Oh no, I've lost!

http://www.losethegame.com/demorgen.htm

I really hope they don't get mixed up....

Seafood and mortuaries provide growth for AFOS A COMPANY that manufactures specialist equipment for hospital mortuaries and smoked salmon production has won more than £2.5m of new orders.

What is Boris up to?

You may have read the serialisation of Camer(one)'s biography in the papers this weekend, which on Saturday concentrated more on Boris than on Camerone.

 

Didn't anyone else think it weird that a book about Camerone had to be sold by stressing the amount of info about Boris inside it?  I've written before about how Camerone is the only one from the Conservative Front bench who can guarantee news coverage.  It doesn't look good when even he needs to borrow from Boris.

 

Anyway, a lot was written about how ambitious Boris is, leaving unasked the question of how willing Boris will be to sit happily in charge of London.

 

In this week's Regen and Renewal is a story about Boris' intention to stand down after only one-term (subscription required).  Is this a shot across Camerone's bows? Has he been puffed up by the weekend's coverage and decided to fire a warning salvo at the leader?

 

Or is it simply true?  Boris is going to stand down, become an MP again and challenge Camerone?  after all, why else would you swap limitless power in the country's biggest city for an MP?

 

SH

What to call myself?

I now face one of the most difficult decisions I have ever faced - what web domain to get.

 

Unlike other times, when (let's face it) I've never really been convinced it would last very long, I have now reached a point in my life where I want this domain to last me forever.

 

I want a personal email address and website that captures me and who I am perfectly and will be robust enough to last.  It must be professional enough to use with anyone and personal enough to represent me.

 

I could be boring, with some version of my name.

 

I could be more off the wall by using the word I have applied to all my technology - Juttutupa - which means "place of conversation" in Finnish.

 

I could bring to life the company Joos and I dreamed of while we studied late into the night in our kitchen - Calwood International.

 

I could strive for something else entirely random - Prego - for example is my favourite word.

 

Or I could use a made up word (suggestions, anyone?)

 

decisions, decisions......

 

SH

Can Councils work together?.....

....is potentially one of the most important questions for the future of the country's economic prosperity.  Especially if the Tories win the next General Election.

 

For this reason, Conservatives should read this report by the Audit Commission.

 

It evaluates Local Strategic Partnerships

 

Why do I think this is important?

 

Economic Development, even now, has a number of contributing factors.  One is always going to be the national picture - how is our economy doing, what are interest rates? and so on.

 

Another, I strongly believe, is location.  The reason I think this can be contentious is because sometimes it is more than just whether there is an empty building/site and is it close to roads/rail.  Sometimes/a lot of the time it has to be Nice.  Leafy Green areas are always going to be preferable to a shit hole.  Are the bars pleasant and fun, or are you convinced that if you put on a bad song on the jukebox you're going to be knifed?

 

Location is why Local Authorities are always looking for ways to spruce up their town centres, tear down their (usually) god-awful 60's designed buildings and create something locals can be proud of.  And so they should - that's what we expect!

 

Thirdly, is whether the city/town/area works. Can you get planning, are the roads swept, rubbish collected, local employment agencies efficient, open and interested colleges, etc etc.

 

Both these last two are dependent on a well-run local authority, of that there is no argument.  But at the moment we stand on the crossroads between two ideas on how to support this from the national government.

 

The regional agenda has seen RDAs in place with hundreds of millions of pounds to invest in local authority schemes, but also, crucially support them.  I accept sometimes this support might feel more like persuasion, but the key point is that dialogue occurs between local authorities and between councils and the RDA.  There is a feedback mechanism that tells people how things are going and what other ideas exist that might help them.

 

On the local level, within the LSPs, RDAs and Government Offices also provide support to individual organisations, sometimes with money, sometimes by strategies which show them the path to greater impact.

 

The second idea belongs to the Conservatives should they form the next government.  In this idea is the much looser arrangement of local authorities to define their own partners and, should they wish to, the right to devolve down to them powers and money from the RDA.

 

Crucial, absolutely fucking crucial to this, therefore is the ability of local authorities to deliver that joint working on their own, one part of which is LSPs - hence the Audit Commission report is important.  And the implications is that maybe Local Authorities are not so ready

 

Any other support will have to come from Whitehall - I would be intrigued to know if Whitehall is ready for that?

 

SH

buying your way into politics - at 21

Have just read an excellent article by Tulip Siddiq in Progress.  You can read it here, but this is my favourite paragraph:

A major obstacle exists within the culture of unpaid internships that is almost necessary before one can really enter into politics. This immediately puts BAME members at a disadvantage as statistics show that 75 per cent of the BAME community live in 88 of the poorest boroughs across Britain. I was lucky that I had the means to intern for free for a whole year but not everyone can afford that luxury.

I have always worried about what it means to be able to participate in free internships.  There is no doubt in my mind that I would be working in Brussels now, if I had been able to work for free in a stagiere.  In truth, I have never been lucky enough to have the personal finance to be able to work for free for anyone.

 

Yet, when an entire system has an entry-level built around working for free, then it isn't a surprise that politics tends to be staffed entirely by people of a certain background (and I mean this from every political persuasion).

 

SH

 

 

Great Council Minutes

A member of the public asked if the Council was creating dissent amongst the electorate by deliberately placing autocratic minded people in leading positions where they assumed power, were never wrong and which satisfied insatiable egos at the expense of harmonious public relations?

 

The Leader required further information in order to answer this question in full.

 

Rotherham Cabinet, 11-2-9

Chocolate coins are now deemed safer than Government Debt

From the Financial Times

Chocolate coins are now deemed safer than gilts

In recent months the cost of insuring against a default on UK gilts has surged as investors have fretted about the ever-spiralling levels of British debt, says Gillian Tett

I'm hoarding before the Christmas Rush.....

 

SH

misstep by the Quangocracy

Regular readers (! - welcome Tim) will know that one of my favourite pastimes is reading the language of what is said and this story here is a great example of how many (good and worthy) unelected public bodies are making enemies, particularly within the Conservatives:

http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/10550-budget-2009-leeds-city-region-unveiled.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Yorkshire_22nd_Apr_2009_-_Daily_E-mail

 

The story is ultimately about local authorities taking more control over powers and investment within their boundaries.  The whole country will (maybe) watch with interest at whether the pilot experiment to give powers similar to those in Greater London to 2 city-regions outside London; Manchester and Leeds.

 

It is a triumph for devolution that the Government will do this

It is a triumph for Northerners that we are seen as leading the way

It is a triumph for local democracy that locally elected members can be trusted (not always the case) to make this work

 

So why isn't there a single quote from a spokesperson from a local authority?

 

It is the equivalent of the Soft Drink Federation putting out the press release claiming success for Coca Cola's new drink - and just as bad for our health (easy shot - sorry Coke).

 

SH

you've got to love a phrase like.....

"Greater Tax Justice"

    Gavin Hayes, Compass

 

 

How important is the Budget on Wednesday?

The CBI says the "Worst of the Recession is over". This will comfort many people, but is also the starting block for a week which will see the country discuss fiscal tightening, public spending cuts, the value of new taxes - all of which will be a grand way of saying: "how painful will rescuing the economy actually be?"

 

Today the Chancellor has put a number on it.  After nationalising the banks, the country won't be able to profit from selling them again in the upturn - in fact Alistair Darling has admitted we will probably lose £60bn on the deal.  Alan Sugar would not be happy.

 

Behind this, you can see some clever political communications.  The Government's opposition has been trying to portray the country as a bankrupt result of economic mismanagement, about to embark on a historically damaging turn to the IMF for help.  Their basis for this is the hundreds and hundreds of billions of pounds used to bail out the banks and guarantee loans.

 

Some estimate 200-300 billion (!) has been spent.  Of course, a lot of this is has bought shares and forms only guarantees - the actual amount lost is a lot less.

 

So Wednesday's Budget will have to lay out the groundrules for how we are going to spend less and raise more in taxes to cover only the £60bn hole.

 

See how that works - you're actually grateful we've only lost £60bn!

 

Anyway, back to the economy....

 

Context is crucial, and in the coming months we will see all those special initiatives the Government has been promising coming to life.  The lifeblood of cash should start flowing through the veins of the business community very soon, and businesses will start to see a growing sense of confidence.

 

Similarly at a breakfast with the Governor of the Bank of England recently, he pointed out that there is a natural uptick in manufacturing after the initial panic.  Manufacturing has seen sales fall off a cliff, and has responded by halting production and selling off stock.  However, eventually this will be sold, and it will be necessary to start up the production line again.  Whatever the state of the economy at this point, there will be a boost in confidence as people start being active again.

 

For Alistair Darling, his challenge now is to juggle the two mammoth tasks of tackling the problem of the strength of our economy, and not destroying growing optimism with the solution.

 

SH

Tweenbots! Cute commentary on human existence

Just when you are ready to write of the human race (it isn't that bad really...) you discover this:

 

http://www.tweenbots.com/

 

An experiment so cool, with such wonderful results, I want to try it here in Manchester and see what happens......

 

SH

profelitists

A number of newspapers are carrying stories this morning about the domination of the professions by the well-off.  Sorry to get all classist about this, but I can understand Law being heavily burdened by the privileged, but when industries such as Media are, which depend on creativity and ideas, regardless of where they originate, then its a bad sign for a significant part of our economy.

 

I'm not surprised really - I remember reading about Camilla Parker-Bowles son being caught doing coke in Cannes, where he was working in the film industry.  I was at home reading my Variety and dreaming of being given some kind of lucky break to enter the film industry (still me secret desire).  Of course, I don't believe for a second he got there by his own merit.  I believe he got there by family connections - and if I remember correctly the story proved me right.  A not-very-good film promoter in Cannes getting coked up at the age of 21 or something.

 

Sure, my personal story is a tragedy....... But there is simply this bigger picture to consider that if we do not live in a society where hard work, talent, and opportunity can give you a life you want, then our economy will never make the great strides we need.

 

SH

Turning to god as an answer to the recession

From Greg Mankiw's blog

 

http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/04/faith-based-economics.html

One Trillion Dollars!!!!!!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2358332.ece

Apple have let me down

Apple have just given me a first hand example of how customer service can let a company down - even when you are trying to excel at it!

The clicker on my iPhone headphones hardly works any more. I will be walking down the street clicking away like furiously with only the odd one registering which means instead of changing tracks I keep pausing and unpausing the track I'm listening to. Combined with the look of frustration on my face, other people must think I've discovered a new sport or a new form of musical masturbation.

In truth it's annoying as hell.

So I went into the apple store on my lunch break to see if they can advise me - turns out they can't. Without waiting. For days.

Turns out, the headphones are considered part of the phone so I need to see an engineer - called the 'genius bar' (oh purlease)

While the image of a man in grubby overalls at the back of the shiny apple store saying "ooo, 's going to cost ya" amused me for a moment, it wasn't very helpful. Especially as you need to book an appointment in advance.

Now I understand why a brand like apple wants to seem genius and push the boat out, but like all machines, there needs to be a reality check where it interfaces with humans.

I've tested my headphones on another iPhone - the conversation in-store would to something like this:

'Genius': click, click. It doesn't work. Would you like a new set, sir?
Me: yes please.

2 minutes! Max! For that I have to book in advance, for the weekend - which I then can't do, because you can only book two days in advance so I have to remember to log back on on Friday to go in on Sunday, and no I can't come back at 16:40, because I have a job.

All this for a two minute conversation.

I love my iPhone and they could do no wrong but now the shine is tarnished.

Plus, Apple's website doesn't work properly on an iPhone!

SH

VW ad banned for the wrong reasons

Ofcom have banned a volkswagen advert where an engineer fights several versions of himself, finishing with a tagline along the lines of "the only people we have to beat are ourselves".

I hate this advert. But not for the same reasons as all those people who complained - I just think it's shit. Potentially a good concept, but let down by taking itself way too seriously.. If you're message is that arrogant it helps to show a little humility first. On a practical note I think the style of the piece makes it hard to identify that it is in fact the same engineer fighting with himself.

If I had a chance to recut it I would pause longer on the first assailant to give the audience time to realise who he was and then do a Tongue in cheek challenge to come attack with his hand a la Morpheus from the matrix. By adding a softer more comic ironic feel I think the whole ad would perform better.

Less people might have complained about it too!

SH

Free Range Turtles

Turtle Wax have started using free range turtles in their products:

 

http://www.freerangeturtles.com

 

SH