I won’t talk about the tech - I believe I’m still not allowed - but I will talk about the economic implications
The NYT has a piercing essay on the crash in tech/coding/computer science jobs for graduates. You can guess why. The industry is burning on the ground floor, the fire will spread to the rest of the building
But surely those on the top floor are insulated from the fire.
So according to you we are entering a dystopian world where only the Captains of industry can make a living. Everyone else has been replaced by machines.
If only the top two or three percent remain earning, we won't even need baristas and burger flippers for the hoi poloi, as no one will be able to afford burgers and coffee.
There is an irony here in that the LLM models that Leon loves are seriously unprofitable and show little chance of every becoming profitable...
From the World Wide Web:
“In the early railway age, probably the majority of companies went bust. Britain’s “railway mania” of the 1830s and 40s saw promoters raising fortunes on wild promises. Building railways was hugely expensive, competition was cutthroat, and traffic forecasts were often pure fantasy. Many branch lines to obscure towns never paid their way, and some companies paid dividends out of capital until the money ran out.
The survivors - like the Liverpool & Manchester Railway - thrived, but dozens of smaller lines collapsed or were absorbed by stronger rivals. The same chaos unfolded in America, where the panic of 1837 sent early railroads into bankruptcy with alarming regularity. Railways changed the world, but the business was as risky and volatile as a gold rush.”
Railways had large up front costs - but once the line was built (bankrupting the builders) someone could come along and make a profit from running trains on the line.
The current problem with AI is that the costs are 3 fold
1) creating the models (very expensive). 2) the running costs of paying customers (someone has just found a cursor user who used $50,000 of compute costs for their $200 subscription). Now that's a worst case scenario but it's incredibly common to discover high usage users are using more than they pay. 3) marketing is about giving limited acceess for free - so a lot people aren't paying anything and a struggling to find reasons to spend money on it
End result is few people can justify the actual costs of their usage - so there is a very limited upside for potential customers.
I've seen a number of expert people who think LLM is probably a $50bn industry (at best) and not the multiple trillion pounds others think it is...
Finally MS are desperately trying to work out a business model that isn't per user or consumption base as that is essential for them to make a profit from this technology and it's proving far harder than they thought (per user isn't selling even at $20 a user per month)..
And China will probably destroy the financial business models of every US player.
I notice stories that the UK will allow the Chinese robo-taxi firms to test here, the US banned them. Absolute madness. We have the likes of Wayve who are making good progress, we should be backing them.
They’re about to start testing them in the sandpit too.
That should be a relatively easy place to test, as most main roads are dual carriageways and pretty straight, will be interesting to see how they work technologically.
The bigger problems are political though, perhaps European leaders might want to make a point of backing American companies such as Tesla and Waymo, rather than the Chinese equivalents with all their obvious security issues. If only they were all meeting up in Washington soon…
This Telegraph travel expert has a Spode detector on it:
- I would like to visit sites associated with oswald moseley's imprisonment - We’re sorry, but we can’t answer your question at the moment. We’re always working to improve the Telegraph Travel Expert and hope to offer fuller responses in the future.
The travel expert seems to be a chatbot in front of the Telegraph's own travel articles, so if they've never covered His Majesty's Hotels...
Surely there's something by Conrad Black?
(Though tbf he was pardoned by President Chump in 2019.)
(Interestingly he only left the House of Lords on 9 July 2024, despite taking his Canadian Citizenship back in 2023 which should have had him barred. Sunak was so neglectful. )
Just back from two very pleasant weeks in the auld country. No doubt the SNP have presided over many failures (we experienced a little of the ferry issues firsthand) but at the same time my sense from all my interactions was of a country at ease with itself. Local facilities were largely well maintained, even the most isolated social housing estates seemed recently painted and there was a general hum of cheerfulness about the place. If I were a Scottish resident I'm not sure I'd be desperate to turf out the Nats.
Fair play, I know that the SNP are not your preference by a long way.
Indeed, I would vote Labour still, but my admittedly superficial impression from my two week holiday was that Scotland seems in a good state. Maybe Westminster politicians have something to learn from that.
The mostly nice weather may have helped, sunny Scotland can melt the most doom laden, 'it's shite being Scottish' bulletin from BBC Scotland.
The sunshine was certainly a plus. We had beautiful uninterrupted views from the top of Goat Fell, although with a bit of haze in the distance we couldn't quite see Ireland or Fife!
One of those areas where you see the process flow and why it looks great but is really problematic when actually implemented (look at question, forward message to appropriate system, spend x00 tokens ensuring appropriate system understands the context).
Off topic: What is the benefit of AI reading payslips?
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
US Homeland Security News @defense_civil25 14h 🚨Update: The White House has informed the Ukrainian delegation that Zelensky MUST wear a suit or there will be no meeting! Bravo White House. It’s a formal meeting, and the presidency of the U.S. is an institution that demands the highest level of formality!
They are going to lose their shit once they find out Churchill turned up to the White House in a onesie.
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
If he doesn’t go it will presumably be due to some personal circumstances. I see no reason why Trump would invite “the Finnish PM” but not Toolmakersson
However it will look like a major snub, which isn’t good for Skyr. I remember when we used to regard him as “lucky”. Now seems a long time ago
I honestly haven't got a clue why they're so obsessed with Zelensky wearing a suit.
They are just assholes
I prefer the brit version of Arseholes.
I think it relates to people they don’t like “not being subservient”
Dress codes are for people who should know their place.
It goes beyond that. It's siding with Putin's view that Ukraine is not a legitimate state. Just a bit of territory that can be carved up.
Trump has (whatever his motivation, which is an interesting question all of its own) effectively agreed a position with Putin, and wants to tell the rest of us that we have to accept.
It's long past time for Europe's leaders to be pretending to keep Trump onside.
One of those areas where you see the process flow and why it looks great but is really problematic when actually implemented (look at question, forward message to appropriate system, spend x00 tokens ensuring appropriate system understands the context).
Off topic: What is the benefit of AI reading payslips?
Probably sod all - but there is a level of inconsistency in layouts which it may hopefully solve (I could go into the reasons why I'm working on this on a Sunday but that wouldn't probably out me - shall we just say it's my retirement plan).
On topic the further splintering of the Unionist vote by the growth of Reform makes it almost inevitable that the SNP will win the most seats. It is doubtful that their rival, Alba, will trouble the scorers or even stand in most places. In light of this the 1/6 for SNP to have most seats does indeed seem quite generous although I agree with @rcs1000 that 12/1 for Reform is pretty generous too. The temptation to put a small bet on both is high.
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
I wonder if there is a reason why Starmer isn't going - say acting as an inbetween when it all goes pear-shaped tomorrow...
The optics will look terrible if he doesn’t go . I’m sure he was invited and surely No 10 aren’t that clueless given how many European leaders are going .
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
I wonder if there is a reason why Starmer isn't going - say acting as an inbetween when it all goes pear-shaped tomorrow...
The optics will look terrible if he doesn’t go . I’m sure he was invited and surely No 10 aren’t that clueless given how many European leaders are going .
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
On topic the further splintering of the Unionist vote by the growth of Reform makes it almost inevitable that the SNP will win the most seats. It is doubtful that their rival, Alba, will trouble the scorers or even stand in most places. In light of this the 1/6 for SNP to have most seats does indeed seem quite generous although I agree with @rcs1000 that 12/1 for Reform is pretty generous too. The temptation to put a small bet on both is high.
Maybe but the SNP voteshare is down at least 10% even on the constituency vote on the latest polls on 2021, so some 2021 SNP voters are clearly now backing Reform
They’re also the company that crashes hardest if the AI boom down turn out to be a bubble. Motorola was crushed by the Internet crash.
Yep. If anyone is investing in NVidia, don't do it on a long-term basis. At the moment there's so much investor money sloshing about in AI it doesn't matter that NV is raking in huge profits by selling GPUs that are expensive and power hungry.
But that won't continue forever, at some point AI companies need to make money. And burning cash to power racks of NV GPUs is going to become an issue. There are plenty of start-ups working on single-purpose AI accelerators, which are inherently more efficient than general purpose GPU architectures, and at least a few of them are going to pull that off.
NVidia is also under a developing threat from AMD. At the moment almost all AI models are created to use NVidia's CUDA software, which acts as a lock-in for NVidia hardware. But AMD is making rapid strides with their own ROCm software stack, so this lock-in will diminish with time. It's already possible to run LLMs quite well on AMD GPUs, although diffusion models are still a headache.
And when the bubble does burst NVidia, unlike AMD, does not have a profitable CPU division to fall back on. They'll depend on their gaming GPU market, which has been neglected for years and they plainly don't really care about any more.
A reminder of why Trump won and why Vance might win in 2028:
One of the two largest reasons voters selected President Trump last November was the broken border. The President has delivered quick results and restored border security. What we saw the last four years was inhumane and created significant security risks for our country.
Vance might win but the Trump Vance administration needs to get its approval ratings back up to 50% from its current 40-45% to have a chance of that and improve the prices and growth situation. US voters who care most about immigration are the GOP core vote now anyway
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
You'd think that would be the first question at the interview for a new prison chief, or perhaps the second after ‘did you have a comfortable journey?’
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
BREAKING: Sir Keir Starmer will be joining the other European leaders at President Zelenskyy's meeting with President Donald Trump in the White House tomorrow.
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
As the ignominy of Alaska recedes, don’t lose sight of what Putin alluded to at that presser as his biggest fear: Europe uniting around Ukraine and putting enormous pressure on Trump to reject the Russian demands, possibly by offering their own incentives for doing so. The EU is our largest trading partner; Russia’s GDP is smaller than California’s. Russia’s oil and gas are commodities even this President has said he wants less foreign dependency on (just ask the Indians). Moreover, GOP opinion is shifting favourably on Ukraine, likely because Kyiv has played along with Trump’s reindeer games for six long months while Russia has continued to terrorise Ukrainian cities (something Trump himself has highlighted) and abduct its children (something his wife is evidently exercised by). Fox News was rightly embarrassed by the spectacle in Anchorage and now conservative media are more or less characterising their man as a pathetic chump... https://x.com/michaeldweiss/status/1957037895363031144
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
Before everyone gets too excited about all the European leaders falling over themselves to be in Washington and not miss out: I have a strong suspicion that they are not all in agreement over what kind of peace deal is acceptable.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
Just seeing Starmer’s face makes me slightly queasy. As for hearing his voice…
Finally, decades later, I understand the visceral and molten hatred many lefties had for Thatcher
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Before everyone gets too excited about all the European leaders falling over themselves to be in Washington and not miss out: I have a strong suspicion that they are not all in agreement over what kind of peace deal is acceptable.
They are however united in their dislike of the current Russian proposal, and stand behind the Ukranians in their rejection of it.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
They could send David Lammy in place of Keir and it would fool Trump.
Before everyone gets too excited about all the European leaders falling over themselves to be in Washington and not miss out: I have a strong suspicion that they are not all in agreement over what kind of peace deal is acceptable.
They are however united in their dislike of the current Russian proposal, and stand behind the Ukranians in their rejection of it.
The problem is that Trump is in lockstep with Putin.
Do you accept now that Trump's election was sub-optimal for Ukraine?
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
They could send David Lammy in place of Keir and it would fool Trump.
They could send a fucking scatter cushion instead of David Lammy, to anywhere on earth, and no one would notice the intellectual difference
Before everyone gets too excited about all the European leaders falling over themselves to be in Washington and not miss out: I have a strong suspicion that they are not all in agreement over what kind of peace deal is acceptable.
They're just at this point trying to counter Donald Trump's latest mesmerisation by Putin.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
They could send David Lammy in place of Keir and it would fool Trump.
Yes but the Vice President has met Lammy so would see through this cunning ruse.
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
Just seeing Starmer’s face makes me slightly queasy. As for hearing his voice…
Finally, decades later, I understand the visceral and molten hatred many lefties had for Thatcher
The only Con leader I had that for was Johnson. It was personal between me and him. With the others it was just politics.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
They could send David Lammy in place of Keir and it would fool Trump.
They could send a fucking scatter cushion instead of David Lammy, to anywhere on earth, and no one would notice the intellectual difference
David Lammy, the Harvard-educated lawyer who got Britain a better trade deal?
US Homeland Security News @defense_civil25 14h 🚨Update: The White House has informed the Ukrainian delegation that Zelensky MUST wear a suit or there will be no meeting! Bravo White House. It’s a formal meeting, and the presidency of the U.S. is an institution that demands the highest level of formality!
I hope some decent team on Savile Row are crafting a perfectly tailored suit for Zelensky with the finest shirts, ties and shoes waiting for him too so that when he does turn up in a suit it will highlight how terrible the suits are that are worn by Trump and co as well as the dreadful ties and pretty generally ordinary shoes.
Every American I’ve met has zero style and ability to dress well so it’s a bit of a cheek for their leadership to demand others dress “correctly”.
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
If he doesn’t go it will presumably be due to some personal circumstances. I see no reason why Trump would invite “the Finnish PM” but not Toolmakersson
However it will look like a major snub, which isn’t good for Skyr. I remember when we used to regard him as “lucky”. Now seems a long time ago
Finland actually borders Russia. They have "skin in the game".
Disclaimer - I will be on the ballot paper at the Holyrood election
I think the SNP will struggle for traction. The entire pitch seems to be Vote SNP to get Independence. Which got them scunnered last year in the General Election. And there are already signs of a significant Yes civil war brewing as the Swinney says that a vote for Alba or Green is a vote for unionists.
As the ignominy of Alaska recedes, don’t lose sight of what Putin alluded to at that presser as his biggest fear: Europe uniting around Ukraine and putting enormous pressure on Trump to reject the Russian demands, possibly by offering their own incentives for doing so. The EU is our largest trading partner; Russia’s GDP is smaller than California’s. Russia’s oil and gas are commodities even this President has said he wants less foreign dependency on (just ask the Indians). Moreover, GOP opinion is shifting favourably on Ukraine, likely because Kyiv has played along with Trump’s reindeer games for six long months while Russia has continued to terrorise Ukrainian cities (something Trump himself has highlighted) and abduct its children (something his wife is evidently exercised by). Fox News was rightly embarrassed by the spectacle in Anchorage and now conservative media are more or less characterising their man as a pathetic chump... https://x.com/michaeldweiss/status/1957037895363031144
Sadly this is wishful thinking. The US has sold out Ukraine, the EU and UK aren't in any shape to resist Russia without US help and we won't be while we prioritise welfare above border defence.
With the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Finland and the EU Commission all heading to the US tomorrow to meet Donald Trump alongside President Zelenskyy... it looks increasingly unlikely Sir Keir Starmer would be left out, though there's still no official word...
Unless the European leaders don’t want Starmer attending because they don’t trust him not to side with Trump.
Disclaimer - I will be on the ballot paper at the Holyrood election
I think the SNP will struggle for traction. The entire pitch seems to be Vote SNP to get Independence. Which got them scunnered last year in the General Election. And there are already signs of a significant Yes civil war brewing as the Swinney says that a vote for Alba or Green is a vote for unionists.
Would you like some advice on knocking up the voters, my skillset is legendary.
On topic the further splintering of the Unionist vote by the growth of Reform makes it almost inevitable that the SNP will win the most seats. It is doubtful that their rival, Alba, will trouble the scorers or even stand in most places. In light of this the 1/6 for SNP to have most seats does indeed seem quite generous although I agree with @rcs1000 that 12/1 for Reform is pretty generous too. The temptation to put a small bet on both is high.
If there was a book on SNP 1 Reform 2 that would be a good bet.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
Just seeing Starmer’s face makes me slightly queasy. As for hearing his voice…
Finally, decades later, I understand the visceral and molten hatred many lefties had for Thatcher
I won’t talk about the tech - I believe I’m still not allowed - but I will talk about the economic implications
The NYT has a piercing essay on the crash in tech/coding/computer science jobs for graduates. You can guess why. The industry is burning on the ground floor, the fire will spread to the rest of the building
But surely those on the top floor are insulated from the fire.
So according to you we are entering a dystopian world where only the Captains of industry can make a living. Everyone else has been replaced by machines.
If only the top two or three percent remain earning, we won't even need baristas and burger flippers for the hoi poloi, as no one will be able to afford burgers and coffee.
There is an irony here in that the LLM models that Leon loves are seriously unprofitable and show little chance of every becoming profitable...
From the World Wide Web:
“In the early railway age, probably the majority of companies went bust. Britain’s “railway mania” of the 1830s and 40s saw promoters raising fortunes on wild promises. Building railways was hugely expensive, competition was cutthroat, and traffic forecasts were often pure fantasy. Many branch lines to obscure towns never paid their way, and some companies paid dividends out of capital until the money ran out.
The survivors - like the Liverpool & Manchester Railway - thrived, but dozens of smaller lines collapsed or were absorbed by stronger rivals. The same chaos unfolded in America, where the panic of 1837 sent early railroads into bankruptcy with alarming regularity. Railways changed the world, but the business was as risky and volatile as a gold rush.”
Railways had large up front costs - but once the line was built (bankrupting the builders) someone could come along and make a profit from running trains on the line.
The current problem with AI is that the costs are 3 fold
1) creating the models (very expensive). 2) the running costs of paying customers (someone has just found a cursor user who used $50,000 of compute costs for their $200 subscription). Now that's a worst case scenario but it's incredibly common to discover high usage users are using more than they pay. 3) marketing is about giving limited acceess for free - so a lot people aren't paying anything and a struggling to find reasons to spend money on it
End result is few people can justify the actual costs of their usage - so there is a very limited upside for potential customers.
I've seen a number of expert people who think LLM is probably a $50bn industry (at best) and not the multiple trillion pounds others think it is...
Finally MS are desperately trying to work out a business model that isn't per user or consumption base as that is essential for them to make a profit from this technology and it's proving far harder than they thought (per user isn't selling even at $20 a user per month)..
And China will probably destroy the financial business models of every US player.
I notice stories that the UK will allow the Chinese robo-taxi firms to test here, the US banned them. Absolute madness. We have the likes of Wayve who are making good progress, we should be backing them.
They’re about to start testing them in the sandpit too.
That should be a relatively easy place to test, as most main roads are dual carriageways and pretty straight, will be interesting to see how they work technologically.
The bigger problems are political though, perhaps European leaders might want to make a point of backing American companies such as Tesla and Waymo, rather than the Chinese equivalents with all their obvious security issues. If only they were all meeting up in Washington soon…
Dubai is carbrain central; it was built to keep people off the streets - like most of the USA built since the war. Parts of Japan are similar, depending on whether they needed to be rebuilt and who did it. Clearly, the weather would help in Dubai.
Here are a pair of vids from Ashley Neal, driving and cycling there. He did 2 of each. Here are samples:
On topic the further splintering of the Unionist vote by the growth of Reform makes it almost inevitable that the SNP will win the most seats. It is doubtful that their rival, Alba, will trouble the scorers or even stand in most places. In light of this the 1/6 for SNP to have most seats does indeed seem quite generous although I agree with @rcs1000 that 12/1 for Reform is pretty generous too. The temptation to put a small bet on both is high.
Everyone's vote is split - Swinney is trying to pin together an uneasy coalition inside the party, never mind hold all the people who have already gone.
Reform are very confident of taking a slug of votes off the SNP on a change agenda.
A lot of SNP last time voters seriously pissed off with the state of things and not listening to the "its the fault of the English" line any more.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Kermode would be found out to be an imposter as soon as he said something interesting.
As the ignominy of Alaska recedes, don’t lose sight of what Putin alluded to at that presser as his biggest fear: Europe uniting around Ukraine and putting enormous pressure on Trump to reject the Russian demands, possibly by offering their own incentives for doing so. The EU is our largest trading partner; Russia’s GDP is smaller than California’s. Russia’s oil and gas are commodities even this President has said he wants less foreign dependency on (just ask the Indians). Moreover, GOP opinion is shifting favourably on Ukraine, likely because Kyiv has played along with Trump’s reindeer games for six long months while Russia has continued to terrorise Ukrainian cities (something Trump himself has highlighted) and abduct its children (something his wife is evidently exercised by). Fox News was rightly embarrassed by the spectacle in Anchorage and now conservative media are more or less characterising their man as a pathetic chump... https://x.com/michaeldweiss/status/1957037895363031144
Sadly this is wishful thinking. The US has sold out Ukraine, the EU and UK aren't in any shape to resist Russia without US help and we won't be while we prioritise welfare above border defence.
On topic the further splintering of the Unionist vote by the growth of Reform makes it almost inevitable that the SNP will win the most seats. It is doubtful that their rival, Alba, will trouble the scorers or even stand in most places. In light of this the 1/6 for SNP to have most seats does indeed seem quite generous although I agree with @rcs1000 that 12/1 for Reform is pretty generous too. The temptation to put a small bet on both is high.
Everyone's vote is split - Swinney is trying to pin together an uneasy coalition inside the party, never mind hold all the people who have already gone.
Reform are very confident of taking a slug of votes off the SNP on a change agenda.
A lot of SNP last time voters seriously pissed off with the state of things and not listening to the "its the fault of the English" line any more.
It will be fun!
At one point I thought we would end up going back to a Labour/Lib Dem coalition as we had before the SNP hegemony but it now looks as if Labour will be too weak and Reform will deny that bloc any kind of majority. I cannot see how we get a viable, stable, rational government out of Holyrood. It might be even worse than what Yousaf and Swinney have served up.
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
They could send David Lammy in place of Keir and it would fool Trump.
They could send a fucking scatter cushion instead of David Lammy, to anywhere on earth, and no one would notice the intellectual difference
David Lammy, the Harvard-educated lawyer who got Britain a better trade deal?
No, David Lammy who thinks Henry VII came AFTER Henry VIII
On topic the further splintering of the Unionist vote by the growth of Reform makes it almost inevitable that the SNP will win the most seats. It is doubtful that their rival, Alba, will trouble the scorers or even stand in most places. In light of this the 1/6 for SNP to have most seats does indeed seem quite generous although I agree with @rcs1000 that 12/1 for Reform is pretty generous too. The temptation to put a small bet on both is high.
Everyone's vote is split - Swinney is trying to pin together an uneasy coalition inside the party, never mind hold all the people who have already gone.
Reform are very confident of taking a slug of votes off the SNP on a change agenda.
A lot of SNP last time voters seriously pissed off with the state of things and not listening to the "its the fault of the English" line any more.
It will be fun!
At one point I thought we would end up going back to a Labour/Lib Dem coalition as we had before the SNP hegemony but it now looks as if Labour will be too weak and Reform will deny that bloc any kind of majority. I cannot see how we get a viable, stable, rational government out of Holyrood. It might be even worse than what Yousaf and Swinney have served up.
Possibly an SNP / Lib Dem confidence and supply if they can amass enough seats between them.
US Homeland Security News @defense_civil25 14h 🚨Update: The White House has informed the Ukrainian delegation that Zelensky MUST wear a suit or there will be no meeting! Bravo White House. It’s a formal meeting, and the presidency of the U.S. is an institution that demands the highest level of formality!
I hope some decent team on Savile Row are crafting a perfectly tailored suit for Zelensky with the finest shirts, ties and shoes waiting for him too so that when he does turn up in a suit it will highlight how terrible the suits are that are worn by Trump and co as well as the dreadful ties and pretty generally ordinary shoes.
Every American I’ve met has zero style and ability to dress well so it’s a bit of a cheek for their leadership to demand others dress “correctly”.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Kermode would be found out to be an imposter as soon as he said something interesting.
On topic the further splintering of the Unionist vote by the growth of Reform makes it almost inevitable that the SNP will win the most seats. It is doubtful that their rival, Alba, will trouble the scorers or even stand in most places. In light of this the 1/6 for SNP to have most seats does indeed seem quite generous although I agree with @rcs1000 that 12/1 for Reform is pretty generous too. The temptation to put a small bet on both is high.
Everyone's vote is split - Swinney is trying to pin together an uneasy coalition inside the party, never mind hold all the people who have already gone.
Reform are very confident of taking a slug of votes off the SNP on a change agenda.
A lot of SNP last time voters seriously pissed off with the state of things and not listening to the "its the fault of the English" line any more.
It will be fun!
At one point I thought we would end up going back to a Labour/Lib Dem coalition as we had before the SNP hegemony but it now looks as if Labour will be too weak and Reform will deny that bloc any kind of majority. I cannot see how we get a viable, stable, rational government out of Holyrood. It might be even worse than what Yousaf and Swinney have served up.
The sad thing in today's politics is that division rules. The yes crowd are fighting each other. Remain are fighting against the double threat of foreigners and windfarms. The Tories and Remain fighting each other for relevance. Scottish Labour fighting Westminster Labour.
As you say, forming a coalition out of the kind of Holyrood we are likely to election would be an interesting exercise...
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Kermode would be found out to be an imposter as soon as he said something interesting.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Kermode would be found out to be an imposter as soon as he said something interesting.
So never then?
I think he's an interesting film reviewer.
The Kermode and Mayo film review "show" after they left R5 isn't very good. Its all a bit sad now seeing them both in their back bedrooms doing the podcast.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Kermode would be found out to be an imposter as soon as he said something interesting.
So never then?
I think he's an interesting film reviewer.
The Kermode and Mayo film review "show" after they left R5 isn't very good. Its all a bit sad now seeing them both in their back bedrooms doing the podcast.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Kermode would be found out to be an imposter as soon as he said something interesting.
So never then?
I think he's an interesting film reviewer.
The Kermode and Mayo film review "show" after they left R5 isn't very good. Its all a bit sad now seeing them both in their back bedrooms doing the podcast.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Kermode would be found out to be an imposter as soon as he said something interesting.
Not sure Trump is the greatest listener though - unless it's a certain Vladimir Putin talking of course.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Kermode would be found out to be an imposter as soon as he said something interesting.
So never then?
I think he's an interesting film reviewer.
The Kermode and Mayo film review "show" after they left R5 isn't very good. Its all a bit sad now seeing them both in their back bedrooms doing the podcast.
He still has a R4 slot.
The R5 show was iconic though.
Back in the road warrior days, that show was a great way to spend Friday afternoons stuck in traffic. Great radio.
US Homeland Security News @defense_civil25 14h 🚨Update: The White House has informed the Ukrainian delegation that Zelensky MUST wear a suit or there will be no meeting! Bravo White House. It’s a formal meeting, and the presidency of the U.S. is an institution that demands the highest level of formality!
I hope some decent team on Savile Row are crafting a perfectly tailored suit for Zelensky with the finest shirts, ties and shoes waiting for him too so that when he does turn up in a suit it will highlight how terrible the suits are that are worn by Trump and co as well as the dreadful ties and pretty generally ordinary shoes.
Every American I’ve met has zero style and ability to dress well so it’s a bit of a cheek for their leadership to demand others dress “correctly”.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Kermode would be found out to be an imposter as soon as he said something interesting.
So never then?
I think he's an interesting film reviewer.
The Kermode and Mayo film review "show" after they left R5 isn't very good. Its all a bit sad now seeing them both in their back bedrooms doing the podcast.
He still has a R4 slot.
The R5 show was iconic though.
Back in the road warrior days, that show was a great way to spend Friday afternoons stuck in traffic. Great radio.
The new show just doesn't have that X-factor. I know Mayo had a big bust up with R5 and took his main show elsewhere and they tried for a bit to do just the film review part, before finally signing a deal with Sony for this podcast. But they swiftly got funding cut and kicked out of the professional studio, and now its two old blokes who don't seem to want to do the zoom call each week. Also, there isn't the audience banter anymore.
It would be very strange, when even the likes of the Finnish president is going, but....
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
If he doesn’t go it will presumably be due to some personal circumstances. I see no reason why Trump would invite “the Finnish PM” but not Toolmakersson
However it will look like a major snub, which isn’t good for Skyr. I remember when we used to regard him as “lucky”. Now seems a long time ago
Finland actually borders Russia. They have "skin in the game".
'Putin cannot be trusted' — Nordic, Baltic countries issue joint statement supporting Ukraine's sovereignty.
Zelensky says that "Putin has many demands but we do not know all of them", adding that it will take time to go through them all, if there are as many as we have heard.
He says that's impossible to do now, under the pressure of fighting, so a ceasefire is needed to work quickly on a final deal. As a result, "real negotiations" that start where the front line currently stands are necessary, he adds.
Zelensky stresses once more that the Ukrainian constitution makes it impossible to give up territory - and this should only be discussed by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at a trilateral summit.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Kermode would be found out to be an imposter as soon as he said something interesting.
So never then?
I think he's an interesting film reviewer.
The Kermode and Mayo film review "show" after they left R5 isn't very good. Its all a bit sad now seeing them both in their back bedrooms doing the podcast.
I can't help thinking that a format that each one can deliver in their underpants whilst seeing several films a week whilst earning enough to live by is the very opposite of "sad"
For those who didn’t know - years back, a certain U.K. law firm (and some fellow firms) started selling “libel tourism”.
That is, anything published on the web is visible in the U.K.
So under this bit of judicial activism, anyone on the planet could sue for libel in U.K. courts, if it is published online. No problems with the 1st Amendment in the US.
Big fees would result….
A cross party group in the US Congress passed a law making the results of any such judgements null and void in the US.
The U.K. law firms and Mr Justice Cocklecarrot* were very upset.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Kermode would be found out to be an imposter as soon as he said something interesting.
So never then?
I think he's an interesting film reviewer.
The Kermode and Mayo film review "show" after they left R5 isn't very good. Its all a bit sad now seeing them both in their back bedrooms doing the podcast.
I can't help thinking that a format that each one can deliver in their underpants whilst seeing several films a week whilst earning enough to live by is the very opposite of "sad"
TBH, given their budget has already been massively cut, I am not sure how long Sony will keep funding it. Also, neither seem very happy to do it. It doesn't have the sparkle of the R5 where it was clear that like an old married couple they bickered and poked fun at one another, but really cared about the show.
As the ignominy of Alaska recedes, don’t lose sight of what Putin alluded to at that presser as his biggest fear: Europe uniting around Ukraine and putting enormous pressure on Trump to reject the Russian demands, possibly by offering their own incentives for doing so. The EU is our largest trading partner; Russia’s GDP is smaller than California’s. Russia’s oil and gas are commodities even this President has said he wants less foreign dependency on (just ask the Indians). Moreover, GOP opinion is shifting favourably on Ukraine, likely because Kyiv has played along with Trump’s reindeer games for six long months while Russia has continued to terrorise Ukrainian cities (something Trump himself has highlighted) and abduct its children (something his wife is evidently exercised by). Fox News was rightly embarrassed by the spectacle in Anchorage and now conservative media are more or less characterising their man as a pathetic chump... https://x.com/michaeldweiss/status/1957037895363031144
Sadly this is wishful thinking. The US has sold out Ukraine, the EU and UK aren't in any shape to resist Russia without US help and we won't be while we prioritise welfare above border defence.
European leaders are still hoping they can convince Trump to do the hard work for them, but perhaps after Monday they will wake up to the reality that the era of American leadership is over. European democracies have to work out how they are going to defend themselves.
BREAKING: France's president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish president Alexander Stubb are the latest European leaders to say they will attend Zelenskyy and Trump's meeting
Is that a good thing? Is this a Z/T meeting or a meeting at which Z/T are among the participants?
Nobody, including and perhaps least of all, the attendees has any fucking clue. It's make-it-up-as-go-along school of statecraft.
It's probably a combination of FOMO from the European leaders, nobody wants to be the first lift sanctions on Russia but also they definitely don't want to be the last, and DJT enjoying summoning them across the Atlantic so he can be rude/incomprehensible to them.
I think they should all send body doubles.
But really shit ones, like the rubbish waxworks of famous people in those Madame Tussaud’s rip-offs.
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
That's quite a good one. Definitely close enough to fool Trump, I think.
Kermode would be found out to be an imposter as soon as he said something interesting.
So never then?
I used to enjoy his and Mayo’s show on the radio years ago. But not listened to it in many years as found it a bit tedious. Kermodes act became repetitive
For those who didn’t know - years back, a certain U.K. law firm (and some fellow firms) started selling “libel tourism”.
That is, anything published on the web is visible in the U.K.
So under this bit of judicial activism, anyone on the planet could sue for libel in U.K. courts, if it is published online. No problems with the 1st Amendment in the US.
Big fees would result….
A cross party group in the US Congress passed a law making the results of any such judgements null and void in the US.
The U.K. law firms and Mr Justice Cocklecarrot* were very upset.
*See Private Eye for real name
That’s been the case even since foreign magazines started to be imported in small numbers.
For all the politisation and polarisation in the US, one of few things on which all of the politicians agree is that the US is not a fan of foreign courts having jurisdiction over anything or anyone American.
For those who didn’t know - years back, a certain U.K. law firm (and some fellow firms) started selling “libel tourism”.
That is, anything published on the web is visible in the U.K.
So under this bit of judicial activism, anyone on the planet could sue for libel in U.K. courts, if it is published online. No problems with the 1st Amendment in the US.
Big fees would result….
A cross party group in the US Congress passed a law making the results of any such judgements null and void in the US.
The U.K. law firms and Mr Justice Cocklecarrot* were very upset.
*See Private Eye for real name
That’s been the case even since foreign magazines started to be imported in small numbers.
For all the politisation and polarisation in the US, one of few things on which all of the politicians agree is that the US is not a fan of foreign courts having jurisdiction over anything or anyone American.
On topic the further splintering of the Unionist vote by the growth of Reform makes it almost inevitable that the SNP will win the most seats. It is doubtful that their rival, Alba, will trouble the scorers or even stand in most places. In light of this the 1/6 for SNP to have most seats does indeed seem quite generous although I agree with @rcs1000 that 12/1 for Reform is pretty generous too. The temptation to put a small bet on both is high.
Everyone's vote is split - Swinney is trying to pin together an uneasy coalition inside the party, never mind hold all the people who have already gone.
Reform are very confident of taking a slug of votes off the SNP on a change agenda.
A lot of SNP last time voters seriously pissed off with the state of things and not listening to the "its the fault of the English" line any more.
It will be fun!
At one point I thought we would end up going back to a Labour/Lib Dem coalition as we had before the SNP hegemony but it now looks as if Labour will be too weak and Reform will deny that bloc any kind of majority. I cannot see how we get a viable, stable, rational government out of Holyrood. It might be even worse than what Yousaf and Swinney have served up.
Possibly an SNP / Lib Dem confidence and supply if they can amass enough seats between them.
I can see a situation where an SNP minority government rely on support from Greens and Lib Dems to get their agenda through. My best guess is something like a reverse 2003 result where SNP get 50-56 seats but need around 15 votes to pass legislation.
I think the lowest number of seats a lead governing party at Holyrood won was Eck's 47 seats in 2007.
Anything less than that and it'll be a challenge to govern.
Reform 2nd place would be a decent bet right now, what we dont know yet is how they will fare under more scrutiny come April. Will Farage appear north for the debates? They don't have many candidates selected yet even in winnable seats
The Tories seem to be clinging on to a potential Reform implosion for comfort, not sure that is going to happen this time
For those who didn’t know - years back, a certain U.K. law firm (and some fellow firms) started selling “libel tourism”.
That is, anything published on the web is visible in the U.K.
So under this bit of judicial activism, anyone on the planet could sue for libel in U.K. courts, if it is published online. No problems with the 1st Amendment in the US.
Big fees would result….
A cross party group in the US Congress passed a law making the results of any such judgements null and void in the US.
The U.K. law firms and Mr Justice Cocklecarrot* were very upset.
*See Private Eye for real name
That’s been the case even since foreign magazines started to be imported in small numbers.
For all the politisation and polarisation in the US, one of few things on which all of the politicians agree is that the US is not a fan of foreign courts having jurisdiction over anything or anyone American.
The bit that was crazy was that they wanted to impose vast fines on individuals/newspapers in the US for “libel”
It doesn’t take a genius to imagine that if that had gone ahead, every country would start creating laws like that.
Imagine Putin’s Russia passing a judgement for libel in Russian courts - and expecting it to be enforced in the UK. Be rude about Putin and lose your house…
Comments
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/transport/dubai-self-driving-taxis-2026
That should be a relatively easy place to test, as most main roads are dual carriageways and pretty straight, will be interesting to see how they work technologically.
The bigger problems are political though, perhaps European leaders might want to make a point of backing American companies such as Tesla and Waymo, rather than the Chinese equivalents with all their obvious security issues. If only they were all meeting up in Washington soon…
(Though tbf he was pardoned by President Chump in 2019.)
(Interestingly he only left the House of Lords on 9 July 2024, despite taking his Canadian Citizenship back in 2023 which should have had him barred. Sunak was so neglectful.
It would look very strange if he didn’t .
"Yesterday the New York Times reported that European leaders had been invited to DC, but the BBC understands that right now there’s no plan for Starmer to attend."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cev28rvzlv1t
After all, they're entering hostile territory.
However it will look like a major snub, which isn’t good for Skyr. I remember when we used to regard him as “lucky”. Now seems a long time ago
It's siding with Putin's view that Ukraine is not a legitimate state. Just a bit of territory that can be carved up.
Trump has (whatever his motivation, which is an interesting question all of its own) effectively agreed a position with Putin, and wants to tell the rest of us that we have to accept.
It's long past time for Europe's leaders to be pretending to keep Trump onside.
All are possible.
Interesting theory, but can’t help thinking someone like Georgia Meloni would be better in that role.
But that won't continue forever, at some point AI companies need to make money. And burning cash to power racks of NV GPUs is going to become an issue. There are plenty of start-ups working on single-purpose AI accelerators, which are inherently more efficient than general purpose GPU architectures, and at least a few of them are going to pull that off.
NVidia is also under a developing threat from AMD. At the moment almost all AI models are created to use NVidia's CUDA software, which acts as a lock-in for NVidia hardware. But AMD is making rapid strides with their own ROCm software stack, so this lock-in will diminish with time. It's already possible to run LLMs quite well on AMD GPUs, although diffusion models are still a headache.
And when the bubble does burst NVidia, unlike AMD, does not have a profitable CPU division to fall back on. They'll depend on their gaming GPU market, which has been neglected for years and they plainly don't really care about any more.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/revealed-the-prison-chief-linked-to-organised-crime-gqzvqsqn0 (£££)
You'd think that would be the first question at the interview for a new prison chief, or perhaps the second after ‘did you have a comfortable journey?’
BREAKING: Sir Keir Starmer will be joining the other European leaders at President Zelenskyy's meeting with President Donald Trump in the White House tomorrow.
"Now Donald, let's see if we can find a way to ..."
Sail on silver Keir
As the ignominy of Alaska recedes, don’t lose sight of what Putin alluded to at that presser as his biggest fear: Europe uniting around Ukraine and putting enormous pressure on Trump to reject the Russian demands, possibly by offering their own incentives for doing so. The EU is our largest trading partner; Russia’s GDP is smaller than California’s. Russia’s oil and gas are commodities even this President has said he wants less foreign dependency on (just ask the Indians). Moreover, GOP opinion is shifting favourably on Ukraine, likely because Kyiv has played along with Trump’s reindeer games for six long months while Russia has continued to terrorise Ukrainian cities (something Trump himself has highlighted) and abduct its children (something his wife is evidently exercised by). Fox News was rightly embarrassed by the spectacle in Anchorage and now conservative media are more or less characterising their man as a pathetic chump...
https://x.com/michaeldweiss/status/1957037895363031144
Maybe they could send Mark Kermode for Keir Starmer.
Finally, decades later, I understand the visceral and molten hatred many lefties had for Thatcher
Do you accept now that Trump's election was sub-optimal for Ukraine?
Lunch !!!
https://dieworkwear.com/2024/11/15/excited-to-wear-this-fall-4/
He's an attention junkie not a deal maker.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/db8vut_9CjQ
I think the SNP will struggle for traction. The entire pitch seems to be Vote SNP to get Independence. Which got them scunnered last year in the General Election. And there are already signs of a significant Yes civil war brewing as the Swinney says that a vote for Alba or Green is a vote for unionists.
But good luck.
Here are a pair of vids from Ashley Neal, driving and cycling there. He did 2 of each. Here are samples:
Ashley Neal Driving in Dubai:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdoaAloHKUE
Ashley Neal cycling in Dubai:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIQThH1HANc
Reform are very confident of taking a slug of votes off the SNP on a change agenda.
A lot of SNP last time voters seriously pissed off with the state of things and not listening to the "its the fault of the English" line any more.
It will be fun!
Black pudding and mushroom roll and home made minestrone soup ...
As you say, forming a coalition out of the kind of Holyrood we are likely to election would be an interesting exercise...
The UK's Ofcom tries to censor US website 4chan. This will not end well.
BlackBeltBarrister"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxpeM7fDiz8
https://x.com/prestonjbyrne/status/1956391746029428914
Domain expertise.
I wonder if the authorities were under the impression that screwing around with 4chan is a productive and safe way to spend their time?
Stark Industries Solutions was billed as an internet provider operating out of central London. In reality, it was being used by the Kremlin to conduct a cyber warfare campaign and entrap Putin's enemies
https://inews.co.uk/news/putins-secret-cyber-warfare-office-covent-garden-3847465
Oops. Stay safe.
Double oops because it was the pesky kids at the EU who sanctioned them.
"Russia's aggression and imperialist ambitions are the root causes of this war," the Nordic-Baltic 8 said after Trump's meeting with Putin.
https://x.com/KyivIndependent/status/1956812056562216979
He says that's impossible to do now, under the pressure of fighting, so a ceasefire is needed to work quickly on a final deal. As a result, "real negotiations" that start where the front line currently stands are necessary, he adds.
Zelensky stresses once more that the Ukrainian constitution makes it impossible to give up territory - and this should only be discussed by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at a trilateral summit.
That is, anything published on the web is visible in the U.K.
So under this bit of judicial activism, anyone on the planet could sue for libel in U.K. courts, if it is published online. No problems with the 1st Amendment in the US.
Big fees would result….
A cross party group in the US Congress passed a law making the results of any such judgements null and void in the US.
The U.K. law firms and Mr Justice Cocklecarrot* were very upset.
*See Private Eye for real name
For all the politisation and polarisation in the US, one of few things on which all of the politicians agree is that the US is not a fan of foreign courts having jurisdiction over anything or anyone American.
It is undemocratic.
I think the lowest number of seats a lead governing party at Holyrood won was Eck's 47 seats in 2007.
Anything less than that and it'll be a challenge to govern.
Reform 2nd place would be a decent bet right now, what we dont know yet is how they will fare under more scrutiny come April. Will Farage appear north for the debates? They don't have many candidates selected yet even in winnable seats
The Tories seem to be clinging on to a potential Reform implosion for comfort, not sure that is going to happen this time
It doesn’t take a genius to imagine that if that had gone ahead, every country would start creating laws like that.
Imagine Putin’s Russia passing a judgement for libel in Russian courts - and expecting it to be enforced in the UK. Be rude about Putin and lose your house…