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marjolica

@[email protected]

Retired Operational Researcher/Statistician/Economist.
Worked in Energy Industries/University/Civil Service. Most recently producing UK Energy & Emissions Projections.
GNU/Linux user since 1993 (kernel 0.99).
Now on Devuan Daedalus/Cinnamon (kernel 6.1).
Rower, cyclist, dingy sailor, walker, skier.
Socialist, bi, poly, she/her.
Fully paid up member of the Guardian reading, tofu eating Wokerati.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

How can we reform capitalism?

Well Jason Hickel & Yanis Varoufakis suggest three key steps:

  1. re-engineer finance; penalising investment for destructive private investment & prioritise public investment for public goods;

  2. democratise public & private budgeting decisions;

  3. democratise corporations; wrest control from the elites & put it in the hands of workers.

Its as simple as that.... well, OK not simple, but you can see what they're getting at!


https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2026/feb/12/capitalist-model-climate-growth-capitalism-species-humanity

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 @Simon318ppm @GeofCox @TerryBTwo of yes, apart from its general (un)ethical approach to investing, investing and then continuing to sink more money into Thames Water as it circles the drain was bad in so many different ways, not just ethically .

https://divestuss.org/uss-and-thames-water-1billion-pounds-of-our-money-literally-down-the-drain/

Is it still a defined benefits scheme? If so presumably it could further burden down our Universities and their staff in the event that its pension outlays become actuarily unaffordable.

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

You'll likely be bored with me saying this, but I feel I must just reiterate, after this morning's 'news' that in the last Q/2025 the UK economy 'grew' by 0.1%.

The stagnation of the UK economy is not some unhappy accident but is the direct result of (and indeed policy intention of) the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, who see vanquishing inflation as much more important than maintaining the UK's economic dynamism (such as it is).

1/2

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@urlyman @ChrisMayLA6 UK refinery capacity has shrunk significantly over recent years, down from 18 in the 1970s to 4 today. The most recent casualties were Grangemouth and Lindley. Seemingly it's not economic to refine here anymore.
While some of that is due to the decline in domestically extracted North Sea oil and gas, at the same time the Gulf states have heavily invested in refining their own crude, so capturing the value added. I suppose we should recognise this as a form of decolonisation.

https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CDP-2025-0235/CDP-2025-0235.pdf

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

The rich alway see one rule for them & another rule for the rest of us.

Monaco-based migrant Jim Ratcliffe complains about immigrants in the UK, while himself being an immigrant in Monaco.

But that's different because he's rich & entitled, and the migrants in Britain are just normal folk trying to survive & thus merely a problem to be resolved.

Of course, its just the usual hypocrisy of the wealthy amplified by the complicit media.

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 add to that he's also been getting UK government subsidies for his INEOS chemicals company, while investing that money abroad and closing Grangemouth refinery in Scotland.

I gather he was also touting for government help to redevelop Old Trafford.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24183731.uk-government-snubs-grangemouth-pledges-600m-belgian-project/

https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/ratcliffe-wants-to-use-taxpayer-money-to-rebuild-old-trafford-20240207-WST-488097.html

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

If you are wheelchair user, none of Paul Sagar's experience will likely be news.... but for the rest of us (even people like me caring for someone who is partly dependent on a wheelchair) this story of the inadequacy of the NHS wheelchair service is an eye-opener.... we were in the lucky position of being able to afford to buy the necessary wheelchair (and mobility scooter) for my wife, but for those not so lucky, it seems hellish times await!


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/02/i-wish-i-could-say-i-kept-my-cool-my-maddening-experience-with-the-nhs-wheelchair-service

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 and as is spelt out in the article it's very clear that privatising some services lead to crap services for patients and is eye wateringly expensive at the same time.

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

Political commentary on benefits (and changes to benefits) is ever more depressing with its grounding assumption that all benefits claimants are likely to be gaming the system to maximise their possible payments.... with little regard for the situation(s) in which recipients find themselves, nor how difficult it is to 'game the system' precisely because of this suspicion has made claims a bureaucratic nightmare.

If only such suspicion was aimed at the rich & their 'tax planners'

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 on the other hand, many people are missing out on benefits they are entitled too, clearly at odds with this idea that poor and disabled all know how to game the system.

https://policyinpractice.co.uk/blog/missing-out-2024-23-billion-of-support-is-unclaimed-each-year/

@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

How do I say this in English:

In Danish we use the term "en nærliggende tanke" (a nearby thought) to describe that an idea would easily come to mind in a given a situation.

For instance, if a tribe was using drag sleds to move heavy items, and they saw a round shape rolling down a hill, it could be "a nearby thought" to combine round wheels and a drag sled to create a cart.

Is there a similar term in English?

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@randahl I would say "that reminds me...".

@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar aral , to random

Wow, if you search for signal messenger on DuckDuckGo using Chrome, the actual @signalapp web site is the third entry following ads for “Signal Private Messenger – Free Download” that leads to the site appmaus.com and “Get Signal Messenger | Install Signal App” that leads to the site filelocations.com.

DuckDuckGo should be held criminally liable for anyone who ends up downloading malware because of this.

CC @Mer__edith

Screenshot of the state of affairs described in the post.
ALT
marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@aral @signalapp @Mer__edith DDG in Android Firefox, UK, safe search, no AI then my first link is to https://signal org.

@Daojoan@mastodon.social avatar Daojoan , to random

"I'm depressed"

Your options:

Therapist: $200/session
Philosopher: Free, but you have to read
Religion: Free, but there are rules
Internet: Free, but now everything is 100x worse

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@Daojoan you could have refined that internet option:

ChatGPT: Free, but lots of useful advice as to how to kill yourself.

@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

Breaking: Elon Musk surprised, 50 percent of Tesla buyers had a conscience.

From: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-european-sales-drop-nearly-114023354.html

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@randahl I suspect that Teslas are well known to be death traps will also have been making a contribution.

What surprises me is that anyone is stil buying them.

"The fact that emergency responders now need specialized training on “how to open a Tesla door” is a catastrophic failure of basic design. It’s the engineering equivalent of making fire extinguishers that operate by solving a Rubik’s cube.

Tesla knows this. They have the data, they know the deaths they’re causing. They have the growing stack of complaints.

They just keep shipping deathtrap doors."

"https://www.flyingpenguin.com/?p=73759

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , (edited ) to random

The plot thickens on the proscription of Palestine Action;

at short notice the judge originally intended to preside over the judicial review (starting tomorrow) has been replaced by a 3 Judge panel.

Now the key issue is why the change, and what impact that will (and perhaps was intended to) have on the conduct of the review & the conclusions reached.

This looks on the surface of it to be suspect, but much will depend on the conduct of the Review.


https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/25/removal-judge-palestine-action-ban-legal-challenge-justice-chamberlain

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6
"Now the key issue is why the change, and what impact that will (and perhaps was intended to) have on the conduct of the review & the conclusions reached."

From the article it seems they already have form on this:

"In the F-35 exports judicial review, Chamberlain was replaced by Steyn and Lord Justice Males. They found that Britain’s decision to allow the export of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel was lawful, despite accepting they could be used in breach of international humanitarian law in Gaza."

Noting Chamberlain was the original judge in both cases.

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

A report on the persecution of unpaid carers over the 'overpayment' of carers allowance, will result in the DWP re-examining cases & (one assumes) halting actions against carers pushed into debt by DWP's mistakes.

However, while this has caused financial crises & mental health difficulties for many carers, there looks to be no likelihood of a compensation scheme.

Its yet another case of the machinery of state bureaucracy abusing the vulnerable!


https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/nov/25/dwp-to-reassess-hundreds-of-thousands-of-cases-in-carers-allowance-scandal

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 also, although not a target for the revue, still no action to remove the cliff-edge design of the carers allowance, where a small overpayment leads to the whole payment being withdrawn, rather than just the amount overpaid.

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

That the Labour Party has backed a new runway at Heathrow doesn't necessarily mean it will be built (many things can happen between now & next decade when work might actually start), but it does reveal two depressing things:

Any remaining notion that the Labour Govt, is really interested in environmental issues now must be seen to be an illusion;

It continues to reveal a London bias; there's plenty of spare airport capacity elsewhere that could/should be deployed.


h/t FT

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 they are still green lighting expansion at the regional airports too. We don't need more airport capacity, full stop. For environmental reasons we should be taking positive action to discourage air travel whichever airport is uses.

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

If as pre-announced Rachel Reeves does announce 250 NHS local Health Hubs to be financed via a new version of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), the Q. will be: what safeguards will be in place (and how effective will they be) to forestall the continuing & long-term problems caused the NHS by the original PFI projects?

This does chime with Wes Streeting's desire to get the private sector (even) more involved with the NHS, but the model has hardly been an overwhelming success!


h/t FT

marjolica ,
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@ChrisMayLA6 I remain amazed that PFI can even be considered.
The government can always borrow more cheaply than the private sector, so given the financiers will always also want to take a cut as well then it will be always cheaper for the government to finance any such investment themselves. PFI has never been anything but another very expensive way of massaging the statistics.

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

It now looks like Rachel Reeves will reduce the cash ISA annual limit to £12k, which will have a minimal impact as most Cash ISA holders pay in less than £10k a year, but shows she is not prepared to listen to building societies or consumer groups who argued against the change, nor as it happens many in financial services who don't think any money over £12k will find its way into UK shares as she intends... so perhaps on Wednesday she'll say what she is trying to achieve?


h/t FT

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 And £12k per person is also £24k if you are a couple.
Like most of the other stuff being trailed in advance ("Benefit Clampdown", cuts to heat pump grants, EV mileage changes) this seems to be purely performative, to give the appearance that she is actually doing something, whereas all she is doing is avoiding doing anything about the real issues we face as a country.

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

Well, that took a little longer than we might have expected but over the weekend it seems Treasury officials were out briefing that the Autumn Budget will include a 'crackdown' on benefit fraud;

its a classic Right wing press pleasing announcement that has almost no substance; repeated research & attempts at previous 'crackdowns' have demonstrated that benefit fraud is a small proportion of the benefit budget & is inflated by including DWP & other Dept''s overpayments in the total!

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@tompearce49 @ChrisMayLA6 and, on the other side of the ledger, by the amount of unclaimed benefits.

@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , (edited ) to random

Who will win the Ukraine war?

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@randahl nobody wins fróm a war, and this war is no exception. Both sides may claim a win (as will Trump and the EU) but already both sides have lost: people dead, infrastructure and heritage destroyed.

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

As was pointed out here (but not by me I hasten to add, even if I agree) the next issue for AI investors would the issue of insurance.

And so the news that major insurers are now seeking to limit their liability in corporate insurance claims where AI is involved, suggests another weakness in the AI investment boom might be about to emerge,

If you cannot get insurance, then AI starts looking a little different in fiduciary terms (with risk rising?)


h/t FT

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 and the insurance industry bailing out suggests that the (monetary) risks and possible liabilities from use of AI must be both extremely large and unpredictable.

@faab64@freefree.ps avatar faab64 , to random

Heat pumps are the most efficiency heating technology ever invented.

That's because they harvest, compress and transport pre-existing heat from the air, the ground or the water.

Compared to a gas boiler heat pumps deliver ~4x more heat for each unit of energy inout.

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@faab64 and then the UK government sabotage the case for consumers to install heat pumps by rigging the electricity generation market so as to price domestic electricity at 4 times as much as the price of gas. And that price also goes up proportionally when the price of gas goes up, even when these days over 50% of electricity is produced by cheaper renewables.

@SusiArnott@mastodon.green avatar SusiArnott , to random

The UK couldn't survive without ! Apart from all the other benefits, I had no idea they pay a health surcharge...
https://youtube.com/shorts/OCdiBio8EdY?si=HCneo1RAD8grb8SL

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@antjbro @SusiArnott @Geri @ChrisMayLA6 so under this plan presumably all migrants will also get income tax and national insurance exemptions too?

@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , (edited ) to random

My heroine this week is ABC’s White House Correspondent Mary Bruce who asked the Saudi-Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman what Saudi-Arabia was doing at The White House, after Saudi-Arabia’s involvement in both 9/11 and the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

May her courage inspire us all.

ABC’s White House Correspondent Mary Bruce, smiling, in a blue blazer, arms folded. In the background there's a green lawn with a tree which appears to have little leaves left, alongline a road. In the distance a building which may or may not be the White House. At the left on the photo there's parts of trees with lots of leaves.
ALT
marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@randahl brave, but this would be a very reasonable question if this was someone else's White House.
Given the present incumbent they are surely just congratulating each other and sharing ideas about how to be more horrible.

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

If the Labour Party thinks that following the Danish Social Democrats' callous & vindictive refugee policy will help them electorally, then they've not actually been paying attention to Danish politics.

While attracting some far Right voters the Danish SDs have also lost a lot of support & look about to lose control of the Copenhagen mayoralty for the first time.

Moreover the normalisation of anti-refugee rhetoric & policy has emboldened new Right parties to emerge!


h/t FT

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@statsguy @ChrisMayLA6 surely it's ideological?
The Labour Party Leadership has been captured by right minded nutters who actually believe in what they are doing and fooling themselves that some of their dog-whistle idiot policies* will also prove popular.

Starmer's and McSweeney's reputed 'pragmatism' seems to be merely limited to lying to the party members and the rigging the choice of MP candidates to get them into power and keep it for this parliament.

  • not widely publicised, but there have been a few policy proposals (such as on workers rights and stopping profiteering by touts and tickets resellers) that if sold properly could appeal to the voters.
@tante@tldr.nettime.org avatar tante , (edited ) to random

So, @anildash wrote an interesting reflection on "AI" and Firefox a few days ago: https://www.anildash.com/2025/11/14/wanting-not-to-want-ai/

He argues that the number of people who want Mozilla to just stop with the AI development and focus on a more traditional browser is small (probably true) and that people are so used to using AI in their everyday lives that it's Firefox's/Mozilla's job to make that as secure and "less big tech dependy" as possible.

I think that's not an unreasonable argument. I do think that the actual question is more about what Mozilla is for and not "AI" (or other tech hypes).

From my reading the people who don't want AI in Firefox are often AI critical, sure. But it's also about resources and narrative. The idea of Mozilla was to have something that would work for the good of the open web, that would fight for users through participating in standards development but that would also argue based on what is right. Mozilla's sales pitch was a moral one - at least that is how many in the community on Mastodon for example interpreted it.

So when Mozilla cuts down on policy work, cuts work on technologies like Servo or Rust that were supposed to materially improve the security of browsers and people online while setting a lot of developer hours on fire in order to integrate fundamentally insecure (and some would say fundamentally anti-"open web") systems "just because people use them", it feels like an organization having lost their mission or the drive to push their values.

I think "AI" is just the latest (and probably biggest) event that illustrates a sentiment that has been brewing for a while: That Mozilla's mission or goals have shifted in a way that their original supporters no longer feel aligned with.

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@tante @anildash "He argues that the number of people who want Mozilla to just stop with the AI development and focus on a more traditional browser is small (probably true)"

So are the number of people who currently choose Firefox as their browser. I suspect that the overlap is quite large.

Given the insidious spread of LLMs into just about everything else, making available a browser that guarantees to offer a LLM free experience - something that doesn't then hog their development resources when there are more important things to do and
remembering that having an embedded cloud LLM is a privacy nightmare - seems like a better project for Mozilla to pursue.

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

More evidence of the plight of women in the UK. If life expectancy reflects a range of social issues that impact on longevity, the chart below shows firstly that there is an up to four year gap between life expectancy for women in the UK and longer lives lived elsewhere... and secondly that in many cases between 2019-2023 that gap widened.

This may be the impact of Covid, or wider problems with women's health, but it is notable & not good!

h/t LinkedIn

Chart: In 2023, life expectancy for females in the UK was 82.9 years, lower than all other comparable countries. Difference in life expectancy for females between UK & selected OECD countries in 2019 & 2023 Shows women in Japan living over four years longer than in UK, and across nearly all countries listed the gap is growing.
ALT
marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 dose have a chart showing the difference in life expectancy between the UK and other countries for males?

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 so, relative to other countries not the UK is not doing well for either sex.

"In 2000, the UK ranked 20th out of the 38 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries for female period life expectancy at birth. By 2022 it had fallen to 26th place, with five countries (Ireland, Denmark, Republic of Korea, Slovenia and Chile) overtaking the UK in female period life expectancy estimates during that period.

Although the UK ranks better for male period life expectancy, improvements between 2010 and 2022 were smaller than seen in other OECD countries. When ranked by male period life expectancy, the UK fell from 13th place in 2010 to 19th place in 2022, of the 38 OECD countries."

Could the difference between the improvement in life expectancy at birth sexes relate to our relative poor performance in maternity services (keeping mother's alive)? Or are there any other suggestions?

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 puzzled by the rows with blank country names in the chart, even though they have life expectancies shown.

https://www.health.org.uk/evidence-hub/health-inequalities/trends-in-international-life-expectancy-at-birth

@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

Trump was getting tough with Putin and introduced sanctions — or was he? Some sanctions are postponed until April 2026 to help Putin sell the assets.

When will American politicians realize we are at war, and demand their administration does not help the enemy?

https://kyivindependent.com/us-delays-sanctions-on-russian-oil-giant-lukoil-bloomberg-reports/

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@randahl cell Why delay sanctions?
Obviously Trump has to allow enough time for his backers (US and Middle East oil companies) to acquire Lukoil assets at a fire-sale price.
And no doubt any money paid will still go back to Russia, rather than being frozen, where it could be borrowed against to send arms to Ukraine.

@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

Finally! The House Oversight committee releases emails related to the Epstein case, including one where Epstein tells Gislaine Maxwell that Trump was with one of the victims at his house:

"i want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is trump. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75% there"

Epstein is dead, but Maxwell could still testify before Congress. So how do they ensure that she does not end up dead too?

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@randahl easy, get Trump to pardon her and then she gets accidentally run over by an unmarked truck outside the prison gates.

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

More on the crises engulfing the Office of National Statistics:

To free up staff to work to rectify problems in a range of economic data, perhaps most obviously the now unreliable Labour Force Survey, the ONS is puling staff off work on health & crime statistics. It is also looking to pause it annual local survey efforts from which much data on inequality is derived.

While we need good (better) economic data this should at the cost of vital crime & health statistics.


h/t FT

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 it's not clear to me how simply putting more of the ONS's bodies to work on it is going to help with the Labour Force Survey.
The main problem it that relies on surveys being returned and these days very few are. It need a strategic rethink first.

"Response rates to the LFS, which involves a letter sent to households and followed up with a phone or in-person interview, were already falling before 2020, then plunged during the pandemic and remained low afterwards – hitting a nadir of 17.4% last year. The Living Costs and Food Survey – used in the GDP readings – receives similar response rates increasing the chance of GDP revisions, Bloomberg reported.

Economists are concerned that the labour market survey may be more likely to pick up people who are at home – potentially overestimating economic inactivity. The Resolution Foundation thinktank has suggested the LFS may have “lost” up to 930,000 workers.

That matters, because one of the key worries about the economy since the pandemic has been that the employment rate – the share of the population in a job – has never returned to 2019 levels, making the UK an international outlier.

The ONS has been building up a new index, the “transformed labour Market Survey”, to replace the LFS. But repeated twists and tweaks mean it may not be ready to launch until 2027."

This is from nearly a year ago.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/dec/23/ons-job-figures-labour-force-survey-data

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

As we know much of the dispute between the Dept. of Health & the doctors/BMA ahead of next week's strikes is about whether their pay has kept up with inflation... as Charlotte Tomlinson points outs in her blog, in the ned this comes down to which measure of inflation you use.

But, perhaps the bigger issue, as she points out is the problems in training leading many qualified doctors with no entry point to their (expected) careers, at all.

https://thehealthandhealingnarrative.com/2025/11/10/are-doctors-underpaid-in-2025-the-real-numbers-behind-the-nhs-pay-dispute/

marjolica ,
@marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 if the purpose of the inflation measure used in these negotiations is to include housing costs and to be reasonably accurate both the government are using the wrong measure.
The ONS do produce a measure based on CPI that includes housing costs, it's called CPIH.
The RPI does include an estimate of housing cost inflation but the way it measures inflation contains a indexing mistake which gnerneally overstates inflation by around 1%. The ONS did produce an experimental version of RPI that corrected this but the government didn't adopt it, probably because RPI is used for inflation linked gilts and they don't want to annoy their city masters who they owe money to. They also use it to calculate inflation when people pay them, eg student loans and rail fares while pensions use CPI (also wrong as it excludes housing costs).
It would be interesting to see the numbers if they could all agree to use CPIH. Maybe split the difference?

https://obr.uk/box/the-long-run-difference-between-rpi-and-cpi-inflation/

https://www.icaew.com/library/research-guides/price-indices/rpi-cpi-and-cpih

@junesim63@mstdn.social avatar junesim63 , to random

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @junesim63 good interview, though at the end he rather sidetracked around the issue of 'pregnant people' rather than pregnant women in the BBC guidelines by just criticising a journalist for eye-rolling.

    Surely the reason is clear enough: a man, a trans man, can still become pregnant and several actually have and given birth.

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar
    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Q. is the revival of Tribune (a leftist Labour Party group) a move with Reform in its sights, or (perhaps more likely) a response to the growing threat on the Left from the Zac Polanski led Green Part of England & Wales & the Scottish Greens?

    Given the polling for the Green parties (and their accelerating membership) this looks like the more immediate cause for a revival of 'soft left' organising in the Labour Party than ReformUK?

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/nov/06/labour-mps-revive-tribune-to-take-on-reform

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6 surely the biggest threat to the Labour party is the authoritarian right wing faction that's its current excuse for leadership.
    Only by reclaiming it's own party can the soft left have any hope of continued existence.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Is one aspect of the UK's 'productivity puzzle' the size of the NHS?

    The Office of National Statistics has always had difficulty finding good data to measure NHS productivity; and its the UK largest employer.

    And, much of the key work of the NHS is (and should be) prevention... but that shows up as effort (cost) expended in any data, but output (life gains) years/decades ahead.

    Perhaps the NHS should be excluded from productivity data?

    h/t Roy Lilley/NHSMangers.net

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6 public services make up 20% of GDP, and measuring their productivity remains a challenge.
    AsI recall the way we different measured this was one reason the UK's GDP dropped so much during the start of the COVID pandemic.

    There was a recent (March 2025) Statistical Authority report on measurement issues here:

    https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/publication/national-statisticians-independent-review-of-the-measurement-of-public-services-productivity/

    @NanoRaptor@bitbang.social avatar NanoRaptor , to random

    Let’s make it popular among the cis folk to change names from time to time cos it’s metal as fuck.

    Especially if you were born in the 1900s.

    “Who… who are you?!”

    “I have had many names, over millennia…”

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @NanoRaptor hell, as it is adult women change their names quite frequently - when they marry or remarry. A tradition we could well do without.

    @nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar nixCraft , to random

    When a cookies banner tells you truth 😅

    Taken from this page https://vibe-coded.lol

    A funny cookie consent pop-up banner titled "We Value Your Privacy (Not Really)" with sarcastic options like "Accept All (Sell My Soul)," "Reject All (Sell My Soul Anyway)," and "Customize (Waste Time)."
    ALT
    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @nixCraft I suppose it's fair to add, whatever I click in response to your request, I'm running uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger and I won't let you track me anyway. And I'll also never see anything your advertising partners try to fling at me. So why bother asking and wasting both our time?

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , (edited ) to random

    The results are in:

    When asked 'what should we make of Artificial Intelligence', 191 of people reading the post responded & the results look like this:

    Its a ponzi scheme enriching sharks - 80%;

    Its a distraction from climate crisis - 63%;

    Its a dangerous technology unleashed by idiots - 62%;

    Its the future & the boom brings needed invetsment - 5%.

    (voters could tick more than one option)

    So not many people springing up to defend AI there, then....

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6 well goes to show how unrepresentative your readers are. According to Mt Altman most people just love their ChatGPT girlfriends.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Interestingly, the Italian Govt. has decided to seek a 50% rise in the flat tax on foreign residents to €300k per annum hitting many of the super rich who have relocated to Milan (and other Italian cities) to avoid taxes in other European countries...

    The earlier rate had become particularly unpopular in Italy & it looks like given the choice between her voters & the super rich, PM Giorgia Meloni has turned towards her voters.

    More super-rich migration?


    h/t FT

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6 I'm guessing that's not the rate for all even moderately wealthy foreign residents, most of whom I expect earn less than the current €200,000 pa. surcharge.

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6 further investigation finds:

    "According to The Financial Times, under present laws, a new foreign resident, or a returning Italian who has lived abroad for at least nine years, can pay a flat tax of €200,000 per year on any overseas income and assets for up to 15 years while being completely exempt from inheritance tax on foreign assets during that time."

    So it's a voluntary quid pro quo for shielding their foreign assets from inheritance (and income?) tax.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , (edited ) to random

    What should we make of Artificial Intelligence?

    Here are some options... tick any you agree with... or add another in the replies

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6 taking you to be talking about LLMs (Chatbots) when you say "AI" they are actually worse than a distraction from the climate crisis - hyper-investment in data centres to run the awful things is actively bringing it on.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Lots of hints from Rachel Reeves on the shape & direction of the Autumn Budget, but in the end the key issue will be how she manages the public sector;

    the most likely development (or non-development) will be the continuance of austerity (under some new terminology) allied to a headline claim to be increasing tax on the wealthy (with major loop holes to ensure they aren't really paying that more tax).

    What we will not see is any shift in overarching fiscal stance.

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6 well I doubt she will do anything to the wealth of the really wealthy, her paymasters, no doubt she'll just have a go at the moderately well off.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    The predicted logjam that prosecutions derived from the proscription of Palestine Action has started to hit the courts;

    yesterday magistrates struggled to set trials dates & deal with unrepresented defendants who needed the processes of the Court explained to them (elongating the process) & were confronted with all seemingly pleading not guilty;

    in an already overloaded justice system its yet more indication that the proscription itself is a major mistake.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c051g2q5651o

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar
    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    The Tangerine Tyrant looks to be taking a page from the Thatcher playbook & be preparing a war to distract from his growing unpopularity:

    having already targeted Venezuelan boats claimed to be shipping drugs & sending CIA operatives to the country, he is now also talking about targeting Venezuelan oil facilities;

    Trump needs something to distract from the state shut-down, the National Guard invasion of cities & the tariff-induced inflation... we've seen it before & here it is again

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6 @Opfoss @SCG and then there's now CIA ops (widely reported):

    "Trump gives CIA permission for ‘covert’ action in Venezuela as president says military ‘looking at land’ strikes"

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-cia-venezuela-boat-strike-land-b2846191.html

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    A public service post:

    Follow the money....

    Who does Nigel Farage work for....

    Shows Farage's income in addition to the £93,904 he earns as an MP (since July 2024) GB News - £413,360 Direct Bullion - £ 280,500 Cameo (Banking App Inc) - £171,373 and a range of other smaller income streams
    ALT
    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6 I'd imagine, like Tice and Gill he's on the Russian payroll, but not declared of course.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    As warnings about an impending stock market 'correction' swell, Rachel Reeves once again flies a kite about halving Cash ISA's allowance, to 'encourage' savers to move funds into the stock market...

    As the saying goes, 'every market requires a fool' when people want to cash out & Reeves is setting up the public to buy the shares investors want to shed in light of the likely stock market turmoil.

    She is not on our side, she's in the pocket of the investment bankers!


    h/t FT

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6 @paulb3017 Well you could only put in £20,000 a year from your (tax free) redundancy payment even if you had a large lump sum.

    More to the point, at the moment interest rates on cash ISAs barely match inflation (c. 4% pa and that seems to be pretty much the long term position (they were a bit higher recently but for long spells they lagged inflation).

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Inequalities in land ownership in Scotland are among the most pronounced in Europe with half of all Scottish land held by 1% of the population;

    the Scottish Green's are seeking to introduce an amendment to the Land Reform Bill that would limit further consolidation through purchase by banning land being bought by those who already own 500 hectares of Scotland already.

    Many would like to see (but don't expect) a similar move South of the Border

    https://greens.scot/news/land-is-power

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @afewbugs @JimmyB @julesbl @tony @ChrisMayLA6 private ('Public') schools and grammar schools were there when I went to school in the '50s and '60s. More so in some areas than others and I'm not sure this has changed that much.
    Some comprehensives had and maybe still do have a more representative class mix. Both my kids went to a comprehensive, but selective schools were available.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Q. does eating food from different ethnic communities raise inter-cultural tolerance?

    In a new (open access) study there seems to be a good link between tolerance and diverse food consumption;

    the authors conclude: 'the findings suggest that exposure to ethnic cuisine may serve as a subtle yet meaningful catalyst for direct intergroup contact, capable of reducing hostility towards immigrants'

    Sometimes subtle influence can be important!


    https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440251378940?int.sj-full-text.similar-articles.1

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6 @afewbugs I've no interest in watching people kick balls around either, even if it's women who are kicking.
    However I do have a soft spot for people striking pucks with ice hockey sticks..

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , (edited ) to random

    Its now unlikely that Defend Our Juries will postpone protests against the proscription of Palestine Action today in central London, so, as suggested earlier this week, the Govt. & police will need to decide whether to allocate resource to defending the potential victims of terrorism or the politically-driven arrest of peaceful protestors.

    No amount of attempted shaming of the protest by politicians will get away from the explicit choice(s) they & the police will make today.

    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @markhburton @ChrisMayLA6 short of police manpower today? Maybe we could have cancelled a few football matches instead? Very disrespectful playing football on such a day.

    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar aral , to random
    marjolica ,
    @marjolica@social.linux.pizza avatar

    @aral good to know that a year later they have got bing working again (this just appeared in my feed as someone I followed boosted it)

    Sort of. If I ask DDG about 'foo' the first result is:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football

    So totally enshittified.