Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
He certainly appears to support looking after the unemployed properly.
Rather less angry than Chat GPT would have you believe. Also thinner on top. Tries to keep up with sprogs 1-6 and all their mini sprogs. Hopelessly devoted to the Chair of Balham FC. Takes footie pictures. Trying to get back into fencing.
26 followers 53 following 613 posts
view profile on Bluesky Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
He certainly appears to support looking after the unemployed properly.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
I'm with Streeting on this. The police don't like it any more than the public: probably less. But they are bound to uphold the law, which leaves very little wiggle room. Parliament must look again at laws which provide zero tolerance based on a simplistic view of the issues involved.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
A propos the God-King Few, just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Service Model", which begins with a robot butler becoming redundant on the death of his employer and ends with "In Praise of Idleness" on steroids. A stark warning of the need for change. Worth a look, if you like that sort of thing.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
150mg???!!!?!???!
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
That's you told! :0) (Collected another block today from a very earnest, angry young man who considered me insufficiently pure. Oh well. You can't spend your life looking over your shoulder worrying about people you might have upset.)
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
The first thing is to work out stuff like: What will each CA consist of? Who will run it? How will we pick participants? Where will we find the expert advisors? Who will support the results and press for action? What will this cost? Who will pay? How will we roll this out to everyone? Etc etc etc
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
I'm not sure about whether a political party is the only approach. Ideally, we'd be setting up the CAs so that they could inform policy choices for the '28 campaigns. If no party picks up the policies, then perhaps we start the long slog of setting up a party. Which takes decades to get traction.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
What we'd be offering would be a possible route to regaining a relevance which they have largely lost. It needs to be thought through and campaigned properly. Is there anyone on this platform who understands a) CAs and b) media strategy?
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
The gods abandoned us a while back. Surprised a journalist of your calibre didn't notice. :0)
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Stop the bath bombs now!
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Is there a way to enlist the media in the process? In the end, they're looking for stories that their readership will buy: everything else is in support of that core goal. Or could we get local journalists to report proceedings and the underlying stories directly?
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
There have been a lot of narrow losses to populists across the west in the past few decades. Always seen as cheating. We abdicated our politics to the professionals and got surprised when they disappointed us. In GB, the professionals treated it like a day job, often accepting the unacceptable.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
The challenge is to get the mass of people involved. Some form of Citizens' Assemblies is an obvious basis, but is not enough without infrastructure to publicise the discussions. There was after all a CA on Brexit which went almost completely under the radar.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
In essence, the left believes prosperity isn't meaningful until we have achieved social justice while the right believes that we can't have meaningful social justice until we achieve prosperity. Accepting Thatcher's economic model doesn't make you left or right: it's what you do with it.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Blair brought social justice into Thatcher's "neoliberal" framework. But that doesn't mean that the priorities of the Blair/ Brown Government aligned with Thatcher's: they very much DID recognise that there is such a thing as society, and that poverty matters.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Elections ARE won from the centre. It is the task of politicians to lead the centre in the proper direction. Mainstream machine politicians lost sight of this, and focused on doing what they thought best in the the interest of the nation. And nobody bothered about this until far too late.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Are you talking about the mainstream press since forever?
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Thoughts and prayers…
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Exactly. Or at least, strongly implies that some trans people don't deserve recognition and acceptance.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
We all hate bigots …and wish they would just bugger off back to Bigotland, where they belong. 1969 says, "Hi, it's good to be back". :0(
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Shouldn't there be a comma in that manifesto promise?
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
You object to the wasted space underneath? I concur.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
And yet the polls tell us that a lot of people genuinely believe this nonsense. How do you know it isn't one of them?
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Well, you had a labour leader who was brave in the face of extremism and you didn't seem to like him much. Some people are never satisfied.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
I agree that not every post deserves a response. Where I struggle is the idea that we discriminate based on their political stance. It is very easy to assume bad faith on the part of those with whom we disagree.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
If you block and move on, are you not creating a space for them? I'm afraid I'm with Bertrand Russell on this.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Nobody likes the referee.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
The mystery to me is why mince pies are ever NOT on sale…
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
This thread is only concerned with those who file.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
I refute you thus: - 3 Body Problem - 1984
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Alternative view: it matters that the free software is good enough. We should not accept anything less and this is what we should be talking about. What we should cancel is the £7bn tax avoidance industry: MTD is part of that.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Isn't the whole point that eventually the taxpayer should NOT have to deal with tax returns? Though it is the nature of life that things get worse before they get better.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Sorry: I misread your post as humorous whining rather than relish at getting out into the bracing elements. I trust you and P enjoyed the ride?
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
"There's no such thing as bad weather: only inappropriate clothing - and caliper brakes." :0)
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Thank you for this. So far as I can see, the UK is outside the European continental area which would suffer the hot summer winds. But I'm quibbling: whether it's hotter or colder, it'll be very, very difficult.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
I doubt that. Once the North Atlantic drift stops, it'll be just like Labrador.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Read the article. It explains which categories are allowed to work (most) and that dependents of higher earning immigrants will be maintained by the earning immigrants.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
#OldSchool :0)
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Why thank you! I'm keeping this tribute just as it stands, unsullied by any comma. :0)
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
The tapestry is EXCESSIVELY violent, yes. :0)
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Thank you. This thread has doubled the number of things I know about cable management. (The other is over/under winding, which I got from kermode & mayo 's review of Berberian Sound Studio. Toby Jones apparently shared my ignorance.) I somehow survived my DIY years in blissful ignorance.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
And taking a canoe along those little connecting streams had a definite tinge of "Heart of Darkness" (or perhaps more accurately, "The African Queen"). But I digress.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
You've let us down, you've let Bluesky down but worst of all, you've let yourself down. #NotAngryJustVeryDisappointed
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
If you haven't seen it, think "Frozen" but with every song hyped to the level of "let it go". Actually, I rather liked it.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Visiting Grandsprogs 3.1&2 in Chicago last week, I was treated to KPop Demon Hunters. They could be the antidote. youtu.be/3JTVQTk36R8?... That 3 hour drive to Chain o' Lakes… To quote Captain Kurtz, "the horror, the horror" YMMV
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social)
Inexplicably, the stylishly supercilious Mlle Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com , appears to have overlooked the K Pop Demon Hunters singalongs at Vue. :0)
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
And still good live.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
This is true. Though the media can only sell what we want to read. We are all implicated in this vicious spiral.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
But we should be accurate. The BBC has been reporting on small boats arrivals since 2014. But the numbers were MUCH lower before we closed the legal routes.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Frankly, from where I stand he looks a LOT better than most serious US politicians. And nothing like Trump.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
But we've been trying to no-platform fascists since the beginning of social media.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Just spent ten minutes trying to decide whether this is a typo of a school supplies joke or a subtle take on haircuts, via "caul", which I'm too stupid to quite get. As accounting errors go, this bad but hardly on the scale of Worldcom.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Well I for one am glad that I saw the film before the three hour road trip with the grand sprogs. Perfectly acceptable fare. Moral, even.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Or perhaps we could just try being a tad less insufferable here? :0)
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Great article on an under reported issue. But "…confectionery (sweetened products eaten with the fingers) …"??? In my day, HMC&E were not so fancy as to eat their Victoria Sponge with knife and fork. What has the merge with the IR done to them?
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
They also serve…
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
If the government is picking up the tab for cheap labour, that must have some impact on investment decisions, surely? Isn't low productivity the other side of Osborne's "employment miracle" coin?
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
…, he gloated!
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social)
Just caught up with TMS. I imagine @anandmenon.bsky.social is being adorably insufferable.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Sir Hatt tells me that we've had the wrong sort of sunshine on the line…
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Gibber… photos.app.goo.gl/oH61MCgGnSY8...
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Whereas I, ever out of tune with the Zeitgeist, broke an ankle sauntering TO the pub. HOW they laughed! :0(
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
It's just screeds of red Luddism. Not that Ned Ludd was wrong, mind you…
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
I'm old enough to remember national euphoria when we thought he was the future. Now it's more grim resignation.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Also, WW2.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Although… It was Thatcher: she set up the economic settlement which is now running out of steam. Blair won the argument for social justice within that settlement. Osborne used the American crash to roll back on that argument ("we'll have justice just as soon as we can afford it…").
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
One event? The crash. Obviously. Before, we were prosperous, child poverty was 0 and the NHS was working. Since, poverty is out of control, all public services are at breaking point and people have lost confidence in government to the point where we committed Brexit and will soon commit Farage
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
"Mill" is just another word for "machine". It doesn't have to grind flour, or indeed grind anything. For example, the cotton mills of Lancashire, the powder mills which made gunpowder, water mills providing power for a huge range of factories before the age of steam.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
I've begun seeing this more and more recently. I (and my artificial friend) think you're wrong, but am open to persuasion.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Spagbol_Cambridge
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Time to deploy the emergency backup? AeroPress Coffee Maker Official Store – Aeropress UK share.google/j3FuAs5VjlzM...
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
It's a good rule of thumb that you should always give something that you'd like to get yourself.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Wickeduncle.com
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Hey! We oldies should stick together!
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Oh come ON: it's not like it's rocket science… :0)
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
This is why we have this outbreak of populists: the political class has been accepting the unacceptable for decades.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Fair enough.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Fair question. I'm afraid I take the jaundiced view that most fountains which aren't pumped are probably not being maintained, and therefore not functional. A broken tap is just a lump of rusty metal.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
What makes you think that the passage Daniel is mocking was written by a white man?
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Train and bike is perfectly feasible for most people, most of the time: A) trains can go far, fast B) au contraire, most modern illness results from LACK of exercise C) only when it's been compacted. By bloody CARS D) the disabled may well need powered and/or reconfigured bikes/trikes.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Oi! My Facebook is a life enhancing curation of friends and family supporting one another through life's triumphs and tragedies. And pets. And we are very much in that cohort. I'm guessing that there is a lot more of this than is visible to the outrage junkies. www.facebook.com/share/p/1C37...
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
And while we're about it, how about a triple lock for the minimum wage until it's at the relative poverty level?
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
We can but hope. It turns out that dry fountains (including drinking fountains) is a pet peeve I've been incubating for a while. Your rather lovely picture has brought it to the surface. Do enjoy your Sunday! #NormalServiceWillBeResumedAsSoonAsPossible
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
I'm all for pictures of swans. ESPECIALLY pictures as good as this one. There are, however, FAR too many fountains "just turned off". Why? How many are still functional? They were designed to show off the flow of water. Without that, they don't make sense. SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE! :0)
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
It's a pretty statue, but is it really a fountain if there's no water coming out of it? #LetTheWatersFlow
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Truth. Though of course, when that turns out to be 1. my side, and 2. something in which I'm invested my subconscious will fight to the death to prove it correct.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
The High Barnet wives are here…
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
I didn't read it, so we are as one. Nor did I expect you to answer the questions I posed. (Sorry if I gave that idea!) But someone must. I don't think Lewis' baying for the blood of the person who made the final mistake in a long chain will help us get to the truth or stop it happening again.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
In short, was the program structured to make such a breach unlikely or likely? Was the risk recognised and planned for seriously? Dumping on the soldier concerned may be a cop-out.
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Who had access to the list? What security was in place to keep it to a handful of "Need to Know" individuals? Did the program admin check individuals on the list to their units and send individual mails to the soldiers concerned, or did they distribute the whole list? etc etc etc
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
…What we need now is the sort of full enquiry that really gets to the bottom of what went wrong. Is this finally the time to establish an organisation to investigate egregious failures of administration as we investigate air accidents? An Administration Accidents Investigation Branch, as it were?
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
Great reporting, but disappointing to hear you baying for the blood of the responsible party. Which responsible party? - the party who sent the mail - the party who set up the security classification and access levels - some other key player whose role we don't yet know? This is a plane crash: …
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
#InterestingTimes
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
(The idea goes back to Socrates, obvs.)
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
I asked Copilot whether it is likely that your statement is true… copilot.microsoft.com/shares/KQGbc... It is clearly wrong about the time warp, but otherwise its response has the ring of truth. Which is what we always come down to in the end. :0) But inquiring minds want to know: did you meet him?
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
…In the long term, is this our route to UBI, with heavily taxed top ups for paid employment, and status coming from attention rather than money? #Postcapitalism
Will Ross (@twistedbyknaves.bsky.social) reply parent
It's hard to see how this can be avoided in the short to medium term, especially as the Minimum Wage continues to rise. As I understand it, it's still too low: a triple lock until it reaches the relative poverty threshold would have a certain charming symmetry. …