"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
Thomas Homer-Dixon has never been the most optimistic of scientists, but has always had interest insights on systems thinking on a macro scale.
tldr; the climate, covid-like pandemics, inequality and the fact that we can't disagree like adults any more are all linked, and all making each other worse.
It's annoying when Americans assume the whole world is like them. Outside the USA there's far less polarisation on most issues.
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
Thomas Homer-Dixon has never been the most optimistic of scientists, but has always had interest insights on systems thinking on a macro scale.
tldr; the climate, covid-like pandemics, inequality and the fact that we can't disagree like adults any more are all linked, and all making each other worse.
Thomas Homer-Dixon has never been the most optimistic of scientists, but has always had interest insights on systems thinking on a macro scale.
tldr; the climate, covid-like pandemics, inequality and the fact that we can't disagree like adults any more are all linked, and all making each other worse.
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
None of them have the votes, only Sunak likely does now until the next general election. If the right had the votes amongst Tory MPs Boris would have survived as PM as would Truss.
The best thing for the right anyway is to let Sunak and Hunt take the blame for the likely general election defeat and then take over again in opposition. Steve Barclay is an outside bet
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
Thomas Homer-Dixon has never been the most optimistic of scientists, but has always had interest insights on systems thinking on a macro scale.
tldr; the climate, covid-like pandemics, inequality and the fact that we can't disagree like adults any more are all linked, and all making each other worse.
It's annoying when Americans assume the whole world is like them. Outside the USA there's far less polarisation on most issues.
More, or less, annoying than when Canadians are assumed to be Americans?
But otherwise, yes I agree, though I'd say there is plenty of polarisation globally, albeit not to the same extreme as in USA.
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
The Mogg. Nadhim Zahawi 😀
Geoffrey Cox maybe.
Boris. When the shit hits the fan, the ERG will force a coup and they’ll break the emergency glass.
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
None of them have the votes, only Sunak likely does now until the next general election. If the right had the votes amongst Tory MPs Boris would have survived as PM as would Truss.
The best thing for the right anyway is to let Sunak and Hunt take the blame for the likely general election defeat and then take over again in opposition. Steve Barclay is an outside bet
I have put a pound on Geoffrey Cox and one on Graham Brady for next PM. Why not?
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
None of them have the votes, only Sunak likely does now until the next general election. If the right had the votes amongst Tory MPs Boris would have survived as PM as would Truss.
The best thing for the right anyway is to let Sunak and Hunt take the blame for the likely general election defeat and then take over again in opposition. Steve Barclay is an outside bet
I have put a pound on Geoffrey Cox and one on Graham Brady for next PM. Why not?
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
The Mogg. Nadhim Zahawi 😀
Geoffrey Cox maybe.
Boris. When the shit hits the fan, the ERG will force a coup and they’ll break the emergency glass.
Someone said here that the only thing saving Sunak at the moment is the fear of Boris. They want him permanently out of the picture before they move.
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
None of them have the votes, only Sunak likely does now until the next general election. If the right had the votes amongst Tory MPs Boris would have survived as PM as would Truss.
The best thing for the right anyway is to let Sunak and Hunt take the blame for the likely general election defeat and then take over again in opposition. Steve Barclay is an outside bet
I have put a pound on Geoffrey Cox and one on Graham Brady for next PM. Why not?
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
None of them have the votes, only Sunak likely does now until the next general election. If the right had the votes amongst Tory MPs Boris would have survived as PM as would Truss.
The best thing for the right anyway is to let Sunak and Hunt take the blame for the likely general election defeat and then take over again in opposition. Steve Barclay is an outside bet
I have put a pound on Geoffrey Cox and one on Graham Brady for next PM. Why not?
You could buy some crisps.
For a pound? You clearly haven't bought any crisps since the Truss-Kwarteng budget hit.
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
If the EU ran its PR better it would operate e.g. an EU-wide transport pass scheme for the 60+. ("I can't wait for my Eurocard.")
Then it would enact EU-wide laws against cruelty to animals, e.g. bans on cockfighting, foxhunting, bullfighting - and if Britain were still a member, on the barbaric killing of seagull chicks on Sula Sgeir in Scotland. ("Well the national government obviously wasn't going to do anything.")
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures .
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
None of them have the votes, only Sunak likely does now until the next general election. If the right had the votes amongst Tory MPs Boris would have survived as PM as would Truss.
The best thing for the right anyway is to let Sunak and Hunt take the blame for the likely general election defeat and then take over again in opposition. Steve Barclay is an outside bet
Rubbish. The opposite of what you are spinning is true. The Boris defenestration wasn’t just ideological politics as you claim or he would have survived not been thrown out! He was desperately tainted goods by the end.
Use Guiliss as bellweather, rebel here but one of last to sink knife into Boris.
Kit Malthouse! The dislike of both Sunak and his budget extends to more than a few outspoken headbangers, great swathes of Tory Members and backbench MPs dislike him and the budget - becuase they can’t see how they can go out and campaign on what’s been done this week - all they can expect now is doors slammed in their faces and losing their seats. Do you wish to argue with that?
The answer is very very simple, this is a botched budget because should have been cleverer and more mixed, vat holidays to boost footfall and other growth measures for example paid for by mothballing some infrastructure projects. It was just too flat footed a budget, it just wasn’t agile or imaginative enough.
And Hunt’s had an abysmal day selling it today - where’s the promise to reverse the tax cuts as soon as possible, where’s the promises to boost earnings and household income as soon as over the worst and achieving growth again? Flat footed economics, naff politics and communication.
Keir Starmer accepts £55bn 'black hole' calculation - BBC
I wouldn’t accept anything from this OBR - who picks them, appoints them, and pays the wages of this vital independent link between the bs of politicians and our ears.
It isn't just that - their raison d'etre is to get us fiscally ready for economic and monetary union. They monitor and make their shit, never been accurate predictions, about things that aren't actually decisive factors in whether our economy prospers. Since we're no longer in the EU, and therefore not candidates to join the Euro, their parameters should surely be changed.
Eh?
The OBR was created by the 2010 by the Conservative-LibDem coalition. It has - and has never had - anything to do with the EU or the Euro.
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
None of them have the votes, only Sunak likely does now until the next general election. If the right had the votes amongst Tory MPs Boris would have survived as PM as would Truss.
The best thing for the right anyway is to let Sunak and Hunt take the blame for the likely general election defeat and then take over again in opposition. Steve Barclay is an outside bet
Rubbish. The opposite of what you are spinning is true. The Boris defenestration wasn’t just ideological politics as you claim or he would have survived not been thrown out! He was desperately tainted goods by the end.
Use Guiliss as bellweather, rebel here but one of last to sink knife into Boris.
Kit Malthouse! The dislike of both Sunak and his budget extends to more than a few outspoken headbangers, great swathes of Tory Members and backbench MPs dislike him and the budget - becuase they can’t see how they can go out and campaign on what’s been done this week - all they can expect now is doors slammed in their faces and losing their seats. Do you wish to argue with that?
The answer is very very simple, this is a botched budget because should have been cleverer and more mixed, vat holidays to boost footfall and other growth measures for example paid for by mothballing some infrastructure projects. It was just too flat footed a budget, it just wasn’t agile or imaginative enough.
And Hunt’s had an abysmal day selling it today - where’s the promise to reverse the tax cuts as soon as possible, where’s the promises to boost earnings and household income as soon as over the worst and achieving growth again? Flat footed economics, naff politics and communication.
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
None of them have the votes, only Sunak likely does now until the next general election. If the right had the votes amongst Tory MPs Boris would have survived as PM as would Truss.
The best thing for the right anyway is to let Sunak and Hunt take the blame for the likely general election defeat and then take over again in opposition. Steve Barclay is an outside bet
Rubbish. The opposite of what you are spinning is true. The Boris defenestration wasn’t just ideological politics as you claim or he would have survived not been thrown out! He was desperately tainted goods by the end.
Use Guiliss as bellweather, rebel here but one of last to sink knife into Boris.
Kit Malthouse! The dislike of both Sunak and his budget extends to more than a few outspoken headbangers, great swathes of Tory Members and backbench MPs dislike him and the budget - becuase they can’t see how they can go out and campaign on what’s been done this week - all they can expect now is doors slammed in their faces and losing their seats. Do you wish to argue with that?
The answer is very very simple, this is a botched budget because should have been cleverer and more mixed, vat holidays to boost footfall and other growth measures for example paid for by mothballing some infrastructure projects. It was just too flat footed a budget, it just wasn’t agile or imaginative enough.
And Hunt’s had an abysmal day selling it today - where’s the promise to reverse the tax cuts as soon as possible, where’s the promises to boost earnings and household income as soon as over the worst and achieving growth again? Flat footed economics, naff politics and communication.
You do not mothball infrastructure investment in a recession and Hunts plan sees growth returning to 2.6% in 2025 and 2.7% in 2026 as confirmed by the OBR
Tonight the IMF have endorsed the Autumn statement and to be honest for all its faults it has assuaged the markets which was the main requirement
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Sunak/ Hunt are the best choice for the country at present and doing the right thing to mitigate the damage the hapless Truss bestowed on the country
The next GE is virtually lost but then if it means the loss of many ERG members then I am fine with that
The idea that anyone half sane or intelligent could support the Conservatives after this is mind blowing. It shows how deep run tribal instincts. “What we need is another five years of this” couldn’t be said by anyone paying remote attention.
Why does anyone need it? Why do Germany require it? France? Etc.
Suspect that lack of borders may be one issue, and various alternative methods are needed, of which ID cards may be one.
There is also the national traditions. Is it relevant that most of these countries have been disassembled and reassembled like jigsaws over the centuries? Does that feed into the culture?
For the UK, I can see more upside than downside, and I don't see the problem people get so passionate about.
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Sunak/ Hunt are the best choice for the country at present and doing the right thing to mitigate the damage the hapless Truss bestowed on the country
The next GE is virtually lost but then if it means the loss of many ERG members then I am fine with that
The idea that anyone half sane or intelligent could support the Conservatives after this is mind blowing. It shows how deep run tribal instincts. “What we need is another five years of this” couldn’t be said by anyone paying remote attention.
It is a good way of identifying the true blue Tories as election 2010 and 2019 were good ways of identifying the true red Labour voters
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Sunak/ Hunt are the best choice for the country at present and doing the right thing to mitigate the damage the hapless Truss bestowed on the country
The next GE is virtually lost but then if it means the loss of many ERG members then I am fine with that
The idea that anyone half sane or intelligent could support the Conservatives after this is mind blowing. It shows how deep run tribal instincts. “What we need is another five years of this” couldn’t be said by anyone paying remote attention.
It is very likely that Starmer will win in 2024 but he has to have an offer that is realistic and after the last 8 weeks satisfies the OBR and IMF
I am relaxed about Starmer and certainly if he slays the ERG then I am fine with that
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Sunak/ Hunt are the best choice for the country at present and doing the right thing to mitigate the damage the hapless Truss bestowed on the country
The next GE is virtually lost but then if it means the loss of many ERG members then I am fine with that
The idea that anyone half sane or intelligent could support the Conservatives after this is mind blowing. It shows how deep run tribal instincts. “What we need is another five years of this” couldn’t be said by anyone paying remote attention.
It is a good way of identifying the true blue Tories as election 2010 and 2019 were good ways of identifying the true red Labour voters
True blue Tories do not win elections and especially if your definition of true blue is the ERG
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Sunak/ Hunt are the best choice for the country at present and doing the right thing to mitigate the damage the hapless Truss bestowed on the country
The next GE is virtually lost but then if it means the loss of many ERG members then I am fine with that
The idea that anyone half sane or intelligent could support the Conservatives after this is mind blowing. It shows how deep run tribal instincts. “What we need is another five years of this” couldn’t be said by anyone paying remote attention.
It is very likely that Starmer will win in 2024 but he has to have an offer that is realistic and after the last 8 weeks satisfies the OBR and IMF
I am relaxed about Starmer and certainly if he slays the ERG then I am fine with that
Great. But it clearly hurts. One of the great challenges for democrats is to support a party and celebrate that sometimes you lose and the change can be cathartic. We need change of personnel and ideas.
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Sunak/ Hunt are the best choice for the country at present and doing the right thing to mitigate the damage the hapless Truss bestowed on the country
The next GE is virtually lost but then if it means the loss of many ERG members then I am fine with that
The idea that anyone half sane or intelligent could support the Conservatives after this is mind blowing. It shows how deep run tribal instincts. “What we need is another five years of this” couldn’t be said by anyone paying remote attention.
It is a good way of identifying the true blue Tories as election 2010 and 2019 were good ways of identifying the true red Labour voters
True blue Tories do not win elections and especially if your definition of true blue is the ERG
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Sunak/ Hunt are the best choice for the country at present and doing the right thing to mitigate the damage the hapless Truss bestowed on the country
The next GE is virtually lost but then if it means the loss of many ERG members then I am fine with that
The idea that anyone half sane or intelligent could support the Conservatives after this is mind blowing. It shows how deep run tribal instincts. “What we need is another five years of this” couldn’t be said by anyone paying remote attention.
It is very likely that Starmer will win in 2024 but he has to have an offer that is realistic and after the last 8 weeks satisfies the OBR and IMF
I am relaxed about Starmer and certainly if he slays the ERG then I am fine with that
Great. But it clearly hurts. One of the great challenges for democrats is to support a party and celebrate that sometimes you lose and the change can be cathartic. We need change of personnel and ideas.
I understand your reasoning and you no doubt realise I am very anti the ERG who to me are dinosaurs and will destroy the conservative party as Corbyn did with Labour at the ballot box
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Sunak/ Hunt are the best choice for the country at present and doing the right thing to mitigate the damage the hapless Truss bestowed on the country
The next GE is virtually lost but then if it means the loss of many ERG members then I am fine with that
The idea that anyone half sane or intelligent could support the Conservatives after this is mind blowing. It shows how deep run tribal instincts. “What we need is another five years of this” couldn’t be said by anyone paying remote attention.
It is a good way of identifying the true blue Tories as election 2010 and 2019 were good ways of identifying the true red Labour voters
True blue Tories do not win elections and especially if your definition of true blue is the ERG
Boris did, Thatcher did.
Boris was not and is not a true blue Tory by any definition
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
None of them have the votes, only Sunak likely does now until the next general election. If the right had the votes amongst Tory MPs Boris would have survived as PM as would Truss.
The best thing for the right anyway is to let Sunak and Hunt take the blame for the likely general election defeat and then take over again in opposition. Steve Barclay is an outside bet
Rubbish. The opposite of what you are spinning is true. The Boris defenestration wasn’t just ideological politics as you claim or he would have survived not been thrown out! He was desperately tainted goods by the end.
Use Guiliss as bellweather, rebel here but one of last to sink knife into Boris.
Kit Malthouse! The dislike of both Sunak and his budget extends to more than a few outspoken headbangers, great swathes of Tory Members and backbench MPs dislike him and the budget - becuase they can’t see how they can go out and campaign on what’s been done this week - all they can expect now is doors slammed in their faces and losing their seats. Do you wish to argue with that?
The answer is very very simple, this is a botched budget because should have been cleverer and more mixed, vat holidays to boost footfall and other growth measures for example paid for by mothballing some infrastructure projects. It was just too flat footed a budget, it just wasn’t agile or imaginative enough.
And Hunt’s had an abysmal day selling it today - where’s the promise to reverse the tax cuts as soon as possible, where’s the promises to boost earnings and household income as soon as over the worst and achieving growth again? Flat footed economics, naff politics and communication.
You do not mothball infrastructure investment in a recession and Hunts plan sees growth returning to 2.6% in 2025 and 2.7% in 2026 as confirmed by the OBR
Tonight the IMF have endorsed the Autumn statement and to be honest for all its faults it has assuaged the markets which was the main requirement
That wasn’t the main requirement. The markets have been assuaged for weeks now already. The requirement to true members and their MPs was give us something to fight on.
Forget now going back to the Second World War - IFS are claiming 12 years of Conservative government has given the UK its highest tax take ever since records began. How on earth does the Conservative Party, the Conservative Party, go out and campaign for re-election on that?
Party members, MPs and loyal voters are asking that very question this evening, what answer do you have for them?
The requirement was for a smarter more imaginative budget than this one. The requirement was for better selling of it in keeping with the Conservative brand.
There’s ways of raising money and balancing the books without it being an honest tax raising budget. There’s ways of encouraging footfall and growth without spooking the markets. There’s ways of playing a bad hand well, and ways of selling a bad deal to people. We already know Hunt and Sunak are poor campaigners, we watched them become leadership election losers because of this - but it also means tgey lack imagination, charisma, and the ability to play bad hands well and sell bad deals to people.
The best thing about Twitter right now is reading the astoundingly bad takes from people who haven't been within 500 feet of a high volume tech stack who think Twitter is technologically really simple and can't fall over.
I'm enjoying following this one.
I have no idea how twitter works or even what a tech stack really is, but one side is going to look stupid in about 4 weeks.
Twitter could keep going for months, maybe even years with only a handful of devs (seriously, maybe a dozen or so?) there to do really basic level admin maintenance, without anything bad happening to it - I'm talking a staff of a couple of dozen.
A big tech stack like Twitter is built to be resilient and self healing and "normal" bad stuff that happens on a day to day basis with self-heal without a human lifting a finger.
The thing that will impact Twitter is the unexpected stuff. But unexpected is... unpredictable. They could go a year without an unexpected thing happening. Or it could happen tomorrow. We don't know.
The unexpected is when you don't have a runbook available to fix the issue. The unexpected is when you need the senior devs from 5 different teams on a call to work out what the fuck just happened. People who know the history of a system to say "Oh, because of this (incredibly obscure face)" or "Holy shit, what if the DB primary keys have run out due to a runway process writing excessing logs???". And that's just from the Twitter tech side.
AWS goes wrong, it's rare but AWS sometimes goes hilariously wrong. Soo bad you have to shut down your operations in that region and fail over to another region. Maybe you have to rebuild your tech stack in the region when it comes back. Does Twitter have enough engineers who know how to build out a region still? IF they don't it doesn't matter at all until... they have to do it. And that might not happen even once over the next 5 years.
What I am saying is that with the massive headcount cull Twitter's surface where a Black Swan could seriously affect it has greatly increased.
Which is not the same as saying it will definitely fail. Black Swans aren't common, but the range of viable catastrophic Black Swans has increased by an order of magnitude for Muskian Twitter.
My guess is that 4 weeks refers to a specific event and is not just a random time period, and is predicting not a black swan but the World Cup Final. It is predicting that Musk's skeleton crew will not know how to handle extreme traffic peaks when everyone around the globe is tweeting about the same thing at the same time. (Though I've not read the quote in context, and am not a Twitter user, let alone Twitter tech, but I have done this sort of thing in other realms.)
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Do you think they’ll replace him before the GE?
It does not seem likely (sadly) but things are not going well are they? I've got a small bet on Steve Baker - any other suggestions of right wing caretaker figures I'll stick a couple of quid on them too.
None of them have the votes, only Sunak likely does now until the next general election. If the right had the votes amongst Tory MPs Boris would have survived as PM as would Truss.
The best thing for the right anyway is to let Sunak and Hunt take the blame for the likely general election defeat and then take over again in opposition. Steve Barclay is an outside bet
Rubbish. The opposite of what you are spinning is true. The Boris defenestration wasn’t just ideological politics as you claim or he would have survived not been thrown out! He was desperately tainted goods by the end.
Use Guiliss as bellweather, rebel here but one of last to sink knife into Boris.
Kit Malthouse! The dislike of both Sunak and his budget extends to more than a few outspoken headbangers, great swathes of Tory Members and backbench MPs dislike him and the budget - becuase they can’t see how they can go out and campaign on what’s been done this week - all they can expect now is doors slammed in their faces and losing their seats. Do you wish to argue with that?
The answer is very very simple, this is a botched budget because should have been cleverer and more mixed, vat holidays to boost footfall and other growth measures for example paid for by mothballing some infrastructure projects. It was just too flat footed a budget, it just wasn’t agile or imaginative enough.
And Hunt’s had an abysmal day selling it today - where’s the promise to reverse the tax cuts as soon as possible, where’s the promises to boost earnings and household income as soon as over the worst and achieving growth again? Flat footed economics, naff politics and communication.
Eggs, though. Eggs.
Yes Eggs. Thanks for reminding me. That was a huge mistake in this budget not intervening on Milk and Eggs. This will be a terrible own goal for the Tories very soon now.
The best thing about Twitter right now is reading the astoundingly bad takes from people who haven't been within 500 feet of a high volume tech stack who think Twitter is technologically really simple and can't fall over.
I'm enjoying following this one.
I have no idea how twitter works or even what a tech stack really is, but one side is going to look stupid in about 4 weeks.
Twitter could keep going for months, maybe even years with only a handful of devs (seriously, maybe a dozen or so?) there to do really basic level admin maintenance, without anything bad happening to it - I'm talking a staff of a couple of dozen.
A big tech stack like Twitter is built to be resilient and self healing and "normal" bad stuff that happens on a day to day basis with self-heal without a human lifting a finger.
The thing that will impact Twitter is the unexpected stuff. But unexpected is... unpredictable. They could go a year without an unexpected thing happening. Or it could happen tomorrow. We don't know.
The unexpected is when you don't have a runbook available to fix the issue. The unexpected is when you need the senior devs from 5 different teams on a call to work out what the fuck just happened. People who know the history of a system to say "Oh, because of this (incredibly obscure face)" or "Holy shit, what if the DB primary keys have run out due to a runway process writing excessing logs???". And that's just from the Twitter tech side.
AWS goes wrong, it's rare but AWS sometimes goes hilariously wrong. Soo bad you have to shut down your operations in that region and fail over to another region. Maybe you have to rebuild your tech stack in the region when it comes back. Does Twitter have enough engineers who know how to build out a region still? IF they don't it doesn't matter at all until... they have to do it. And that might not happen even once over the next 5 years.
What I am saying is that with the massive headcount cull Twitter's surface where a Black Swan could seriously affect it has greatly increased.
Which is not the same as saying it will definitely fail. Black Swans aren't common, but the range of viable catastrophic Black Swans has increased by an order of magnitude for Muskian Twitter.
My guess is that 4 weeks refers to a specific event and is not just a random time period, and is predicting not a black swan but the World Cup Final. It is predicting that Musk's skeleton crew will not know how to handle extreme traffic peaks when everyone around the globe is tweeting about the same thing at the same time. (Though I've not read the quote in context, and am not a Twitter user, let alone Twitter tech, but I have done this sort of thing in other realms.)
The days when Twitter falls over because someone scores a goal during the World Cup are long gone.
But, if an event happens whilst the WC is on then the difficulty of diagnosing and responding becomes way harder.
Why does anyone need it? Why do Germany require it? France? Etc.
Suspect that lack of borders may be one issue, and various alternative methods are needed, of which ID cards may be one.
There is also the national traditions. Is it relevant that most of these countries have been disassembled and reassembled like jigsaws over the centuries? Does that feed into the culture?
For the UK, I can see more upside than downside, and I don't see the problem people get so passionate about.
The best thing about Twitter right now is reading the astoundingly bad takes from people who haven't been within 500 feet of a high volume tech stack who think Twitter is technologically really simple and can't fall over.
I'm enjoying following this one.
I have no idea how twitter works or even what a tech stack really is, but one side is going to look stupid in about 4 weeks.
Twitter could keep going for months, maybe even years with only a handful of devs (seriously, maybe a dozen or so?) there to do really basic level admin maintenance, without anything bad happening to it - I'm talking a staff of a couple of dozen.
A big tech stack like Twitter is built to be resilient and self healing and "normal" bad stuff that happens on a day to day basis with self-heal without a human lifting a finger.
The thing that will impact Twitter is the unexpected stuff. But unexpected is... unpredictable. They could go a year without an unexpected thing happening. Or it could happen tomorrow. We don't know.
The unexpected is when you don't have a runbook available to fix the issue. The unexpected is when you need the senior devs from 5 different teams on a call to work out what the fuck just happened. People who know the history of a system to say "Oh, because of this (incredibly obscure face)" or "Holy shit, what if the DB primary keys have run out due to a runway process writing excessing logs???". And that's just from the Twitter tech side.
AWS goes wrong, it's rare but AWS sometimes goes hilariously wrong. Soo bad you have to shut down your operations in that region and fail over to another region. Maybe you have to rebuild your tech stack in the region when it comes back. Does Twitter have enough engineers who know how to build out a region still? IF they don't it doesn't matter at all until... they have to do it. And that might not happen even once over the next 5 years.
What I am saying is that with the massive headcount cull Twitter's surface where a Black Swan could seriously affect it has greatly increased.
Which is not the same as saying it will definitely fail. Black Swans aren't common, but the range of viable catastrophic Black Swans has increased by an order of magnitude for Muskian Twitter.
My guess is that 4 weeks refers to a specific event and is not just a random time period, and is predicting not a black swan but the World Cup Final. It is predicting that Musk's skeleton crew will not know how to handle extreme traffic peaks when everyone around the globe is tweeting about the same thing at the same time. (Though I've not read the quote in context, and am not a Twitter user, let alone Twitter tech, but I have done this sort of thing in other realms.)
The days when Twitter falls over because someone scores a goal during the World Cup are long gone.
But, if an event happens whilst the WC is on then the difficulty of diagnosing and responding becomes way harder.
There has been nothing on the scale of the World Cup since the last World Cup, and the final is not just another World Cup game, but yes, you are right they will be praying nothing else happens at the same time.
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Sunak/ Hunt are the best choice for the country at present and doing the right thing to mitigate the damage the hapless Truss bestowed on the country
The next GE is virtually lost but then if it means the loss of many ERG members then I am fine with that
The idea that anyone half sane or intelligent could support the Conservatives after this is mind blowing. It shows how deep run tribal instincts. “What we need is another five years of this” couldn’t be said by anyone paying remote attention.
But it's not necessarily another five years of this. Sunak is clearly very different from both Truss and Johnson, both in style and policy.
Why does anyone need it? Why do Germany require it? France? Etc.
Suspect that lack of borders may be one issue, and various alternative methods are needed, of which ID cards may be one.
There is also the national traditions. Is it relevant that most of these countries have been disassembled and reassembled like jigsaws over the centuries? Does that feed into the culture?
For the UK, I can see more upside than downside, and I don't see the problem people get so passionate about.
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
Seems incredible how long a fraud can keep going when the product doesn't work.
Next up: fusion power generation
Except that actually works.
Plenty of the projects getting funding certainly won't. Some might.
They’ve already demonstrated that fusion power can produce energy. Quite a difference from the Theranos scam.
Edit: Theranos, not Thanos.
It was demonstrated by the first H-bomb 70 years ago that fusion power can produce energy. But nobody has yet worked out how to use fusion energy to run a power station at all, let alone a commercially viable one. Most of what you read about commercial fusion power is somewhere between very wishful thinking and outright scam.
How curious, but good to see. Brown knows his stuff.
Sunak moving to the centre and also gaining an ally in the Independence issue
You are really all in on Sunak aren't you? Wouldn't get too attached.
Sunak/ Hunt are the best choice for the country at present and doing the right thing to mitigate the damage the hapless Truss bestowed on the country
The next GE is virtually lost but then if it means the loss of many ERG members then I am fine with that
The idea that anyone half sane or intelligent could support the Conservatives after this is mind blowing. It shows how deep run tribal instincts. “What we need is another five years of this” couldn’t be said by anyone paying remote attention.
But it's not necessarily another five years of this. Sunak is clearly very different from both Truss and Johnson, both in style and policy.
Very different. They were unpredictable - with both of them there was a chance, a slim chance, that something great would happen. He offers guaranteed, gold-plated, IMF-endorsed, economic demise. He is Dr. Death for the economy.
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
Seems incredible how long a fraud can keep going when the product doesn't work.
Next up: fusion power generation
Except that actually works.
Plenty of the projects getting funding certainly won't. Some might.
They’ve already demonstrated that fusion power can produce energy. Quite a difference from the Theranos scam.
Edit: Theranos, not Thanos.
It was demonstrated by the first H-bomb 70 years ago that fusion power can produce energy. But nobody has yet worked out how to use fusion energy to run a power station at all, let alone a commercially viable one. Most of what you read about commercial fusion power is somewhere between very wishful thinking and outright scam.
They’ve already demonstrated a design that is a net producer of energy, even if only for a brief period. To call it a scam is absurd conspiracy nonsense.
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
Seems incredible how long a fraud can keep going when the product doesn't work.
Next up: fusion power generation
Except that actually works.
Plenty of the projects getting funding certainly won't. Some might.
They’ve already demonstrated that fusion power can produce energy. Quite a difference from the Theranos scam.
Edit: Theranos, not Thanos.
It was demonstrated by the first H-bomb 70 years ago that fusion power can produce energy. But nobody has yet worked out how to use fusion energy to run a power station at all, let alone a commercially viable one. Most of what you read about commercial fusion power is somewhere between very wishful thinking and outright scam.
They’ve already demonstrated a design that is a net producer of energy, even if only for a brief period. To call it a scam is absurd conspiracy nonsense.
That is simply wrong. No fusion device has yet achieved energy breakeven, though JET ( which I once worked on as a young plasma physicist) has come closest. And even that would be miles away from commercial power generation. But feel free to invest if you like.
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
Seems incredible how long a fraud can keep going when the product doesn't work.
Next up: fusion power generation
Except that actually works.
Plenty of the projects getting funding certainly won't. Some might.
They’ve already demonstrated that fusion power can produce energy. Quite a difference from the Theranos scam.
Edit: Theranos, not Thanos.
It was demonstrated by the first H-bomb 70 years ago that fusion power can produce energy. But nobody has yet worked out how to use fusion energy to run a power station at all, let alone a commercially viable one. Most of what you read about commercial fusion power is somewhere between very wishful thinking and outright scam.
They’ve already demonstrated a design that is a net producer of energy, even if only for a brief period. To call it a scam is absurd conspiracy nonsense.
That is simply wrong. No fusion device has yet achieved energy breakeven, though JET ( which I once worked on as a young plasma physicist) has come closest. And even that would be miles away from commercial power generation. But feel free to invest if you like.
What absolute poppycock. Almost all the energy we use comes from fusion, albeit sometimes in a slightly tortuous way.
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
Seems incredible how long a fraud can keep going when the product doesn't work.
Next up: fusion power generation
Except that actually works.
Plenty of the projects getting funding certainly won't. Some might.
They’ve already demonstrated that fusion power can produce energy. Quite a difference from the Theranos scam.
Edit: Theranos, not Thanos.
It was demonstrated by the first H-bomb 70 years ago that fusion power can produce energy. But nobody has yet worked out how to use fusion energy to run a power station at all, let alone a commercially viable one. Most of what you read about commercial fusion power is somewhere between very wishful thinking and outright scam.
Why does anyone need it? Why do Germany require it? France? Etc.
Suspect that lack of borders may be one issue, and various alternative methods are needed, of which ID cards may be one.
There is also the national traditions. Is it relevant that most of these countries have been disassembled and reassembled like jigsaws over the centuries? Does that feed into the culture?
For the UK, I can see more upside than downside, and I don't see the problem people get so passionate about.
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
Seems incredible how long a fraud can keep going when the product doesn't work.
Next up: fusion power generation
Except that actually works.
Plenty of the projects getting funding certainly won't. Some might.
They’ve already demonstrated that fusion power can produce energy. Quite a difference from the Theranos scam.
Edit: Theranos, not Thanos.
It was demonstrated by the first H-bomb 70 years ago that fusion power can produce energy. But nobody has yet worked out how to use fusion energy to run a power station at all, let alone a commercially viable one. Most of what you read about commercial fusion power is somewhere between very wishful thinking and outright scam.
They’ve already demonstrated a design that is a net producer of energy, even if only for a brief period. To call it a scam is absurd conspiracy nonsense.
That is simply wrong. No fusion device has yet achieved energy breakeven, though JET ( which I once worked on as a young plasma physicist) has come closest. And even that would be miles away from commercial power generation. But feel free to invest if you like.
What absolute poppycock. Almost all the energy we use comes from fusion, albeit sometimes in a slightly tortuous way.
I’ve developed a vibrator that runs by harnessing neutrinos from the sun, so it never runs out of power. Am I going to be rich, or just remain very happy? 😇
Frankly this Government’s actions are far more extreme than Jeremy Corbyn promised in 2019. Tax as a proportion of GDP was 32.9 per cent then, and 37 per cent by 2027 is far higher increase than Corbyn ever proposed. Public spending was £884billion in 2019; it will be £1,100billion next year. Inflation was 1.5 per cent in 2019, now it is 11.1 per cent. Some record...
No one is saying that given the mess they have created a recovery strategy is easy. It is not. While unfunded tax cuts are not credible, what would have been credible would have been to pare back spending to pre-pandemic levels in real terms. Taking spending back to 2019 levels is hardly a big ask...
So, what to do? Besides cancelling HS2 and other similar vanity projects, which is an easy win, over £100billion of public spending normalisation should be the simple starter. This merely takes real spending back to the eve of lockdown. Hardly a big ask and something to build on.
This could have funded tax cuts focused on a genuine growth strategy. Reshape the state merely back to 2019 levels and instead of tax rising to 37 per cent of GDP it could have fallen back to 33 per cent. Again, this is very modest: simply the pre-lockdown level and far higher than under even Tony Blair.
I don't normally tag people in posts, but I would urge @Big_G_NorthWales to have a read of this article and realise that Sunak and Hunt are anything but the safe option he seems to believe that they are, and those standing against the statement deserve support, not his bizarre wish to see them replaced by Labour MPs.
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
Seems incredible how long a fraud can keep going when the product doesn't work.
Next up: fusion power generation
Except that actually works.
Plenty of the projects getting funding certainly won't. Some might.
They’ve already demonstrated that fusion power can produce energy. Quite a difference from the Theranos scam.
Edit: Theranos, not Thanos.
It was demonstrated by the first H-bomb 70 years ago that fusion power can produce energy. But nobody has yet worked out how to use fusion energy to run a power station at all, let alone a commercially viable one. Most of what you read about commercial fusion power is somewhere between very wishful thinking and outright scam.
They’ve already demonstrated a design that is a net producer of energy, even if only for a brief period. To call it a scam is absurd conspiracy nonsense.
That is simply wrong. No fusion device has yet achieved energy breakeven, though JET ( which I once worked on as a young plasma physicist) has come closest. And even that would be miles away from commercial power generation. But feel free to invest if you like.
What absolute poppycock. Almost all the energy we use comes from fusion, albeit sometimes in a slightly tortuous way.
I’ve developed a vibrator that runs by harnessing neutrinos from the sun, so it never runs out of power. Am I going to be rich, or just remain very happy? 😇
Frankly this Government’s actions are far more extreme than Jeremy Corbyn promised in 2019. Tax as a proportion of GDP was 32.9 per cent then, and 37 per cent by 2027 is far higher increase than Corbyn ever proposed. Public spending was £884billion in 2019; it will be £1,100billion next year. Inflation was 1.5 per cent in 2019, now it is 11.1 per cent. Some record...
No one is saying that given the mess they have created a recovery strategy is easy. It is not. While unfunded tax cuts are not credible, what would have been credible would have been to pare back spending to pre-pandemic levels in real terms. Taking spending back to 2019 levels is hardly a big ask...
So, what to do? Besides cancelling HS2 and other similar vanity projects, which is an easy win, over £100billion of public spending normalisation should be the simple starter. This merely takes real spending back to the eve of lockdown. Hardly a big ask and something to build on.
This could have funded tax cuts focused on a genuine growth strategy. Reshape the state merely back to 2019 levels and instead of tax rising to 37 per cent of GDP it could have fallen back to 33 per cent. Again, this is very modest: simply the pre-lockdown level and far higher than under even Tony Blair.
I don't normally tag people in posts, but I would urge @Big_G_NorthWales to have a read of this article and realise that Sunak and Hunt are anything but the safe option he seems to believe that they are, and those standing against the statement deserve support, not his bizarre wish to see them replaced by Labour MPs.
37% really isn't that high by historical standards. Was a lot higher under Blair and Brown. And the aging society makes it inevitably go up. Once again we get to the underlying issue of too low a fertility rate.
My wife has just voted in the Malaysia General Election. Polling Stations are open for 12 hours between 0800 and 1800 (so most results will be known by midnight). There were 100 people queuing at 0830 when we got there and it took her an hour to register her vote.
Accepted forms of identification for voters in Malaysia are national identification cards, passports, driving licences and temporary identification documents. (Everyone over the age of 18 is automatically entitled to vote and there is no need to register as in the UK). Voters are required to leave their mobile phones at the presiding officer's table before they head to the marking station to mark their ballots. They then collect their phones as they exit the polling station. (The ban on mobile phones is because it could affect voter secrecy and allow information to be used for bribes).
You are not to wear clothing or bring items with political party symbols or candidates' names and to prevent people from voting more than once, Malaysia requires voters to dip their left index fingers in indelible ink before they receive their voting slips.
The election is expected to be close with the opposition coalition likely to get the most votes but not seats. (That's the way FPTP elections work here). I expect a coalition of the "Blues" to form the next government, just as in the last. Flag manufacturers must have made a fortune in the last month as the roads are festooned with a multitude of coloured banners advertising the parties and candidates. (Local State elections are being held at the same time in many places).
The UC withdrawal rate shouldn't exceed 40% as it smooths entry into work.
The personal allowance shouldn't be far off 20k
The 40p rate should probably kick in about 80k
The 45p rate (if we must have one) about 200k
A true Tory government would be doing this, and ironing out the cliff edges in child benefit withdrawal, voucher withdrawal and personal allowance, withdrawal so work always pays and pays well.
How well did unfunded income tax cuts work last time?
Er, where did I say those should be unfunded?
Of course they should funded. I wouldn't spend as much on pensions and benefits, I'd trim NHS spending (a void) and I would have used political capital to localise public pay for new hires over time. I'd also increase tax on capital so more fell on that and far less on workers.
It's about a vision and objective. This Government has none.
My wife has just voted in the Malaysia General Election. Polling Stations are open for 12 hours between 0800 and 1800 (so most results will be known by midnight). There were 100 people queuing at 0830 when we got there and it took her an hour to register her vote.
Accepted forms of identification for voters in Malaysia are national identification cards, passports, driving licences and temporary identification documents. (Everyone over the age of 18 is automatically entitled to vote and there is no need to register as in the UK). Voters are required to leave their mobile phones at the presiding officer's table before they head to the marking station to mark their ballots. They then collect their phones as they exit the polling station. (The ban on mobile phones is because it could affect voter secrecy and allow information to be used for bribes).
You are not to wear clothing or bring items with political party symbols or candidates' names and to prevent people from voting more than once, Malaysia requires voters to dip their left index fingers in indelible ink before they receive their voting slips.
The election is expected to be close with the opposition coalition likely to get the most votes but not seats. (That's the way FPTP elections work here). I expect a coalition of the "Blues" to form the next government, just as in the last. Flag manufacturers must have made a fortune in the last month as the roads are festooned with a multitude of coloured banners advertising the parties and candidates. (Local State elections are being held at the same time in many places).
What did she think of PN's chances after 'Jewish-Christian conspiracy' diatribe? The anti-semitism in Malaysia never ceases to shock me..
Excellent article on the catastrophic Autumn statement from Conservative Woman.
It's not an excellent article. It's a rabid reactionary right-wing rant.
The thing is, they've got the correct starting point (point 1) but then they disappear off into the kind of antediluvian rabbit hole which has characterised the lost soul of the Far Right in recent times.
A radical, a really radical, rethink is required and burning fossil fuels, which they claim to be the solution to our problems, is not it.
They are like frightened rabbits in the headlights. Bewildered, lost, and about to get run over.
My wife has just voted in the Malaysia General Election. Polling Stations are open for 12 hours between 0800 and 1800 (so most results will be known by midnight). There were 100 people queuing at 0830 when we got there and it took her an hour to register her vote.
Accepted forms of identification for voters in Malaysia are national identification cards, passports, driving licences and temporary identification documents. (Everyone over the age of 18 is automatically entitled to vote and there is no need to register as in the UK). Voters are required to leave their mobile phones at the presiding officer's table before they head to the marking station to mark their ballots. They then collect their phones as they exit the polling station. (The ban on mobile phones is because it could affect voter secrecy and allow information to be used for bribes).
You are not to wear clothing or bring items with political party symbols or candidates' names and to prevent people from voting more than once, Malaysia requires voters to dip their left index fingers in indelible ink before they receive their voting slips.
The election is expected to be close with the opposition coalition likely to get the most votes but not seats. (That's the way FPTP elections work here). I expect a coalition of the "Blues" to form the next government, just as in the last. Flag manufacturers must have made a fortune in the last month as the roads are festooned with a multitude of coloured banners advertising the parties and candidates. (Local State elections are being held at the same time in many places).
Thank you for your detailed report!
When I observed at main offices of King County Elections on our Election Day on Nov 8, one of the rules was that we could NOT bring cell phones into the ballot processing area.
What IS correct about that piece though is the astonishing size of Gov't debt (the initial premise of the piece).
I have to say that even as a leftie I am very uncomfortable at the rates of taxation being levelled on middle income people. The state has swelled to extraordinary levels but so has wastage: unforgivable levels of unaccountable spaffing by the Conservatives: from bounce back loans to croney backroom deals and an abject failure to tax non-doms and international firms, as well as energy companies. Instead hard working individuals are footing the bill for the Conservative Party's profligacy. It's disgusting.
The triple lock is also ridiculous and this is essentially robbing hard working people to save tory seats at the election.
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
Seems incredible how long a fraud can keep going when the product doesn't work.
Next up: fusion power generation
Except that actually works.
Plenty of the projects getting funding certainly won't. Some might.
They’ve already demonstrated that fusion power can produce energy. Quite a difference from the Theranos scam.
Edit: Theranos, not Thanos.
It was demonstrated by the first H-bomb 70 years ago that fusion power can produce energy. But nobody has yet worked out how to use fusion energy to run a power station at all, let alone a commercially viable one. Most of what you read about commercial fusion power is somewhere between very wishful thinking and outright scam.
They’ve already demonstrated a design that is a net producer of energy, even if only for a brief period. To call it a scam is absurd conspiracy nonsense.
That is simply wrong. No fusion device has yet achieved energy breakeven, though JET ( which I once worked on as a young plasma physicist) has come closest. And even that would be miles away from commercial power generation. But feel free to invest if you like.
What absolute poppycock. Almost all the energy we use comes from fusion, albeit sometimes in a slightly tortuous way.
Indeed!! Fusion is the most naturally occurring and essential energy source in the universe.
It also bemuses me when scientists claim something can't be done. It should be taken as the green light to invest because you can be sure when those words are uttered that within years it will be.
My wife has just voted in the Malaysia General Election. Polling Stations are open for 12 hours between 0800 and 1800 (so most results will be known by midnight). There were 100 people queuing at 0830 when we got there and it took her an hour to register her vote.
Accepted forms of identification for voters in Malaysia are national identification cards, passports, driving licences and temporary identification documents. (Everyone over the age of 18 is automatically entitled to vote and there is no need to register as in the UK). Voters are required to leave their mobile phones at the presiding officer's table before they head to the marking station to mark their ballots. They then collect their phones as they exit the polling station. (The ban on mobile phones is because it could affect voter secrecy and allow information to be used for bribes).
You are not to wear clothing or bring items with political party symbols or candidates' names and to prevent people from voting more than once, Malaysia requires voters to dip their left index fingers in indelible ink before they receive their voting slips.
The election is expected to be close with the opposition coalition likely to get the most votes but not seats. (That's the way FPTP elections work here). I expect a coalition of the "Blues" to form the next government, just as in the last. Flag manufacturers must have made a fortune in the last month as the roads are festooned with a multitude of coloured banners advertising the parties and candidates. (Local State elections are being held at the same time in many places).
What did she think of PN's chances after 'Jewish-Christian conspiracy' diatribe? The anti-semitism in Malaysia never ceases to shock me..
The PH MP in our constituency is a Christian with a 40k+ majority. This country's passport states on the very first page that "it is not valid in Israel". It is certainly not possible to fly directly to Israel but people, for religious reasons, visiting there via a third country with a Malaysian passport would have no problems getting in and out. During the election I noted one prominent PN cleric claiming that anyone who voted for BN (the ruling party) or PH (the main opposition) "would go to hell". This country has very strict rules regarding incitement and his words were rapidly withdrawn. Opinion polls have PN on 13% but they will be hoping to get sufficient seats to play a part in the next government.
Frankly this Government’s actions are far more extreme than Jeremy Corbyn promised in 2019. Tax as a proportion of GDP was 32.9 per cent then, and 37 per cent by 2027 is far higher increase than Corbyn ever proposed. Public spending was £884billion in 2019; it will be £1,100billion next year. Inflation was 1.5 per cent in 2019, now it is 11.1 per cent. Some record...
No one is saying that given the mess they have created a recovery strategy is easy. It is not. While unfunded tax cuts are not credible, what would have been credible would have been to pare back spending to pre-pandemic levels in real terms. Taking spending back to 2019 levels is hardly a big ask...
So, what to do? Besides cancelling HS2 and other similar vanity projects, which is an easy win, over £100billion of public spending normalisation should be the simple starter. This merely takes real spending back to the eve of lockdown. Hardly a big ask and something to build on.
This could have funded tax cuts focused on a genuine growth strategy. Reshape the state merely back to 2019 levels and instead of tax rising to 37 per cent of GDP it could have fallen back to 33 per cent. Again, this is very modest: simply the pre-lockdown level and far higher than under even Tony Blair.
I don't normally tag people in posts, but I would urge @Big_G_NorthWales to have a read of this article and realise that Sunak and Hunt are anything but the safe option he seems to believe that they are, and those standing against the statement deserve support, not his bizarre wish to see them replaced by Labour MPs.
Very silly. And pinning the blame in entirely the wrong place - this mess is really (just another part of) Johnson’s toxic legacy, and he is lucky that having the brief interlude of Loopy Liz has distracted from the shambolic state of affairs that he left behind. But however idiotic was Truss’s budget, you can’t create a mess like this in a day.
"Elizabeth Holmes - once one of Silicon Valley’s superstar CEOs - sentenced to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with blood-testing start-up"
Seems incredible how long a fraud can keep going when the product doesn't work.
A form of the sunk-cost fallacy perhaps.
Having read the book on the fraud a few years ago, I think it's slightly more complex than that.
What Holmes/Theranos were promising would have been transformative for healthcare by potentially radically changing medical diagnostics. If I were an angel investor, I might invest in a starshot low-chance endeavour for that reason alone.
Then there is the less altruistic (and more realistic) reason: healthcare is an area in which billions fly about, ready for people to catch. If Homes' tech had worked, it may have been worth a fortune.
From memory of what I read, she operated by impressing each rich investor so much that *they* encouraged others to invest. One of these was Murdoch; to his credit, he did not try to prevent John Carreyrou from publishing the story in the WSJ. It feels slightly odd to credit Murdoch with something...
It's a bit like the fusion-research companies: lots of rich people investing in start-ups which have a very small chance of success, but big rewards if they do. The evil of Theranos was that their sector was healthcare, where incorrect results from the scam could harm customers. The same is not true for fusion in the same way.
Frankly this Government’s actions are far more extreme than Jeremy Corbyn promised in 2019. Tax as a proportion of GDP was 32.9 per cent then, and 37 per cent by 2027 is far higher increase than Corbyn ever proposed. Public spending was £884billion in 2019; it will be £1,100billion next year. Inflation was 1.5 per cent in 2019, now it is 11.1 per cent. Some record...
No one is saying that given the mess they have created a recovery strategy is easy. It is not. While unfunded tax cuts are not credible, what would have been credible would have been to pare back spending to pre-pandemic levels in real terms. Taking spending back to 2019 levels is hardly a big ask...
So, what to do? Besides cancelling HS2 and other similar vanity projects, which is an easy win, over £100billion of public spending normalisation should be the simple starter. This merely takes real spending back to the eve of lockdown. Hardly a big ask and something to build on.
This could have funded tax cuts focused on a genuine growth strategy. Reshape the state merely back to 2019 levels and instead of tax rising to 37 per cent of GDP it could have fallen back to 33 per cent. Again, this is very modest: simply the pre-lockdown level and far higher than under even Tony Blair.
I don't normally tag people in posts, but I would urge @Big_G_NorthWales to have a read of this article and realise that Sunak and Hunt are anything but the safe option he seems to believe that they are, and those standing against the statement deserve support, not his bizarre wish to see them replaced by Labour MPs.
Very silly. And pinning the blame in entirely the wrong place - this mess is really (just another part of) Johnson’s toxic legacy, and he is lucky that having the brief interlude of Loopy Liz has distracted from the shambolic state of affairs that he left behind. But however idiotic was Truss’s budget, you can’t create a mess like this in a day.
Astonishing that after everything anyone in their right mind still thinks they can have their tax cut. But are these people really in their right mind?
Comments
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-63685131
Nadhim Zahawi 😀
Me. Nods
The best thing for the right anyway is to let Sunak and Hunt take the blame for the likely general election defeat and then take over again in opposition. Steve Barclay is an outside bet
But otherwise, yes I agree, though I'd say there is plenty of polarisation globally, albeit not to the same extreme as in USA.
So, odds on then.
Tomorrow's Mirror headline
The next GE is virtually lost but then if it means the loss of many ERG members then I am fine with that
Use Guiliss as bellweather, rebel here but one of last to sink knife into Boris.
Kit Malthouse! The dislike of both Sunak and his budget extends to more than a few outspoken headbangers, great swathes of Tory Members and backbench MPs dislike him and the budget - becuase they can’t see how they can go out and campaign on what’s been done this week - all they can expect now is doors slammed in their faces and losing their seats. Do you wish to argue with that?
The answer is very very simple, this is a botched budget because should have been cleverer and more mixed, vat holidays to boost footfall and other growth measures for example paid for by mothballing some infrastructure projects. It was just too flat footed a budget, it just wasn’t agile or imaginative enough.
And Hunt’s had an abysmal day selling it today - where’s the promise to reverse the tax cuts as soon as possible, where’s the promises to boost earnings and household income as soon as over the worst and achieving growth again? Flat footed economics, naff politics and communication.
The OBR was created by the 2010 by the Conservative-LibDem coalition. It has - and has never had - anything to do with the EU or the Euro.
Though yes can't see Boris returning before the next general election
Tonight the IMF have endorsed the Autumn statement and to be honest for all its faults it has assuaged the markets which was the main requirement
I am relaxed about Starmer and certainly if he slays the ERG then I am fine with that
Forget now going back to the Second World War - IFS are claiming 12 years of Conservative government has given the UK its highest tax take ever since records began. How on earth does the Conservative Party, the Conservative Party, go out and campaign for re-election on that?
Party members, MPs and loyal voters are asking that very question this evening, what answer do you have for them?
The requirement was for a smarter more imaginative budget than this one. The requirement was for better selling of it in keeping with the Conservative brand.
There’s ways of raising money and balancing the books without it being an honest tax raising budget. There’s ways of encouraging footfall and growth without spooking the markets. There’s ways of playing a bad hand well, and ways of selling a bad deal to people. We already know Hunt and Sunak are poor campaigners, we watched them become leadership election losers because of this - but it also means tgey lack imagination, charisma, and the ability to play bad hands well and sell bad deals to people.
Quite rightly they have lost party unity already.
@elonmusk
·
1h
First World Cup match on Sunday! Watch on Twitter for best coverage & real-time commentary.
===
Or not when it all falls over...
But, if an event happens whilst the WC is on then the difficulty of diagnosing and responding becomes way harder.
I’m not even going to grace his claim about commentary with a response.
But a great idea.
Some might.
Edit: Theranos, not Thanos.
https://mobile.twitter.com/wesleysmorgan/status/1593355425004535809
The CIA's in-house journal apparently reviewed "Sicario."
They kind of liked it—it's "beautifully filmed and well acted"—but have some tactical quibbles about how that cross-border tunnel operation at the end was run https://cia.gov/resources/csi/studies-in-intelligence/volume-60-no-2/sicario/
(Actually there was briefly a craze at school about 2 years ago - my kid made a bunch of cash selling photos - but I just wanted to be bitchy)
https://www.computable.be/artikel/nieuws/zorg/7298125/5440850/hoe-theranos-oprichtster-holmes-haar-hand-overspeelde.html
Not really my type but I can see it appealing to has been politicians
"Should England fans support Iran?
Their football team has the power to topple a regime
BY DAVID PATRIKARAKOS"
https://unherd.com/2022/11/should-england-fans-support-iran/
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/this-is-the-greatest-crisis-of-our-lives-hunts-budget-makes-it-worse/
Some highlights.
Frankly this Government’s actions are far more extreme than Jeremy Corbyn promised in 2019. Tax as a proportion of GDP was 32.9 per cent then, and 37 per cent by 2027 is far higher increase than Corbyn ever proposed. Public spending was £884billion in 2019; it will be £1,100billion next year. Inflation was 1.5 per cent in 2019, now it is 11.1 per cent. Some record...
No one is saying that given the mess they have created a recovery strategy is easy. It is not. While unfunded tax cuts are not credible, what would have been credible would have been to pare back spending to pre-pandemic levels in real terms. Taking spending back to 2019 levels is hardly a big ask...
So, what to do? Besides cancelling HS2 and other similar vanity projects, which is an easy win, over £100billion of public spending normalisation should be the simple starter. This merely takes real spending back to the eve of lockdown. Hardly a big ask and something to build on.
This could have funded tax cuts focused on a genuine growth strategy. Reshape the state merely back to 2019 levels and instead of tax rising to 37 per cent of GDP it could have fallen back to 33 per cent. Again, this is very modest: simply the pre-lockdown level and far higher than under even Tony Blair.
I don't normally tag people in posts, but I would urge @Big_G_NorthWales to have a read of this article and realise that Sunak and Hunt are anything but the safe option he seems to believe that they are, and those standing against the statement deserve support, not his bizarre wish to see them replaced by Labour MPs.
Accepted forms of identification for voters in Malaysia are national identification cards, passports, driving licences and temporary identification documents. (Everyone over the age of 18 is automatically entitled to vote and there is no need to register as in the UK). Voters are required to leave their mobile phones at the presiding officer's table before they head to the marking station to mark their ballots. They then collect their phones as they exit the polling station. (The ban on mobile phones is because it could affect voter secrecy and allow information to be used for bribes).
You are not to wear clothing or bring items with political party symbols or candidates' names and to prevent people from voting more than once, Malaysia requires voters to dip their left index fingers in indelible ink before they receive their voting slips.
The election is expected to be close with the opposition coalition likely to get the most votes but not seats. (That's the way FPTP elections work here). I expect a coalition of the "Blues" to form the next government, just as in the last. Flag manufacturers must have made a fortune in the last month as the roads are festooned with a multitude of coloured banners advertising the parties and candidates. (Local State elections are being held at the same time in many places).
Not all of them knew my views so in many cases Labour voters will have kissed a Tory and been blithely unaware of it.
Of course they should funded. I wouldn't spend as much on pensions and benefits, I'd trim NHS spending (a void) and I would have used political capital to localise public pay for new hires over time. I'd also increase tax on capital so more fell on that and far less on workers.
It's about a vision and objective. This Government has none.
The thing is, they've got the correct starting point (point 1) but then they disappear off into the kind of antediluvian rabbit hole which has characterised the lost soul of the Far Right in recent times.
A radical, a really radical, rethink is required and burning fossil fuels, which they claim to be the solution to our problems, is not it.
They are like frightened rabbits in the headlights. Bewildered, lost, and about to get run over.
When I observed at main offices of King County Elections on our Election Day on Nov 8, one of the rules was that we could NOT bring cell phones into the ballot processing area.
I have to say that even as a leftie I am very uncomfortable at the rates of taxation being levelled on middle income people. The state has swelled to extraordinary levels but so has wastage: unforgivable levels of unaccountable spaffing by the Conservatives: from bounce back loans to croney backroom deals and an abject failure to tax non-doms and international firms, as well as energy companies. Instead hard working individuals are footing the bill for the Conservative Party's profligacy. It's disgusting.
The triple lock is also ridiculous and this is essentially robbing hard working people to save tory seats at the election.
It also bemuses me when scientists claim something can't be done. It should be taken as the green light to invest because you can be sure when those words are uttered that within years it will be.
What Holmes/Theranos were promising would have been transformative for healthcare by potentially radically changing medical diagnostics. If I were an angel investor, I might invest in a starshot low-chance endeavour for that reason alone.
Then there is the less altruistic (and more realistic) reason: healthcare is an area in which billions fly about, ready for people to catch. If Homes' tech had worked, it may have been worth a fortune.
From memory of what I read, she operated by impressing each rich investor so much that *they* encouraged others to invest. One of these was Murdoch; to his credit, he did not try to prevent John Carreyrou from publishing the story in the WSJ. It feels slightly odd to credit Murdoch with something...
It's a bit like the fusion-research companies: lots of rich people investing in start-ups which have a very small chance of success, but big rewards if they do. The evil of Theranos was that their sector was healthcare, where incorrect results from the scam could harm customers. The same is not true for fusion in the same way.