Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[garbon]

Business model of make espresso, dilute with water, flavour with half a bucket of sugar, sell for 4 pounds not working anymore.

Well not when your customers are at home.

[The Larch]

Five coffees per day, you say?

[Sheilbh]

Business model of make espresso, dilute with water, flavour with half a bucket of sugar, sell for 4 pounds not working anymore.

I mean the business model of two stores per street always seemed unsustainable to me

[celedhring]

Five coffees per day, you say?

I'm currently on 4. 

[Syt]

I've severely reduced my coffee intake. I'm down to one mug in the morning, and the occasional cup after lunch.

[Grey Fox]

I drink 30oz of coffee a day.

I find it's a good balance between not enough caffeine & too much.

[celedhring]

I've severely reduced my coffee intake. I'm down to one mug in the morning, and the occasional cup after lunch.

I used to have 2, sometimes just even one. But with the damn pandemic I've increased consumption considerably just because of all the time I spend at home.

[Sheilbh]

I've severely reduced my coffee intake. I'm down to one mug in the morning, and the occasional cup after lunch.

I have two coffees in the morning at home and one at lunch in the park/cafe.

Because I was injured before the pandemic (so have been primarily stuck in my house since the end of January ). But a consequence of that was I couldn't like make a cup of tea/coffee and bring it to the living room to watch TV because crutches. And one of the best purchases I made was a good teapot - and some fancy green teas so I could have that in the living room with a flask of hot water. So I move to green tea in the afternoon and it's a weirdly pleasing moment every day making my afternoon brew - I don't know why but it's just a nice little routine.

[The Larch]

I've severely reduced my coffee intake. I'm down to one mug in the morning, and the occasional cup after lunch.

I used to have 2, sometimes just even one. But with the damn pandemic I've increased consumption considerably just because of all the time I spend at home.

For me it's the other way around,  working from home I only have one or two per day.

[garbon]

I've severely reduced my coffee intake. I'm down to one mug in the morning, and the occasional cup after lunch.

I used to have 2, sometimes just even one. But with the damn pandemic I've increased consumption considerably just because of all the time I spend at home.

For me it's the other way around,  working from home I only have one or two per day.

I've purposefully cut myself down to two teas a day.

[Syt]

For me it's the other way around,  working from home I only have one or two per day.

That's part of it. I'm tempted to drink more coffee at the office, because using the Nespresso machine is a lot easier and faster than grinding coffee at home and making it in the french press.

[Sheilbh]

Looks like they are going ahead with the appointment of Tony Abbott. Johnson said this which I kind of agree with:

"I obviously don't agree with those sentiments at all but then I don't agree with everyone who serves the government in an unpaid capacity on hundreds of boards across the country and I can't be expected to do so."

I am surprised that a guy who was PM of Australia 5 years ago is considered so violently misogynist and homophobic that he's beyond the pale of public life in the UK. I get the misogyny point, but all I know about that is Julia Gillard's (excellent) viral speech in the House of Representatives.

When I searched for his homophobic remarks it's that he's anti-gay marriage (which, I mean, Merkel is anti-gay marriage - I don't think she's homophobic) but he did support Australia's referendum on the issue. From what I can see on Sky this is the evidence of his homophobia - to me it seems like pretty thin gruel:

They say he described himself as being "threatened by homosexuality" and "vigorously" campaigned against legalising same-sex marriage in Australia.

And I find it kind of weird - and possibly slightly telling - that we've whipped ourselves up into a lather about his social views when surely the bigger issue is that there's no sign he's actually particularly competent to do the job?

[Sheilbh]

Small state thinktankers freaking out about reports on governments thinking. Basically:


Further on in the article (Times so paywalled) they talk about basically tech-autarky as a goal. They want domestic UK suppliers for all important tech infrastructure.

Combined with the new plans for the control room (last seen in Gordon Brown's administration, which is a reassuring precedent) and it feels like we really are heading for full-blown Tory Project Cybersyn.

I, for one, am looking forward to my British Leyland laptop

[Valmy]

With the new ability to spy and fuck with country's through their tech infrastructure I could see this kind of thing happening all over the world.

[Sheilbh]

With the new ability to spy and fuck with country's through their tech infrastructure I could see this kind of thing happening all over the world.

The recent experiences with China - both supply chain, retaliation for our policy on Hong Kong, Huawei etc - are, I imagine, definitely shaping this. But British experience of our ability to research and make products we actually want to use is.....questionable at best

I understand the UK is also really pushing a D-10 (UK sponsored summit of democracies so the G7 plus Australia, India and Korea) which I actually is possibly a good idea and they're proposing coordinating within that on tech projects/infrastructure. But it's another of those foreign policy decisions where I'm actually pleasantly surprised to think there's a good idea here - especially given the last 8 months I think it probably is helpful to have a forum that doesn't only include Japan from APAC.