Bit of journalistic gossip. Just been to a party full of hacks.
A *certain* Guardian editor - in one specific genre - told me that what they run, or don't run, as a story, is now pretty much ruled by "how it will be received on social media". i.e. if they fear it will be shot down on Twitter, they don't run it. End of.
Extraordinary.
Social media mob-rule today reminds me of the overbearing trade unions of the 1970s.
A new Thatcher for the 21stC is required.
This was by far my biggest reservation about the Toby Young episode. It’s not that he wasn’t a prat, it was that the beast got fed and grew yet harder to resist.
Yup. The Twittermob now know they can hound people they disagree with out of a job for the most minor comment they made years ago. They’re only going to get worse until people start standing up to them.
Off topic, I found the documentary on Bentley motors on Channel 4 last night absolutely fascinating.
Not only were the vast majority of creative designers, engineers, salesmen, craftsmen, shop workers and apprentices British, but most were local, and spoke with Cheshire accents. Further they employed all ages - some on 2nd careers- and clearly they all took a huge amount of pride in their work, with superb attention to detail.
Designed and made here. Very, very well.
It does beg the question, though: if we're so good at all that, why can't the British run and maintain ownership of large companies for toffee?
I really struggle to think of anything we own here now, yet the skills are all here to make them an ongoing success.
Jonathan Ashsworth, labour's health secretary, has accused Boris of 'weaponising the NHS'
It does make you think that labour are concerned that Boris demand for the EU savings to go into the NHS will be very popular
Why we didn’t go into the election with “£350m a week for the NHS over the course of the next Parliament” written at the front of the manifesto I have no idea. Inflation would have taken taken care of more than half the amount anyway.
Jonathan Ashsworth, labour's health secretary, has accused Boris of 'weaponising the NHS'
It does make you think that labour are concerned that Boris demand for the EU savings to go into the NHS will be very popular
Why we didn’t go into the election with “£350m a week for the NHS over the course of the next Parliament” written at the front of the manifesto I have no idea. Inflation would have taken taken care of more than half the amount anyway.
Off topic, I found the documentary on Bentley motors on Channel 4 last night absolutely fascinating.
Not only were the vast majority of creative designers, engineers, salesmen, craftsmen, shop workers and apprentices British, but most were local, and spoke with Cheshire accents. Further they employed all ages - some on 2nd careers- and clearly they all took a huge amount of pride in their work, with superb attention to detail.
Designed and made here. Very, very well.
It does beg the question, though: if we're so good at all that, why can't the British run and maintain ownership of large companies for toffee?
I really struggle to think of anything we own here now, yet the skills are all here to make them an ongoing success.
Well, the extraordinary AGM is set for 17 February, so we'll probably find out a fortnight beforehand.
The governance structure of UKIP may be a genuine problem, though. There's been lots of infighting and board versus leader disputes over the years. That's got to be down to either structure or personnel. Given the prolonged nature, it would suggest that poor structure at least plays a role.
Bit of journalistic gossip. Just been to a party full of hacks.
A *certain* Guardian editor - in one specific genre - told me that what they run, or don't run, as a story, is now pretty much ruled by "how it will be received on social media". i.e. if they fear it will be shot down on Twitter, they don't run it. End of.
Extraordinary.
Social media mob-rule today reminds me of the overbearing trade unions of the 1970s.
A new Thatcher for the 21stC is required.
This was by far my biggest reservation about the Toby Young episode. It’s not that he wasn’t a prat, it was that the beast got fed and grew yet harder to resist.
Yup. The Twittermob now know they can hound people they disagree with out of a job for the most minor comment they made years ago. They’re only going to get worse until people start standing up to them.
Hopefully Twitter will go bankrupt sooner rather than later. It's a cancer on society much like all social media.
Jonathan Ashsworth, labour's health secretary, has accused Boris of 'weaponising the NHS'
It does make you think that labour are concerned that Boris demand for the EU savings to go into the NHS will be very popular
Why we didn’t go into the election with “£350m a week for the NHS over the course of the next Parliament” written at the front of the manifesto I have no idea. Inflation would have taken taken care of more than half the amount anyway.
I remember you and I diiscussing this very subject at the time.....
Jonathan Ashsworth, labour's health secretary, has accused Boris of 'weaponising the NHS'
It does make you think that labour are concerned that Boris demand for the EU savings to go into the NHS will be very popular
Why we didn’t go into the election with “£350m a week for the NHS over the course of the next Parliament” written at the front of the manifesto I have no idea. Inflation would have taken taken care of more than half the amount anyway.
Because Nick Timothy is a Labour party plant trying to destroy the Tories.
Jonathan Ashsworth, labour's health secretary, has accused Boris of 'weaponising the NHS'
It does make you think that labour are concerned that Boris demand for the EU savings to go into the NHS will be very popular
So you don't think it is a cynical ploy/wizard wheeze to topple Mrs May?
So what ? Would you rather no cabinet minister were calling for a large increase in health funding ?
If you only approve of policies advanced by politicians of unimpeachable virtue, you are going to have very little to support.
Personally throwing more money at the NHS without a major rethink as to how it is spent is the sort of magic moonbeams and unicorns nonsense one comes to associate with the profligate Corbyn.
Has Boris had this damascene moment out of altruism or political expediency?
Sad news. I very much enjoyed her books when I was younger. Left Hand of Darkness - brilliant.
Yep. An amazing author who really pushed the boundaries of Science Fiction. Great shame.
I've enjoyed most of her stories that I've read. Her only fault was her tendency to preach at the reader.
I still recall the short story, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas", even though I read it maybe 35 years ago.
I enjoyed The Earthsea Trilogy and reread it every couple of years (although Tehanu was a mess). I was really impressed by both the Dispossessed and City of Illusions.
Bit of journalistic gossip. Just been to a party full of hacks.
A *certain* Guardian editor - in one specific genre - told me that what they run, or don't run, as a story, is now pretty much ruled by "how it will be received on social media". i.e. if they fear it will be shot down on Twitter, they don't run it. End of.
Extraordinary.
Social media mob-rule today reminds me of the overbearing trade unions of the 1970s.
A new Thatcher for the 21stC is required.
This was by far my biggest reservation about the Toby Young episode. It’s not that he wasn’t a prat, it was that the beast got fed and grew yet harder to resist.
Yup. The Twittermob now know they can hound people they disagree with out of a job for the most minor comment they made years ago. They’re only going to get worse until people start standing up to them.
Hopefully Twitter will go bankrupt sooner rather than later. It's a cancer on society much like all social media.
I don’t have a problem with the social media side. My kids stay in touch with their pals all the time and enjoy that (personally I would find it a bit claustrophobic but there we are). It’s the idea that anything of value or substance on any public policy issue could be said in 140 characters that I found depressing. It is a race to the lowest common denominator positively encouraging stupidity.
Off topic, I found the documentary on Bentley motors on Channel 4 last night absolutely fascinating.
Not only were the vast majority of creative designers, engineers, salesmen, craftsmen, shop workers and apprentices British, but most were local, and spoke with Cheshire accents. Further they employed all ages - some on 2nd careers- and clearly they all took a huge amount of pride in their work, with superb attention to detail.
Designed and made here. Very, very well.
It does beg the question, though: if we're so good at all that, why can't the British run and maintain ownership of large companies for toffee?
I really struggle to think of anything we own here now, yet the skills are all here to make them an ongoing success.
These girls get £150 a night to tolerate some drunk, middle aged, boring business class idiots being idiots, and their job is just to look nice and hand out bubbly. And they are also allowed to drink and have fun, at the same time. AND there are sober dudes overlooking it all and making sure no one is unduly stressed. £150. For about four hours work. No one is enslaving them.
What is this censorious Britain we want to inhabit? We have entered a kind of madness.
The puritans are coming with their offence and their triggered shock.
Time for the old and the next generation to ignore this wave of ridiculous bores - like Mary Whitehouse reincarnated.
I think there is a generational thing
I was at a party that Deutsche organised over 20 years ago that also bussed in hostesses. Most people of my age was hideously embarassed by the whole thing (some of the bond traders quite enjoyed it) but the older guys were much more enthusiastic.
Even then the party ended up on the front page of the Sunday Times. It wasn’t acceptable then and it’s not acceptable now
Jonathan Ashsworth, labour's health secretary, has accused Boris of 'weaponising the NHS'
It does make you think that labour are concerned that Boris demand for the EU savings to go into the NHS will be very popular
Why we didn’t go into the election with “£350m a week for the NHS over the course of the next Parliament” written at the front of the manifesto I have no idea. Inflation would have taken taken care of more than half the amount anyway.
Because Nick Timothy is a Labour party plant trying to destroy the Tories.
Bit of journalistic gossip. Just been to a party full of hacks.
A *certain* Guardian editor - in one specific genre - told me that what they run, or don't run, as a story, is now pretty much ruled by "how it will be received on social media". i.e. if they fear it will be shot down on Twitter, they don't run it. End of.
Extraordinary.
Social media mob-rule today reminds me of the overbearing trade unions of the 1970s.
A new Thatcher for the 21stC is required.
This was by far my biggest reservation about the Toby Young episode. It’s not that he wasn’t a prat, it was that the beast got fed and grew yet harder to resist.
Yup. The Twittermob now know they can hound people they disagree with out of a job for the most minor comment they made years ago. They’re only going to get worse until people start standing up to them.
Hopefully Twitter will go bankrupt sooner rather than later. It's a cancer on society much like all social media.
It if wasn’t for Trump and the outrage that follows him, Twitter would probably be done by now. They still can’t work out how to make money, and eventually the investors are going to have enough.
Bit of journalistic gossip. Just been to a party full of hacks.
A *certain* Guardian editor - in one specific genre - told me that what they run, or don't run, as a story, is now pretty much ruled by "how it will be received on social media". i.e. if they fear it will be shot down on Twitter, they don't run it. End of.
Extraordinary.
Social media mob-rule today reminds me of the overbearing trade unions of the 1970s.
A new Thatcher for the 21stC is required.
This was by far my biggest reservation about the Toby Young episode. It’s not that he wasn’t a prat, it was that the beast got fed and grew yet harder to resist.
Yup. The Twittermob now know they can hound people they disagree with out of a job for the most minor comment they made years ago. They’re only going to get worse until people start standing up to them.
Minor comments years ago?
It was his attendance of the eugenics conference last year bring made public and his interactions with the attendees that made him quit.
Off topic, I found the documentary on Bentley motors on Channel 4 last night absolutely fascinating.
Not only were the vast majority of creative designers, engineers, salesmen, craftsmen, shop workers and apprentices British, but most were local, and spoke with Cheshire accents. Further they employed all ages - some on 2nd careers- and clearly they all took a huge amount of pride in their work, with superb attention to detail.
Designed and made here. Very, very well.
It does beg the question, though: if we're so good at all that, why can't the British run and maintain ownership of large companies for toffee?
I really struggle to think of anything we own here now, yet the skills are all here to make them an ongoing success.
Baffling.
In the service sector we still do in manufacturing beyond the likes of Glaxo Smith Kline etc much more rarely
Off topic, I found the documentary on Bentley motors on Channel 4 last night absolutely fascinating.
Not only were the vast majority of creative designers, engineers, salesmen, craftsmen, shop workers and apprentices British, but most were local, and spoke with Cheshire accents. Further they employed all ages - some on 2nd careers- and clearly they all took a huge amount of pride in their work, with superb attention to detail.
Designed and made here. Very, very well.
It does beg the question, though: if we're so good at all that, why can't the British run and maintain ownership of large companies for toffee?
I really struggle to think of anything we own here now, yet the skills are all here to make them an ongoing success.
Baffling.
The city and the government doesn't back it.
British management is also shite. Too obsessed with who is getting what bonus rather than the company. I've worked for one Japanese company, one Swiss company and one British company. In the latter there was an obsession in senior management over bonus pools and individual bonus pots. To the detriment of company performance IMO, it's partly why I left for the first opportunity that came along.
Off topic, I found the documentary on Bentley motors on Channel 4 last night absolutely fascinating.
Not only were the vast majority of creative designers, engineers, salesmen, craftsmen, shop workers and apprentices British, but most were local, and spoke with Cheshire accents. Further they employed all ages - some on 2nd careers- and clearly they all took a huge amount of pride in their work, with superb attention to detail.
Designed and made here. Very, very well.
It does beg the question, though: if we're so good at all that, why can't the British run and maintain ownership of large companies for toffee?
I really struggle to think of anything we own here now, yet the skills are all here to make them an ongoing success.
Baffling.
The city and the government doesn't back it.
Perhaps. I'd like to do some more reading on this.
Our executives and boardroom management are also seemingly non-impressive. Not to mention the short-termism, cashing out for profit too early, and patchy commitment to R&D (although I don't necessarily include Bentley in that).
The Union Jack will be raised above Scottish government buildings only on Remembrance Sunday under rules drawn up by Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP administration.
The Scottish government confirmed that the guidance had been updated.
Off topic, I found the documentary on Bentley motors on Channel 4 last night absolutely fascinating.
Not only were the vast majority of creative designers, engineers, salesmen, craftsmen, shop workers and apprentices British, but most were local, and spoke with Cheshire accents. Further they employed all ages - some on 2nd careers- and clearly they all took a huge amount of pride in their work, with superb attention to detail.
Designed and made here. Very, very well.
It does beg the question, though: if we're so good at all that, why can't the British run and maintain ownership of large companies for toffee?
I really struggle to think of anything we own here now, yet the skills are all here to make them an ongoing success.
Baffling.
JCB.
Family-owned, and hated by Labour.
Yes, family firms ok. Up until the point they sell up.
Off topic, I found the documentary on Bentley motors on Channel 4 last night absolutely fascinating.
Not only were the vast majority of creative designers, engineers, salesmen, craftsmen, shop workers and apprentices British, but most were local, and spoke with Cheshire accents. Further they employed all ages - some on 2nd careers- and clearly they all took a huge amount of pride in their work, with superb attention to detail.
Designed and made here. Very, very well.
It does beg the question, though: if we're so good at all that, why can't the British run and maintain ownership of large companies for toffee?
I really struggle to think of anything we own here now, yet the skills are all here to make them an ongoing success.
Baffling.
The city and the government doesn't back it.
British management is also shite. Too obsessed with who is getting what bonus rather than the company. I've worked for one Japanese company, one Swiss company and one British company. In the latter there was an obsession in senior management over bonus pools and individual bonus pots. To the detriment of company performance IMO, it's partly why I left for the first opportunity that came along.
As I said yesterday, too many senior managers are more interested in a short term rip-off, as opposed to long term success.
Jonathan Ashsworth, labour's health secretary, has accused Boris of 'weaponising the NHS'
It does make you think that labour are concerned that Boris demand for the EU savings to go into the NHS will be very popular
So you don't think it is a cynical ploy/wizard wheeze to topple Mrs May?
So what ? Would you rather no cabinet minister were calling for a large increase in health funding ?
If you only approve of policies advanced by politicians of unimpeachable virtue, you are going to have very little to support.
Personally throwing more money at the NHS without a major rethink as to how it is spent is the sort of magic moonbeams and unicorns nonsense one comes to associate with the profligate Corbyn.
Has Boris had this damascene moment out of altruism or political expediency?
I think we know the answer to that.
It needs some serious thinking, not merely competing to throw money at it, even if that will be part of it.
Bit of journalistic gossip. Just been to a party full of hacks.
A *certain* Guardian editor - in one specific genre - told me that what they run, or don't run, as a story, is now pretty much ruled by "how it will be received on social media". i.e. if they fear it will be shot down on Twitter, they don't run it. End of.
Extraordinary.
Social media mob-rule today reminds me of the overbearing trade unions of the 1970s.
A new Thatcher for the 21stC is required.
This was by far my biggest reservation about the Toby Young episode. It’s not that he wasn’t a prat, it was that the beast got fed and grew yet harder to resist.
Yup. The Twittermob now know they can hound people they disagree with out of a job for the most minor comment they made years ago. They’re only going to get worse until people start standing up to them.
Hopefully Twitter will go bankrupt sooner rather than later. It's a cancer on society much like all social media.
It if wasn’t for Trump and the outrage that follows him, Twitter would probably be done by now. They still can’t work out how to make money, and eventually the investors are going to have enough.
I can't see Twitter lasting five more years.
History will file it somewhere between creepy and embarrassing.
The children's ward thing is properly doing my nut.
I can't fault the passion and desire of the campaigners who wanted to keep it open but A ) it wasn't the SNP who closed it, it was the Glasgow health board B ) if I had a choice of my child going to an ancient 16 bed ward in Paisley or a 200+ bed state of the art facility 5 minutes down the road in a hospital stuffed with the countries top specialists I'd pick option number 2.
This happens all the time with speciality ward closures - it seems bad for the local area that they are losing a speciality but all the evidence shows that centralsing specialities improves outcomes for everyone. Keeping small local units open costs lives.
Off topic, I found the documentary on Bentley motors on Channel 4 last night absolutely fascinating.
Not only were the vast majority of creative designers, engineers, salesmen, craftsmen, shop workers and apprentices British, but most were local, and spoke with Cheshire accents. Further they employed all ages - some on 2nd careers- and clearly they all took a huge amount of pride in their work, with superb attention to detail.
Designed and made here. Very, very well.
It does beg the question, though: if we're so good at all that, why can't the British run and maintain ownership of large companies for toffee?
I really struggle to think of anything we own here now, yet the skills are all here to make them an ongoing success.
Baffling.
JCB.
Family-owned, and hated by Labour.
Yes, family firms ok. Up until the point they sell up.
These girls get £150 a night to tolerate some drunk, middle aged, boring business class idiots being idiots, and their job is just to look nice and hand out bubbly. And they are also allowed to drink and have fun, at the same time. AND there are sober dudes overlooking it all and making sure no one is unduly stressed. £150. For about four hours work. No one is enslaving them.
What is this censorious Britain we want to inhabit? We have entered a kind of madness.
The puritans are coming with their offence and their triggered shock.
Time for the old and the next generation to ignore this wave of ridiculous bores - like Mary Whitehouse reincarnated.
I think there is a generational thing
I was at a party that Deutsche organised over 20 years ago that also bussed in hostesses. Most people of my age was hideously embarassed by the whole thing (some of the bond traders quite enjoyed it) but the older guys were much more enthusiastic.
Even then the party ended up on the front page of the Sunday Times. It wasn’t acceptable then and it’s not acceptable now
The children's ward thing is properly doing my nut.
I can't fault the passion and desire of the campaigners who wanted to keep it open but A ) it wasn't the SNP who closed it, it was the Glasgow health board
That's not what the SNP Health Minister said yesterday.
The children's ward thing is properly doing my nut.
I can't fault the passion and desire of the campaigners who wanted to keep it open but A ) it wasn't the SNP who closed it, it was the Glasgow health board
That's not what the SNP Health Minister said yesterday.
It was her decision
Oh, I was wrong about that then. Well, good decision. It's saved lives despite being unpopular.
It does seem remarkable that Twitter is so popular yet also unprofitable.
It's easy to be popular but be unprofitable. Set up a business and give away the goods: you'll never be as popular, but there will be no profit.
These large tech companies have a business model that seems crazy to me: Uber being another example of a company that is spending in the hope that the business will come. They lost £2.1 billion worldwide last year ...
These girls get £150 a night to tolerate some drunk, middle aged, boring business class idiots being idiots, and their job is just to look nice and hand out bubbly. And they are also allowed to drink and have fun, at the same time. AND there are sober dudes overlooking it all and making sure no one is unduly stressed. £150. For about four hours work. No one is enslaving them.
What is this censorious Britain we want to inhabit? We have entered a kind of madness.
The puritans are coming with their offence and their triggered shock.
Time for the old and the next generation to ignore this wave of ridiculous bores - like Mary Whitehouse reincarnated.
I think there is a generational thing
I was at a party that Deutsche organised over 20 years ago that also bussed in hostesses. Most people of my age was hideously embarassed by the whole thing (some of the bond traders quite enjoyed it) but the older guys were much more enthusiastic.
Even then the party ended up on the front page of the Sunday Times. It wasn’t acceptable then and it’s not acceptable now
It does seem remarkable that Twitter is so popular yet also unprofitable.
That also works if you omit the last three words. If I were them I'd start injecting 140 character ads into the stream, and charge people a one off payment of £5 to go ad free. It might kill twitter stone dead (and how sad would that be?) but if it can't be monetised what is the point of keeping it alive?
Comments
Not only were the vast majority of creative designers, engineers, salesmen, craftsmen, shop workers and apprentices British, but most were local, and spoke with Cheshire accents. Further they employed all ages - some on 2nd careers- and clearly they all took a huge amount of pride in their work, with superb attention to detail.
Designed and made here. Very, very well.
It does beg the question, though: if we're so good at all that, why can't the British run and maintain ownership of large companies for toffee?
I really struggle to think of anything we own here now, yet the skills are all here to make them an ongoing success.
Baffling.
Family-owned, and hated by Labour.
Well, the extraordinary AGM is set for 17 February, so we'll probably find out a fortnight beforehand.
The governance structure of UKIP may be a genuine problem, though. There's been lots of infighting and board versus leader disputes over the years. That's got to be down to either structure or personnel. Given the prolonged nature, it would suggest that poor structure at least plays a role.
Has Boris had this damascene moment out of altruism or political expediency?
I am NOT an insurance salesman...
It was his attendance of the eugenics conference last year bring made public and his interactions with the attendees that made him quit.
You are becoming rather boring.
Our executives and boardroom management are also seemingly non-impressive. Not to mention the short-termism, cashing out for profit too early, and patchy commitment to R&D (although I don't necessarily include Bentley in that).
The Scottish government confirmed that the guidance had been updated.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/scots-to-remove-union-flag-from-government-buildings-bjd6x92pq
Cadbury's used to be like that.
I can't help it if you are simply wrong.
It needs some serious thinking, not merely competing to throw money at it, even if that will be part of it.
https://twitter.com/aldom75/status/955928705691455503
You can't eat a flag is I believe the phrase usually thrown at we 'nationalists'.
History will file it somewhere between creepy and embarrassing.
Blood and soil Nationalists love it though.
I can't fault the passion and desire of the campaigners who wanted to keep it open but
A ) it wasn't the SNP who closed it, it was the Glasgow health board
B ) if I had a choice of my child going to an ancient 16 bed ward in Paisley or a 200+ bed state of the art facility 5 minutes down the road in a hospital stuffed with the countries top specialists I'd pick option number 2.
This happens all the time with speciality ward closures - it seems bad for the local area that they are losing a speciality but all the evidence shows that centralsing specialities improves outcomes for everyone. Keeping small local units open costs lives.
But what offends most: being called a salesman, or being accused of being in insurance?
It was her decision
These large tech companies have a business model that seems crazy to me: Uber being another example of a company that is spending in the hope that the business will come. They lost £2.1 billion worldwide last year ...
(Insurance is, by definition, overpriced for prudent individuals)
NEW THREAD
If I were them I'd start injecting 140 character ads into the stream, and charge people a one off payment of £5 to go ad free. It might kill twitter stone dead (and how sad would that be?) but if it can't be monetised what is the point of keeping it alive?