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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 2h

I don't watch anything aside from
news & sport at the time it's broadcast any more.

Viewing habits have changed and I can't see that they'll ever change back.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 8h

The costs to society of gambling addiction. Social security, costs to the NHS, lost productivity, etc.
Agree that it seems far too easy to empty your bank account using an app on your phone.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 8h

I'd agree, and again making a parallel with tobacco there is a good case for stopping these ads.
But fundamentally it should be about ensuring that the entire sector bears a large proportion of the costs of the negative externalities whuch result
from problem gambling.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 9h

Probably on a level with tobacco in terms of societal harm and should be taxed accordingly.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 9h

I'm not convinced that fewer bookmakers on the high street would be an altogether bad thing - especially when you consider the type of areas in which they tend to be concentrated.
Online gambling should be taxed at an even higher rate though.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 9h

To be fair, anyone who would seriously consider voting for a far-right party is going to be difficult to talk around.
On Labour, Libs, Greens, SNP / PC, even the Tories, it's about politics and opinion.
The question of voting Reform UK Ltd or not is about whether you think crypto-fascism is wrong.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 10h

It is Green and Lib Dem loan votes which will win Labour seats in many areas where RUK Ltd are the challengers. At the moment, Labour are just not going to get them. Reform Lite is almost as vile as the full fat version.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 1d

#DavidsMonthofMusic
#MusicChallenge

Day 12: "How, why, or which in the title"

Surely near to the top of any list of bands who were criminally overlooked.

Jellyfish - That Is Why

Jellyfish - That Is Why

YouTube video by JellyfishVEVO

youtu.be

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 1d

#EUrOcktober
#EUr0cktober
#MusicChallenge

Day 12 - Spain

New Day - Hush

Band features Amparo Llanos and Samuel Titos from Spanish alt-rock royalty Dover.

New Day - Hush (Official video)

YouTube video by Mushroom Pillow

youtu.be

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 1d

A Home Office study concluded that 70% of shoplifting was linked to addiction.
It's usually better to treat the underlying cause of problems. Get our drug policy right: decriminalise possession and treat addicts as people who are ill rather than criminals. Solution over retribution.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 2d

The only way that any difficult task is acheived is by making a start.
The first thing Starmer should do is to make a very clear and unambiguous statement saying that leaving was an egregious error and that the intention is to look to rejoin. Ignore the far-right who are at peak support already.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 2d

#DavidsMonthofMusic
#MusicChallenge

Day 11: "A non-primary colour in the title"

The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes

The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes

YouTube video by ThePoguesOfficial

youtu.be

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 2d

#EUrOcktober
#EUr0cktober
#MusicChallenge

Day 11: Portugal

Virgem Suta - Maria Alice

Virgem Suta - Maria Alice

YouTube video by VirgemSutaVEVO

youtu.be

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 3d

Farage: “Have you ever been let down by a person? Have you been let down and betrayed?”

Quite. And let's face it, who hasn't had a friend caught spying for an enemy nation?

Any suggestion that the far-right Reform UK Ltd has a high proportion of dodgy types is both scurrilous and thoroughly untrue

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 3d

Mildly interesting electoral history to the ward.
Pretty solidly Lib Dem until 2019 when the Conservatives took it unopposed. Tories held it comfortably in 2023 with the Libs tailed off in 3rd.
The Greens have half a dozen councillors on Wychavon so no surprise to see them do okay first time here.

poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 3d

As things stand (and I know that it's one heck of a long way out just now), I expect to see a lot of this- split votes between Labour / Green / Lib Dem and RUK sneaking in at the next GE. A function of Labour's rightward social shift and consequent loss of loan votes.
Did anyone say "PR"?

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 3d

It's definitely well worth a listen if you get the chance. Standout track for me is probably "The English Motorway System".

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 3d

#EUrOcktober
#EUr0cktober
#MusicChallenge

Day 10: Greece

Daphne and the Fuzz - Burn Down Your House

Daphne and the Fuzz - Burn Down Your House (Official Video)

YouTube video by InnerEarRec

youtu.be

6

poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 3d

#DavidsMonthofMusic
#MusicChallenge

Day 10: "An album title track"

Black Box Recorder - The Facts of Life

Black Box Recorder- The Facts of Life (Official Video)

YouTube video by One Little Independent Records

youtu.be

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 4d

There's long way to go and four years before the last election, polls showed the Tories on 42% of the vote and the Brexit Party (as was) on 1%.
There is clearly a case for either PR (won't happen under Starmer) or some sort of progressive alliance involving Greens, Libs, SNP, and PC.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 4d

If it was a plot to wipe out half the world's population then it was a truly dismal fail.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 4d

These numbers give little reason to celebrate - if replicated (and of course they won't be - far too early) in a GE, we get a far-right government with an absolutely stonking majority that can do whatever it likes. Will the last decent person to leave Britain please turn out the lights.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 4d

Completely agreed that this needs to change in much of the UK - though pockets of discussion do still exist!

And as a fellow "Catholic Atheist", I know exactly what you mean.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 4d

TBF, he signalled his conversion to being a true believer in Boris Johnson's Hard Brexit some time before the last GE.

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poshbloke @poshbloke.bsky.social · 4d

Education is important, but so is what happens at home. I'm in my 40s now, but remember Sundays when I was quite young-various broadsheets on the dining table and read together as a family, with my Dad asking me about the news and usually arguing a counterpoint. Probably not replicated much in 2025.

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