@charliefraggle.bsky.social
Not even a smug snake with a crown and two staffs complete with two extra, smaller snakes.
May be a smug woman without crowns or staffs, lacking even small snakes. Have dogs and opinions, which seems less cool.
May be a smug woman without crowns or staffs, lacking even small snakes. Have dogs and opinions, which seems less cool.
Pinned
This poem came to mind again today so I’ll share it with you all: Izumi Shikibu ‘Why did you vanish into the empty sky?’
Why did you vanish
into the empty sky?
Even the fragile snow,
when it falls,
falls in this world.
Why did you vanish
into the empty sky?
Even the fragile snow,
when it falls,
falls in this world.
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Not exactly an endorsement when your product drives undercutting training new folks while simultaneously burning out your strongest employees
November 28, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Not exactly an endorsement when your product drives undercutting training new folks while simultaneously burning out your strongest employees
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there's a story that squares these, which is that AI lets individual employees lever up in a way that makes them super productive but also super difficult to substitute for, so you need them working all the time and if they ever leave you're screwed.
CEOs do not love that story
CEOs do not love that story
I’d love tech CEOs to stick to a lane. Either AI makes workers so much more productive that they need to do layoffs or there’s so few workers in place that everyone needs to work nights and weekends.
Now it just seems layoffs are happening for economic reasons with AI as a convenient cover story.
Now it just seems layoffs are happening for economic reasons with AI as a convenient cover story.
November 28, 2025 at 9:15 PM
there's a story that squares these, which is that AI lets individual employees lever up in a way that makes them super productive but also super difficult to substitute for, so you need them working all the time and if they ever leave you're screwed.
CEOs do not love that story
CEOs do not love that story
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I don’t think this is a “politicians have got dumber” issue for the most part. If you look at the *actual CVs* of previous cohorts of MPs, their background is not radically different when you account for, you know, the fact the economy is different! It is primarily a media and ecosystem issue.
We have got to make politics intellectual again. It is the only way that societies thrive is when politicians have the capability to actually think and reflect deeply:
![I confess that I always had difficulty with interpreting the Biblical precept to love our neighbours “as ourselves” until I read some of the words of C.S. Lewis. He pointed out that we don't exactly love ourselves when we fall below the standards and beliefs we have accepted. Indeed we might even hate ourselves for some unworthy deed.
None of this, of course, tells us exactly what kind of political and social institutions we should have. On this point, Christians will very often genuinely disagree, though it is a mark of Christian manners that they will do so with courtesy and mutual respect. [Applause] What is certain, however, is that any set of social and economic arrangements which is not founded on the acceptance of individual responsibility will do nothing but harm.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:xbnsfdtxoothg654ujxe3p25/bafkreicrdgbtvm54qnmttwe6crhxwt4be5v3izjmqtnvlxmaljwg5wolai@jpeg)
November 28, 2025 at 2:17 PM
I don’t think this is a “politicians have got dumber” issue for the most part. If you look at the *actual CVs* of previous cohorts of MPs, their background is not radically different when you account for, you know, the fact the economy is different! It is primarily a media and ecosystem issue.
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Again, I would advise people to go read the media from 50 years ago. Sure, there was absolutely an awkward stiffness that the death of deference got rid of and I prefer it but they talked to you like adults in a way that very few newspapers do today.
I don't think it's all of it by any measure but I do absolutely believe that the political media's raging anti-intellectual streak has got worse with time and has ended up influencing the way MPs talk, and what they choose to talk/think about
I don’t think this is a “politicians have got dumber” issue for the most part. If you look at the *actual CVs* of previous cohorts of MPs, their background is not radically different when you account for, you know, the fact the economy is different! It is primarily a media and ecosystem issue.
November 28, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Again, I would advise people to go read the media from 50 years ago. Sure, there was absolutely an awkward stiffness that the death of deference got rid of and I prefer it but they talked to you like adults in a way that very few newspapers do today.
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Chihiro from SPIRITED AWAY is the most millennial-coded character in fiction:
- forced to beg in order to get worst job in the entire universe
- incompetent at work due to being coddled by pig boomer parents
- immediately starts dating her manager
- quits after two days to move back home
- forced to beg in order to get worst job in the entire universe
- incompetent at work due to being coddled by pig boomer parents
- immediately starts dating her manager
- quits after two days to move back home
January 28, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Chihiro from SPIRITED AWAY is the most millennial-coded character in fiction:
- forced to beg in order to get worst job in the entire universe
- incompetent at work due to being coddled by pig boomer parents
- immediately starts dating her manager
- quits after two days to move back home
- forced to beg in order to get worst job in the entire universe
- incompetent at work due to being coddled by pig boomer parents
- immediately starts dating her manager
- quits after two days to move back home
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The UK, where the day after a decision to take half a million children out of poverty, the media & political world has been full of sneering at those same children & their families, labelling them as ‘Benefits Street’, while the same people are moaning about a tax on £2m mansions. Shameful stuff.
November 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
The UK, where the day after a decision to take half a million children out of poverty, the media & political world has been full of sneering at those same children & their families, labelling them as ‘Benefits Street’, while the same people are moaning about a tax on £2m mansions. Shameful stuff.
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I don't remember Jeremy Hunt being asked if it was self interest that made him vandalise the public finances.
November 27, 2025 at 11:25 PM
I don't remember Jeremy Hunt being asked if it was self interest that made him vandalise the public finances.
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What makes this even funnier/more annoying is that other than removing the two child limit the main thing this budget actually did over the next two years is increase borrowing. So all the country hates tax rises, half thinks they're refusing to borrow more & all get to enjoy the resulting inflation
The (obvious in advance) limits of the government's strategy since it took office: a budget in which the majority of individual items poll well, yet people think it is the most unfair budget since YouGov started polling on this question.
% who say each 2025 Budget policy was the 'right thing to do' (1/3)
Increase gambling taxes: 82%
Freeze rail fares: 82%
Reducing energy bills by £150 a year by reducing green levies: 75%
Increasing minimum wage: 71%
Mansion tax: 67%
Decreasing biz rates for retail/hospitality/leisure: 64%
Increase gambling taxes: 82%
Freeze rail fares: 82%
Reducing energy bills by £150 a year by reducing green levies: 75%
Increasing minimum wage: 71%
Mansion tax: 67%
Decreasing biz rates for retail/hospitality/leisure: 64%
November 27, 2025 at 11:25 PM
What makes this even funnier/more annoying is that other than removing the two child limit the main thing this budget actually did over the next two years is increase borrowing. So all the country hates tax rises, half thinks they're refusing to borrow more & all get to enjoy the resulting inflation
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I think what this (widely shared among some people who follow me) attitude misses is that, of course, if you have a series of cowboy builders, you are going to be more and more irate as the process goes on.
The fact that every single PM this century has been more unpopular than the previous one shows that the electorate is impossible to please. We are simply predisposed to automatically hate every government no matter what. I don't know how that's sustainable long-term.
November 28, 2025 at 12:04 AM
I think what this (widely shared among some people who follow me) attitude misses is that, of course, if you have a series of cowboy builders, you are going to be more and more irate as the process goes on.
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The (obvious in advance) limits of the government's strategy since it took office: a budget in which the majority of individual items poll well, yet people think it is the most unfair budget since YouGov started polling on this question.
% who say each 2025 Budget policy was the 'right thing to do' (1/3)
Increase gambling taxes: 82%
Freeze rail fares: 82%
Reducing energy bills by £150 a year by reducing green levies: 75%
Increasing minimum wage: 71%
Mansion tax: 67%
Decreasing biz rates for retail/hospitality/leisure: 64%
Increase gambling taxes: 82%
Freeze rail fares: 82%
Reducing energy bills by £150 a year by reducing green levies: 75%
Increasing minimum wage: 71%
Mansion tax: 67%
Decreasing biz rates for retail/hospitality/leisure: 64%
November 27, 2025 at 11:12 PM
The (obvious in advance) limits of the government's strategy since it took office: a budget in which the majority of individual items poll well, yet people think it is the most unfair budget since YouGov started polling on this question.
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one of the least sympathetic microgenres of post is, "I financed an extremely expensive truck at fairly normal APRs and am paying HOW MUCH in interest?!"
my uncle is broke as shit in his 60s in large part from making this exact sort of decision multiple times
my uncle is broke as shit in his 60s in large part from making this exact sort of decision multiple times
November 27, 2025 at 5:44 PM
one of the least sympathetic microgenres of post is, "I financed an extremely expensive truck at fairly normal APRs and am paying HOW MUCH in interest?!"
my uncle is broke as shit in his 60s in large part from making this exact sort of decision multiple times
my uncle is broke as shit in his 60s in large part from making this exact sort of decision multiple times
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And the crucial thing to understand about the 16 per cent of pensioners in poverty is that the reason why they are in poverty is not because 'they are pensioners' but because of inadequate provision for 'the working poor', regardless of age.
November 28, 2025 at 11:43 AM
And the crucial thing to understand about the 16 per cent of pensioners in poverty is that the reason why they are in poverty is not because 'they are pensioners' but because of inadequate provision for 'the working poor', regardless of age.
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The modal British voter thinks that pensioners are the group who gets the least good deal from the state! You can't have a serious conversation either about shrinking the state or expanding the tax base from that starting point!
November 27, 2025 at 10:19 PM
The modal British voter thinks that pensioners are the group who gets the least good deal from the state! You can't have a serious conversation either about shrinking the state or expanding the tax base from that starting point!
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It's part of the electionification of everything, which is why we as a country are failing to have a proper conversation about our actual problems. It's bad for the left *and* the right.
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 10:17 PM
It's part of the electionification of everything, which is why we as a country are failing to have a proper conversation about our actual problems. It's bad for the left *and* the right.
Reposted
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 1:16 PM
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
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Our information space is dominated by a system that demands and rewards continous and immediate emotional gratification, so you can't even begin to have a discussion about complex issues. It's a bright cancer that spreads and multiplies with every interaction.
It's part of the electionification of everything, which is why we as a country are failing to have a proper conversation about our actual problems. It's bad for the left *and* the right.
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
November 28, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Our information space is dominated by a system that demands and rewards continous and immediate emotional gratification, so you can't even begin to have a discussion about complex issues. It's a bright cancer that spreads and multiplies with every interaction.
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But 'Rachel Reeves' weird passion for welfare cuts' + 'this Labour party's aversion to anything fancy' resolving as 'no, it can't be a brand The State Thinks Is Too Good'= no, it triggers all my revulsions at one.
November 26, 2025 at 4:49 PM
But 'Rachel Reeves' weird passion for welfare cuts' + 'this Labour party's aversion to anything fancy' resolving as 'no, it can't be a brand The State Thinks Is Too Good'= no, it triggers all my revulsions at one.
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Another way of looking at this, of course, is that if you took the triple lock out of the equation, the benefits bill would very likely roughly be increasing in line with projected inflation *if that*
November 26, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Another way of looking at this, of course, is that if you took the triple lock out of the equation, the benefits bill would very likely roughly be increasing in line with projected inflation *if that*
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Yes, ‘fae’ is a linguistic retconning (from the 1990s I think) by people who felt cultural discomfort with the word ‘fairy’. I say we reclaim the seriousness of ‘fairy’ rather than resorting to variant spellings, personally
November 26, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Yes, ‘fae’ is a linguistic retconning (from the 1990s I think) by people who felt cultural discomfort with the word ‘fairy’. I say we reclaim the seriousness of ‘fairy’ rather than resorting to variant spellings, personally
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When looking at how 'the public' receive the budget it is worth remembering about 50% actively dislike the govt and will be strongly against almost anything it does. This is a problem made worse by fragmenting vote intentions where govt has the direct support of a relatively small group of voters.
November 26, 2025 at 10:30 AM
When looking at how 'the public' receive the budget it is worth remembering about 50% actively dislike the govt and will be strongly against almost anything it does. This is a problem made worse by fragmenting vote intentions where govt has the direct support of a relatively small group of voters.
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Might start asking people who object which of my clients should give their lease cars back. Jayne probably has the most expensive one, it’s basically a minivan. Admittedly she may need it what with the epilepsy and motor neurone disease and so on but she can walk to those hospital appointments right
Don’t want to be too moralistic about this, but it is an active disgrace what people are doing to a profoundly liberational scheme that costs relatively piddling amounts on the basis of a couple of right wing shitposters misrepresenting it on Twitter.
November 25, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Might start asking people who object which of my clients should give their lease cars back. Jayne probably has the most expensive one, it’s basically a minivan. Admittedly she may need it what with the epilepsy and motor neurone disease and so on but she can walk to those hospital appointments right
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jesus christ, is this the style standard at the BBC now? That's fucking vile, and the entire organization should be ashamed down to its bones.
It looks like that BBC page has been updated in the last few minutes, so that's no longer the last sentence. I think part of it has been moved to this paragraph in the middle of the article, and the age is no longer mentioned:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
November 25, 2025 at 6:52 PM
jesus christ, is this the style standard at the BBC now? That's fucking vile, and the entire organization should be ashamed down to its bones.
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yes I don't really see how you can go "oh yikes these people have changed their political views incredibly quickly, mostly because of what Very Online people talk about on social media" and also think that people who went from never talking about gender to calling trans women predators are....normal
I don’t like subtweeting people I consider online friends, but there is a subset of people who are very worried about the ongoing radicalisation of our political elite but won’t ever acknowledge the echoes with the radicalisation of their colleagues on trans rights
And few who are sympathetic to us, some who are friendly with me on here, will ever stick their head above the parapet
November 25, 2025 at 12:55 PM
yes I don't really see how you can go "oh yikes these people have changed their political views incredibly quickly, mostly because of what Very Online people talk about on social media" and also think that people who went from never talking about gender to calling trans women predators are....normal
Like the content but why is it in such a twee fucking font?
Sometimes I think it’s going to be the librarians who will save us all.
November 26, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Like the content but why is it in such a twee fucking font?
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I think it absolutely is caused by the leadership cues from the top. The Cabinet sits around the table every week while the prime minister says things like 'I don't accept hostile briefing from my team and I'll fire the people who did it' after the attack on Streeting.
November 26, 2025 at 1:17 AM
I think it absolutely is caused by the leadership cues from the top. The Cabinet sits around the table every week while the prime minister says things like 'I don't accept hostile briefing from my team and I'll fire the people who did it' after the attack on Streeting.