Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[The Larch]

Reading that blog post makes me doubt if he's working at galaxy brain levels or is just a massive bellend and bullshitter.

[Sheilbh]

Based on his time at education it really is six of one, half dozen of the other.

I think some of his complaints about Whitehall over the years seem legit. And I think he does look for interesting solutions. I'm not 100% sure he's then great at actually implementing solutions, especially because he tends to be very confrontational.

It's worth saying these roles are for special advisors which are political, so not civil servants. And reading between the lines it just sounds like a beefed up Nr 10 policy unit. Based on that, I actually guess this is probably more transparent/formalised than most spad recruitment.

[garbon]

One of you will be a sort of personal assistant to me for a year — this will involve a mix of very interesting work and lots of uninteresting trivia that makes my life easier which you won't enjoy. You will not have weekday date nights, you will sacrifice many weekends — frankly it will hard having a boy/girlfriend at all. It will be exhausting but interesting and if you cut it you will be involved in things at the age of ~21 that most people never see.

[Josquius]

Remember those unelected bureaucrats that were such a problem a few years back?
You never really hear of them anymore.

[Tamas]

Remember those unelected bureaucrats that were such a problem a few years back?
You never really hear of them anymore.

The past year or so the only pro-brexit argument anyone has said is that it was the referendum result so it must be delivered come what may.

[Brazen]

I tweeted this:

There are many reasons to feel uncomfortable about Dominic Cummings' blog/job ad for "weirdos", but citing Cayce Pollard, a character from a 2003-set William Gibson novel, using her male employer's name not hers, and calling her a "girl" (she's 32) is particularly galling.

William Gibson retweeted it. Duncan Jones liked it, It seems to have gone a tiny bit viral.

[The Minsky Moment]

Reading that blog post makes me doubt if he's working at galaxy brain levels or is just a massive bellend and bullshitter.

Definitely a bullshitter.  Looks like he is randomly dropping a lot of jargon that he thinks sounds cool and impressive and that he figures most readers won't know lots about.  E.g. "agent based models" in economics are least 2 decades old now, are not "unusual" in the field, and involve mathematics and statistics, not physics.

There aren't "trillion dollar bills lying on the street" - certainly not in the areas he is talking about.  You aren't going to expand the British economy by 40%+ through the "science of prediction."

BTW the Apollo project is (rightfully) often cited as a great success, but recall that the first mission resulted in a fire that killed the crew, subsequent missions were plagued by delays and significant equipment failures.  One of the key lessons from the great successes is the willingness to tolerate a certain degree of massive failure. (Which I guess could be a sign of optimism for Brexit).

[Tamas]

I tweeted this:

There are many reasons to feel uncomfortable about Dominic Cummings' blog/job ad for "weirdos", but citing Cayce Pollard, a character from a 2003-set William Gibson novel, using her male employer's name not hers, and calling her a "girl" (she's 32) is particularly galling.

William Gibson retweeted it. Duncan Jones liked it, It seems to have gone a tiny bit viral.

[garbon]

I tweeted this:

There are many reasons to feel uncomfortable about Dominic Cummings' blog/job ad for "weirdos", but citing Cayce Pollard, a character from a 2003-set William Gibson novel, using her male employer's name not hers, and calling her a "girl" (she's 32) is particularly galling.

William Gibson retweeted it. Duncan Jones liked it, It seems to have gone a tiny bit viral.

[mongers]

Dom Cummings is posting on his blog again, and hiring:
https://dominiccummings.com/2020/01/02/two-hands-are-a-lot-were-hiring-data-scientists-project-managers-policy-experts-assorted-weirdos/

Britain finally has a first-class wanker to rival Trump. 

[Sheilbh]

Definitely a bullshitter.  Looks like he is randomly dropping a lot of jargon that he thinks sounds cool and impressive and that he figures most readers won't know lots about.  E.g. "agent based models" in economics are least 2 decades old now, are not "unusual" in the field, and involve mathematics and statistics, not physics.

Well he is what he claims is the problem: a privately educated, Oxbridge humanities graduate whose entire working life has been spent in politics/public sector.

He just likes us to know he reads widely.

Edit: Also for Tyr: looks like Dan Jarvis might run. I feel like he won't do well but I can see people thinking "he's what we need". But he would presumably step down as metro-mayor.

Intrigued by how well Jess Philips did in that poll.

[Josquius]

Well he is what he claims is the problem: a privately educated, Oxbridge humanities graduate whose entire working life has been spent in politics/public sector.

He just likes us to know he reads widely.

Edit: Also for Tyr: looks like Dan Jarvis might run. I feel like he won't do well but I can see people thinking "he's what we need". But he would presumably step down as metro-mayor.

Intrigued by how well Jess Philips did in that poll.

In theory, looking at his profile he is a good candidate. I really do think appealing to the moderate nationalists could work for Labour. They afterall tend to be working class tribalists, they're not against socialism when they think the benefits are directed towards them, only when they go to other people.
But given he is currently struggling with two jobs....to be leader of the opposition at this current moment would be a disaster. He would be better served shutting up for a few years and then off the back of a successful stint as Sheffield mayor have another go. I hear he is already building some unpopularity in his seat through putting all his time into the metro mayor job.

I tweeted this:

There are many reasons to feel uncomfortable about Dominic Cummings' blog/job ad for "weirdos", but citing Cayce Pollard, a character from a 2003-set William Gibson novel, using her male employer's name not hers, and calling her a "girl" (she's 32) is particularly galling.

William Gibson retweeted it. Duncan Jones liked it, It seems to have gone a tiny bit viral.

So thats where you've been all this time, rubbing shoulders with a higher class of geek.

[Sheilbh]

Jess Phillips campaign video:
https://twitter.com/jessphillips/status/1213175789954510849?s=20
Slogan: "Speak truth. Win power."

Quite a good launch. Also given how catastrophic the last three elections have been for Labour in the West Midlands (probably the biggest swing region in the country?), hopefully she'll have some insights on that area.

[Zoupa]

We need some true wild cards, artists, people who never went to university and fought their way out of an appalling hell hole, weirdos from William Gibson novels like that girl hired by Bigend as a brand 'diviner' who feels sick at the sight of Tommy Hilfiger or that Chinese-Cuban free runner from a crime family hired by the KGB.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Dom Cummings is posting on his blog again, and hiring:
https://dominiccummings.com/2020/01/02/two-hands-are-a-lot-were-hiring-data-scientists-project-managers-policy-experts-assorted-weirdos/

Britain finally has a first-class wanker to rival Trump. 

He reminds me of some of the more pretentious bellends in the 6th form common room back in the day; it is rather nostalgic in a peculiar way