Pitched Out – politicalbetting.com
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Excluding don't knows, an approval rating of -21% suggests around 40% of women have a positive view of him.Nigelb said:Unsurprising.
Net Approval of Elon Musk:
All: -9%
Men: +6%
Women: -21%
Marist / Jan 9, 2025 / n=1387
https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/1879618399095177704
I mean - why?0 -
As I remember - the people who sent the B ark off into space were wiped out themselves due to a bug picked up from a phone which hadn't been sanitised recently. The head of the B-Ark at least got a warm bath.bondegezou said:
No-one ever thinks they'd be on the B ark, yet...ohnotnow said:
None of this worked out well for the Golgafrinchan's.Pagan2 said:
We probably dont need the quango at all if its just full of useless tossers as most areohnotnow said:
"We're gonna need a bigger quango."Pagan2 said:
Personally I prefer people to be competent for the job and if not they are better off not being in the job as they are actually worse than uselessohnotnow said:
We can't just go about sacking people just for being useless. Then they might notice that the people doing the sacking were also useless. And there aren't enough quango seats to go round.Pagan2 said:
It is the replacement for the old lords etc always being given good jobs by their peersohnotnow said:
So.... same old, same old? But what is 'nu10k'? Is it different in some way?Pagan2 said:
The nu10k are those that fail mightily but seem to still fail upwards and get bigger and better jobs after failing. Cressida Dick was an exampleohnotnow said:
Do I want to know what 'nu10k' is? It means nothing to me.Pagan2 said:
Its amazing that despite all the examples that keep coming to light there is still a denial that the nu10k is a mythMalmesbury said:
Yes, we mustkinabalu said:
Ok, Malmesbury, "NU10K" if we must.Malmesbury said:
NU10K - Divine Right To Rule for the 21st century.kinabalu said:That sounds pathetic. I think one problem is that many of these figurehead types whose main role is to "chair" things have exactly that skill and no other. They look the part, have a bit of a presence and a voice that carries, have a general but not special intelligence, have mastered smooth professional-speak, and they have connections because they are good at networking. Then it snowballs for them, you get one gig, appear to be just the ticket, you get another etc. And so long as nothing goes seriously and publicly wrong, all is fine. When it does, as the Header says, that is when you find out what they're made of and quite often it's nothing much.
The stereotype recurs, unfailingly.
We need to label them. Ridicule them. Scapegoat them. Until they are a byword for the shameful incompetence they so adore.0 -
Yeah, it's the latest term for "non-white" we need to be caught up with.Taz said:Global Majority is a new one on me. Has this replaced BAME now ? I do find it hard to keep up with these ever changing terms. Who’d be an HR professional these days ?
https://x.com/labbeyondcities/status/1879550940866609294?s=61
I note that it looks like they can't even distinguish between "formerly" and "formally"...0 -
Talking fictional bollocks here, cite me a country who had their population wiped out due to a lack of telephone sanitisers in the real world or say I am talking total bollocks...whats that I hear "you are talking bollocks?"bondegezou said:
No-one ever thinks they'd be on the B ark, yet...ohnotnow said:
None of this worked out well for the Golgafrinchan's.Pagan2 said:
We probably dont need the quango at all if its just full of useless tossers as most areohnotnow said:
"We're gonna need a bigger quango."Pagan2 said:
Personally I prefer people to be competent for the job and if not they are better off not being in the job as they are actually worse than uselessohnotnow said:
We can't just go about sacking people just for being useless. Then they might notice that the people doing the sacking were also useless. And there aren't enough quango seats to go round.Pagan2 said:
It is the replacement for the old lords etc always being given good jobs by their peersohnotnow said:
So.... same old, same old? But what is 'nu10k'? Is it different in some way?Pagan2 said:
The nu10k are those that fail mightily but seem to still fail upwards and get bigger and better jobs after failing. Cressida Dick was an exampleohnotnow said:
Do I want to know what 'nu10k' is? It means nothing to me.Pagan2 said:
Its amazing that despite all the examples that keep coming to light there is still a denial that the nu10k is a mythMalmesbury said:
Yes, we mustkinabalu said:
Ok, Malmesbury, "NU10K" if we must.Malmesbury said:
NU10K - Divine Right To Rule for the 21st century.kinabalu said:That sounds pathetic. I think one problem is that many of these figurehead types whose main role is to "chair" things have exactly that skill and no other. They look the part, have a bit of a presence and a voice that carries, have a general but not special intelligence, have mastered smooth professional-speak, and they have connections because they are good at networking. Then it snowballs for them, you get one gig, appear to be just the ticket, you get another etc. And so long as nothing goes seriously and publicly wrong, all is fine. When it does, as the Header says, that is when you find out what they're made of and quite often it's nothing much.
The stereotype recurs, unfailingly.
We need to label them. Ridicule them. Scapegoat them. Until they are a byword for the shameful incompetence they so adore.
0 -
If everyone stops mining the coins as the cost of mining exceeds the value of the coin, and it gets used as a currency, then who is keeping up the blockchain given there's no mining anymore?bondegezou said:
In theory, you don't need to keep generating new Bitcoin. You can just stop and use your existing Bitcoin. That's meant to be a design feature, not a flaw.viewcode said:
There is a practically infinite supply of suckers so that's not a problem. However crypto currencies require more and more electricity to solve as the problem gets harder and harder (this is one of the reasons why I think the boom-to-bust cycle is accelerating) and there will eventually reach a point where the cost of electricity to mine 1BTC costs you 1BTC, so there's no point. You can start it again with a new cryptocurrency tho, and round and round we go again.Taz said:
Don’t disagree with any of that. I expect one day they will run out of suckers/punters and then gravity will take effect.BartholomewRoberts said:
It may double in value and keep doubling in value for the next 16 years like that, still won't be anything real underpinning it.Taz said:
The guy who runs the local craft beer bar is a real crypto evangelist who believes it will double every 4 years.Omnium said:
I'm sitting on hands that I've firmly nailed to the chair as far as crypto investment is concerned. I really do intend to never have anything to do with it. I am interested in what its rise or demise might do to other things though. @rcs1000 often has an interesting take on these things. Hence the question.viewcode said:
The crypto bubble always bursts. I think @rcs1000 knows more about this than I do, but bitcoin has burst several times since 2010. The point to get in is just after a bust. I did a brief Excel some years ago plotting it on (I think) a logarithmic scale, and IIRC it comes out as a sawtooth. So boom-bust, boom-bust, with the times between busts getting gradually smaller.Omnium said:
What are your thoughts as to what actually might happen if the whole crypto bubble bursts?rcs1000 said:They say no one ever rings a bell at the top of the market.
I'm not so sure.
I can't decide if it's just bad for everything, or if there'll be a rush for safer things - investing in ice sculptures perhaps?
If you know where we are in this cycle, I would be grateful...
I’m not convinced. It doesn’t pay you anything has no store of value. You’re just reliant on more and more people buying it especially Microstrategy. God knows where that would end.
I prefer conventional investments and businesses or funds I can understand what the value is in them and what they return.
There's a myth that's equivalent to gold but gold is real - while much of the value of gold is because its being used as a store of value, it still has incredibly important value even without that including not just jewellery which everyone thinks about but electronics, manufacturing and much of our modern world.
Crypto has no such real value behind it. Simply disliking "fiat" isn't a value in and of itself.
But again we stray outside my area of competence: perhaps @rcs1000 or other of PB Brains Trust can answer with more certainty and less viewcode bulls**t.
That's predicated on the idea that you use Bitcoin as a currency, rather than as an investment. However, Bitcoin doesn't even function as a currency these days. It takes far too long to compute transactions, as well as course as Bitcoin being insufficiently stable in value for it to have much use for day-to-day transactions.
It doesn't function properly as a currency.0 -
They say that if you are “racialised” as a minority then you’re in, but designating white people as a global minority does just that, so the category is incoherent.Driver said:
Yeah, it's the latest term for "non-white" we need to be caught up with.Taz said:Global Majority is a new one on me. Has this replaced BAME now ? I do find it hard to keep up with these ever changing terms. Who’d be an HR professional these days ?
https://x.com/labbeyondcities/status/1879550940866609294?s=61
I note that it looks like they can't even distinguish between "formerly" and "formally"...1 -
They've never met him?ydoethur said:
Excluding don't knows, an approval rating of -21% suggests around 40% of women have a positive view of him.Nigelb said:Unsurprising.
Net Approval of Elon Musk:
All: -9%
Men: +6%
Women: -21%
Marist / Jan 9, 2025 / n=1387
https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/1879618399095177704
I mean - why?3 -
I still have half a Bitcoin I bought for less than a tenner.ohnotnow said:
A friend of mine bought a load of bitcoin back when it was an oh-so-laughable light-relief section in the news. "Man buys pizza with new-fangled 'bit coin' (LOL)!" era.viewcode said:
The crypto bubble always bursts. I think @rcs1000 knows more about this than I do, but bitcoin has burst several times since 2010. The point to get in is just after a bust. I did a brief Excel some years ago plotting it on (I think) a logarithmic scale, and IIRC it comes out as a sawtooth. So boom-bust, boom-bust, with the times between busts getting gradually smaller.Omnium said:
What are your thoughts as to what actually might happen if the whole crypto bubble bursts?rcs1000 said:They say no one ever rings a bell at the top of the market.
I'm not so sure.
I can't decide if it's just bad for everything, or if there'll be a rush for safer things - investing in ice sculptures perhaps?
If you know where we are in this cycle, I would be grateful...
He now spends his time sailing around luxurious islands in a luxurious yacht.5 -
So, as I understand it, miners would still earn transaction fees, even once every possible coin has been mined. Therefore it works.BartholomewRoberts said:
If everyone stops mining the coins as the cost of mining exceeds the value of the coin, and it gets used as a currency, then who is keeping up the blockchain given there's no mining anymore?bondegezou said:
In theory, you don't need to keep generating new Bitcoin. You can just stop and use your existing Bitcoin. That's meant to be a design feature, not a flaw.viewcode said:
There is a practically infinite supply of suckers so that's not a problem. However crypto currencies require more and more electricity to solve as the problem gets harder and harder (this is one of the reasons why I think the boom-to-bust cycle is accelerating) and there will eventually reach a point where the cost of electricity to mine 1BTC costs you 1BTC, so there's no point. You can start it again with a new cryptocurrency tho, and round and round we go again.Taz said:
Don’t disagree with any of that. I expect one day they will run out of suckers/punters and then gravity will take effect.BartholomewRoberts said:
It may double in value and keep doubling in value for the next 16 years like that, still won't be anything real underpinning it.Taz said:
The guy who runs the local craft beer bar is a real crypto evangelist who believes it will double every 4 years.Omnium said:
I'm sitting on hands that I've firmly nailed to the chair as far as crypto investment is concerned. I really do intend to never have anything to do with it. I am interested in what its rise or demise might do to other things though. @rcs1000 often has an interesting take on these things. Hence the question.viewcode said:
The crypto bubble always bursts. I think @rcs1000 knows more about this than I do, but bitcoin has burst several times since 2010. The point to get in is just after a bust. I did a brief Excel some years ago plotting it on (I think) a logarithmic scale, and IIRC it comes out as a sawtooth. So boom-bust, boom-bust, with the times between busts getting gradually smaller.Omnium said:
What are your thoughts as to what actually might happen if the whole crypto bubble bursts?rcs1000 said:They say no one ever rings a bell at the top of the market.
I'm not so sure.
I can't decide if it's just bad for everything, or if there'll be a rush for safer things - investing in ice sculptures perhaps?
If you know where we are in this cycle, I would be grateful...
I’m not convinced. It doesn’t pay you anything has no store of value. You’re just reliant on more and more people buying it especially Microstrategy. God knows where that would end.
I prefer conventional investments and businesses or funds I can understand what the value is in them and what they return.
There's a myth that's equivalent to gold but gold is real - while much of the value of gold is because its being used as a store of value, it still has incredibly important value even without that including not just jewellery which everyone thinks about but electronics, manufacturing and much of our modern world.
Crypto has no such real value behind it. Simply disliking "fiat" isn't a value in and of itself.
But again we stray outside my area of competence: perhaps @rcs1000 or other of PB Brains Trust can answer with more certainty and less viewcode bulls**t.
That's predicated on the idea that you use Bitcoin as a currency, rather than as an investment. However, Bitcoin doesn't even function as a currency these days. It takes far too long to compute transactions, as well as course as Bitcoin being insufficiently stable in value for it to have much use for day-to-day transactions.
It doesn't function properly as a currency.
I'm not defending any of this. No, it doesn't function as a currency. Just trying to explain how Bitcoiners say it works.0 -
I don't think that follows.ydoethur said:
Excluding don't knows, an approval rating of -21% suggests around 40% of women have a positive view of him.Nigelb said:Unsurprising.
Net Approval of Elon Musk:
All: -9%
Men: +6%
Women: -21%
Marist / Jan 9, 2025 / n=1387
https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/1879618399095177704
I mean - why?
If 79% said don't know and 21% said bad, then that would be net approval of minus 21%.1 -
Maths was never my long suit, but I would like to see the full figures.rkrkrk said:
I don't think that follows.ydoethur said:
Excluding don't knows, an approval rating of -21% suggests around 40% of women have a positive view of him.Nigelb said:Unsurprising.
Net Approval of Elon Musk:
All: -9%
Men: +6%
Women: -21%
Marist / Jan 9, 2025 / n=1387
https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/1879618399095177704
I mean - why?
If 79% said don't know and 21% said bad, then that would be net approval of minus 21%.0 -
"So, welcome to the new era. Welcome to the Trump era. Could it prove merely a four year interlude before a brighter future? It seems unlikely. After all, we as a country experienced Trump before and chose him again."
"Decline is a choice, Charles Krauthammer wrote. Watching the Hegseth hearing, I couldn’t help but think that, for now at least, we have chosen it."
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/we-had-a-good-50-year-run-folks?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium==&utm_campaign=s0 -
Paul Daniels syndrome.ydoethur said:
Excluding don't knows, an approval rating of -21% suggests around 40% of women have a positive view of him.Nigelb said:Unsurprising.
Net Approval of Elon Musk:
All: -9%
Men: +6%
Women: -21%
Marist / Jan 9, 2025 / n=1387
https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/1879618399095177704
I mean - why?
"What was it about the richest man in the world that..."1 -
I just assumed NU10K was a new exercise regime or protein shake.5
-
Well, when the end times come, we will need a source for Soylent Green.solarflare said:I just assumed NU10K was a new exercise regime or protein shake.
0 -
I don’t agree with Krauthammer. Nations don’t choose to decline, rather they choose not to embrace policies and ideas which would arrest that decline because they are fearful both of the consequences at an individual and societal level as well as of the nation which would come out the other side.rottenborough said:"So, welcome to the new era. Welcome to the Trump era. Could it prove merely a four year interlude before a brighter future? It seems unlikely. After all, we as a country experienced Trump before and chose him again."
"Decline is a choice, Charles Krauthammer wrote. Watching the Hegseth hearing, I couldn’t help but think that, for now at least, we have chosen it."
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/we-had-a-good-50-year-run-folks?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium==&utm_campaign=s
The second part of this is “fairness” - the Truss/Kwarteng solution failed that test because, as it appeared, very wealthy people were going to get richer while poorer people weren’t and you can’t sell trickledown like you could in the late 70s and early 80s.1 -
It's also a horrible misuse of the word 'majority'. Technically true, but anyone can be part of a gloval majority - I for oneDriver said:
Yeah, it's the latest term for "non-white" we need to be caught up with.Taz said:Global Majority is a new one on me. Has this replaced BAME now ? I do find it hard to keep up with these ever changing terms. Who’d be an HR professional these days ?
https://x.com/labbeyondcities/status/1879550940866609294?s=61
I note that it looks like they can't even distinguish between "formerly" and "formally"...
lam part of the global majority who is not Native American.
But then most of the previous terms were equally annoying. Why did 'minority ethnic' replace 'ethnic minority'? And why did the tautologous 'Black and Minority Ethnic' become fashionable? And don't get me started on the patronising and syntactically horrible 'People of Colour'.3 -
...
4 -
@Cyclefree When is your book coming out, and what is it's title? I want to buy a copy1
-
The U.S. has definitely made its mind up on immigration...
https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/1879615979220807808
0 -
That one is particularly annoying. Not least because we are not allowed to say 'Coloured People' because apparently it's racist. Yet the two are identical. So I never say 'People of Colour' either as that must be racist too.Cookie said:
It's also a horrible misuse of the word 'majority'. Technically true, but anyone can be part of a gloval majority - I for oneDriver said:
Yeah, it's the latest term for "non-white" we need to be caught up with.Taz said:Global Majority is a new one on me. Has this replaced BAME now ? I do find it hard to keep up with these ever changing terms. Who’d be an HR professional these days ?
https://x.com/labbeyondcities/status/1879550940866609294?s=61
I note that it looks like they can't even distinguish between "formerly" and "formally"...
lam part of the global majority who is not Native American.
But then most of the previous terms were equally annoying. Why did 'minority ethnic' replace 'ethnic minority'? And why did the tautologous 'Black and Minority Ethnic' become fashionable? And don't get me started on the patronising and syntactically horrible 'People of Colour'.
I wouldn't say Coloured for non-white anyway as for me it means specifically mixed race, not people who are not white, and that is how one of my daughters identifies (like her Coloured South African mother).
(As an aside, I remember being taught at primary school in the 1970s that we should never refer to someone as black, as that was rude as they might not be 100% black, but should say 'coloured').1 -
Man trying to be stupider than David Lammy:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/15/humza-yousaf-david-lammy-racism-israel-gaza-hostages/0 -
These days it's (laughably) "Black" with a capital B.PJH said:
That one is particularly annoying. Not least because we are not allowed to say 'Coloured People' because apparently it's racist. Yet the two are identical. So I never say 'People of Colour' either as that must be racist too.Cookie said:
It's also a horrible misuse of the word 'majority'. Technically true, but anyone can be part of a gloval majority - I for oneDriver said:
Yeah, it's the latest term for "non-white" we need to be caught up with.Taz said:Global Majority is a new one on me. Has this replaced BAME now ? I do find it hard to keep up with these ever changing terms. Who’d be an HR professional these days ?
https://x.com/labbeyondcities/status/1879550940866609294?s=61
I note that it looks like they can't even distinguish between "formerly" and "formally"...
lam part of the global majority who is not Native American.
But then most of the previous terms were equally annoying. Why did 'minority ethnic' replace 'ethnic minority'? And why did the tautologous 'Black and Minority Ethnic' become fashionable? And don't get me started on the patronising and syntactically horrible 'People of Colour'.
I wouldn't say Coloured for non-white anyway as for me it means specifically mixed race, not people who are not white, and that is how one of my daughters identifies (like her Coloured South African mother).
(As an aside, I remember being taught at primary school in the 1970s that we should never refer to someone as black, as that was rude as they might not be 100% black, but should say 'coloured').0 -
Japan syndrome. Perhaps the rich countries of the world are entering national retirement, and are content with that.Scott_xP said:...
Some are better endowed than others, with bigger national savings. Some countries get to dine out more and treat themselves to world cruises while others are happy with an annual caravan holiday. None expects deep down to be at the peak of their earnings anymore.
Over the next 50 years they will slowly age, and physically decline. Their populations will shrink. They will become the national manifestation of the little old lady. Eventually they’ll shuffle off to Dignitas. Only a few will rage against the dying of the light.
1 -
This comment captures the zeitgeist of the left following Trump’s peace deal:
https://x.com/seanmccarthycom/status/1879604094647853382
I apologize to all the racists. You were right Donald Trump was the lesser evil0 -
What happens if it does? I assume people will keep mining on the belief that it will rise, but that is very risky: you end up spending more and more to achieve less and less. Are other or new cryptocurrencies experiencing the same problem? How does one create a new cryptocurrency? If I wanted to start a new cryptocurrency "VTC", how would I do it?rcs1000 said:
The cost to mine 1 BTC already approaches 1 BTC.viewcode said:
There is a practically infinite supply of suckers so that's not a problem. However crypto currencies require more and more electricity to solve as the problem gets harder and harder (this is one of the reasons why I think the boom-to-bust cycle is accelerating) and there will eventually reach a point where the cost of electricity to mine 1BTC costs you 1BTC, so there's no point. You can start it again with a new cryptocurrency tho, and round and round we go again.Taz said:
Don’t disagree with any of that. I expect one day they will run out of suckers/punters and then gravity will take effect.BartholomewRoberts said:
It may double in value and keep doubling in value for the next 16 years like that, still won't be anything real underpinning it.Taz said:
The guy who runs the local craft beer bar is a real crypto evangelist who believes it will double every 4 years.Omnium said:
I'm sitting on hands that I've firmly nailed to the chair as far as crypto investment is concerned. I really do intend to never have anything to do with it. I am interested in what its rise or demise might do to other things though. @rcs1000 often has an interesting take on these things. Hence the question.viewcode said:
The crypto bubble always bursts. I think @rcs1000 knows more about this than I do, but bitcoin has burst several times since 2010. The point to get in is just after a bust. I did a brief Excel some years ago plotting it on (I think) a logarithmic scale, and IIRC it comes out as a sawtooth. So boom-bust, boom-bust, with the times between busts getting gradually smaller.Omnium said:
What are your thoughts as to what actually might happen if the whole crypto bubble bursts?rcs1000 said:They say no one ever rings a bell at the top of the market.
I'm not so sure.
I can't decide if it's just bad for everything, or if there'll be a rush for safer things - investing in ice sculptures perhaps?
If you know where we are in this cycle, I would be grateful...
I’m not convinced. It doesn’t pay you anything has no store of value. You’re just reliant on more and more people buying it especially Microstrategy. God knows where that would end.
I prefer conventional investments and businesses or funds I can understand what the value is in them and what they return.
There's a myth that's equivalent to gold but gold is real - while much of the value of gold is because its being used as a store of value, it still has incredibly important value even without that including not just jewellery which everyone thinks about but electronics, manufacturing and much of our modern world.
Crypto has no such real value behind it. Simply disliking "fiat" isn't a value in and of itself.
But again we stray outside my area of competence: perhaps @rcs1000 or other of PB Brains Trust can answer with more certainty and less viewcode bulls**t.0 -
No!Nigelb said:
Paul Daniels syndrome.ydoethur said:
Excluding don't knows, an approval rating of -21% suggests around 40% of women have a positive view of him.Nigelb said:Unsurprising.
Net Approval of Elon Musk:
All: -9%
Men: +6%
Women: -21%
Marist / Jan 9, 2025 / n=1387
https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/1879618399095177704
I mean - why?
"What was it about the richest man in the world that..."
"What first attracted you to the millionaire...?"1 -
Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.1 -
One of my customers is about to announce an end to all existing customer discount programmes, citing the NI rise.another_richard said:Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.0 -
They are bringing Eldorado back. ⁉️
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tv/article-14284133/Classic-BBC-soap-31-years-eldorado.html0 -
Well, there's going to be some HUGE drama when they end up with 100% property taxes...viewcode said:They are bringing Eldorado back. ⁉️
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tv/article-14284133/Classic-BBC-soap-31-years-eldorado.html2 -
Shall we just say that isn’t the greatest idea - any customer price conscious enough to use a discount scheme is likely to be migrate to a competitor if they think it’s going to be cheaperDriver said:
One of my customers is about to announce an end to all existing customer discount programmes, citing the NI rise.another_richard said:Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.0 -
As a repeat. There's loads of that kind of thing repurposed as cheap filler. Apparently there really are people who want to watch 20+ year old episodes of Eastenders.viewcode said:They are bringing Eldorado back. ⁉️
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tv/article-14284133/Classic-BBC-soap-31-years-eldorado.html1 -
All to play for in getting that 1% on your side....Nigelb said:The U.S. has definitely made its mind up on immigration...
https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/18796159792208078080 -
...and is now worth about £40,000 😞rcs1000 said:
I still have half a Bitcoin I bought for less than a tenner.ohnotnow said:
A friend of mine bought a load of bitcoin back when it was an oh-so-laughable light-relief section in the news. "Man buys pizza with new-fangled 'bit coin' (LOL)!" era.viewcode said:
The crypto bubble always bursts. I think @rcs1000 knows more about this than I do, but bitcoin has burst several times since 2010. The point to get in is just after a bust. I did a brief Excel some years ago plotting it on (I think) a logarithmic scale, and IIRC it comes out as a sawtooth. So boom-bust, boom-bust, with the times between busts getting gradually smaller.Omnium said:
What are your thoughts as to what actually might happen if the whole crypto bubble bursts?rcs1000 said:They say no one ever rings a bell at the top of the market.
I'm not so sure.
I can't decide if it's just bad for everything, or if there'll be a rush for safer things - investing in ice sculptures perhaps?
If you know where we are in this cycle, I would be grateful...
He now spends his time sailing around luxurious islands in a luxurious yacht.0 -
I would have thought that amount of Mining would reflect the potential expected profit - so if prices are rising people will mine were prices to fall that’s when people will slowly stopviewcode said:
What happens if it does? I assume people will keep mining on the belief that it will rise, but that is very risky: you end up spending more and more to achieve less and less. Are other or new cryptocurrencies experiencing the same problem? How does one create a new cryptocurrency? If I wanted to start a new cryptocurrency "VTC", how would I do it?rcs1000 said:
The cost to mine 1 BTC already approaches 1 BTC.viewcode said:
There is a practically infinite supply of suckers so that's not a problem. However crypto currencies require more and more electricity to solve as the problem gets harder and harder (this is one of the reasons why I think the boom-to-bust cycle is accelerating) and there will eventually reach a point where the cost of electricity to mine 1BTC costs you 1BTC, so there's no point. You can start it again with a new cryptocurrency tho, and round and round we go again.Taz said:
Don’t disagree with any of that. I expect one day they will run out of suckers/punters and then gravity will take effect.BartholomewRoberts said:
It may double in value and keep doubling in value for the next 16 years like that, still won't be anything real underpinning it.Taz said:
The guy who runs the local craft beer bar is a real crypto evangelist who believes it will double every 4 years.Omnium said:
I'm sitting on hands that I've firmly nailed to the chair as far as crypto investment is concerned. I really do intend to never have anything to do with it. I am interested in what its rise or demise might do to other things though. @rcs1000 often has an interesting take on these things. Hence the question.viewcode said:
The crypto bubble always bursts. I think @rcs1000 knows more about this than I do, but bitcoin has burst several times since 2010. The point to get in is just after a bust. I did a brief Excel some years ago plotting it on (I think) a logarithmic scale, and IIRC it comes out as a sawtooth. So boom-bust, boom-bust, with the times between busts getting gradually smaller.Omnium said:
What are your thoughts as to what actually might happen if the whole crypto bubble bursts?rcs1000 said:They say no one ever rings a bell at the top of the market.
I'm not so sure.
I can't decide if it's just bad for everything, or if there'll be a rush for safer things - investing in ice sculptures perhaps?
If you know where we are in this cycle, I would be grateful...
I’m not convinced. It doesn’t pay you anything has no store of value. You’re just reliant on more and more people buying it especially Microstrategy. God knows where that would end.
I prefer conventional investments and businesses or funds I can understand what the value is in them and what they return.
There's a myth that's equivalent to gold but gold is real - while much of the value of gold is because its being used as a store of value, it still has incredibly important value even without that including not just jewellery which everyone thinks about but electronics, manufacturing and much of our modern world.
Crypto has no such real value behind it. Simply disliking "fiat" isn't a value in and of itself.
But again we stray outside my area of competence: perhaps @rcs1000 or other of PB Brains Trust can answer with more certainty and less viewcode bulls**t.0 -
Probably not, but it's interesting that they're citing it explicitly.eek said:
Shall we just say that isn’t the greatest idea - any customer price conscious enough to use a discount scheme is likely to be migrate to a competitor if they think it’s going to be cheaperDriver said:
One of my customers is about to announce an end to all existing customer discount programmes, citing the NI rise.another_richard said:Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.0 -
Asset values have fallen so many times in the last decade and a half that I’m surprised anyone gets excited about it anymore.another_richard said:Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.
They slumped during the financial crisis, then recovered then slumped again in the Eurozone crisis and stayed slumped for ages, then crept up, slumped every time the Fed threatened to reduce QE, slumped with the Brexit vote, then crept up again, slumped with Covid, recovered, slumped when Russia invaded.
All the while annuity rates went through the floor and stayed there for years, until they finally rose again with the recent inflation. Pension funds have been in surplus for the first time in yonks.2 -
https://x.com/channel4news/status/1879617959917715903
"I think [Starmer] came into politics to become Attorney General and he's an accidental... prime minister."
@GaryGibbonC4 tells @mattfrei that Sir Keir Starmer does not have a "big idea" driving his politics.0 -
Make me Foreign Secretary.
I'd take great pleasure in telling Mauritius to do one.0 -
This was a critical reason for the Post Office fuck-up.rkrkrk said:Good piece. I'm not sure I can quite agree on Carrington.
I'd generally prefer the people at fault to resign/get fired than the most senior person.
Another point the guardian link raises is the downside of arms length bodies. This org were clearly useless and yet ministers struggled to take them to task. At least if a politician cocks up, it's relatively easy for public pressure to come to bear (and there are rivals willing to stick the knife in also...)0 -
I sometimes watch Keir giving a speech and feel like he's still mildly surprised even to have been born. Which makes me both sad and delighted.williamglenn said:https://x.com/channel4news/status/1879617959917715903
"I think [Starmer] came into politics to become Attorney General and he's an accidental... prime minister."
@GaryGibbonC4 tells @mattfrei that Sir Keir Starmer does not have a "big idea" driving his politics.0 -
Considering that the FTSE100 is up about 10%, the FTSE250 about 6% and bond yields up about 50 Basis points all in the last 12 months, it seems the problems must come from poor investment managers rather than Reeves' effect on the economy.another_richard said:Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.
5 -
That poll doesn’t mean what you think it means.Nigelb said:The U.S. has definitely made its mind up on immigration...
https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/1879615979220807808
It means that half the population of the US are onside with deporting *millions*. There will be neighbourhoods in LA where most of the population will be rounded up and sent - where?
This is eye popping stuff. This makes net zero immigration look trivial and tame….0 -
I will let you know.ExiledInScotland said:@Cyclefree When is your book coming out, and what is it's title? I want to buy a copy
(And thank you.)2 -
I’m happy to be chancellor - step 1 will be the treasury is moving to Darlington on Monday and if you don’t like it, here’s your P45Casino_Royale said:Make me Foreign Secretary.
I'd take great pleasure in telling Mauritius to do one.0 -
If it could come out in the next month or so I could buy two - one for me and one for my friend who's birthday is the week later.Cyclefree said:
I will let you know.ExiledInScotland said:@Cyclefree When is your book coming out, and what is it's title? I want to buy a copy
(And thank you.)
No pressure.0 -
Just to show the Government can’t organize shit
https://x.com/topacregganman/status/1879447510940553328
Just another day at Southwark CC every single toilet from 1st to 5th Floor apparently blocked??? @HMCTSgovuk how is this acceptable??? How can cases proceed when all concerned have no bathroom facilities!0 -
People start their own cryptocurrency all the time.viewcode said:
What happens if it does? I assume people will keep mining on the belief that it will rise, but that is very risky: you end up spending more and more to achieve less and less. Are other or new cryptocurrencies experiencing the same problem? How does one create a new cryptocurrency? If I wanted to start a new cryptocurrency "VTC", how would I do it?rcs1000 said:
The cost to mine 1 BTC already approaches 1 BTC.viewcode said:
There is a practically infinite supply of suckers so that's not a problem. However crypto currencies require more and more electricity to solve as the problem gets harder and harder (this is one of the reasons why I think the boom-to-bust cycle is accelerating) and there will eventually reach a point where the cost of electricity to mine 1BTC costs you 1BTC, so there's no point. You can start it again with a new cryptocurrency tho, and round and round we go again.Taz said:
Don’t disagree with any of that. I expect one day they will run out of suckers/punters and then gravity will take effect.BartholomewRoberts said:
It may double in value and keep doubling in value for the next 16 years like that, still won't be anything real underpinning it.Taz said:
The guy who runs the local craft beer bar is a real crypto evangelist who believes it will double every 4 years.Omnium said:
I'm sitting on hands that I've firmly nailed to the chair as far as crypto investment is concerned. I really do intend to never have anything to do with it. I am interested in what its rise or demise might do to other things though. @rcs1000 often has an interesting take on these things. Hence the question.viewcode said:
The crypto bubble always bursts. I think @rcs1000 knows more about this than I do, but bitcoin has burst several times since 2010. The point to get in is just after a bust. I did a brief Excel some years ago plotting it on (I think) a logarithmic scale, and IIRC it comes out as a sawtooth. So boom-bust, boom-bust, with the times between busts getting gradually smaller.Omnium said:
What are your thoughts as to what actually might happen if the whole crypto bubble bursts?rcs1000 said:They say no one ever rings a bell at the top of the market.
I'm not so sure.
I can't decide if it's just bad for everything, or if there'll be a rush for safer things - investing in ice sculptures perhaps?
If you know where we are in this cycle, I would be grateful...
I’m not convinced. It doesn’t pay you anything has no store of value. You’re just reliant on more and more people buying it especially Microstrategy. God knows where that would end.
I prefer conventional investments and businesses or funds I can understand what the value is in them and what they return.
There's a myth that's equivalent to gold but gold is real - while much of the value of gold is because its being used as a store of value, it still has incredibly important value even without that including not just jewellery which everyone thinks about but electronics, manufacturing and much of our modern world.
Crypto has no such real value behind it. Simply disliking "fiat" isn't a value in and of itself.
But again we stray outside my area of competence: perhaps @rcs1000 or other of PB Brains Trust can answer with more certainty and less viewcode bulls**t.
Just the other day, a teenager created a couple of new ones. Advertised it on some online boards. Enough people bought in to make them worth something. Then dumped the coins that he had given himself at the start.
https://www.wired.com/story/memecoin-kid-backlash/0 -
Darlington is too posh. Where has the worst deprivation in the country?eek said:
I’m happy to be chancellor - step 1 will be the treasury is moving to Darlington on Monday and if you don’t like it, here’s your P45Casino_Royale said:Make me Foreign Secretary.
I'd take great pleasure in telling Mauritius to do one.0 -
You'll never make it unless you organise it as Darlington over winter, then Bodmin over summer. And yet somehow also manage to not upgrade the train connection to either. At great expense.eek said:
I’m happy to be chancellor - step 1 will be the treasury is moving to Darlington on Monday and if you don’t like it, here’s your P45Casino_Royale said:Make me Foreign Secretary.
I'd take great pleasure in telling Mauritius to do one.1 -
1 - it’s treasury North - I don’t think making the other office the main one is as problematic as moving to a random locationMalmesbury said:
Darlington is too posh. Where has the worst deprivation in the country?eek said:
I’m happy to be chancellor - step 1 will be the treasury is moving to Darlington on Monday and if you don’t like it, here’s your P45Casino_Royale said:Make me Foreign Secretary.
I'd take great pleasure in telling Mauritius to do one.
2 - I could walk to work
3 - Shildon (2 stops away on the Darlington/ Shildon to Stockton railway) has the second lowest house prices in the country0 -
Sorry the other base will be Portmeirion /Porthmadog - Wales and a compete pig to get to and they will simply speak Welsh to annoy youohnotnow said:
You'll never make it unless you organise it as Darlington over winter, then Bodmin over summer. And yet somehow also manage to not upgrade the train connection to either. At great expense.eek said:
I’m happy to be chancellor - step 1 will be the treasury is moving to Darlington on Monday and if you don’t like it, here’s your P45Casino_Royale said:Make me Foreign Secretary.
I'd take great pleasure in telling Mauritius to do one.1 -
When I flew round Europe circa 2016 I caught a flight back with our local MEP who I vaguely knew.ohnotnow said:
You'll never make it unless you organise it as Darlington over winter, then Bodmin over summer. And yet somehow also manage to not upgrade the train connection to either. At great expense.eek said:
I’m happy to be chancellor - step 1 will be the treasury is moving to Darlington on Monday and if you don’t like it, here’s your P45Casino_Royale said:Make me Foreign Secretary.
I'd take great pleasure in telling Mauritius to do one.
He rather liked my discovery that the only way the EU could save money by being in a single location was to close Brussels and move lock stock and barrel to Stratsburg.
Guess where the flight that left 145 minutes late was leaving from0 -
Once again let me recommend the book "Late Soviet Britain" by Dr Abby Innes, who makes the same point with some force.rkrkrk said:Good piece. I'm not sure I can quite agree on Carrington.
I'd generally prefer the people at fault to resign/get fired than the most senior person.
Another point the guardian link raises is the downside of arms length bodies. This org were clearly useless and yet ministers struggled to take them to task. At least if a politician cocks up, it's relatively easy for public pressure to come to bear (and there are rivals willing to stick the knife in also...)
0 -
It depends what you mean by deprivation. South Wales has many deprived towns but the basic niceness of the people prevents it plumbing the scabrous depths. Middlesbrough or Stoke have just given up, but again are too apathetic to be really shit. Recent site constraints prevent me from listing certain places. So basically you need an English seaside town with lots of druggies, shit buildings, no hope and every shop sells bongs and incomprehensible crisps. So...Southend-on-Sea? Bognor Regis? Somewhere in Kent?Malmesbury said:
Darlington is too posh. Where has the worst deprivation in the country?eek said:
I’m happy to be chancellor - step 1 will be the treasury is moving to Darlington on Monday and if you don’t like it, here’s your P45Casino_Royale said:Make me Foreign Secretary.
I'd take great pleasure in telling Mauritius to do one.0 -
I'm not talking about defined benefit pension funds, I'm talking about defined contribution pension pots.TimS said:
Asset values have fallen so many times in the last decade and a half that I’m surprised anyone gets excited about it anymore.another_richard said:Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.
They slumped during the financial crisis, then recovered then slumped again in the Eurozone crisis and stayed slumped for ages, then crept up, slumped every time the Fed threatened to reduce QE, slumped with the Brexit vote, then crept up again, slumped with Covid, recovered, slumped when Russia invaded.
All the while annuity rates went through the floor and stayed there for years, until they finally rose again with the recent inflation. Pension funds have been in surplus for the first time in yonks.
Which can easily go up and down by thousands each day.
When someone sees that their own personal pension pot is down a few thousand that day they tend to be displeased.
And when that coincides with talk about the Chancellor 'crashing the market' they then place blame (whether justified or not).
You might like to compare how much pension asset values can change to those of various tax and benefit changes.
A 1p reduction in beer duty or even a £200 WFA loss are small compared to someone who thinks they're £2k down because of a fall in their pension pot value.
0 -
Deprived and cheap can be liveable.viewcode said:
It depends what you mean by deprivation. South Wales has many deprived towns but the basic niceness of the people prevents it plumbing the scabrous depths. Middlesbrough or Stoke have just given up, but again are too apathetic to be really shit. Recent site constraints prevent me from listing certain places. So basically you need an English seaside town with lots of druggies, shit buildings, no hope and every shop sells bongs and incomprehensible crisps. So...Southend-on-Sea? Bognor Regis? Somewhere in Kent?Malmesbury said:
Darlington is too posh. Where has the worst deprivation in the country?eek said:
I’m happy to be chancellor - step 1 will be the treasury is moving to Darlington on Monday and if you don’t like it, here’s your P45Casino_Royale said:Make me Foreign Secretary.
I'd take great pleasure in telling Mauritius to do one.
Deprived and expensive is worse, much worse.1 -
I want the Treasury in a town that makes the one in Dead Man’s Shoes look like Burlington Arcade at Christmas.viewcode said:
It depends what you mean by deprivation. South Wales has many deprived towns but the basic niceness of the people prevents it plumbing the scabrous depths. Middlesbrough or Stoke have just given up, but again are too apathetic to be really shit. Recent site constraints prevent me from listing certain places. So basically you need an English seaside town with lots of druggies, shit buildings, no hope and every shop sells bongs and incomprehensible crisps. So...Southend-on-Sea? Bognor Regis? Somewhere in Kent?Malmesbury said:
Darlington is too posh. Where has the worst deprivation in the country?eek said:
I’m happy to be chancellor - step 1 will be the treasury is moving to Darlington on Monday and if you don’t like it, here’s your P45Casino_Royale said:Make me Foreign Secretary.
I'd take great pleasure in telling Mauritius to do one.
Maybe the fuckers will work out a model for investment outside London, then.1 -
You're years out of date.Foxy said:
Considering that the FTSE100 is up about 10%, the FTSE250 about 6% and bond yields up about 50 Basis points all in the last 12 months, it seems the problems must come from poor investment managers rather than Reeves' effect on the economy.another_richard said:Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.
People aren't comparing their annual statement to that of a year ago and wondering why its not increased by as much as the stock market.
They're comparing their pension pot value online every day and seeing that there's been a drop which has coincided with the media reporting that Reeves has 'crashed the market'.
And concluding, whether fair or not, that the government has lost them money.
Inevitably people are more eager to assign blame to government for any perceived losses than they are to give them credit over any gains.0 -
0
-
Raducanu wins 6-3, 7-5.0
-
Feels like Groundhog Day this morning.
Big rocket launches in the US both postponed again, now hopefully tomorrow, but plenty of fires in Russia around air bases, oil facilities, and weapons factories.
Ooh, edit that, looks like Blue Origin are trying for today, having initially said the weather was a no-go. Launch window 06:00-09:00 UTC. Fuelling underway.
https://x.com/blueorigin/status/18797102332051051481 -
A bit like those people who micro-analyze every poll and think a move of two points in either direction of cosmic import.another_richard said:
You're years out of date.Foxy said:
Considering that the FTSE100 is up about 10%, the FTSE250 about 6% and bond yields up about 50 Basis points all in the last 12 months, it seems the problems must come from poor investment managers rather than Reeves' effect on the economy.another_richard said:Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.
People aren't comparing their annual statement to that of a year ago and wondering why its not increased by as much as the stock market.
They're comparing their pension pot value online every day and seeing that there's been a drop which has coincided with the media reporting that Reeves has 'crashed the market'.
And concluding, whether fair or not, that the government has lost them money.
Inevitably people are more eager to assign blame to government for any perceived losses than they are to give them credit over any gains.0 -
Yes I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as Starmerism but there’s no such thing as Badenochism either.ohnotnow said:
I sometimes watch Keir giving a speech and feel like he's still mildly surprised even to have been born. Which makes me both sad and delighted.williamglenn said:https://x.com/channel4news/status/1879617959917715903
"I think [Starmer] came into politics to become Attorney General and he's an accidental... prime minister."
@GaryGibbonC4 tells @mattfrei that Sir Keir Starmer does not have a "big idea" driving his politics.
The truth is currently no one has any coherent ideas or policy programme to move us out of our socio-economic malaise. The best we can hope for is for that malaise to be managed as effectively as possible.
In time, technological innovation may unlock new growth potential but for now we jog on.4 -
Just when you thought revolutionary Marxism was dead and buried, a load of morally dubious oligarchs end up.inspiring a new generation to want to put the Capitalists against the wall...bondegezou said:
That's OK. Elon Musk wants to replace that with a techbro aristocracy. See Curtis Yarvin for details.Malmesbury said:
The point is that we were supposed to be living in an accountable meritocracy now.ohnotnow said:
Ah! Ta!Malmesbury said:
https://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2024/01/12/nu10k/ohnotnow said:
Do I want to know what 'nu10k' is? It means nothing to me.Pagan2 said:
Its amazing that despite all the examples that keep coming to light there is still a denial that the nu10k is a mythMalmesbury said:
Yes, we mustkinabalu said:
Ok, Malmesbury, "NU10K" if we must.Malmesbury said:
NU10K - Divine Right To Rule for the 21st century.kinabalu said:That sounds pathetic. I think one problem is that many of these figurehead types whose main role is to "chair" things have exactly that skill and no other. They look the part, have a bit of a presence and a voice that carries, have a general but not special intelligence, have mastered smooth professional-speak, and they have connections because they are good at networking. Then it snowballs for them, you get one gig, appear to be just the ticket, you get another etc. And so long as nothing goes seriously and publicly wrong, all is fine. When it does, as the Header says, that is when you find out what they're made of and quite often it's nothing much.
The stereotype recurs, unfailingly.
We need to label them. Ridicule them. Scapegoat them. Until they are a byword for the shameful incompetence they so adore.
Maybe I'm young (please! please let it be so!) but it sounds like a new term for what's been happening for years (decades? millennia?). Though fits in a pithy hashtag better I guess.
We are, instead, living in a less accountable chumocracy1 -
Has anyone read the Sam Harris post about his falling out with Elon?0
-
Move it somewhere very Reform-y. Like Alfreton in Derbyshire. Even Victoria Wood made fun of Alfreton, so it has a good lineage of awfulness.Malmesbury said:
Darlington is too posh. Where has the worst deprivation in the country?eek said:
I’m happy to be chancellor - step 1 will be the treasury is moving to Darlington on Monday and if you don’t like it, here’s your P45Casino_Royale said:Make me Foreign Secretary.
I'd take great pleasure in telling Mauritius to do one.0 -
Not to give anyone any ideas but in Samoa the Prime Minister has been expelled from his own party.1
-
You need the Indices of Multiple Deprivation. Lots of choices, regrettably.MarqueeMark said:
Move it somewhere very Reform-y. Like Alfreton in Derbyshire. Even Victoria Wood made fun of Alfreton, so it has a good lineage of awfulness.Malmesbury said:
Darlington is too posh. Where has the worst deprivation in the country?eek said:
I’m happy to be chancellor - step 1 will be the treasury is moving to Darlington on Monday and if you don’t like it, here’s your P45Casino_Royale said:Make me Foreign Secretary.
I'd take great pleasure in telling Mauritius to do one.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d8b399a40f0b609946034a4/IoD2019_Infographic.pdf0 -
0
-
That is true: he's gone a little bit down the "I'm a public intellectual" rabbit hole that has made a number of otherwise sensible people quite mad*.Sandpit said:
Sam Harris appears to have fallen out with a lot of people in the past couple of years.rcs1000 said:Has anyone read the Sam Harris post about his falling out with Elon?
With that said, his specific allegation - that Musk welched on a bet and then blocked him - seems germane to this board.
1 -
Is anyone actually attescted to Musk ?Sunil_Prasannan said:
No!Nigelb said:
Paul Daniels syndrome.ydoethur said:
Excluding don't knows, an approval rating of -21% suggests around 40% of women have a positive view of him.Nigelb said:Unsurprising.
Net Approval of Elon Musk:
All: -9%
Men: +6%
Women: -21%
Marist / Jan 9, 2025 / n=1387
https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/1879618399095177704
I mean - why?
"What was it about the richest man in the world that..."
"What first attracted you to the millionaire...?"0 -
It's very good. I think this is most pertinent:rcs1000 said:Has anyone read the Sam Harris post about his falling out with Elon?
"The man claims to have principles, but he appears to have only moods and impulses."0 -
Very interesting account of a (teacher lead) randomized, controlled trial of students using GPT-4 as a tutor in Nigeria. It outperformed 80% of other educational interventions.
https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/education/From-chalkboards-to-chatbots-Transforming-learning-in-Nigeria1 -
150k people watching the New Glenn Twitter stream of nothing, and however many more watching on the website.
https://x.com/blueorigin/status/1879758211387105319
https://www.blueorigin.com/
Officially holding at T-20’ for ‘engine cooling’ reasons.0 -
Musk certainly attracts more than his fair share of weird nerds, and loads of weird people who think they are nerds...Nigelb said:
Is anyone actually attescted to Musk ?Sunil_Prasannan said:
No!Nigelb said:
Paul Daniels syndrome.ydoethur said:
Excluding don't knows, an approval rating of -21% suggests around 40% of women have a positive view of him.Nigelb said:Unsurprising.
Net Approval of Elon Musk:
All: -9%
Men: +6%
Women: -21%
Marist / Jan 9, 2025 / n=1387
https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/1879618399095177704
I mean - why?
"What was it about the richest man in the world that..."
"What first attracted you to the millionaire...?"0 -
Ah just seen this one.rcs1000 said:
That is true: he's gone a little bit down the "I'm a public intellectual" rabbit hole that has made a number of otherwise sensible people quite mad*.Sandpit said:
Sam Harris appears to have fallen out with a lot of people in the past couple of years.rcs1000 said:Has anyone read the Sam Harris post about his falling out with Elon?
With that said, his specific allegation - that Musk welched on a bet and then blocked him - seems germane to this board.
https://samharris.substack.com/p/the-trouble-with-elon
An interesting allegation if he can stand it up.
Hint: don’t try and search for this on Twitter, unless you want to come across thousands of Musk and Harris “fans” screaming insults at each other!0 -
The allegation certainly matches the sh*t Musk publicly said about Covid, and ISTR he's made silly bets with friends in the past. The allegation sniffs right.Sandpit said:
Ah just seen this one.rcs1000 said:
That is true: he's gone a little bit down the "I'm a public intellectual" rabbit hole that has made a number of otherwise sensible people quite mad*.Sandpit said:
Sam Harris appears to have fallen out with a lot of people in the past couple of years.rcs1000 said:Has anyone read the Sam Harris post about his falling out with Elon?
With that said, his specific allegation - that Musk welched on a bet and then blocked him - seems germane to this board.
https://samharris.substack.com/p/the-trouble-with-elon
An interesting allegation if he can stand it up.
Hint: don’t try and search for this on Twitter, unless you want to come across thousands of Musk and Harris “fans” screaming insults at each other!
The question is how further Musk has to descend before his 'fans' abandon ship. I reckon most never will, and they'll follow their hero into madness.0 -
Rocket companies should have permission to blow up wayward boats in their no-boat zones...
0 -
You're comparing chalk and cheese though as assets do not equal annuities, unless you are being unclear with your language chosen.another_richard said:
I'm not talking about defined benefit pension funds, I'm talking about defined contribution pension pots.TimS said:
Asset values have fallen so many times in the last decade and a half that I’m surprised anyone gets excited about it anymore.another_richard said:Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.
They slumped during the financial crisis, then recovered then slumped again in the Eurozone crisis and stayed slumped for ages, then crept up, slumped every time the Fed threatened to reduce QE, slumped with the Brexit vote, then crept up again, slumped with Covid, recovered, slumped when Russia invaded.
All the while annuity rates went through the floor and stayed there for years, until they finally rose again with the recent inflation. Pension funds have been in surplus for the first time in yonks.
Which can easily go up and down by thousands each day.
When someone sees that their own personal pension pot is down a few thousand that day they tend to be displeased.
And when that coincides with talk about the Chancellor 'crashing the market' they then place blame (whether justified or not).
You might like to compare how much pension asset values can change to those of various tax and benefit changes.
A 1p reduction in beer duty or even a £200 WFA loss are small compared to someone who thinks they're £2k down because of a fall in their pension pot value.
The annuity value of their assets will be considerably lower than their total asset value.
WFA is an annuity which is why it was absurdly generous to people who did not need it and cost the taxpayer billions of pounds.
To purchase a £200 pa annuity would cost massively more than £2000 of assets.0 -
Blue Origin T-0 now set for 07:03, after they had to hold to get a stray boat out of the range area! Don’t boat captains read NOTMARS?0
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Annuity rates are the best they have been for 15 years, and UK equity markets near all time highs, gilt and interest rates at 15 year highs too.BartholomewRoberts said:
You're comparing chalk and cheese though as assets do not equal annuities, unless you are being unclear with your language chosen.another_richard said:
I'm not talking about defined benefit pension funds, I'm talking about defined contribution pension pots.TimS said:
Asset values have fallen so many times in the last decade and a half that I’m surprised anyone gets excited about it anymore.another_richard said:Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.
They slumped during the financial crisis, then recovered then slumped again in the Eurozone crisis and stayed slumped for ages, then crept up, slumped every time the Fed threatened to reduce QE, slumped with the Brexit vote, then crept up again, slumped with Covid, recovered, slumped when Russia invaded.
All the while annuity rates went through the floor and stayed there for years, until they finally rose again with the recent inflation. Pension funds have been in surplus for the first time in yonks.
Which can easily go up and down by thousands each day.
When someone sees that their own personal pension pot is down a few thousand that day they tend to be displeased.
And when that coincides with talk about the Chancellor 'crashing the market' they then place blame (whether justified or not).
You might like to compare how much pension asset values can change to those of various tax and benefit changes.
A 1p reduction in beer duty or even a £200 WFA loss are small compared to someone who thinks they're £2k down because of a fall in their pension pot value.
The annuity value of their assets will be considerably lower than their total asset value.
WFA is an annuity which is why it was absurdly generous to people who did not need it and cost the taxpayer billions of pounds.
To purchase a £200 pa annuity would cost massively more than £2000 of assets.
Anyone complaining that Reeves has trashed their pension has clearly got very poor investments. Things haven't been so good for savers since the GFC.
Not good for borrowers maybe, but anyone with savings is doing well at the moment.
Here's GB news saying a big boost for savers with pensions:
https://www.gbnews.com/money/pension-boost-annuity-rates-rise-retirement-bond-market-turmoil0 -
It gets better - also gone are the Deputy PM and five Cabinet members.ydoethur said:
Gosh, a proper political crisis. We haven't had one of those since Ramsay Mac fell out with Henderson back in '31.stodge said:Not to give anyone any ideas but in Samoa the Prime Minister has been expelled from his own party.
It’s also Election Day in Vanuatu just a month after the Port Vila earthquake. 217 candidates standing across the islands. The Vanuatan Parliament has 52 members and at the last election 20 parties won seats with the leading two tied on seven apiece.
Yep, no idea….
0 -
Indeed.Foxy said:
Annuity rates are the best they have been for 15 years, and UK equity markets near all time highs, gilt and interest rates at 15 year highs too.BartholomewRoberts said:
You're comparing chalk and cheese though as assets do not equal annuities, unless you are being unclear with your language chosen.another_richard said:
I'm not talking about defined benefit pension funds, I'm talking about defined contribution pension pots.TimS said:
Asset values have fallen so many times in the last decade and a half that I’m surprised anyone gets excited about it anymore.another_richard said:Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.
They slumped during the financial crisis, then recovered then slumped again in the Eurozone crisis and stayed slumped for ages, then crept up, slumped every time the Fed threatened to reduce QE, slumped with the Brexit vote, then crept up again, slumped with Covid, recovered, slumped when Russia invaded.
All the while annuity rates went through the floor and stayed there for years, until they finally rose again with the recent inflation. Pension funds have been in surplus for the first time in yonks.
Which can easily go up and down by thousands each day.
When someone sees that their own personal pension pot is down a few thousand that day they tend to be displeased.
And when that coincides with talk about the Chancellor 'crashing the market' they then place blame (whether justified or not).
You might like to compare how much pension asset values can change to those of various tax and benefit changes.
A 1p reduction in beer duty or even a £200 WFA loss are small compared to someone who thinks they're £2k down because of a fall in their pension pot value.
The annuity value of their assets will be considerably lower than their total asset value.
WFA is an annuity which is why it was absurdly generous to people who did not need it and cost the taxpayer billions of pounds.
To purchase a £200 pa annuity would cost massively more than £2000 of assets.
Anyone complaining that Reeves has trashed their pension has clearly got very poor investments. Things haven't been so good for savers since the GFC.
Not good for borrowers maybe, but anyone with savings is doing well at the moment.
Here's GB news saying a big boost for savers with pensions:
https://www.gbnews.com/money/pension-boost-annuity-rates-rise-retirement-bond-market-turmoil
The idea that £200 of annuity is "small" compared to £2000 of assets is completely fallacious.
It costs far more than £2000 to buy a £200 annuity!1 -
ISTR a couple of the SS launches were delayed by boats that had *deliberately* sailed into the area? Stoopid people being stoopid.Sandpit said:Blue Origin T-0 now set for 07:03, after they had to hold to get a stray boat out of the range area! Don’t boat captains read NOTMARS?
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Greenies trying to get the launch stopped?JosiasJessop said:
ISTR a couple of the SS launches were delayed by boats that had *deliberately* sailed into the area? Stoopid people being stoopid.Sandpit said:Blue Origin T-0 now set for 07:03, after they had to hold to get a stray boat out of the range area! Don’t boat captains read NOTMARS?
One might understand people trying to get a good view, but don’t they understand that a massive prototype rocket could end up literally anywhere in that large piece of ocean that they’ve had closed?
T minus five minutes and counting!0 -
Except for the last bit, sounds even more like the National Government.stodge said:
It gets better - also gone are the Deputy PM and five Cabinet members.ydoethur said:
Gosh, a proper political crisis. We haven't had one of those since Ramsay Mac fell out with Henderson back in '31.stodge said:Not to give anyone any ideas but in Samoa the Prime Minister has been expelled from his own party.
It’s also Election Day in Vanuatu just a month after the Port Vila earthquake. 217 candidates standing across the islands. The Vanuatan Parliament has 52 members and at the last election 20 parties won seats with the leading two tied on seven apiece.
Yep, no idea….0 -
One minute to go, let’s light this candle!
Good luck and God Speed, New Glenn. 🚀1 -
Godspeed, New Glenn!0
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She flies!0
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It's a similar mistake to the confusion people have between capital and revenue spending.BartholomewRoberts said:
Indeed.Foxy said:
Annuity rates are the best they have been for 15 years, and UK equity markets near all time highs, gilt and interest rates at 15 year highs too.BartholomewRoberts said:
You're comparing chalk and cheese though as assets do not equal annuities, unless you are being unclear with your language chosen.another_richard said:
I'm not talking about defined benefit pension funds, I'm talking about defined contribution pension pots.TimS said:
Asset values have fallen so many times in the last decade and a half that I’m surprised anyone gets excited about it anymore.another_richard said:Couple of people at my work today saying their pension pots have fallen and blaming Reeves.
A decade ago we would not have had people checking their wealth on a daily basis.
Given the public sector background of so many Labour politicians I wonder if they realise how quickly people will get annoyed if personal wealth happens to reduce at all.
They slumped during the financial crisis, then recovered then slumped again in the Eurozone crisis and stayed slumped for ages, then crept up, slumped every time the Fed threatened to reduce QE, slumped with the Brexit vote, then crept up again, slumped with Covid, recovered, slumped when Russia invaded.
All the while annuity rates went through the floor and stayed there for years, until they finally rose again with the recent inflation. Pension funds have been in surplus for the first time in yonks.
Which can easily go up and down by thousands each day.
When someone sees that their own personal pension pot is down a few thousand that day they tend to be displeased.
And when that coincides with talk about the Chancellor 'crashing the market' they then place blame (whether justified or not).
You might like to compare how much pension asset values can change to those of various tax and benefit changes.
A 1p reduction in beer duty or even a £200 WFA loss are small compared to someone who thinks they're £2k down because of a fall in their pension pot value.
The annuity value of their assets will be considerably lower than their total asset value.
WFA is an annuity which is why it was absurdly generous to people who did not need it and cost the taxpayer billions of pounds.
To purchase a £200 pa annuity would cost massively more than £2000 of assets.
Anyone complaining that Reeves has trashed their pension has clearly got very poor investments. Things haven't been so good for savers since the GFC.
Not good for borrowers maybe, but anyone with savings is doing well at the moment.
Here's GB news saying a big boost for savers with pensions:
https://www.gbnews.com/money/pension-boost-annuity-rates-rise-retirement-bond-market-turmoil
The idea that £200 of annuity is "small" compared to £2000 of assets is completely fallacious.
It costs far more than £2000 to buy a £200 annuity!
We've had Prime Ministers with financial backgrounds not grasping that one.1 -
I think they were 'fans' wanting to get a good view of the launch...Sandpit said:
Greenies trying to get the launch stopped?JosiasJessop said:
ISTR a couple of the SS launches were delayed by boats that had *deliberately* sailed into the area? Stoopid people being stoopid.Sandpit said:Blue Origin T-0 now set for 07:03, after they had to hold to get a stray boat out of the range area! Don’t boat captains read NOTMARS?
One might understand people trying to get a good view, but don’t they understand that a massive prototype rocket could end up literally anywhere in that large piece of ocean that they’ve had closed?
T minus five minutes and counting!0 -
All good at staging.0
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Lost telemetry from the booster after relight?0
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growth fizzling out at 0.1%
1 -
Have they actually lost comms with the first stage, or is it just the screen data? No mention of it on the commentary, but it should have landed by now!
Second stage done, they’re in orbit!0 -
New Glenn beats SS to orbit.Sandpit said:Have they actually lost comms with the first stage, or is it just the screen data? No mention of it on the commentary, but it should have landed by now!
Second stage done, they’re in orbit!
(SS has reached orbital velocities, but never orbit.)0
This discussion has been closed.