This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
I am still waiting for one of these big international companies who speak up for racial justice in the US to comment on the Uighur concentration camps in China.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
Or that high volume urban stores are prioritised for deliveries? Stores here have apology notices up prominently. Only one I've seen in Newcastle was in KFC.
The Aldi way of doing supermarkets is probably more robust to delivery SNAFUs. One brand/size of most products, we'll sell you a kayak but only for two weeks of the year, that sort of thing. The model most UK shoppers seem to prefer has a lot more product choice, which gives more potential to go wrong. Nobody is going to starve, but the system is no longer working happily. As always, the nation can either ignore the red flashing lights or ignore them. You can make a case either way.
(Anecdata: after a couple of weeks where things seemed to be improving, Tesco home delivery are back to having 20% or so of my usuals unavailable.)
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
Hope you picked up a couple of bottles of their champagne. It's excellent. Oooh. Just looked. It has gone up from £12.99 to £13.49 in a few months.
Has you weekly (?) shop at Aldi changed price?
I couldn't tell you. I'm eclectic with my shopping, I don't like having the same things regularly so I'm always changing what I purchase depending upon what mood I'm in. Shop at multiple supermarkets as a result too. Today I only nipped out for coffee, milk and bread.
My main staple I buy regularly from Aldi is their own brand version of Dolce Gusto coffee pods. They're excellent and I prefer them over the name branded or even Starbucks branded coffee pods. Those haven't changed price they've been £2.50 per box of 16 pods since my bean machine broke down and I switched to pods a couple of years ago. I typically spend £20 on coffee per shop.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
A relative is running a business which involves couriers and local delivery.
Apparently there are considerable variations in pay and conditions in the truck/van delivery business.
(a) Some organisations seem to have the view that there should be an infinite number of drivers out there ready to work at what ever work conditions they, the hiring company wishes. And if that is not correct, reality is wrong.
(b) Others have adapted by trying to find out what it is that the drivers want. And it is not always just more money - looking at you, Amazon.
Quite a few courier outfits have collapsed because of (a)
I suspect there is a split between smaller stores who understand the new state of affairs means better pay and conditions for their low wage workers. The bigger, more British ones have relationships into government and reckon they can lobby the powers that be to bail them out and let in a whole bunch more Eastern Europeans.
Apparently it is a mix of corporate level "We pay X, the conditions are Y. Take it or leave it" and the mentality that business cannot adapt to changing conditions.
The later attitude has to be seen to be believed. I spoke to one chap who couldn't invest in automation for his business, wouldn't etc. Said business can be (part) automated with off the shelf solutions. It wasn't lack of money either. It was just that his business used cheap labour - he would use cheap labour, and *wouldn't* adapt, because that is what he had always done....
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
Or that high volume urban stores are prioritised for deliveries? Stores here have apology notices up prominently. Only one I've seen in Newcastle was in KFC.
The supervisor at my local Aldi (of which we have six) reported that they are not offering decent wage boosts to drivers. Quoted £14 per hour.
Strange, as they are top payer for other staff.
£14/hr is not too bad for local deliveries, no? c.£30k salary on a full-time basis.
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
Yup, the best ones are when Amazon and such do all of that rainbow shite. They get away with industrial scale tax avoidance, horrible working conditions and loss-leading with their storefront to hollow out local competitors and local high streets. But it's all good, they have rainbows on their website so who gives a fuck about all that.
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
Yup, the best ones are when Amazon and such do all of that rainbow shite. They get away with industrial scale tax avoidance, horrible working conditions and loss-leading with their storefront to hollow out local competitors and local high streets. But it's all good, they have rainbows on their website so who gives a fuck about all that.
Mr. Max, it always puzzles me when I see women-led or the like on business entries on Googlemaps.
It's not a problem, but obviously a business has to be 'led' by men or women...
On voting: EHV is the optimal system. Enormo-haddock voting eliminates human error by removing humans from the voting process. It's a sensible policy for a happier Britain.
On the subject of Emma and her Britishness we nearly had a similar case in the UCI World Championships. In the Women's Junior Time Trial this morning Zoe Backstedt won a silver medal. Her father was a Swedish pro cyclist and is a Eurosport commentator. She identifies as Welsh (after her mother) but competes for GB.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
Or that high volume urban stores are prioritised for deliveries? Stores here have apology notices up prominently. Only one I've seen in Newcastle was in KFC.
The Aldi way of doing supermarkets is probably more robust to delivery SNAFUs. One brand/size of most products, we'll sell you a kayak but only for two weeks of the year, that sort of thing. The model most UK shoppers seem to prefer has a lot more product choice, which gives more potential to go wrong. Nobody is going to starve, but the system is no longer working happily. As always, the nation can either ignore the red flashing lights or ignore them. You can make a case either way.
(Anecdata: after a couple of weeks where things seemed to be improving, Tesco home delivery are back to having 20% or so of my usuals unavailable.)
TBH I don't think its true that shoppers prefer more choice. They want choice, but not as much as they get offered. A huge fixture with 12 different kinds of lentils will not only sell very little volume in that space, the more different items you add in the less you sell.
Aldi and Lidl sometimes push the proven less is more approach too far, but they have the right balance. Which is why they have had sustained strong growth and the big supermarkets haven't.
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
It's a bit wanky but also seems fundamentally true. Some people like to put themselves in boxes, and to put other people in boxes. Others don't. Right now the putting people in boxes crowd is fighting a pretty successful rear-guard action, but I suspect and hope that in the long run they will lose. The future is global, and the people who succeed will be the ones who are willing to embrace that.
Woah, hold on. The Left *love* to put people in boxes, provided it's a race, gender, or sexuality box. In fact, that's accelerated: what they hate is the national identity box, and to a lesser extent the religious box, as they view it as false consciousness.
But if your argument is that people can chose their identity then you can't fundamentally advocate they can pick their sex and gender identity but cannot do so for national identity as well because it's all a personal choice.
Personally I think national Identity will always be relevant and complimentary with others, as will religious identity, and I see no evidence whatever that will ever end. It's complex: people can have overlapping and complimentary identities, and emphasise some of them to greater degrees than others, but it's about to what and to whom you feel allegiance with - and it's absolutely not racially bound.
This post by this Professor isn't a progressive post; it's a highly regressive one.
I think I agree with all of that, but maybe my reading of the thing you quoted is different from yours. I read it as saying that people can have multiple and overlapping identities like you say, and to claim that someone like Raducanu is 100% one thing is kind of pointless. She has links to a number of countries, like a lot of people do. Not knowing her personally or having heard her opine on the subject, but knowing other young people in SE London with parental links outside the UK and/or born outside the UK, I would assume she identifies most with the UK. (This is why I disagree strongly with the policy of stripping people of UK citizenship based on sometimes tenuous links to their countries, incidentally). Identity politics on the Left I tend to see more as a response to prejudice and barriers that specific groups face, rather than a desire to put people in boxes. I guess I can see how it might look like the latter, especially for people who think that things like institutional/structural racism aren't a thing. Whether it is ultimately helpful or not is a different question, but I think the motivation is understandable.
He literally titles his post the "illusion of nations". He then ends it by saying "national identities are fading" and that Emma is "the future of humankind".
At no point does he even make a hat-tip to what Emma herself might think - he simply co-opts his own to her to make his point.
His motivation is very clear.
To be fair, the point about lack of mention about what the young lady herself might think is reasonable. The oldest of my half-Thai grandchildren, at 15, is starting to think seriously about her heritages.
As the world's population travel more and become more educated and integrated the ideas of national identity and particularly nationalism (with it's emphasis on exceptionalism - insert British, French Scottish, whatever), become to appear more absurd. It is a deliberately provocative post, and it proves people can have more than one allegiance, and for that reason it is a good post. The fact that it hasn't had more swivel-eyed frothing from right wingers who want to make themselves look silly is a little disappointing, but it might just be that there are not too many Col Blimps with LinkedIn accounts.
You claim to be against nationalism but you seem to be an extremely ardent nationalist yourself. Just a European nationalist.
Yesterday you quoted Thatcher referring to getting free trade with the world's richest nations, richer even than the USA, but when it was pointed out that in the interceding decades that had changed and the richest nations and people of the world aren't European anymore and we should embrace the globe not a parochial part of it ... That doesn't compute for you.
You're every bit as self righteous a nationalist as malcolmg. Rude to anyone who sees the world differently. You've simply embraced Europe as your nation instead of Scotland.
The world is a very big place. Much bigger than England, Scotland or Europe.
Please, Philip, I know you are trying your best Sixth Form debating style, but misrepresenting me won't help your cause. I am not a "European nationalist", I can't think of little more ghastly. You, like all your simplistic English nationalist buddies simply try to obfuscate to justify your love of the poisonous creed of nationalism and English exceptionalism. You are, in your own miniscule way, a genuine purveyor of fake news. There is no such thing as "European nationalism" you silly boy. I also don't need to be told by a keyboard warrior the "world is a big place". Unlike you I suspect, I have travelled and done business in most of it.
Please. Your desperation is showing.
There is such a thing as European nationalism and you exhibit it. That you can't see the beam in your own eye while you attack the mote in others, isn't sixth form.
You're incapable of even addressing why since the eighties facts have changed so considerably?
Why if not for European failure from Delors onwards does Europe no longer represent the wealthiest and most prosperous people in the world, like they did in the eighties?
Why is Europe so much smaller, rather than so much bigger, than the USA?
And why we should continue to turn our backs on free trade with the 21st century richest and most prosperous people in the world?
Brexit is the way to achieve what Thatcher wanted in the eighties. Because the facts have changed and stubbornness in the face of changing facts may suit your nationalism but it isn't wise.
Change the record Philip. Your side "won" the referendum. The Sixth Form debaters persuaded the masses. We have left, but you still are trying to convince yourself, because you are not stupid and you know it was pointless.
I know you and I agree on many things these days but on this I still believe you are wrong. From my perspective it was anything but pointless. It has removed us from the spectre of 'ever closer union' and is just one step on the way to having a more accountable system of governance. What we need to do now is concentrate on fundamental changes within the British system of government and make Parliament far more accountable to the electorate. But that is something that would have been pointless when so much regulation was being made in a supranational body even more remote than Parliament. It is just a step in the right direction.
Oh good. We won the right to re-arrange the deckchairs on the Titanic.
LOL. What a pessimist you are. Thankfully your view is very wide of the mark.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
Hope you picked up a couple of bottles of their champagne. It's excellent. Oooh. Just looked. It has gone up from £12.99 to £13.49 in a few months.
Has you weekly (?) shop at Aldi changed price?
I couldn't tell you. I'm eclectic with my shopping, I don't like having the same things regularly so I'm always changing what I purchase depending upon what mood I'm in. Shop at multiple supermarkets as a result too. Today I only nipped out for coffee, milk and bread.
My main staple I buy regularly from Aldi is their own brand version of Dolce Gusto coffee pods. They're excellent and I prefer them over the name branded or even Starbucks branded coffee pods. Those haven't changed price they've been £2.50 per box of 16 pods since my bean machine broke down and I switched to pods a couple of years ago. I typically spend £20 on coffee per shop.
Sounds interesting I'm always after some good coffee. Are they the Alcafe ones?
Mr. Max, it always puzzles me when I see women-led or the like on business entries on Googlemaps.
It's not a problem, but obviously a business has to be 'led' by men or women...
On voting: EHV is the optimal system. Enormo-haddock voting eliminates human error by removing humans from the voting process. It's a sensible policy for a happier Britain.
Enormo-haddock voting eliminates human error by removing humans from the voting process.
Fixed that for you.
In the US, government contracts are given out with preference to various groups. A chap who was doing business in the aerospace sector semi-seriously joked that since he married his wife (Native American, veteran, on disability from war wounds) and made her co-owner of his business, he was unable to lose a bid for a contract for government related work.
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
Yup, the best ones are when Amazon and such do all of that rainbow shite. They get away with industrial scale tax avoidance, horrible working conditions and loss-leading with their storefront to hollow out local competitors and local high streets. But it's all good, they have rainbows on their website so who gives a fuck about all that.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
A relative is running a business which involves couriers and local delivery.
Apparently there are considerable variations in pay and conditions in the truck/van delivery business.
(a) Some organisations seem to have the view that there should be an infinite number of drivers out there ready to work at what ever work conditions they, the hiring company wishes. And if that is not correct, reality is wrong.
(b) Others have adapted by trying to find out what it is that the drivers want. And it is not always just more money - looking at you, Amazon.
Quite a few courier outfits have collapsed because of (a)
I suspect there is a split between smaller stores who understand the new state of affairs means better pay and conditions for their low wage workers. The bigger, more British ones have relationships into government and reckon they can lobby the powers that be to bail them out and let in a whole bunch more Eastern Europeans.
Apparently it is a mix of corporate level "We pay X, the conditions are Y. Take it or leave it" and the mentality that business cannot adapt to changing conditions.
The later attitude has to be seen to be believed. I spoke to one chap who couldn't invest in automation for his business, wouldn't etc. Said business can be (part) automated with off the shelf solutions. It wasn't lack of money either. It was just that his business used cheap labour - he would use cheap labour, and *wouldn't* adapt, because that is what he had always done....
The U.K. business environment pre-Brexit was incredibly generous to big business:
1. Declining corporation tax rates reducing the amounts businesses paid;
2. Tax credits available to all, including immigrants, which allowed low paying industries to get by on the minimum wage with workers able to top up with the help of the Government;
3. Opening the doors to immigration.
Ironically, we all heard from very many ardent Remainers pre-Brexit that the argument drove down wages was a Brexit fallacy and there was no evidence for it. Well, looks like we are getting the evidence now…
Mr. Pioneers, I don't think you're entirely wrong but I do think the reduction in the middle class by globalisation (very wealthy becoming richer and many of those of average or lower incomes becoming poorer due to competition) may also have a role in the recent success of Aldi and Lidl.
I remember Netto, and anyone at school thought to shop there got the absolute shit ripped out of them.
So it looks like the Labour conference will be a series of running battles between Starmer and the Trot left. Starmer reintroducing the Bennite electoral college is being denounced as anti-democratic.
The Tories must be pissing themselves laughing. And all because serkeir lacked the brass balls to boot the trots out of the party.
Mr. Max, it always puzzles me when I see women-led or the like on business entries on Googlemaps.
It's not a problem, but obviously a business has to be 'led' by men or women...
On voting: EHV is the optimal system. Enormo-haddock voting eliminates human error by removing humans from the voting process. It's a sensible policy for a happier Britain.
“Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.”
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
Yup, the best ones are when Amazon and such do all of that rainbow shite. They get away with industrial scale tax avoidance, horrible working conditions and loss-leading with their storefront to hollow out local competitors and local high streets. But it's all good, they have rainbows on their website so who gives a fuck about all that.
You're way too nice about them.
Yebbut consumers.
I use Amazon a lot. You don't, that's fine but people can and do vote with their feet.
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
Yup, the best ones are when Amazon and such do all of that rainbow shite. They get away with industrial scale tax avoidance, horrible working conditions and loss-leading with their storefront to hollow out local competitors and local high streets. But it's all good, they have rainbows on their website so who gives a fuck about all that.
You're way too nice about them.
Yes but they're convenient.
You can think of something you want, get your phone out of your pocket and it'll be at your house later that day or the next day. So ... 🤷♂️
Mr. Max, it always puzzles me when I see women-led or the like on business entries on Googlemaps.
It's not a problem, but obviously a business has to be 'led' by men or women...
On voting: EHV is the optimal system. Enormo-haddock voting eliminates human error by removing humans from the voting process. It's a sensible policy for a happier Britain.
I suspect that's come over from America where being a minority owned company does wonders for your chances of winning Government projects (or at the very least guarantees you some work from said projects)
What we need to do now is concentrate on fundamental changes within the British system of government and make Parliament far more accountable to the electorate. But that is something that would have been pointless when so much regulation was being made in a supranational body even more remote than Parliament. It is just a step in the right direction.
If you view it as a continuum, the election of BoZo on a mandate to "Get Brexit Done" has been a retrograde step.
He is removing power from Parliament and consolidating it in his own hands.
Absolutely ad I am pleased to say I have never supported him (nor May). But at least we will have the ability to get rid of him and move forward rather than continually and regressively placing power in the hands of a remote and overreaching European political system. I have a (vain) hope that when the Scots finally get independence they will see sense and not swap remote Westminster governance for even more remote Brussels governance.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
Or that high volume urban stores are prioritised for deliveries? Stores here have apology notices up prominently. Only one I've seen in Newcastle was in KFC.
The Aldi way of doing supermarkets is probably more robust to delivery SNAFUs. One brand/size of most products, we'll sell you a kayak but only for two weeks of the year, that sort of thing. The model most UK shoppers seem to prefer has a lot more product choice, which gives more potential to go wrong. Nobody is going to starve, but the system is no longer working happily. As always, the nation can either ignore the red flashing lights or ignore them. You can make a case either way.
(Anecdata: after a couple of weeks where things seemed to be improving, Tesco home delivery are back to having 20% or so of my usuals unavailable.)
TBH I don't think its true that shoppers prefer more choice. They want choice, but not as much as they get offered. A huge fixture with 12 different kinds of lentils will not only sell very little volume in that space, the more different items you add in the less you sell.
Aldi and Lidl sometimes push the proven less is more approach too far, but they have the right balance. Which is why they have had sustained strong growth and the big supermarkets haven't.
As a big Aldi fan what is it that eg tescos don't do which inhibits them vs Aldi/Lidl?
Mr. Max, it always puzzles me when I see women-led or the like on business entries on Googlemaps.
It's not a problem, but obviously a business has to be 'led' by men or women...
On voting: EHV is the optimal system. Enormo-haddock voting eliminates human error by removing humans from the voting process. It's a sensible policy for a happier Britain.
“Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.”
― Terry Pratchett, Mort
I remember quoting that to my daughter, who was asking about why she couldn't make decisions at the age of 6, on everything.
We were sitting on a Tube train. The Nigerian origined gentleman sitting opposite started laughing. A lot.... Apparently its a bit of a joke there, from what he said.
So it looks like the Labour conference will be a series of running battles between Starmer and the Trot left. Starmer reintroducing the Bennite electoral college is being denounced as anti-democratic.
The Tories must be pissing themselves laughing. And all because serkeir lacked the brass balls to boot the trots out of the party.
For reasons I will never understand he seems to prefer having people who will never be happy inside the tent peeing towards him, rather than outside the tent complaining to no-one as no-one else would care.
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
Yup, the best ones are when Amazon and such do all of that rainbow shite. They get away with industrial scale tax avoidance, horrible working conditions and loss-leading with their storefront to hollow out local competitors and local high streets. But it's all good, they have rainbows on their website so who gives a fuck about all that.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
A relative is running a business which involves couriers and local delivery.
Apparently there are considerable variations in pay and conditions in the truck/van delivery business.
(a) Some organisations seem to have the view that there should be an infinite number of drivers out there ready to work at what ever work conditions they, the hiring company wishes. And if that is not correct, reality is wrong.
(b) Others have adapted by trying to find out what it is that the drivers want. And it is not always just more money - looking at you, Amazon.
Quite a few courier outfits have collapsed because of (a)
I suspect there is a split between smaller stores who understand the new state of affairs means better pay and conditions for their low wage workers. The bigger, more British ones have relationships into government and reckon they can lobby the powers that be to bail them out and let in a whole bunch more Eastern Europeans.
Apparently it is a mix of corporate level "We pay X, the conditions are Y. Take it or leave it" and the mentality that business cannot adapt to changing conditions.
The later attitude has to be seen to be believed. I spoke to one chap who couldn't invest in automation for his business, wouldn't etc. Said business can be (part) automated with off the shelf solutions. It wasn't lack of money either. It was just that his business used cheap labour - he would use cheap labour, and *wouldn't* adapt, because that is what he had always done....
The U.K. business environment pre-Brexit was incredibly generous to big business:
1. Declining corporation tax rates reducing the amounts businesses paid;
2. Tax credits available to all, including immigrants, which allowed low paying industries to get by on the minimum wage with workers able to top up with the help of the Government;
3. Opening the doors to immigration.
Ironically, we all heard from very many ardent Remainers pre-Brexit that the argument drove down wages was a Brexit fallacy and there was no evidence for it. Well, looks like we are getting the evidence now…
Certainly. But points 1 and 2 were political choices which had bugger all to do with our membership or not of the EU.
On the subject of Emma and her Britishness we nearly had a similar case in the UCI World Championships. In the Women's Junior Time Trial this morning Zoe Backstedt won a silver medal. Her father was a Swedish pro cyclist and is a Eurosport commentator. She identifies as Welsh (after her mother) but competes for GB.
I just thought of a Raduthetical while I was out walking the dog.
What if.. she announced tomorrow that she was moving to NYC and was taking up an offer she'd be given for US citizenship because she's been advised that she'll make much more money, and pay less tax, that way. And she prefers NY to London.
I think I'd still support her the same. Just so long as she didn't start speaking in an American accent!
Lidl - almost no bottled water. Freezer shelves looking pretty bare. I got one of the last pizzas and last bag of oven chips. There was also post-it notes stickered on various shelves and freezer cabinets with handwritten numbers like 7/8. Not seen before: some kind of management emergency stock process?
Last year Ocado stopped doing bottled water to allow an additional delivery or 2 per van.
A lack of bottled water really doesn't surprise me if deliveries are an issue. This isn't a country where bottled water is required as drinking water.
When I'm in power I'll be tough on bottled water, and tough on the causes of bottled water. It's a wholly unnecessary indulgence. Environmentally damaging as well, occupying lorry/road space, and producing huge amounts of waste plastic. When travelling, empty bottles cam be filled from the tap.
Of course, I wouldn't ban it - far too illiberal. But I'd tax it until it cost, say, £20 per bottle of water, and if the rich want to throw their money away, fine.
You have my vote, sir. Hopefully you will be a wise and just leader.
Thank you. You've inspired me - I am now setting up the Wisdom and Justice Party. Who could not vote for that?
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
Hope you picked up a couple of bottles of their champagne. It's excellent. Oooh. Just looked. It has gone up from £12.99 to £13.49 in a few months.
Has you weekly (?) shop at Aldi changed price?
I couldn't tell you. I'm eclectic with my shopping, I don't like having the same things regularly so I'm always changing what I purchase depending upon what mood I'm in. Shop at multiple supermarkets as a result too. Today I only nipped out for coffee, milk and bread.
My main staple I buy regularly from Aldi is their own brand version of Dolce Gusto coffee pods. They're excellent and I prefer them over the name branded or even Starbucks branded coffee pods. Those haven't changed price they've been £2.50 per box of 16 pods since my bean machine broke down and I switched to pods a couple of years ago. I typically spend £20 on coffee per shop.
Sounds interesting I'm always after some good coffee. Are they the Alcafe ones?
Edit: found them.
Yes. Alcafe Dolce Gusto compatible.
I've not tried their other ones, but those are very good, I drink the red Americano ones and my wife has the brown Latte Macchiato ones.
The Americano ones produce a really good crema.
Even if I do my weekly shop at Tesco, I'll go out of my way to get those pods alone.
What we need to do now is concentrate on fundamental changes within the British system of government and make Parliament far more accountable to the electorate. But that is something that would have been pointless when so much regulation was being made in a supranational body even more remote than Parliament. It is just a step in the right direction.
If you view it as a continuum, the election of BoZo on a mandate to "Get Brexit Done" has been a retrograde step.
He is removing power from Parliament and consolidating it in his own hands.
Absolutely ad I am pleased to say I have never supported him (nor May). But at least we will have the ability to get rid of him and move forward rather than continually and regressively placing power in the hands of a remote and overreaching European political system. I have a (vain) hope that when the Scots finally get independence they will see sense and not swap remote Westminster governance for even more remote Brussels governance.
Richard, we always had the power to remove the remote overreaching European political entity from our lives and, indeed, not so many years ago we did exactly that.
Because democratically-elected governments chose not to do so for a few decades does not mean the concept was not a democratic one (membership of the EU).
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
Or that high volume urban stores are prioritised for deliveries? Stores here have apology notices up prominently. Only one I've seen in Newcastle was in KFC.
The Aldi way of doing supermarkets is probably more robust to delivery SNAFUs. One brand/size of most products, we'll sell you a kayak but only for two weeks of the year, that sort of thing. The model most UK shoppers seem to prefer has a lot more product choice, which gives more potential to go wrong. Nobody is going to starve, but the system is no longer working happily. As always, the nation can either ignore the red flashing lights or ignore them. You can make a case either way.
(Anecdata: after a couple of weeks where things seemed to be improving, Tesco home delivery are back to having 20% or so of my usuals unavailable.)
TBH I don't think its true that shoppers prefer more choice. They want choice, but not as much as they get offered. A huge fixture with 12 different kinds of lentils will not only sell very little volume in that space, the more different items you add in the less you sell.
Aldi and Lidl sometimes push the proven less is more approach too far, but they have the right balance. Which is why they have had sustained strong growth and the big supermarkets haven't.
As a big Aldi fan what is it that eg tescos don't do which inhibits them vs Aldi/Lidl?
I suspect their desire to take money for promotions alongside the need to support those promotions means they need to sell x package sizes and variations rather than a single version.
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
Yup, the best ones are when Amazon and such do all of that rainbow shite. They get away with industrial scale tax avoidance, horrible working conditions and loss-leading with their storefront to hollow out local competitors and local high streets. But it's all good, they have rainbows on their website so who gives a fuck about all that.
You're way too nice about them.
Yebbut consumers.
I use Amazon a lot. You don't, that's fine but people can and do vote with their feet.
I know, my family uses them a lot and my son has relied heavily on them for school materials etc. But they way they conduct their business is deeply immoral, their (ab)use of their market place is screaming out for regulation and separation from their trading arms, for me it is a last resort.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
Or that high volume urban stores are prioritised for deliveries? Stores here have apology notices up prominently. Only one I've seen in Newcastle was in KFC.
The Aldi way of doing supermarkets is probably more robust to delivery SNAFUs. One brand/size of most products, we'll sell you a kayak but only for two weeks of the year, that sort of thing. The model most UK shoppers seem to prefer has a lot more product choice, which gives more potential to go wrong. Nobody is going to starve, but the system is no longer working happily. As always, the nation can either ignore the red flashing lights or ignore them. You can make a case either way.
(Anecdata: after a couple of weeks where things seemed to be improving, Tesco home delivery are back to having 20% or so of my usuals unavailable.)
TBH I don't think its true that shoppers prefer more choice. They want choice, but not as much as they get offered. A huge fixture with 12 different kinds of lentils will not only sell very little volume in that space, the more different items you add in the less you sell.
Aldi and Lidl sometimes push the proven less is more approach too far, but they have the right balance. Which is why they have had sustained strong growth and the big supermarkets haven't.
As a big Aldi fan what is it that eg tescos don't do which inhibits them vs Aldi/Lidl?
I suspect their desire to take money for promotions alongside the need to support those promotions means they need to sell x package sizes and variations rather than a single version.
Interesting, so the money they make from the promotions < profit from the promoted product.
On the subject of Emma and her Britishness we nearly had a similar case in the UCI World Championships. In the Women's Junior Time Trial this morning Zoe Backstedt won a silver medal. Her father was a Swedish pro cyclist and is a Eurosport commentator. She identifies as Welsh (after her mother) but competes for GB.
Louis Lynagh just been selected by England rugby....born in Italy and son of legendary Aussie player Michael Lynagh.
Gary Lineker and other virtue signaller tweets incoming.
The thing is all the nonsense of Raducanu, it is actually fairly common across sports.
My issue with STV et al is that even I, an obvious genius, get confused about how it works.
Surprisingly, perhaps, I still support FPTP at Westminster. NZ is the only country I am know of to have moved from FPTP to PR and I am well aware of the pros and cons of both.
In local government, though, FPTP is an abomination.
The government’s plan to ban PR across the country is spiteful and anti-democratic, and a form of gerrymandering.
Isn't the ban because it currently wouldn't have impacted any result and multiple elections have shown that people don't understand how to actually vote correctly.
Sorry, people don't understand how to express their preferences by listing 1, 2, 3?
That has been a problem on the supplementary vote papers - people were doing exactly that when they are supposed to put a cross in the second column on the other side of the form.
Because we have different elections with different formats people have a habit of getting things wrong. And as anyone who has worked on design / IT support will tell you, this is true, even if you show them exactly what they need to do.
But isn't there a "clear and obvious intenttion" rule? You can vote with a tick or a smiley rather than a cross? Surely 1, 2, 3 falls into that category? Or am I missing something?
Partly it's about the layout of the ballot paper, but also it's a problem with the SV system, Brit style. The way the votes are counted is that first preferences are counted, then the top two enter a runoff. If your first vote wasn't for one of them and your second vote was, that gets added.
So your second vote isn't really about second choice, it's about "of the two likely finalists, which do you prefer?" Assuming that you can predict who the two likely finalists are. (Which might have been some cynical gaming back when the system was introduced- it rewards ubernerds who unpick the system and the local political dynamic over everyone else. SV with a bit more campaigning and everyone voting once they know who is in the runoff... different matter.)
Yep - the UK version of SV without a second separate election could be summed up as
Have your protest vote, then pick the least worst of the likely winners.
Between that and a voting slip people couldn't understand it had no real value beyond an attempt to say we use a (completely useless, utterly insane) form of PR for elections.
Yes, but that was what the Labour Party/Government came up with when they were forced (by the EU) to move over to a more proportional system. It was the least they could get away with.
You can never trust the Labour Party to do what is right, if it conflicts with its own self-interest.
On the subject of Emma and her Britishness we nearly had a similar case in the UCI World Championships. In the Women's Junior Time Trial this morning Zoe Backstedt won a silver medal. Her father was a Swedish pro cyclist and is a Eurosport commentator. She identifies as Welsh (after her mother) but competes for GB.
I just thought of a Raduthetical while I was out walking the dog.
What if.. she announced tomorrow that she was moving to NYC and was taking up an offer she'd be given for US citizenship because she's been advised that she'll make much more money, and pay less tax, that way. And she prefers NY to London.
I think I'd still support her the same. Just so long as she didn't start speaking in an American accent!
Wasn’t that Anna Kournikova, who moved to the US from Russia on some sort of tennis scolarship as a young teenager?
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
A relative is running a business which involves couriers and local delivery.
Apparently there are considerable variations in pay and conditions in the truck/van delivery business.
(a) Some organisations seem to have the view that there should be an infinite number of drivers out there ready to work at what ever work conditions they, the hiring company wishes. And if that is not correct, reality is wrong.
(b) Others have adapted by trying to find out what it is that the drivers want. And it is not always just more money - looking at you, Amazon.
Quite a few courier outfits have collapsed because of (a)
I suspect there is a split between smaller stores who understand the new state of affairs means better pay and conditions for their low wage workers. The bigger, more British ones have relationships into government and reckon they can lobby the powers that be to bail them out and let in a whole bunch more Eastern Europeans.
Ultimately, companies will have to pay more to lower paid workers. This will make them less competitive and some of them will go bust. Then unemployment will start to rise again and wages will drop until a new equilibrium is reached and the UK has become a bit poorer.
Mr. Max, it always puzzles me when I see women-led or the like on business entries on Googlemaps.
It's not a problem, but obviously a business has to be 'led' by men or women...
On voting: EHV is the optimal system. Enormo-haddock voting eliminates human error by removing humans from the voting process. It's a sensible policy for a happier Britain.
“Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.”
― Terry Pratchett, Mort
I wonder if Putin or Xi are fans? I fear not, neither have an adequately developed sense of the ridiculous.
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
Yup, the best ones are when Amazon and such do all of that rainbow shite. They get away with industrial scale tax avoidance, horrible working conditions and loss-leading with their storefront to hollow out local competitors and local high streets. But it's all good, they have rainbows on their website so who gives a fuck about all that.
You're way too nice about them.
Yebbut consumers.
I use Amazon a lot. You don't, that's fine but people can and do vote with their feet.
I know, my family uses them a lot and my son has relied heavily on them for school materials etc. But they way they conduct their business is deeply immoral, their (ab)use of their market place is screaming out for regulation and separation from their trading arms, for me it is a last resort.
Interesting. The same has often been said about the big supermarkets vs the dairy/other farmers and providers. The same argument has also been used, tortuously, to justify lower wage bills in particular when immigrants are added to the jobs mix.
The greater good is to deliver a greater part of society (ie non-dairy farmers, non-baristas, non-fruit pickers) economic benefit.
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
Yup, the best ones are when Amazon and such do all of that rainbow shite. They get away with industrial scale tax avoidance, horrible working conditions and loss-leading with their storefront to hollow out local competitors and local high streets. But it's all good, they have rainbows on their website so who gives a fuck about all that.
So I assume that, like me, you don't use Amazon? I care more about your first criticism than your second, so won't use them.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
A relative is running a business which involves couriers and local delivery.
Apparently there are considerable variations in pay and conditions in the truck/van delivery business.
(a) Some organisations seem to have the view that there should be an infinite number of drivers out there ready to work at what ever work conditions they, the hiring company wishes. And if that is not correct, reality is wrong.
(b) Others have adapted by trying to find out what it is that the drivers want. And it is not always just more money - looking at you, Amazon.
Quite a few courier outfits have collapsed because of (a)
I suspect there is a split between smaller stores who understand the new state of affairs means better pay and conditions for their low wage workers. The bigger, more British ones have relationships into government and reckon they can lobby the powers that be to bail them out and let in a whole bunch more Eastern Europeans.
Ultimately, companies will have to pay more to lower paid workers. This will make them less competitive and some of them will go bust. Then unemployment will start to rise again and wages will drop until a new equilibrium is reached and the UK has become a bit poorer.
If, as has been suggested, that a million or more have left the UK during the pandemic, then the per-capita GDP figure and productivity are going to be the ones to watch, rather than the raw GDP figure.
On the subject of Emma and her Britishness we nearly had a similar case in the UCI World Championships. In the Women's Junior Time Trial this morning Zoe Backstedt won a silver medal. Her father was a Swedish pro cyclist and is a Eurosport commentator. She identifies as Welsh (after her mother) but competes for GB.
I just thought of a Raduthetical while I was out walking the dog.
What if.. she announced tomorrow that she was moving to NYC and was taking up an offer she'd be given for US citizenship because she's been advised that she'll make much more money, and pay less tax, that way. And she prefers NY to London.
I think I'd still support her the same. Just so long as she didn't start speaking in an American accent!
Wasn’t that Anna Kournikova, who moved to the US from Russia on some sort of tennis scolarship as a young teenager?
Loads of tennis players move to Florida at a young age, including Canadian finalest that Raducanu beat.
However, nobody is moving to NYC to pay less tax, most of the sports stars who play for NY based teams somehow claim they don't even live there....because otherwise their tax bills would be enormous.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
Or that high volume urban stores are prioritised for deliveries? Stores here have apology notices up prominently. Only one I've seen in Newcastle was in KFC.
The supervisor at my local Aldi (of which we have six) reported that they are not offering decent wage boosts to drivers. Quoted £14 per hour.
Strange, as they are top payer for other staff.
£14/hr is not too bad for local deliveries, no? c.£30k salary on a full-time basis.
Aldi don't do local deliveries on groceries. This is deliveries to stores.
The chap is actually training to be an HGV driver himself !
I'm quite interested to see what aspects we pick up from the Swiss economy.
Mr. Max, it always puzzles me when I see women-led or the like on business entries on Googlemaps.
It's not a problem, but obviously a business has to be 'led' by men or women...
On voting: EHV is the optimal system. Enormo-haddock voting eliminates human error by removing humans from the voting process. It's a sensible policy for a happier Britain.
“Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.”
― Terry Pratchett, Mort
I wonder if Putin or Xi are fans? I fear not, neither have an adequately developed sense of the ridiculous.
Kim Il Sung apparently rather liked Team America....
I really don’t see how Pence has much chance in this environment. Even if Trump doesn’t stand, his chosen candidate will.
PS if anyone wants to amuse themselves with anti-Trump book, read John Niven’s “The F*ck it list”
I agree, I don't see Pence as much of a runner. He betrayed the faith with the Trump loons but he hung in there far too long for the rationals to trust him. He may still have some evangelical base but nowhere near enough in my view.
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
Yup, the best ones are when Amazon and such do all of that rainbow shite. They get away with industrial scale tax avoidance, horrible working conditions and loss-leading with their storefront to hollow out local competitors and local high streets. But it's all good, they have rainbows on their website so who gives a fuck about all that.
You can tell the companies who really don't care and its all PR, when their US twitter / website will be full of this equity day or month, but their accounts for certain other markets never mention these issues, where the lack of equality is much greater.....and by that standard I think we know it is most of them that are juat virtue signalling.
The NBA really take thr biscuit though. They went totally ott on racial equality stuff,.then one team official said Uighur Muslims.in China are getting a raw deal and he got sanctioned.and they sent out all the biggest stars to say China your awesome, we love you.
Mr. Max, it always puzzles me when I see women-led or the like on business entries on Googlemaps.
It's not a problem, but obviously a business has to be 'led' by men or women...
On voting: EHV is the optimal system. Enormo-haddock voting eliminates human error by removing humans from the voting process. It's a sensible policy for a happier Britain.
“Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.”
― Terry Pratchett, Mort
I remember quoting that to my daughter, who was asking about why she couldn't make decisions at the age of 6, on everything.
We were sitting on a Tube train. The Nigerian origined gentleman sitting opposite started laughing. A lot.... Apparently its a bit of a joke there, from what he said.
I put out a little twitter comment this morning suggesting that Labour MPs should have more influence than a normal party member in leader selection as they have to work with the &^^%$ leader.
I can confirm that a lot of 'members' on twitter seem not to like it
Mr. Max, it always puzzles me when I see women-led or the like on business entries on Googlemaps.
It's not a problem, but obviously a business has to be 'led' by men or women...
On voting: EHV is the optimal system. Enormo-haddock voting eliminates human error by removing humans from the voting process. It's a sensible policy for a happier Britain.
“Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.”
― Terry Pratchett, Mort
Its a great system in Ankh-Morpork - a mostly benevolent, enlightened tyrant whose only vice is a hatred of mime artists. I suspect a fair few folk who flirt with totalitarianism yearn for such a ruler in the real world.
Yup, the best ones are when Amazon and such do all of that rainbow shite. They get away with industrial scale tax avoidance, horrible working conditions and loss-leading with their storefront to hollow out local competitors and local high streets. But it's all good, they have rainbows on their website so who gives a fuck about all that.
The rainbows don't appear on the websites or social media accounts of their Saudi Arabian offices, a regime that they happily do business with.
I really don’t see how Pence has much chance in this environment. Even if Trump doesn’t stand, his chosen candidate will.
PS if anyone wants to amuse themselves with anti-Trump book, read John Niven’s “The F*ck it list”
I agree, I don't see Pence as much of a runner. He betrayed the faith with the Trump loons but he hung in there far too long for the rationals to trust him. He may still have some evangelical base but nowhere near enough in my view.
He is steeped in the fundy evangelical thing. No way the non-fundies would even look at him. And the intersections between the sets of the fundies and the Trumpets means he is stuffed there as well.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
A relative is running a business which involves couriers and local delivery.
Apparently there are considerable variations in pay and conditions in the truck/van delivery business.
(a) Some organisations seem to have the view that there should be an infinite number of drivers out there ready to work at what ever work conditions they, the hiring company wishes. And if that is not correct, reality is wrong.
(b) Others have adapted by trying to find out what it is that the drivers want. And it is not always just more money - looking at you, Amazon.
Quite a few courier outfits have collapsed because of (a)
I suspect there is a split between smaller stores who understand the new state of affairs means better pay and conditions for their low wage workers. The bigger, more British ones have relationships into government and reckon they can lobby the powers that be to bail them out and let in a whole bunch more Eastern Europeans.
Ultimately, companies will have to pay more to lower paid workers. This will make them less competitive and some of them will go bust. Then unemployment will start to rise again and wages will drop until a new equilibrium is reached and the UK has become a bit poorer.
If, as has been suggested, that a million or more have left the UK during the pandemic, then the per-capita GDP figure and productivity are going to be the ones to watch, rather than the raw GDP figure.
This has always been the con perpetrated by Government. They tell everyone to concentrate on the GDP figures when what actually matters is GDP per capita.
I find it genuinely astonishing that our political class could ever be short of wind but that appears to be the case.
Which committee said we shouldn't build the tidal lagoon ?
If the basis was that it's not competitive next to gas. Well...
Greg Clark, the UK’s Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (a relatively new section of government which is, in effect, the ruling body for matters of energy and energy efficiency) has deemed the project to be unjustifiably expensive. In his own words, Clark claims that “The inescapable conclusion of an extensive analysis is that however novel and appealing the proposal that has been made is…the costs that would be incurred by consumers and taxpayers would be so much higher than alternative sources of low carbon power, that it would be irresponsible to enter into a contract with the provider.”
I really don’t see how Pence has much chance in this environment. Even if Trump doesn’t stand, his chosen candidate will.
PS if anyone wants to amuse themselves with anti-Trump book, read John Niven’s “The F*ck it list”
I agree, I don't see Pence as much of a runner. He betrayed the faith with the Trump loons but he hung in there far too long for the rationals to trust him. He may still have some evangelical base but nowhere near enough in my view.
He is steeped in the fundy evangelical thing. No way the non-fundies would even look at him. And the intersections between the sets of the fundies and the Trumpets means he is stuffed there as well.
Which, in itself, is strange. As the Evangelical movement began as a reaction against Fundamentalism.
If Labour's PR department has any sense (?) they will keep their messaging clear and simple:
The Tories' Triple Whammy:
• More taxes
• Bigger bills
• Higher prices
And Labour are going to cut green levies, taxes and public spending? Our will they be proposing a Green New Deal which means even higher levies, higher taxes and higher spending?
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
A relative is running a business which involves couriers and local delivery.
Apparently there are considerable variations in pay and conditions in the truck/van delivery business.
(a) Some organisations seem to have the view that there should be an infinite number of drivers out there ready to work at what ever work conditions they, the hiring company wishes. And if that is not correct, reality is wrong.
(b) Others have adapted by trying to find out what it is that the drivers want. And it is not always just more money - looking at you, Amazon.
Quite a few courier outfits have collapsed because of (a)
I suspect there is a split between smaller stores who understand the new state of affairs means better pay and conditions for their low wage workers. The bigger, more British ones have relationships into government and reckon they can lobby the powers that be to bail them out and let in a whole bunch more Eastern Europeans.
Ultimately, companies will have to pay more to lower paid workers. This will make them less competitive and some of them will go bust. Then unemployment will start to rise again and wages will drop until a new equilibrium is reached and the UK has become a bit poorer.
If the constraint is lack of low skill workers, then any new equilibrium is inevitably at a higher wage level than the previous one. This is basic economics. But I do find it funny when supposed lefties start arguing against higher wages for workers because it will make the more exploitative employers go bust.
This post from Guido Gianasso (Professor of Leadership at HEC Paris in Qatar / Honorary Consul of Romania in Geneva) has flashed up in my feed and currently has over 103,000 likes and loves, with several across my network. There isn't a single critical comment beneath it.
Read it, and you'll see he's co-opted Emma - with a MASSIVE picture of her on the post- to support his own pre-existing political views. He manages to crowbar Brexit in and also has the audacity to say that Emma is not British and is evidence that national identities are fading, which he thinks is a good thing, as he feels they can only be ethnocentrically based. This is fairly typical of the views advertised on the professional networking site LinkedIn and the "global citizens" that inhabit it:
"EMMA RADUCANU AND THE ILLUSION OF NATIONS
A new tennis champion has emerged. It is fascinating to observe the dynamics taking place around this young lady.
Emma's father is Romanian. Her name is Romanian and she speaks Romanian fluently. Hence she is considered Romanian by millions of Romanians. But Emma has actually never lived in Romania.
Emma's mother is Chinese. She speaks fluent Chinese, as a recent video available on YouTube shows. Hence she is considered a Chinese hero by millions of Chinese, who seem to forget that the PRC discourages international marriages.
Emma was born in Canada but has lived most of her life and trained in the UK. Hence she is considered British by most Britons and was publicly congratulated by the Queen. But the British public that now celebrates her success is the same that voted Brexit with the very objective to make it difficult for East Europeans such as Emma and her father to live in the UK.
The reality is that Emma is not Romanian, Chinese or British. She is much more. She is the outstanding result of the combination of Romanian talent, Chinese work ethics and British openness and sport infrastructure.
At a time when many countries are going back to very ethnocentric models and policies, Emma is the best evidence that National identities are fading and we must embrace a geocentric mindset. Emma Raducanu is the future of humankind."
What a hopeful and refreshing read; the Professor's piece I mean.
I have grandchildren who are half-British, half Thai and live in Thailand. Two of them are very keen on, and appear quite good at, sport. They could, and probably would, play for either Britain or Thailand if one or the other came calling.
Yes, I thought you'd like it.
It's a great totem for flushing out those with utterly moronic views.
Happy little soul, aren't you. I might, and do, disagree with you on occasion, but when I have actually been rude to you.
I'm not the one trying to abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends. I find that extremely rude, and the post itself is softly bigoted.
If you find it "helpful and refreshing" then, yes, I'm afraid you do have moronic views.
I certainly wouldn't try to ' abuse and exploit Emma for my own political ends'. The fact is that as a result of globalisation she's got a very diverse background, and seeing that recognised is good. I find it quite amusing to see various nationalists tying themselves in knots trying to 'claim' her.
Who are these "nationalists" you speak of that are trying to "claim" her? You mean people celebrating the fact that someone British who's proudly competing as a Briton has secured a British win? Because if you do, then you're saying most of the population here are "nationalist" on the basis that someone with mixed ancestry must always be seen as a migrant first, and a Briton second. I find that offensive.
The only ones doing the claiming here are the softly-bigoted progressive Left.
I went to an international school. My sister was born in Canada. My parents were born in India. I have half-British/half-Columbian cousins. My Uncle lives in Australia. My other cousin married a Kenyan lady. My wife is Bulgarian. My daughter is British, but with Bulgarian ancestry too, and I have other family members who married fellow Britons too.
It might surprise you to we all celebrated Emma's win, and we all have an affection for the UK and common roots here too.
There's nothing exclusive or anachronistic about national identity, and long may it remain so.
Linkedin = woke propoganda feed. It is only good for professional news, it is not a good gauge of public opinion.
However, national identity is rooted very deeply in the human psyche. It cannot be deconstructed to nothing as Prof Gianosso and his fellow woke propogandists desperately hope. Nationalism is very much alive, particularly in supposedly progressive countries. Look at Scotland for example. There is a definite birther movement there, that has in the past revealed itself in comments on this website.
My own life experience living in supposedly progressive european countries (and not really amongst the woke elite) is that Nationalism is very much in existence, and that I would be accepted as a guest but would never be regarded as one of them.
In the end I have come to believe that Britain is unique in being able to successfully absorb immigrants within its national identity; but it is the exception rather than the rule; a historical abberation. It is this quality that many people around the world admire. This realisation was a turning point - it made me proud to be British.
Yes, I agree. Good post.
I think it's also the case on LinkedIn that those who disagree (like me) simply don't say anything. To do so would be to risk a pile on that would probably be fatal to my professional career, and it would be broadcast to your whole network at the same time.
That's why I'm venting on here instead.
I use LinkedIn regularly. There are some (and that post is an example) who use click-bait to gain "likes" and shares to raise their following and profile. Most, like yourself, are sensible enough to keep their political views to themselves. To suggest LinkedIn is "woke" is utter bollocks though. It is a business social media platform. Most people who do business avoid posting controversial views, and should any views be posted they tend to be relatively mainstream/centrist as a result. A regular put down on LinkedIn is "this is not Facebook". Nor is it PB.
No one was suggesting Linkedin is woke. But it is full of woke clickbait every time I log on. Plus, woke is the new centrist.
Woke is business friendly - non-woke is politically incorrect which means you could upset potential customers.
Yes I do know that a lot of customers are non-woke but targetting them has a habit of upsetting people who know how linkedIn's banning algorithms work.
Businesses like being woke because it is a largely cost free way of showing they are progressive, giving them much more slack for paying low wages and helping support authoritarian regimes.
Yup, the best ones are when Amazon and such do all of that rainbow shite. They get away with industrial scale tax avoidance, horrible working conditions and loss-leading with their storefront to hollow out local competitors and local high streets. But it's all good, they have rainbows on their website so who gives a fuck about all that.
You can tell the companies who really don't care and its all PR, when their US twitter / website will be full of this equity day or month, but their accounts for certain other markets never mention these issues, where the lack of equality is much greater.....and by that standard I think we know it is most of them that are juat virtue signalling.
The NBA really take thr biscuit though. They went totally ott on racial equality stuff,.then one team official said Uighur Muslims.in China are getting a raw deal and he got sanctioned.and they sent out all the biggest stars to say China your awesome, we love you.
Watching US sports and movies pander to China has been something of a regular occurance of the past few years. John Oliver has done some good pieces on it. One rule for criticising the US government, a very different rule for criticising certain foreign governments.
I really don’t see how Pence has much chance in this environment. Even if Trump doesn’t stand, his chosen candidate will.
PS if anyone wants to amuse themselves with anti-Trump book, read John Niven’s “The F*ck it list”
I agree, I don't see Pence as much of a runner. He betrayed the faith with the Trump loons but he hung in there far too long for the rationals to trust him. He may still have some evangelical base but nowhere near enough in my view.
He is steeped in the fundy evangelical thing. No way the non-fundies would even look at him. And the intersections between the sets of the fundies and the Trumpets means he is stuffed there as well.
Which, in itself, is strange. As the Evangelical movement began as a reaction against Fundamentalism.
Every system of thought can go fundamentalist. And be used as the basis of a vile despotism.
I really don’t see how Pence has much chance in this environment. Even if Trump doesn’t stand, his chosen candidate will.
PS if anyone wants to amuse themselves with anti-Trump book, read John Niven’s “The F*ck it list”
I agree, I don't see Pence as much of a runner. He betrayed the faith with the Trump loons but he hung in there far too long for the rationals to trust him. He may still have some evangelical base but nowhere near enough in my view.
He is steeped in the fundy evangelical thing. No way the non-fundies would even look at him. And the intersections between the sets of the fundies and the Trumpets means he is stuffed there as well.
Which, in itself, is strange. As the Evangelical movement began as a reaction against Fundamentalism.
Fundamentalist-Evangelical compare/contrast is interesting.
Have you encountered the Evangelical Quakers of North America?
If Labour's PR department has any sense (?) they will keep their messaging clear and simple:
The Tories' Triple Whammy:
• More taxes
• Bigger bills
• Higher prices
But they don't. So I'm not holding my breath. Two things will dominate. The trans issue, which is not of Starmer's making. And the Electoral College. Which is. Own goal yet again.
Mr. Max, it always puzzles me when I see women-led or the like on business entries on Googlemaps.
It's not a problem, but obviously a business has to be 'led' by men or women...
On voting: EHV is the optimal system. Enormo-haddock voting eliminates human error by removing humans from the voting process. It's a sensible policy for a happier Britain.
“Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.”
― Terry Pratchett, Mort
Its a great system in Ankh-Morpork - a mostly benevolent, enlightened tyrant whose only vice is a hatred of mime artists. I suspect a fair few folk who flirt with totalitarianism yearn for such a ruler in the real world.
Personally the Patrician didn't go far enough.
He should have been tough on Mime (artists) and tough on the causes of Mime.
Mime ranks alongside interpretative dance as things which should be imagined and never encountered. I'm sure I've posted my story about the Museum of Liverpool emptying out as the interpretative dance tour was announced. I suspect it worked better than any fire alarm...
If Labour's PR department has any sense (?) they will keep their messaging clear and simple:
The Tories' Triple Whammy:
• More taxes
• Bigger bills
• Higher prices
And Labour are going to cut green levies, taxes and public spending? Our will they be proposing a Green New Deal which means even higher levies, higher taxes and higher spending?
Doesn't really matter at this stage, Labour don't need to have policies this far from an election. Just keep hammering home the cost of living message and keep the pressure firmly on the government.
If I had the time (and cared enough) I could go round and photograph the shelves in Lidl, Iceland, M&S, Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Co-Op (all local stores here) at 4pm but I don't and I can't.
Spoke with my friend President @EmmanuelMacron on the situation in Afghanistan. We also discussed closer collaboration between India and France in the Indo-Pacific. We place great value on our Strategic Partnership with France, including in the UNSC.
I find it genuinely astonishing that our political class could ever be short of wind but that appears to be the case.
Which committee said we shouldn't build the tidal lagoon ?
If the basis was that it's not competitive next to gas. Well...
Greg Clark, the UK’s Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (a relatively new section of government which is, in effect, the ruling body for matters of energy and energy efficiency) has deemed the project to be unjustifiably expensive. In his own words, Clark claims that “The inescapable conclusion of an extensive analysis is that however novel and appealing the proposal that has been made is…the costs that would be incurred by consumers and taxpayers would be so much higher than alternative sources of low carbon power, that it would be irresponsible to enter into a contract with the provider.”
Based on a report prepared by BEIS, one number in which was £30 billion wrong - in favour nuclear, another £60 billion wrong, in favour of nuclear.
BEIS made up their own basis of assessment, despite having objective measures they were supposed to use. Further, they haven't taken a meeting since early 2017. They have no idea what the current economic parameters are.
Oh, and the Secretary of State had to respond to the abandonment provisions provided by the company (for an abondonment happening 120 years hence). BEIS provided their response at 5.01pm on the day they believed the Development Consent Order expired. Oh, and only DCO's were excluded from the Covid extensions to planning permission deadlines.
Tidal lagoon electricity generation is competitive against other renewables (offshore wind and solar) - even more so when comparing an asset that lasts 120+++years versus those which need to be replaced from the ground up every 25-35 years. Tidal lagoons are massively competitive when objectively measured against nuclear. Which was its crime and why such efforts were taken to stop it happening.
If Labour's PR department has any sense (?) they will keep their messaging clear and simple:
The Tories' Triple Whammy:
• More taxes
• Bigger bills
• Higher prices
But they don't. So I'm not holding my breath. Two things will dominate. The trans issue, which is not of Starmer's making. And the Electoral College. Which is. Own goal yet again.
Agreed. Navel gazing over the Electoral College and obsessing over trans stuff when there is sod all resolution would be a big mistake. And for that reason, that is probably exactly what they will do.
If Labour's PR department has any sense (?) they will keep their messaging clear and simple:
The Tories' Triple Whammy:
• More taxes
• Bigger bills
• Higher prices
But all their conference delegates want to talk about is:
• Palestine
• Trans Rights v Women’s Rights
• Internal organisational matters
Although to be fair the internal organisational matter is potentially very important: the changes Starmer is seeking would make it less likely that the party will once again lurch into Corbyn-style madness. That's important for the question of whether it's safe to vote Labour.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
A relative is running a business which involves couriers and local delivery.
Apparently there are considerable variations in pay and conditions in the truck/van delivery business.
(a) Some organisations seem to have the view that there should be an infinite number of drivers out there ready to work at what ever work conditions they, the hiring company wishes. And if that is not correct, reality is wrong.
(b) Others have adapted by trying to find out what it is that the drivers want. And it is not always just more money - looking at you, Amazon.
Quite a few courier outfits have collapsed because of (a)
I suspect there is a split between smaller stores who understand the new state of affairs means better pay and conditions for their low wage workers. The bigger, more British ones have relationships into government and reckon they can lobby the powers that be to bail them out and let in a whole bunch more Eastern Europeans.
Ultimately, companies will have to pay more to lower paid workers. This will make them less competitive and some of them will go bust. Then unemployment will start to rise again and wages will drop until a new equilibrium is reached and the UK has become a bit poorer.
If the constraint is lack of low skill workers, then any new equilibrium is inevitably at a higher wage level than the previous one. This is basic economics. But I do find it funny when supposed lefties start arguing against higher wages for workers because it will make the more exploitative employers go bust.
The thing I find strange is the abandonment of the *provable position* that social services and the other accoutrements of the moderns social democratic state actually increase productivity.
To the point where higher wages than those in developing countries are logically and can be afforded.
While there limits to this, it means that we don't all have to work as if we are at Foxconn, to compete.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
A relative is running a business which involves couriers and local delivery.
Apparently there are considerable variations in pay and conditions in the truck/van delivery business.
(a) Some organisations seem to have the view that there should be an infinite number of drivers out there ready to work at what ever work conditions they, the hiring company wishes. And if that is not correct, reality is wrong.
(b) Others have adapted by trying to find out what it is that the drivers want. And it is not always just more money - looking at you, Amazon.
Quite a few courier outfits have collapsed because of (a)
I suspect there is a split between smaller stores who understand the new state of affairs means better pay and conditions for their low wage workers. The bigger, more British ones have relationships into government and reckon they can lobby the powers that be to bail them out and let in a whole bunch more Eastern Europeans.
Ultimately, companies will have to pay more to lower paid workers. This will make them less competitive and some of them will go bust. Then unemployment will start to rise again and wages will drop until a new equilibrium is reached and the UK has become a bit poorer.
If the constraint is lack of low skill workers, then any new equilibrium is inevitably at a higher wage level than the previous one. This is basic economics. But I do find it funny when supposed lefties start arguing against higher wages for workers because it will make the more exploitative employers go bust.
Other things being equal. But leaving the EU (and especially the SM/CU) has also increased barriers to trade, increased costs for business, reduced demand in the economy and weakened the exchange rate. It's possible that the end result is higher wages at the bottom of the income distribution (in which case, good), but equally possible that wages go down in real terms, accompanied by a burst of inflation. It's odd that the Blair government is so often blamed on here for everything (especially immigration, supposedly terrible for wages) when in fact it presided over a period of strong wage growth, an increased labour share of income and reduced income inequality. If those trends re-emerge after going backwards under the Tories then great. But I'm not holding my breath.
Kwarteng has agreed with CF industries to restart production of CO2
Will the size of the large cheque required be revealed or will Kwarteng claim it's commercially confidential even though it's a direct subsidy to due to lack of other options.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
Or that high volume urban stores are prioritised for deliveries? Stores here have apology notices up prominently. Only one I've seen in Newcastle was in KFC.
The Aldi way of doing supermarkets is probably more robust to delivery SNAFUs. One brand/size of most products, we'll sell you a kayak but only for two weeks of the year, that sort of thing. The model most UK shoppers seem to prefer has a lot more product choice, which gives more potential to go wrong. Nobody is going to starve, but the system is no longer working happily. As always, the nation can either ignore the red flashing lights or ignore them. You can make a case either way.
(Anecdata: after a couple of weeks where things seemed to be improving, Tesco home delivery are back to having 20% or so of my usuals unavailable.)
TBH I don't think its true that shoppers prefer more choice. They want choice, but not as much as they get offered. A huge fixture with 12 different kinds of lentils will not only sell very little volume in that space, the more different items you add in the less you sell.
Aldi and Lidl sometimes push the proven less is more approach too far, but they have the right balance. Which is why they have had sustained strong growth and the big supermarkets haven't.
As a big Aldi fan what is it that eg tescos don't do which inhibits them vs Aldi/Lidl?
Cost, space, choice. Stores which are too big, with too many products, which cost too much to run.
Kwarteng has agreed with CF industries to restart production of CO2
Will the size of the large cheque required be revealed or will Kwarteng claim it's commercially confidential even though it's a direct subsidy to due to lack of other options.
I expect most people will be relieved that the matter has been addressed
I really don’t see how Pence has much chance in this environment. Even if Trump doesn’t stand, his chosen candidate will.
PS if anyone wants to amuse themselves with anti-Trump book, read John Niven’s “The F*ck it list”
I agree, I don't see Pence as much of a runner. He betrayed the faith with the Trump loons but he hung in there far too long for the rationals to trust him. He may still have some evangelical base but nowhere near enough in my view.
He is steeped in the fundy evangelical thing. No way the non-fundies would even look at him. And the intersections between the sets of the fundies and the Trumpets means he is stuffed there as well.
Which, in itself, is strange. As the Evangelical movement began as a reaction against Fundamentalism.
Fundamentalist-Evangelical compare/contrast is interesting.
Have you encountered the Evangelical Quakers of North America?
(It was roughly the British Quakers who changed.)
Well indeed. Although what you call yourself is often not a good guide. I was thinking more of the revival of a more personal, welcoming relationship with Faith spearheaded by Billy Graham as its figurehead, away from doctrinaire rule bound Christianity. Which played a huge part in re-energising the movement across the USA post-War. Which has now gone full circle to become riddled with new Articles of Faith.
If Labour's PR department has any sense (?) they will keep their messaging clear and simple:
The Tories' Triple Whammy:
• More taxes
• Bigger bills
• Higher prices
But all their conference delegates want to talk about is:
• Palestine
• Trans Rights v Women’s Rights
• Internal organisational matters
Although to be fair the internal organisational matter is potentially very important: the changes Starmer is seeking would make it less likely that the party will once lurch into Corbyn-style madness. That's important for the question of whether it's safe to vote Labour.
That is true, but making a big deal of it to the public (who don't understand it anyway) would be a PR mistake. It does need sorting, for exactly the reasons you say, but let it be done away from the main stage.
The entire PR message should be hammering the high-tax Tories for their cost of living Triple Whammy.
Kwarteng has agreed with CF industries to restart production of CO2
Will the size of the large cheque required be revealed or will Kwarteng claim it's commercially confidential even though it's a direct subsidy to due to lack of other options.
So I'm not the brightest, but if its costing more to produce the CO2 due to gas prices, you put the price of the CO2 up, the food industry needs it and has to pay, and then puts its prices up. Problem solved via economics. At the end the consumer pays. Why hasn't that worked here?
Kwarteng has agreed with CF industries to restart production of CO2
Will the size of the large cheque required be revealed or will Kwarteng claim it's commercially confidential even though it's a direct subsidy to due to lack of other options.
So I'm not the brightest, but if its costing more to produce the CO2 due to gas prices, you put the price of the CO2 up, the food industry needs it and has to pay, and then puts its prices up. Problem solved via economics. At the end the consumer pays. Why hasn't that worked here?
I believe it is because the CO2 is a by-product of fertiliser production which is what uses the gas. And due to the increase in gas prices the fertiliser factory has stopped operating for now - a commercial decision - which means no CO2 is being produced. So economics doesn't solve this one directly as the fertiliser company has no wish to produce the stuff at the current costs.
If Labour's PR department has any sense (?) they will keep their messaging clear and simple:
The Tories' Triple Whammy:
• More taxes
• Bigger bills
• Higher prices
But all their conference delegates want to talk about is:
• Palestine
• Trans Rights v Women’s Rights
• Internal organisational matters
Although to be fair the internal organisational matter is potentially very important: the changes Starmer is seeking would make it less likely that the party will once again lurch into Corbyn-style madness. That's important for the question of whether it's safe to vote Labour.
Don't think it will feature in many people's GE decision.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
Or that high volume urban stores are prioritised for deliveries? Stores here have apology notices up prominently. Only one I've seen in Newcastle was in KFC.
The Aldi way of doing supermarkets is probably more robust to delivery SNAFUs. One brand/size of most products, we'll sell you a kayak but only for two weeks of the year, that sort of thing. The model most UK shoppers seem to prefer has a lot more product choice, which gives more potential to go wrong. Nobody is going to starve, but the system is no longer working happily. As always, the nation can either ignore the red flashing lights or ignore them. You can make a case either way.
(Anecdata: after a couple of weeks where things seemed to be improving, Tesco home delivery are back to having 20% or so of my usuals unavailable.)
TBH I don't think its true that shoppers prefer more choice. They want choice, but not as much as they get offered. A huge fixture with 12 different kinds of lentils will not only sell very little volume in that space, the more different items you add in the less you sell.
Aldi and Lidl sometimes push the proven less is more approach too far, but they have the right balance. Which is why they have had sustained strong growth and the big supermarkets haven't.
As a big Aldi fan what is it that eg tescos don't do which inhibits them vs Aldi/Lidl?
Cost, space, choice. Stores which are too big, with too many products, which cost too much to run.
Just been to my local Aldi. As always, full shelves, no shortages. Actually sweetcorn was out of stock but that's the only thing in the supermarket and I was looking.
Could it simply be that the stock management of certain supermarkets is ... quasi-effective?
A relative is running a business which involves couriers and local delivery.
Apparently there are considerable variations in pay and conditions in the truck/van delivery business.
(a) Some organisations seem to have the view that there should be an infinite number of drivers out there ready to work at what ever work conditions they, the hiring company wishes. And if that is not correct, reality is wrong.
(b) Others have adapted by trying to find out what it is that the drivers want. And it is not always just more money - looking at you, Amazon.
Quite a few courier outfits have collapsed because of (a)
I suspect there is a split between smaller stores who understand the new state of affairs means better pay and conditions for their low wage workers. The bigger, more British ones have relationships into government and reckon they can lobby the powers that be to bail them out and let in a whole bunch more Eastern Europeans.
Ultimately, companies will have to pay more to lower paid workers. This will make them less competitive and some of them will go bust. Then unemployment will start to rise again and wages will drop until a new equilibrium is reached and the UK has become a bit poorer.
Why would we be poorer? If a new equilibrium is reached with higher wages then we will be richer not poorer. The least productive businesses are the ones that die, and they were deflating our wealth per capita not increasing it.
Increasing numbers of people on minimum wage, subsidised by taxes of those not on minimum wage, deflates our economy it doesn't improve it per capita.
Comments
(Anecdata: after a couple of weeks where things seemed to be improving, Tesco home delivery are back to having 20% or so of my usuals unavailable.)
My main staple I buy regularly from Aldi is their own brand version of Dolce Gusto coffee pods. They're excellent and I prefer them over the name branded or even Starbucks branded coffee pods. Those haven't changed price they've been £2.50 per box of 16 pods since my bean machine broke down and I switched to pods a couple of years ago. I typically spend £20 on coffee per shop.
The later attitude has to be seen to be believed. I spoke to one chap who couldn't invest in automation for his business, wouldn't etc. Said business can be (part) automated with off the shelf solutions. It wasn't lack of money either. It was just that his business used cheap labour - he would use cheap labour, and *wouldn't* adapt, because that is what he had always done....
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cxwdwz5d8gxt/natural-gas
It's not a problem, but obviously a business has to be 'led' by men or women...
On voting: EHV is the optimal system. Enormo-haddock voting eliminates human error by removing humans from the voting process. It's a sensible policy for a happier Britain.
Aldi and Lidl sometimes push the proven less is more approach too far, but they have the right balance. Which is why they have had sustained strong growth and the big supermarkets haven't.
Edit: found them.
Fixed that for you.
In the US, government contracts are given out with preference to various groups. A chap who was doing business in the aerospace sector semi-seriously joked that since he married his wife (Native American, veteran, on disability from war wounds) and made her co-owner of his business, he was unable to lose a bid for a contract for government related work.
1. Declining corporation tax rates reducing the amounts businesses paid;
2. Tax credits available to all, including immigrants, which allowed low paying industries to get by on the minimum wage with workers able to top up with the help of the Government;
3. Opening the doors to immigration.
Ironically, we all heard from very many ardent Remainers pre-Brexit that the argument drove down wages was a Brexit fallacy and there was no evidence for it. Well, looks like we are getting the evidence now…
I remember Netto, and anyone at school thought to shop there got the absolute shit ripped out of them.
The Tories must be pissing themselves laughing. And all because serkeir lacked the brass balls to boot the trots out of the party.
― Terry Pratchett, Mort
I use Amazon a lot. You don't, that's fine but people can and do vote with their feet.
You can think of something you want, get your phone out of your pocket and it'll be at your house later that day or the next day. So ... 🤷♂️
We were sitting on a Tube train. The Nigerian origined gentleman sitting opposite started laughing. A lot.... Apparently its a bit of a joke there, from what he said.
What if.. she announced tomorrow that she was moving to NYC and was taking up an offer she'd be given for US citizenship because she's been advised that she'll make much more money, and pay less tax, that way. And she prefers NY to London.
I think I'd still support her the same. Just so long as she didn't start speaking in an American accent!
Mr. eek, aye. Unfortunately, American bullshit gets swallowed and regurgitated by the far left over here (ironically).
I've not tried their other ones, but those are very good, I drink the red Americano ones and my wife has the brown Latte Macchiato ones.
The Americano ones produce a really good crema.
Even if I do my weekly shop at Tesco, I'll go out of my way to get those pods alone.
Because democratically-elected governments chose not to do so for a few decades does not mean the concept was not a democratic one (membership of the EU).
Gary Lineker and other virtue signaller tweets incoming.
The thing is all the nonsense of Raducanu, it is actually fairly common across sports.
You can never trust the Labour Party to do what is right, if it conflicts with its own self-interest.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/573040-poll-trump-dominates-2024-republican-primary-field?rl=1
I really don’t see how Pence has much chance in this environment. Even if Trump doesn’t stand, his chosen candidate will.
PS if anyone wants to amuse themselves with anti-Trump book, read John Niven’s “The F*ck it list”
The greater good is to deliver a greater part of society (ie non-dairy farmers, non-baristas, non-fruit pickers) economic benefit.
Quite an achievement. Chapeau!
However, nobody is moving to NYC to pay less tax, most of the sports stars who play for NY based teams somehow claim they don't even live there....because otherwise their tax bills would be enormous.
The chap is actually training to be an HGV driver himself !
I'm quite interested to see what aspects we pick up from the Swiss economy.
The NBA really take thr biscuit though. They went totally ott on racial equality stuff,.then one team official said Uighur Muslims.in China are getting a raw deal and he got sanctioned.and they sent out all the biggest stars to say China your awesome, we love you.
I can confirm that a lot of 'members' on twitter seem not to like it
If the basis was that it's not competitive next to gas. Well...
The Tories' Triple Whammy:
• More taxes
• Bigger bills
• Higher prices
Like if you focus on CO2 emissions from one medium-sized country to the extent you don't notice electricity supply is at risk...
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/573132-johnson-johnson-says-its-booster-provides-94-percent-covid-19-protection
(as many of us suspected all along).
Have you encountered the Evangelical Quakers of North America?
(It was roughly the British Quakers who changed.)
Two things will dominate. The trans issue, which is not of Starmer's making.
And the Electoral College. Which is. Own goal yet again.
He should have been tough on Mime (artists) and tough on the causes of Mime.
Mime ranks alongside interpretative dance as things which should be imagined and never encountered. I'm sure I've posted my story about the Museum of Liverpool emptying out as the interpretative dance tour was announced. I suspect it worked better than any fire alarm...
• Palestine
• Trans Rights v Women’s Rights
• Internal organisational matters
Fin (Finn?) could've had a great character arc with Phasma, instead he became light relief.
Although, that was very much not the worst part of the sequels.
Trans rights
Labour isn't going to let the views of wimen get in the way of lefty woke point scoring
Spoke with my friend President @EmmanuelMacron on the situation in Afghanistan. We also discussed closer collaboration between India and France in the Indo-Pacific. We place great value on our Strategic Partnership with France, including in the UNSC.
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1440293420212260877?s=21
BEIS made up their own basis of assessment, despite having objective measures they were supposed to use. Further, they haven't taken a meeting since early 2017. They have no idea what the current economic parameters are.
Oh, and the Secretary of State had to respond to the abandonment provisions provided by the company (for an abondonment happening 120 years hence). BEIS provided their response at 5.01pm on the day they believed the Development Consent Order expired. Oh, and only DCO's were excluded from the Covid extensions to planning permission deadlines.
Tidal lagoon electricity generation is competitive against other renewables (offshore wind and solar) - even more so when comparing an asset that lasts 120+++years versus those which need to be replaced from the ground up every 25-35 years. Tidal lagoons are massively competitive when objectively measured against nuclear. Which was its crime and why such efforts were taken to stop it happening.
Agreed. Navel gazing over the Electoral College and obsessing over trans stuff when there is sod all resolution would be a big mistake. And for that reason, that is probably exactly what they will do.
Kwarteng has agreed with CF industries to restart production of CO2
To the point where higher wages than those in developing countries are logically and can be afforded.
While there limits to this, it means that we don't all have to work as if we are at Foxconn, to compete.
It's odd that the Blair government is so often blamed on here for everything (especially immigration, supposedly terrible for wages) when in fact it presided over a period of strong wage growth, an increased labour share of income and reduced income inequality. If those trends re-emerge after going backwards under the Tories then great. But I'm not holding my breath.
Which played a huge part in re-energising the movement across the USA post-War.
Which has now gone full circle to become riddled with new Articles of Faith.
The entire PR message should be hammering the high-tax Tories for their cost of living Triple Whammy.
Great meeting with @MarisePayne discussing:
🛡️ The AUKUS security & defence partnership
📈 Our fantastic 🇬🇧🇦🇺 trade deal
🌏 Working more closely together in the Indo-Pacific
https://twitter.com/trussliz/status/1440294387699699713
You are entitled to your gloom but you are wrong !!!
Increasing numbers of people on minimum wage, subsidised by taxes of those not on minimum wage, deflates our economy it doesn't improve it per capita.