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#91

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by Sheilbh - November 25, 2025, 01:27:35 PM

I have a slight sense of foreboding that the budget might be a bit of a disaster. I'm a little concerned that moving to the smorgasbord approach of lots of little tax rises will possibly backfire in a day or two - I could be wrong I just feel it might go the way of the pasty tax/omnishambles budget of being a bit too clever by half.

Meanwhile the OBR (who should not be this important) is apparently going to downgrade its growth forecast for every year to 2031 which will have an impact on "headroom" in future budgets (thisis all a ridiculous prospect). But also not particularly great in a government that has said it is "laser-focused on growth".

Speaking of growth the government task force on nuclear reported back yesterday with a realy highly praised report that made a lot of actionable recommendations that seemed to make a lot of sense. So inevitably I see Robert Peston today giving an update

Robert Peston
@Peston

John Fingleton's review for the government of how to reduce unnecessary barriers and costs for nuclear power development is a tour de force, a compelling road map for how to accelerate important infrastructure investment in the UK - which is the sine qua non of improving growth and living standards (read John's nutshell below).

For the last eight weeks he was assured that the prime minister and chancellor would accept and implement the recommendations in full. He even tweaked an important clause at the government's request, to give them a bit more flexibility over the means to implementation.

I understand he has now been told that at the budget tomorrow the welcome will be conditional, subject to further work and review - because the Chancellor has been nobbled by a legal and planning adviser, who claims the Fingleton recommendations somehow breach the UK's environmental, trade  and human rights obligations.

He and his colleagues believe this is nonsense. They examined the legal considerations in their assessment.  But they fear that yet again the dead hand of official caution has squashed - potentially for months and years - important growth-enhancing investment.

At some point this parliament I hope the government will discover they have a majority in a sovereign parliament and can just do things

Semi-relatedly having delayed defence spending announcements for a year while they did another Strategic Defence Review...

Starmer promised to spend big on defense but Britain's arms industry is still waiting

Six months after a major inquiry into how the U.K. would meet geopolitical threats, many in the industry complain they haven't received the certainty they need about where the British government plans to invest. 

https://www.politico.eu/article/keir-starmer-britain-arms-industry-defense-whitehall-armies-sdr-nato/

I've complained about this before but I think the commitment on defence (which took a big fight by the MoD v the Treasury) is still incredibly inadequate for the European security situation:

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party has made a lot of noise on defense since entering government last year, plundering the aid budget to get defense spending to reach 2.6 percent of GDP by 2027 and a promise of 3.5 percent by 2035.

Industry figures complaining of repeated deferrals, decsions not being taken, actual contracts not being awareded - which all seems like a repeated pattern with this government. They don't actually seem to like choosing and making decisions.

#92

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Tonitrus - November 25, 2025, 01:01:30 PM

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj38m11218xo

X says data is '99% accurate'
The location data is visible in a new "about this account" tab which appears on every profile.

It also contains a warning that the location data may be affected by recent travel, temporary relocation and the use of virtual private networks (VPNs).

However, according to X's head of product, Nikita Bier, the information is 99% accurate.

So we're trusting X and their systems now?

Not trying to be obtuse...but it seems there is a rush to trust this data because it appears to confirm what a lot of people want to hear.  And by some anecdotes in the article, may even be correct.  My concern is mostly here is mostly to express that we should be more skeptical of the source of the data, even if we might like to hear it.

#93

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by crazy canuck - November 25, 2025, 12:51:55 PM

With all the crap we've given Musk about screwing up Twitter/X, why should we be so eager to straight up trust the location data that their system spits out?

I am not sure why somebody posing as an Alberta patriot would purposely say that they are originating from the United States, or the Philippines, etc.

Full disclosure...I've never used Twitter/X...is this location data being inputted by the user (or bot) themselves?

I don't know, but if the tool detects where the information originates from, why would someone try to throw that detection off with a false location if they are claiming to a be a patriot?  And if it is user inputted, why would they put in a different location?

#94

Off the Record / Re: The AI dooooooom thread

Last post by crazy canuck - November 25, 2025, 12:47:45 PM

Yeah, and that is one of the reasons scientific research funding agencies are now prohibiting the use of AI tools when researchers make research funding proposals.  The AI tool can only produce research proposals based on what has already been proposed or already researched. But the funding agencies want to fund novel research.  Something AI tools are incapable of developing.

The other reason is the avalanche of utter trash LLM modes generate.

#95

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Baron von Schtinkenbutt - November 25, 2025, 12:46:13 PM

Full disclosure...I've never used Twitter/X...is the location data inputted by the user (or bot) themselves?

My memory is a little fuzzy now, but there is a geo association for accounts that is entered by the account owner.  However, we could also detect what geo activity was coming from (subject to the limitations of pinning network access points to a geo).  That said, this feature wasn't a thing when I was there, so I don't know what they're using.  It's probably the owner-provided value, but it could be something based on the system-detected values as well.

#96

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Tonitrus - November 25, 2025, 12:41:47 PM

With all the crap we've given Musk about screwing up Twitter/X, why should we be so eager to straight up trust the location data that their system spits out?

I am not sure why somebody posing as an Alberta patriot would purposely say that they are originating from the United States, or the Philippines, etc.

Full disclosure...I've never used Twitter/X...is this location data being inputted by the user (or bot) themselves?

#97

Off the Record / Re: Climate Change/Mass Extinc...

Last post by Valmy - November 25, 2025, 12:41:46 PM

Extreme warming event in the Arctic is disrupting the jet stream. Polar vortex incoming. Alberta and Manitoba will be hit and then likely the American Mid-West and then likely the East Coast. Brace yourselves.

Yep. Warm and dry winter here in the south while the northern part of the country will freeze.

#98

Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...

Last post by Valmy - November 25, 2025, 12:17:10 PM

This situation is so insane as to blow my mind. We really are just bending everything just to try to give Trump pathetic popular wins. Who gives a fuck what it actually means? Trump's image over everything.

And Russia seems bent on some kind of national suicide pact. They are so egotistical about their position as masters of their domain they would rather die than simply tolerate being a normal country.

Insanity and ego completely dominate good sense and basic statecraft.

The world has gone mad.

#99

Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...

Last post by Josquius - November 25, 2025, 11:49:40 AM

Didn't they already turn down their own the American proposal?

#100

Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...

Last post by Crazy_Ivan80 - November 25, 2025, 11:42:41 AM

The wishlist seems to have been watered down by the Europeans and Rubio in Geneva so the russians can then predictably turn it down.

which they did by now