Further or Alternatively
@furtheror.bsky.social
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Lies, damned lies, matrimony and the internet
Further or Alternatively - a current affairs and law blog.
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com
New post on lying past and present, with particular reference to 1920s divorces and internet forms. furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/11/glim...
New post on lying past and present, with particular reference to 1920s divorces and internet forms. furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/11/glim...
Lies, damned lies, matrimony and the internet
Further or Alternatively - a current affairs and law blog.
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:27 PM
New post on lying past and present, with particular reference to 1920s divorces and internet forms. furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/11/glim...
At the next General Election, would you vote tactically for a Conservative candidate to keep out Reform?
October 9, 2025 at 7:59 AM
At the next General Election, would you vote tactically for a Conservative candidate to keep out Reform?
Crossness Pumping Station. They don't make 'em like they used to.
October 1, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Crossness Pumping Station. They don't make 'em like they used to.
Surely this is *good* welfare state design? Rich people can save money to insure themselves against ill-fortune - that's not taxpayer's job; the welfare state is there to provide a flat (but springy) safety net at the bottom.
(This has got nothing to do with racism.)
(This has got nothing to do with racism.)
UK welfare state is v badly designed for this reason, but the difficulty with all these “it’s actually economics” is all of these things were true *in 2023* and there still isn’t a correlation with the people who say, do and believe racist stuff!
We often forget that the UK is a big outlier: our welfare state is almost all redistribution (not social insurance).
People in other countries know that high earners face real economic risks - it's why they support the welfare state!
People in other countries know that high earners face real economic risks - it's why they support the welfare state!
September 15, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Surely this is *good* welfare state design? Rich people can save money to insure themselves against ill-fortune - that's not taxpayer's job; the welfare state is there to provide a flat (but springy) safety net at the bottom.
(This has got nothing to do with racism.)
(This has got nothing to do with racism.)
Reposted by Further or Alternatively
A lot of people slagging off Justin Webb. But here's an experiment you can do at home. Run "Charlie Kirk" through the search function. Click "latest" to create what is effectively a river-sample. You'll see that perhaps 1 in 3 English-language tweets are expressing either glee or satisfaction.
September 11, 2025 at 7:52 AM
A lot of people slagging off Justin Webb. But here's an experiment you can do at home. Run "Charlie Kirk" through the search function. Click "latest" to create what is effectively a river-sample. You'll see that perhaps 1 in 3 English-language tweets are expressing either glee or satisfaction.
I don't think people believe quite how much the tax system shifted against landlords under the last Tory govt - but perhaps they'll believe it if it comes from @danneidle.bsky.social. It is really quite odd from a principled point of view.
But - thanks to an Osborne change - they don't get to deduct the mortgage interest. They get a 20% credit. Their tax is 40% of £1,200 minus 20% of £1,000
Their tax is £280
Hang on. Their net income is £200. They're paying £280 tax on £200 income???
Their tax is £280
Hang on. Their net income is £200. They're paying £280 tax on £200 income???
August 28, 2025 at 8:39 PM
I don't think people believe quite how much the tax system shifted against landlords under the last Tory govt - but perhaps they'll believe it if it comes from @danneidle.bsky.social. It is really quite odd from a principled point of view.
(1) But this is good, right? It's adding diversity & different cultures to Spain, which is great.
(2) Or maybe they are idiots whose presence makes Spain worse. But then is it not also possible that some immigrants to the UK are also idiots - the foreign equivalents of these people?
What is it?
(2) Or maybe they are idiots whose presence makes Spain worse. But then is it not also possible that some immigrants to the UK are also idiots - the foreign equivalents of these people?
What is it?
These morons moved to Spain because there were "too many foreigners in the UK".
August 21, 2025 at 6:00 PM
(1) But this is good, right? It's adding diversity & different cultures to Spain, which is great.
(2) Or maybe they are idiots whose presence makes Spain worse. But then is it not also possible that some immigrants to the UK are also idiots - the foreign equivalents of these people?
What is it?
(2) Or maybe they are idiots whose presence makes Spain worse. But then is it not also possible that some immigrants to the UK are also idiots - the foreign equivalents of these people?
What is it?
Not a bad thread
Oh go on then
August 1, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Not a bad thread
A few years back, I wrote a post (furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2021/10/mode...) and a thread (on the Other Site) about Idyllic Future architecture, as is consistently shown in film. I can now reveal that the future is here - and it's in Shanghai. See next post.
Modern Architecture
Further or Alternatively - a current affairs and law blog.
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com
July 29, 2025 at 1:12 PM
A few years back, I wrote a post (furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2021/10/mode...) and a thread (on the Other Site) about Idyllic Future architecture, as is consistently shown in film. I can now reveal that the future is here - and it's in Shanghai. See next post.
New post! Some short film reviews:
- Anora
- Blossoms Under Somewhere
- Girls Will be Girls
- Mickey 17
- My Sunshine
- Rumours
- Tales of Taipei
- Wicked
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/07/some...
- Anora
- Blossoms Under Somewhere
- Girls Will be Girls
- Mickey 17
- My Sunshine
- Rumours
- Tales of Taipei
- Wicked
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/07/some...
Some short film reviews
Further or Alternatively - a current affairs and law blog.
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com
July 16, 2025 at 8:27 PM
New post! Some short film reviews:
- Anora
- Blossoms Under Somewhere
- Girls Will be Girls
- Mickey 17
- My Sunshine
- Rumours
- Tales of Taipei
- Wicked
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/07/some...
- Anora
- Blossoms Under Somewhere
- Girls Will be Girls
- Mickey 17
- My Sunshine
- Rumours
- Tales of Taipei
- Wicked
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/07/some...
My objection to this is that it is expressly intended to be retrospective: it's intended to "take chunks out of" wealth already owned. That wealth was accumulated when the rules were different - it's as unfair to change the rules now as to change last year's income tax rates.
The other thing I'd suggest is extending capital gains tax to primary homes.
Labour people please hold on before throwing election-sized bricks at me. I think this might be doable.
What you essentially want to do is take chunks out of that giant unearned boomer housing wealth.
Labour people please hold on before throwing election-sized bricks at me. I think this might be doable.
What you essentially want to do is take chunks out of that giant unearned boomer housing wealth.
July 16, 2025 at 12:08 PM
My objection to this is that it is expressly intended to be retrospective: it's intended to "take chunks out of" wealth already owned. That wealth was accumulated when the rules were different - it's as unfair to change the rules now as to change last year's income tax rates.
Can't be said often enough: Reform is not just 'another kind of Tory' - it's an anti-Tory party, in many, many ways.
This is fascinating looking at who would Brits vote against. Reform lower than I might have thought. But what jumps out to me is a quarter of Tory voters would pick Reform as the party they would vote against, doesn’t suggest you can add them together like Lego bricks.
Every week we ask who Britons would vote for - this week we asked who they'd vote *against*
Here's what a negative voting intention looks like:
🌹Lab 23%
➡️ Ref: 22%
🌳 Con: 10%
🌏 Green: 4%
🐦 LD: 4%
Here's what a negative voting intention looks like:
🌹Lab 23%
➡️ Ref: 22%
🌳 Con: 10%
🌏 Green: 4%
🐦 LD: 4%
June 25, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Can't be said often enough: Reform is not just 'another kind of Tory' - it's an anti-Tory party, in many, many ways.
I'm not disputing that weird things have happened to the generations, but it's worth being aware of what the past was like.
In 92/93:
- police sergeant £20,343 - £23,337; promotion -up to Chief Constable on £70k+.
- junior hospital doctor £19,550; promotion - up to consultant on £50k.
- GP £40k...
In 92/93:
- police sergeant £20,343 - £23,337; promotion -up to Chief Constable on £70k+.
- junior hospital doctor £19,550; promotion - up to consultant on £50k.
- GP £40k...
A similar illustration of this - my household income is decently top 10%, and having saved a wild share of my income over the past decade, I could probably just about afford to buy the house that my parents, both police sergeants, bought in 1993
Really interesting and I think very insightful thread on Mumsnet about just how entirely different the intergenerational financial experience has been:
June 10, 2025 at 8:46 AM
I'm not disputing that weird things have happened to the generations, but it's worth being aware of what the past was like.
In 92/93:
- police sergeant £20,343 - £23,337; promotion -up to Chief Constable on £70k+.
- junior hospital doctor £19,550; promotion - up to consultant on £50k.
- GP £40k...
In 92/93:
- police sergeant £20,343 - £23,337; promotion -up to Chief Constable on £70k+.
- junior hospital doctor £19,550; promotion - up to consultant on £50k.
- GP £40k...
What's the Bluesky 'community' (if that's the right word) answer to this kind of comment about usage?
June 4, 2025 at 3:32 PM
What's the Bluesky 'community' (if that's the right word) answer to this kind of comment about usage?
I have some sympathy with this position, but I don't think it's the final word. Some thoughts:
(1) This is interviewing we are discussing, not merely factual reporting. That will often, rightly, involve putting a different view to the interviewee. That can be "many people say X, what do you say?"
(1) This is interviewing we are discussing, not merely factual reporting. That will often, rightly, involve putting a different view to the interviewee. That can be "many people say X, what do you say?"
The "he says, she says" model isn't just bad journalism: it's anti-journalism, because it abdicates the core journalistic responsibility to establish the facts & report them.
And it feeds the model of politics as a spectator sport, in which the role of the commentator is just to describe the play.
And it feeds the model of politics as a spectator sport, in which the role of the commentator is just to describe the play.
This is how "This side says X, but the other side says Y" balance ends up distorting journalism. Instead of being based on the journalist's own independent, impartial analysis this question really just ventriloquises a partisan opposition stance and gives the impression the BBC fully agrees with it.
May 19, 2025 at 2:51 PM
I have some sympathy with this position, but I don't think it's the final word. Some thoughts:
(1) This is interviewing we are discussing, not merely factual reporting. That will often, rightly, involve putting a different view to the interviewee. That can be "many people say X, what do you say?"
(1) This is interviewing we are discussing, not merely factual reporting. That will often, rightly, involve putting a different view to the interviewee. That can be "many people say X, what do you say?"
One for fans of the law: here is the case that first set out the legal basis for the modern law of arresting people for internet posting.
May 19, 2025 at 9:51 AM
One for fans of the law: here is the case that first set out the legal basis for the modern law of arresting people for internet posting.
Here's a good one (from the Barristers' Working Lives Survey 2025). I don't recall seeing 'full time' divided up like this. Makes sense.
May 16, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Here's a good one (from the Barristers' Working Lives Survey 2025). I don't recall seeing 'full time' divided up like this. Makes sense.
You know that old question: what politician will we look back on as having been under-rated? Sunak was the obvious answer to that question. But I'm going to stick to my one: Starmer. He's obviously heading for disappointment, so much so that one might overlook how successful he was in opposition.
Next week marks a year since the 2024 election was called heralding the end of Rishi Sunak's Government. But do people prefer Starmer's Govt or Sunak's? Overall people are split 36% preferred Sunak's, 31% Starmer's & a sizeable 33% don't know. Predictably big differences between Ref/Con & LD/GRN/LAB
May 15, 2025 at 4:41 PM
You know that old question: what politician will we look back on as having been under-rated? Sunak was the obvious answer to that question. But I'm going to stick to my one: Starmer. He's obviously heading for disappointment, so much so that one might overlook how successful he was in opposition.
New post. It's about Horace Walpole and the gothic novel, Shakespeare and tragedy, and Voltaire and Frenchness. But mostly it's about children's books.
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-...
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-...
The Castle of Otranto, Shakespeare, Voltaire and the ancestry of suburban magic
Further or Alternatively - a current affairs and law blog.
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com
April 26, 2025 at 10:51 AM
New post. It's about Horace Walpole and the gothic novel, Shakespeare and tragedy, and Voltaire and Frenchness. But mostly it's about children's books.
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-...
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-...
Sure, I get the idea behind this. Gentrification is bad: students and artists get priced out by the cooler, edgier professionals, then they get priced out by less cool ones, and eventually all the nightclubs and scrappy poetry slam venues are replaced by a Waitrose.
But what about social housing?
But what about social housing?
A theory: high property prices aren’t just bad for those who don’t own property. They squeeze the life out of cities.
In this week's newsletter.
In this week's newsletter.
Undocumented Side Effects
This week: the less obvious problem with high property prices; some fake maps of Roman Britain; and some frankly mad US polling.
jonn.substack.com
April 17, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Sure, I get the idea behind this. Gentrification is bad: students and artists get priced out by the cooler, edgier professionals, then they get priced out by less cool ones, and eventually all the nightclubs and scrappy poetry slam venues are replaced by a Waitrose.
But what about social housing?
But what about social housing?
New post: some musings about people, AI and chess.
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/04/what...
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/04/what...
What chess teaches us about AI - and what AI teaches us about chess
Further or Alternatively - a current affairs and law blog.
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com
April 17, 2025 at 3:52 PM
New post: some musings about people, AI and chess.
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/04/what...
furtheroralternatively.blogspot.com/2025/04/what...
Keukenhof, April 2025
April 15, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Keukenhof, April 2025
A few things are likely here, but I think the biggest issue is simply a coordination problem: if the 'default' is socialising then people socialise, but covid shifted the 'default' to not-socialising, and so there is additional effort required. It takes (at least) 2 to tango.
The interesting Q for me is why haven't things returned. If most people want more sociability and there are no restrictions on it what it preventing it happening. Money (as Luke says) might be part of it but that doesn't stop people eating their lunch together.
I’ve written for @thespectator1828.bsky.social about people’s stories in focus groups of how they’ve turn inward and become less social since the pandemic and the risk it leaves us lonelier, more isolated less cohesive and less open to new experiences. www.spectator.co.uk/article/were...
April 2, 2025 at 1:50 PM
A few things are likely here, but I think the biggest issue is simply a coordination problem: if the 'default' is socialising then people socialise, but covid shifted the 'default' to not-socialising, and so there is additional effort required. It takes (at least) 2 to tango.
Reposted by Further or Alternatively
3 point bump gives Labour a lead in our latest @moreincommonuk.bsky.social voting intention, though top 3 remain virtually tied. Lib Dems slip back
🌹 LAB 26% (+3)
🌳 CON 24% (-1)
➡️ REF UK 24% (nc)
🔶 LIB DEM 13% (-3)
🌍 GREEN 7% (-1)
🟡 SNP 2% (-1)
N = 2,010 | Dates: 28/2 - 2/3 | Change w 21-24/2
🌹 LAB 26% (+3)
🌳 CON 24% (-1)
➡️ REF UK 24% (nc)
🔶 LIB DEM 13% (-3)
🌍 GREEN 7% (-1)
🟡 SNP 2% (-1)
N = 2,010 | Dates: 28/2 - 2/3 | Change w 21-24/2
March 5, 2025 at 8:10 AM
3 point bump gives Labour a lead in our latest @moreincommonuk.bsky.social voting intention, though top 3 remain virtually tied. Lib Dems slip back
🌹 LAB 26% (+3)
🌳 CON 24% (-1)
➡️ REF UK 24% (nc)
🔶 LIB DEM 13% (-3)
🌍 GREEN 7% (-1)
🟡 SNP 2% (-1)
N = 2,010 | Dates: 28/2 - 2/3 | Change w 21-24/2
🌹 LAB 26% (+3)
🌳 CON 24% (-1)
➡️ REF UK 24% (nc)
🔶 LIB DEM 13% (-3)
🌍 GREEN 7% (-1)
🟡 SNP 2% (-1)
N = 2,010 | Dates: 28/2 - 2/3 | Change w 21-24/2
@ri-science.bsky.social - just to let you know that the livestream of today's Evening of Unnecessary Detail is not working
March 2, 2025 at 7:14 PM
@ri-science.bsky.social - just to let you know that the livestream of today's Evening of Unnecessary Detail is not working