Posts by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
(DIR) Post #B4m6AhzICA8QEo9mRU by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 0 repeats
@GhostOnTheHalfShell Hmmm... I've always seen the WTO as a bit maligned in that sense; it is certainly undermined by US actions (not least of all the continued problems with the Appellate Court caused by the US), but it has always had the ability (sometimes enacted) to be a much more democratic membership organisation - which is exactly why the US in the last decade has been working against its successful operation
(DIR) Post #B4mMBwGWC7fk4lp3js by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 0 repeats
As I used to tell my students: the key problem with economics is that to make analysis & predictions, many economists posit an idealised 'econoworld' & then later introduce elements to modify that analysis so that it starts to reflect real world conditions...But, this leads to a bias towards the idea that the best economic policies are those which are most likely to establish conditions nearer 'econoworld'.The disembedding of economics from society is its fatal flaw!#economics #politics
(DIR) Post #B4mWrbdeH4K5o59HiC by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
1 likes, 0 repeats
@lain yes, of course; there are many (and have been many) excellent & insightful heterodox economics who have understood both history & society as elements that must be part of an economic analysis
(DIR) Post #B4o96Zn1QAyXph3gG0 by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 1 repeats
Behind the Resident Doctors strike are essentially two issues; the lack of inflation-linking in pay over the last decade or so, leading to real-terms wage falls, and the lack of training places to help expand the numbers of RDs (and other medics) in the NHS.So, Keir Starmer has now threatened to pull 1,000 training places in the next 48 hours if the imminent industrial action is not called off... Hard to see how this makes any positive contribution!#NHS #strikes https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c23909pge35o
(DIR) Post #B4qXe0J0dvGOqJPdZ2 by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 1 repeats
As you will have noticed I'm not keen on Doug Gurr (who has just moved from interim to confirmed head of the Competition & Markets Authority) who spent much of his previous career running Amazon UK.The problem as @openDemocracy point out, he is only one of a cadre of ex-Amazon top executive have moved into regulatory positions.Even if the recuse themselves when there are direct conflicts of interest, the bigger problem is their Amazon mindset!#regulation #politics https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/doug-gurr-amazon-competition-market-authority-tech-regulation-watchdog-natural-history-museum/
(DIR) Post #B4sMB7xkNuuV0sPnrE by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 2 repeats
Having awarded a major contract to (controversial) data firm Palantir, a growing number of NHS staff are refusing to work with the firm's tools for ethical reasons, with wider passive resistance to its deployment.One manger said: 'People are saying, ‘I refuse to work on this software. You have to find something else for me to do’... They’re calling it a workplace adjustment. [as] if you were disabled & needed a different desk, they’re literally treating it like that'! #NHS #Palantir h/t FT
(DIR) Post #B4xtmzGLRqCtJQZflI by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 1 repeats
Its interesting that Iran shooting down one (or possibly two) US aircraft in its airspace is being treated as an 'escalation'.... Given Iran is clearly under attack from US/Israeli forces, defending its airspace is not so much an escalation as a perfectly reasonable defensive response (and certainly legal as far as international law is concerned).But the narrative remains, whatever the media may think its doing, one that privileges the US's positioning on the 'war'!#Iran #InternationalLaw
(DIR) Post #B50vCpoNtMKmxTGTZY by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 1 repeats
Let's start the week with a simple message from UN Women.Stop telling women how to live their life!The continued focus of the media on telling women what to do reflects a wide-spread sexism in global societies.... it won't be stoped abruptly, but behind much prejudice is this assumed male right.So, my friends, if you find yourself telling a women how to live their life ask yourself: have I the right to be offering unasked-for 'guidance' or 'advice'?#women #politics #feminism
(DIR) Post #B518okn6J1ibnM4lKC by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 1 repeats
RE: https://mstdn.social/@Free_Press/116357566395676395As I've noted before: the Strait of Hormuz is not blocked or closed, Iran is merely operating a tolling/gatekeeper system.... which should really be pretty familiar to the current incumbent of the Whitehouse & his big tech chums.#Iran #StraitOfHormuzRT: https://mstdn.social/users/Free_Press/statuses/116357566395676395
(DIR) Post #B53yVmlGL85yKvPd2W by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 0 repeats
As the Tangerine Tyrant's deadline approaches & we await to see how his threat will play out, my Q. is: is this President just a more normal POTUS but turned up to 11.Previous incumbents have dressed up actions with a range of justifications (which they have often sought to 'sell' to the international community); perhaps the TT's distinction is he can't be bothered to sugar the pill... so what we are seeing is the US explicitly doing what in the past it tried to mask?#Iran #USA #politics
(DIR) Post #B5F5bRq5sRNVbSsWzA by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 0 repeats
JD Vance says Iran did not accept the US terms for a peace deal, which immediately shows why talks failed;negotiation is seeking some middle way between opposing positions, but we know the Tangerine Tyrant's idea of a deal is to push for his solution regardless of the other side's interests or needs; its no surprise that JD Vance has taken the same line: not so much the Iranians 'playing' the US as the US playing the world into thinking they are *actually* interested in 'peace'.#Iran
(DIR) Post #B5FF7c58EKXqDxKCOG by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 1 repeats
Meanwhile in Hungary:the rule of Viktor Orbán has been comprehensively rejected by voters;Tisza led by Péter Magyar look to be gaining a super-majority allowing them to change the constitution (should they wish) and certainly unwind much of Orban's malign influence of Hungarian politics.Of course, other members of the EU will also be pleased that this illiberal wrecker is back in opposition.Its a sign that the that the Right ascendance is *never* irreversible.#Hungary #politics #EU
(DIR) Post #B5Ic6EkyLcl40r5VzM by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 1 repeats
And once again the UK finds life outside the EU is not the same as life inside (as a member)... well there's a surprise.For the steel industry the promises of the Brexiters (yes, I mean you, Facist Frog) will be ringing rather hollow as the EU raises tariffs & reduces quotas, ostensibly to combat excessive Chinese imports, but leaving the UK's steel sector (mostly foreign owned, though) caught in the crossfire!#brexit #steel #politics https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/apr/14/uk-steel-exports-eu-risk-tariffs-quotas
(DIR) Post #B5Pz9oKYCQgUGR7cpM by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 1 repeats
Another week, another story of the callousness of the British state; the already failing e-Visa system seems to be corrupting & dismissing people's right to stay in the UK, has this week halted a mother's return to be with her child, while stranding her in Germany with another.As so often the Home Office is quick to make mistakes but slow to rectify them with (seemingly) no regard to the human costs.The state's runs rough shod over normal people (again).#politics https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/17/woman-dusseldorf-uk-home-office-return-flight-blocked
(DIR) Post #B5SCbvoLfSK1IFid3Q by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 0 repeats
A (long) Sunday read:In the UK around 8% of all passenger kilometres travelled is by rail, the rest is by road (including buses); In Japan its nearly 28% by rail.What have the Japanese done to keep this high(er) share of rail use. In short, they have returned to a model of regulation that looks much more like how the railways were bought into mass use in C19th; Japan's geography may also play a role but there's much of interest in this analysis.#railways #politics https://worksinprogress.co/issue/why-japan-has-such-good-railways/
(DIR) Post #B5xY0O8y6IWV3LcmmW by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 1 repeats
If you wanted another reason to distrust Artificial Intelligence & its associated technologies it transpires that when a variety of AIs are asked about British politics the Fascist Frog is the most named politicians in their initial answers....Yup, the facist tech bros are skewing the political environment *again*#AI #NigelFarage #politics https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/may/04/ai-platforms-nigel-farage-prompted-uk-politics-study
(DIR) Post #B5y34ApqcV1bVzxxDM by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
1 likes, 1 repeats
Having had a little password difficulty on my wife's tablet this evening... this @tomgauld.bsky.social cartoon came to mind.... sometimes, trying to recall your password under pressure is just counterproductive!#computers #SocialMedia #passwords
(DIR) Post #B6I2x02iEYRfB2lFNg by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
1 likes, 0 repeats
John Kampfner, suggests politicians fail to really deal with problems because:'They worry about the markets (with reason); they fret about conventional media & social media (with less reason). They wait for bad things to happen, trying to anticipate what their critics might say of them in case they put a foot out of line. It’s a self-fulfilling spiral'!There's more to it than this, but this seem to capture an important aspect of our political problem(s)!#politics https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/14/europe-big-problems-japan-taiwan-care-systems
(DIR) Post #B6I2x0qLG28zexysjo by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 0 repeats
@h4890 @alex_p_roe Yes, term limits seem to me to be a good way of limiting the corruption.... however the issue of salaries is almost the opposite; too low pay means they are amenable to 'other payments' because in the elite in which they mix, they feel themselves to be poor - rather higher salaries bit no second jobs or other income would be a better option - pay them well, but don't allow them (for their limited terms) any other income
(DIR) Post #B6IWmzftkCvdlUEcAi by ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
0 likes, 0 repeats
How do you know when someone is lying?well, one key sign is they keep changing their story... and so the Fascist Frog's latest 'story' of why Chris Harborne's gave him £5mn personally has presented another rationale for the payment....No wonder the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner has launched an investigation.#NigelFarage #politics h/t FT