The Off Topic Topic

[Josquius]

Which again is a red flag about working there :p

I've told them I'm employed and not looking to switch anymore. This job would be a slight diagonal backwards step from where I am, unlikely to be better on most fronts.  And they were looking at a multi stepped process with practical activities which...I aint got time for that. Better for them too than me wasting their time.

[Jacob]

5 months to get back to you is not a red flag, IMO. As others have said, that's just the way things work sometimes.

The "diagonal step slightly backwards" combined with "multi-stepped process with practical activities" when you're content with your current role is plenty of reason to give it a miss though.

[Josquius]

I had a thought yesterday about trying to investigate whether Newcastle fits the qualifiers for a 15 minute city. Rather than cycling I am just sticking with 15 minutes walk and I decided I'd start with pubs; as surely we qualify there?
My idea for tracking this was simply to use a walking time map and try to paint the city by plotting pubs. Not every pub need be plotted, just aim for those that will let me paint a wide area. Ideally of course this would be done with a script but...I can't do that. And its just a little half hour thing rather than a serious scientific project.

As it turns out...
Map link



Fascinatingly...The west end is a huge void of pubs.

This part of the city is of course well known for a reason.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/maps/choropleth/identity/religion/religion-tb/muslim
Nevertheless there do remain significant chunks of non-muslims living there. Amazing to see how much of a pub wasteland it has become.

[The Larch]

That looks like a very cool map tool, J.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I used to live up that way and there were two pubs on that stretch of the Westgate road; the Mill Inn (functional working-class boozer that I had the occasional pint in) and the Balmoral somewhat nearer the town (Balmoral was dilapidated and dying even then; took my parents there thinking it might be better than the MIll...it was bloody awful but my Dad really enjoyed having a laugh at my expense..."so glad you took us to the posh pub" etc etc). Both were pubs that only locals went to...so i guess that cheap beer from supermarkets lead to their closure.

[The Larch]

Going back to the current degradation of political life in Israel...

Israeli military reservists refuse to train in protest at far-right government
Growing numbers including from elite air force squadron say they are unwilling to serve 'dictatorial regime'

Growing numbers of Israel's military reservists, including members of its most important air force squadron, are refusing to attend for service, an unprecedented step that comes as part of the protest movement against the country's new far-right government.

In an announcement on Sunday, all but three of the 40 reservist pilots in Israel's elite 69 Squadron said they would not take part in a training exercise later this week, and instead participate in the widespread public protests, claiming they were not prepared to serve a "dictatorial regime".

The F-15I pilots are a strategically crucial squadron capable of flying long-range missions, raising immediate questions about the Israel Defence Forces' (IDF) operational competence. Security officials are reportedly also worried about refusals to obey orders and insubordination within the serving military's ranks as opposition to plans by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to limit judicial powers increases across swathes of Israeli society.

Israel's army and air force chiefs of staff were due to meet reserve pilots – who regularly serve in operational roles – on Tuesday following the threat not to report for training. Meanwhile, El Al, the national airline, was forced to clarify that a flight scheduled to carry Netanyahu to Italy for a state visit later this week would go ahead as planned after reports crew members had refused to staff the flight.

"It is inconceivable for me that I would ever do something like this. I was in the air force for 31 years: 16 of those were under Netanyahu, even though I never voted for him," said Omer Denk, a 51-year-old F-15 fighter jet navigator who retired from active service in 2022.

"This isn't about politics or policy. This is about a crisis in trust in a leadership that wants to destroy Israel as a liberal democracy."

Among the proposals being advanced by the most radical members of Netanyahu's ruling coalition are bills that would allow politicians to appoint all supreme court judges, and an override clause that would mean a simple parliamentary majority could quash the court's rulings. The changes would probably help the prime minister avoid prosecution in his corruption trial, in which he denies all charges.

Proponents of the changes say they are needed to counter a perceived leftwing bias in the court's decisions, while critics say they will lead to democratic backsliding such as that seen in Hungary and Turkey.

The planned overhaul has led to the biggest protest movement in Israel's history, with hundreds of thousands of people marching in cities over the last two months. The protests turned violent last week, with police deploying stun grenades and water cannon.

Sectors that would never normally get involved in politics, such as economists, Israel's booming hi-tech sector, and former high-ranking military and intelligence leaders, have all voiced opposition to the judicial plans.

"When the government calls us anarchists and agitators it doesn't work ... the people out on the street, some of us carry the state on our shoulders. I don't think the leaders understand how bad the crisis is," Denk said.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the Jewish holiday of Purim on Monday night, Netanyahu called the reservists' vow not to report for duty unacceptable and an "existential" threat. Over the weekend, he posted a photograph of his military ID to social media, along with the caption: "When we're called for reserve duty, we always turn up. We are one nation."

Reservists are an important part of the Israeli military, often called up for as many as 60 days a year even in peacetime. While groups from crucial units such as pilots and intelligence operatives have threatened not to serve in the past over issues such as disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the second Lebanon war, there have never been boycotts on this scale before.

Former military officials have voiced concerns that the proposed judicial changes could expose them to international prosecution. Israel is not a member of the international criminal court, arguing that its own legal system adequately investigates accusations of wrongdoing by the armed forces. Palestinians and rights groups have long said that the very low number of indictments in Israeli investigations amounts to little more than whitewashing of the occupation.

[Josquius]

I used to live up that way and there were two pubs on that stretch of the Westgate road; the Mill Inn (functional working-class boozer that I had the occasional pint in) and the Balmoral somewhat nearer the town (Balmoral was dilapidated and dying even then; took my parents there thinking it might be better than the MIll...it was bloody awful but my Dad really enjoyed having a laugh at my expense..."so glad you took us to the posh pub" etc etc). Both were pubs that only locals went to...so i guess that cheap beer from supermarkets lead to their closure.

Curious, I'm not familiar with that side of town at all.
I had thought up till the 80s however it had quite a thriving (not economically) community and would have had a bunch of local pubs about as you see in other old residential areas.
Out east you still do find pubs in pretty shit areas. Though things are quite sparse on the ground with some definite gaps down walker.

[Sheilbh]

Sometimes there's weird historical oddities too. Know someone who lives in a bit of London that was built by a Quaker industrialists as workers' cottages. Very nice houses, lovely outdoor spaces - and zero pubs buildings

I feel like there's similar in Birmingham and Manchester from "improving" industrialists or landlords

Incidentally on the 15 minute city thing, I'm seeing lots of sane right-wingers going spare about it because from their perspective this is exactly the sort of Roger Scruton-ish "gentle density" () stuff that they think makes good communities. It also feels like the weirdest and wildest conspiracy because I think they're under the impression that you're not allowed to leave the 15 minute city - which is mad

[Sheilbh]

That looks like a very cool map tool, J.

On the British internet there's a wild number of sickos like me and Jos who are too interested in public transport and local government. And a lot of them are in data visualisation or similar. So we have a lot of resources and maps

[Barrister]

Incidentally on the 15 minute city thing, I'm seeing lots of sane right-wingers going spare about it because from their perspective this is exactly the sort of Roger Scruton-ish "gentle density" () stuff that they think makes good communities. It also feels like the weirdest and wildest conspiracy because I think they're under the impression that you're not allowed to leave the 15 minute city - which is mad

Yeah, this whole "15 minute city" was a minor controversy a few weeks ago in Edmonton on the same kind of conspiratorial basis.

You know I love my neighbourhood in Edmonton.  We're surrounded on 3 sides by ravines (and on the 4th side by the ring road) so we're very much our own little community.  But sadly it was designed almost entirely around cars.  In terms of commercial space there's a gas station/convenience store.  I would love it if there was even just a little strip mall in walking distance here.

[The Larch]

It also feels like the weirdest and wildest conspiracy because I think they're under the impression that you're not allowed to leave the 15 minute city - which is mad

Did you expect a conspiracy theory to be reasonable and grounded? 

[Sheilbh]

I just think one that takes a huge interest in Oxford City Council erecting cycling bollards is incredibly niche to have gone global.

[Josquius]

Sometimes there's weird historical oddities too. Know someone who lives in a bit of London that was built by a Quaker industrialists as workers' cottages. Very nice houses, lovely outdoor spaces - and zero pubs buildings

I feel like there's similar in Birmingham and Manchester from "improving" industrialists or landlords

Incidentally on the 15 minute city thing, I'm seeing lots of sane right-wingers going spare about it because from their perspective this is exactly the sort of Roger Scruton-ish "gentle density" () stuff that they think makes good communities. It also feels like the weirdest and wildest conspiracy because I think they're under the impression that you're not allowed to leave the 15 minute city - which is mad

I'm unfamiliar with Scruton. Surely gentle density is a good thing and what 15 minute cities want?

[Josquius]

Semi related, went for a walk yesterday to where a blighted mid 20th century tower block is being demolished.
Quite interesting the stage they've got to, you can see into each flat.

[Zanza]