Phil Thane ✅

Retired techie writer/author/teacher. #Boater #canal lover and granddad.

Phil Thane ✅ (npub1eqh…46q0)">HTTPS://justmytoots.com/Phil Thane ✅ (npub1eqh…46q0)

Seren-dipity website: https://pthane.weebly.com/contact
Location: Potton, Beds, UK
Header image: My boat, Seren, at the Bedford River Festival 2022:

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npub1eqht2ujtkpua5uyy90n9dppusm9tf8pdp48qtg5gfzdhhjlj3hps2246q0

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pthane_at_toot.wales@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2026-05-04 11:11:44 UTC

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we have Starbucks, Costa, and other US coffee shops here in the UK. They seem to try to provide an American idea if an Italian 'experience'. Based on NY, California and Chicago Italian diaspora. They are nothing like the bars and cafes in Italy, and nor is the coffee Italian. We also get 'genuine Chicago-style pizza' whatever the hell that is.

2026-05-01 13:56:24 UTC

Any chemists out there? Various 'lifestyle' TV shows advocate using a paste of sodium bicarbonate+vinegar as a bathroom/kitchen cleaner. My wife thinks it is a good idea. I don't. My limited knowledge of chemistry (O level, 1968) says that the bicarb will neutralise the vinegar producing CO2, H2O and sodium acetate. Which I don't think has any cleaning properties. So what's the point?
#household #cleaning #chemistry

2026-04-23 19:14:30 UTC

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no, but around 1990 I was teaching basic tech at high school. I built an output box for the BBC Micro using power transistors connected to the output port. Then got 12V DC - 240V AC solid state relay to connect mains stuff.

2026-04-10 12:17:15 UTC

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Would that be this wine https://www.vivino.com/en/haut-brion-pessac-leognan-premier-grand-cru-classe/w/1152755?year=1983&price_id=40615759&bottle_count=1&change_ship_to_country_code=gb&msclkid=0b9d209813f31f6e8c464940fa06e805

2026-03-28 16:49:44 UTC

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I've seen that twice at the Museé d'Orsay. Love it. Rare to see working people actually working in art of that period.

2026-03-04 21:28:56 UTC

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How about no ex-pat rescue missions without taxation?

2026-02-27 12:29:56 UTC

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We keep electing politicians who believe that public expenditure should be viewed as a cost to be reduced rather than an investment and would rather make small changes that will just about keep the show on the road until after the next election than do anything that might yield long term benefits.

2026-02-05 14:03:21 UTC

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I hope so but with FPTT elections the Greens will struggle. In this constituency any Tory is pretty much guaranteed the job. The previous moderate Tory was sacked by B Johnson for being a 'remainer', the Brexity financier parachuted in increased the majority. When the boundaries were redrawn recently to 'balance' the demographics and the Tories lost the GE disastrously he still hung on here. There is no local Green party branch.

2026-02-01 15:13:58 UTC

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Another weird London tale. Working in IT in a village in NE Wales I had a potential customer grumbling on the phone because he couldn't find our head office address on our website. I explained. 'Yes,' he said, 'but that's your Wales office, where's your London head office?' 'I explained again. 'Oh I can't be dealing with a company like that all decent companies have their head office in London'.

2026-02-01 15:10:18 UTC

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Londoners are weird. I was born and raised in Cheshire but went to college in Surrey. Over fish'n'chips one evening a student from East London said it must be a real treat for a northerner to have fresh fish because living so far from Billingsgate we'd never normally get it.

2026-02-01 10:38:45 UTC

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When I worked in NE Wales we had a customer from London who wanted to visit. Pre sat-nav etc. He knew Wales was over the Severn Bridge so he got on the M4 at Chiswick and drove to Swansea then phoned me to ask for directions. He couldn't believe it was more than 4 hours away. Hadn't realised that 'Wales' was a country, he seemed to think it was a city, and obviously therefore smaller than London.

2026-01-29 16:09:46 UTC

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What was the story here? National security? Fruit farming? Or other?

2026-01-29 09:22:51 UTC

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Probably depends where you were and what was happening in your life. I escaped a job I had grown to hate in 1998 and in '99 moved to live close to the new job. Loved the town, the house, the job and the people. We had a still fresh Labour govt, Welsh devolution and Cool Cymru. The 2000s were good to me. I lost the job in '06 but went freelance which I loved even more. The '08 financial crash didn't seriously impact us though obviously many were hurt. Life was good until 2016.

2026-01-27 12:46:57 UTC

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Farage & Co out-manoeuvred the commission during the Brexit campaign too. UK is good at creating laws but very poor at enforcing them. I wonder sometimes if it's deliberate. It's useful have tough laws you can use on 'them' but quietly ignore when one of 'us' does something wrong
@npub12pw…zvxn

2025-12-23 14:39:46 UTC

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One of the few good things? But they brought us a new king, hundreds of castles, an aristocracy... Oh I see what you mean.

2025-11-18 15:12:54 UTC

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Thanks largely to 'Maggie's' policies I spent the 80s living hand to mouth. Couldn't afford to buy cocktails, go to gigs or even buy CDs of the iconic bands. Fuck the 80s. And especially fuck Thatcher and those in politics who even now try to preserve her disastrous legacy.

2025-11-16 14:01:06 UTC

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I think we can define a country as safe when the Home Secretary is happy to take a family holiday there without a security detail or an armoured car.

2025-11-04 11:35:17 UTC

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2. Having reliable inputs mean that a standard operating procedure using standardised equipment will produce identical products every time.
3. The market expects standardised products.
None of that applies to education, at any level.

2025-11-04 11:30:21 UTC

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Nearly 30 years ago the then minister of education tried this industrial analogy nonsense on schools. I wrote to the TES pointing out some differences.
1. Goods Inward departments check that all ingredients, materials, components and sub-assemblies meet their specification.

2025-11-04 11:24:26 UTC

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Once again it's government trying to copy industry practices such as 'just in time' and 'right sizing'. Fine for production managers who can control their supply line and adjust output if supplies are not delivered just in time. Not so good when patients need treatment just in time (do they don't die) and your hospital staff was right sized for a dull Thursday afternoon in May.

2025-10-31 19:51:58 UTC

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I'm increasingly wondering if the only solution is to ban outright all private medical care. Once we've had a few politicians and a princess or two die in a corridor in a puddle of piss maybe they'll give it some attention.

2025-10-31 19:48:36 UTC

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I'm 73. What chance we'll elect a government capable of sorting this before my time is up? Or will we still be tightening belts and making difficult choices? 🤔

2025-10-30 07:59:44 UTC

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Trying to make them understand I wanted to talk to researchers and engineers about their products and processes was very difficult because they couldn't see how that would boost the share price. When they did eventually find someone from 'production' an investor relations person would often sit in on the call to gloss anything they considered unhelpful.
I realised US companies put a lot more effort into the business of doing business than they do into their core operations. 2/2

2025-10-30 07:53:36 UTC

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When I used to (phone) interview people from US companies for a couple of energy industry magazines I discovered a major difference in organisation. UK/EU companies usually have a public relations or media department. In the US they tend to have 'Investor Relations' instead whose role is to put the best possible gloss on quarterly figures and send out photos of the CEO and CFO looking smug. The sun obviously is too boost the share price and keep the shareholders happy. 1/2

2025-10-25 09:00:30 UTC

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"How the hell do you accidentally put rat poison in your chilli paste?"
You have a rat infestation in the factory and put poison down to deal with it without taking sufficient precautions to keep the poison away from your stores and processing lines?

2025-10-24 13:30:57 UTC

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1974 we started married life in an HMO but at the time it was just a shared 2 bedroom flat. We rented the former lounge/diner and two single women rented the bedrooms. Shared bathroom and kitchen. It was a nice flat but very crowded. The owners tried to evict us all to sell it but back then there were tenants rights. Things have not improved in 50 years.

2025-10-12 08:05:19 UTC

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Depends on the media I guess. Living in a small, Conservative, Brexity, middle-class town where else would I get to interact with emeritus professors and leftie economists? Worryingly though most of my peers seem to get their opinions from the Mail Online, GBeebies, Facebook and CNN.

2025-10-03 07:52:35 UTC

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Probably no relation but check out (Dr) Molly Miller on Youtube. An actual academic Dr. she teaches guitar and leads the Molly Miller Trio playing electric guitar with a rotating line-up of friends/colleagues on drums and bass. Hard to define but jazz/pop? No vocals but fantastic instrumental arrangements. Recommend Mrs Robinson or Witchita Lineman for starters. If you know the original tunes it makes the arrangement and improv more astounding.

2025-09-19 16:23:35 UTC

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A couple of years ago I damaged the side of my car manoeuvring around a boatyard. I informed the insurance co and had their preferred bodyshop give an estimate. They quoted for new doors pushing the price higher than the car's value. Rather than accept the insurance write off value I cancelled the claim and had a cheaper repair job done. Following year the insurance premium jumped up sharply even though I hadn't claimed a penny. Rapacious bastards.

2025-09-18 20:36:41 UTC

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Thermite? The stuff they used to use to weld railway lines? Is connected to US politics how? (Asking for a confused Brit).
@npub19zu…0jum

2025-09-10 15:56:44 UTC

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Yup. Employ good people and treat them well.

2025-09-02 20:08:18 UTC

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Every week wife puts Sewing Bee on then falls asleep leaving me trying to ignore it by faffing about on Mastodon. Aaannnd... She's off, 7 minutes in. Is this a record?

2025-08-30 11:26:09 UTC

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So instead of an incompetent fascist we're going to have to deal with a competent fascist. Not sure that's an improvement.
#Trump #Vance

2025-08-30 07:30:56 UTC

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Some for sure but if like to see a determined campaign and more government support in the UK and EU for locally based 'cloud' services and FOSS. Taxes on profits made by internet advertising should be taxed locally too. AFAIK at present a company can pay Google/Meta/whoever in the US, or in tax haven, to place ads that will be viewed hundreds of times by millions of UK residents but the advertising revenue isn't taxed here despite UK being the source of the profit.

2025-08-29 10:35:11 UTC

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I wonder how much damage to the UK would result from an embargo on US products? We could survive without iPhones and Teslas, there are plenty of other brands in the market. What else do we import from the US? Software and IT services would be an issue for many but software that has already been bought will continue to work and services could be provided here or in other friendly countries.

2025-08-27 15:27:59 UTC

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Nice picture, shame about the oysters. I had one, once. We were invited to dinner in France by our friends' friends. Very posh house, lovely dining room, and six oysters each for starters. My wife had 11.

2025-08-26 18:00:59 UTC

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Our health authority, Bedfordshire, has contracted Circle to provide some Musculoskeletal treatments. I've been referred twice in the last few years. I've no complaints about the treatment but it rankles. Even though I'm not paying directly it feels wrong.

2025-08-14 15:59:57 UTC

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This is the same Stephen Pollard who six months ago wrote a piece praising Trump's idea of removing all Palestinians from Gaza, flattening everything and building a beach resort complex.
@npub1qj0…wryw @npub1tvn…zqvw @npub1zxn…0kqm

2025-08-13 11:31:55 UTC

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Also rarely mentioned is that about 5% of immigrants arrive by irregular routes, most fly in with work or study visas. Those who come by small boat apply for asylum because of intolerable situations in their home countries. Almost all are granted because their plight is real. All the stuff about hotels, illegal working etc are due to the Home Office being slow to process them and the government enacting a law to stop them working while they wait. Not their fault.

2025-08-11 10:41:45 UTC

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There was a plan a decade ago to build an off-shore HVDC ring main round GB to connect wind and solar, with spurs up each estuary to feed the cities and towns. Plus connecting to current and future international interconnects that run to Ireland and the continent. Yes it's expensive but it would be a great investment.
@npub1qqz…4kpw @npub1pq4…2mle @npub12pw…zvxn

2025-08-11 07:39:22 UTC

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Not an economist but MMT has it that governments create money by spending on government activities. In many economics that is largely on health, social care, education and infrastructure. None of these are US government priorities so it seems to me they rely on massive expenditure on defence (and aggression) and on payments to arms and equipment manufacturers to keep the economy running. It's a martial state.

2025-08-03 10:36:24 UTC

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I'm not a fan of ID cards but with some provisos they could be better than a phone app.
1. They are issued free, unlike phones
2. There is no need for one big centralised database, though govt and Palentir would probably insist on one. They could be issued at local govt offices where you appear in person to be verified.

2025-07-28 10:18:48 UTC

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I think the only solution would be a cross-party, long-term commitment to fund the NHS properly, to fund training, to build new facilities, invest in IT and better management practices. But above all stop using it as political theatre. Chances of that happening? About zero.

2025-07-27 17:55:34 UTC

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Until one time I realised they were now into the 4th month for some of my invoices and queried it. The cheerful accounts lady said they had a 'cashflow situation' this month so they weren't paying anyone. So hundreds of freelancers each due a few hundred quid bailed out the publisher. Isn't capitalism wonderful?

2025-07-27 17:51:33 UTC

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When I was freelancing got magazines and websites some paid promptly but others were a nightmare. Worst was a large online publisher with dozens of editors handling hundreds of sites. End of each month each editor made a list of who had written for each site and how much was due. Following month accounts dept collated those to produce a total for each contributor. Which was paid at the end of the following month. 1/2

2025-07-16 17:35:31 UTC

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Around the same time they merged GCE (O Levels) and CSE into GCSE. This supposed to be a radical change and much fairer. Teachers' unions and local authorities pressed the minister for money to get new GCSE textbooks and other materials for this new course. But we were told no, just put the children into sets and give the top set the old O Level books and the other sets the CSE books. So much for radical improvement. 2/2

2025-07-16 17:30:24 UTC

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When I started teaching (1974) boys did wood and metalwork and tech drawing, girls did home ec, typing and child care. That was a hang over from C19 and had to go so the super intelligent minister of education K Joseph(?) around 1985(?) decided everyone should do all of them. In the same time. 1/2

2025-07-14 16:57:08 UTC

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When I read stuff like this about the US it makes no sense. You have a world class education system, a (flawed) democracy, a free media and free speech. Yet people are somehow beguiled by the maddest conspiracy theories.

2025-07-08 13:31:40 UTC

If you're interested in UK canals and boats I've got an 8 page feature in #CanalBoat magazine, August issue, out now, about a plastic narrowboat. £4.99 from all good newsagents.

2025-06-17 09:57:37 UTC

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I suspect it would be impossible to enforce. Large corporations with highly paid CEOs would outsource work below a certain wage level to smaller companies whose CEOs earned less. And so on down the food chain to the 'gig' economy workers.

2025-06-06 20:19:12 UTC

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Why do people get into arguments without agreeing the vocabulary? In everyday usage paedophilia is understood as desiring sex with under age people. But the age of consent is a legal thing and varies from one country to the next. In the UK it's 16. BUT the medical/legal definition of paedophilia is about sexual attraction to pre-pubescent children. Desiring sex with under age children as defined in your jurisdiction is a crime. Immoral too but not always paedophilia.

2025-05-29 11:38:57 UTC

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I was in Altrincham a few years after the last steam engines had been retired and there was that smell in the air. People stopped and sniffed, many started walking towards it, me included. It got stronger as the crowd approached the station. We piled onto the platform - to watch a maintenance crew install concrete railway sleepers and burn the old wooden ones.

2025-05-26 17:26:52 UTC

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The lack of ambition is staggering. WW1 showed up how poorly educated many Brits were and prompted a post war education act. The dire state of housing in the 1920s and 30s brought about mass council house building. After WW2 there was a lot of rebuilding needed but still the govt was able to create the NHS, encourage local govt care homes and pass *and fund* another education act. Today's problems are minor by comparison but all our politicians compete to spend as little as possible

2025-05-07 10:06:04 UTC

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I have had some advice from Macmillan nurses which was useful and thankfully I am reasonably fit, otherwise healthy and financially secure so I don't need their help any longer. However I am angry about the way services previously provided by govt are now reliant on the 'third sector'. Why do vital public services have to rely on fund raising concerts, charity shops, sponsored events and begging letters?

2025-04-17 07:21:05 UTC

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I wish they'd implement local tests here and soon. I have 3 different conditions treated in 2 hospitals that require regular blood tests. They're about 30 mins by car in opposite directions. They won't cooperate because they're in different trusts. My GP practice is only a short walk but will only do tests requested by their own doctors. It's a waste of my time and petrol and makes extra work for the NHS.
[@RussCheshire](https://mastodon.scot/@RussCheshire )

2025-04-12 10:19:59 UTC

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What the Thatcherites never understood was that ownership of our nationalised industries wasn't itself a problem. The problems were poor management and under-investment. Both due to the actions and priorities of our governments. Rather than admit their shortcomings they just washed their hands and walked away
[@RussCheshire](https://mastodon.scot/@RussCheshire )

2025-04-09 08:06:51 UTC

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Dunning-Kruger-by-proxy, is that a thing?
[@RussCheshire](https://mastodon.scot/@RussCheshire )

2025-03-23 12:05:24 UTC

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Yes but look at the positive side. If local governments fail to provide the services they cannot afford then 'we' can blame them. If they do provide the services and go bust we will accuse them of mismanagement. It's the Westminster/Whitehall way.
@npub19mu…p06m

2025-03-11 11:42:15 UTC

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If you swapped the west country for east Anglia and London, I think a lot of Brits from the North of England, Wales and Scotland would be ok about it. 😉
[@FSonder](https://mastodon.ie/@FSonder )

2025-03-07 07:14:25 UTC

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Possibly explains former UK prime minister Boris Johnson. Though it doesn't explain why anyone ever thought someone with those characteristics would make a good PM.

2025-03-01 08:03:48 UTC

I've just signed this petition to cancel Trump's state visit to the UK. Will you add your name and share too?
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/no-2nd-state-visit-for-donald-trump?source=web-share-api-button&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_source=web_share_api&share=af87f8cd-29ca-4f4d-84ae-a7a1d0bb4ace

2025-02-21 10:57:20 UTC

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qs1J612nZs
[@RussCheshire](https://mastodon.scot/@RussCheshire )

2025-02-21 08:28:01 UTC

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There's a great video of this on YT but even better, someone has edited footage from that combined with their own sound track to make it appear that Brubeck and co were playing an instrumental version of 'Golden Brown' 20 years before The Stranglers wrote it. It's extraordinarily well done.
[@RussCheshire](https://mastodon.scot/@RussCheshire )

2025-02-09 13:11:07 UTC

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Apparently (according to my French friend in Provence) the dialects used in the Mediterranean coast, Catalan, Provencal, etc remained mutually comprehensible so that sailors and dockers could communicate long after French, Italian and Spanish had differentiated too much to be useful.
@npub1ewm…swvj @npub1dgh…gkrs @npub1hxa…c42x @npub13cf…nrp5

2025-02-08 11:38:27 UTC

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Not that simple. Machiavelli wrote in the 16th century and entrepreneur was used in English in the 19th. However Machiavelli wrote in Italian and entrepreneur came to English from Latin via French so it's very likely there was an Italian word for it at the time Machiavelli was writing.
@npub13cf…nrp5

2025-01-30 08:20:32 UTC

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Reeves is one of those mad economists who believes we can have infinite growth on a finite planet. Growth uses more energy, more resources and puts more waste into the ground, the water and the air. It doesn't take a genius to see that that cannot go on forever. The choice therefore is to plan for degrowth, conservation and fair distribution, which politically we are incapable of doing, or just wait until mass extinctions do the degrowth for us. Painfully.

2025-01-28 11:28:57 UTC

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A lot of green development seems to be held up by people's aesthetic objections. I do understand, 30 years ago when I spent a lot of time hiking the idea of turbines on the hills was anathema but we have to get over it. Our scenery is almost entirely man made already so there's no logical reason why we can't remake it differently. If that means pumped storage in a national park then so be it.
[@RussCheshire](https://mastodon.scot/@RussCheshire )

2025-01-18 12:39:25 UTC

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I realised how one sided it was when I had an informal 'interview' with another company and found that the MD there had already spoken to my ex-employer and had heard their side of the story.
[@RussCheshire](https://mastodon.scot/@RussCheshire )

2025-01-18 12:36:24 UTC

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Good, should be banned. I fell out with my employer nearly 20 years ago and took an NDA and 3 month's salary to drop my unfair dismissal claim. The NDA was to protect the company reputation at the expense of mine. Interview question, 'Can you tell me why you left your last job'. 'Er, no.' The whole thing was trivial for the company but hard for me. And now I've broken the NDA because the first rule of NDA is no-one talks about their NDA.
[@RussCheshire](https://mastodon.scot/@RussCheshire )

2024-12-29 08:26:20 UTC

Politics is arguing about different ways to achieve the wrong thing. #ukpolitics #ukpol #growth #degrowth #ClimateChange

2024-12-24 18:37:04 UTC

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"Dwy ddim yn siarad Cymraeg". That tends to confuse people.
[@John_Loader](https://ohai.social/@John_Loader ) @npub13cf…nrp5

2024-12-18 08:30:11 UTC

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I went to college in 1970 on a full grant. The economy was struggling but it was accepted that the country needed teachers, medics, engineers, architects... and, yes, writers, artists, actors, directors too. And in order to get a sufficient supply of them of decent quality there had to be grants so smart people from poor families could study. Of course I'm grateful for the benefits it brought me but more than that I think my work as a teacher was valuable to society.
@npub124a…ezj7

2024-12-17 11:48:49 UTC

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Our bronze age ancestors built in the fens - on stilts. In places where flooding was less common but still possible medieval houses were built with a raised floor and a semi basement that could be used for storage most of the time but could be emptied and allowed to flood from time to time. We seem to have lost the knack of building flood resilient housing.
@npub124a…ezj7

2024-12-17 08:35:15 UTC

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I wish the UK government would be as clear. All our foreign policies seem to be based on fudge, triangulation, appeasement and arms sales.
@npub1t3c…reak

2024-12-04 15:19:48 UTC

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Give it a century, maybe less, and the Arctic will be the new Mediterranean. Costa del Siberia and island hopping across Northern Canada will replace Spain and Greece as holiday destinations. If there's anyone alive who can afford to holiday.
@npub1p09…m5vl

2024-11-22 08:26:02 UTC

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I'm ashamed that I live in a country that has to hold a massive TV charity event to fund children's services, has food banks in every town and care homes on the verge of collapse yet thinks it's fine to spaff £72m on a fancy dress parade.

2024-11-21 07:49:42 UTC

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Same with steering a boat into a narrow canal lock. I can do it beautifully 20 times a day but if there's someone watching...

2024-11-20 09:45:03 UTC

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Maybe 'Woke Sandwiches' should replace 'Dead Cat' as a description of a distraction technique.
@npub1x4t…7ev0

2024-11-17 16:09:35 UTC

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There was a discussion on R4 this morning about journalists leaving X for Blue Sky, but no mention of Mastodon. Considering they are paid to find stuff out they aren't very inquisitive, they just go for the first brand name alternative they've heard of. I suppose the PR muppets do the same and that's how we get our 'news '.
@npub124a…ezj7

2024-11-13 10:57:04 UTC

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Has he actually looked at how hospitals work these days? In the last few years I've been treated at four different ones because each is the regional centre for certain conditions. My local hosp, Bedford, sent me to Luton for oral cancer surgery, to Cambridge for prostate cancer radiotherapy and to Stevenage for renal anemia treatment. How can 'Ofhosp' or whatever they call it compare them? The man's a fool, but dangerous.
@npub19mu…p06m

2024-11-11 12:37:18 UTC

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US and I assume Canadian gallons were always smaller than UK gallons. In the oil business a 'Barrel' is 50 US gallons but only 45 UK gallons.
@npub15f9…lgcr @npub1qyt…62yq @npub1cwv…a3vs @npub1p23…ecej @npub17tv…q7ve @npub1m3w…f6sd @npub13cf…nrp5 @npub1rmr…8jg0 [@RL_Dane](https://fosstodon.org/@RL_Dane ) @npub1khp…t7y2 @npub1uk7…7mx4 @npub1nhl…mqr9

2024-11-11 08:03:34 UTC

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In 1971 I had a temporary job in a shop selling painting & decorating supplies. We adopted decimal currency that year and started selling paint in litres. We had a simple card on the shelves 'A litre is 10% smaller than a quart. 5l is 12% bigger than a gallon.'
@npub15f9…lgcr @npub1qyt…62yq @npub1cwv…a3vs @npub1p23…ecej @npub17tv…q7ve @npub1m3w…f6sd @npub13cf…nrp5 @npub1rmr…8jg0 [@RL_Dane](https://fosstodon.org/@RL_Dane ) @npub1khp…t7y2 @npub1uk7…7mx4 @npub1nhl…mqr9

2024-11-10 08:41:42 UTC

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Do they still measure racecourses in furlongs?
@npub1p23…ecej @npub17tv…q7ve @npub1m3w…f6sd @npub13cf…nrp5 @npub1c2n…ymf0 @npub1rmr…8jg0 [@RL_Dane](https://fosstodon.org/@RL_Dane ) @npub1khp…t7y2 @npub1uk7…7mx4 @npub1nhl…mqr9

2024-11-05 15:16:09 UTC

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Making Assault Great Again.
[@sentient_water](https://neurodifferent.me/@sentient_water )

2024-10-29 15:46:25 UTC

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At my college the usual suspects for anything requiring brawn were the Rugby club. But we also had an Outdoor Activities club that specialised in climbing things. There was a huge tree on campus, like a Christmas tree but 30m high. A common stunt was to put a plastic dustbin upside down on top of it. Until it was banned and dire threats issued, whereupon the bin was replaced with a different colour every night for a week.
@npub1r9l…xyqd @npub14zt…xwst @npub1c2n…ymf0 @npub13cf…nrp5 @npub1nhl…mqr9

2024-10-28 21:17:14 UTC

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At college in the 70s one of the lecturers had a Mini. One night it disappeared. Police called, no trace. Following morning the guy is giving a lecture on stage. Mid-way the curtain behind him slides open and there's his car. Took the garage mechanics ages to get it out as the car was slightly wider than the hall doors. Eventually they realised it would fit if tipped on its side!
@npub1c2n…ymf0 @npub13cf…nrp5 @npub1nhl…mqr9

2024-10-26 08:11:42 UTC

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Also whenever something goes wrong it's always someone else's problem and the person you're talking to cannot/will not try to fix it because 'it's a third party responsibility'. Services clustered around the NHS are particularly good at this.

2024-10-21 15:31:28 UTC

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'Sensible, pragmatic and value for money'. Three reasons why it won't happen. Instead Streeting will invite the usual suspects to 'bid' and award a monolithic contract that will be a licence to rip off the NHS for decades whilst selling our data to other tech corps (or just giving it to the CIA.) #NHS #Streeting
@npub1prm…a9wj

2024-10-21 11:24:48 UTC

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Rather than one massive database which will inevitably leak, be misused or hacked the NHS should take a look at Mastodon and the Fediverse generally. Make each GP surgery an 'instance' where a patients' notes are held but allow other authorised instances (clinics/hospitals etc) to read old notes and add new ones. If the protocol is made available to all then there can be genuine competition to provide hardware and software. No need for one huge single point of failure. #NHS #Streeting

2024-10-18 08:52:46 UTC

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Nouns to verbs. Probably always happened but hearing a new one sets my teeth on edge. 30 years ago my head of department said, 'I'll diary that.' I'll never forgive him.
@npub1vcm…fnhh @npub13cf…nrp5

2024-10-16 08:04:42 UTC

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Decades ago we were hosting a French couple on an exchange visit and as the family cook I was nervous about feeding them. One day they went on an organised picnic and host families were asked to provide suitable food. I included home-made Pork Pie and explained it was a UK speciality but it's ok if they don't like it. When they returned I was told, "Delicieux, mais ce n'est pas anglais. C'est paté de porc en croute".
@npub1c6z…q3gp

2024-10-10 12:14:37 UTC

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To much to hope Tory MPs might simply vote for the person they wanted?
@npub1n3t…hzjz

2024-10-07 16:44:27 UTC

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Have you any real science to back up your view? Not internet blogs and socials but something like the reference I sent from a reputable govt agency or university?
@npub1d3r…q2y4 @npub13cf…nrp5

2024-10-07 15:34:34 UTC

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Food regulation in the US is shockingly bad viewed from Europe and maybe your oil is worse than ours but this is reassuring for UK consumers. https://www.food.gov.uk/research/research-projects/rapid-risk-assessment-what-is-the-long-term-risk-of-erucic-acid-to-uk-consumers-if-sunflower-oil-in-food-is-substituted-with
[@GatekeepKen](https://mastodon.social/@GatekeepKen ) @npub13cf…nrp5

2024-10-07 14:20:35 UTC

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Canola is North American for Rape-seed oil isn't it? It's fine in sensible quantities and in the UK at least you can get local, cold-pressed oil from farm shops.
@npub13cf…nrp5

2024-10-01 14:37:34 UTC

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Johnson has always preferred style and presentation over substance. He can turn a nifty phrase but planning anything is too much like hard work and therefore he achieves very little. I'm still surprised more people didn't see through him sooner.

2024-09-26 11:21:27 UTC

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Streeting's diagnosis is correct but I have no confidence in any treatment plan he might implement. And thanks to the way Devo funding works it'll hit Wales and Scotland too.
@npub1ktm…xkuc #NHS #Streeting #health

2024-09-21 14:18:31 UTC

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I guess the fluff makes a kind of fraction grating. Cool isn't it?
@npub1hg6…nwn8

2024-09-19 07:38:58 UTC

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Given the Troubles is it really a good idea to promote language division?
@npub1x4t…7ev0

2024-09-09 20:11:37 UTC

Sept 28th March for Rejoin UK in London. I've bought my coach ticket and ordered a flag. Hope I don't get arrested for 'slow marching' because slow is how I walk these days! #EU #RejoinEU