of Brexit.
Plus of course as long as the Tories are in power there will be no indyref2 allowed anyway, if Starmer becomes PM however it will be with Scottish and Welsh votes
There was however a huge difference between English and Scottish voting intention:
Unreliable if so, but interesting that it - unreliably - implies for Indy a NO vote of 56%, and a YES vote of just 42%. Not great for your cause, I suggest
I am not sure @StuartDickson realised how poor those figures are for indyref2
Ho ho. I have a parasite in my brain, reading my every thought.
BritNats are clever. Scottish patriots are thickos. You keep believing that old boy.
You do not even live in Scotland
And you need to persuade Scots living in Scotland as at present you are failing
You are as the appetite for indyref2 is just not there not is support for leaving the union
But both the SNP and the SGP were crystal clear in their manifestos, and Scots backed them at the ballot boxes.
BritNats are playing a very dangerous game.
I am very relaxed about the situation
Unionist complacency has always been one of the Scots’ trump cards.
The funny thing is, it's the attitudes of Conservatives that might end up costing the Lib Dems my vote next election.
With you living in a Con/SNP marginal, I assume your local Lib Dem activists will be strongly hinting that you should cast a tactical vote for the Conservative candidate?
I'm not sure, it's been a while since I've seen a Lib Dem activist. That might tell a story in itself. Either way, I'm not voting Conservative in the near future. The temptation to vote SNP is to eject the Conservative. The temptation to vote Lib Dem is because I feel they're in about the right place policy-wise. The temptation to vote Labour is to give an explicit mandate to a new PM. The temptation to vote Green is as a general protest.
Well, you've got four different voting systems anyway (two at the same time for Holyrood), plus the likelihood of an Independent in local gmt (= Tory who dare not breathe the word).
I think Starmer's only chance of limping across the line by depriving Johnson of a majority now rests on the economy going totally tits up in next two years.
Otherwise Johnson has already framed the key question of next election and Labour have lost it already.
I think that is fair comment
I would suggest that Boris is way out on his own as leader, and unless health intervenes, he will be leading the party into GE24
I had to drop Wor Lass off in town this morning, and decided to fill up before heading home (less than quarter of a tank left). At first I thought there was a queue, but then realised that there were temporary traffic lights, and the cars were just waiting at a red. I pulled straight up to a pump, no probs, all grades available.
On my way to pay a fellow driver pulling in to the forecourt gave me a smile.
I think Starmer's only chance of limping across the line by depriving Johnson of a majority now rests on the economy going totally tits up in next two years.
Otherwise Johnson has already framed the key question of next election and Labour have lost it already.
Indeed. Masterful by Boris. The framing is brilliant: if you don't accept you're living in a Boris utopia either you're a jumped-up complaining officious little oik (Starmer), or you don't appreciate that from suffering comes deliverance. It's impossible to argue with anyone onboard with that.
I think Starmer's only chance of limping across the line by depriving Johnson of a majority now rests on the economy going totally tits up in next two years.
Otherwise Johnson has already framed the key question of next election and Labour have lost it already.
Indeed. Masterful by Boris. The framing is brilliant: if you don't accept you're living in a Boris utopia either you're a jumped-up complaining officious little oik (Starmer), or you don't appreciate that from suffering comes deliverance. It's impossible to argue with anyone onboard with that.
Boris's opponents have spent years trying to outdo each other in miserabilism. The incessant whining that we have full employment and wages going up now when Project Fear was stagnation and mass unemployment, would be a hard to believe parody if you'd written it years ago.
Boris is a ray of sunshine, who else is in politics? Starmer is as dour as you can get, Davey is invisible and don't even get started on Ian Blackford.
Where is the sunny optimism of Tony "things can only get better" Blair on the left?
Boris's jokes are the best ones I've heard for ages.
The best from a politician in my lifetime. Hague could be funny, but not as funny as Boris
People may belittle this - ‘court jester’ - but it’s also highly effective in politics as it is in life. If you make people laugh, you’re popular. That’s it. People want to see you again, and listen to you again. You get another hearing
Will I ever sit through another 90 minutes of Starmer droning? God, no. I did it because it was his debut
This is probably the fourth or fifth Boris speech I’ve watched, and this was the funniest. So, I’ll watch another. It’s as basic as that
I've heard from people who have met Boris that it gets wearing after a bit, but since the public only meet or see him in snippets it works pretty well.
Yes, Boris - so it is said - does not retain male friends particularly well. He’s too competitive, too easily bored, perhaps. And that must chafe with others - see Dom Cummings. But he is genuinely funny and smart, it is absurd to claim otherwise
And humour is hugely helpful in politics
The best comparison for Boris is maybe - weirdly - Ronald Reagan. ‘Morning in America’. Reagan also told good jokes (his own) and also exuded patriotic optimism. And was highly successful. And Reagan, like Boris, was an actor
Request for info... Would putting an empty glass jam jar outside provide a reasonably accurate rain guage by measuring with a ruler ?
Yes. Needs to be straight sided.
The curve at the bottom would make measuring most British rain fall impossible by ruler. Let alone the size of the lip vs the size of the rest of the jar.
Sure but i only want a rough idea... how rough is my rough idea?
See my post above - I reckon it will be +/- 20%, but you can help yourself by using a straight sided vessel, with as large a circumference as possible. Jam jars may not be best. Think about a saucepan, and then use a ruler without a dead section at the end (i.e. the measuring starts at the tip).
Edit - If you want to know than buy a rain gauge and compare to your jar method. But then as you have a rain gauge, you won't need the jar...
I would calculate the cross sectional area of the pan, and then weigh the pan empty and after the rain to determine how much water it has collected. A quick calc and you get the depth. The density of water being 1g/cm3 makes this easy. Should be more accurate using a kitchen balance than a ruler when the depth is minimal.
Oh FFS. A cheap rain gauge costs less than £5; an expensive one less than £50.
Coming up next on pb.com, can I make a pair of scissors out of a couple of knives and an elastic band or should I spend my £5?
Welcome to the tools blackhole.
I know a number of retired engineers who setup a workshop at home. So to make something you need tools. So they buy a lathe and a mill. Then they need specialist bits. Which they start to make and then discover they need another specialist bit.
In the house magazine for an engineering society, they quite often feature a sale of tools by a widow - including alot of half finished tools.
The two best tools I've ever bought are a CNC plasma cutter (80% of all car projects is making brackets) and a dry ice blaster (so effective at cleaning engine bays that it literally adds thousands of value to a flip in a matter of hours).
For complicated fab I generate the G code in Fusion 360 and email it to Poland for manufacture so my widow will not have the difficulty of disposing of a 15 ton 5-axis mill.
I can find you people who would actually enjoy moving a 15 ton mill. They live for that shit.
Like my cousin the specialist lorry driver, who does that for a living.
I suspect he's allowed to have a shit on the customer's premises, in the WC ...
These guys are retried engineers. They always know someone who knows someone. One time they got stuck lifting a mill over someones house - couldn't break it down as far as they thought, easily.
So needed a bigger crane.
Had another crane in about another hour, a mate of a mate who was filling in between jobs. No, they didn't pay the full market rate for the lift, either.
Interesting that Boris's speech is so compelling that we're discussing the merits of frozen peas.
I'm not watching. Why put myself through something like that unless it's the law?
He told about six lol jokes. Genuinely
You sure it wasn't juvenile poshboy sneer masquerading as wit? Because often it is. Any case, even if he has people rolling in the aisles, I place zero importance on it. There's a million things I find funny every day so why would I be yearning for the PM to be comedic? I simply don't understand people who look to Boris Johnson to bring humour and good cheer into their lives. I find it (and them) all a bit pathetic to be honest with you.
I seriously doubt people look for Boris to bring humour and good cheer into their lives. But since as PM he will be in our lives to some extent inevitably, being charismatic and amusing helps him be more likable.
How vital a factor is that? I don't know, I find his schtick to be played out though he can be funny, but when people criticise him for it it is not easy, since people know it is possible to be both serious when it matters and irreverent and jocular at other times, so the case has to be made that he cannot manage that switch. Which has been made for many, but not yet all.
On Boris, I can see the appeal, I really can. He is quite funny at times. But it says something about the state of British politics that we're happy to have a stand-up comedian as PM. Obama also told really good jokes, but was a serious statesman at the same time. His jokes were embroidery; Boris's knockabout stuff is the core of his appeal - the statesmanship rarely surfaces (though he is capable of it). One day, the worm will turn and we'll want a serious politician for serious times. But I've no idea when.
John Rentoul @JohnRentoul · 10m Speech didn't make a lot of sense, rambled all over the place, but the meta narrative so strong it didn't matter
The Boris Johnson equation in a nutshell?
Everything about the phoney Boris Johnson project, just like any phoney football manager project, is based on keeping your sight on the sunlit horizon, the brilliant things to happen the day after tomorrow, once the best of Britain is unleashed.
Flag up any pain today and it’s no gain without pain.
Interesting that Boris's speech is so compelling that we're discussing the merits of frozen peas.
I'm not watching. Why put myself through something like that unless it's the law?
He told about six lol jokes. Genuinely
You sure it wasn't juvenile poshboy sneer masquerading as wit? Because often it is. Any case, even if he has people rolling in the aisles, I place zero importance on it. There's a million things I find funny every day so why would I be yearning for the PM to be comedic? I simply don't understand people who look to Boris Johnson to bring humour and good cheer into their lives. I find it (and them) all a bit pathetic to be honest with you.
Louis CK should be POTUS and Rhys Darby should be UN Secretary General.
The short version - New head of company discovers the place is a mess and not doing stuff like the "cool" company. His plan to address this is
1) Hire management consultants to read stuff off the internet and make a report 2) Filter it through 3 levels of C suite idiots - who "translate" the findings. 3) i.e. "They have a workforce motivated to work long hours" = "We must flog the serfs harder". 4) Make some notes from that
WTAF?
What a mess, yet they seem surprised at still losing good people to their main rival.
Yes.
What makes it almost poetic is that they are looking at a company where, according to multiple sources the situation is this -
1) The CEO/owner works himself as hard as anyone. 2) Has relocated himself to be onsite at the current biggest project. 3) Understands the projects down to the nut and bolts level 4) Is available 24/7 to make decisions. 5) Pays decently. 6) Stock options are worth a fuckton 7) Offers a working environment of "if you are a mad hobbyist in rocketry, you can do real rocketry 18 hours a day. No impediments". 8) Offers responsibility - see the recent video where an engineer in her 20s gets to be responsible for the launch mount of the largest rocket in the world. And briefs the owner of the company directly on it.
vs
1) Owner has bought a bigger boat 2) Devotes 2 whole afternoon a week to the company 3) Understands lawsuits. 4) Pays ok 5) Stock options are worth shit and you have to stay to get anything. 6) Offers a work environment of "If you like meetings, we have meetings"
And their answer is the serfs need to work harder.
7) Is the big one. There’s only one company who’s letting the rocket scientists actually build stuff, do it quickly and iteratively, and not worry a huge amount if they blow up.
BO, NASA, SLS and the legacy contractors spend a decade talking and making drawings, while SX are making and testing actual rockets!
Yeah - my favourite was that George Mueller was so bored with his job a senior rocket engine designer at TRW that he started building a big rocket engine in his garage. Because TRW wasn't actually doing anything.
George then went to look for a rocket test stand and ran into Elon at a conference....
Musk was very lucky to have around a large labour pool of very expensively trained rocket engineers who were either redundant, or didn't have much to do. But very little else was down to luck.
Oh, it was. He was very lucky with the timing, especially with regards to COTS. And COTS was a result of a decade-long effort by others to commercialise US access to space.
You could easily argue that the COTS deal made SpaceX in several ways. It gave them assured funding that allowed them to progress the F9; it gave them an assured market; and it gave them kudos. All of which helped them continue to get funding when the SpaceX/Tesla crunch happened in 2008.
Are essay mills bad? Sure Should be they be stopped in an ideal world? Yes With many crimes already being dropped in the system and the average case taking 1.5 years from an offence being committed to a court outcome should this be a priority? No
Why do we keep creating endless laws that result in the implementation of more important laws becoming worse?
General rule of thumb is creating specific new crimes is usually unnecessary, but a headline grabber as it shows you are doing 'something'.
Accessory to fraud sounds like it would cover it, if their something you can be prosecuted for.
Looks like we will just have to swap stilton for brie and drink English and Australian wines.
Who has French Turkey and French Christmas puddings anyway? It is normally British all the way
At some point the penny will drop on a clear majority of the population that we're suffering a series of self-inflicted wounds, which HMG is doing f*ck-all to heal.
No, it won't. Sorry
No, probably not. Just a shite decade of disruption and decline ahead then. ☹️
Edit: the Scots will certainly realise it. And the Northern Irish and Welsh probably. By which time it will be little England all alone going down the drain.
On today's Comres there was little difference between English and Scottish views of Brexit.
Plus of course as long as the Tories are in power there will be no indyref2 allowed anyway, if Starmer becomes PM however it will be with Scottish and Welsh votes
There was however a huge difference between English and Scottish voting intention:
Unreliable if so, but interesting that it - unreliably - implies for Indy a NO vote of 56%, and a YES vote of just 42%. Not great for your cause, I suggest
I am not sure @StuartDickson realised how poor those figures are for indyref2
Ho ho. I have a parasite in my brain, reading my every thought.
BritNats are clever. Scottish patriots are thickos. You keep believing that old boy.
You do not even live in Scotland
And you need to persuade Scots living in Scotland as at present you are failing
You are as the appetite for indyref2 is just not there not is support for leaving the union
But both the SNP and the SGP were crystal clear in their manifestos, and Scots backed them at the ballot boxes.
BritNats are playing a very dangerous game.
I am very relaxed about the situation
Unionist complacency has always been one of the Scots’ trump cards.
The funny thing is, it's the attitudes of Conservatives that might end up costing the Lib Dems my vote next election.
With you living in a Con/SNP marginal, I assume your local Lib Dem activists will be strongly hinting that you should cast a tactical vote for the Conservative candidate?
I'm not sure, it's been a while since I've seen a Lib Dem activist. That might tell a story in itself. Either way, I'm not voting Conservative in the near future. The temptation to vote SNP is to eject the Conservative. The temptation to vote Lib Dem is because I feel they're in about the right place policy-wise. The temptation to vote Labour is to give an explicit mandate to a new PM. The temptation to vote Green is as a general protest.
Well, you've got four different voting systems anyway (two at the same time for Holyrood), plus the likelihood of an Independent in local gmt (= Tory who dare not breathe the word).
One of the great pleasures of election time is carefully examining what the independents stand for. They are 99% lunatics.
Boris's jokes are the best ones I've heard for ages.
The best from a politician in my lifetime. Hague could be funny, but not as funny as Boris
People may belittle this - ‘court jester’ - but it’s also highly effective in politics as it is in life. If you make people laugh, you’re popular. That’s it. People want to see you again, and listen to you again. You get another hearing
Will I ever sit through another 90 minutes of Starmer droning? God, no. I did it because it was his debut
This is probably the fourth or fifth Boris speech I’ve watched, and this was the funniest. So, I’ll watch another. It’s as basic as that
I've heard from people who have met Boris that it gets wearing after a bit, but since the public only meet or see him in snippets it works pretty well.
Yes, Boris - so it is said - does not retain male friends particularly well. He’s too competitive, too easily bored, perhaps. And that must chafe with others - see Dom Cummings. But he is genuinely funny and smart, it is absurd to claim otherwise
And humour is hugely helpful in politics
The best comparison for Boris is maybe - weirdly - Ronald Reagan. ‘Morning in America’. Reagan also told good jokes (his own) and also exuded patriotic optimism. And was highly successful. And Reagan, like Boris, was an actor
Reagan was also America's greatest and most consequential postwar PM. Although hated by others.
Other than Thatcher and Attlee, Boris is surely going to be up their as our most consequential postwar PM by the time he is done.
I suspect in seventy years time for better or worse people will be talking about Boris far more than Cameron, May, Brown or even Blair.
I had to drop Wor Lass off in town this morning, and decided to fill up before heading home (less than quarter of a tank left). At first I thought there was a queue, but then realised that there were temporary traffic lights, and the cars were just waiting at a red. I pulled straight up to a pump, no probs, all grades available.
On my way to pay a fellow driver pulling in to the forecourt gave me a smile.
Normality has returned.
The media have largely moved on hence back to normal
John Rentoul @JohnRentoul · 10m Speech didn't make a lot of sense, rambled all over the place, but the meta narrative so strong it didn't matter
The Boris Johnson equation in a nutshell?
Everything about the phoney Boris Johnson project, just like any phoney football manager project, is based on keeping your sight on the sunlit horizon, the brilliant things to happen the day after tomorrow, once the best of Britain is unleashed.
Flag up any pain today and it’s no gain without pain.
He’ll be gone within a year.
That's a pretty brave prediction.
Once it enters the if it’s not hurting it ain’t working, no gain without pain sound bite stage, this traditionally, mercifully, is the final stage before the end?
Okay. Alternative scenario, the only way he can save himself - Do you think this substance lite election rally speech, aspiration not policy, makes a 2022 cut and run election less or more likely?
And before you answer that, it’s now a no brainier there’s a GE next spring isn’t it?
I think Starmer's only chance of limping across the line by depriving Johnson of a majority now rests on the economy going totally tits up in next two years.
Otherwise Johnson has already framed the key question of next election and Labour have lost it already.
I think that is fair comment
I would suggest that Boris is way out on his own as leader, and unless health intervenes, he will be leading the party into GE24
For me there was never a doubt (once he didn't die of Covid) that he'd lead into the next election. The close to even money odds available on that a while back were an absolute steal. I hope I wasn't the only PBer to gobble them.
Interesting that Boris's speech is so compelling that we're discussing the merits of frozen peas.
I'm not watching. Why put myself through something like that unless it's the law?
He told about six lol jokes. Genuinely
You sure it wasn't juvenile poshboy sneer masquerading as wit? Because often it is. Any case, even if he has people rolling in the aisles, I place zero importance on it. There's a million things I find funny every day so why would I be yearning for the PM to be comedic? I simply don't understand people who look to Boris Johnson to bring humour and good cheer into their lives. I find it (and them) all a bit pathetic to be honest with you.
John Rentoul @JohnRentoul · 10m Speech didn't make a lot of sense, rambled all over the place, but the meta narrative so strong it didn't matter
The Boris Johnson equation in a nutshell?
Everything about the phoney Boris Johnson project, just like any phoney football manager project, is based on keeping your sight on the sunlit horizon, the brilliant things to happen the day after tomorrow, once the best of Britain is unleashed.
Flag up any pain today and it’s no gain without pain.
He’ll be gone within a year.
That's a pretty brave prediction.
Once it enters the if it’s not hurting it ain’t working, no gain without pain sound bite stage, this traditionally, mercifully, is the final stage before the end?
Okay. Alternative scenario, the only way he can save himself - Do you think this substance lite election rally speech, aspiration not policy, makes a 2022 cut and run election less or more likely?
And before you answer that, it’s now a no brainier there’s a GE next spring isn’t it?
What 'pain' though? The 'pain' you are referring to is that we have full employment and employers offering the worst pay and conditions are struggling to recruit.
Employers who offer the best pay and conditions are not struggling to recruit.
Voters are not struggling to get a job.
If that's your definition of 'pain' then I repeat - stop being a miserable git.
John Rentoul @JohnRentoul · 10m Speech didn't make a lot of sense, rambled all over the place, but the meta narrative so strong it didn't matter
The Boris Johnson equation in a nutshell?
Everything about the phoney Boris Johnson project, just like any phoney football manager project, is based on keeping your sight on the sunlit horizon, the brilliant things to happen the day after tomorrow, once the best of Britain is unleashed.
Flag up any pain today and it’s no gain without pain.
He’ll be gone within a year.
That's a pretty brave prediction.
Once it enters the if it’s not hurting it ain’t working, no gain without pain sound bite stage, this traditionally, mercifully, is the final stage before the end?
Okay. Alternative scenario, the only way he can save himself - Do you think this substance lite election rally speech, aspiration not policy, makes a 2022 cut and run election less or more likely?
And before you answer that, it’s now a no brainier there’s a GE next spring isn’t it?
I think a cut and run election is highly likely to be honest.
Not sure if it was covered yesterday but what are the procedural thoughts on the Welsh Assembly's vote yesterday where the outcome was changed because one member could not log on to Zoom?
Feels unsatisfactory to me, and open to someone targeting their broadband in important votes.
Boris's jokes are the best ones I've heard for ages.
The best from a politician in my lifetime. Hague could be funny, but not as funny as Boris
People may belittle this - ‘court jester’ - but it’s also highly effective in politics as it is in life. If you make people laugh, you’re popular. That’s it. People want to see you again, and listen to you again. You get another hearing
Will I ever sit through another 90 minutes of Starmer droning? God, no. I did it because it was his debut
This is probably the fourth or fifth Boris speech I’ve watched, and this was the funniest. So, I’ll watch another. It’s as basic as that
Comments
Fecking court jester running the country.
Levelling up means letting people earn and spend more of their own money, without the state getting in the way.
‘If christopher Columbus had copied kir Starmer he’d now be known for discovering Tenerife’
There's a real division between the miserable gits who expect (and want) to see everything fail, the glass a quarter empty brigade, and the optimists who are confident looking to the future.
When the miserable gits main complaint is that we have job vacancies and full employment, then we're through the looking glass.
He says...
Optimism and broad strokes is the PM's job. Let businesses and individuals then fill in the details.
Those old enough to have been around at the time will remember the oil shock of 1973 onwards.
@JohnRentoul
·
10m
Speech didn't make a lot of sense, rambled all over the place, but the meta narrative so strong it didn't matter
Contrast with last week is a vast chasm
One irony is that if wages keep growing and UC stays frozen then at first people won't gain much but ultimately they'll reach a point where the taper reaches zero and suddenly people freed from the poverty trap will end up on a much, much lower real marginal tax rate.
Otherwise Johnson has already framed the key question of next election and Labour have lost it already.
But again, too much dissection for a joke that will land successfully for most people paying attention.
The government can deal with "schools 'n' hospitals" and tinker around with transport infrastructure, and let the market deal with the rest of it.
Flag up any pain today and it’s no gain without pain.
He’ll be gone within a year.
People may belittle this - ‘court jester’ - but it’s also highly effective in politics as it is in life. If you make people laugh, you’re popular. That’s it. People want to see you again, and listen to you again. You get another hearing
Will I ever sit through another 90 minutes of Starmer droning? God, no. I did it because it was his debut
This is probably the fourth or fifth Boris speech I’ve watched, and this was the funniest. So, I’ll watch another. It’s as basic as that
And we know who likes detail don't we?
But otherwise it is a well known problem - inventing new criminal offences to satisfy popular demand; and not having capacity in the police, courts or prisons to deal with them.
But very little else was down to luck.
Either way, I'm not voting Conservative in the near future. The temptation to vote SNP is to eject the Conservative. The temptation to vote Lib Dem is because I feel they're in about the right place policy-wise. The temptation to vote Labour is to give an explicit mandate to a new PM. The temptation to vote Green is as a general protest.
I suspect he's allowed to have a shit on the customer's premises, in the WC ...
Yes those 'most in need' won't get the money, but the ones most in need can get a job and get on and keep more of their own money then.
Just take a cup of basmati rice, add to a saucepan, wash in cold water three times to clean and remove excess starch (you'll need to pour off the water carefully to avoid losing the rice, natch), then add two cups of water, bring to the boil, and then simmer on as low a heat as possible for ten minutes.
Or if you need more rice, cook in two cups of water per cup of rice.
Simples!
I would suggest that Boris is way out on his own as leader, and unless health intervenes, he will be leading the party into GE24
David Sheppard
@OilSheppard
·
2h
UK natural gas has gone parabolic. This is a fear trade now.
Contracts for delivery in November shooting almost 40 per cent higher to above £4 per therm.
It was near £2 a therm a little over a week ago and we were already in something approaching crisis
I had to drop Wor Lass off in town this morning, and decided to fill up before heading home (less than quarter of a tank left). At first I thought there was a queue, but then realised that there were temporary traffic lights, and the cars were just waiting at a red. I pulled straight up to a pump, no probs, all grades available.
On my way to pay a fellow driver pulling in to the forecourt gave me a smile.
Normality has returned.
More gas/nuclear, no shift away from internal combustion engines or gas heating for homes, cheaper power, prioritising energy security over green PR.
Won't happen. Conservatives are lucky they don't have a rival on the right.
If we want to talk about policy, the day of a Boris speech is a poor time to choose.
@GoodwinMJ
Crikey. France 2022
Macron 24% (+1)
Zemmour 17% (+4)
Le Pen 15% (-1)
Bertrand 13% (-1)
2nd round
Macron: 55%
Zemmour: 45%
Harris October 1-4
10:42 AM · Oct 6, 2021·Twitter for Android"
https://twitter.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1445685992761946122
Boris is a ray of sunshine, who else is in politics? Starmer is as dour as you can get, Davey is invisible and don't even get started on Ian Blackford.
Where is the sunny optimism of Tony "things can only get better" Blair on the left?
And humour is hugely helpful in politics
The best comparison for Boris is maybe - weirdly - Ronald Reagan. ‘Morning in America’. Reagan also told good jokes (his own) and also exuded patriotic optimism. And was highly successful. And Reagan, like Boris, was an actor
So needed a bigger crane.
Had another crane in about another hour, a mate of a mate who was filling in between jobs. No, they didn't pay the full market rate for the lift, either.
He is no more electable that she was last time.
How vital a factor is that? I don't know, I find his schtick to be played out though he can be funny, but when people criticise him for it it is not easy, since people know it is possible to be both serious when it matters and irreverent and jocular at other times, so the case has to be made that he cannot manage that switch. Which has been made for many, but not yet all.
https://news.sky.com/story/pms-great-campaign-chief-quits-amid-frustration-at-whitehall-bureaucracy-12427290
You could easily argue that the COTS deal made SpaceX in several ways. It gave them assured funding that allowed them to progress the F9; it gave them an assured market; and it gave them kudos. All of which helped them continue to get funding when the SpaceX/Tesla crunch happened in 2008.
(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges
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17m
Boris has a clear brand and identity. Starmer doesn’t. A fact starkly underlined by that speech.
Other than Thatcher and Attlee, Boris is surely going to be up their as our most consequential postwar PM by the time he is done.
I suspect in seventy years time for better or worse people will be talking about Boris far more than Cameron, May, Brown or even Blair.
So, it was a good speech
Okay. Alternative scenario, the only way he can save himself - Do you think this substance lite election rally speech, aspiration not policy, makes a 2022 cut and run election less or more likely?
And before you answer that, it’s now a no brainier there’s a GE next spring isn’t it?
NEW THREAD
Employers who offer the best pay and conditions are not struggling to recruit.
Voters are not struggling to get a job.
If that's your definition of 'pain' then I repeat - stop being a miserable git.
Feels unsatisfactory to me, and open to someone targeting their broadband in important votes.