Amos
@amosduveen.bsky.social
1K followers 290 following 3K posts
Random wonderer. He/him/[expletive]
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Just so you so know, I plan to use this space much as I did the other one i.e. when I post, I'm often just trying to put my own thoughts in order. If you find that interesting or useful, that's great; if not, that's also great. I'm not here to chase engagement.
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The point is that, with most carriers, I would have *good information* on which to base my decision whether to travel or not. The fact of potentially fatal consequences if things go wrong is not the core of the argument, it's my ability to understand the actual likelihood of such an event.
Most of what we now know has only come to light after the incident and, with hindsight, no one should ever have gone near the thing ...but, crucially, that was not the state of public knowledge at the time.
We live in a world of regulations implemented and overseen by independent bodies. If I wanted to check on the manufacturing or safety record of an A380, I can, and I can trust what I'm told. None of that was true for this venture but the passengers would have had a reasonable expectation of it.
Questionable whether the passengers did actually know the risks. The CEO certainly ought to have done but I find it unlikely that the passengers would have known much about the design and manufacturing short cuts that made tragedy inevitable.
You've actually just made me hunt for the control of colour schemes (in the Page Layout tab). I'm fairly sure they change when you're moving stuff from one workbook into another, presumably because the workbooks have different default default colour settings ...which is bloody annoying.
To be fair, the Windows version does weird things with colours too sometimes.
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I notice all those brave journalists, Guido alumni, and Tory hacks, who manufactured a scandal - a dangerous one to national security, at that - out of gossip, supposition, and sticky tape, have gone ALL QUIET now the witness statements have been released and are exactly as the PM detailed at PMQs.
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“Copyright growing pains” is one hell of a euphemism for the biggest IP theft in history
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There is no need for a moral panic about the UK's welfare system.

Far from perfect but recent discourse is nuts

Spending is controlled, not spiralling

Worklessness is near record lows

My column www.ft.com/content/ee67...
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Facts…
The polar opposite of what drives most media coverage of the issue.
There is no need for a moral panic about the UK's welfare system.

Far from perfect but recent discourse is nuts

Spending is controlled, not spiralling

Worklessness is near record lows

My column www.ft.com/content/ee67...
What's this? A squirrel having an unexpected encounter with a pavement from a great height?

I hope @wulfhelm.bsky.social isn't taking notes...
Given the prevalence of Eastern grey squirrels in the city, the team suggests this is the most likely candidate, and propose renaming it the "Windy City Sidewalk Squirrel" in line with new evidence.
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You guys have probably been feeling the lack of opportunities to hear me wang on about borders for ages, right? Well here's an hour long interview with Ian Williams of the Foreign PRess Assocation to brighten your day
Nothing Sacred About Borders with Jonn Elledge
YouTube video by Foreign Press Association USA
www.youtube.com
I'm going to take a punt and suggest that it was probably written by an AI (likely Grok, knowing the far right).

When I've written and delivered my own speeches, I wrote in my own voice and so they flow quite naturally for me when I deliver them. Those words do not suit him as a speaker at all.
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Kinnock is one of the finest proponents of progressive thought in this country and the best prime minister we never had.
In 2010, an interviewer told Neil Kinnock that the Labour Party "never used to understand aspiration".

Kinnock gave an absolutely brilliant answer that should be learned by heart by every Labour MP. (0.42 to 1.22)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGhP...
Neil Kinnock goes berserk
YouTube video by Vadrigar
www.youtube.com
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In 2010, an interviewer told Neil Kinnock that the Labour Party "never used to understand aspiration".

Kinnock gave an absolutely brilliant answer that should be learned by heart by every Labour MP. (0.42 to 1.22)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGhP...
Neil Kinnock goes berserk
YouTube video by Vadrigar
www.youtube.com
That's something quite funny about this rabble-rousing speech being delivered with all verve and energy of an asthmatic sloth*.

* With apologies to sloths, obviously.
UKIP have been taken over by the COO of the UK branch of St Charlie's Turning Point
Very well played, Nandy.
INCREDIBLE clip.

<Richard Holden MP shouts like an angry man in a pub>

Lisa Nandy: "Can you calm down a bit, mate? You're shouting like an angry man in a pub."

Richard Holden: "That's not fair."

<continues to shout like an angry man in a pub>
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Some discussion in replies about cock-up vs conspiracy explanations.

So, fwiw, here is how I approach this as a law and policy commentator looking at law and policy messes.

And I have looked at many.

1.
The closest I got was about 5-6kg away from the top end of the "normal" range (about the time the profile pic here was taken). I had the body shape of a rake.

I have no idea what I would have looked like if my life hadn't turned to shit, and the weight loss with it.
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So now we’re told Britain’s economic woes come from too many plebs going to uni @mrjamesob.bsky.social

It’s the version of the idea that the financial crash was caused by too many libraries in Wolverhampton.

Blame the educated, not the powerful.

That’s the trick, isn’t it?

1/
@lbc.co.uk #lbc
Didn't that sign used to say "the French"?

Have your Christian wizards been reading books to you again?
Cult of bag ...a veiled Thatcher reference, perchance?
...is not really going to make any difference to legal enforcement (as distinct from the current illegal enforcement).

* Unskilled in immigration enforcement not in other things, obviously.

You need to have a much better plan, probably requiring a period of no enforcement as a new body works up.