Random Geezer

Inventions I think, rather than assumptions.

Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."

Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...

You and me both Babar. Those bloody humans eh?

It's odd how often 'legitimate concerns' are expressed by people with illegitimate arguments.

For the attention of @jowolff.bsky.social

The Little Red Hat: Quotations from Chairman Trump (Imaginary Compilation) On Winning: "We're going to win so much, you're going to be so sick and tired of winning." On Leadership: "I alone can fix it." On Loyalty: "Loyalty is everything. If they’re not loyal, they’re out. Simple." On the Media: "Fake news is the enemy of the people." On Business: "Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully or write poetry. I make deals — that’s how I get my kicks." On America: "Make America Great Again — again." On Enemies: "Hit back harder. Never let them get away with it. Never." On Twitter (or Truth Social): "Sometimes you have to go directly to the people. Bypass the nonsense." On His Own Brilliance: "I'm a very stable genius. People don’t understand how smart I am. But I know. The best people know." On History: "No one has done more for [insert group] than me. Maybe Abraham Lincoln, but it's close." This version would likely be printed in gold lettering, not red — maybe leather-bound with a TRUMP logo — and promoted at campaign rallies. While Mao used his book to enforce ideological conformity, Trump might use his version to solidify brand loyalty, push messaging, and promote a cult of personality around “winning,” loyalty, and “America First” populism.

Will never complain about ChatGPT again. I idly asked it what Trump would say if he wrote his own version of Mao Little Red Book.

“If a new political party is setting up, now, without having climate- and ecological- breakdown front and centre, then it’s hopelessly out of date”: Adrian Ramsay brilliant, on LBC #GreenLeadership debate, on why the Green Party is deeply different in fundamental starting-point from Corbyn-Sultana.

🤣🤣🤣

Was a time I would start my working day with two bacon rolls and a coffee in this cafe.

Original features or not, London streetscapes would be much enhanced by preservation of such frontages.

Anything, *anything*, is preferable to the soulless corporate branded drek of today.

#urban #design

Ayesha Hazarika, Matt Chorley, Helen Lewis, Marina Hyde, Polly Toybee, Rafael Behr, Iain Dunt, Dorian Lynskey, to name just a few - all "liberal political experts" smugly shouted down people who warned them that Starmer was a reactionary.

None of them get to launder their personality.

I can safely say that whatever it is, it's unlikely to be delivered by the UK government.

First a drip, then a drop, then a trickle, then a flow, then the dam bursts and it will all be over

The rich would walk away with their offshored funds intact, the rest of us would be offered 2 pence in the pound because 'the money isn't there'.

A large hawk with brown wings, whitish chest, and yellow legs stands on a gray leather glove on the ground amidst sparse grass.

Saw this out my bathroom window: a young red tailed hawk is very proud of its catch: a gardening glove.

While it’s Alison Pearson day, I have fond memories of her period as a lockdown sceptic, which peaked with her posting “has anyone actually MET someone with Covid, or is this all just BBC news?” before admitting in replies that all of her children had it

Riders and horses entering the stalls for the Leadership Stakes from Westminster.

The Rest is Politics earlier. Rory Stewart (Posh Tech Fanboy at Large) talking about the potential dangers of AI as if he's discovered something nobody else has noticed.

Still, preferable to the Eton-bred reflex of presenting credulous naivety as authoritative knowledge.

Am I the only one who feels a little deflated whenever the peloton catches a breakaway?

#tourdefrance #tdf

The more powerful you are, the less you need to dress yourself up in ‘evidence’. At one end of the spectrum, small art galleries and charities, desperately collecting every data point and feedback form as proof that they are delivering ‘value’ to society, donors or taxpayers. At the other end, AI.

Tweet from Gabino Iglesias @Gabino_Iglesias “Monthly reminder: Many people have a book in them, but it takes a special kind of freak to leave the Land of Laziness, cross the Plains of Procrastination and Insecurity Mountain, find the Blade of No One Made You Do This, and use it to cut your chest open and yank that book out.”

🤣🤣🤣 Truth!

A skeet has just reminded me to read the gas meter, thus refuting the idea that social media is a waste of time.

Fraudster warns of fraud while defrauding you.

Former Human Rights lawyer takes some persuading.

See, that's what a lifetime of legal sophistry will do to you.

In all seriousness I think the fair-minded explanation of the Labour government's troubles is that they are shit.

Criticising the ban on Palestine Action is not the same as saying "I support this organisation". It cannot be reasonably be stretched to mean I back a group, because the premise of the statements are different. But the doubt is designed to shut people up.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Yet strangely, governments always seem to have the money and capacity for the things they want to do.

Can't help thinking vague twitterings about things possibly going wrong will be parleyed into yet more broken Britain bullshit by Reform and their ilk.

Another day, another inexperienced but hopeful writer, announcing that they have “been offered a book deal” for £20,000. Turns out that the author is being expected to PAY THIS to the publisher, not the other way round. Folks, no publisher does this.