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Deep into the second series of the fabulous HBO Max medical drama, The Pitt, this line popped out from a character & I wanted to share it for its wisdom & poignancy:

'While every old person knows what it is like to be young, no young person can know what it is like to be old...'

That is not only a truism, but its a really instructive way of understanding the trouble that society often has with ensuring our older members have the best life they can....

#OldAge #politics #society

Mel Brooks is turning 100 years old tomorrow. Everyone knows and loves his comedy. Not everyone knows he served as a US Army combat engineer in WWII and was in the Battle of the Bulge.

Happiest of birthdays to the GOAT of mocking Nazis. ❤️

https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-hilarious-way-mel-brooks-taunted-nazis-on-the-world-war-ii-battlefield/

Dan Jarvis has been appointed to be the Defence Minister because he had gripperable hands and loveable, and from his back is a piece of string that, if pulled, says "Vote Labour"

At some point in the future the entirety of humanity will be asking, “And you just… let them?”

Don’t suppose 🐸 has been heard calling for the “rage” over these abominable people - can’t think why?🤔

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp9ve3ylv57o

#ReformRacism

Andy Burnham has accused Tony Blair of not understanding the role of inequality in politics, but actually for the Blairites (and Blue Labour & other Right Labour factions), inequality is a key economic lever or incentive, albeit differing by class.

Blair & his familiars are fully paid up believers in a model of economic motivation where the rich need more money to motivate them, but the poor must have less to force them into economic activity.

He's Thatcher's child!

#politics #economics

One of the periodic issues in the retail fuel market is how prices 'go up like a rocket & come down like feather' in response to energy crises.

But, fuel companies likely make little (extra) profit as prices rise as they are under scrutiny & many consumers shop around for lower prices.... however, as prices come down more slowly, fuel suppliers are under less scrutiny & consumers less worried about prices, so this is when the super-profits are quietly made.

#politics
h/t Tim Hardford/FT

You can argue for and against VAR but one thing that is indisputable is that it's made the experience of watching football worse.

@antjbro

Indeed, the supermarket sector has maintained a pretty steady (albeit not hyper) profit level for centred on around 8% net for its trading operations..... but your second point is key: our political class lives in a bubble where the opulent lifestyle of the wealthy is seen both as normal *and* and aspiration (for individual politicians & others in the political class)

@antjbro @wonka @Strandjunker in monster inc they needed children to be afraid. Turned out they actually didn’t, that was just the first thing they found that worked and they never tried to move past it.

This now needs to be changed to have Farage pulling down the flag instead of Bunter.

THAT'S RIGHT, MOTHERFUCKERS, I WON A WEBBY AWARD. Here's my 5-word speech. #webbys

Wes Streeting would be the final nail in Labour's coffin. More neoliberalism, more privatisation, more austerity, more grovelling to economic power, when we desperately want change.

Reform getting power is like a dog chasing a car. They don't know what to do when they actually catch the car except stand there barking at it.

#UKPol

Sunday 3rd - been waiting for this for so long (about 40 years - a long story) going to see Jethro Tull in concert, it’s a biggie for me.
Best thing is daughter is coming with me - she’s 23 but really likes Ian Anderson, she’s a flautist who’s learned many of his techniques (much to my pride and pleasure). It’s going to be a great night.
#JethroTull #livemusic #progrock

Well done Hungary on a) voting out Orbán, and b) not listening to that American sofa fucker 😏

If you think inflation coming down means prices are coming down, then you're underestimating your own stupidity.