Simon MacDonald

Ofwat investigating ‘rip-off’ cost of water firms’ infrastructure works Watchdog for England and Wales looking into claims refurbishment costs are ‘breathtakingly high’ compared with other countries The water regulator for England and Wales, Ofwat, is investigating claims water companies are spending many times more on refurbishment projects than operators in comparable countries, leading to much higher bills, in what campaigners have described as a “rip-off”. Experts have said privatisation of water companies has led to an overinflation of the costs of building infrastructure such as sewage works, as they are less incentivised than governments to find value for money for taxpayers. They are also allowed to borrow more money based on the valuation of their assets. Continue reading...

Ofwat investigating ‘rip-off’ cost of water firms’ infrastructure works

China Fires Up World's First Thorium-Powered Nuclear Reactor Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences revealed the successful refueling of an operational Thorium-powered nuclear reactor.

I suspect I'll make myself unpopular again, but I welcome this. Small modular reactors make decarbonising heavy industrial processes; hydrogen production; grid balancing and other tasks easier. We don't need to choose between SMRs and renewables. We can have both.
futurism.com/china-thoriu...

Only just occurred to me that Elon and Felon are uncomfortably close.

Casu Super C running
CP/M, but my first Windows was 3.1

December 30, 2024 The fight between MAGA and DOGE continues.

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-3...

@davidmurdoch.bsky.social

IMPORTANT
I'm in full support of the Guardian/Observer journos striking today for the future of The Observer, threatened by The Scott Trust’s plan to sell to Tortoise Media. No logic behind the decision, while The Observer risks becoming a stripped-down website

Follow @carolecadwalla.bsky.social

WTF!

Headline: Rwanda asylum scheme spent £50m on flights that never took off, data reveals

I’m sure the people that are furious about the NHS spending around £100m a year on translation services are going to go stratospheric when they see that £715m was spent on… well, nothing.

Take The Cannoli — theonion.com/take-the-can...

Bear Necessities of Politics and Power - Decoding the Chaos of Modern Politics, One Ideology at a Time "Bear Necessities of Politics and Power is your crash course in political theory, history, and the tangled web of ideologies that shape the world today. Whether you’ve been called a “dirty Commie” or ...

This is a splendid book, for those who like a bit of politics under their Christmas tree

(also, follow @bearlypolitics.co.uk)

www.thegreatbritishbookshop.co.uk/collections/...

This is really starting to look terrible for Trump’s key picks. Will Hegseth pull a Gaetz? Stay tuned.

Gregg Wallace: MasterChef’s John Torode says allegations against co-host ‘truly upsetting’ Torode, who has presented alongside Wallace since 2005, confirms he will stay with the programme MasterChef’s John Torode has said he found the recent allegations of harassment against co-host Gregg Wallace “truly upsetting”. In his first comments since…

Gregg Wallace: MasterChef’s John Torode says allegations against co-host ‘truly upsetting’

Post by Roddy, Canadian flag in his handle: Americans. If you're wondering why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida to meet with Donald Trump, it's because Canada doesn't allow convicted felons into the country.

This is pretty funny.

Meme saying I’d like separate bathrooms for MAGAs. I feel unsafe around people who are obsessed with my genitals.

They have a point.

SwearSky Bluesky profanity, as it happens

Here’s a visualization of all the curse words in real time, which is oddly satisfying:

swearsky.bagpuss.org

The man is a wankpuffin

Scratching the surface of Farage and his real political, er, leaning

@adambienkov.bsky.social reports ⏬

Ian Hislop wrote in Private Eye about meeting Justin Welby the day after he resigned and it's a devastating, important read The Archbishop of Canterbury announced his resignation last week over his handling of one of the church’s worst abuse scandals. Justin Welby finally stepped down after a damning report on the Church o...

Read Ian Hislop's comments about meeting Justin Welby the day after he resigned.
www.thepoke.com/2024/11/21/i...

Trump & co

Tosser

Ah, yes, the legendary Badlands Tweets!

1. I reiterate that I don't think bots/trolls get how comprehensive the "block" function here is.

2. I also think they don't quite get how prevalent "don't engage, just block" is as an ethos here.

3. Bluesky is a neighborhood party: everyone is welcome until they're a jerk. Then out they go.

His cousin, Jay, says "Hello". (Also 11, and a bit of a lump too)